Tag: US Congress

McCarthyism–Then And Now

A look at historical similarities…..we have had two McCarthys that have turned the Congress into a clown show….one in the 50s and one today….

Can there be any question that we’re in a mad — and loud — new age of McCarthyism? Thank you, Kevin! And don’t forget the wildly over-the-top members of the so-called Freedom Caucus and their Republican associates, including that charmer, lyin’ George Santos, Jewish-space-laser-and-white-balloon-carrying Marjorie Taylor Greene, and — once again running for president — the man who never lost, Donald Trump-em-all.

I’d like to say it couldn’t get crazier. Still, despite watching Greene shout “Liar!” and other Republicans yell “Bullshit!” during President Biden’s State of the Union Address, I suspect it could get much worse (and more dangerous) in Washington in the months to come. And believe me, that’s leaving Hunter Biden’s penis aside. When it comes to this era’s McCarthyism, don’t for a moment think that the debt ceiling is the only ceiling that could end up in the dust of history.

If you’re of a certain age like me, you undoubtedly have an earlier vision of just how ominously mad Washington’s politics can get. And I wasn’t even thinking of the time in 1968, when Richard Nixon slipped by the Joe Biden of that moment, Hubert Humphrey, winning the presidency with less than 50% of the vote, thanks to his “Southern strategy” and a third-party run by segregationist Alabama Governor George Wallace. Nor did I have in mind the Watergate Hearings five years later that revealed Nixon’s bugging of the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, among many other crimes.

It was April 1954 when what came to be known as the Army-McCarthy hearings hit television screens nationwide. At that time, long before anyone had even dreamed of social media, TVs — black and white ones, of course — were changing lives and habits across the country. The star, if you want to think of him that way, and the most distinctly Trumpian figure of his moment and perhaps any other moment before The Donald, was Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. He shot to fame in 1950 by claiming he had inside information that 205 members of the State Department — yes, 205! — were card-carrying members of the Communist Party.

Before that spring of 1954, McCarthy had the Trumpian time of his life holding endless Senate hearings to denounce public figures of every sort as communists. He made life a living hell for a stunning range of Americans. And then, with the all-too-hot Korean war at an end and the Cold War becoming ever more frigid, McCarthy, who had had a field day, went one step too far. In 1953, with the help of his chief counsel Roy Cohn (who, I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn, would later become a guiding light for one Donald J. Trump), began holding hearings investigating supposed communist influence in the Army and, in response, the military, you might say, did him in.

McCarthyism, Then and Now

A lot of similarities…..this time around McCarty has lots of help with the lies and misinformation that are being spread.

I think this time the McCartyism will have a more lasting effect than the idiocy from the 1950s

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Blue Dogs–A Dying Breed

It all started in 1995 during the Clinton admin…..Dems, some Dems, were ultra-conservative Democrats that came together in our Congress….but for a more in-depth look at these, in my opinion, party cowards…..if there are DINOs then these people are the very definition.

The Blue Dog Coalition was created in 1995 to represent the commonsense, moderate voice of the Democratic Party, appealing to mainstream American values. The Blue Dogs are leaders in Congress who are committed to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense, and transcending party lines to do what’s best for the American people.

The name “Blue Dog” was inspired by the famous Blue Dog paintings by Cajun artist George Rodrigue. The term is also based on the long-time tradition of referring to a strong Democratic Party supporter as being a “Yellow Dog Democrat,” who would have “sooner voted for a yellow dog than a Republican.” The founding members of the Blue Dogs said they felt that they had been “choked blue” by the extremes of both political parties, leading to the Coalition’s name.

Since 2010 their numbers have been declining for why have a Dem conserv when you have those thugs in the GOP….

But as I say they are declining…..(which is a godsend, IMO)

Blue Dog Democrats are seen as a moderate bloc in the House—a “fiscally conservative, pro-national security caucus” among Democrats that acts as a counter to progressives, per Roll Call. After the 2008 elections, the group had a healthy 54 members. Today, however, the number is down to seven, the lowest in the group’s long history, reports Politico. It might have been 15, but seven members have bowed out and an eighth is undecided. This group, which includes Abigail Spanberger of Virginia and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, wanted the Blue Dogs to ditch their name and rebrand as the Common Sense Coalition, per Politico.

When a vote on the name change failed, the exodus began. Spanberger’s camp (she and Sherrill were the last two female members) worries that the group still carries a stigma of a “boys’ club,” as Politico puts it, from its Southern roots. Remaining members, including four members of color, dispute that. “It seems like it’s been a pretty diverse group of people over the last four years,” says an unnamed member. “I’m not thinking of 30 years ago. I don’t really entertain that type of critique.” As small as they are, Blue Dogs could still wield influence, both sites note. Given the Republicans’ slim majority, even a handful of votes can make a difference in the current House.

The Democratic Party is dying as well and personally I believe the Blue Dogs are speeding the demise up.

That is my opinion but others see it not so differently…..(the DNC sucks!)

The future of the Democratic Party is bleak.

Up until recently in possession of the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, the Democrats have failed to accomplish anything meaningful, anything that improves the quality of our lives.

Voters tend to notice that sort of thing. 

However, the DNC’s problem isn’t merely about contemporary underperformance; it’s not about Joe Manchin or Kristin Sinema’s moderate-conservative disruption of the liberal agenda.

No, the DNC’s problem is much deeper and more profound; the Democrat’s problem is the culmination of a four-decade ethos shift that has left what was once the party of the people a shriveled, impotent shell of its former self.

The Democratic Party is supposed to protect the middle class. And through the middle of the twentieth century, the Dems did just that.

Middle-class voters (i.e. the majority of Americans) responded favorably, and the results were politically prosperous – the Dems dominated federal elections; The Dems held the White House from 1933 until 1953 and then again from 1961 until 1969 – and once more from 1977 until 1981. Liberals also dominated the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice Warren led a nearly two-decade run of consistently progressive case rulings.

More importantly, during this time period of Dem vitality, America prospered. The American middle class was the envy of the world; long overdue reforms regarding race and gender were implemented; the American dream was a tangible thing – rather than just a campaign slogan – available to an ever-increasing swath of the U.S. population. The GOP had a powerful counterpoint in a righteous, convicted Democratic Party that knew how to win elections and knew how to govern. Professor Mark Lilla called this era the “Roosevelt Dispensation,” which “pictured an America where citizens were involved in a collective enterprise to guard one another against risk, hardship, and the denial of fundamental rights.”

Why the Democratic Party Is Dying

The Dems are now the Party of war….the middle class is not safe with the Dems nor the GOP.

I have been calling for a third party that has the interests of the workers and the middle class at their core…..we have none of that with our party system these days.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Legislation Without Representation

Is our beloved ‘democracy’ just a big lie?

I ask that question because of the idea that DC needs representation in our Congress.

The Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday approved two measures that would overturn a pair of bills passed by the D.C. Council, one that allows non-citizens to vote in local elections starting in 2024 and another that revises and modernizes the city’s century-old criminal code.

The votes on the disapproval resolutions — the first time since 2015 the House has advanced such measures, and only the second time in three decades — came largely along party lines, though dozens of Democrats broke ranks and voted in favor. On the resolution targeting the non-citizen voting bill, the vote was 260-162, with more than 40 Democrats joining Republicans. On the resolution aimed at the revised criminal code, the vote was 250-173, with 31 Democrats joining the Republican majority.

No one representing D.C.’s 700,000 residents voted on either resolution, as the city only has a single non-voting delegate to Congress.

The disapproval resolutions, which would have to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Joe Biden to take effect, mark an early start to what many D.C. officials and advocates worry will be aggressive efforts by House Republicans to interfere in local affairs. And they stand in stark contrast to how D.C. was treated during Democratic control of the chamber, when on two occasions lawmakers passed bills granting the city statehood.

During debate that started Wednesday night and stretched into Thursday morning, Republicans argued that they were merely acting to tamp down on “radical” actions by the “out-of-control” D.C. Council.

Republican-Led House, In Which D.C. Has No Vote, Passes Measures Repealing Two D.C. Bills

Personally I think it is a slap in the face of democracy to allow these people without representation….

Back to the question….is democracy a big lie?

Just a few thoughts on that question….

Is Democracy The Big Lie?

It is a lie at least for the residents of DC.

How can any American citizen be without proper representation in our Congress?

Would you stand by and let your voice go unheard?

Anyone else have a thought or two on the democracy thing?

What say you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

State Of The Union–2023

It was that time again….the annual manure spreading exercise known as the State of the Union…

As promised a quick and painless review of last night’s speech..

President Biden is stressing unity and the economy in his 2023 State of the Union address. Some key early points on those fronts from his prime-time speech on Tuesday:

  • “You know, my Republican friends, we could work together the last Congress. There’s no reason we can’t work together and find consensus on important things in this Congress as well,” said Biden, per the Washington Post. “Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict, gets us nowhere.” In fact, before the president began his speech, he publicly congratulated the new House speaker, Republican Kevin McCarthy. “Speaker, I don’t want to run your reputation, but I look forward to working with you.”
  • “We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it,” the president said. “Today, COVID no longer controls our lives. And two years ago, our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War. Today, though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken.”
  • The economy is a big theme, per the New York Times. “As I stand here tonight, we have created a record 12 million new jobs—more jobs created in two years than any president has ever created in four years,” says the president. (The boast is accurate, but CNN notes that the pandemic skewed things.) “My economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten. … This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives.”
  • Buying American: Biden announced that all construction material for federal projects must be made in America. “Lumber, glass, drywall, fiber optic cable. And on my watch, American roads, bridges, and American highways are going to be made with American products as well.”

During the speech the idiots acted out and did what they do….political theater….

Things got a little testy in the House as President Biden made his pitch for Congress to lift the debt ceiling to avoid default. Biden said Republicans lifted the ceiling three times for former President Trump “without preconditions or crisis,” per the New York Times. “Tonight, I’m asking this Congress to follow suit.” Jeers rang out from Republicans as Biden said of Trump: “No president added more to the national debt in any four years than my predecessor,” notes the Washington Post.

And boos and shouts of “liar” and bulls—” could be heard as Biden accused Republicans of going after Social Security and Medicare, per the Times. “Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security sunset.” As the boos rang out, Biden added that he “wasn’t saying it’s a majority” of Republicans. He ad-libbed: “Let me tell you, I enjoy conversation.” The Hill notes that GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene yelled, “Liar!” and gave a thumbs-down to Biden’s comments.

Later, as Biden was asking Congress to pass his immigration plan, some Republicans, including Greene, chanted “Secure our border!” per the Washington Post. Biden paused briefly amid the chants, and the New York Times reports that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy “shushed” the GOP chanters.

Then there is the inevitable ‘rebuttal’ this time it was a Trumpian idiot, the governor of Arkansas Huckabee…..as of yet the GOP has never found an intelligent response to the SOTU….and this year was no different.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the Republican rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, and she did not hold back: The Arkansas governor declared Biden “unfit to serve as commander in chief” and said he’s putting both the US and the entire world at risk with his “weakness.” She also took a shot at his age: “At 40, I’m the youngest governor in the country, and at 80, he’s the oldest president in American history,” she said. A few more of her biggest jabs at Biden and the Democrats, as reported by CNN, the Wall Street Journal, and Politico:

  • “Normal” and “crazy” made a couple appearances: “The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left. The choice is between normal or crazy,” she said. At another point, decrying what she called the “false idols” of Democrats, she said, “That’s not normal. It’s crazy, and it’s wrong.”
  • So did “woke”: Drawing another contrast between herself and Biden, Sanders said, “I’m the first woman to lead my state and he’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.” She also specifically called out Biden’s SOTU address as being tethered to “woke fantasies.”
  • Her former boss was also mentioned: Recalling her time as Donald Trump’s press secretary, she talked about a trip to Iraq on Christmas in 2018, saying that when the troops saw Trump, “the room erupted. Men and women from every race, religion, and region, every political party, every demographic you can imagine started chanting in perfect unison over and over and over again, ‘USA, USA, USA.’ It was an absolutely perfect picture of what makes our country great.”
  • In contrast to that, “Biden and the Democrats have failed you,” she said, pointing to inflation, crime, border policy, education, and US-China relations, among other things. She said she didn’t believe “much of anything” Biden said in his address, accusing him of “doubling down on crazy.”
  • And a line from Trump: In his own brief response to the SOTU, Trump said in regard to sexual orientation and gender identity issues that Biden is “trying to indoctrinate and mutilate our children.” As for Sanders, she said “most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.”

All in all the speech was great political theater that proves just how petty the GOP has become.

All in all the speech was a yawn….but if you would like more opinions from others…..

One big theme in coverage of President Biden’s Tuesday night State of the Union address? The POTUS was scrappy and seemed to relish it. As Politico’s headline briefly put it, “Biden pokes the elephant.” Some quick takes and reactions:

  • CNN offers a few takeaways from the SOTU here. Kevin Liptak notes the president “powered through” despite the clear and open hostility aimed his way from the other side of the aisle. “The spectacle of Biden smiling and offering a pointed riposte through multiple rounds of heckling from some House Republicans was, in many ways, an apt illustration of his presidency and a useful preview of his likely 2024 candidacy,” Liptak writes. Another takeaway? Despite his age, he showed “vigor” and energy, per Liptak.
  • At Fox News, however, David N. Bossie illustrates how Republicans saw the speech: He says Biden “was in full spin mode from the get-go, behaving more like a desperate candidate on the campaign trail.” Bossie also says Biden’s speech failed to reflect on the “obvious takeaway,” which, according to Bossie, is that Republicans took control of the House of Representatives in the midterms “because the American people voted against the president’s left-wing agenda
  • At NBC News, Jonathan Allen delves into the moment Marjorie Taylor Greene called Biden a liar, when the president was accusing Republicans of going after Medicare and social security. He “went off-script” to accept Greene’s comment “as on-the-spot agreement from the GOP to keep the programs intact,” proving he was “nimble enough … to box them in on Social Security and Medicare.”
  • Vox runs down 5 winners and 2 losers from the SOTU here. Among the winners: “The ad-libbing old-school Joe Biden.”
  • If you’re looking for economic takeaways, CNBC has those here. Among the topics: billionaire tax, junk fees, and the insulin price cap.
  • If it’s fact-checking you’re interested in, outlets including CNN, the Hill, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and PolitiFact did that.
  • The Post also looks at 39 “key proposals, pledges, or priorities” from last year’s SOTU and runs down which ones flopped and which ones succeeded in the year since.

But for those that want to draw their own conclusion….Politico has a full transcript of Tuesday’s speech here.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tonight Is The Night

The big news for today, Tuesday, is that Biden will strut into the joint session of Congress and give his speech, State of the Union….I will watch and write my review tomorrow but for those that have better things to do then here is what is expected tonight…..

President Biden delivers his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, but don’t expect a raft of specific new policy proposals given the near impossibility of making them reality in a divided Congress, reports the AP. Instead, expect a speech offering Americans general reassurances that the nation is on the right track, particularly with the economy in regard to inflation and unemployment. Presidential historian Luke Nichter of Chapman University sees Biden’s No. 1 goal as being a “calming presence” for the country. Another crucial task will be making the case that he should run for re-election, even as many Democratic voters are skeptical about that.

“I think this is an impossible speech to give because it’s a speech that requires him to speak both about the state of the union as it is and the direction he hopes to lead it, which is about playing the role of statesman,” political scientist William Howell of the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy tells the Hill. “But it also is going to lay the groundwork for most likely his own run for office in 2024, which will call for him to be decidedly political and to cover all kinds of ground.” The war in Ukraine and China’s spy balloon are likely to surface as topics on the world front.

“(W)e’re told not to expect a red-meat, campaign-style speech,” per the Politico Playbook. “Instead, expect a traditional presidential call for unity—and a subtler pitch for steady leadership over partisan chaos as Washington heads into a high-stakes standoff over the debt limit and long-term fiscal planning.” The speech starts at 9pm Eastern, and notable guests include the mother of Tyre Nichols, the man who stopped a gunman at a California dance hall, and Bono.

This speech will probably be a yawn because there is very little Biden can say or promise that will be at all doable.

Stay tuned for the speech review tomorrow here on IST.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Today Is The Day!

Hold your breathe for today is going to be interesting….or even comical….either way the theater will be massive…..

Today’s a milestone day for the Treasury Department, though it’s one it had hoped wouldn’t arrive. Thursday marks when the United States is expected to hit its $31.4 trillion debt cap, a borrowing limit set by Congress that means Treasury will now have to get creative with other ways to pay the nation’s bills. Per the New York Times, the development is expected to set off a contentious debt-ceiling fight between Democrats, who want to lift the cap, and Republicans, who say no way unless President Biden OKs significant spending cuts. “At a moment of heightened partisanship and divided government, it is … a warning of the entrenched partisan battles that are set to dominate Washington in the months to come, and that could end in economic shock,” the paper notes. More on what’s ahead:

  • A feud that may ‘cross the Rubicon’: That’s how Axios paints the “fraught and perilous” debate, in which it anticipates neither side will do much negotiating. That’s not good news when the US is perched on the precipice of a recession. The outlet notes it could also be “an avatar of what some have argued is a US democracy that’s become increasingly polarized, ungovernable, incapable of tackling major challenges—and could be on the verge of outright destabilization.”
  • What it means for Americans: CNN notes that “every American could feel the pain” of what’s to come, and USA Today delves further into the ways the debt-ceiling fight could impact our finances, from how it will affect tax refunds and 401(k) accounts to what it means for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
  • What it means for investors: The New York Times offers its take on where to put your money during such turbulent times. One takeaway: Sticking with stocks and bonds over the long haul will probably serve you well.
  • Looking to the past for precedent: CNN takes a look back at other debt standoffs, including in 1995, when the debt was a mere $4.9 trillion. NPR, meanwhile, talks to two key players during the 2011 debt-ceiling impasse—Jason Furman, an economic adviser to then-President Obama, and Rohit Kumar, an adviser to Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican that year—to see if there are lessons to be gleaned.
  • But this isn’t 2011: Participants in a roundtable discussion at the Times note that things are very different than they were a decade ago—including “a worrying trend of edging closer and closer to red lines because lawmakers think there’s political benefit and that there won’t actually be consequences.” In other words, it’s become a high-stakes game of chicken that could have far-reaching repercussions.

Let the games begin!

House GOP will inflict as much pain as they can on Americans…..

Thursday, January 19, 2023 as the day the United States is likely to reach its debt limit, although she has also said that she can keep the federal government open through June by resorting to “extraordinary measures.” Yellen has stressed that the sooner Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. House of Republicans can reach some type of agreement on the debt ceiling, the better. But the two major parties appear to be at a stalemate in the House, where Freedom Caucus and Tea Party Republicans are demanding major spending cuts and Democrats are maintaining that vital programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid should not be on the chopping block.

Meanwhile, countless economists are warning that if the U.S. defaults on its debt obligations, the results would be disastrous economically and trigger a painful recession. Liberal economist Paul Krugman, in his New York Times column, has warned that House Republicans are happy to risk a financial calamity in the hope of butchering Social Security and Medicare. And Never Trump conservative Charlie Sykes has argued that House Republicans aren’t being “fiscally conservative” when they play “chicken” with the U.S. economy and risk a default on the United States’ debt obligations — they’re being reckless and irresponsible.

https://www.alternet.org/debt-ceiling-2659280721/

May I suggest that you invest in some Vaseline and just bend over….for the Repubs are coming.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Government Will Be Up And Running

As the year comes to an end the Congress did what it was suppose to do….and the president signed the spending bill in a flourish….

President Biden on Thursday signed a $1.7 trillion spending bill that will keep the federal government operating through the end of the budget year in September 2023. Biden had a late Friday deadline to sign the bill to avert a partial government shutdown, the AP reports. The White House said the bill was sent to the president on a commercial flight to St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, where Biden is vacationing, per CNN. The bill will “invest in medical research, safety, veteran health care, disaster recovery, (Violence Against Women Act) funding—and gets crucial assistance to Ukraine,” Biden tweeted, adding, “Looking forward to more in 2023.”

A $1.7 trillion spending bill financing federal agencies through September and providing more aid to a devastated Ukraine cleared the House on Friday as lawmakers race to finish their work for the year and avoid a partial government shutdown. The bill passed mostly along party lines, 225-201. It now goes to President Biden to be signed into law, per the AP. Passage of the bill represented a closing act for Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s second stint as House speaker, and for the Democratic majority she led back to power in the 2018 election. Republicans will take control of the House next year and Rep. Kevin McCarthy is campaigning to replace her.

He is appealing for support from staunch conservatives in his caucus who have largely trashed the size of the bill and many of the priorities it contains. He spoke with a raised voice for about 25 minutes, assailing the bill for spending too much and doing too little to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl across the US-Mexico border. “This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I’ve ever seen in this body,” McCarthy said of the legislation. The speech prompted a quick quip from Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who said “after listening to that, it’s clear he doesn’t have the votes yet,” a reference to McCarthy’s campaign to become speaker.

The bill runs for 4,155 pages, not including amendments the Senate added. It contains about a 6% percent increase in spending for domestic initiatives, to $772.5 billion. Spending on defense programs will increase by about 10% to $858 billion. The massive bill wraps together 12 appropriations bills, aid to Ukraine, and disaster relief for communities recovering from hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires. Lawmakers provided roughly $45 billion for Ukraine and NATO allies, more than even Biden requested, an acknowledgment that future rounds of funding are not guaranteed with a new GOP-led House.

It is such good news….we can have a government for another few months…..

Let me ask…..what part of massive cash for Ukraine will keep our government working?

I hear a lot of guff about how there is too much pork in these types of bills….and yet they say nothing about this bit of pork belly.  Why?

One last question that never gets asked and when it is there is never an answer.

Just what does the US expect in return for our ‘investment’ in Ukraine?

(Pause here for the sound of crickets)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Christmas Eve–2022

First I am recovering from my massive head cold and since it is Christmas Eve I will post only one today so that I can catch up on my holiday prep….

The 06 January Committee has just finished their investigation and the findings are sent to the publishers (and I await the day)….but for those that actually care there are a few of the most glaring findings that can be shared before the publication…..

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack released its final report Thursday, saying the main cause of the attack was “one man.” They wrote that former President Donald Trump “put the lives of American lawmakers at risk” and threatened American democracy by trying to overturn his 2020 election loss and encouraging his most extreme supporters to march on the Capitol. Some key takeaways:

  • Trump spread claims he had been told were untrue. The report found that Trump’s false declaration of victory on election night was “premeditated” and in the months afterward, he continued to spread fraud claims that his top advisers had told him were untrue, the BBC reports. Former aide Hope Hicks testified that Trump himself mocked some of the “crazy” claims made by lawyer Sidney Powell, reports the New York Times. The committee found that Trump’s claims and his Dec. 19 “Be there, will be wild” tweet brought extremists to Washington, DC, on Jan. 6.
  • Far-right groups led the attack. The report found that the first wave of rioters to enter the Capitol was “disproportionately comprised of members of the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, QAnon fanatics and so-called ‘Groypers’ loyal to Nick Fuentes” per Politico. The report said that calling the attack a riot was “partly true.” “Some of those who trespassed on the Capitol’s grounds or entered the building did not plan to do so beforehand” the report said. “But it is also true that extremists, conspiracy theorists and others were prepared to fight. That is an insurrection.”
  • Trump failed to act and seemed to approve of riot. The report documented how Trump watched the attack unfold on television, resisting calls to urge his supporters to stop the violence and failing to instruct federal law enforcement agencies to assist besieged officers from the Capitol Police and DC Metropolitan Police. “Potus im sure is loving this,” Trump aide Robert Gabriel said in a text message during the attack, per the Washington Post.
  • Trump corruptly sought to overturn election. The panel set out details of Trump’s plot to overturn the election results, including how he pressured then-Vice President Pence to refuse to count electoral results and sought to corrupt the Department of Justice by trying to goad DOJ officials into making false statements in support of his effort, the Guardian reports.
  • “Should we just deploy now and resign tomorrow?” The report details how law enforcement failed to share or act on warnings of potential violence ahead of the riot and describes the frustration of the DC National Guard as the riot unfolded and they were not called in. It said the guard’s commander, Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, said at one point, “Shall we just deploy now and resign tomorrow?” per the New York Times.
  • Key recommendations. Beyond criminal charges for Trump, the panel recommended banning the former president from holding public office in the future, the Hill reports. It also called for tougher oversight of the Capitol Police, greater subpoena powers for Congress, and for the joint session of Congress to count electoral votes to be declared a national security special event. The report said Congress should investigate the “policies of media companies that have had the effect of radicalizing their consumers, including by provoking people to attack their own country.”

Now you know…..

Watch this blog for more information.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Merry Christmas

Battling Crazies

It is not much of a secret that I have little use for babbling buffoons in our Congress…..and 2 of the biggest and loudest babblers are MTG of Georgia and Boebert of Colorado….

They are two high-profile congresswomen on the right who might be mistaken for what Politico calls “MAGA twins” from a distance. But friction between Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado has spilled into public in a big way in recent days. It began when Boebert was asked whether she is on board with Greene’s support of Kevin McCarthy to be the next House speaker. “I’ve been aligned with Marjorie and accused of believing a lot of the things that she believes in,” Boebert said. “I don’t believe in this just like I don’t believe in … Jewish space lasers.” The latter is a shot at a widely ridiculed conspiracy theory (the lasers were supposedly causing California wildfires) that Greene once floated on Facebook, per Insider.

Greene quickly fired back in a heated Twitter thread. “I’ve supported and donated to Lauren Boebert. President Trump has supported and donated to Lauren Boebert. Kevin McCarthy has supported and donated to Lauren Boebert. She just barely came through by 500 votes,” Greene wrote, referring to her colleague’s close reelection victory. “She gladly takes our $$$ but when she’s been asked: Lauren refuses to endorse President Trump, she refuses to support Kevin McCarthy, and she childishly threw me under the bus for a cheap sound bite.” Greene also accused Boebert of taking part in “high school drama.”

The Politico story adds that such friction goes back to at least April, when the pair got into an argument at a House Freedom Caucus forum over Greene’s attendance at a white nationalist rally. “Their confrontation grew so heated that at least one onlooker feared the Greene-Boebert back-and-forth might escalate beyond the verbal cage match had another board member not stepped in to de-escalate,” per the story, which adds that Boebert “detests” being linked to Greene. The Colorado congresswoman has not responded to the Greene criticism. The Daily Beast notes that both women, seated near other, famously heckled President Biden during his State of the Union speech earlier this year

Could this be a set-up for a truly disturbing Congress in 2023?

To me it will be nothing more than theatrics and a disruption in the proceedings.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ever Had One Of Those Days?

This week is not a couple of days that Trump would not envision for himself.

The closing down of the investigation into 06 January, his taxes and one of his major supporters…..

Former President Trump will very much be in the headlines again this week, in ways he probably won’t like. “Taken together, this week will point a spotlight on both Mr. Trump’s refusal to cede power and the issue that he has most acutely guarded for decades, the actual size of his personal wealth and his sources of income,” writes Maggie Haberman in the New York Times.

Jan. 6 panel: The House panel investigating the Capitol riot has what is expected to be its final public meeting at 1pm Monday. The panel is poised to recommend criminal charges against Trump, per the AP, though the final decision rests with the Justice Department. “I think the president has violated multiple criminal laws and I think you have to be treated like any other American who breaks the law,” panel member Adam Schiff, a Democrat, said on CNN. And on Wednesday, the panel is expected to release its final report before dissolving.

  • Taxes: On Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee will debate behind closed doors whether to publicly release the six years of Trump’s tax returns it obtained after years of legal wrangling, per the New York Times. Any such release would likely happen before the end of the year, while Democrats still control the House.
  • Proud Boys: Members of the pro-Trump group the Proud Boys, including founder Enrique Tarrio, go on trial Monday for their role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, per CBS News. The men are accused of seditious conspiracy for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of Trump.

Not good news for Trump…..but with that said I do not expect much to stick to our teflon don…..

By now all have heard of those trading cards and all the accusations swirling around them…..

Surely, this will come as a huge surprise, but the new NFT trading cards unveiled by former president Donald Trump this week to immediate ridicule also just happens to have a dubious provenance. And although the company behind the cards is still shrouded in mystery, it traces back to another third-party company known for registering shell companies.

Neither Trump himself nor the Trump Organization has anything to do with the cards. Instead, his likeness is being licensed through a company called NFT International LLC from another mysterious venture called CIC Ventures. And as New York Times reporter Ken Bensinger points out, the mailing address for CIC Ventures just so happens to be that of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

“The company that licensed Trump’s image and likeness for the $99 NFT trading cards appears to be one founded in 2021 by former Trump advisor Nick Luna and current Trump lawyer John Marion,” Bensinger tweeted on Thursday, noting the suspicious mailing address.

The company behind Donald Trump’s NFT trading cards shockingly has mysterious and shady roots

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”