In a post below, I spoke of Ted Cruz, Tiananmen Square, etc. Here is an additional note.

In 1984, President Reagan did something typical of him. With Congress, he renamed the street outside the Soviet embassy in Washington, D.C., “Andrei Sakharov Plaza.” Sakharov was the democracy hero who had won the Nobel Peace Prize.


Taking a page from Reagan, Senator Cruz proposed a bill renaming part of the plaza outside the Chinese embassy “Liu Xiaobo Plaza.” Liu is a democracy hero in China, and a Nobel peace laureate. And a political prisoner.

Cruz’s bill passed the Senate unanimously. (Kind of a difficult thing to oppose, right? At least overtly.) But it is stuck in the House of Representatives. Which is controlled by Republicans — a big Republican majority. This is kind of curious, isn’t it? What’s the hold-up, y’all?

Sure, Obama would veto the bill. But so what?


For years, elements of the Right have said that the Republican leadership is worthless: refusing to challenge Obama, refusing to defund Planned Parenthood, and so on. I’m certainly with them on Planned Parenthood. Is there any reason that the taxpayers have to make a donation to the traffickers in baby parts?

It seems that Planned Parenthood will be unopposed on the upcoming fall ballot: because the Republican nominee is almost as enthusiastic about the organization as the Democratic nominee.


Back to the Liu Xiabo bill: If the House GOP won’t move it, maybe the leadership really is worthless. If a symbolic bill is too much for them, what about something that requires heavier lifting? From now on, I should leave it to Trump folk to defend the “establishment”: because the establishment, in toto, has bowed to Big Orange. “GOPe” (for “establishment”) and “GOPt” (for “Trump”) are one.

Furthermore, Ted Cruz has proposed renaming the street outside the new Cuban embassy in Washington after Oswaldo Payá — the democracy hero who was killed by the Castro regime in 2012. In a recent podcast, I discussed this, and more, with Payá’s daughter, Rosa María: here.


The Republican presidential nominee, of course, supports Obama’s repugnant Cuba policy. Is there anyone in the GOP with a flicker of Reaganism or an ounce of dignity? Hello?

P.S. If you need to recall the Republican nominee’s stance on the Tiananmen Square massacre, I refer you to a post I wrote in February: here. Conservatives should really know what they have climbed into bed with.