This is another Republican liar we have learned not to believe. Did Kevin McCarthy learn it from his pal, Donald Trump?
Doesn't this make Kevin McCarthy ineligible to be a member of Congress?
Congress should replace Kevin McCarthy with Charley McCarthy, without Edgar Bergen.
Sorry about the cutoff picture but I couldn't resist the description of Kevin McCarthy as Donald Trump's lapdog.
The question is, are Kevin McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Greene in a love-hate relationship? With any luck, they'll take each other down.
Actually, in addition to Kevin McCarthy, Liz Cheney has a lot of mens' gonads after her participation in the Jan. 6 Riot Commission. But most notably Donald Trump.
I have no words that would better describe Kevin McCarthy than a POS.
And, although not in the picture, Kevin McCarthy was one of those that both endured and supported Donald Trump lies and corruption.
Kari Lake didn't run a good campaign and Katie Hobbs ran a lousy campaign but she won because the people of Arizona realized Lake is a lunatic with a maniacal agenda. She is a Donald Trump avid supporter and most important an election denier who ranted through her campaign with a string of lies that would make Trump proud. Here is Salon's scenario...
"Lake, a former news anchor who was backed by former President Donald Trump, became one of the most prominent election deniers in the country but ultimately lost like so many other election deniers that the former president backed in key battleground states. Fellow Arizona election deniers Blake Masters and Mark Finchem also lost the U.S. Senate and secretary of state races, respectively."
Last Monday, Kari Lake tweeted, "Arizonans know BS when they see it." And they did by electing Democrat Katie Hobbs and sending Lake to the showers, or worse. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., agreed, tweeting, "As it turns out, yes, yes they did," in response to the beaten candidate's comment. Another, "Totally true, as the vote shows," jabbed Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo...
shared a letter Lake sent to her in October thanking her for an "in-kind contribution" to her campaign by campaigning against her. "You're welcome," Cheney wrote.
Do you believe this?...
"Kari Lake told a legion of John McCain supporters across Arizona that they could go to hell. Tonight, [election nite] they returned the favor," an anonymous GOP strategist told CNN.
Even the dumbest of Arizona Republicans knows that you do not attack John McCain in this state. And, Arizona gun nuts came out in force...
Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Maricopa County Election Center over the [past] weekend after dozens of GOP supporters, including some that were armed and wearing ballistic vests, staged a protest and carried signs claiming "Kari Lake Won" and "Hobbs is a Cheat." But there was no repeat of the aggressive 2020 election protests at the vote-counting center, said Sheriff Paul Penzone, and the protest cleared out after about an hour.
"Former Republican strategist Tim Miller said Lake's tweet that 'Arizonans know BS when they see it' was 'unintentionally' right." Miller wonders now just how far Kari Lake might go, since she is so Trump-indoctrinated; could she continue this battle about the Arizona governor's race into the future? The state is full of MAGA Republicans capable of a statehouse insurrection and with some of the loosest gun laws in the country, it could be a bloodbath.
Katie Hobbs Defeats Kari Lake To Win Arizona Governor’s Race...
The HuffPost came up with a long line of tweets mocking Kari Lake's tweet, "Arizonans know BS when they see it." One of my favorites is Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, a Republican who has established himself as anti-Trump, who said, "Clearly. That's why they rejected you." While Trump cries election fraud, we have this from the New York Post...
"She [Kari Lake] is the latest Trump-endorsed MAGA candidate to be rejected by voters in the midterm elections, which failed to unleash the “red wave” of GOP victories that Republicans had predicted.
"From Pennsylvania to Nevada, a parade of Trump’s handpicked candidates vying to become senators or governors faltered, among them Dr. Mehmet Oz, Blake Masters and Doug Mastriano.
"Likewise, all the Trump-backed hopefuls running for secretaries of state in key battleground states met the same fate."
Trump's purpose in winning Sec. State offices is because they control elections, thus, would be under his thumb. You might remember that in the 2020 election, Trump demanded the Georgia secretary of state 'find' enough votes to hand him win. Here's the scenario...
"In an hour-long phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Saturday, [Jan. 2, 2021]President Donald Trump falsely claimed it was "not possible" for him to have lost in The Peach State, and asked the secretary to "find" the exact number of votes he would need -- just one vote over the margin that he trailed President-elect Joe Biden by -- so he could be declared the winner of an election that three separate counts confirmed he lost."
And...
Raffensperger, a Republican who supported the president's reelection but has maintained Georgia's election was legitimate and accurate, rebuffed the president's allegations, saying the data the president is citing to claim tens of thousands of illegal votes, "is wrong."
You may also remember the Georgia's AG investigation of Trump's interference covered in Newsweek...
"It wouldn't surprise me for Georgia to become the first jurisdiction to indict a former president on felony charges. I doubt it'll be the last. And I think the charges will stick," Laurence Tribe, professor emeritus of constitutional law at Harvard University.
Tribe's remarks came as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ramps up her investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn Georgia's vote in the 2020 presidential election. Trump lost the state by a narrow margin of 0.23 points.
So, it's over for Kari Lake and Donald Trump. Now, if we can only get rid of Moscow Mitch and Kevin McCarthy. Any ideas?
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...
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.
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.
“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"
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!
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."
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!
Over thirty-five years in the junk mail industry, information was my crown jewel. Information about mailing lists, information about people (demographics); information about geography (demography). Without all this I could never have progressed as a data broker. It was plentiful and it was expensive but cost even more when collected and refined, then sold to a client for their mailings. I do not know the number of peoples' names I sold but it was in the multi-millions.
This was several years ago and the business has changed significantly since then. What hasn't changed is still the fact that nothing moves without information. In Salon recently, Chauncey Devega spoke with Stephanie Foggett, who is director of global communications at the Soufan Group, a global intelligence and security consulting firm. Foggett specializes in monitoring white supremacist, neo-Nazi and other right-wing extremist groups.
With the Covid pandemic in a slight decline, we now have monkeypox to deal with. And there is a constant reminder from Bernie Sanders and other Progressives that inequality is still raging in this country. Devega reminds us...
"Here in the U.S., Donald Trump's political cult and a Republican Party dominated by fascists are attempting to end multiracial democracy. This is a revolutionary struggle whose goal is to create a new American society, that in practical terms will be an apartheid Christian fascist plutocracy ruled without challenge or accountability by a small number of rich white men."
The Pro-Putin Wing Of The GOP Echoes Kremlin Disinformation...
In Devega's exchange with Foggett, she...
"shares her views on how "malign actors" are using this moment of global disruption to expand their power by undermining liberalism and Western-style democracy, both internationally and in the United States."
Of special concern is the use of the Internet and conservative media by "the global far-right and their allies, along with the Republican Party and its agents." Including Fox News and conspiracy cults like QAnon. Foggett even predicts that military conflict between states is now a reality, in keeping with recent forecasts of another Civil War. But, it takes time she says, because more than ever today, we must know why we are doing what we are doing.
It is here where Foggett addresses "How the far right is winning the information war." With Republican disinformation of course, made popular during the Donald Trump administration...
"Every issue is being muddled with disinformation and half-truths and narratives that paralyze action by creating confusion and doubt. This makes it hard to chart a shared path forward."
In this "confusion," it is...
"very difficult to even have discussions about politics and current events when there is less of a shared understanding of reality, the truth and facts. Every issue is being muddled with disinformation and half-truths and narratives that paralyze action by just creating confusion and doubt."
And therein lies the problem. Republican disinformation creating a confusion because the GOP has no agenda other than to block anything the Democrats want to do. It sure isn't the Grand Old Party anymore.
The Florida House passed a bill designed to allow parents to sue schools if staff speak to students about gender identity or sexuality. What we have here, courtesy of the state's governor, the demented Ron DeSantis, is a case of open white supremacy that is beginning to mirror Donald Trump's reign in the White House. The Parental Rights in Education bill, it's called, "is about defending the most awesome responsibility a person can have: being a parent."
This, from the moron Florida legislator, Rep. Joe Harding, is pretty actionable...
The legislation, which advocates call a "Don't Say Gay" bill, says parents can take legal action against a school district if Florida teachers speak about LGBTQ topics like identity and sexuality that do not fall under "age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate" guidelines for students.
Can Florida's data on Covid-19 deaths be trusted? The report for cases seems to
be in the ballpark but not deaths. As an example, for the week of February 14, 2022, the state reported only 10 deaths. As an example, California, although with 17 million more residents registered 501 deaths. That's a telling difference and what it says is Ron DeSantis is a liar. READ MORE...
The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin says, "Ron DeSantis is following Trump’s white supremacy playbook." Yes, we seem to have a clone, although the two could be head-to-head for the Republican nomination in 2024. The only thing that comes close to being the worst president ever is if the deranged DeSantis went to the White House. Trump repeatedly showed his colors on white supremacy protecting Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke in 2016 and in 2017 the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville. But here's her take on DeSantis...
"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who apparently longs to inherit the mantle of MAGA leader, has paid attention. In his state, images of a Nazi flag-waving group shouting antisemitic slurs in Orlando flooded news coverage over the weekend. The governor’s press secretary tweeted (and soon deleted) a bizarre suggestion: “Do we even know they’re Nazis?”"
'Bulls**t': Don Lemon fires back at Ron DeSantis' masks comment...
But DeSantis' lackadaisical attitude toward the Orlando Nazi organizers was not overlooked by the Miami Herald. Here's their proposal to the governor...
“Denounce the Nazi demonstrators in Orlando, Gov. Ron DeSantis," the board wrote. "It’s that simple. Say they are abhorrent. Say they are despicable. Say they have no part in this society or this state. But no.”
The paper also called out his railing against Democrats while the Nazis protested. He called the Dems "jackasses" but completely failed to chastise the radicals. To cap it off,the governor's press secretary, Christina Pushaw, released a tweeted statement on Sunday night suggesting Democrats might have been involved in the planning of the Nazi demonstration in Orlando. DeSantis is beginning to spread lies like Trump. READ MORE...
In the movies or on television, if you want ratings you use animals. In today's political competition you can grab the heartstrings, and the attention of voters, by using children. Remember J.D. Vance, "Hillbilly Elegy?" This dufus is in the 2022 Ohio Senate race using this idiot argument, according to Alex Henderson of AlterNet...
"that 'childless Democrats' and 'the childless left' shouldn’t hold public office because they haven’t had the experience of being a parent."
This provokes a huge round of laughter until you realize this idiot is using children to conduct a political campaign that is certain to be fraught with more absurdity and the usual Republican ration of lies. But Wajahat Ali took him down with his liberal piece in The Daily Beast...
"He argues that it is Republicans, in fact, who pose a major threat to the safety and wellbeing of children.
"Far-right Republicans, Ali stresses, are seriously flawed in their thinking when they believe that 'critical race theory' and books they don’t like pose a greater danger in schools than COVID-19."
The GOP is in a race for votes in 2022, and 2024, and are capitalizing on white supremacy, while using the youth of America to make their point. Donald Trump opened the door with his racist comments and actions during the four-years of his administration. The bigots immediately came out of the woodwork with his blessings as well as others around him. The following illustrates this madness...
“Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who has already banned ‘divisive concepts’ from being taught in schools as part of the right’s disingenuous ‘critical race theory’ panic, is now just one vote away from the Virginia Senate adding an amendment to ban mask mandates in Virginia schools,” Ali observes. “North Carolina Republicans are set to file a bill in the House to ban schools from mask mandates…. Schools, and our children in particular, have become the unfortunate but effective political pawns for a right-wing movement seeking to convert parents’ pandemic frustrations, fears and anxiety into 2022 midterm votes.”
GOP Governors Endanger Children By Playing Politics With COVID-19
Getting to the parents who vote through their children. Republicans have no qualms about who or what they use to reach their goal of power. Ali chastises Republicans who "believe that 'critical race theory' and books they don’t like pose a greater danger in schools than COVID-19." Here's a tweet from his Twitter site...
"During Black History Month, Republican leaders are more comfortable with our kids getting COVID than reading a book written by a Black author talking about white supremacy and diversity."
It goes without saying that the GOP has done everything it possibly can to expose children to the coronavirus by opposing all the CDC protocols for protection. Over 12.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic out of a total 80,068,996 cases in the U.S. One can only wonder how many of these kids could have been saved the agony of the virus had Republican states like Florida and Texas observed the rules of science.
And, of course, these millions of childrens' cases had to lead to some deaths as reported by Newsweek...
"According to available data as of December 15, a breakdown of 677,393 coronavirus deaths showed 1,005 persons between the ages of 0 and 17. Among those, 319 children between the ages of 0 and 4 had died from the disease."
So, not only has the Republican Party been instrumental in the deaths of over 1,000
children from a virus where, with the correct precautions, no doubt, a large number could have been saved, they also want to use them now in the upcoming elections to sell an agenda of lies and corruption.
The old saying comes to mind...'Do you have no honor?' I guess not when it comes to Republicans.
The tvtech site reports, "On May 9, 1961, then newly appointed FCC Chairman Newton Minow called television a 'vast wasteland,' criticizing the medium for its violence, inanity and impact on children." I was working in television in those days and considered it an extremely creative and glamorous business. I still do, except for at least two exceptions, Fox News and Tucker Carlson. Is it possible that Minow could see in the future with the latter in mind when making that statement?
Why do I bring this up? Because of the absurdities Carlson claims on his show; plus the fact, this moron actually admits he lies when cornered. In late January...
Tucker Carlson claimed that the political violence the United States has been suffering is coming from the left, not the right — insisting that the right, unlike the left, has remained “peaceful.”
This is beyond unbelievable since we recently went through four years of the ex-White House maniac, Donald Trump, in his quest to stir up violence almost on a daily basis. The Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S, Capitol is an excellent example of GOP led violence. Carlson, of course, is a lunatic, but it is his statements and and a trove if misinformation that is so indicative of Minow's "wasteland."
It has been 60 years since Newton Minow's "Vast Wasteland" remark, and I do think television has made some very positive strides. As an example, in my day, TV news and weather was something offered by local stations as sort of a public service, much of it unsponsored. Today, news departments have huge budgets and most strive to provide comprehensive, in-depth news. Admittedly, there are some that slant the news, and, of course, those who completely misrepresent it.
MUST SEE: Still a ‘Vast Wasteland’? Newton Minow on the State of TV...
I have heard the opinion, 'Really...nobody could be that stupid,' referring to Tucker Carlson. Well, he certainly looks the part, but if any of you readers have any insight into this please email me. I have given considerable attention to Fox News in this blog over time because the network stands for everything class journalism isn't, and they are so easy to make fun of and criticize with the largest number of buffoons to ever hit the American airwaves.
The AlterNet's Alex Henderson leads us through a number of radical right wing violence incidents that have happened in recent years completely ignored by Carlson...
"from the January 6, 2021 insurrection to an alleged plot to kidnap and possibly murder Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to White nationalist terrorist massacres in El Paso and Pittsburgh in 2019. Pro-Trump groups like QAnon and the Proud Boys openly advocate violence, and the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, is facing seditious conspiracy charges for his alleged role in the Capitol insurrection."
Back to Newton Minow's observations testifying to Congress...
“When television is good, nothing—not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers—nothing is better,” he told Congress. “But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.”
But this was 60 years ago when Congress was populated with at least a modicum
of statesmen as compared to today's gang of inept politicians whose only goals are to amass power, line their pockets and get reelected, no matter what it takes. Minow recently updated his views of television while adding social media and “fake news.” Here's what he said...
“I think the issues for the next generation are the government’s role in social media,” Minow said, adding that he was proud of the strides television has made in educational TV but that local stations needed to remain diligent in ensuring unbiased coverage to their viewers. He also supports reinstating the FCC’s “Fairness Doctrine,” which was repealed in the 1980’s.
"Unbiased coverage," two words neither Fox News nor Tucker Carlson are familiar with.
OK, let's accept the fact that no matter what President Biden does, the GOP erects an immediate wall to oppose it. Whatever - you name it. Minority Senate leader and power grabbing Moscow Mitch McConnell is the head wall builder, followed by Kevin McCarthy, House minority leader mixed with a plethora of Republican misfits. It is clear that the above has replaced an agenda for the right as they roll on with their plans to eliminate American democracy.
Overshadowed within all this is the agenda of Joe Biden which he describes as the perfect storm, consisting of four crises that must be addressed. They are, "fighting the coronavirus, restoring the economy, combating climate change and making the country more equal." Here's the scenario from The Washington Post...
Those four issues remain central to Biden’s presidency. “I think if you take a look at what we’ve been able to do, you’d have to acknowledge we made enormous progress,” President Biden said Wednesday [Jan. 20] of his first year in office.
From WaPo's Post Pundit Power Rankers in the beginning of the Prez's administration he was given a B+ on his first 100 days in office. Fast-forward through the crises to today and...
"Now, we’re back to assess a full year’s worth of White House decision-making. Like last time, our rankers have assigned Biden a grade A+ to F, taking into account such issues as the pandemic, the economy, foreign policy, voting and human rights, and presidential leadership. Also as last time, our readers — more than 4,400 of you! — got in on the grading. Your scores factor into the final average just like our pundits’."
Biden highlights wins, struggles and top priorities after 1 year in office...
In the final score Biden had an average pundit grade of C+, average reader grade B, overall grade B-. There is a raft of scores on specific issues in this article like the economy, voting and human rights, foreign policy, etc. I urge you to read them all.
That's right! The Republican Party has a distinctive stench that has been building for the last several years and threatens to develop into a full blown putrid, rancid, rotting cult of denial and incompetence. And they are determined to take democracy down with their ineptitude. CNN says that it is, "The biggest news story of 2021? Our imperiled democracy," with this comment...
"The headlines began in January with the first serious attempted coup in US history and have been running ever since, highlighted by the unceasing machinations by supporters of Donald Trump to either restore him to office or find some extra-legal way to eliminate the possibility he could ever lose if he ran again."
In this piece, Bill Carter, a media analyst for CNN, points out that, even with a raging coronavirus pandemic, "our imperiled democracy is the biggest story of the year." Considering the impact of Covid-19 with 64,789,362 U.S. cases and 868,128 deaths, this statement should scare the hell out of any American that cares about the future of their country. Carter comments further...
"I certainly don't believe I have seen any other news story in my own lifetime, which goes back to the 1950s, that has shaken the nation to its foundations as this one has."
“while the broken windows have been repaired and many of the rioters have been brought to justice, the truth is that our democracy is at a greater risk today than it was back then.”
Former Pres. Obama warned about democracy's loss a year ago...
In other words, we, as a nation, learned absolutely nothing from a gang of Trump Republican double-digit hoodlums attacking the U.S. Capitol, doing damage to the premises and making the first real charge on our democracy in years. There are those who support this kind of insurgency, those who don't, and then there are the apathetics. It seems the latter is a growing majority, the ones who stay at home for elections, then bitch and moan when they don't like the results.
Obama puts it all in perspective by chastising the GOP, going all the way down to state legislatures...
“Historically, Americans have been defenders of democracy and freedom around the world — especially when it’s under attack,” he continued. “But we can’t serve the role when leading figures in one of our two major political parties are actively undermining democracy at home. We can’t set an example when our leaders are willing to fabricate lies and cast doubt on the results of free and fair elections.”
"Seventy-two percent of business leaders say they are concerned that U.S. democracy is under threat, according to a Morning Consult poll of 400 company executives released on the one-year anniversary of the Capitol riot."
That is significant and a group that President Biden should tap into to support his voting rights legislation. Here's the scenario...
“This research clearly shows that the leaders in America’s business community view democracy and voting rights as an economic issue,” said Rhett Buttle, founder of Public Private Strategies. “Now, it is important that advocates, policymakers, and leaders in Congress and the administration engage the business community to advance solutions that will stabilize our democracy and protect access to the ballot for every voter.”
Joe Biden's voting rights legislation hangs with barely a thread and it would appear he does not have the votes to save it. When you think of it, the right to vote is so basic under our Constitution...the way in which individuals express their political preferences. Then ask yourself, why do Republicans want to deny the right to vote for a selected few? The answer, of course, is that they lose elections when these select individuals are allowed to vote. Keep this in mind when voting in November.
President Biden is taking hits from every direction, mostly the right, but some from his own people because he is not aggressive enough. Well, that all changed yesterday at the U.S. Capitol when he figuratively decapitated Donald Trump. His castigation of the ex-president was very thorough without even mentioning the former White House maniac's name. The Daily Beast says Biden "struck the perfect balance" in assailing Trump on "the day that Biden became president."
Here's the scenario...
"It was serious, but not whiney. And he didn’t just mock Trump for losing. "You can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t obey the law only when it’s convenient. You can’t be patriotic when you embrace and enable lies,” Biden said. "Those who stormed this Capitol, and those who instigated and incited, and those who called on them to do so held a dagger at the throat of America.”
Biden addresses nation year after Jan. 6 Capitol attack...
If ever there was a condemnation of the attacks on U.S. democracy by Republicans, led by Donald Trump, this is it. Alex Henderson of AlterNet likens Joe Biden's current status--before the Jan. 6 speech, that is--in this manner...
"As 2021 draws to a close, President Joe Biden finds himself in a position that recalls President Barack Obama around late 2009 and 2010, President Bill Clinton around 1993 and President Ronald Reagan around 1982. Biden’s poll numbers are disappointing, and he is facing the possibility of the opposition party enjoying a midterms wave election — not unlike Obama, Clinton and Reagan before him."
And the idiot replies to Biden's speech...
However, DB calls the defense of democracy, preachy, alarmist, and even weak, adding...
(this was the same problem liberals faced in the 1930s, when they looked weak and impotent in the face of more dynamic and energetic fascist leaders).
Going back to that era, The Washington Post reports three reasons fascism spread...
The first was a major economic depression and social dislocation that undermined people’s confidence in democracy and led them to look for alternatives.
The second factor was fear of communism, which led many leading intellectuals to embrace fascism as a bulwark against Bolshevism and as the lesser of two evils.
The third factor was the rise of Nazi Germany as an economic and military powerhouse.
Addressing each, we currently have a great economy, the threat of communism is
nil, but there is concern over communist China's latest moves as an economic power, but not a threat. So, one must face the fact fascism's recent rise is due almost entirely to Donald Trump and his administration. WaPo mentions other factors, inequality, unemployment in certain areas and a massive drug epidemic. Most encouraging, though, is former Obama adviser, David Axelrod's comment...
"that it is way too early to start writing an obituary on Biden’s presidency."
This is good news that Biden and all of us lefties have been waiting to hear, and from a political pro at that. Now, all you Biden naysayers can bite the bullet and get ready for 2022, then 2024.
The GOP has long forgotten the mission of Congress, which is to make the United States, and the world, a better place to live in. They don't want a better place. They only want control, and led by Moscow Mitch McConnell, they have been working in this direction for several years now. If they succeed in taking over Congress and the White House in 2022 and 2024, they will get their wish. They will have Democrats in the concentration camp of their making.
Here's the definition of a concentration camp...
internment centre for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, usually by executive decree or military order.
At this point, Democrats will be the minority group of power, destined to live under a dictatorship of the chosen one that next rules the Republican Party. Currently in authority is, of course, Moscow Mitch and Kevin McCarthy. Others might include Mike Pence, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, John Cornyn and a host of others. I would doubt id if any self-respecting leftie would agree on any of this gang of idiots. Mitt Romney, now, might work.
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post says in an opinion piece, "The GOP isn’t even trying to sound coherent anymore." And in the disjointed rhetoric is an indication of how this body of morons is acting. There is a picture of Ron Johnson, Sen. from Wisconsin, in the article, which I assume is an illustration of current GOP idiocy. An avid anti-vaxxer, instead of getting vaccinated, Johnson just this past December recommended gargling with mouthwash to "kill the coronavirus."
Republicans Are Running Against Democracy Not Democrats | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC
Unmentioned in the potential dictators above, is ex-president Donald Trump, not an oversight, just anticipation that he has finally become a has-been. Not so when Rubin designates him as "the undisputed head of the party," and she is much closer to the Washington political circus than I. She describes his "babbling" cancellation of his Jan. 6, press conference at Mar-a Lago, adding...
"Even nuttier than the statement itself was the entire Republican Party’s refusal to remark upon his aberrant behavior."
And here lies the horror of seeing the GOP in control of this country. A lunatic as the dictator, and hundreds of maniacal minions bowing at his feet. In the meantime, the U.S. slides back into the downward spiral we went through from 2016 to 2020. In the Guardian, "One-party rule is now the credo of Trump and his followers," with a sub-headline, "An illiberal democracy, similar to Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, is increasingly the model for Republicans."
This is scary and could be partially realized by the end of this year. More from the
Guardian...
"The first anniversary of the invasion of the Capitol approaches, our cold civil war grows hotter by the day, and the numbers tell the story. A majority of Republicans view the attack as a defense of freedom (56%) and just under half (47%) cast it as an act of patriotism. For good measure, one in six Americans approve of the events of 6 January 2021, including nearly a quarter of Republicans."
The Democrats are a pathetic bunch who mean well but apparently have completely forgotten how to wager a political fight for their life. If someone on the left doesn't turn up the heat soon, we'll only be able to experience democracy in the history books.
And it has never been the same. It brought on Fact Checks by several media publications and the well-known Pinocchios from the Washington Post. Fact checking had to work overtime during Donald Trump's time in the White House, but even clearly defeated by Joe Biden, this lunatic continues to rack up the lies. Well over 30,000 to date with some classics by POLITIFACT. It is unreal, as you scroll through these lies that they are attributed to an ex-U.S. President.
"A few weeks ago, Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, falsely claimed that the centerpiece of President Biden’s domestic agenda, a $1.75 trillion bill to battle climate change and extend the nation’s social safety net, would include Medicare for all."
It does not and never has, but the pathetic Republican supporters either don't have the brains to check things like this out or they just don't care. And by the way, Crenshaw used this outright lie to raise money for his candidacy. Emails, that's how he spread his message of deceit, the manner in which many politicians communicate these days. I was working in the junk mail industry when emails were first initiated but this political crap far outdoes the junk emails.
In a New York Times project info on how "to track how widely false and misleading statements were being used to help fill political coffers." Republicans and Democrats are guilty"...
"One Republican, for instance, declared that Democrats wanted to establish a “one-party socialist state,” while a Democrat suggested that the party’s Jan. 6 inquiry was at imminent risk because the G.O.P. 'could force the whole investigation to end early.'”
There was a huge percentage difference between Republican and Democrat misinformation. The former 15%, the latter 2%. Like I said earlier, The GOP invented misinformation. Here's an interesting fact...
"In addition, multiple Republicans often spread the same unfounded claims, whereas Democrats rarely repeated one another’s."
