Politics, Everyday, All day... morning, noon and night....II

[Simon of the Playa]

"As early as November 6, 2020, three days after the presidential election but before it had been decided, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who handled communication with the president, texted with a member of Congress about appointing alternate electors in certain states. Meadows told the lawmaker: “I love it.”

Biden was declared the winner of the election on November 7, 2020. That day, Meadows received an email suggesting “the appointment of alternate slates of electors as part of a ‘direct and collateral attack’ after the election.”

On December 1, 2020, then–Attorney General William Barr undercut Trump’s claims of voter fraud by telling the Associated Press: “[W]e have not seen fraud on a scale that could have [caused] a different outcome in the election.”

The true electors met in the states on Monday, December 14, 2020, and cast their ballots for Biden’s victory. Their states certified those ballots.

On the same day, on Fox & Friends, Trump advisor Stephen Miller announced that the campaign would overturn the election results and certify Trump as the winner. “As we speak today,” he said, “an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote, and we’re going to send those results up to Congress.” Ultimately, fake electors in seven states—New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin—sent fake ballots to Washington. Election law experts dismissed the possibility that these fake electors could accomplish anything; the certified ballots were the true ones.

That same day, December 14, 2020, Trump announced that Attorney General William Barr was resigning. His last day at work was December 23, 2020."


https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ry-17-2022

[Sham]

"As early as November 6, 2020, three days after the presidential election but before it had been decided, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who handled communication with the president, texted with a member of Congress about appointing alternate electors in certain states. Meadows told the lawmaker: “I love it.”

Biden was declared the winner of the election on November 7, 2020. That day, Meadows received an email suggesting “the appointment of alternate slates of electors as part of a ‘direct and collateral attack’ after the election.”

On December 1, 2020, then–Attorney General William Barr undercut Trump’s claims of voter fraud by telling the Associated Press: “[W]e have not seen fraud on a scale that could have [caused] a different outcome in the election.”

The true electors met in the states on Monday, December 14, 2020, and cast their ballots for Biden’s victory. Their states certified those ballots.

On the same day, on Fox & Friends, Trump advisor Stephen Miller announced that the campaign would overturn the election results and certify Trump as the winner. “As we speak today,” he said, “an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote, and we’re going to send those results up to Congress.” Ultimately, fake electors in seven states—New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin—sent fake ballots to Washington. Election law experts dismissed the possibility that these fake electors could accomplish anything; the certified ballots were the true ones.

That same day, December 14, 2020, Trump announced that Attorney General William Barr was resigning. His last day at work was December 23, 2020."


https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ry-17-2022

You know Simon, you act as if there's something wrong with doing this.

[some seeing eye]

The combination of the Federalist Society which promotes radical right judges, and the Chamber of Commerce which promotes pro-business and anti-people judges https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/maga ... eme-t.html has brought us here today.

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/18/10734283 ... ers-either

[Simon of the Playa]

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. believes "this is an extremely dangerous situation. We are now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack."

https://www.axios.com/russia-ukraine-be ... 1034c.html

[Simon of the Playa]

Today, Germany’s new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, spoke with Lavrov before reporters in Moscow, firmly placing blame for escalating tensions at the feet of the Russians and insisting on the rule of law.

And yet, here at home, Fox News Channel personality Tucker Carlson is echoing Russian propaganda, suggesting that the U.S. is the aggressor against Russia rather than that Russia is moving against Ukraine without provocation. He appears to be taking a stand against the U.S. president, who is standing with NATO and our traditional democratic allies, and instead standing with Russia much as Trump did.

January 6 investigation: Today, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol subpoenaed Trump’s attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Boris Epshteyn, who were allegedly present in the “War Room” planning the January 6 insurrection, as well as Trump’s lawyers Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, who were active in trying to overturn the election with accusations of voter fraud.

“The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former President about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) wrote. The committee has asked for documents and depositions.

On January 13, the committee issued subpoenas to four social media companies. It had asked for cooperation but felt the companies were responding inadequately. Thompson wrote: “Two key questions for the Select Committee are how the spread of misinformation and violent extremism contributed to the violent attack on our democracy, and what steps—if any—social media companies took to prevent their platforms from being breeding grounds for radicalizing people to violence.” The subpoenas went to Alphabet, which is the parent company of YouTube; Meta, the parent company of Facebook; Reddit; and Twitter.

CNN reports that the January 6 committee has subpoenaed and obtained phone records for Eric Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Donald Trump, Jr. Both were involved in the January 6 rally at the Ellipse before the attack on the Capitol. This appears to be the committee’s first subpoena to a member of the Trump family, although Trump’s White House chief of staff Mark Meadows voluntarily handed over text records from Donald Trump, Jr.

Last week, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a Constitutional law professor and a member of the January 6 committee, said that the committee hearings, planned for later this year, will “blow the roof off the House.” “This is the most bipartisan committee I’ve ever been on, with a great Democratic chair and a great Republican vice chair and what I see is constitutional patriots working every single day and every single evening to get the truth out to the American people before it’s too late,” Raskin said.

A statement by Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) on NBC yesterday suggests that Raskin’s predictions are right. Romney called the January 6 investigation an “important and legitimate effort,” countering the Trump loyalists who are calling it illegitimate and perhaps getting ahead of whatever is going to turn up.

Finally, the case against one of Trump’s key loyalists, Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who has been under investigation for sex trafficking, appears to have gotten hotter. His ex-girlfriend, who was with him and the underage girl alleged to have crossed state lines with Gaetz for sexual predation, has received immunity in exchange for her testimony before a federal grand jury.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ry-18-2022

[Canoe]

Nominated: Simon of the Playa
For: The most posts that scared me in 2021, and The scariest posts in 2021
(and off for a pretty good start for 2022)

[Simon of the Playa]

The claim that the Justices’ opinions are politically neutral is becoming increasingly hard to accept, especially from Thomas, whose wife, Virginia (Ginni) Thomas, is a vocal right-wing activist. She has declared that America is in existential danger because of the “deep state” and the “fascist left,” which includes “transsexual fascists.” Thomas, a lawyer who runs a small political-lobbying firm, Liberty Consulting, has become a prominent member of various hard-line groups. Ginni Thomas’s political activism has caused controversy for years. For the most part, it has been dismissed as the harmless action of an independent spouse. But now the Court appears likely to secure victories for her allies in a number of highly polarizing cases—on abortion, affirmative action, and gun rights.

Many Americans first became aware of Ginni Thomas’s activism on January 6, 2021. That morning, before the Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C., turned into an assault on the Capitol resulting in the deaths of at least five people, she cheered on the supporters of President Donald Trump who had gathered to overturn Biden’s election. In a Facebook post that went viral, she linked to a news item about the protest, writing, “love maga people!!!!” Shortly afterward, she posted about Ronald Reagan’s famous “A Time for Choosing” speech. Her next status update said, “god bless each of you standing up or praying.” Two days after the insurrection, she added a disclaimer to her feed, noting that she’d written the posts “before violence in US Capitol.” (The posts are no longer public.)

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022 ... reme-court

[Simon of the Playa]

"Fani Willis wants a special grand jury for her investigation. What does this mean for Trump? It confirms what we wrote in our report: he's at substantial risk of prosecution in GA,"

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-g ... ry-1671537

[The Rod]

It’s only a matter of time until this guy has something like santorum named after him

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[Simon of the Playa]

Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis last week asked for a special grand jury to investigate former president Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Willis has said she needs the grand jury because a number of potential witnesses for Trump’s actions refuse to testify without subpoenas, which the grand jury can provide. The judges on Fulton County’s Superior Court agreed to a grand jury to be impaneled May 2.

This is the only investigation we know of that is focusing directly on Trump himself and his part in trying to steal the election. Observers say that he is at risk of being charged with racketeering or conspiracy; Willis hired an outside expert in state racketeering back in March.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ry-25-2022

[Canoe]

I've decided I'm going to start answering questions my wife asks me like a politician.
"Did you empty the dishwasher?"
"Let me be clear. I support clean dishes. I have always supported clean dishes. It is imperative that the dishes off of which we eat are clean."

My wife and I are sitting on the couch watching tv and I hear a text. Realizing I left my phone in the kitchen, I get up, go to the kitchen to check it...
And it's a test from my wife: "Please bring the chips on your way back"

[DVD Burner]

FACT!


AGAIN! MORONS!

[DVD Burner]

THE SHIT I KNOW?



Ok....

[Simon of the Playa]

E8DE8857-926C-4D81-AC46-45C5F51BDBD0.jpeg

[some seeing eye]

The extreme Trump right has developed a new tactic, history denial and covering up anything they don't like by removing discussion from schools and books from libraries.

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/the-mau ... 1.10578086

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/31/10769708 ... hool-board

[lucky420]

And there’s some snowflake law gov deathsantis is trying to shove through in Florida. Something about making white people feel bad.

So much fragility, so much bullshit

[some seeing eye]

The RQP (good name for a bad thing!) has been following the Rove strategy for years.

The Rove strategy is to capture 51% of the vote in the states necessary to just win. To get each 51% you divide the voters by special interests to put together a minority coalition. A few anti-abortionists here, a few gun nuts there, a few school board activists, anti-maskers, anti-vaxers, climate change deniers, poor white people blaming new immigrants, etc. A true leader unites.

What FOX discovered is that you can create compulsive consumers of news lies between advertising lies by convincing watchers they are "victims." That is directly tied to the fight-flight brain pathway.

The RQP has a brilliant propagandist in Frank Luntz.

The other problem the RQP has is that they are liars and thieves (corruption and wealth transfer from the poor to the rich) despite those prohibitions in the Ten Commandments. Of course Trump and Gaetz have some problems with even more of the Ten Commandments.

If the dems don't get every young voter and every voter out for the midterms, and in 2024, we are going to go backwards on climate, employment, schools, and foreign policy.

[The Rod]

the dems already screwed that pooch. all they had to do was deliver tangible material relief to the millions of struggling americans and they'd never lose another election in 50 years.

but what did they do instead?....

....


....

[Simon of the Playa]

“This is a warning for what’s coming. It’s not going to be peaceful much longer. It’s going to be real … I’ve been in combat and I never wanted to go back again, but I’m telling you what – I will to stay in this country. If it has to be against our own citizens, it will happen. And there’s a million people like me, and you won’t stop us,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... itia-group

[Simon of the Playa]

“The Republican Party is so off the deep end now that they are describing an attempted coup and a deadly insurrection as political expression,” said Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland and a member of the special House committee investigating the Capitol attack. “It is a scandal that historians will be aghast at, to think that a major political party would be denouncing Liz Cheney for standing up for the Constitution and not saying anything about Donald Trump’s involvement in the insurrection.”

Representative Adam Schiff, Democrat of California and who is also on the committee, said, “their party has degenerated into a cult to the former president, unwilling to acknowledge the truth, and I think they condemn themselves with their resolution.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/04/us/p ... nsure.html

[art walsh]

The present administration is so inept that they were working on evacuation plans the day before Afghanistan fell

[Simon of the Playa]

now, back to our usual programming...


Certainly, Trump loyalist Stephen Bannon recognized Pence’s words as a defection. On his podcast, Bannon addressed Pence, saying: “You are a stone cold coward…. My head’s blowing up.... I can’t take Pence…and Marc Short and all these Koch guys up there ratting out Trump up on Capitol Hill right now.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ary-4-2022

[lucky420]

The walls are closing in
YAY

[Simon of the Playa]

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[lucky420]

Looks exactly the same. What a bunch of insecure douchebags. It’s all I got, trying to be nice today…

[Canoe]

If we don’t learn about truthful history we are doomed to always repeat it. The ones who want to suppress, erase, mythicize history etc. are the ones whose goal is to repeat it.

imagine being so proud of your history that you criminalized learning about it

[Canoe]

Do I have this right? Kneeling disrespects the flag, but beating a cop with a falg is 'legitimate political discourse'? Maybe I'm new around here, but that sounds fucking nuts.

pro tip: going apeshit and bludgeoning a cop because you're made about losing an election is not "political discourse" unless you're a fucking fascist, so congratulations on that

I was disagreeing with a friend about politics last night. I got so annoyed that I bear-sprayed him and beat him with a flagpole. I was surprised when he objected since we were obviously engaging in legitimate political discourse.

The Taliban is the part of women's rights.

The Republican Party is the part of law and order.

[Canoe]

If we don’t learn about truthful history we are doomed to always repeat it. The ones who want to suppress, erase, mythicize history etc. are the ones whose goal is to repeat it.

More white-washing history by Glenn Youngkins.

The historian tasked with teaching about slavery at the Virginia Governors Mansion just resigned. The Youngkins converted her classroom into a family room - and emptied her office.

I'm not going to sit here and talk about the slippery slope that book banning leads to because I learned from a book, that I checked out from my school's library, that I don't need to resort to logical fallacy to make a point. I'm simply going to say that no government - and public school is an extension of government - has ever banned books, and banned information from its public, and been remembered in history as the good guys."

[Canoe]

Remind us how women got the right to vote again.

The Constitution is not evolving. To say that spits in the face of every single one of our founders.

[Simon of the Playa]

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