2022 Election Republican Extremists

 

The nation's focus is on Arizona because the experts say that if the radical slate of extremist candidates win, democracy is lost in the state. The concern is over a select five including Kari Lake, running for governor, Mark Finchem for Sec. State, Blake Masters, U.S. Senate and incumbent House members Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs. All 2020 election deniers. Gosar's family even says do not vote for him. There are more not on the current active list which I will cover later.

What can I say about Kari Lake?...She's a misinformation lunatic and possibly the next train wreck to hit Arizona unless she is stopped. If you go to "Search," above, and type in her name, there are numerous posts that express the need to defeat her. One of my favorites is "Kari Lake, Potentially Most Dangerous Politician in America," It recounts one of her latest lies saying she has won the election...

"Lake boasted that recent polls showed her up 11 points and 9 points just before Fox News flashed a graphic of the latest New York Times/Siena College poll showing the race tied at 48 to 48 percent." 

You cannot believe Kari Lake so why would anyone but an idiot want her for the next governor of Arizona? VOTE FOR KATIE HOBBS (D) TOMORROW!

Mark Finchem is a devout 2020 election denier, but his most serious downside is the fact that he has said, if elected, he wants to do away with 'vote by mail' in Arizona and will make changes to the state's voting system that will make it harder to go to the polls in the future. In a debate this whacko admitted 'the big lie" is a fraud. Duties of the Arizona Secretary of State include serving as the state's chief election officer. So, VOTE FOR ADRIAN FONTES (D) TOMORROW!

Blake Masters, another avid believer that the 2020 election was won by Donald Trump, not Joe Biden. Masters is not alone...

"Election deniers will be on the ballot in 48 of 50 states and make up more than half of all Republicans running for congressional and state offices in the midterm elections. Nearly 300 Republicans seeking those offices this November have denied or questioned the outcome of the last presidential election, according to a Washington Post analysis."

This is unconscionable as is Masters' position in Arizona. VOTE FOR INCUMBENT SENATOR MARK KELLY TOMORROW! 

Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, two Arizona House members that should have been voted out years ago. My blog on February 9, of this year, following the Republican insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, "ARIZONA: Home of Insurrectionists." pretty much labels Biggs and Gosar the anarchists they are. Added to that...

Leading Phoenix columnist E.J. Montini says it all in his headline, "Arizona's Jan. 6 insurrectionists should be barred from holding office."

The same should apply, of course, to the other 2020 deniers mentioned above. But it all comes down to the 14th Amendment; here is Section 3...

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

And the other non-active Arizona election participants are Karen Fann, Kelli

Ward and Wendy Rogers. Fann, as Arizona Senate Pres. ordered an audit of the election results in Maricopa County, hiring a firm that was founded by a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist who promoted false claims of fraud. And Ward, after losing three Arizona elections, was chosen as chair of the Arizona Republican Party and who filed lawsuits seeking to nullify the state's (AZ) 2020 election results.

Finally, Wendy Rogers, the Arizona state Senator who was the focus of an ethics investigation by her own party for a comment on the Buffalo gun massacre...

“Of course I condemn the violence in Buffalo, who doesn’t?” Rogers tweeted on Monday morning – two days after suggesting it was a false flag attack by a federal agent.

 Could it get any hotter? Many political pundits are exclaiming, 'so goes Arizona, so goes the rest of the U.S. The local newspaper, The Arizona Republic, a conservative publication said this...

"Don't sit out this election. The stakes are too high"

VOTE TOMORROW AND MAKE THIS A BLUE TSUNAMI! 

Republican FlimFlam for the Day

 

"Republicans Have Made It Very Clear What They Want to Do if They Win Congress." Ezra Klein, Opinion Columnist for the New York Times, sets the stage. It is an extremist agenda that...

"would fall to President Biden’s veto. What Republicans could do is trigger crises they hope would give them leverage to force Biden to accept this agenda or perhaps force him out of office. And even where Republican leaders do not actually believe that crisis would win them the day, they may have to trigger it anyway to prove their commitment to the cause or to avoid the wrath of Donald Trump."

 READ MORE... 

"‘These are conditions ripe for political violence’: how close is the US to civil war?" The Guardian says...

"Nearly half of Americans fear their country will erupt within the next decade. Ahead of the midterm elections this week, three experts analyse the depth of the crisis."

And...

"Barbara F Walter: ‘Judges will be assassinated, Democrats will be jailed on bogus charges, black churches and synagogues bombed’" American political scientist and author of How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them (Viking)

The one clear fact of the dilemma we are in is that it was all caused by the Donald Trump administration and his minions, with near-complete agreement of the Republican Party.

READ MORE...

"DeSantis releases ad suggesting God created him on the eighth day as he needed ‘a fighter’" Bizarre as this may sound, this moron has a solid following in the state of Florida. Of all the political maniacs out there, placing Trump as number one, this one must be stopped. Here's the ad,,,

"As images of Mr DeSantis appear onscreen, the ad’s narrator states: 'And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, I need a protector. So God made him a fighter.'”

This is beyond believable but clearly shows this authoritarian clown is serious and that is disaster for Floridians and the United States. 

READ MORE...

"The results of the midterms may determine if American democracy endures." I am a staunch Robert Reich fan and have been carefully following and posting his views on America's crisis with democracy. We are losing it, thanks to the Republican Party and Reich believes the midterms could set the cursor on the direction the U.S. could take. He says...

"I’m worried that a majority of Republican candidates are telling voters, without any basis in fact, that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump."

And...

"I’m worried that if elected, many of these Republicans will make it harder to conduct elections in the future, allow or encourage endless audits of election results, and even refuse to sign off on them."

These are only two of Reich's five "I'm worried that..." comments and the other three are equally chilling.

READ MORE...

Joe Biden Administration Accomplishments

 

People are still making up their minds before going to the polls next Tuesday. Over 20 million Americans have already voted and the U.S. Elections Project reports that more Democrats than Republicans have voted early. With a turnout of 154.8 million (66.8% 18+) in 2020, and with expectations higher for the 2022 midterms, there should be an onslaught on Nov. 8. Michael Moore says it will be a blue tsunami. It should be, based on the accomplishments of the Biden

administration from Matt Robison of RawStory.

You also must credit certain Democrat congressional members for their support of the President's agenda; and then there are others like Sen. Krysten Sinema of Arizona and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia that fought Biden all the way. However, the Biden administration hasn't done a good job of communicating their record achievements, an effort I hope to rectify here to the best of my ability. So, just before that surge to the polls, here are the real facts on Joe Biden.

Let's start with jobs: The greatest single year of job creation in American history, more than 6 million in 2021, a decrease of 16 million receiving unemployment benefits, and the biggest drop in the unemployment rate in history. Including manufacturing jobs, the biggest yearly increase in US manufacturing jobs in nearly 30 years. Democrats’ new incentives for key industries have already led to announcements of thousands of new manufacturing jobs.

The covid pandemic:  Biden executed the most successful American 

vaccination program in history – from under 1 percent of adults fully vaccinated to over 75 percent, with over 500 million shots administered – and from less than half of schools open to almost all of them.

Budget: Jerome Powell has been in a year-long effort to lower the inflation with some success. And, there is the Inflation Reduction Act which reduces the deficit by $300 billion.

For Safety: The President passed the biggest anti-violence measure in decades, including the Gun Safety bill and strengthening the Violence Against Women Act.

Protecting America and our allies: No country has been more active in the support of Ukraine and its fight against the Russians. Biden also kept the NATO alliance together in support of Ukraine following the Russian invasion, brought in two new countries and took out the world’s number one terrorist, Ayman al-Zawahri.

 Top Moments of Joe Biden's Presidency...

For diversity and equality: Democrats made lynching a federal hate crime, made Juneteenth a federal holiday and Biden appointed more Black women to the US Court of Appeals in one year than any president in history.

Confronting poverty: The Democrats' child tax credit created the largest-ever one-year decrease in childhood poverty in U.S. history, around 3 million kids were affected. Households saying they didn’t have enough to eat dropped by a third.

Healthcare: Democrats’ new tax credits resulted in a record 14.5 million Americans signing up through the ACA, including 5.8 million new people getting coverage. They forced drug companies to negotiate prices for the elderly and capped costs at $2,000 per year. This will save elders thousands annually.

Support the police: Democrats passed 4 bills supporting both police and 

crime victims. During Biden's administration he has had to contend with Republicans, especially Donald Trump, advocating violence.

For Veterans: Democrats allocated funds for hundreds of thousands sickened by burn pits in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Climate Change: The Inflation Reduction Act includes the largest investment in history to address global warming. Biden rejoined the Paris Climate Accords and the EPA established strong new fuel economy standards.

Roads, bridges, energy: the bipartisan infrastructure bill will finally fix America’s infrastructure. In 2022 alone, repairs are starting on 65,000 miles of roads and 1,500 bridges, with thousands of jobs created.

As you can see, there is something for everyone. Joe Biden may be softspoken and laid back but he acts with the forceful action this country needs to move back into its place in the world as a leader. We need Biden and supporting Democrats to get the job done after the damage the Republican Party has wreaked on America, led by Donald Trump. We need Joe Biden as president to protect our democracy.

  

Kari Lake Lies Again - Makes Joke About Pelosi Assault

 

As I said in my blog post yesterday, "Kari Lake, Potentially Most Dangerous Politician in America," this country has a desperate problem on its hands if this lunatic is elected to any government office. Republicans are having a field day with the Paul Pelosi assault, with Elon Musk doing his own muckraking, and Lake is licking her conspiracy theory chops as usual. She expects to win the Arizona governor's office Nov. 8, with her special brand of misinformation. 

The Republican disinformation machine is never silent, it purrs right along and has picked up significant speed before the elections. Paul Pelosi, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, Democrat Speaker of the House, is the perfect target. Beyond tasteless, Lake is not alone, Yahoo!News reports, "Prominent Republicans push conspiracy theories about attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband." Some of those mentioned are Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La. and Virginia Gov. Republican Glenn Youngkin.

There are more, and of course...

Donald Trump Jr., meanwhile, shared an Instagram post on Sunday night featuring a photograph of a hammer on top of a pair of Hanes underwear that he captioned, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready.” Trump Jr. doubled down on Monday, reposting the meme and adding the comment, “The internet remains undefeated… Also if you switch out the hammer for a red feather boa you could be Hunter Biden in an instant.” He also shared on Instagram a meme that showed two men having sex and the older one on the phone telling police he’s being attacked.

We expect this kind of nonsensical nonsense from the Trump family but not from elected officials the American public should be able to expect civility from. But, there is no civility left in the Republican Party and that, folks, is the problem. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, "but Paul Pelosi, 82, suffered a fractured skull and underwent surgery at a local hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery." Yet the GOP has chosen to do their smearing at the bottom of the barrel on this.

She just flat-out lied': Cooper calls out Kari Lake's false claim about Paul Pelosi...

Here is Elon Musk's statement with added comment from Yahoo...

“There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” Musk tweeted, along with a link to an account of the attack in the Santa Monica Observer, a site with a history of posting right-wing misinformation.

Musk subsequently deleted the tweet, but he did not post any admission that it was false or apologize for defaming Pelosi. Instead he mocked the New York Times for accurately reporting what he had done.

Saying he is not attached to either political party, he sure sounds like a Republican

to me.

Heading back to Arizona, another political freak...

Wendy Rogers, a Republican state senator in Arizona, shared a phony Amazon listing for a “Paul Pelosi Fake Attack Plastic Novelty Item” that included a blood-stained hammer. Anthony Sabatini, a Republican state legislator in Florida, posted “RELEASE THE PELOSI TAPES” on Twitter. (It’s not clear what tapes he is referring to.)

But here is the ultimate of bad taste... 

"Last Wednesday, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., posted on Twitter a video of himself firing a rifle and the hashtag #FirePelosi. In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Emmer was asked if he would take down the tweet and if he would stop running ads focused on Pelosi. He declined to do either."

With gun violence raging in America, this moron uses a gun to mock Nancy Pelosi. If the American public doesn't realize the dilemma we are in and correct it in the upcoming election, the U.S. is destined for disaster. VOTE DEMOCRAT NOV. 8! 

Kari Lake, Potentially Most Dangerous Politician in America

 

What else do we expect from a Trump worshipper? More lies, of course. Here's the definition of a lie: "a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth." Precisely what Lake has been doing the entire campaign for governor with Katie Hobbs, her Democrat opponent. Here's the scenario from MEDIAite...

"Republican nominee for governor of Arizona, Kari Lake, joined Fox News’s America’s Newsroom on Tuesday and declared “it’s pretty much game over for Katie Hobbs” – her Democratic opponent. Lake boasted that recent polls showed her up 11 points and 9 points just before Fox News flashed a graphic of the latest New York Times/Siena College poll showing the race tied at 48 to 48 percent."

Former President Obama, whom Lake supported in 2016, is coming to town

and, hopefully, will help Katie Hobbs improve her place in the polls. Lake says Obama's trip is no big deal, then rages on about Hobbs refusing to debate her. This is how Hobbs reacted to this claim...

"How do you debate someone who refuses to accept the truth, who doesn’t live in facts? Oh, she’s going to do a shout. Shout over me, interrupt me and spew lies."

Any well-balanced, fair-minded Arizonan would agree with Hobbs' statement, probably adding, Lake is a certified lunatic. It is obvious she was trying to jump on the bandwagon with Barack Obama, then six years later she has found a faster train with Donald Trump. She has no issues other than...Trump. There is no substance in her speeches and even less in the crowd she attracts. And, working for Fox News for 30 years was an excellent training ground for Lake's persistent lies.

Yahoo!News asks, "Is Arizona's Kari Lake the most 'dangerous' politician in America?" The article quotes from Atlantic Magazine and The Washington Post exclaiming the fact that Lake bets all her chips on Donald Trump and the 2020 election denial. But the article gets scary when top Democratic strategists "now believe Lake has the 'potential to soar to a vice presidential spot or a post-Trump presidential candidacy.'”

That isn't just scary, it is downright terrifying! VOTE KATIE HOBBS FOR ARIZONA GOVERNOR!

 

 

American Idol TV Show More Popular Than the Voting Polls

 

With the 2022 midterm election just a week away, and with the polls indicating, well, your guess on that is as good as mine. It all depends on who is doing the poll and sometimes there is no real conclusion. The one person who is sure about the outcome of the November 8 election is documentary maker, Michael Moore...

"Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore isn't backing off his predictions that Democrats will win big in the 2022 midterm elections, even as polls paint an increasingly dire situation for the party."

I did a blog post in May of 2008, fourteen years ago. At the time it was an attempt to compare the response of the American Idol TV show with the response to voters in American elections. Admittedly, it is a loose correlation, but one that shows the American public is more involved with its entertainment interests than it is with its civic interests. Here's my scenario...

In the 2004 Presidential election, 64 percent of the 197 million citizens age 18 and older (126 million) voted. But of the 72 percent that took the time to register (142 million), 89 percent indicated they voted. Big difference in those percentages, proving that to get out the vote, you have to get people to register first. Duh! Independents totaled 26 percent of the voting population; Democrats and Republicans were 37 percent each. So what’s the problem, you say? Looks like the apathetic way American voters have always approached their elections, and that, I tell you, is the problem.

 And now the comparison...

Here are the statistics to prove it [the apathy]. The 97.5 million Idol votes in 2008 were 23.5 million more (31.8%) than the 74 million in 2007, when another very popular contestant by the name of Jordin Sparks won. Now compare that with Presidential voting in 2000, where the turnout was 60 percent, only increasing to 64 percent in 2004, an increase of only 6.7 percent. Keep in mind that in both 2000 and 2004, there were critical issues at stake to this country, and concerned Americans should have rushed to the polls in droves. But they didn’t. So they ended up getting what they deserved.

I made the comment that Idol does provide release, and Presidential elections only

give us decisions to make that will determine how the country is run. And this, too, is another problem in the U.S. voting process. On what do we make our decisions? I know what I do but it is painfully obvious that much of the American public makes their decision based on what the media tells them to do. Otherwise, why would candidates spend millions of dollars advertising?

I Googled "stupid voters like sheep" and got over 2 billion results, which indicates to me the interest in this issue. One of the articles from Salon, "The sheep-like loyalty of Trump supporters is starting to backfire," states that Donald Trump thinks his voters are morons, which would be right considering who they voted for. Another says, "Sheep are smarter than voters,"  one more asks the key question, "Are American voters stupid?"

If you don't yet get the idea, the conclusion is that the American public harbors a drastically high number of apathetics who either don't give a crap who runs this country or they are too dumb or lazy to do their homework before voting. In case you haven't realized, losing your voice in determining who runs the U.S. government is the same thing as losing democracy. THINK ABOUT IT AND VOTE NOV. 8! 

Gun Violence is here! Why are we still Debating About it?

 

The debate of whether to enact strict(er) gun laws should have ended years ago. It would have if not for National Rifle Assn. head, Wayne LaPierre, and his gun nut minions. ABC reports...

"There have been more than 500 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to a tracker from the Gun Violence Archive. Two of those shootings -- one at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York and the other at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas -- sparked nationwide outrage and debate about gun violence."

And we finally have a response from the state of Oregon where voters will consider a gun reform measure on the ballot this year. It's a start and, hopefully, other states will take notice after a year of unnecessary gun violence resulting in 37,018 deaths so far and 32,962 injuries. We've even had feedback from a "drugged" Congress in the passing of red flag laws, closing the "boyfriend loophole" and enhancing background checks for potential gun buyers under the age of 21.

Gun violence in America shows no sign of slowing after new spate of mass shootings...

Here's Rev. Mark Knutson, one Oregon's chief petitioners behind Measure 114 and chair of the group Lift Every Voice...

"It's been called the Oregon model," Knutson said, adding, "I think it'll give a lot of courage to state legislatures, if they can see a major victory come out of Oregon."

Gun control is not a priority issue today, which is unbelievable to me when you consider the above statistics. For the upcoming election the economy and abortion are on the top of the list. Issues we have to address but with minimum attention to gun violence, we can expect over 3,000 otherwise avoidable gun deaths each month. Think about it.