GOP6 troll fasc
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">SEE GOP 7 INDICT 6 23</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">11 21 post kyle 1st rw tag</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see qanon = trumpista
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">officially calling racism 5 22 Buffalo
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mebbe premature as not that much text on 5 html maralago</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see big lie</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see lie power any means
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see fascism auth 4</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see senate gop</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see voter suppression</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see hype fear</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see local level takeover school bd</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see psychology</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">bak 11 22</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">demlabs</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><h3 class="elementor-posttitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-weight: 500; margin: 0px 0px 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 1.1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">t<a href="https://thedemlabs.org/2023/07/05/taking-credit-where-its-not-due-republicans-flip-flop-on-infrastructure-bill/" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s linear 0s; box-shadow: none; line-height: 1.1em;">aking Credit Where It’s Not Due: Republicans flip flop on Infrastructure Bill</a></font></h3><div class="elementor-postexcerpt" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.7; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b>Republicans claim credit for 418 infrastructure projects they voted against</b><span style="font-weight: var( --e-global-typography-text-font-weight );">. Flip flop! President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill includes $1.2 trillion for transportation, utilities and pollution...</span></font></p></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">pattern? note what gop votes down en masse party line eg baby formula? (well 9)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">there used to be a distinction between gop and qanon trumpista wackos?</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">60% want</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/republicans-united-states-christian-nation/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/republicans-united-states-christian-nation/</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2015 anglosphere</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/12/2/9836566/republican-climate-denial-why">https://www.vox.com/2015/12/2/9836566/republican-climate-denial-why</a></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">gop </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.rawstory.com/5-elements-of-fascism/">https://www.rawstory.com/5-elements-of-fascism/</a></font></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">boast voter suppress</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/john-cornyn">https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/<b>john-cornyn</b></a></font></p><div style="font-size: small;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4 23 Tenn 3 justins student gun control protest fuckery</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 4 23</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/senate-republicans-equal-rights-amendment/">https://www.alternet.org/senate-republicans-equal-rights-amendment/</a></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fetish tribal vice signal explains why all show at NRA a week after mass school shoots?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">xmas card w assault weapons common?!</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/insensitive-creepy-and-ghoulish-republicans-are-doing-gunowners-more-harm-than-good-conservative/">
</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/insensitive-creepy-and-ghoulish-republicans-are-doing-gunowners-more-harm-than-good-conservative/">https://www.alternet.org/insensitive-creepy-and-ghoulish-republicans-are-doing-gunowners-more-harm-than-good-conservative/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 4 23</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no linx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">daily Beast opinion columnist and Never Trump conservative Matt Lewis has his share of disagreements with liberals and progressives where gun control is concerned. Lewis considers himself staunchly pro-2nd Amendment, and he isn't shy about saying that he grew up around a "gun culture."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But in a scathing column published on April 17, Lewis takes issue with the "insensitive, creepy, and ghoulish" way in which many "Republican politicians" address the gun control issue. And he believes that the theatrics of Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and other MAGA Republicans are doing the 2nd Amendment more harm than good.</span></div><div>
</div><div>"When I was around ten," Lewis recalls, "my grandfather gave me a real shotgun. My dad intervened to make sure that I did not have unfettered access to it, and that I could only shoot it with his direct supervision. My dad was a prison guard and an avid hunter. He took gun ownership seriously. All this to say, I'm not a gun-grabbing city slicker — though I do think there are common sense reforms we should consider, including red flag laws and background checks."</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: Guns don't kill Americans, Republicans do</div><div>
</div><div><b>Lewis continues, "I’m not offended by law-abiding Americans who have guns for hunting and protection. What I am offended by are weirdos who want to go out of their way to constantly remind you that they are armed to the teeth."</b></div><div>
</div><div>The conservative columnist has no problem with conservatives debating liberals and progressives vigorously on gun control; what he objects to are the "bizarre" and "weird" theatrics — especially when they follow a mass shooting.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"In the wake of all the violence we have seen in recent decades," Lewis laments, "I would expect 2nd Amendment advocates to go out of their way to demonstrate responsible gun ownership. Remember the Party of Personal Responsibility? Instead, it seems like Republican politicians are going out of their way to fetishize guns. They are more than just for protection or sport. They are a way of life, a religion, a culture."</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Even Republicans with strong pro-2nd Amendment voting records, Lewis argues, risk being attacked as "squishy RINOs" by MAGA Republicans if they aren't "performative" enough.</span></div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: How the gun-loving South dominates these United States</div><div>
</div><div>"Clearly, what we are seeing is some sort of <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">vice signaling</span>, presumably because the demand to be perceived as a performatively tough Second Amendment advocate is so intense that mere words and past votes are no longer persuasive enough," Lewis observes. "In addition to supporting the right to bear arms, you now also have to demonstrate that you are a gun fanatic."</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: Students across the country walk out of school to protest gun violence</div><div>
</div><div>Read Matt Lewis' full Daily Beast column at this link (subscription required).</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>'How is this still happening?' Mass shooting survivor hijacks news conference to plea for gun control ›</div><div>All extremist-related murders in 2022 were committed by right-wing radicals ›</div><div>Lauren Boebert mocked after sharing 'deadly' take on Copenhagen mall shooting ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>There have been more mass shootings than days in 2023, database ... ›</div><div>As gun violence reaches record levels in the US, an underlying ... ›</div><div>US Mass Shootings, 1982–2023: Data From Mother Jones ... ›</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/rumble-home-harmful-right-wing-content-and-creators-will-be-exclusively-livestreaming-first">https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/rumble-home-harmful-right-wing-content-and-creators-will-be-exclusively-livestreaming-first</a></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">sometimes retaliation FAILs even backfires</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">// tucker</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 4 23</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx vid etc</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>'The worst case of blackface': Matt Walsh's racist attack on Justin Pearson</div><div>
</div><div>Brandon Gage April 12, 2023</div><div><b>Right-wing Daily Wire host Matt Walsh called Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson (D-86th District) a "gutless fraud" and accused Pearson of "doing blackface" as Nashville officials were voting to reinstate him to his office on Wednesday afternoon.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Pearson and State Representative Justin Jones (D-52nd District) – both of whom are Black – were expelled from the chamber last week by Republicans because they protested the GOP's lack of action to prevent gun violence following the deadly mass shooting at the Covenant School in late March.</div><div>
</div><div>A third legislator, State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-90th District), who is white, was spared. Jones was reinstated on Tuesday.</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: 'Miscarriage of justice': Metro Nashville council reappoints Justin Jones</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Easter Sunday, Pearson delivered a Resurrection-themed sermon at the Church of the River in Memphis in which he blasted his right-wing colleagues for their unprecedented assault on the democratic process.</span></div><div>
</div><div>"The Republican-led supermajority of the Tennessee assembly sought to have a political lynching of three of its members because we spoke out of turn against the status quo of the government after the tragic deaths of six people at the Covenant school in Nashville," Pearson said. "The movement for democracy lives or dies in Memphis. The movement to end gun violence lives or dies in Memphis. We’ve seen those who want to kill the movement in the Republican-led supermajority."</div><div>
</div><div>Pearson compared Governor Bill Lee to Pontius Pilate, the biblical Roman official who condemned Jesus Christ to crucifixion.</div><div>
</div><div>"Because we walked to the well of the house out of turn, resolutions were unjustly and undemocratically filed against us on these trumped-up charges," Pearson stated. "Because we spoke out against the empire of the NRA of the gun lobbyists; because we demanded an end to gun violence, an end to the proliferation of weapons on our streets, an end to the funerals we attend day after day and week after week and month after month and year after year — because we did that, the Republican-led General Assembly with the support of folks even in this district like Mark White, from our own community, thought it better to get rid of our democratic representation in District 86 than to actually solve the problem."</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>READ MORE: Tennessee lawmaker: 'Partisan' GOP efforts to oust him were a 'gross miscalculation'</div><div>
</div><div><b>Pearson also penned a blistering CNN editorial on Wednesday in which he admonished Republicans for their "gross miscalculation" in having him removed.</b></div><div>
</div><div>"The spectacle was a gross miscalculation by Republicans in the chamber," Pearson argued. "It turns out that most Americans care deeply about democracy. Most people care about equality and progress. And over two-thirds of Americans — including four out of 10 Republicans — support the kind of common-sense gun safety laws that Rep. Jones, Rep. Johnson and I were protesting in favor of, in the wake of the senseless March 27 Covenant School massacre."</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Pearson's powerful oratory triggered a vengeful reaction from Walsh, who launched a racist attack against Pearson:</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">You know, he doesn't, he, he doesn't really sound like a 1960s civil rights figure, which is what he is trying to sound like and look like. Uh, he sounds like he's doing a parody of one. You know, this is, this is the worst case of blackface that we've seen since Justin Trudeau, except that Pearson's actually Black and he's still doing blackface. Nevertheless, he, he is performing and we know he is performing because now we know what he sounded like before the<b> performance</b></span>. It's not at all a convincing performance, of course, in fact, I didn't think I'd see a performance less convincing than Bill and Mulvaney's portrayal of womanhood until Pearson came along. Pearson's really given him a run for his money. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This is what the left promotes and encourages – empty performance taken to comical, almost surreal extremes. You know, they give us heroes and leaders who are cartoons. Who are hollow and paper thin, who are, it always turns out conniving, cowards, gutless frauds, and<b> self-aggrandizing performance artists.</b></span></div><div>
</div><div>Watch below or at this link.</div><div>READ MORE: Judges axe Tennessee GOP's halving of Nashville Metropolitan Council: report</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>'Fascism, full stop': Progressives in Congress condemn expulsion of Tennessee Democrats ›</div><div>'Can’t expel truth': Ousted TN lawmaker Justin Pearson highlights hypocrisy of 'country built on a protest' ›</div><div>Democrat Justin Pearson erupts at Republicans ahead of vote to expel him from the Tennessee House ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Justin Pearson of 'Tennessee Three' Could Be Reinstated ... ›</div><div>Justin J. Pearson: Memphis officials set to vote on returning ousted ... ›</div><div>Will Justin Pearson, expelled Tennessee lawmaker, regain his seat ... ›</div></div><div style="font-size: small;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tx trmp judge kacz 4 23</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5th conserv upheld a bit?</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 4 23</font></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Republican supermajority in the North Dakota State Senate recently approved a measure boosting their meal stipends just days after they rejected funding for providing free school meals to poor students, Heartland Signal reported on Tuesday.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">GOP lawmakers "passed <a href="https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/documents/23-0470-04000.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Senate Bill 2124</a>, which raises the amount of money state senators and their staff can receive from meal reimbursements. Just days prior, the same body voted down <a href="https://www.ndlegis.gov/assembly/68-2023/regular/bill-overview/bo1491.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">House Bill 1491</a> 23-24, a bill that would c<b>over lunch for school children whose parents’ income falls 200% below the poverty line,</b>" according to the outlet.</span></p><div id="story_page_incontent_p2_target" style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5155643920455169" data-ad-slot="6339868799" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px; display: block;" /></div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Social media exploded with outrage and disgust.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/north-dakota-republican-blames-parents/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: Watch: North Dakota Republican blames 'parents being negligent with their kids' for students going hungry" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Watch: North Dakota Republican blames 'parents being negligent with their kids' for students going hungry</a></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://twitter.com/sonnyjlewis/status/1645908060433707008?s=20" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Sonny J Lewis</a>: "<span style="background-color: initial;">Zilch for the kids but up to $55/day if I'm reading the law right. They should be more than ashamed of themselves."</span><a href="https://twitter.com/sonnyjlewis/status/1645908060433707008/analytics" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;" /></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://twitter.com/sonnyjlewis/status/1645908060433707008/analytics" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="background-color: initial;" /></a><a href="https://twitter.com/lhillemn/status/1645903571324641281?s=20" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Linda Hillemann</a>: "Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch? Oh, and anyone who knows these people should remind them of Jesus’ story about the rich man and poor Lazarus. (Luke 16: 19-31) It doesn't end well for the rich guy. Or in this case, legislators who steal from children."</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://twitter.com/GameBadger1/status/1645910167291334656?s=20" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">badger person</a>: "Pick 50 of those students at random and they'd do a better job running the state."</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: initial;"><a href="https://twitter.com/DRWFan92360244/status/1645904630704996354?s=20" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Elon Sucks</a>:</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> "The cruelty is the point."</span></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/gop-voters-2659695517/">https://www.alternet.org/gop-voters-2659695517/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 23
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx
<b>author
Jeff Sharlet has spent years interviewing conservatives and found many
unassuming Americans are ready and eager for violence against their
political enemies.</b>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sharlet's
latest book, The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, is the result
of more than a dozen years of reporting on the religious right,
compiling numerous interviews conducted throughout the Midwest and Great
Plains, and he's more worried than ever about the possibility of civil
war, reported The Guardian.</span>
"I’ve been writing about the
right for a long time," he told the newspaper. "I’m always interested in
the margins of things that tell us about what’s happening at the
center. An undertow is a metaphor for that, for the force that’s been
pulling us to this place for a long time. If you’d asked me 10 years ago
if I ever thought another civil war would be possible in the United
States, I would have said no. But to think so [now] is to not understand
that the right in America is as dangerous as it is."
<b>He cited
a "nice-looking" family he met near Eau Claire, Wisconsin, who seemed
like "ordinary" conservatives, as the newspaper described them, but
harbored bloodthirsty fantasies rooted in extreme conservative politics.</b>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"[The
father said] he had a 'Let’s go Brandon' sticker because he didn’t want
to swear around his son," Sharlet said. "They’re a middle-class dad and
mom. They were always gun people, but not a lot of guns. Now they’re up
to 36, now they are arming up. The father had always been
anti-abortion. But now it was like a dream had moved into his and his
wife’s mind. He described, in incredibly violent detail, the process of
abortion. Then he described, in incredibly violent detail, the
punishment he thought he and others were going to give to abortion
doctors. They were ready for executions."</span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The
current political moment was rooted in a decades-old struggle against
fascism, and Sharlet said Donald Trump, intentionally or instinctively,
used its "dream logic" to spellbind his followers, who fill in the
unfinished thoughts in his pronouncements with their own beliefs -- and
that creates the illusion that he's speaking their truth into existence.</span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The
free association that happens at Trump’s rallies, the ways people make
connections that make no sense – it has dream logic," Sharlet said. "One
minute, a scary man is crawling into the window to rape your wife, and
then the next minute we’re laughing at windmills, and then the next
minute we’re sad for the birds that were killed by windmills. And then,
in the next minute, we’re yelling, 'Lock her up.'"</span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"This
is dream logic, and there’s vanity in it, right?" Sharlet added. “'I
will interpret what they’re saying and I will bend it.'<b> It’s the
vanity of the base, the vanity of the mob, the aggregate grotesque
imagination of power. It becomes a spinning whirlpool that pulls more
and more people in. These are people for whom reality is not enough."</b></span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
The
illusion that's created for Trump and his followers feels interactive
and very real to them, Sharlet said, and that's where the
twice-impeached former president gains his power.
"This is why
the right feels they are more democratic than the left," he said. "The
intellectual rightwingers are like, 'F*ck democracy, we don’t need it.'
But the everyday people, they’re like, <b>'This is the most democratic I’ve ever felt. I am not only receiving – I receive, I interpret and then I transmit back.'"</b></span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sharlet
sees a similar dynamic at work within the anti-abortion movement, which
the left sees as an effort to control women's bodies, but the right
sees as a cause so righteous that violence is necessary.
"Yes,
the project is misogynist to the core," he said. "But it is not
experienced as such by many on the right. Once you make that move, that
we’re talking about children, what kind of person are you if you don’t
want to save that child?"</span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"It’s
astonishing there hasn’t been more violence," Sharlet added. "I think
we’ve had a shield from that violence for a long time and now that
shield … I sound like Jerry Falwell saying the hand of God is being
removed from America."</span>
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 23 new rep</font></p><p><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During former President Donald Trump's four years in the White House, most Republicans didn't have a lot to say about the United States' federal deficit. But after President Joe Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, liberal economist and New York Times columnist </span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Paul Krugman predicted that the GOP would <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2021/06/01/paul-krugman-radical/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">magically rediscover fiscal conservatism</a></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. Sure enough, many Republicans have attacked Biden as a tax-and-spend Democrat, overlooking the effect that the GOP-sponsored</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> — a major tax cut for the wealthy and large corporations — had on the federal deficit.</span></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Critics of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have argued that while it dramatically reduced corporate taxes and made the rich richer, it didn't help the middle class — and that in some states, it became, in effect, a <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/middle-class-working-families-lose-trump-tax-plan/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">tax hike for the middle class</a> by taking away various deductions that middle class taxpayers had been relying on.</font></p><div id="story_page_incontent_p2_target" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ins class="adsbygoogle" data-ad-client="ca-pub-5155643920455169" data-ad-slot="6339868799" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 20px; display: block;" /></div><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of Biden's Republican critics has been Grover Norquist, the 66-year-old founder of Americans for Tax Reform. Journalist Michael Tomasky examines Norquist's influence on GOP tax policy in an <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/171101/grover-norquist-pledge-broke-washington" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">article published by The New Republic</a> on March 13, emphasizing that he has been a key contributor to higher federal deficits in the U.S.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/paul-krugman-tears-down-arguments/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Economist Paul Krugman tears down right-wing arguments that Social Security and Medicare are doom</strong></a></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Grover Norquist has been running Americans for Tax Reform since the Reagan era," <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/171101/grover-norquist-pledge-broke-washington" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Tomasky explains</a>. "It was back then, in 1986, that he came up with what I must confess has been an effective — if ruinous — idea: the Taxpayer Protection Pledge that his organization asks political candidates to sign…<b>. Norquist's pledge has done more to destroy policymaking and derail the normal horse-trading of the legislative process than any other single development of the era."</b></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/171101/grover-norquist-pledge-broke-washington" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Tomasky notes</a> that <b>since 1990, Republicans in Congress "have not voted for a single tax increase."</b> But the journalist stresses that Republicans in state legislatures are less likely to sign Norquist's Taxpayer Protection Pledge because they "live in the real world."</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It’s only in the fantasyland of Washington that Republicans can be so insanely irresponsible," <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/171101/grover-norquist-pledge-broke-washington" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Tomasky argues</a>. "And make no mistake: It is the Republicans who are fiscally irresponsible. Consider these deficit numbers. Jimmy Carter left office with a deficit of $74 billion, which made conservatives apoplectic. Reagan doubled it. (President George) Bush, Sr. nearly doubled it again. (President Bill)</font><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Clinton wiped it all away and left the country with a $236 billion <b>surplus."</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/171101/grover-norquist-pledge-broke-washington" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Tomasky continues</a>, "(President George W.) Bush, Jr. wiped out the surplus and tacked on $460 billion in deficits — that is, adding those two figures, he finished nearly $700 billion in the red. (President Barack) Obama increased the deficit by about $125 billion after inheriting the biggest financial crisis in 80 years, helped along, again, by Republican-led deregulation. Trump increased the deficit by — wanna guess? Try $2.6 trillion. In sum, in the last half-century, Democratic presidents have actually reduced the deficit, because of the numbers under Clinton, while Republican presidents have increased it by something greater than $3.5 trillion. It’s not even close as to which party is more fiscally sound.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ass kicked by biden sotu</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/rick-scott-plan/" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://www.alternet.org</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">/rick-scott-plan/</span></a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 23</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">adl violence is gop white supreme</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/republicans-dont-care-human-health/">https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/republicans-dont-care-human-health/</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">yikes see state GOP: how much xian nat'l wacko? see earth2 polarization; mtg nat'l divorce</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an kos 2 23</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In today’s Republican Party it is no longer enough to deny that Donald Trump lost in 2020. The true Republican diehards demand that their leaders deny that Republicans ever lose any election.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/18/michigan-gop-chair-karamo-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">played out at the Michigan GOP convention</a> over the weekend, with Trump’s pick for state party chair being defeated by a candidate who is even more extreme an election denier. It took three rounds of voting—counted by hand because Republicans have also made it an article of faith not to accept voting technology, even at their own convention—but <b>Kristina Karamo prevailed over second-place finisher and Trump endorsee Matt DePerno.</b></span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Karamo ran for secretary of state in 2022, losing by 14 points</b>. DePerno ran for attorney general, losing by 8.6 points. But DePerno conceded that he had lost, while Karamo refused to concede. At the state party convention, she made that part of her campaign message, saying, “Conceding to a fraudulent person is agreeing with the fraud, which I will not do.”</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When it comes to 2020, DePerno has been an election denier in good standing, having made his name as a Republican and earned Trump’s endorsement on the basis of his quest to prove fraud in that election. He’s even faced a <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/deperno-others-linked-vote-machine-tampering-case-headed-special-prosecutor" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">criminal investigation for tampering with voting machines</a> in 2021. That is the kind of stuff that gets you Donald Trump’s endorsement to lead a state Republican Party<b>. But apparently it is not enough for Michigan Republicans. “Matt ran out on us; he didn’t fight for us,”</b> one delegate told The Washington Post.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Election denial isn’t Karamo’s only angle, though. At the convention, she said, <b>“My goal number one as a Christian is to bring people to Christ, and secondarily to save our country.</b>” A few nights earlier, in a speech to a far-right “<b>patriot</b>” group, she went into a little more detail.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“When we start talking about the spiritual reality of the <b>demonic forces</b>, it’s like, ‘Oh, my God, this is crazy, we can’t go there,’” Karamo said. “No. It’s like, did you read the Bible? Didn’t Jesus perform exorcisms? … Scriptures are clear. And so if we’re not operating as though the spirit realities of the world exist, we’re going to fail every time.”</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/election-denier-kristina-karamo-lead-michigan-gop-topping-trump-favorite" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The convention</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> that elected Karamo to lead the</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> state party was attended by 2,000 delegates—but not one of the outgoing party co-chairs or any member of the state congressional delegation</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. But Karamo claimed the party would move forward unified. “We cannot wait to get work done as one Michigan Republican Party,” she said. “And we are going to beat the Democrats.</span>”</p><p times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" margin-top="margin-top" px="px" margin-bottom="margin-bottom" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="mw-headline" /></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 2 23</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">President Joe Biden has yet to say whether or not he plans to seek reelection in 2024. But during his </span><a href="https://www.alternet.org/president-joe-biden-2023-sotu/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">2023 State of the Union address</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> on Tuesday night, February 7, Biden focused heavily on his economic record, bragging that unemployment in the United States is lower than it has been in more than half a century and </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">calling out Republicans who want to <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/08/state-of-the-union-brings-brief-unanimity-on-social-security-medicare.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">"sunset" Social Security and Medicare</a>.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Biden’s speech was followed by a GOP rebuttal from <a href="https://www.alternet.org/sarah-huckabee/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders</a>, who was the Trump Administration’s second of four White House press secretaries (Sanders came after Sean Spicer and before Stephanie Grisham). While the economy dominated Biden’s speech, Sanders’ rebuttal was clearly aimed at MAGA culture warriors. And liberal economist Paul Krugman, in his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/culture-war-democrats-republicans.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">February 9 column</a> for the New York Times, argues that the dramatic contrast between Democrat Biden’s speech and Republican Sanders’ response speaks volumes about the priorities of the United States’ two main political parties.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">"President Biden was evidently feeling feisty on Tuesday," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/culture-war-democrats-republicans.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Krugman writes</a>. "In particular, he kept baiting Republicans with the suggestion that a number of them are threatening Medicare and Social Security — which they are. Delivering the Republican response, Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed that the United States is divided between two parties, one of which is mainly focused on bread-and-butter issues that matter to regular people, while the other is obsessed with waging culture war. This is also true. But she got her parties mixed up — Republicans, not Democrats, are the culture warriors who’ve lost touch with ordinary Americans' concerns."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong>READ MORE:</strong><strong> </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/salute-their-flags-sotu-response/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'Salute their flags': Sarah Huckabee Sanders appears to attack LGBTQ Americans and BLM in SOTU response</a></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sanders’ speech, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/culture-war-democrats-republicans.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">according to <b>Krugman</b></a><b>,</b> was quite "revealing" — and not in a way that made the Republican Party look good.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Sanders’ speech was a diatribe against wokeness," the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/culture-war-democrats-republicans.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">New York Times columnist observes</a>. “This is standard GOP fare these days and exactly what you’d expect in, say, an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference. But this wasn’t a CPAC speech; it was meant to address the nation as a whole and rebut the president of the United States…. Focus groups suggest that most people don’t know what 'wokeness' means, or why they should fear it.”</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/culture-war-democrats-republicans.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Krugman continues</a>, "<b>But wait, it gets worse. Sanders seemed to say — although her syntax was a bit garbled — that woke policy was responsible for 'high gas prices' and 'empty grocery shelves.' So, first of all, how does that work? How did critical race theory cause a global spike in crude oil prices, which raised prices at the pump all around the world? How did it snarl supply chains and cause a worldwide shortage of shipping containers?"</b></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Comparing Biden and Sanders’ February 7 speeches, Krugman stresses, one saw a contrast between a Democratic president who got into concrete specifics on the U.S. economy and a Republican who didn’t.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/joe-biden-speech-2659387772/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Conservative mocks Sarah Sanders’ 'deep plunge into dystopian culture wars' to rebut Biden’s 'raucous' SOTU</a></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>"Just to be clear, there are culture warriors on the left, and some of them can be annoying even to social liberals," <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/culture-war-democrats-republicans.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Krugman notes</a>. "But few have significant power, and they certainly don’t rule the Democratic Party, which isn’t locked into a closed mental universe, impervious to inconvenient facts, whose denizens communicate in buzzwords nobody else recognizes.</b> Republicans, however, do live in such a universe — and what Sarah Huckabee Sanders showed us was that they can’t step outside that universe even when they should have strong political incentives to sound like normal people and pretend to care about regular Americans’ concerns."</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/insulting-sarah-huckabee-sanders-sotu/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'Insulting': Right-wingers torch Sarah Huckabee Sanders' State of the Union response</a></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Read Paul Krugman’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/opinion/culture-war-democrats-republicans.html" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">full New York Times column at this link</a> (subscription required)</p></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OMG</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cdv an 2 23</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><b>... But DeSantis never really wanted to stop the virtually nonexistent crime of voter impersonation or fraud. His goal, and that of the GOP nationally, has been to strike fear into the hearts of potential non-Republican voters to ensure election victories for his party.</b></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In states like Alabama, Mississippi, and 20 others where the GOP <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Gubernatorial_and_legislative_party_control_of_state_government" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">controls both chambers</a> of the state legislature and the governor’s mansion, intimidating voter-tracking police squads could be the next play in an ongoing effort to undemocratically control elections. Such policing efforts would without question disproportionately target communities of color.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">While the expected midterm “red wave” of Republican victories didn’t occur nationally in 2022, the same can’t be said for the South. As documented by the Institute for Southern Studies’</span><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> Facing </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">South</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">,</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> the GOP actually <a href="https://www.facingsouth.org/2022/12/red-wave-hits-southern-legislatures" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">outperformed expectations</a>, expanding its hold on multiple state legislatures in the region</b><b>.</b> Prior to the election, analysts had predicted that the Republicans might gain 40 seats across the South; in fact, they gained at least 55. Not only did they take control of at least 25 state legislative chambers — the lone exception, Virginia’s state senate where Democrats retained a two-seat majority — but they also built or maintained supermajorities in legislative chambers in Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia. This means that even if a Democratic governor is in office, Republican legislators can pass extremist bills into law despite a gubernatorial veto.</p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><b>None of this is spontaneous, nor is it random. Tens of millions of dollars or more from super-rich conservative donors and right-wing foundations have poured into voter-suppression and election-manipulation efforts. Heritage Action for America</b>, a conservative legislative-writing group linked to the Heritage Foundation, spent upwards of $24 million in 2021 and 2022 in key swing states to help Republicans write bills that would restrict voting, targeting Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, and Texas. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Consider it anything but a coincidence that the language in voter-suppression bills in those states and elsewhere sounded eerily familiar. As the <em>Guardian</em> reported, at least 11 voter suppression bills in at least eight states were due, in part or whole, to advocacy and organizing by Heritage Action.</span> A <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/us/politics/republican-voter-laws.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><em>New York Times</em> investigation</a> found that<b> in Georgia, “Of the 68 bills pertaining to voting, at least 23 had similar language or were firmly rooted in the principles laid out in the Heritage group’s letter” that offered outlines and details for how to limit voting access.</b></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Contemporary voter suppression efforts, however, go significantly beyond just trying to prevent people from voting or making it harder for them to do so. Credit that, at least in part, to the determination of so many Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans to vote despite restrictions imposed by the states. Consequently, Republican <b>legislators now seek to control — that is, manipulate — election administration, too. </b>Their tactics include <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-threats/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the harassment of election workers</a>, far-right activists seeking positions as election officials, and various other potentially far-reaching legal maneuvers.</span></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In fact, in recent voting, attacks on election workers, officials, and volunteers have become so prevalent that a new national organization, the <a href="https://eoldn.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Election Officials Legal Defense Network</a> (EOLDN), was formed to protect them. EOLDN provides attorneys and other kinds of assistance to such officials when they find themselves under attack....</span></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" /></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" small="small" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" small="small" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 1 23</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" small="small"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Although Democrats generally performed much better than expected in the 2022 midterms, many civil libertarians and Democratic strategists have been warning that Republicans in state legislatures haven’t given up on voter suppression. Laws designed to intimidate voters, they warn, haven’t gone away.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Journalist Kira Lerner, in an <font color="#0b0d65">article published by The Guardian</font> GUK on January 17, takes a look at some of the voter suppression activities coming from Republicans at the state level in 2023.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">“Republican lawmakers across the country have already filed dozens of bills that would restrict voting, including proposals in Texas that would increase criminal penalties on people who violate voting laws and enact a new law enforcement unit to prosecute election crimes,” Lerner reports. “The 2023 legislative session comes in the wake of an election that was described by many voting rights advocates as a triumph of democracy, despite the restrictive voting laws that were in place in 20 states for the first time last year.”</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong>READ MORE:</strong><strong> </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/voter-suppression-warnock/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>'We can do better': Raphael Warnock schools Brad Raffensperger on voter suppression</strong></a></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lerner continues, “Before this session, at least 26 states enacted, expanded or increased the severity of 120 election-related criminal penalties. This year, Republican-controlled legislatures plan to continue pressing for laws that they say would help prevent widespread voter fraud, a problem that voting advocates say does not exist but nonetheless continues to be alleged by Donald Trump and his allies. Several pre-filed bills would further criminalize voters and election officials, a trend that has been occurring across the U.S. in the past few years.”</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Liz Avore, a senior adviser for the Voting Rights Lab, believes that many of the voting bills coming from Republicans in state legislatures are heavy-handed.</p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Avore told The Guardian, “We started seeing states introducing and moving and passing legislation that creates new criminal penalties or expands existing penalties for election-related crimes, in particular against election officials. A lot of these bills would criminalize good-faith errors by election officials. In other cases, they criminalize conduct that was previously legal or otherwise encouraged.”</span></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Lerner notes that in <b>Texas</b>, “at least five pre-filed bills” would “raise the penalty for illegal voting from a Class A misdemeanor to a second-degree felony, punishable by up to two years in prison.”</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/kari-lake-gop" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Elections lawyer mocks Kari Lake for claiming voter suppression after years of GOP efforts to stifle votes</strong></a></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“Under pre-filed bills in both chambers,” Lerner reports, “Texas would also launch an election police force similar to the one created by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> which has so far come up short of producing convictions or any evidence of widespread voting offenses. Texas’ law enforcement unit, led by state ‘election marshals,’ would be dedicated to prosecuting election and voting crimes…. Other bills in Texas would expand the attorney general’s authority to prosecute election crimes. One bill would allow the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor for criminal voting cases, and another would allow the attorney general to issue civil penalties to local prosecutors who do not investigate voting crimes.”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong /></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/north-carolina-judges-rule-unconstitutional/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>North Carolina judges rule Republicans 'acted unconstitutionally' in strategic voter suppression efforts</strong></a></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></p></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" small="small" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><div style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">got nom tho 19 prev felonies?!</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Solomon Peña, a New Mexico GOP candidate who lost a November election, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>was arrested </u></a>as a key suspect in a series of drive-by shootings that specifically targeted Democratic lawmakers’ homes,<em> </em></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Associated Press reports.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Peña suggested that the election was “rigged” after he lost to incumbent state Rep. Miguel P. Garcia by approximately 3,600 votes.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">NBC reported <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/spiral-violence-fear-creating-angst-many-voters-ahead-midterm-election-rcna55740" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>in November</u></a> that many “Republicans fear democracy is in peril because they believe that elections are rigged against them” and that former president Donald Trump’s false claim of voter fraud have encouraged his supporters to “use force or intimidation” — hence the Jan. 6 insurrection. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Peña <a href="https://twitter.com/SolomonPena2022/status/1592012995902640129?s=20&t=BWXO7BKrib-BJANFaoTM7Q" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">has confirmed</a> in a tweet that he was in Washington, D.C. on the day of the attack.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/january-6-committee-2658988065/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u><strong>Law professor’s Jan. 6 takeaway: the 'threat of political violence' is 'far from over'</strong></u></a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Later that month, Peña also <a href="https://twitter.com/SolomonPena2022/status/1592733859216773120?s=20&t=BWXO7BKrib-BJANFaoTM7Q" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">tweeted a photo</a> of himself wearing a "Make America Great Again" sweatshirt, with the caption "Trump just announced for 2024. I stand with him. I never conceded my HD 14 race. Now researching my options." Around the same time, the 39-year-old Albuquerque resident took it upon himself to show up at the homes of elected officials uninvited, in an attempt to prove that he won the election. Not too long after that, the shootings <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>began on December 4</u></a>.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Harold Medina, Albuquerque Police Chief <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>called Peña a “mastermind”</u></a> of a “politically motivated conspiracy” that resulted in the shootings, which occurred at the homes of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboas, New Mexico Rep. Javier Martinez, Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Mally — whose home received “more than a dozen rounds” of bullets — and lastly, New Mexico Senator Linda Lopez, who confirmed that three bullets grazed her 10-year-old daughter’s room.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Peña, although the key suspect, is not the only one. The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>“failed Republican candidate”</u></a> paid four other men cash to execute the shootings using stolen cars, although he, himself, did “pull the trigger” in one of the shootings</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>A few hours after investigators detected gunfire rippling through Sen. Lopez’s neighborhood, an officer discovered bullet casings in a car driven by Jose Trujillo and registered under Peña’s name. The car contained over 800 fentanyl pills and two firearms.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><u><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/mccarthy" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>New report destroys GOP talking points blaming Dems for crime: Trump states have 8 out of the 10 highest murder rates</strong></a></u></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>The New Mexico GOP responded to Peña’s arrest in a statement, saying, “If Peña is found guilty, he must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>More arrests and charges <a href="https://apnews.com/article/new-mexico-state-government-crime-albuquerque-shootings-fbed4efadff3bc7469f83a01dd888e63" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>are on the horizon</u></a>, according to police, and the investigation remains ongoing.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/not-just-an-aberration-gop" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u><strong>'Not just an aberration': Hillary Clinton blasts the GOP's embrace of calls for political violence</strong></u></a></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 1 23 maya</font></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Amid the Republican battle over the next speaker of the House, Mother Jones Senior Editor Michael Mechanic <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/01/house-republicans-vote-defund-irs-80-billion/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>shed light</u></a> on another priority of the party — which is the possible enactment of the Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In his reporting, Mechanic <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/01/house-republicans-vote-defund-irs-80-billion/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>asserted that</u></a> the potential bill is a misnomer, because rather than protecting taxpayers — as the name implies — it would instead protect “tax cheaters” by rolling back IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Americans for Tax Fairness founder Frank Clemente said in a recent press release, “The richest 1 percent avoid paying $160 billion a year that they owe in taxes due to inadequate tax enforcement. Republicans are voting to let them keep on cheating the rest of us.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/trump-tax-returns-2659052403/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u><strong>Trump’s newly released tax returns reveal cheating & years of paying zero taxes, reporter says</strong></u></a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mechanic reflected on his 2021 reporting around a similar IRS arrangement back in 2011. The agency’s budget was cut by over $2 billion at the time which resulted in a significant drop in non-filer investigations and an astronomical increase in outstanding tax debt by 2019.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2020, it was confirmed that almost 800,000 wealthy non-filers owed a hefty $46 billion collectively, and many of the cases were eventually dismissed without any accountability from the agency.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This is what the $80 billion allotted by the IRA was supposed to rectify</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. As of October 2022, the Congressional Research Service <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IN/IN11977" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u>reported</u></a> that over a span of 10 years, the funding would update the agency’s outdated systems and technologies, bolster operations support (such as rent, facility, security costs), expand and enhance taxpayer services (prefiling assistance and education), and “monitor and enforce taxes on digital assets such as cryptocurrency."</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Then, GOP hardliners and allies of former President Donald Trump attempted to hijack that narrative across social media by claiming that the IRA would instead use the money to hire “87,000 new agents” who would track down “ordinary taxpayers."</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/allen-weisselberg-2658963350/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u><strong>'Taxpayers are losers in Trumpland': Juror in Trump Organization tax fraud case speaks out</strong></u></a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Moreover, members of the party who are spewing that lie are not letting up on their desire to repeal 90 percent of the funding, which Americans for Tax Fairness said in its press release would take away plans to improve taxpayer services (for refunds, customer calls, etc.), fund US Tax Court to resolve cases between taxpayers and the agency, and also provide the IRS with enough resources to launch an easy and free, government e-filing system.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Mechanic noted that the GOP’s gesture of proposing anti-tax bills that benefit no one but the 1 percent is nothing new, and Tax Policy Center Senior Fellow Steve Rosenthal presumed that the issue of IRS funding will be “ongoing” in both Senate and House sessions for the foreseeable future.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/donald-trump-skipped-irs-audit/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><u><strong>Taxpayer rights expert 'absolutely flabbergasted' that Donald Trump escaped IRS presidential audit: report</strong></u></a></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see NY young gop MTG we shd have guns j6 12 22</font></strong></strong></p><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/100-plus-examples-republican-politicians-embracing-antisemitic-media-2021" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/100-plus-examples-republican-politicians-embracing-antisemitic-media-2021</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">YIKES ~ DEMOCACY: SEE RED STATES 2 BILLS ON DARK MONEY, VOTER SUPPRESSION, PROPOSITION EG</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://readsludge.com/2021/02/25/red-state-assault-on-ballot-measures-threatens-direct-democracy/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://readsludge.com<b>/2021/02/</b>25/red-state-assault-on-ballot-measures-threatens-direct-democracy/</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sludge</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>in addition to an expansive push this year to <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-february-2021" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">restrict voting</a> access, conservative lawmakers in at least 24 states want to make it more difficult for citizens to put initiatives on the ballot, </b></span>according to a count from the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC), a progressive nonprofit organization that supports ballot measure campaigns.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Voters across the country <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/2020_ballot_measures" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">approved</a> 39 citizen-initiated measures in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic posed unique challenges for initiative proponents, particularly regarding signature collection for measures to qualify for the ballot. In several states, lawmakers <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/10/courts-are-taking-option-fixing-voting/616634/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">sought</a> court opinions on electronic signature gathering, delaying or halting initiative efforts ahead of the general election.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The increased use of citizen initiatives to enact popular policies including codifying voting rights and ballot access, expanding Medicaid, <a href="https://readsludge.com/2021/02/17/anti-marijuana-lawmakers-exploit-technicalities-to-overrule-voters/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">decriminalizing or legalizing</a> marijuana, and increasing the minimum wage has state lawmakers—primarily in Republican-controlled legislatures—working to prevent their constituents from voting on policies many elected officials oppose.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Since 2016, we’ve seen a direct ramp-up of strategy, and a number of bills introduced to create barriers to accessing the ballot measure process or to increase restrictions,” Corrine Rivera Fowler, policy and legal advocacy director for BISC, told Sludge</span>.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This year, lawmakers in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, and several other states have introduced or are considering proposals to tighten statewide ballot measure laws. Most of the states where these bills have been proposed have legislatures controlled by Republicans.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The citizen initiative is a direct democracy reform born out of the Progressive Era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to counter government corruption, corporate monopolies, and concentrated power. Populist movements in the Midwestern and Western states that had coalesced around farmer and worker rights led the charge to give the people this check on their government in the early 1900s.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">South Dakota was the first state to enact the process, followed by Utah, Oregon and Illinois. In recent years, lawmakers in some of these same Midwestern and Western states have worked to expand barriers to the citizen initiative process using a variety of tactics including increasing signature collection requirements, restricting time allotted to collect signatures, enacting <a href="https://readsludge.com/2021/02/17/anti-marijuana-lawmakers-exploit-technicalities-to-overrule-voters/" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">single-subject rules</a> that leave measures open to court interpretation, and increasing the voter approval threshold from a simple majority to a minimum of 60 percent.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over the last decade, conservative politicians have <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/03/opinion/gop-future-democracy-america/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">escalated their efforts</a> to limit citizen participation in the democratic process, largely in response to constituents approving policies that lawmakers refuse to consider.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">This year, state representatives in Arkansas, Arizona, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota introduced legislation that would raise the threshold for approval of ballot measures to three-fifths (60 percent), while Florida legislators hope to raise the bar to a 66 percent supermajority. Mississippi lawmakers have proposed a single-subject rule, and Republicans in Idaho, Utah and Virginia introduced other restrictive measures.</font></strong></strong></p><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.2; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -0.5px; opacity: 0.85;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Idaho Lawmakers Respond with Restrictive Rules</font></strong></strong></h2><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Voters in Idaho approved a citizen-initiated ballot measure to expand Medicaid in 2018 with 62 percent of the vote. In every legislative session since, the Gem State’s most conservative lawmakers have proposed changes to the process, introducing more than a dozen legislative items since 2019.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Idaho already has one of the most restrictive ballot measure laws—in the more than 100 years since Idahoans gained the right to propose initiatives and referendums, only 37 measures <a href="https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/inits/inithist.htm" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">made it</a> to the ballot. Fewer have passed.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Following conservative education reform bills passed in 2011 by the Republican-controlled legislature, signed into law by Republican Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and supported by Republican state schools Superintendent Tom Luna, teachers unions organized a successful effort to reject those laws via three citizen initiatives in 2012.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2013, GOP lawmakers wasted little time enacting legislation governing signature collection. Idaho’s current law reflects those changes, mandating petitioners gather signatures from 6 percent of qualified voters in 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>On the heels of voters approving the Medicaid expansion initiative in 2018, Republican representatives again responded by further regulating the process with restrictions</b> including reducing time allotted for signature gathering, increasing the percentage of signatures needed in each district, and nearly doubling the total number of districts in which signatures would be required. That legislation, passed by the state GOP-led House and Senate, would have all but killed the citizen initiatives in the state were it not for Reclaim Idaho, a grassroots, volunteer-led organization behind the Medicaid expansion ballot measure. The group successfully launched a bipartisan campaign calling on Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, to veto the bill. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Professing his support for the restrictive reforms, Little “reluctantly vetoed” the legislation, citing potential legal action were he to approve it while <a href="https://gov.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/74/2019/04/transmittal-s-1159.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">issuing</a> a transphobic statement warning of “the liberal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">This year, Idaho Senator Steve Vick, a Republican who has tweeted or retweeted <a href="https://twitter.com/RussFulcher/status/1324866530715136000?s=20" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">election conspiracy theories</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/Zigmanfreud/status/1343043924974170113?s=20" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">Covid-19 disinformation</a>, and an invitation to supporters to “<a href="https://twitter.com/SteveVickIdaho/status/1277802821421658112?s=20" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">join me</a> and 1,000,000 others” on the social media app Parler, a favorite of the GOP’s far-right, proposed new regulations for the state’s citizen initiative process. The State Affairs committee last week recommended passage, despite <a href="https://www.idahopress.com/news/state/idaho-bill-to-make-ballot-initiatives-tougher-goes-to-senate/article_6ee794b9-f4a9-53b6-8939-9118779a7702.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">an outpouring of public testimony</a> mostly against the restrictions.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Let’s be clear: This bill is an attempt to make future grassroots initiatives virtually impossible</b>,” Luke Mayville, co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, <a href="https://www.postregister.com/opinion/guest_column/stop-the-assault-on-citizen-initiative-rights/article_0fa9acee-783d-5a04-9bd7-25302a23b520.amp.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">wrote</a> in an op-ed published in newspapers around the state. Anticipating legislative approval of the measure despite public opposition, as was the case with the <a href="https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article228888829.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">2019 bill</a>, Reclaim Idaho has once again <a href="https://medium.com/@lukegmayville/justice-jones-speaks-out-against-anti-initiatives-bill-82d3de5adaa2" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">launched</a> a public awareness campaign urging Gov. Little to veto the bill.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Senator Vick’s proposal would amend the signature requirement from 6 percent of the qualified electors in 18 of the state’s 35 districts to 6 percent of electors in all 35 districts without increasing the timeframe for signature gathering. Additionally, SB 1110 has an emergency clause that would make the changes effective immediately, meaning it would directly impact initiative efforts for any upcoming elections.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The bill is an unconstitutional restriction on the right of the people to control their government,” former Idaho attorney general and former state Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones, a Republican, <a href="https://jjcommontater.com/the-idaho-legislature-is-a-power-sucking-creature/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">wrote</a>, following the committee’s approval of the bill. “After all, Article One of the Idaho Constitution solemnly proclaims that, ‘all political power is inherent in the people.’ It states that the people, ‘have the right to alter, reform or abolish’ the State government ‘whenever they may deem it necessary.’ How can the people possibly exercise that awesome power if they have to go through a power-hungry Legislature in every instance?”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Proponents of the measure—including the Idaho Farm Bureau, which advocated for the restrictive 2019 bill and against Medicaid expansion in 2018—argue rural voters are disenfranchised by the current process.</b> But as Mayville <a href="https://www.postregister.com/opinion/guest_column/stop-the-assault-on-citizen-initiative-rights/article_0fa9acee-783d-5a04-9bd7-25302a23b520.amp.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">pointed out</a>, “Idaho’s Medicaid expansion initiative received signatures from all 44 counties. In fact, the entire campaign began in rural Bonner County and was bolstered by passionate teams of volunteers in rural communities across the state. The initiative received a majority of the vote in 35 of Idaho’s 44 counties, including dozens of rural counties.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mayville calls the current movement to restrict the initiative process a “red state assault” on direct democracy. Noting that conservative groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—to which Senator Vick and at least 14 other acting Idaho state lawmakers have <a href="https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Idaho_ALEC_Politicians" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">ties</a>—have long <a href="https://www.alecexposed.org/w/images/0/06/7G13-Resolution_to_Reform_the_Ballot_Initiatives_Process_Exposed.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">pushed</a> for more restrictive initiative laws, Mayville said what unites lawmakers against direct democracy is a variety of issues, not necessarily a party ideology.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“When you look at it nationally… there are all kinds of motives,” Mayville told Sludge. Whether it be citizens organizing initiatives and voting to expand Medicaid, legalize cannabis, or enact a $15 minimum wage, “there is something of a unifying trend. When you look at ALEC and you look at all these organizations, the ballot initiative is scary for them because it threatens to undermine their legitimacy.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Editorial boards from at least two of the state’s major news outlets have come out in opposition of Senator Vick’s bill, a</b>cknowledging the anticipatory nature of the proposed restrictions.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“At least part of the motivation behind this bill is the fear that Idahoans might vote to legalize medical or recreational marijuana by ballot initiative,” the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Post Register</em>’s editorial board <a href="https://www.postregister.com/opinion/editorials/opinion-lawmakers-attack-the-peoples-power-again/article_28ab37f7-547c-5363-be62-6b6eddb3450f.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">wrote</a>. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Idaho Senator C. Scott Grow, a Republican, <a href="https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2021/legislation/SJR101.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">introduced</a> a resolution in January that would effectively preempt both the state legislature and citizens from legalizing via ballot measure adult-use recreational cannabis or any other drug not already legal in the state and approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA). Not surprisingly, Senator Grow introduced the 2019 bill that would have drastically increased barriers to the initiative process in the Gem State. Senator Grow’s anti-drug measure passed the Republican-controlled Senate this month. Pending House approval, the resolution will appear before voters in 2022 per Idaho law.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It is understandable that lawmakers don’t want the legalization of marijuana,” the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Post Register</em>’s editorial board <a href="https://www.postregister.com/opinion/editorials/opinion-lawmakers-attack-the-peoples-power-again/article_28ab37f7-547c-5363-be62-6b6eddb3450f.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">wrote</a>. “But it is intolerable for them to declare that the people should have no choice in the matter.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“And thinking these restrictions would prevent legalization from landing on the ballot someday is foolish. Marijuana is now a large, profitable national industry,” the board continued. “The marijuana industry can afford to pay an army of signature gatherers to spread out over Clark County and gather the required 6 percent. These restrictions will primarily target grassroots, poorly funded campaigns—the exact sort of campaigns which the ballot initiative is meant to support.”</font></strong></strong></p><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.2; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -0.5px; opacity: 0.85;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citizens, Advocates Fight to Protect Direct Democracy</font></strong></strong></h2><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This really comes from a place where the ballot measure is a tool for our liberation,” Rivera Fowler said<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">. </em>“Initiatives are the people’s tool to create immediate and impactful change in their own lives, especially when their own leaders are refusing to act on these policies.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In recent history, ballot measures were used to counter civil rights laws, Rivera Fowler said. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If you look back at the history of ballot measures, before 2012, there was about a 20-year period of conservative ballot measures and attacks to the progressive community, attacks to labor unions and worker rights, attacks to civil rights, LGBTQ rights, marriage equality, gender equality, racial equality, and taxes were all under attack,” she said.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But around 2010, progressive advocates began using the citizen initiative process to enact popular legislation lawmakers resisted.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What we really like is that we’re seeing voters across all party lines and demographics voting for good policy at the ballot,” Rivera Fowler continued. “It’s not a partisan issue. It’s about making their lives better.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Voters in Missouri <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/05/people-missouri-accomplish-what-its-gop-lawmakers-refused-do-nearly-10-years-approve" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">approved</a> Medicaid expansion in 2020, making the state the sixth to greenlight closing the “Medicaid gap” via citizen initiative.</span> Between 1996 and 2020, state voters <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Minimum_wage_on_the_ballot" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">approved</a> 25 of 27 ballot measures to increase minimum wage. As of 2020, 19 of the 35 states and Washington, D.C. that have legalized medical marijuana did so <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/History_of_marijuana_on_the_ballot" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">via ballot initiative</a>.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s clear to us that voters support good policy,” Rivera Fowler said. “We need to continue to protect ballot integrity, protect the ballot measure process by blocking bad legislation, and work to continue to run strong, bold progressive policy through ballot measures.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Toward that end, Reclaim Idaho intends to pursue an education funding initiative similar to the one <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/31/disheartening-ruling-us-supreme-court-halts-citizen-initiative-fund-education-idaho" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="font-weight: inherit; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none; border-image: initial; box-sizing: border-box; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; transition: color 0.25s ease-in-out 0s; text-underline-position: under; position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, transparent, transparent 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 2px, rgb(43, 86, 255) 4px, transparent 4px); text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -1px -1px 0px; text-decoration-line: none !important; border-bottom: none !important;">halted</a> by the United States Supreme Court at the request of Gov. Little in 2020. Representatives in some states without initiative laws are looking to enact them as well. State legislatures in Hawaii, Kansas, New Jersey, South Carolina, Rhode Island and New York are considering granting their citizens the right to place measures before voters.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It goes directly against democracy to diminish our power,” Rivera Fowler said. “And lawmakers are only showing their own colors by attempting to make the process harder to access. They’re really doing themselves a disservice because voters will respond.” </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.57; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Idaho Senator Steve Vick did not respond to a request for comment regarding his proposed legislation.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style="font-size: medium;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">// animal cruelty?</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/georgia-gop-official-arrested-dog/">https://www.alternet.org/georgia-gop-official-arrested-dog/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A new analysis is dispelling the Republican Party's claims to justify the mediocre <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/donor-data-contradicts-the-republican-partys-working-class-street-cred?ref=home" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">small-dollar donations</a> it received during the latest election cycle.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> noted that Republicans have been quick to insist inflation is to blame for the problem. “It’s gas or this donation; its vacation with our children or this donation,” Zac Moffatt, CEO of top GOP fundraising firm Targeted Victory, </span><a href="http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/republicans-blame-drop-in-online-gop-grassroots-fundraising-on-inflation-and-trump" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">insisted</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> back in July.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But, digging a bit deeper, Sollenberger has managed to uncover other complications that are likely contributing to the political party's small-dollar challenges.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/gop-megadonors/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">These GOP megadonors are showing an 'overwhelming' preference for far-right 'election deniers': report</a></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Daily Beast's new analysis of data on the party's donors indicates "the Republican fundraising base this year actually skews a bit wealthier than that of Democrats."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As part of a collaborative effort with the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/10/07/ai-becomes-a-political-super-weapon" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Sterling Data Company</a> —artificial intelligence analytics firm— the news outlet found: "The results give Republican small-dollar donors a slightly higher average (mean) annual household income—$50,849—about $1,000 more than their Democratic counterparts, who clocked in at $49,747."</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to Sollenberger, the<b> findings contradict the Republican Party's attempt to rebrand itself as the political party that identifies with working and middle-class Americans.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">He noted, "Not only does that finding undercut the fundraising excuse, it also complicates the GOP’s attempt to rebrand as the party of the working and middle class—and to cast Democrats as the party of the wealthy elite of cities and suburbs."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/facebook-ad-algorithm/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Facebook advertising algorithm may have given the GOP a social media edge over the Democratic Party: report</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sollenberger also explained how the latest findings obscure the party's desired public projections. He wrote, "The fact that Republican small-dollar donors on average make a little more money than their Democratic counterparts suggests that, when it comes to funding party politics, the GOP does not have the working class dominance it likes to project."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/trump-russia-collusion/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Watch: Adam Schiff brilliantly refutes a GOP lawmaker who suggests the Trump-Russia probe was a hoax </a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>
</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>=</strong></strong></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 11 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font><a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Respect+for+Marriage+Act" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; outline: 0px;"><strong>Respect for Marriage Act</strong></a><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">itself is both narrow and incredible in that it changes nothing in the U.S. unless the Supreme Court overturns landmark rulings in cases like</span><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Obergefell</span><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">, which found same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, or</span><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">Lawrence v. Texas</span><span style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;">, which found a constitutional right to sexual intimacy.</span></strong></strong></div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/11/franklin-grahams-extremely-false-claims-about-the-senates-same-sex-marriage-protection-bill-are-riling-up-his-base/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Franklin Graham’s Extremely False Claims About the Senate’s Same-Sex Marriage Protection Bill Are Riling Up His Base</a></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Should that happen, states and the federal government, if the bill becomes law, would merely be required to recognize legal marriages of same-sex couples. That’s it. All the religious protections that people of faith currently enjoy would be unchanged, contrary to numerous false claims of far right extremists and religious extremists.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>And yet, 37 Republicans decided that in spite of same-sex marriage enjoying a favorability rating of 70% (per <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/350486/record-high-support-same-sex-marriage.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Gallup</a>) and 61% of Americans saying legalization of same-sex marriage is good for society (<a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/11/15/about-six-in-ten-americans-say-legalization-of-same-sex-marriage-is-good-for-society/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Pew</a>), the <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/11/only-red-line-is-power-mcconnell-beats-scott-after-marathon-meetings-for-future-of-senate-gop-leadership/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">newly-re-elected</a> Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, and 36 of his fellow GOP Senators voted to block the bill.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>The bill is expected to receive a final vote this week, possibly as early as Thursday. Should it pass as expected, the bill will <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/16/respect-for-marriage-act-senate-vote?stream=politics&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts_politics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">head back to the House for a final vote</a> since it has been altered from their version. It is expected to pass there again. Afterwards, it will head to President Joe Biden’s desk, where he will sign it into law.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The 37 Senate Republicans who voted against the bill, according to the <a href="https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00356.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Senate’s roll call vote list</a> include: Mitch McConnell (R-KY)</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Mike Lee (R-UT), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rand Paul (R-KY), James Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tim Scott (R-SC), Richard Shelby (R-AL), John Thune (R-SD), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), and Roger Wicker (R-MS).</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/11/in-tight-election-race-ron-johnson-said-he-would-not-oppose-same-sex-marriage-bill-he-will-vote-against-it-today-report/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">In Tight Election Race Ron Johnson Said He Would Not Oppose Same-Sex Marriage Bill – He Will Vote Against It Today: Report</a></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Of note, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) did not vote, but in July he unleashed an exceptionally angry attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi after the bill passed the House.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>“Is there a single case about it?” Sen. Sasse, often wrongly considered to be a moderate, <a href="https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1549843447917469707" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said</a>. “I’m not not answering questions that are about hypotheticals that are just Pelosi trying to divide America with culture wars. I think it’s just the same bullshit. She’s not an adult.”</strong></strong></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 11 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/gop/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/gop/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">if<strong> dying young appeals</strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">to you, here's a simple bit of advice: move to a state or county controlled by Republicans.</span></font></strong></strong></div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At first glance, the images below appear to be political maps. And in the most real sense of the word they are: the county-by-county differences shown by the map from </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Jeremy Ney's brilliant <a href="https://americaninequality.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">American Inequality</a> Substack newsletter</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and the state-by-state screen shot from the CDC's NCHS below it.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Both reflect, in large part, decades of regional policy differences.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Long-lived parts of America have generally embraced progressive policies dating back to FDR's New Deal; the early-death parts of our country most often reflect conservative opposition to everything from the working-class wealth that unionization and higher minimum wages bring, to the availability of healthcare through Medicaid expansion.</font></span></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://americaninequality.substack.com/p/life-expectancy-and-inequality" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">
<img alt="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feb553faf-565e-477b-948f-f746b7480c81_1240x1042.png" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-05212f8e-fde3-53e2-8100-79f84192c69a.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feb553faf-565e-477b-948f-f746b7480c81_1240x1042.png" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;" /></a> <i>Source: </i><a href="https://americaninequality.substack.com/p/life-expectancy-and-inequality" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><i>American </i>Inequality by Jeremy Ney on Substack</a><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05b7bce3-5f95-4a6c-98f5-0a3791fbf0e9_2064x1304.png" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">
[</a>grx]<a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05b7bce3-5f95-4a6c-98f5-0a3791fbf0e9_2064x1304.png" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;" /></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05b7bce3-5f95-4a6c-98f5-0a3791fbf0e9_2064x1304.png" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong /></a><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05b7bce3-5f95-4a6c-98f5-0a3791fbf0e9_2064x1304.png" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong /></a><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F05b7bce3-5f95-4a6c-98f5-0a3791fbf0e9_2064x1304.png" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2019 Life Expectancy by State — Source: </font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data-visualization/state-life-expectancy/index_2019.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control</a></font></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To zoom out ever farther, since many conservative policies affect the entire country, consider what happened to the health of our nation in the 1980s with the Reagan Revolution. It's particularly visible when you compare the outcomes of our healthcare system with other developed countries.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Our World In Data lays it out starkly, as you will see below.<b> One of the proudest accomplishments of the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hidden-History-Neoliberalism-Reaganism-Greatness/dp/1523002328/ref=thomhartmann" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">neoliberal Reagan Revolution</a> was—following a bill Nixon signed in 1973 that opened the door—<a href="https://1md.org/article/for-profit-healthcare-1md" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">overturning laws</a> in state-after-state that required both hospitals and health insurance companies to run as non-profits.</b></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reagan also, <a href="https://ydnhistorical.library.yale.edu/?a=d&d=YDN19830928-01.2.9&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">in 1983</a>, ordered the DOJ, FTC, and SEC to essentially stop enforcing anti-trust laws dating back to the 1891 Sherman Act, resulting in the "Mergers & Acquisitions Mania" that characterized the 1980s and inspired the "greed is good" movie Wall Street starring Michael Douglas.</font></span></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Health insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical manufacturers all morphed from regional and competitive organizations into giant, monopolistic predators.</font></span></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Their profits exploded and our lifespans collapsed. Every year now, they spread hundreds of millions of dollars around Washington DC and state capitols to prevent regulation and maintain the status quo.</font></span></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We are, quite literally, the only country in the world with a corrupt <a href="https://www.amazon.com/History-Supreme-Betrayal-America-Hartmann/dp/1523085940/ref=thomhartmann" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Supreme Court that has legalized</a> this kind of a vicious attack on its citizens by a bought-off political party and their morbidly rich donors.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Republicans on the Supreme Court call it "free speech" but every other nation in the world knows it's simply naked, criminal, political bribery.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/us-life-expectancy-low" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">
</a>[gfx]</font></strong></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Source: <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/us-life-expectancy-low" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Our World in Data</a></span></font></strong></strong></strong><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As you can see above, the average American spends more than twice as much on healthcare every year as do the citizens of any other developed country in the world. And, as the Reagan Revolution really bit hard in the 1980s and 1990s, our average lifespans collapsed while corporate healthcare profits exploded.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And it's not just death by lack of healthcare that skews these statistics: if you're concerned about being murdered, it's also a good idea to avoid states run by conservatives. As the centrist <a href="https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-red-state-murder-problem" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Third Way</a> think tank noted last month:</font></p><ul class="ee-ul" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.444px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"In 2020, per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li><li>"8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century."</li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's true of Red cities as well. Again, from <a href="https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-red-state-murder-problem" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Third Way</a>:</font></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; line-height: 32px; background: rgb(245, 245, 245); padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); width: 602.542px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"For example, <a href="https://www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news/crime/like-covid-19-jacksonvilles-homicides-surge-in-2020-and-top-out-at-unprecedented-175/77-a277f699-2eed-4c43-837e-72b057ad155c" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Jacksonville</a>, a city with a Republican mayor, had 128 more murders in 2020 than <a href="https://bit.ly/3LjEC4v" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">San Francisco</a>, a city with a Democrat [sic] mayor, despite their comparable populations.
"In fact, the homicide rate in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/28/san-francisco-bay-area-gun-violence-murders-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">San Francisco</a> was half that of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy's <a href="https://calmatters.org/justice/2021/12/kern-county-homicide-rate-gangs/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Bakersfield</a>, a city with a Republican mayor that overwhelmingly voted for Trump."
</font></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And don't even think about having sex in Red states: they generally lead America in sexually transmitted diseases, presumably because most have outlawed teaching sex education in their public schools.</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The five states with the <a href="https://www.alarms.org/std-statistics/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">highest rates of Chlamydia</a> infections are Alaska, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and New Mexico. The highest <a href="https://www.alarms.org/std-statistics/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">rates of Gonorrhea</a> are in Mississippi, Alaska, South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Speaking of schools, the states with the lowest educational attainment in the nation are entirely Red states. Ranked from terrible to absolutely worst, <a href="https://www.politicususa.com/2015/11/17/red-state-stupidity-confirmed-9-10-education-states-america-vote-republican.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">they are</a>: Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma, Alabama, Nevada, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As giddy as Republicans are about "owning the libs," the citizens they govern pay a tragic price for the sport.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> They are literally dying as conservative politicians revel in their ability to cut taxes for the rich and suppress wages and healthcare for everybody else.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans are about to take over the House of Representatives and begin their "investigations" into, well, anything that will distract from these terrible statistics. In the meantime, Americans, particularly those in Red states and counties, will continue to die at rates considered obscene by the standards of every other developed nation in the world.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Our next chance to put America back on track will be in two years, and we damn well better get ready.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 10 22</font></strong></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">t<span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">he polls are tightening up right now, and the media is treating it like it’s some mystical force of nature causing people to shift their concerns from abortion, guns, climate, democracy, and the survival of Social Security over to gas prices, Black crime, banning books, and trans kids playing sports.</span></font></strong></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The media, of course, knows what’s going on. They’re the secondary recipients of it, right behind the politicians, because they’re making billions conveying the GOP message to America. Which, of course, is why they won’t tell you what the real game is here or how it’s being played.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the early 1970s, I was a partner with the late Terry O’Connor in a small Michigan advertising agency, Ter Graphics, and a copywriter for another, Barden-Durst, run by the late Bob Strand. Our biggest clients were Kellogg’s and Michigan National Bank, and I learned the business from these men and from in-person instruction by the legendary Joe Sugarman, to whom I’m grateful to this day.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Later in the ’70s, I taught marketing and advertising in cities around the world for the American Marketing Centers and in 1989 started the Atlanta advertising agency Chandler, MacDonald, Stout, Schneiderman & Poe, named after my favorite writers and my best friend, which Louise and I sold in 1997 to retire to the mountains of Vermont. CMSS&P primarily did business as The Newsletter Factory, and our clients included more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies at that time, as well as government agencies from the US Army to the NSA and the CIA.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I’ve also been hosting what is today the #1 progressive talk show in America for 19 years, and worked in radio news for 7 years before that.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I say all this not by way of bragging but hopefully to convince you that I know something about media and the advertising and marketing business. And if there’s anything I know deep in my gut, from decades of observation and experience, it’s that advertising works when it’s done big and done repeatedly.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While creativity and “production values” in advertising are important, they’re both subordinate to frequency when it comes to producing results.</b> Even a poorly crafted message for a mediocre product will convince people to act the way you want them to if it’s repeated frequently enough.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a variation on the 80s cliché about toys, whoever ends the campaign having spent the most money typically wins.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Multiple studies have been done about money in politics over the past few decades and the <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/01/big-spender-always-wins/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">results</a> are always within a few points of each other: between 80 and 95 percent of the time the biggest spender in a political race wins, with the average biggest spender winning around 91 percent of the time.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Which is why new analyses of campaign spending in the 2022 midterm race should concern every American.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>OpenSecrets has <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/09/2022-midterm-election-spending-on-track-to-top-9-3-billion/?utm_source=npr_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20221018&utm_term=7396581&utm_campaign=health&utm_id=39771465&orgid=&utm_att1=" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">found</a> that more than $4.4 billion has been spent so far just on electing members of the US House and Senate (and 2/3rds of Senators are not even up for re-election), with an expected $9.3 billion to go to radio, TV, social media, and other forms of advertising by election day.</b></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>NPR found, based on data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, that in just a dozen Senate races over $1.6 billion has been spent “with $3 out of every $4 being spent in six states — Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wisconsin, Nevada and Ohio…”</b></font></strong></strong></strong></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; line-height: 32px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); width: 602.542px;"><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Most of that money,” NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/22/1129976565/dark-money-groups-midterm-elections-republicans-democrats-senate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reports</a>, “is coming from <b>dark money outside groups with little-to-no donor transparency — and Republicans are getting a huge boost from them.”</b></font></strong></strong></strong></blockquote><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of the nearly $1 billion in unregulated “outside” money that’s been spent so far just to elect Republicans to the Senate, NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/10/22/1129976565/dark-money-groups-midterm-elections-republicans-democrats-senate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">notes</a>:</font></strong></strong></strong></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; line-height: 32px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); width: 602.542px;"><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Eighty-six percent of the money going toward pro-GOP TV ads is coming from these outside groups, compared to 55% for Democrats. Put simply: If it weren't for these outside groups, Republican candidates would be swamped on the airwaves.”</font></strong></strong></strong></blockquote><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is not how a democratic republic is supposed to work, and it would have represented a federal felony just 12 years ago.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">That was when 5 corrupt Republicans on the US Supreme Court blew open the doors to billionaires and massive corporations taking ownership of the GOP and much of the American political process with their poisonous Citizens United decision.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Simply put, the elections are “tightening” because rightwing billionaires and giant corporations are pouring billions of dollars into advertising. <b>And, as noted earlier, advertising works. To quote the 2014 Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/04/04/think-money-doesnt-matter-in-elections-this-chart-says-youre-wrong/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">headline</a>: “91% of the time the better-financed candidate wins. Don’t act surprised.”</b></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">On top of their advertising dominance, though, the GOP has a second tool for repeating their message so frequently that listeners are hearing it in their dreams: billionaire oligarch Murdoch’s Fox “News,” two additional rightwing television networks, over 200 television stations regularly carrying rightwing editorials and right-tilted newscasts, and over 1500 radio stations carrying rightwing hate radio, almost 300 of them in Spanish.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nothing like this massive rightwing/Republican media operation — carefully built at the cost of billions over a 4-decade period — exists on the Democratic side, and it provides a massive, 24/7/365 boost to the GOP that’s worth tens of billions a year in “<b>earned media” (aka “free advertising/promotion”)</b>. It even makes money for its owners, rather than costing anybody anything!</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When George W. Bush was president, he used to invite talk radio hosts to broadcast live from the lawn of the White House every summer; Obama killed the practice, in part because there are only a handful of nationally syndicated or even local progressive hosts in the country and in part because the Democratic Party has never taken seriously the power of talk radio.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(You can read the whole sorry tale in <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/conservative-talk-radio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">an article I wrote two years ago for </a><a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/society/conservative-talk-radio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Nation</a> and in <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/06/26/tom-steyer-you-want-trump-out-buy-clear-channel_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a 2018 open letter I wrote to billionaire Tom Steyer</a> when Clear Channel was up for sale.)</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>If Republicans retake the House, the Senate, or both this November after the Dobbs decision, their naked attempt to overthrow our government, their promises to end Social Security, and their playing footsie with Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, it will be entirely because of the billions in dark money that supports them.</b></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And who can blame the billionaires and corporations behind this corruption? First off, it’s been fully legalized by the Supreme Court. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Second, it’s a fantastic investment, as they saw in 2016: pour $7 billion into an election and within the first year get almost $2 trillion in tax breaks and another trillion in forgivable loans with few strings attached.</span></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Billionaires win, corporations win, corrupt politicians win: the only losers are democracy and the American people. And, let’s be frank: the billion-dollar corporations that own our media and our politicians don’t really give a rat’s ass about either democracy or the American people as long as we keep buying the products and voting for the politicians advertised on their networks.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">As CBS’s then-CEO, Les Moonves, <a href="https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/les-moonves-trump-cbs-220001" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said back in 2016</a>:</font></strong></strong></strong></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; line-height: 32px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); width: 602.542px;"><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Man, who would have expected the ride we're all having right now? It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS. The money's rolling in and this is fun. I've never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going.”</font></strong></strong></strong></blockquote><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Big money in politics and a democracy that works for the majority of the people of a nation are incompatible: just ask any Russian. Or their victims in Ukraine.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, both Republicans and the media will point out that, “Democrats are getting dark money, too!” as if that means everything is equal. But what the rightwing billionaires know is:</font></strong></strong></strong></p><ol class="ee-ol" style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px;"><li><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">If they flood the zone with too much money it’ll get noticed, so they’re careful to just match — and then only slightly surpass — the money Democrats can raise.</font></strong></strong></strong></li><li><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">This prevents widespread political outrage and lets Republicans win “close elections” as if everything was still “normal” and our democracy was working as it should. (Thus, the “closing gap” stories we’re reading right now.)</font></strong></strong></strong></li><li><strong><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">But they know in a pinch they can always just dump another few million or billion dollars when a race is essential to their interests. Plus, having a few Democrats like Manchin and Sinema in their pockets is their ultimate ace-in-the-hole.</font></strong></strong></strong></li></ol><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Republicans on the Supreme Court have, with their bizarre “money is free speech” decisions, put America on the fast track to oligarchy, authoritarianism, and ultimately tyranny.</b></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There are multiple ways to overcome or overturn <b>Citizens United</b> and the other corrupt SCOTUS decisions that have handed our nation’s elections over to their billionaire patrons: I wrote an entire book about it (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/History-Supreme-Betrayal-America-Hartmann/dp/1523085940/ref=thomhartmann" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America</a>).</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If people power beats big money in this election, Democrats must focus as much of their and their donor’s efforts as possible on overturning these democracy-destroying decisions while starting the long project of building out a media infrastructure so the rest of America can hear their message every day, year-round.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Otherwise, the rightwing billionaires will simply toss $20 or $30 billion — or whatever it takes — into the 2024 election and President Trump or President DeSantis will make sure it’s the last honest political race in American history.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We’ve watched this movie play out in Russia (and a few other countries) over the past four decades: let’s not allow it to happen here, too.</font></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>ALSO IN THE NEWS: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/democrats-midterms-2658573248/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: GOP election spending in very blue districts has Democrats concerned: report" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>GOP election spending in very blue districts has Democrats concerned: report</strong></a></font></strong></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 10 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Among political journalists, Arizona has been one of the most closely watched swing states in the 2022 midterms — and it is also a place where some disturbing events have occurred in late October. The Phoenix campaign office of Democratic Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor against far-right MAGA Republican and conspiracy theorist Kari Lake, was the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/26/politics/headquarters-katie-hobbs-broken-into-arizona/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">target of a break-in</a>, and <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/10/26/world/us-armed-poll-watchers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">armed men in tactical gear</a> have been hanging around ballot drop box locations in Maricopa County.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Laura Thornton, director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy, has been observing authoritarian trends and movements all over the world. Thornton is worried about anti-democracy trends in the United States in general, but in an <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/arizona-is-ground-zero-of-americas-democracy-crisis?ref=scroll" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">op-ed published by the Daily Beast</a> on October 28, she lays out a list of reasons why she is especially worried about Arizona.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>“For more than two decades,” Thornton explains, “I lived overseas working to advance democracy and credible elections, including leading multiple election observation teams, conducting election audits and reform efforts, and training election management bodies. In my new role at the Alliance for Securing Democracy at the German Marshall Fund, I work both abroad and at home and can view U.S. democracy through the lens of my experience and global best practice.”</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/are-they-out-of-their-minds-former-reagan-staffer-slams-wsj-for-overlooking-kari-lakes-extremism/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">‘<strong>Are they out of their minds?’: Former Reagan staffer slams WSJ for overlooking Kari Lake’s 'extremism'</strong></a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Thornton now considers Arizona “Ground Zero” in the far-right movement to undermine democracy in the U.S.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“According to the Arizonans I met,” Thornton writes, “the state is in a dangerous place, and Maricopa is in the eye of the storm — representing one of the largest voting districts in the country…. Arizona election officials are still battling false claims over the 2020 results, while under intense scrutiny for the upcoming midterms. Rogue <b>‘poll watchers’ stake out drop boxes, photographing citizens, taking down license plate numbers, and harassing voters as they deliver their ballots</b>. Vile, descriptive death threats inundate the inboxes of hard-working election officials. Enormous resources, machinery, and staff have been poured into the county to keep up with constantly evolving election regulations, such as a recent decision to mandate a recount for any election with a 1 percentage point or lower difference in results, to mitigate against problems that do not exist.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Thornton cites Lake and Mark Finchem, the far-right GOP nominee for Arizona secretary of state, as “instigators” of Arizona’s “volatile state” who have been “propagating false allegations of fraud in the 2020 elections.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Kari Lake, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, has called for a 2020 ‘redo’ and has not committed to accepting the results of an election she does not win,” Thornton observes. “This has caused, according to Maricopa officials, a fresh onslaught of violent threats against their offices. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Mark Finchem, secretary of state candidate, is one of the most prolific spreaders of Big Lie conspiracy theories, was part of the riots outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and has a laundry list of election ‘reforms’ he pledges to enact</b>…. E</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">lection administrators told me they’ve seen an exodus of staff due to the threats and harassment, just when they need more personnel than ever to accommodate demands from policymakers to ‘enhance integrity.’”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/democrats-kari-lake-inciting-violence/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Democrats blame Kari Lake for 'inciting violence' after Katie Hobbs’ campaign office was burglarized</strong></a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Arizona is among the swing states that journalist Alex Shephard discusses in a <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/168281/midterms-trump-practice-next-coup?utm_medium=notification&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=pushly_launch" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">report for The New Republic</a> published on October 25. Shepard views Arizona and Pennsylvania as two of the swing states where Trump is using the 2022 midterm as a “test run” for a coup attempt in 2024.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> If Democrat John Fetterman defeats his Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race, Shephard warns, Trump will claim that Fetterman’s victory was due to voter fraud.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>According to Shephard, “Trump is using Pennsylvania’s election as a kind of test case for 2024, to see whether he and his allies can successfully challenge a legitimate result. Fetterman has consistently polled ahead of Oz since the general election campaign, but the election is expected to be close: Republicans have regained momentum in recent weeks, and many suspect that the polls are once again overstating a Democratic advantage. If Fetterman wins outright or the election is close enough to prompt a recount, Trump will swoop in and declare it illegitimate, claiming widespread corruption in Philadelphia involving voting machines and mail-in ballots.”</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Trump, Shephard writes, is using the 2022 midterms to “lay the groundwork for challenging his own potential loss in 2024.”</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>According to Thornton, the election officials she has spoken to in Maricopa County, Arizona “are indeed worried about violence.”</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It might simply be too late to put this deranged genie back in the bottle,” Thornton laments, “but the leaders who created that genie must be held to account. Voters have the power to do so by refusing to elect them to office. Rewarding them for their lies will send Arizona down a dark, undemocratic path, and the few brave leaders whom I met will not be able to stop this trajectory.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/democrats-are-blowing-it-democracy/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Democrats are blowing it in a race that has life-or-death implications for democracy: conservative</strong></a></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><h4 style="font-size: small; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; line-height: 1.6;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></h4><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">edit bd 10 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">rural trumpistas?</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-size: small;"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">USA Today runs a daily poll on its frontpage. On Friday, the public survey results were on gun laws. “If it were harder to obtain guns legally, Americans think there would be mass shootings.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Sixty-six percent said there would be far fewer or somewhat fewer mass shootings. Nearly 30 percent said no difference. (A smattering of cranks, 5 percent, said there would be more or somewhat more.)</span></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>I bring this to your attention not so much to bolster the prospect of tighter gun laws (though it does), but to point out a pretty common demographic pattern – that a radical third stands against the majority with respect to issues concerning us all. Whether gun control, abortion or “indoctrination” in public school, there’s always about a third of the country representing the country’s shame.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/dark-money-groups-gop-senate/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: Dark money groups have pumped $1 billion into GOP effort to retake the Senate" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Dark money groups have pumped $1 billion into GOP effort to retake the Senate</a></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>This alone isn’t noteworthy. After all, every country has its yokels and yahoos. But not every country has a political setup that gives yokels and yahoos more practical power than the majority. Very few countries, if any, give voters in sparsely populated farming areas an effective veto over densely populated areas with large urban centers.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>That setup – or the political advantages of it – are apparent when the Republicans slander cities, and in the slandering, they protect those same advantages. Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan said last week: “Do you feel safe in cities controlled by the Left? Cities that defunded the police? Cities that ignore police staffing issues. No. No. No.”</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>The dynamic of political power between urban and rural is obviously asymmetrical. That’s by design. It’s to prevent liberal democracy from flourishing fully. The thinking at the time of the founding was that a fully flourishing liberal democracy would inflict tyranny on the minority. In the case of the founders, rich white men like them.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>But the problem is and has been the opposite.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/armed-arizona-poll-watchers-intimidation/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: 'Just out here watching boxes': Armed Arizona 'poll watchers' raise fears of right-wing voter intimidation" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'Just out here watching boxes': Armed Arizona 'poll watchers' raise fears of right-wing voter intimidation</a></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A radical minority dictates the terms of American democracy.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>I suspect that even people with something better to do than pay attention to politics get this. The Electoral College stands against democracy. So does the US Senate. The courts, especially the Supreme Court, do, too. We liberals say “it’s a republic, not a democracy” is wrong, but we don’t consider whether right-wingers have a point. Saying they’re wrong is more theoretical than empirical.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>We should consider something else that’s more theoretical than empirical – the idea that political violence is an exception to the rule. Precisely, that political violence is random, irrational, senseless: something that deviates from the norm. It’s nothing of the sort.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>Its origins have always been here.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>It’s that place, demographically speaking, where the minority believes, say, that tighter gun laws will make no difference to shooting massacres, even amid mass death, even amid murder rates in Republican-controlled state outstripping those of all other states.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>What respect is the truth (or anything) owed when a third controls contramajoritarian institutions built into the system by design? What respect is the political majority owed by a political minority? Why would the politically strong give respect to the politically weak?</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>But sometimes those contramajoritarian institutions fail (or appear to).</b> If and when they do, this radical third of America is entitled, on account of having political advantages, to resort to violence in order to maintain those same political advantages. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">While democracy is the point for the political majority, with violence the exception, violence is the point for the political minority, with democracy the exception.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>So when a school kid is sent a letter like the one above (regarding the child’s mother, a Loudoun County, Virginia, school board member), it should not be seen as extraordinary, because it’s actually ordinary. After all, what’s more common? People discussing hard topics like “critical race theory” in public school? Or people losing their minds over things they don’t understand and don’t want to understand?</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>The radical third has been living among us since the founding. They had kids. Their kids had kids had kids. This is how they think. This is what they do. The difference is of degree, not kind. As long as the contramajoritarian institutions hold, all’s well. If they don’t, well …</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><b>According to USA Today, “bomb threats at [historically Black colleges and universities] had swelled to at least 57” since February</b>, “leaving administrators and students on edge and rekindling a history of violence aimed at Black students seeking educational advancement.”</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>The FBI said that it had focused on six subjects in 2021, but arrested no one, according to <em>USA Today</em>. In the meantime, however, “the menacing behavior continued into the next school year.”</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“If we allow people to feel like they can continue to do this without being held accountable, they will always be able to be disruptive,” Walter Kimbrough told the newspaper. “We’re the only group where there have been threats, and nobody has been caught” (my italics).</span></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>If it isn’t apparent, the source of these threats is the radical third of America, where democracy is undeserving of respect and where the rule of law applies only if it maintains baked-in political advantages.</strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A radical third dictates the terms of American democracy.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It’s empirical, not theoretical.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/scotus-republicans-end-democratic-presidencies/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: Are SCOTUS Republicans in on a plot to end Democratic presidencies forever?" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(11, 13, 101); outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Are SCOTUS Republicans in on a plot to end Democratic presidencies forever?</a></strong></strong></strong></p></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10 22</font></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><b>"Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver focused his main story Sunday on "problems" that Republicans create so that they have something to solve.</b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Republicans are desperately trying to take over the House, Senate and a slew of offices that allow them to control elections in an effort to usher in restrictive election laws to put in more Republicans and eliminate any policy delivered by a Democrat for the past century.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Republicans pledged for almost ten years that Obamacare must be repealed and replaced, only to be outed for being unable to come up with the replacement. They have placed judges in top posts to eliminate the personal freedoms and medical privacy of women. They invented an idea that Kindergarteners are being taught they are evil for slavery and were convinced that any mention of LGBTQ should be banned from schools in Florida and other states that have followed.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Oliver focused on another top issue for the GOP: transgender sports. While there are many, many issues facing Americans, indeed the world, Republicans are concerned that one or two transgender people could bring down sports.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He began with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who ran a campaign ad claiming that she personally saved girls' sports in the state. There was one trans student about ten years ago in South Dakota, but Noem zeroed in on the possibility that one person ten years ago could one day be millions of trans students in the sparsely populated state.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><b>Oliver pointed out that there were more girls playing sports in the Noem ad than there were trans kids in all of South Dakota sports. So, while Republicans like Noem complain about failures around inflation, healthcare and other problems they blame on Democrats, their solutions are focused on transgender sports.</b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Noem isn't the only one. A whopping 18 U.S. states have spent the past few years passing legislation to regulate who can urinate in a stall next to each other. While most people simply enter a bathroom, do their business and get out, in the mind of Republicans, restrooms are nefarious places where liberals are ushering in <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/watch-a-man-said-lgbtq-people-deserve-at-a-school-board-meeting-no-one-stopped-him/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a plot to bring down society.</a> They have yet to find any evidence of it, but they can't stop their minds from turning to anarchy as a result of a kid using the restroom</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The positive piece of Oliver's report is that he first reported on transgender rights nearly a decade ago and things have gotten a lot better. The crisis for the right-wing is that the American public has decided that they are accepting of same-sex marriage, eliminating a key issue that they have desperately clung to for years. <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/florida-christian-school-warns-parents-all-lgbtq-students-will-be-asked-to-leave-immediately/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Trans rights have now taken</a> over that same desperate attempt to create a villain, make people afraid of him and then pass laws to protect children from him.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>See Oliver's full segment in the video below:</strong></strong></p><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/the-partys-over-good-republcans/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/10<b>/the-partys-over-good-republcans/</b></a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an ah 10 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Although Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska isn’t a full-fledged Never Trumper like the Washington Post’s Max Boot, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, attorney George Conway or former GOP strategist Rick Wilson, the conservative senator has been highly critical of former President Donald Trump at times and voted “guilty” during Trump’s second impeachment trial — a move that has resulted in Sasse being labeled a RINO (Republican In Name Only) by Trump and other far-right MAGA Republicans. Sasse has decided he would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-ben-sasse-suggests-he-is-ready-leave-us-senate-2022-10-06/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">rather be in academia</a> than politics, applying for a position as president of the University of Florida.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Sasse is the sole finalist for the position, and his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/us/nebraska-senator-sasse-university-florida-president.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">departure from the U.S. Senate</a> is almost certain</b>. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">GOP strategist and Never Trump conservative Sarah Longwell</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> is sorry to see Sasse leaving politics, although not surprised.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> In an <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/the-end-of-the-good-republicans/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">article published by The Bulwark</a> on October 17, the founder of the Republican Accountability Project (formerly Republican Voters Against Trump) laments that in the GOP of 2022, there is little or no room for those who are not far-right MAGA extremists and total devotees of Trumpism.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b>“Ben Sasse is retiring from the Senate at the youthful age of 50</b>,” Longwell writes. “We know why. Politicians who thought they could wait out Trump now see the writing on the wall. The party’s over. For years, we watched the GOP defenestrations: Will Hurd, Jeff Flake, George W. Bush, the memory of John McCain, Paul Ryan, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and any other Republican who stood up to Donald Trump — or even just opposed Trump’s attempted coup. Some fell on their swords. Some were tossed aside involuntarily. The result was the same.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE:</strong> <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/10/ben-sasse-impeach/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Why Ben Sasse garners hostility from both Trump loyalists and liberals in academia</strong></a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trump continues,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> “Simultaneously, we watched the progress on the other side of the spectrum as normie Republican moderates such as Lindsey Graham, Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik, Ronna Romney McDaniel, and J.D. Vance became unquestioning Trump maximalists.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> What these two dynamics proved was a simple fact: In the Republican Party as it is currently constituted, political power emanates completely and totally from Donald Trump…. The end result of this truth is that it has driven the Good Republican — that rare animal who was supposed to be the post-Trump future of the GOP — to near extinction.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><b>Longwell adds that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is “not a Good Republican,” but rather, a “despicable human being</b>” and “a performative culture warrior who uses the levers of government against companies who engage in speech he doesn’t like.”</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>The Never Trumper cites Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey as examples of Republicans who weren’t Big Lie promoters after the 2020 election but are now “stumping” for Kari Lake — an “election-denying lunatic” and far-right Big Lie promoter — in Arizona’s gubernatorial race because they want to remain “in good standing” with their party.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“To be a Republican in good standing today,” Longwell laments, “you have to make a devil’s bargain…. Did Glenn Youngkin move Republican voters? Or did Republican voters move Glenn Youngkin? Ask Kari Lake. She knows. And that’s the choice for the remaining Good Republicans. You can play ball with the base, with Trump, with (Steve) Bannon, with Lake, with your new lunatic colleagues. Or, like Ben Sasse, you can tap out. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Either way, you can’t ignore the truth: The Good Republicans are gone. Probably for good.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/are-they-out-of-their-minds-former-reagan-staffer-slams-wsj-for-overlooking-kari-lakes-extremism/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>'Are they out of their minds?’: Former Reagan staffer slams WSJ for overlooking Kari Lake’s 'extremism'</strong></a></strong></strong></p></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 922</font></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>House Republicans are set to release their policy platform that includes <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kevin-mccarthy-commitment-to-america_n_632b7247e4b087fae6fbd777" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a critical assessment</a> of Democrats' proposal to reduce the cost of popular prescription drugs as they propose cuts to Social Security and Medicare.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>In a piece published by HuffPost, writers Paul Blumenthal and <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/author/jonathan-nicholson" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Jonathan Nicholson reported about a document leaked on Wednesday, September 21.</a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Per the writers' report, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) planned to announce the Republicans' “Commitment to America” agenda. However, the writers noted, "a multi-page document bearing that name briefly appeared online Wednesday on McCarthy’s website."</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/09/trump-truth-social-2658245025/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Legal expert: Trump's dealings with Truth Social merger may have violated the law</a></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Shortly after the document was released and <a href="https://twitter.com/anniekarni/status/1572648063948161025" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">shared via Twitter</a> by New York Times reporter Annie Karni, the viewing capabilities were changed on the site and it became password protected. However, multiple screenshots were taken. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) also took to Twitter with screenshots of Republicans' proposed platform.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Per HuffPost, "The website placed policies into four separate categories: economic policies; immigration and national security; schools, health care, and technology; and an amorphous grouping of so-called government reforms."</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>"The GOP document promises to 'fight inflation and curb the cost of living,' but the only policies it proposes are federal government spending cuts. It also promises to cut taxes, which could increase inflation, and government regulations," the writers also noted.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">More details about the platform were specified. "The platform also promises to 'save and strengthen Social Security and Medicare,' but lists no policies to do so. In June, Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee held a roundtable on Social Security where they discussed policies that would reduce coverage and cut benefits to seniors," the writers reported. "The Republican Study Committee, a bloc of conservative House GOP lawmakers, included a plan to massively slash Social Security in its proposed 2023 budget."</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/trump-fascist/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The question is no longer whether Trump’s MAGA movement is fascist — but can we defeat it?</a></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>In wake of the reports about the policy platform announcement, McCarthy acted as if he was unaware of the rollout. Speaking to HuffPost on Wednesday, McCarthy said hadn't seen it.</strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">dirty trick</font></strong></strong></p><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong>an 9 22 badash</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><b>More than 50 House and Senate Republicans are <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3650971-house-senate-conservatives-gop-shouldnt-give-lame-duck-democrats-power-in-funding-bill/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">joining in an effort to disenfranchise “lame duck” Democrats</a> in the House and Senate to prevent them from voting on critical budget legislation, but not trying to apply the same standard to their fellow GOP lawmakers.</b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a move that sounds somewhat like what Senator Mitch McConnell did to </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">derail Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court appointment,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> the far-right Republicans are urging their colleagues to block any budget bill until a new Congress is sworn in, hoping Democrats lose control of one or both branches of Congress.“</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>The Monday letters come as Congress has 10 days to take action before government funding runs out at the end of the fiscal year after Sept. 30,” The Hill reports.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/09/biden-approval-soars-as-trumps-sinks/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Biden Approval Soars as Trump’s Sinks</a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“We must not accept anything short of a ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution (‘CR’) that contains no additional spending or extraneous policy riders,” writes <b>Sen. Mike Lee</b> (R-UT) in the Senate GOP’s letter. “At a minimum, any agreement on a clean CR must carry over into the beginning of the 118th Congress. Failure to stand strong against lame-duck spending and caving to the Democrats will likely worsen inflation,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> prolong the current economic recession, and advance policies contained in the Biden administration’s progressive wish-list.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/25/richard-thaler-says-nothing-in-us-economy-resembles-a-recession-.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">U.S. is not in a recession</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/JimPethokoukis/status/1571937011946377218" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">nor is one expected</a> in the coming months.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>The House letter is even more extreme.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/09/ignoring-the-truth-is-not-a-path-forward-critics-warn-on-trumps-rally-uncanny-resemblance-to-nazi-salute/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">‘Ignoring the Truth Is Not a Path Forward’: Critics Warn on Trump’s Rally – ‘Uncanny Resemblance’ to ‘Nazi Salute’</a></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Federal dollars are fueling rampant inflation and funding the<b> Biden administration’s radical agenda,</b>” it begins. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“This includes empowering authoritarian bureaucrats at agencies like the IRS and FBI, implementing open-border policies that are threatening our communities, imposing COVID-19 mandates that shut down schools and are forcing our military servicemembers out of their jobs, and advancing self-destructive energy policies.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Among the far right Republicans signing on to the <b>Senate letter are Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).</b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the House, signatories include far right GOP Members of Congress Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, Jim Banks, Dan Bishop, Jim Jordan, Lauren Boebert, Kat Cammack, Scott DesJarlais, Scott Perry, Jody Hice, Ken Buck, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Byron Donalds, Thomas Massie, and Louie Gohmert.</span></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">note aha sys: no filter/brake, amp accel? // trump wd not rein in, as gop wd not cross trump; to call them out means acknow a relationship?</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">any deviation to squish is treason? maga extreme deniers swept primaries?</font></strong></strong></div><div><div><strong><strong>
</strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 9 22 raw tom b</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><b><u>According to two different experts on the rising tide of domestic terrorists since the election of Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/16/us/politics/domestic-extremism-warnings.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">things are going to get a lot worse before they get better</a> as long as the former president remains<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/trump-calls-january-6-rally/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"> free to incite violence </a>in much the way he did on Jan 6, 2020.</u></b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Speaking with the New York Times' Blake Hounshell, authors Luke Mogelson and Andy Campbell, both of whom have new books on right-wing extremists, waved the red flag about what they see coming as Trump continues to egg his followers on -- which is setting the stage for more violence.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>As Hounshell summed up their warning: "The worst is yet to come."</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Getting right to the point, Campbell, who has a </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">new book out on the Proud Boys, told the Times, "I really do believe that, going forward, it’s not just going to be MAGA rallies. It’s not just going to be political violence at Proud Boys rallies or leftist rallies or B.L.M. events. It’s going to be political violence at any civic event that happens to fall in the cross hairs of Donald Trump and company.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Hounshell, "In the United States, it is not illegal to be a part of a domestic extremist group. To go after specific threats, the government has limited tools, meaning that <b>federal officials often must find links to groups overseas i</b>n order to crack down on homegrown extremists or prosecute them under other provisions of law," adding, "Complicating matters, Republican politicians like Trump — <a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-donald-trump-chris-wallace-0b32339da25fbc9e8b7c7c7066a1db0f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">who instructed the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by' during a presidential debate in 2020</a> — often provide rhetorical cover."</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Mogelson</b> claims the violence he saw on Jan 6, when supporters of the former president stormed the Capitol, reminded him of covering armed conflicts around the world for the past decade.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"He witnessed a mob killing of someone in Iraq, which gave him an understanding of what he called the 'intoxicating' feeling that can whip a crowd of seemingly ordinary people into a frenzy," the Times reports before noting, "he began reporting on anti-lockdown groups that mobilized against the pandemic measures put in place by governors like Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a Democrat, he immediately saw that the story was much larger."</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">He told the Times, "I soon realized that these groups and this </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">movement was rapidly mutating</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.”</span></b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Campbell chimed in to add the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Republican Party appears unable -- or unwilling -- to rein the far-right extremists in.</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><b>“The Republican Party seems to not know what to do,” he claimed before warning, “It seems like their inability to rebut the Proud Boys and other extremists is pushing this machine forward so much faster and really making it hard for law enforcement to keep up.”</b></strong></strong></p></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sedition caucus well repped</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">~ ESG transparency climate action</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-10-22/s71022-20123081-279409.pdf">https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-10-22/s71022-20123081-279409.pdf</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>april 11 2022</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Vanessa A. Countryman</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Secretary</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Securities and Exchange Commission</span></div><div>100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090</div><div>RE: File No. S7-10-22</div><div>
</div><div>Dear Ms. Countryman:</div><div>We, the undersigned Members of Congress, have significant concerns with the Securities and</div><div>Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule on “The Enhancement and Standardization of</div><div>Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” This proposal would require publicly traded</div><div>companies to disclose their climate-related risks, report greenhouse gas emissions, and report</div><div>possible financial effects of climate change. We urge you to immediately table this rule.</div><div>Not only would this proposal add<b> additional red tape and bureaucracy that would be extremely</b></div><div><b>burdensome, if not impossible</b>, for many public companies to fully comply with, but it would</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">also far exceed the authority that Congress explicitly granted the SEC</span>. <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The SEC cannot and</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">should not mandate such public disclosures of information that strays from the “core purpose of</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">disclosure, [which] is to provide investors with the information they need to make informed</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">investment and voting decisions,” which “allow[s] our capital markets to flourish.</span>”1</div><div>
</div><div><b> It is </b><b>apparent that, as we have recently seen, this information would only be used to smear these</b></div><div><b>companies. [demonize FF ceo //?]</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div>This proposal would drastically disrupt the current disclosure regime. Current SEC disclosure</div><div>mandates are intended to provide investors with insightful material information into a company’s</div><div>performance. SEC Commissioner Peirce emphasized that this proposal, instead, would tell</div><div>“corporate managers how regulators, doing the bidding of an array of non-investor stakeholders,</div><div>expect them to run their companies.”2</div><div>
</div><div> This would force everyday investors to view companies</div><div>through a tinted lens, obscured by the demands of vocal stakeholders “for whom a company’s</div><div>climate reputation is of equal or greater importance than a company’s financial performance.”3</div><div>
</div><div>Ultimately, the SEC’s actions would act to undermine and shame public companies, not to</div><div>provide investors with necessary financial disclosures.</div><div>
</div><div>furthermore, at a time of global turmoil, when energy prices are at decade highs, how would this</div><div>rule be beneficial to American citizens? Simply wrapping climate activism in financial regulation</div><div>will only further exacerbate our current energy crisis and do nothing to help everyday Americans</div><div>heat or cool their homes or lower prices at the gas pump. Instead, we need to refocus our</div><div>attention on domestic energy production and wean ourselves off energy from hostile nations.</div><div>Additional “climate” regulations will only hinder our ability to achieve this goal. Given the</div><div>current global and domestic circumstances, the administration should be focused on making the</div><div>basic necessities of life less expensive, not more.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The SEC has proposed disclosures that are outside of its historical purview in order to engage in</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">environmental policy. It is, however, the role of Congress – and, importantly, not the role of</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">financial regulators – to set climate-related policy, balancing interests and engaging with</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">stakeholders to appropriately move us to a more energy-efficient nation. This Administration</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">must end its assault on American businesses and the rule of law in the name of an immediate and</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">expensive transition to a “Green New Deal” agenda.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div>Sincerely,</div><div><b>Ted Budd</b></div><div><b>Member of Congress</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ralph Norman</span></div><div>
</div><div>Dan Bishop</div><div>
</div><div>Bill Posey</div><div>
</div><div><b>Scott Perry</b></div><div>
</div><div>William R. Timmons IV</div><div>
</div><div>Stephanie Bice</div><div>
</div><div>Richard Hudson</div><div>
</div><div>Alexander X. Mooney</div><div>
</div><div><b>Mo Brooks</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Louie Gohmert</b></div><div>
</div><div>Bruce Westerman</div><div>
</div><div>Debbie Lesko</div><div>
</div><div>Byron Donalds</div><div>
</div><div>John Joyce</div><div>
</div><div>Tom McClintock</div><div>
</div><div>Michael C. Burgess, M.D.</div><div>
</div><div>John Rose</div><div>
</div><div>Andrew S. Clyde</div><div>
</div><div>C. Scott Franklin</div><div>
</div><div>Ben Cline</div><div>
</div><div>Jay Obernolte</div><div>
</div><div>Rodney Davis</div><div>
</div><div>Ashley Hinson</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S.</span></div><div>
</div><div>David B. McKinley P.E.</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Yvette Herrell</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Andy Biggs</b></div><div>
</div><div>Tom Rice</div><div>
</div><div>Daniel Webster</div><div>
</div><div>Michael Guest</div><div>
</div><div>Michael Cloud</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Lauren Boebert</b></div><div>
</div><div>Kat Cammack</div><div>
</div><div>Pat Fallon</div><div>
</div><div>W. Gregory Steube</div><div>
</div><div>Nancy Mace</div><div>
</div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">=</span></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">KINGMAKER</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/this-electronics-mogul-likely-made-the-biggest-gop-donation-ever-report/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/this-electronics-mogul-likely-made-the-biggest-gop-donation-ever-report/</a></span></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 8 22</font></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>The Republican Party has had its share of ultra-wealthy donors. But according to <b>New York Times reporters Kenneth P. Vogel </b>and Shane Goldmacher, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/22/us/politics/republican-dark-money.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">most generous GOP donation of 2021</a> came from “electronics manufacturing mogul” Barre Seid.</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2021, Vogel and Goldmacher report,</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> Seid donated a whopping $1.6 billion dollars to a group led by Republican activist and <a href="https://fedsoc.org/contributors/leonard-leo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Federalist Society Co-Chairman Leonard A. Leo</a>.</b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“This windfall will help cement Mr. Leo’s status as a kingmaker in conservative big money politics,” Vogel and Goldmacher report in a Times article published on August 22. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It could also give conservatives an advantage in a type of difficult-to-trace spending that shapes elections and political fights. The cash infusion was arranged through an unusual series of transactions that appear to have avoided tax liabilities. It originated with Mr. Seid, a long-time conservative donor who made a fortune as the chairman and chief executive of an electrical device manufacturing company in Chicago now known as Tripp Lite.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/peter-thiel/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Peter Thiel announces departure from Facebook parent Meta to focus on far-right politics</a></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The reporters add, “The nonprofit, called the Marble Freedom Trust, then received all of the proceeds from the sale</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">, in a transaction that appears to have been structured to allow the nonprofit group and Mr. Seid to avoid paying taxes on the proceeds.”</span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a </span><a href="https://twitter.com/kenvogel/status/1561653254920065025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">tweet posted on August 22</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, Vogel emphasized just how big Seid’s donation was. Vogel wrote, </span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“When I describe this as ‘likely the biggest single political donation,’</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"> I mean biggest EVER. Like in the history of US politics.”</span></b></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong>Vogel and Goldmacher explain, “For perspective, the $1.6 billion that the Marble trust reaped from the sale is slightly more than the total of $1.5 billion spent in 2020 by 15 of the most politically active nonprofit organizations that generally align with Democrats, according to an analysis by The Times. That spending, which Democrats embraced to aid the campaigns of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and his allies in Congress, dwarfed the roughly $900 million spent by a comparable sample of 15 of the most politically active groups aligned with the Republican Party.”</strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to Vogel and Goldmacher</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, the Marble Freedom Trust “could help conservatives level the playing field — if not surpass the left — in such nonprofit spending, which is commonly referred to as dark money because the groups involved can raise and spend unlimited sums on politics while revealing little about where they got the money or how they spent it.”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong /></span></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/robert-reich-warns-that-failing-to-reach-working-class-voters-will-cost-democrats-the-midterms/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Robert Reich delivers brutal reality-check for Dem — and urges 'an agenda of radical democratic reform'</a></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>“The Marble Freedom Trust’s formation in May 2020, the donation of Tripp Lite shares by Mr. Seid, and Mr. Leo’s role have not been previously reported,” Vogel and Goldmacher note. “The funds are difficult to trace through public records. Tripp Lite is a private company that is not subject to corporate disclosure rules for public companies. On its tax filing, Marble indicated that the $1.6 billion came from the ‘sale of gifted company and subsidiaries,’ but indicated that it withheld identifying information ‘to protect donor confidentiality.’ And Eaton, the publicly traded Irish company that bought Tripp Lite, does not refer to Marble in statements related to the sale.”</strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><strong><strong><strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Campaign finance reform suffered a major blow in the United States in 2010, when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its widely criticized 5-4 decision in </span><em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Citizens United v. FEC</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Defining political contributions as a form of “speech,” the </span><em style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Citizens United</em><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> ruling gutted restrictions on the size of campaign donations and, critics say, paved the way for a flood of “dark money” into political races.</span></strong></strong></strong></p><p style="color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><strong>READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/todays-republicans-are-fascist-conservative-activist-blasts-gops-authoritarian-moves/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="color: rgb(11, 13, 101); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">'Today’s Republicans are fascist': Conservative activist slams authoritarian GOP candidates</a></strong></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></strong></strong></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">oops i meant fox6</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mma 8 22</font></strong></strong></p><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; line-height: 1.38;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a recent <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/scientists-explain-reasons-increase-shark-attacks-off-east/story?id=87010306" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">increase</a> in the number of shark attacks across the U.S. this summer has led Fox News to warn the public about the supposed dangers of protecting marine ecosystems. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the August 19 edition of Fox News’ <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">America Reports</em>, correspondent Gillian Turner dedicated just under three minutes of coverage to a throwaway piece fearmongering about the risk of shark attacks for beachgoers nationwide following a rise in shark encounters along the northeast of the country. Turner declared “the Summer of the Shark continues with more reports, more sightings, and attacks,” before kicking the segment over to Fox Weather reporter Katie Byrne to explain the increase in shark activity. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“People we're talking to are wondering why sharks are coming closer to the shore,” Byrne claimed, before adding, “Marine experts will say it could be because of water conservation efforts leading to thriving fish populations. So, more fish, more food for the sharks.[aug 19 vid]</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">while this explanation may be <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/sustainability/environment/3590930-more-sharks-are-being-spotted-off-the-east-coast-is-climate-change-to-blame/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">partly true</a>, it would be a sign of positive change. Christopher Paparo, manager of the Marine Science Center at Stony Brook University, told <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/experts-shark-sightings-while-unnerving-actually-mean-the-ecosystem-in-the-body-of-water-is-very-healthy/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">CBS News</a> in July, “If there are sharks in your area, it means it's a healthy ecosystem.” The increase in shark encounters, particularly in the area around New York City, has <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shark-attacks-2022-united-states-beaches/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">caused some alarm</a>, but the actual risk sharks present to humans is incredibly small — you’re more than 40 times more likely to die from being struck by lightning than being bitten by a shark — and the benefits of conserving these species and their habitats are enormous.</font></strong></strong></p></div></div><div class="paragraph paragraph--type--stories-text paragraph--view-mode--editorial" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="fancy-elems-wrapper field field--name-field-stories-text-formatted field--type-text-long field--label-hidden fielditem" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ocean conservation is also only part of the story; the Fox Weather correspondent somehow glossed over why sharks are appearing further north. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16045" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">recent study</a> from Global Change Biology found that some sharks are venturing further north in the summertime due to rising water temperatures. While tiger sharks typically don’t migrate much further north than Virginia, according to <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/some-tiger-sharks-are-migrating-farther-north-due-to-climate-change-180979392/" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">Smithsonian Magazine</a>, “The study found that the northern edges of the tiger shark’s preferred water temperature range — which measurements taken from thermometer-equipped shark tags suggest is between 78 and 82 degrees — has shifted about 186 miles poleward in the cold season and about 248 miles poleward in the warm season over the last 40 years.” This suggests climate change may play an important role in increasing shark encounters with humans. (Ocean conservation efforts are also important to <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/ocean-conservation-untapped-strategy-fighting-climate-change" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">managing</a> the effects of global warming.)</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox News’ climate change denial has only deepened as the effects of a warming atmosphere and oceans have become more apparent. The recent global <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/cable-news/national-tv-networks-mention-climate-change-32-segments-global-extreme-heat" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">heat wave</a> produced a slew of <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/10-absurd-segments-fox-aired-during-deadly-global-heat-wave" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">misinformation</a> from Fox News personalities who continue to deny the dangerous reality of rising temperatures. The rise in shark attacks is just the latest story Fox News has used to distract from climate science and dismiss environmental protections, including another segment just last month <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3991586" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">blaming conservationists</a> for summer shark attacks.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We need conservation efforts to help deal with climate change since this is not something that we can fix with just a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I91DJZKRxs" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; transition: box-shadow 0.15s ease-in-out 0s; text-decoration-line: none; box-shadow: rgba(25, 118, 210, 0.5) 0px -1px 0px inset;">bigger boat</a>.</font></strong></strong></p></div></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">i wd have thot this impossible/popular?!</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twt (Ca gop sponsored a cap, died?]</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">senate Republicans on Sunday successfully stripped a proposed $35 per month cap on out-of-pocket spending on insulin for patients enrolled in private insurance from the tax and climate bill making its way through the Senate.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Senate parliamentarian had earlier ruled that the provision, sponsored by Georgia Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, is not primarily related to the federal budget and thus not eligible for a reconciliation bill. The ruling gave Republicans a chance to kill the proposal.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Waiving the rules required 60 votes to succeed.<b> Only seven Republicans sided with Democrats to keep the insulin cap in the bill with a 57-43 vote.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Republicans have just gone on the record in favor of expensive insulin,” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden said. “After years of tough talk about taking on insulin makers, Republicans have once against wilted in the face of heat from Big Pharma.<b> Fortunately, the $35 insulin copay cap for insulin in Medicare remains in the bill, so seniors will get relief from high insulin costs. I will continue working to deliver lower insulin costs to all Americans.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Republicans just forced out of the reconciliation bill a $35/month out-of-pocket cap for insulin users with private health insurance. What the hell is wrong with them? Really, what the hell is wrong with them?" said Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen in a tweet.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr., representing the 9th District of New Jersey, said in a tweet "Here are the McConnell republican senators who just killed capping insulin at $35. Republicans told millions of Americans who use insulin to go to hell. Remember their names."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Diabetic Americans are being used as political props to play partisan politics while 1 in 4 of us must ration the insulin we need to survive [because] both parties in Congress refuse to regulate insulin’s price,” tweeted Laura Marston, an intellectual property attorney and a patient advocate for affordable insulin.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 8 22</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the 2022 midterm elections fast approaching, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/us/politics/trump-republicans-abortion-climate-marriage.html" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Republican candidates</a> backed by former President Donald Trump have made tremendous headway with their regurgitation of misinformation about the previous presidential election.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Although these candidates have become very popular among Trump supporters, they presumably pose a threat to their mainstream Republican opponents. Now, an analysis is offering a hypothetical view of how the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">country could be shifted further to the right if Trump-backed candidates manage to dominate the 2022 midterms.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The New York Times' Blake Hounshell, Republicans' far-right ideologies could further impact the following areas: abortion, climate control, education, and same-sex marriage.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/new-analysis-explains-the-problem-gop-candidates-and-lawmakers-are-facing-as-a-result-of-grassroots-money/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">New analysis explains the problem GOP candidates and lawmakers are facing as a result of 'grassroots money'</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As one of the most controversial areas of legislation in the United States' current political climate, abortion laws have spawned some of the most heated debates of the year.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Nowhere is the starkness of the these candidates’ positions more evident than on abortion, which has become <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/us/indiana-abortion.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" title="" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a much more urgent litmus test</a> on the right since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade," Hounshell wrote.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Many of the far-right Republican candidates backed by Trump have made their support of anti-abortion laws quite evident. Hounshell noted that </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Kari Lake, Blake Masters, <b style="">Herschel Walker, </b>Doug Mastriano, and others have been quite vocal with their opinions</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"In Georgia," Hounshell wrote, "Herschel Walker, the party’s nominee for Senate, has told reporters, 'There’s not a national ban on abortion right now, and I think that’s a problem.' Doug Mastriano, who is running for governor of Pennsylvania, introduced a fetal heartbeat bill as a state senator. Again, the bill contained no exceptions for incest or rape."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman">[READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/mark-finchem/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">A far-right 'Stop the Steal' Republican may become Arizona’s next secretary of state</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Another area of concern is climate control.</b> "Skepticism of the human impact on the planet’s climate abounds, despite <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/04/climate/climate-change-acceleration.html" target="blank" title="" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">mounting scientific evidence</a> that severe flooding, rising global temperatures, droughts, and volatile weather patterns have already arrived," he wrote.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Walker has also shared his opinion of climate control; an opinion that appears to resonate among far-right Republican lawmakers and candidates. “Since we don’t control the air, our good air decides to float over to China’s bad air,” Walker said. “So, when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So, it moves over to our good air space. Then, now, we got to clean that backup.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hounshell also highlighted <b>Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wisc.) stance. "No Republican, however, has expressed his disdain for established climate science more succinctly than Senator Ron Johnson</b>, who is seeking re-election in Wisconsin," Hounshell noted.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“'I don’t know about you guys,' Johnson <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/06/politics/kfile-ron-johnson-climate-change/index.html" target="blank" title="" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said during a Republican luncheon back in June 2021</a>. "Citing a British climate denier, he <a href="https://vimeo.com/559498335" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" title="" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">continued</a>: 'But I think climate change is, as Lord Monckton said,' and he mouthed a barnyard epithet."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In regard to education</b>, Hounshell wrote, "Across the board, the Trump-aligned candidates support redirecting tax dollars toward vouchers, private religious schools or other forms of 'school choice,' as do some Democrats. But where many of them go further is in calling for the elimination of the federal Education Department altogether."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And last but not least, Republican candidates have expressed deep disdain for laws protecting <b>same-sex marriages.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Several other Republican candidates for Senate, including Adam Laxalt in Nevada, Ted Budd in North Carolina, and Bolduc and Kevin Smith in New Hampshire, have expressed their opposition to same-sex marriage in more muted terms," he wrote.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Same-sex marriage is another topic Johnson has verbally expressed disapproval of. "One of the more surprising positions is that of Johnson, who has indicated that he plans to vote for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/20/us/politics/same-sex-marriage-bill-senate.html" target="blank" title="" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a Democratic bill codifying the Obergefell decision</a> when it comes before the Senate next month — a move that might have something to do with the fact that <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-same-sex-marriage/by/state/" target="blank" title="" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a solid majority of Wisconsinites</a> want same-sex marriage to be legal," he wrote.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Respect for Marriage Act is another example of Democrats creating a state of fear over an issue in order to further divide Americans for their political benefit,” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/21/politics/ron-johnson-same-sex-marriage-bill/index.html" target="blank" title="" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Johnson told reporters last month</a>. “Even though I feel the Respect for Marriage Act is unnecessary, should it come before the Senate, I see no reason to oppose it.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/this-gop-lawmaker-attended-his-gay-sons-wedding-only-3-days-after-voting-against-marriage-equality/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: This GOP lawmaker attended his gay son’s wedding only 3 days after voting against marriage equality" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>This GOP lawmaker attended his gay son’s wedding only 3 days after voting against marriage equality</strong></a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/how-radicals-and-extremists-are-poisoning-the-republican-brand-columnists/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/how-radicals-and-extremists-are-poisoning-the-republican-brand-columnists/</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Back in the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon famously complained that Republican candidates felt pressured to go arch-conservative in GOP primaries only to turn around and run as fast as they could to the center during the general election. Nixon was considered arch-conservative in his day, yet he hated conservative purity tests.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Looking back on Nixon’s comments in 2022, the ironic part is that Nixon and so many of the fellow conservatives he debated in GOP primaries during the 1960s and 1970s would be slammed as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) by the MAGA Republicans of today.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Back in 1970 or 1975, Republicans didn’t fear they would be run out of the party if they criticized the far-right <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/15/john-birch-society-qanon-reagan-republicans-goldwater/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">John Birch Society</a>; William F. Buckley, in fact, was adamant about keeping the Bircher conspiracy theorists out of the pages of his National Review. But the Republican primaries of 2022 are full of MAGA candidates who insist that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming aren't aligned with the Republican party.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/meghan-mccain/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Meghan McCain melts down after Kari Lake and other GOP extremists win in Arizona elections</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Extremism within the GOP is the focus of two opinion columns published by the Washington Post in early August: one by<b> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/04/dana-milbank-republican-destructionists-book-excerpt/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Dana Milbank</a> and the other by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/08/03/gop-is-blowing-its-chance-make-midterms-referendum-democrats/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">conservative Henry Olsen</a>. Milbank’s column is actually an excerpt from his new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Destructionists-Twenty-Five-Crack-Up-Republican-Party-ebook/dp/B09LH2W6ZP?crid=A1LPW21HVZI4&keywords=The+Destructionists:+The+Twenty-Five+Year+Crack-Up+of+the+Republican+Party&qid=1659617075&sprefix=the+destructionists+the+twenty-five+year+crack-up+of+the+republican+party,aps,173&sr=8-4&linkCode=sl1&tag=thewaspos09-20&linkId=6b4a389dea118bdf3b02bc2c44d789d5&language=en_US&ref=as_li_ss_tl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">“The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party,”</a> </b>which has an August 9 release date on Amazon. Many Never Trump conservatives and Blue Dog Democrats believe that the GOP took a very dark turn when Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, but as Milbank sees it, the GOP was overrun with extremists long before that.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Milbank argues that the GOP took a much nastier turn in 1994, when the combative Newt Gingrich replaced Bob Michel as GOP leader in the U.S. House of Representatives.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Bob Michel, the unfailingly genial leader of the House Republican minority for the previous 14 years, had ushered Ronald Reagan’s agenda through the House,” Milbank recalls. “But he was being forced into retirement by a rising bomb thrower who threatened to oust Michel as GOP leader if he didn’t quit…. Newt Gingrich had almost nothing in common with the man he shoved aside. Michel was a portrait of civility and decency, a World War II combat veteran who knew that his political opponents were not his enemies and that politics was the art of compromise. Gingrich, by contrast, rose to prominence by forcing the resignation of a Democratic speaker of the House on what began as mostly false allegations, by smearing another Democratic speaker with personal innuendo, and by routinely thwarting Michel’s attempts to negotiate with Democrats….</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> The rise of Gingrich and his shock troops set the nation on a course toward the ruinous politics of today.”</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Milbank continues, “Much has been made of the ensuing polarization in our politics, and it’s true that moderates are a vanishing breed. But the problem isn’t primarily polarization. The problem is that one of our two major political parties has ceased good-faith participation in the democratic process. </b>Of course, there are instances of violence, disinformation, racism and corruption among Democrats and the political left, but the scale isn’t at all comparable.<b> Only one party fomented a bloody insurrection and even after that voted in large numbers — 139 House Republicans, a two-thirds majority — to overturn the will of the voters in the 2020 election.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/how-trump-has-made-arizonas-gubernatorial-race-a-vendetta-against-doug-ducey/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">How Trump made Arizona’s gubernatorial race a vendetta against Doug Ducey</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to Milbank, other factors that “sped” the GOP’s “turn toward nihilism” included “the ascent of conservative talk radio, followed by the triumph of Fox News, followed by the advent of social media.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Combined, they created a media environment that allows Republican politicians and their voters to seal themselves in an echo chamber of ‘alternative facts,’” </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Milbank explains. “Globally, south-to-north migration has ignited nationalist movements around the world and created a new era of autocrats. The disappearance of the Greatest Generation, tempered by war, brought to power a new generation of culture warriors…. It is crucial to understand that Donald Trump didn’t create this noxious environment. He isn’t some hideous, orange Venus emerging from the half-shell. Rather, he is a brilliant opportunist; he saw the direction the Republican Party was taking and the appetites it was stoking.”</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, Olsen, in his August 3 column, makes it clear that he would much rather see conservatives running the federal government than liberals. But he fears that the GOP’s “radicals” are undermining the party’s chances of enjoying a “potentially momentous midterm win” in 2022.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Discussing the results of GOP primary elections held on Tuesday, August 2, Olsen observes, “Republicans would like the midterm elections to be a referendum on the Democrats. But that won’t be easy to pull off, as Tuesday’s primary outcomes show…. Republicans in Missouri avoided a disaster when they rejected disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens and nominated State Attorney General Eric Schmitt. Two GOP House members from Washington State who voted to impeach Donald Trump also appear to have survived Trump-backed challenges, saving both seats for the party. Elsewhere, however, primary voters’ rashness has led to some risky nominees.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Olsen continues, “Arizona’s entire Republican ticket will likely be composed of candidates who have endorsed, to varying degrees, Trump’s election lies. </b>While the governor’s race remains uncalled, current leader Kari Lake is so steeped in election conspiracy theories that she was calling her own primary race’s legitimacy into question before the vote were even tallied. The state party’s nominees for U.S. Senate, secretary of state and attorney general have also embraced the false stolen election narrative. Republican leaders have asked the party to move on and look to the future. That’s not going to happen in Arizona, giving Democrats a massive opening in the purple state.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Olsen notes that in Arizona, Republican gubernatorial candidate Lake “is so steeped in election conspiracy theories that she was calling her own primary race’s legitimacy into question before the vote were even tallied” — while in Michigan, <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/maga-hardliners-are-disappointed-with-trumps-support-of-michigan-gob-gubernatorial-nominee/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon</a> “recently said that she opposed abortion even in cases of rape or incest.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“(President Joe) Biden’s effort to placate progressives and push for radical change is why Republicans are on the cusp of a potentially momentous midterm win,” Olsen argues. “It would be more than ironic if the GOP’s own radicals throw that opportunity away.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong style="">READ MORE: </strong><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/doug-mastrianos-consultant-christian-nationalist/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Doug Mastriano consultant boasts of running 'Christian nationalist' candidates</strong></a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 8 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/ronald-reagan/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/ronald-reagan/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">any Americans, looking at the GOP’s position on the issues, find themselves confused.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Why would the party claiming to be the last bastion of reverence for “life” in America also be the party that supports 50,000 American gun deaths every year,</b> the leading cause of death among children and more than every other developed country in the world <em>combined</em>?<b> Why would they support anti-abortion laws that don’t even contain exceptions for the life of the mother?<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Why do they fight so hard to keep healthcare out of the reach of so many Americans (12 GOP-controlled states still refuse to offer Medicaid — 90% paid for by the federal government </span>— to their low-income working people)?</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Why would the party that claims patriotism and the flag as their logos work so hard to make it difficult for people to vote? </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Why would they vote against supporting our veterans during their time of need? Why would they support authoritarian Russia and vote against aid to democratic Ukraine? Why do they celebrate an autocrat and fascist like Viktor Orbán</span> and invite him to speak at their CPAC convention when he’s openly taking Russia’s side in its conflict with Europe and Ukraine; has shut down independent newspapers, TV, and radio in Hungary; and now <a href="https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2022/07/28/hungarys-viktor-orban-denounces-race-mixing-ahead-of-dallas-cpac-appearance/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">preaches</a> against the dangers of “race mixing”?</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Why would the party that claims to stand up for the “average American” and “the little guy” work so hard to prevent working people from having union representation in the workplace?</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> Why do they support giant monopolistic corporations that force the average American to pay more than $5000 a year over citizens of Europe or Canada for everything from airfare to cell service to pharmaceuticals to access to the internet? </span><b>Why do they constantly try to reduce taxes on the morbidly rich while only throwing the smallest of bones to average working people and sticking our children with the debt?</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell recently put together a “Republican Vote Tracker” that’s become<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/25/2112560/-Will-y-all-listen-this-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"> a meme</a> across the internet<b>. He points out that the Republican vote totals just during this congressional session tell their own story:</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>0% of Republicans voted for cheaper gas
0% voted for cheaper insulin
0% voted for child tax credits to help out young families
0% voted to end gerrymanders
0% voted for the Voting Rights Act</b>
1% voted to fight domestic terrorism
4% voted for background checks to buy assault weapons
6% voted for more baby formula
13% voted to stop domestic violence
16% voted for veteran’s cancer care
23% voted to keep gay marriage legal
32% voted to uphold the 2020 election</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why?</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When you do a deep dive into the guts of the GOP’s policy operations, the answer to all these questions becomes crystal clear: the Reagan Revolution of the 1980s was a revolution in the truest sense of the word.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was a revolution in <em>values</em> as much as in economic and political policy.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Prior to Reaganism (aka neoliberalism), Republicans believed that their job and the work of our government they controlled was to serve the needs of the American people and keep our country united around a common set of values and goals. My dad’s GOP of the 1950s supported community and working class people.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican President Dwight Eisenhower, for example, continued the work started by Republican President Teddy Roosevelt back in 1901 and his distant cousin Democratic President Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s and 1940s.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Teddy started the break-up of the most egregiously giant corporate monopolies, made it a felony for corporations to fund political candidates for federal office, and Franklin raised taxes on the morbidly rich to a 91% bracket on income over around $3 million a year in today’s dollars.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Eisenhower embraced those anti-trust and anti-corruption laws and the egalitarian American values they reflected.</b> He kept the top tax rate at 91% for individuals and around 50% for the very most profitable corporations, expanded GI bill benefits, supported free college, maintained and strengthened regulation of banks, built the interstate highway system, encouraged unionization, and funded brand new hospitals, schools, and airports from one end of the nation to the other.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Eisenhower also embraced public education: after Sputnik went up in 1957, his Education Department helped jump-start programs for gifted kids across the country (I was in one throughout elementary school), producing a generation of engineers and scientists who revolutionized the world with the transistor, integrated circuit, and lasers.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He subsidized the development of what ultimately became personal computers and the internet, and funded research that revolutionized medicine with new classes of antibiotics, cancer drugs, and imaging technologies.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">When Eisenhower’s rightwing brother Edgar wrote him a letter in 1954 worrying that all this support for working people and government funding for science was “socialist,” President Eisenhower was blunt in his <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20051124190902/http:/www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/1147.cfm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">response</a>:</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“[T]o attain any success it is quite clear that the Federal government cannot avoid or escape responsibilities which the mass of the people firmly believe should be undertaken by it. The political processes of our country are such that if a rule of reason is not applied in this effort, we will lose everything--even to a possible and drastic change in the Constitution. This is what I mean by my constant insistence upon ‘moderation’ in government.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
“Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.”
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">By the third year of his first term, 1955, Eisenhower’s <a href="https://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/campaigns-and-elections" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">popularity</a> rated by Gallup <a href="https://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/campaigns-and-elections" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">was</a> between 68 and 79 percent. When he ran for re-election in 1956, his <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-party-platform-1956" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">platform</a> was explicit:</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Under the Republican Administration, as our country has prospered, so have its people. This is as it should be, for as President Eisenhower said: ‘Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country—they are America.’
“The record of performance of this Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further:
<b>The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers</b>.
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Social Security has been extended to an additional 10 million workers and the benefits raised for 6 1/2 million.
The protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to 4 million additional workers.
There have been increased workmen’s compensation benefits…
*All workers have gained and unions have grown in strength and responsibility, and have increased their membership by 2 millions.”</span>
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">By the mid-1960s, however, rightwing oil barons like the Hunt brothers had gained ascendance in the Republican Party. They believed that greed should be the central focus of the GOP, that great wealth should be celebrated, and that working people and their unions must be marginalized.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1964, Republican activists at the party’s convention booed and shouted down New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller when he called for Eisenhower’s “moderation,” <b>electing instead an acolyte of Milton Friedman, Barry Goldwater, who <a href="https://www.niskanencenter.org/on-the-saying-that-extremism-in-defense-of-liberty-is-no-vice/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">declared</a> that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Goldwater’s buddy Friedman had a novel idea that he called </span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">neoliberalism</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, as I lay out in </span><a href="https://amzn.to/3zeCG8h" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Guttered America</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">; in 1981 it became the basis of the Reagan Revolution. In its essence, it said that one of the Seven Deadly Sins — greed — wasn’t actually a sin at all. Greed, Friedman said, wasn’t even a base human impulse that had to be controlled lest it destroy society.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead, Friedman preached, greed was good. It animated business and drove consumers. If the economy and the government could just be turned over to those who were the most aggressively greedy, Friedman and his neoliberal colleagues argued, the result would be prosperity for all.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">By 1980, the Republican Party had swallowed neoliberalism hook, line, and sinker.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reagan truly believed that greed alone could power America to success and prosperity. When Michael Douglas made his famous “greed is good” speech in the 1987 movie <em><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094291/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Wall Street</a></em>, he was merely echoing the Reagan Republicans of the day.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thus, greed has become the animating principle that drives the entire Republican Party of today. The only function of government, in their minds, should be to help the greediest in America make a buck.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Public schools don’t promote greed or make anybody money, Republicans note, so they should be destroyed to pave the way for profitable private schools. This is why Republicans across the country are attacking schools and school boards.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Similarly, Social Security and Medicare don’t make money for anybody so they must be privatized. George W. Bush’s invention of the Medicare Advantage scam has already privatized about half of Medicare: Senator Rick Scott has <a href="https://socialsecurity.news/rick-scott-destroy-social-security/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">made it clear </a>that when the GOP regains federal power they’ll end Social Security within five years.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even government service, for Republicans, is a way of getting rich: just look at multimillionaire Paul Ryan. Or multimillionaire Newt Gingrich. They’ve drilled campaign finance laws so full of holes (with help from 5 Republicans on the Supreme Court) that <b>politicians can now keep most of the dark money they raise, even when they leave office. Donald Trump turned this into an art-form: he’s raised and pocketed three-quarters of a billion dollars just since he left office....</b></font></strong></strong></p></div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 7 22</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">in an interview that first aired last week, Michigan's <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2022/07/19/tudor-dixon-slim-lead-michigan-republican-governor-primary-toss-up-poll/10085377002/?gnt-cfr=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">leading</a> Republican gubernatorial candidate, Tudor Dixon, said that a 14-year-old incest victim was the "perfect example" of her justification for a nearly total ban on abortion access in the state.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LeDuffCharlie/videos/3138529789794590/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">interview</a> with journalist Charlie LeDuff, host of the internet talk show "No Bullshit News," Dixon, who formerly worked in the steel industry and as founder of a "pro-America, pro-Constitution morning news program" for children, doubled down on her previous statements that she opposes abortion in all cases except when necessary to save the life of the mother.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asked by LeDuff about a hypothetical situation in which a 14-year-old girl became pregnant as a result of sexual abuse by a family member, Dixon said, "Perfect example." She went on, "Because I know people who are the product. A life is a life for me. That's how it is. That is for me, that is my feeling."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The story gained wider attention this week when it was first picked up by the regional news outlet <a href="https://heartlandsignal.com/2022/07/20/tudor-dixon-calls-hypothetical-14-year-old-incestual-rape-survivor-perfect-example-to-not-receive-abortion-care/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Heartland Signal</a> and then by national outlets. In a statement to <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tudor-dixon-michigan-gop-candidate-abortion-ban_n_62d86a61e4b081f3a8fab6c7?d_id=4556880&ncid_tag=tweetlnkushpmg00000016&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=us_politics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">HuffPost</a>, Dixon, who is endorsed by Right to Life Michigan, elaborated, saying, "Not everyone agrees with me that every life has value and we should have the courage, as [University of Michigan football coach] Jim Harbaugh put it, to let unborn children be born.… I know that. I'm not hiding from it."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Dixon's position is in alignment with a 1931 abortion law in Michigan, which bans all abortions except to save the life of the mother, and which might go into effect in the state following the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade last month. Currently, a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood challenging the law's constitutionality has resulted in a temporary injunction on the old law taking effect.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To moderate and progressive politicos in Michigan, however, Dixon's comments are par for the course in a Republican field that has tilted far to the right.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It's not particularly shocking and it also doesn't really differentiate her much from the rest of the Republicans she's running against," said Michigan Democratic spokesperson Rodericka Applewhaite. "They have all pushed pretty extreme anti-choice agendas." One of Dixon's opponents, far-right pandemic <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/04/06/battleground-michigan-joins-with-militant-far-right-in-campaign-against-democracy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">skeptic</a> Garret Soldano, <a href="https://michigandems.com/after-comments-equating-rape-to-a-heroic-moment-that-god-put-women-in-garrett-soldano-quadrupled-down-and-called-the-horrific-crime-a-sacred-cr/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">declared</a> this winter that rape victims should recognize that "God put them in this moment" and the child that could result from their rape "may be the next president."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While most Republican voters in Michigan say they support abortion exceptions in cases of rape and incest — and that position would have been normal just a few elections ago — Applewhaite continued, "It's just testament to the purity tests that have come to define the Republican Party at this point. In Michigan in particular, there's been a real sprint to the right." The entire GOP field of gubernatorial candidates, she noted, is basically in agreement on denying the validity of the 2020 election and stripping the state budget of funds for public services, from schools to infrastructure.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The electorate isn't necessarily there yet, but at the same time, those voters are about to line up to support these people in 11 days," on the Aug. 2 Michigan primary, Applewhaite noted. "So the candidates are dragging the party to the right and I expect the electorate to follow them."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jim Timmer, the former executive director of Michigan's Republican Party, agreed, saying Dixon's comments "show how far outside the mainstream the party has become." Timmer, who publicly opposed Donald Trump and has since left the GOP, said that, before Dixon, no past Republican candidate for the office "has ever taken the position that we're going to take a 14-year-old girl and make her carry her rapist's baby. Dixon is the first one to ever demand that that happen, and that's barbaric and it's insane."</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">That's indicative of larger problems in the GOP, he said: "Michigan is a microcosm of the insanity around the MAGA movement. We have what really amounts to unprecedented lawlessness within the Republican Party."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Throughout this election cycle, Michigan has stood out for repeated scandals involving Republican elected officials and candidates for office. Of 10 initial Republican candidates for governor, five were <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/05/28/embarrassing-even-fume-at-michigan-for-defending-candidates-busted-for-fraud/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">disqualified</a> for submitting <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/05/24/leading-michigan-candidate-may-be-disqualified-from-ballot-amid-unprecedented-fraud-scandal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">fraudulent signatures</a> in their voter petitions. One, Ryan Kelley, was <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/06/09/pro-michigan-candidate-for-governor-marched-on-capitol-on-jan-6-arrested-in-fbi-raid_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">arrested</a> in June on charges relating to his participation in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. ("Instead of ending his candidacy," remarked Timmer, "it catapulted him to the top tier.")</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Further, Timmer pointed out, a GOP candidate for attorney general is under </span><a href="https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/07/attorney-accused-of-pushing-false-election-fraud-claims-wants-to-be-michigans-next-attorney-general.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">investigation</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> for pushing false election fraud claims; the Republican speaker of the House is being </span><a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/lee-chatfields-home-searched-amid-criminal-probe-dana-nessel-confirms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">investigated</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> for both financial and sexual misconduct;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> the Republican Senate majority leader is being <a href="https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2022/06/funds-supporting-petition-backed-by-senate-leader-shirkey-face-criminal-probe.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">investigated</a> for campaign finance violations; and the co-chair of the state party is being <a href="https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/ex-gop-chair-trump-fake-electors-plotted-hide-overnight-michigan-capitol" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">investigated</a>, alongside others, for voter fraud in association with Republicans' "alternate electors" scheme.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"There's no top Republicans right now that aren't touched by criminal investigations," said Timmer. "It's unheard of."</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">And it doesn't even stop there. As Salon has reported, last March a candidate for state House, Robert Regan, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/03/08/michigan-candidate-slammed-for-saying-rape-victims-should-lie-back-and-enjoy-it/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said</a> during a livestream that he'd told his daughters, "If rape is inevitable, you should just lie back and enjoy it." In April, state Sen. Tom Barrett, who's running for Congress, sent out <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/04/22/michigan-state-lawmaker-caught-sending-fake-gender-reassignment-confirmations_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">fundraising texts</a> claiming that recipients' children had been scheduled for "gender reassignment surgery," and if they didn't like it, they should sign up with Republicans now. In June, state Rep. Steve Carra proposed a resolution to mark Jan. 6 as an official day of "<a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/06/23/backed-michigan-proposes-jan-6-remembrance-day--to-honor-capitol-rioters_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">remembrance</a>" for the Capitol rioters.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Earlier this month, Trump's pick for Michigan secretary of state, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/07/05/backed-michigan-warns-of-demonic-possession-through_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Kristina Karamo</a>, was reported to have described abortion as a "satanic practice" and "demon possession" as a sexually transmitted disease." Not to mention that throughout the late winter and spring, a suite of right-wing <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/04/06/battleground-michigan-joins-with-militant-far-right-in-campaign-against-democracy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ballot initiatives</a> — restricting voting rights, curtailing state power to address pandemics and sending public money to private schools — joined radical far-right activists with mainstream GOP leaders like Betsy DeVos (and another dose of <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/06/06/michigans-push-to-fight-fake-voter-fraud-gets-upended-by-actual-fraud/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">petition fraud</a>).</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Everything happening in Michigan, said Applewhaite, is "reflective of a trend we're seeing across the country in which Republicans are moving further to the right, it's turning off a lot of independent voters and it is galvanizing a lot of Democrats.</b>" A recent poll by The Detroit News found that almost 60% of Michigan voters "strongly oppose" the recent Supreme Court abortion decision overturning Roe.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet given the current state of politics, Timmer warned, the likelihood that even a far-right candidate like Dixon could become governor is very significant.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The easiest thing to do would be to look at someone like Tudor Dixon and say she's so outside the mainstream she can't win. Except that she might not just win the nomination, but any of those people could be elected governor in this climate, where any of these crazy candidates are going to get 47% [of the vote]," Timmer said.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I think 2022 is a harbinger of what we can expect in 2024 and the return of Donald Trump," he continued. "A dark dystopian future for America can become a fait accompli this year if the MAGA candidates — like Tudor Dixon, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/07/04/hes-on-a-mission-from-god-pennsylvania-candidate-doug-mastrianos-with-the-world/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Doug Mastriano</a> in Pennsylvania, Kari Lake in Arizona, Joe Lombardo in Nevada — win. If these folks win, we're looking at a very dark future, beginning in 2024, where how states like Michigan vote will not matter. Republicans will have their thumb on control of the certification process, and will use that power that they didn't have in 2020 to skew the election results. And that bodes very poorly for the future of democracy in America."</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 7 22</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During his testimony for the January 6 select committee, Donald Trump’s former campaign manager <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-aide-says-campaign-split-into-team-normal-team-giuliani-2022-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">Bill Stepien</a>
argued that after the 2020 presidential election, Trump’s allies ranged
from “Team Normal” to “Team Giuliani” — that is, former New York City
Mayor Rudy Giuliani and other really strident, in-your-face supporters
of the former president. Never Trump conservative Amanda Carpenter,
discussing the 2022 midterms, uses that “Team Normal” concept in an <a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/team-normal-is-doing-it-again/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">article published by The Bulwark</a>
on July 11. And she is vehemently critical of “Team Normal,” arguing
that members of the “professional Republican class” are apologists for
extremism even if they’re trying to convince themselves that they
aren’t.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter opens her scathing piece by slamming GOP apologists for former football star <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/herschel-walker-campaigns-worst-nightmare/" target="_self" class="rm-stats-tracked">Herschel Walker</a>, the Republican nominee who is running against incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Herschel
Walker is, by any measure, a flawed candidate,” Carpenter argues. “It’s
a fact readily observable to anyone with a basic familiarity with his
confessed history of self-harm, acts of violence against others,
whack-a-doodle beliefs, and steady stream of lies about his supposed
academic and business achievements…. Just as they did with former
President Trump, instead of letting voters see Walker for who he really
is, the professional Republican class is devoting itself to coddling the
candidate and covering up for him. And when it gets <em>too</em> icky, they dish quotes to their favorite reporters to make themselves feel better about their life choices.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/cassidy-hutchison-showed-how-republicans-can-avoid-losing-their-souls-in-an-age-of-extremism-conservative/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_self" title="view post: 'Bold and brave' Cassidy Hutchison showed how Republicans can avoid losing their souls: conservative" class="rm-stats-tracked">'Bold and brave' Cassidy Hutchison showed how Republicans can avoid losing their souls: conservative</a></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter
adds, “These people aren’t stupid enough to believe that their
candidates are fit for office; they’re just trying to trick voters into
being that dumb…. The National Republican Senatorial Committee recently
deployed their A-team to Georgia on a ‘rescue mission’ to save Walker
from himself…. But the really crazy part is that if you go down the list
of Republican midterm candidates, it’s possible that Walker isn’t even
the most problematic.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter goes on to describe some of the
abysmal candidates that the Republican Party has nominated — or is
likely to nominate — in the 2022 midterms.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“In the Senate class,
there’s Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania-by-way-of-North Jersey,” Carpenter
observes. “In Ohio, there’s the Silicon Valley oligarch-backed,
Hollywood-famous, Marjorie Taylor Greene-hugging James David Vance. In
Wisconsin, there’s Sen. Ron ‘Can’t Keep His False Electors Story
Straight’ Johnson. In Missouri, the scandal-a-minute, disgraced ex-Gov.
Eric Greitens may well clinch the nomination…. And, in Arizona, Blake
Masters is cruising in the polls. This clean-cut young fellow — besides
also being backed by the same Silicon Valley oligarch as Vance — likes
to rehash conspiracy theories on LewRockwell.com. Also, he’s speculated
that January 6 was a false flag operation, stated that ‘I think Trump
won in 2020,’ and floated the belief that ‘Black people, frankly’ are
responsible for gun violence.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Carpenter continues, “The gubernatorial field isn’t much better! <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/both-parties-worried-doug-mastriano/" target="_self" class="rm-stats-tracked">Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee</a>
not only attended Trump’s January 6 rally, but used campaign funds to
bus participants to it before attempting to bring an Arizona-style audit
to his state. He has made plans to rig the next election a central
feature of his candidacy. Ditto for the woman who hasn’t met a political
opponent she wouldn’t threaten to jail, <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/doug-mastriano/" target="self" class="rm-stats-tracked">Arizona’s Kari Lake</a>, who continues to lead the polls in her primary.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">READ MORE: <a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/robert-reich-rips-republicans-war/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="self" title="view post: Watch: Robert Reich rips Republicans over their war on civil rights" class="rm-stats-tracked">Watch: Robert Reich rips Republicans over their war on civil rights</a></font></strong></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According
to Carpenter, “Team Normal” is gutless when it comes to publicly
calling out extremist or “flawed” candidates and would rather go along
to get along.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Team Normal is still in the MAGA bunker — doing
their work, deepening their messiah complexes,” Carpenter warns. “They
don’t care if their lying, no-good candidates turn out to be
election-denying cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs monsters. They did it once, and
everything worked out fine. The republic didn’t fall. They got their
Supreme Court justices and their <em>Dobbs</em> verdict.”</font></strong></strong></p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
Carpenter continues, “So now, they’re doing it again. And if it all goes
sideways this time? Well, you can be sure that the members of Team
Normal (will) stand ready to rush into the breach and give some juicy
quotes about how terrible everything is to reporters. As long as it’s on
background.”</font></strong></strong><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/republicans-have-conveniently-ignored-jobs/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/republicans-have-conveniently-ignored-jobs/</a></font></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">yell about gas and inflation, which pres has little control and has acted</font></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">trump boasted about tho due to BO policies? AA?
</font></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=
</font></font></font></p><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body css-listicle-body-2657622130"><div class="body-description"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For
many years, journalist/political science professor Tom Nichols, now 61,
was a staunch and self-described “New England Republican.” But that was
before Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. Nichols sent shock
waves through the conservative movement when, in 2016, he announced that
he would be voting for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton —
and in October 2018, the Never Trump conservative expressed his disdain
for the MAGA movement <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/tom-nichols-why-im-leaving-republican-party/572419/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">by leaving the Republican Party.</a></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nichols hasn’t grown any less disdainful of Trumpism since then. In an <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/07/are-the-last-rational-republicans-in-denial/661503/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">article published by The Atlantic</a>
on July 6, Nichols applauds Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, Rep. Liz Cheney
of Wyoming and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for being “reasonable
Republicans” but laments that they are atypical of 2022’s GOP — which he
believes is beyond salvation. Nichols even compares the state of the
GOP in 2022 to the state of the Soviet Communist Party in 1991.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“In
1991, the last president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was
briefly deposed in a coup by hardline members of the Soviet Communist
Party,” Nichols recalls. “Gorbachev, upon his return to Moscow, tried to
differentiate between the plotters and the Party itself. One of his
closest advisers, Aleksandr Yakovlev, told him that this effort was
pointless, akin to ‘serving tea to a corpse.’”</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nichols continues,
“Republicans such as Sen. Mitt Romney — an honorable man for whom I
voted in 2012 — and a handful of others in the GOP, including Liz Cheney
and Adam Kinzinger, should take note of Yakovlev’s phrase…. Romney,
Cheney and Kinzinger cannot rescue their party, either — at least not in
its current form. In fact, I wonder if the Republicans can ever return
to being the kind of party that once nominated someone like Mitt Romney
for the American presidency.”</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Describing some of the far-right
MAGA Republicans running for office in the 2022 midterms, Nichols warns
that extremists and “conspiracy theorists” are now the norm in his
former party.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Republican candidate for secretary of state in Michigan, for example, believes that people can <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/03/politics/kfile-kristina-karamo-abortion-child-sacrifice/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">transmit demonic possession</a>
through ‘intimate relations,’ according to CNN,” Nichols observes.
“Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Republicans have nominated a candidate for
governor, Doug Mastriano, who has implied that he might <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/18/doug-mastrianos-pa-victory-could-give-2020-denier-oversight-2024/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">invalidate any election result</a> he doesn’t like in 2024 — and that’s probably the least disturbing thing about him. As <a href="https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/rules-and-power-and-roe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">Jonathan Last</a>
put it recently, the Democratic nominee, Josh Shapiro, is an ordinary
politician, while Mastriano ‘is an insane person, a seditionist, a
Christian nationalist, a conspiracy nut.”</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nichols adds, “Almost
every other national Republican is either silent or on board with the
dark fantasies and deepening paranoia that now rule the GOP. For
example, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the relentlessly ambitious
third-ranking House Republican, endorsed the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/nyregion/carl-paladino-nick-langworthy-congress.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">developer Carl Paladino</a> for a newly redistricted House seat in the state; in 2021, Paladino said that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/09/nyregion/carl-paladino-hitler.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">Adolf Hitler</a>
was ‘the kind of leader we need.’ Some House Republicans are frustrated
that Stefanik went rogue by endorsing Paladino, meaning only that they
are embarrassed but not ashamed.”</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nichols concludes his article by warning that extremists are no longer a minority in the GOP — they now dominate it.</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“In
the end, despite the efforts of Sen. Romney and other reasonable
Republicans, the fringe is now the base,” the Never Trumper laments.
“The last rational members of the GOP — both elected and among the rank
and file — need to speak even harsher truths to their own people, as Liz
Cheney did last week at the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/29/politics/liz-cheney-donald-trump-reagan-library/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked">Ronald Reagan Presidential Library</a>.
Otherwise, the madness will spread, and our institutions will continue
an accelerating slide into a nightmare that will engulf all Americans,
regardless of party.”</font></font></font></p></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/reading-the-republican-autopsy">https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/reading-the-republican-autopsy</a><br /></font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">last bulwark</font></font></font></p><h2 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Autopsy Is Happening Right Now</font></font></font><div id="§1-the-autopsy-is-happening-right-now" class="header-anchor-widget"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font><div class="header-anchor-widget-button-container"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" 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size="4" face="Times New Roman">Inthe days after Democrats unseated an incumbent president and won
unified control of Congress, the victorious party went though a round of
self-analysis and recriminations.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Republicans, who managed a
trifecta of losing that hadn’t been accomplished since Herbert Hoover,
doubled down. Then they backed up their bets, split 4s, and doubled
down again.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">People were confused as to why the losing party didn’t conduct an autopsy to try to figure out what went wrong.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Except
that they did. It wasn’t a traditional autopsy in the sense that there
was no formal committee and the project wasn’t centered around getting
more votes in future elections. But it’s clear that Republicans are in
the midst of a crowd-sourced attempt to figure out how to win the
presidency in 2024. </font></p><div><hr /></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>There are three ways to capture the presidency:</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(1) Win a lot more votes than the opposing candidate.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(2<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">) Get fewer votes, but win pluralities in enough states to get 270 certified and counted Electoral Votes.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">(3) Get fewer votes <em>and</em></span><span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
fewer Electoral Votes, but prevent the official counting and
certification of the Electoral Votes</span>—and then win a majority of state
delegations when the contest is shifted to Congress.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You can win the presidency even while getting blown out in both the popular vote and the Electoral College, provided your party:</font></p><ul><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Controls the House and Senate.</font></p></li><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Constitutes a congressional majority in 26 states.</font></p></li><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Has sufficient raw political will.</font></p></li></ul><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Five
years ago this scenario would have sounded like a nightmare designed to
scare children; democracy’s version of the Baba Yaga.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Today it’s just an alternative path to power.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>After all, it’s right there in the </span><em>rules</em><span>. How could anyone possibly object?</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And if you ask Conservatism Inc. they’ll tell you how beside-the-point “democracy” is, anyhow.</font></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="image-link image2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6b0fbccb-7012-4b1a-ac96-bcd72d074b7b_591x553.jpeg"><picture><source type="image/webp" /></picture></a>[twt]<picture /></font></figure></div><div><hr /></div><h2 class="header-with-anchor-widget"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2. The Republican Game Plan</font></h2><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">When
Republicans conducted their autopsy, they skipped “How to Win Option 1”
and went straight to Options 2 and 3</span>—leapfrogging the question of how
to get more votes and focusing on how to use institutional leverage to
take power even while losing popular majorities.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>Option
2—the path of least resistance—is for Republicans to change voting rules
at the state level in the hopes that they can drive down the number of
Democratic votes cast and win the Electoral College despite </span><a href="https://thetriad.thebulwark.com/p/bidens-future-has-two-parts" rel="">being a persistent minority</a><span>. A lot has been written about these various initiatives, some of which are more grotesque than others.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But
the real cutting edge work being done as a result of the GOP autopsy
concerns Option 3: Figuring out how a Republican can win the presidency
even while losing the popular vote and the Electoral College.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">j<span>ust
go by the numbers: It is likely Republicans will have majorities in the
congressional delegations of at least 26 states for the foreseeable
future. They have a >50 percent chance of winning the House in 2022
and a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_Senate_elections" rel="">pretty good shot</a><span> at flipping the Senate.</span></font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So the first two preconditions for winning the presidency while losing the election are very much on the table.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Which leaves just one project: Mustering the political will to move past both the popular vote and the Electoral College.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In
2020, many elected Republicans lacked the will to use the means that
would have been necessary to stop the certification and counting of
Electoral Votes:</font></p><ul><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>In Michigan, the election results
were certified only because a single Republican member of the state
canvassing board, Aaron Van Langevelde, </span><a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/23/did-michigan-certify-election-results-board-canvassers/6388768002/" rel="">broke party ranks and voted to certify them</a><span>.</span></font></p></li><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Raffensperger" rel="">refused</a><span> direct requests from the president of the United States to change the official tally of the state’s votes.</span></font></p></li><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>In Pennsylvania, enough Republicans in the state legislature </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/09/us/politics/trump-pennsylvania-electoral-college.html" rel="">declined</a><span> the president’s entreaty to create an alternate slate of electors.</span></font></p></li><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Once
the Electoral Votes were sent to Washington, more than half of the
Republican members of Congress objected to the counting of the Electoral
Votes—but it wasn’t enough to stop the process.</font></p></li></ul><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So the
key parts of the Republican autopsy have been (1) building the political
will to use raw power next time and (2) removing the Republican
officials who were not willing to comply last time.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That’s why Republican state parties have censured nearly every Republican who did not participate in Trump’s attempted coup.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>That’s why Brad Raffensperger is the </span><a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/hice-launches-challenge-to-raffensperger-in-race-for-secretary-of-state/IBLOYKCCNFBOTN5FCSEM5PMBAA/" rel="">target of a primary challenge</a><span> in Georgia.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>That’s why Michigan Republicans </span><a href="https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2021/01/gov-whitmer-replaces-gop-canvasser-who-certified-election-with-conservative-activist.html" rel="">replaced</a><span> Aaron Van Langevelde with a more reliable partisan on the state canvassing board.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span> That’s why Nevada Republicans </span><a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/nevada-republicans-vote-to-censure-sos-cegavske-over-voter-fraud-allegations?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=rop" rel="">are attacking</a><span>
Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske, the only Republican to have won
state-wide office in 2018. (Even though she is a Republican, Cegavske
refused to go along with the attempt to overturn Nevada’s result.)</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>That’s why Republicans in Arizona have introduced </span><a href="https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/55leg/1R/bills/HB2720P.pdf" rel="">HB 2720</a><span>. Here’s the relevant section of the bill:</span></font></p><blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The
Legislature retains its legislative authority regarding the office of
presidential elector and by majority vote at any time before the
presidential inauguration may revoke the Secretary of State’s issuance
or certification of a presidential elector’s certificate of election.</font></p></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ladies and gentlemen: Behold the fruit of the Republican autopsy.</font></p><div><hr /></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meanwhile,
Conservatism Inc. is doing its part to devalue and delegitimize
democracy, seeding the ground for moving past both the popular vote and
the Electoral College. </b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>The Big Lie is actually the biggest
insight to come from the Republican autopsy. Republicans and their
enablers discovered that if they make false, evidence-free claims often
and loudly enough, then the </span><em>vast</em><span> majority of their voters will believe them.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And
then, once Republican voters were onboard, they found that the rest of
the party elites would either join them or stay silent. Only a handful
of Republicans dared to object. And those figures are in the process of
being either defeated or coopted.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">By insisting that Trump was the
real winner of 2020, Republicans have created a trifecta of
preconditions within their base going into 2024:</span></font></p><ol><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">There is a pent-up demand for retribution.</span></font></p></li><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">These voters will not believe that election results unfavorable to them are legitimate.</span></font></p></li><li><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">These
voters will be primed ahead of time to demand that elected Republicans
satisfy their desired outcome, by any means necessary.</span></font></p></li></ol><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><b><span>Which is to say: Republicans are already well on their way to marshaling the political will to do </span>whatever<span> the law even theoretically might allow in pursuit of power.</span></b></span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And
even though the success of such a gambit is a longshot given all of the
various failure points, since political power is derived from their
voters, many Republicans politicians will be incentivized to embrace the
challenge anyway, since they will gain power within the party from the
voters who have been primed to demand such a fight</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The difference
between the 2020 and the 2024 elections will be the difference between a
reactive Republican party focused on trying to flip the Electoral
College and a proactive Republican party prepared to move past the
Electoral College to the next pathway to victory.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Those are the lessons of the 2020 Republican autopsy. Ignore them at your peril.</font></p><div><hr /></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span>This is how authoritarianism starts. A society goes from the rule </span><em>of</em><span> law, to rule </span><em>by</em><span> law—where the minority gets just enough power to change the laws so that they can amass more power.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And
here is a serious question: If Republicans managed enough votes to
sustain an objection to counting Electoral Votes, what would our
recourse be? Crossing our fingers and hoping that the Supreme Court
steps in?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What we are seeing—in broad daylight—is another proof of
the idea that democracy runs on the honor system. If you have two
parties and one of them is openly attempting to subvert democracy . . .
well, good luck.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The time to fight against authoritarianism isn’t December 2024. It’s now. </font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 6 22</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Discussing bomb threats recently called into his home, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) — one of two Republicans in the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack — told ABC’s “This Week” that “My party has utterly failed the American people at truth.”</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It makes me sad, but it’s a fact,” he added.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Kinzinger’s comment came as “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos asked Kinzinger why,<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/10-americans-trump-charged-jan-riot-poll/story?id=85482369" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"> in a recent poll</a>, <b>only 20 percent of Republicans said that former President Donald Trump should be prosecuted for his role in inciting the Capitol riots and trying to overturn the 2020 election. The same poll found that 90 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of American voters felt that Trump should be prosecuted.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It is leadership, lack of leadership in the Republican Party,” Kinzinger explained. “If you have people that don’t trust what they hear on the media, and they don’t trust what they hear from certain leaders…. Everybody has people they trust and where they get their information, that whole segment of leaders that Republican voters trust… If you’re going to stand up to those people and lie to him and tell him Donald Trump’s right, the election was stolen… We could have no doubt that 80 percent of the country is going to believe what their leaders are saying.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Kinzinger added that he is not personally worried about the bomb and death threats that were recently mailed to his house. The threats promised violence against his wife and their five-month-old child.</font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I’ve never seen or had anything like that,” he said, adding, “It was sent from the local area.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He also said he expects threats of violence to increase leading into the 2024 presidential election as Trump’s supporters have also gained control of political positions that will enable them to contest or sabotage the next election’s results.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/coronavirus-wreaking-havoc-economy-republicans/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/coronavirus-wreaking-havoc-economy-republicans/</a></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">romney manchin?</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">omg yikes</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 6 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/sewell-chan/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s; outline: 0px;">Sewell Chan</a> and <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/eric-neugeboren/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Eric Neugeboren</a>, The Texas Tribune</font></font></strong></strong><div class="byline" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">June 18, 2022</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/18/republican-party-texas-convention-cornyn/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Texas Republican Convention calls Biden win illegitimate and rebukes Cornyn over gun talks</a>"</b> was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">HOUSTON — Meeting at their first in-person convention since 2018, Texas Republicans on Saturday acted on a raft of resolutions and proposed platform changes to move their party even further to the right. They approved measures declaring that President Joe Biden “was not legitimately elected” and rebuking Sen. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/john-cornyn/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">John Cornyn</a> for taking part in bipartisan gun talks. They also voted on a platform that declares homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice” and calls for Texas schoolchildren “to learn about the humanity of the preborn child.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The actions capped a convention that highlighted how adamantly opposed the party’s most active and vocal members are to compromising with Democrats or moderating on social positions, even as the state has grown more diverse and Republicans’ margins in statewide elections have shrunk slightly in recent years.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Votes on the platform were collected at the end of the party's three-day convention in which party activists moved to add multiple items to the official Texas GOP platform. As the convention closed, two separate sets of ballots — one allowing delegates to choose eight of 15 legislative priorities and another allowing delegates to vote on the 275 platform planks — were gathered. Those will now need to be tallied and certified in Austin, but it is rare for a plank to be rejected, according to party spokesperson James Wesolek.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The convention reinforced the extent to which former President Donald J. Trump’s unfounded claims of a stolen election continue to resound among the party faithful — even though his claims have repeatedly been debunked, </span><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/16/politics/fact-check-trump-officials-testimony-debunking-election-lies/index.html" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">including by many of his own former aides</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, and </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">after a week of televised hearings </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">about the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</span></b></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The denunciation of Cornyn represented a remarkable rebuke to a Republican who has served in the Senate since 2002.</b> The hall at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/06/17/john-cornyn-bipartisan-gun-legislation/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">filled with boos</a> on Friday as he tried to explain the legislation, which would allow juvenile records to be incorporated into background checks for gun buyers younger than 21 and encourage “red flag” laws that would make it easier to remove guns from potentially dangerous people, along with more funding for school safety and mental health.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Meanwhile, the party platform vote on Saturday by roughly 5,100 convention delegates would argue that</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> <b>those under 21 are “most likely to need to defend themselves” and may need to quickly buy guns </b>“in emergencies such as riots.” It also would say that red flag laws violate the due process rights of people who haven’t been convicted of a crime.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">About 9,600 delegates and alternates were eligible to attend; organizers said turnout was a bit more than half that.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The new platform would call for:</b></font></p><ul class="c-list c-list--indented t-copy" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; width: 589.444px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New 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size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Requiring Texas students “to learn about the humanity of the preborn child,”</b> including teaching that life begins at fertilization and <b>requiring students to listen to live ultrasounds of gestating fetuses.</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Amending the Texas Constitution to remove the Legislature’s power “to regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime.”</span></li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">T<b>reating homosexuality as “an abnormal lifestyle choice,</b>” language that was not included in the 2018 or 2020 party platforms.</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Deeming <b>gender identity disorder “a genuine and extremely rare mental health condition,</b>” requiring official documents to adhere to “biological gender,” and allowing civil penalties and monetary compensation to “de-transitioners” who have received gender-affirming surgery, which the platform calls a form of medical malpractice.</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Changing the U.S. Constitution to cement the number of Supreme Court justices at nine and <b>repeal the 16th Amendment of 1913, which created the federal income tax.</b></span></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ensuring “</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">freedom to travel” by opposing Biden’s Clean Energy Plan </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">and “</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">California-</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">style, anti-driver policies,</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">” including efforts to turn traffic lanes over for use by pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit.</span></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Declaring “all businesses and jobs as essential and a fundamental right,” a response to COVID-19 mandates by Texas cities that required customers to wear <b>masks</b> and limited business hours.</li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</li><li><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Abolishing the Federal Reserve</b>, the nation’s central bank, and guaranteeing the right to use alternatives to cash, including cryptocurrencies.</span></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Not every far-right proposal was advanced. The party chair, Matt Rinaldi, ruled that a motion to defend the due process rights of those who rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and to “reject the narrative” that the riot was an insurrection was out of order and could not be voted on.</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Taken together, the new provisions would represent a shift even further rightward for the Republican Party of Texas, once known as the party of Presidents George Bush and his son George W. Bush. Land Commissioner <b>George P. Bush, a grandson and nephew of the two presidents, was <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/24/texas-attorney-general-runoff-results-ken-paxton-george-p-bush/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">defeated handily</a> in May in his runoff race against Attorney General Ken Paxton,</b> an arch-conservative who sued to challenge the 2020 election outcome and convinced voters that he was the truer Trump loyali</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">st.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Party platforms are mission statements rather than legal doctrines and, in Texas, they have long reflected the opinions of the most activist wings of the parties. Republican elected officials are not bound to adhere to the platform</b>, and party activists at times have <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/27/texas-gop-executive-committee-censures-house-speaker-joe-straus/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">expressed frustration</a> that some parts of their platform and legislative priorities have not become law, despite complete Republican control of the state Legislature.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But the platforms are broad indicators of the sentiments of the most active Republican voters — those who dominate party primaries. Republicans have controlled every statewide elected office in Texas since 1999 and both houses of the Legislature since 2003, so the wishes of the party’s populist, pro-Trump base inevitably affect actions taken in Austi</b>n.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The platform is largely symbolic but important as a measure of ideological drift,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political scientist at the University of Houston. “Party platforms are often used as a cudgel in party primaries. A more muscular ideological platform eventually leads to a more conservative legislature as challengers knock off more moderate members.”</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The convention was noteworthy for the relatively low profile of top officeholders. Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/greg-abbott/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Greg Abbott</a>, who is seeking a third term in the November election, only appeared at a reception on Thursday on the sidelines of the convention. Lt. Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/dan-patrick/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Dan Patrick</a>, who effectively controls the state Senate, addressed the convention, but House Speaker Dade Phelan only spoke at a luncheon, not to the main body of delegates.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Tensions within the party at times got personal. Video posted online showed far-right activists physically accosting U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, calling the conservative Republican “eye-patch McCain” over his criticism of Russia. The group included self-identified Proud Boys and Alex Stein, a social media activist from North Texas. A Navy SEAL veteran, Crenshaw lost his right eye to a bomb in Afghanistan.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“A more aggressive party platform sends a clear message to politicians about where the base is going,” Rottinghaus said. “Donald Trump radicalized the party and accelerated the demands from the base. There simply aren’t limits now on what the base might ask for.”</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mark P. Jones, a political scientist at Rice University in Houston, said </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">the 2022 platform indicated how emboldened hard-right party activists now feel — a far cry from 2020. Significant gains by Texas Democrats in state House elections in 2018 raised the prospect of the Republican Party losing its dominant status in Texas, making it moderate its platform in 2020 to focus on bread-and-butter issues. Texas Republicans did well in the 2020 elections — even though Biden won 46.5% of the Texas vote, the highest proportion for a Democrat since 1976 — and this year, culture-war issues were once again at front and center.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jones said that Republican redistricting has made incumbents safer and less inclined to appeal to moderates.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Moreover, inflation, the risk of a recession, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and growing acrimony over race, gender and sexuality make it seem increasingly likely that Democrats will lose the U.S. House in the November midterm elections.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“As a result, the 2022 GOP feels free to veer to the right to its heart’s content,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> confident that it won’t come back to haunt the party in November, except perhaps in a half dozen races,” Jones said. “And even the party’s pragmatic center right conservatives lack the ability to argue, as they did successfully in 2020, that an ultra conservative platform could cost the GOP its majority status in the Lone Star State. <b>This year, even the absolute worst case scenario has the GOP winning statewide, increasing its number of U.S. House seats, boosting its Texas Senate majority by a seat, and maintaining the 83 seats it held in the 2021 Texas House.”</b></span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Before delegates voted on the platform, party activists delivered fiery speeches attacking Democrats.</b></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“They want to destroy the racial progress we have made by saying that we are a racist nation,” said Robin Armstrong, a Black doctor in Texas City who <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/04/06/texas-city-coronavirus-patients-get-unproven-hydroxychloroquine-drug/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">treated COVID patients with unapproved drug therapies</a> touted by Trump, including hydroxychloroquine. “The Democratic Party are now a party of chaos. They benefit from causing us to question the foundations that this country was built upon. The misery, the crime, the drug abuse, the high gas prices are all by design, so that the Democratic Party can permanently transform society. We Texans cannot and we will not allow this to happen.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Republican-dominated Legislature last year passed new <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/30/texas-voting-restrictions-bill/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">voting restrictions</a> that prompted Democratic lawmakers to flee to Washington to break quorum in an ultimately futile protest</b>. However, Republican leaders said repeatedly on Saturday that it was the other side that was a threat to fair elections.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“The Democrats wants three things: Their goals are to steal elections, suppress Republican votes and federalize elections,” </b>said Cindy Siegel, the chairperson of the Harris County GOP and a former mayor of Bellaire.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Immigration continued to be a major theme, with delegates lamenting Biden’s reversal of Trump-era border policies. U.S. Rep. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/jodey-arrington/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Jodey Arrington</a>, of Lubbock, described an “unprecedented, unmitigated, self-inflicted disaster that is creating the <b>worst humanitarian and national security threat to the American people in the history of our southern border,” adding, “this is an invasion, folks.”</b></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“President Biden has ceded control of our borders to paramilitary, narco-terrorist cartels,” </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Arrington told delegates.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The mood of this convention was not hopeful. The themes ran dark, and activists spoke in apocalyptic, even cataclysmic, terms about the state of the country.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Everything is topsy-turvy. What’s right is wrong and what’s wrong is right,” said state Sen. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/donna-campbell/" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Donna Campbell</a>, an emergency room doctor in New Braunfels, reflecting a state of uncertainty that is shared by Americans of many political backgrounds, even if they don’t agree on the causes. “Our country is on a trajectory to self-destruct, unless we change the direction.”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Campbell and other activists frequently spoke of their Christian faith.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“I believe that in the sovereignty of God, you and I were purposely born into this moment, into this confusing time that we face,“ Campbell said. “We’re meant to be alive, at this time, right now, and here in this state.”</b></font></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CDV note sys</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/donald-trump-an-american-monster/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/donald-trump-an-american-monster/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">quite long]</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">...But who created this American monster? Donald Trump was not built by a deranged scientist in a secret lab. He is not an orphan, and did not emerge out of nowhere. He was the almost inevitable result of a decades-long assault by the "conservative" movement aimed at ending American democracy (especially multiracial democracy) and replacing it with a pseudo-democratic authoritarian state, perhaps organized under the <b>system political theorist Sheldon Wolin described as "inverted totalitarianism."</b></font></strong></strong></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As part of that long-term assault,</b> most or all the historic victories of the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the gay rights movement, the labor and environmental movements and other struggles for human dignity and a more just society are being rolled back. If this project succeeds, America's already threadbare social safety net will be virtually eliminated. White Christian fascists and corporate plutocrats will forge a ruling coalition with near-total dominion over American life and society. The separation of church and state, along with the guarantee of free speech and most of the Bill of Rights, will disappear.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There is no longer a "normal" or "traditional" version of the Republican Party for so-called conservatives to return to. Even those conservatives who have disavowed or denounced the Trump movement are implicated in his rise. They are like political Dr. Frankensteins, horrified by what they have created but unable to kill it. Over the course of decades, they painstakingly built the monster and created the blueprint for American fascism.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/sorry-ex-trumpers-there-is-no-team-normal-for-the-gop" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Wajahat Ali</a> wrote this week in the Daily Beast, some of Trump's "most prominent enablers" are now trying to distance themselves from the "<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/name-and-shame-white-christian-nationalism-the-ideology-behind-jan-6?ref=author" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ongoing, concentrated, right-wing effort</a> to overturn the 2020 election":</font></strong></strong></p><blockquote style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.542px;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">Even though most of these ex-Trumpers will fail up in their careers—as is often the case in Washington, D.C. — it's important for the rest of us to recognize them as utterly complicit actors who deserve to wear that MAGA hat on their heads until the end of time…</b><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">.</span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">If you believe that there is a 'team normal' in the modern GOP, then you'll also probably believe that fewer doors and </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/06/13/1104570419/ohio-dewine-guns-teachers" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">arming teachers</a><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"> will reduce mass gun shootings, </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1089726765/these-kids-authors-are-telling-the-stories-of-trans-youth-book-bans-wont-stop-th" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">banning books</a><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"> will save your child from being transgender, and </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/world/asia/china-trump-climate-change.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">climate change is a hoax created by China</a><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">.</span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">Either way, you're not acknowledging that the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> GOP is now a weaponized cult that no longer produces '<a href="https://thehill.com/news/administration/3520441-democrats-biden-must-drop-the-word-rational-when-talking-about-republicans/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">rational' Republicans</a>, but instead caters to the festering, fevered paranoid swamp of dangerous conspiracy theories and white supremacist ideologies.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"> T<b>his persistent right-wing disinformation has now radicalized its base, in which many members </b></span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/poll-violence-necessary-republicans-qanon-1251245/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245); opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">believe violence is necessary to 'take back' their country.</a><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"> The reality is that Team Normal and Team Crazy both play for the GOP, wear the same uniforms, and, for now, worship the golden calf known as Trump.</span></b>
</font></strong></strong></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ultimately, Donald Trump is not some type of monstrous Other or outsider. He was not conjured up in some other dimension ruled by Lovecraftian demons, only to descend on America out of the ether to sow destruction, chaos, misery and death.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In reality, Donald Trump — as a man, a symbol and a political leader — and everything he embodies is the product of our society, driven by extreme social inequality, consumerism and greed, unfulfilled dreams, widespread alienation and loneliness, anti-intellectualism, racism and white supremacy, the cult of the spectacle, our fetish for violence and a range of related antisocial and anti-human values and tendencies.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a recent essay for ScheerPost <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/06/14/jan-6-committee-is-spectacle-taking-the-place-of-politics-it-will-change-nothing/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">republished at Salon</a>, <b>Chris Hedges offers a powerful diagnosis of our corrupt and failing American political system, arguing that the House Jan. 6 committee will do nothing to correct it:</b></font></strong></strong></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.542px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The two established wings of the oligarchy, the old Republican Party represented by politicians such as Liz Cheney, one of two Republicans on the committee, and the Bush family, are now united with the Democratic Party elite into one ruling political entity. </span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">The ruling parties were already in lockstep for decades on the major issues, including: war, trade deals, austerity, the militarization of police, prisons, government surveillance and assaults on civil liberties. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">They worked in tandem to pervert and destroy democratic institutions on behalf of the rich and corporations</span><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">. They desperately work together now to stave off the revolt by enraged and betrayed white working men and women who support Donald Trump and the far right.</span></b>
</font></strong></strong></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>There are other systemic failures as well. America's mainstream news media, through both habit and laziness, have approached Donald Trump, and American politics more generally, as a running narrative of "great men" (and, more recently, "great women"), singular figures who are the main characters in an unfolding drama largely independent of history, culture or economic reality.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">This partly explains the media's obsession with polling and public opinion, the addiction to horserace coverage and the drive to identify "winners" and "losers" on a daily basis. Of course the mainstream media is also driven by profit, and compelled to shape the news so as not to offend advertisers or alienate the political establishment and other social and cultural elites.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Media practitioners are also trained to avoid moral language when describing domestic politics, although they routinely use such language when discussing foreign affairs, and especially Americans' official enemies.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The result is that most mainstream American political journalism remains an exercise in stenography and superficial commentary, almost always bending the knee to such totems as "moderation," "normal politics," "fairness" and "balance," concepts that were likely never helpful or transparent and are now totally inadequate to the task of confronting America's democracy crisis.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many in the media still refuse to see the Trump movement and the modern Republican Party as destructive revolutionary forces, rather than as traditional political movements with an investment in the existing system. At this point, the media's willful or compulsive refusal to comprehend the nature of the threat has become a pathology. Journalists at mainstream outlets would benefit greatly from reading <b>"<a href="https://protectdemocracy.org/project/the-authoritarian-playbook-media/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Authoritarian Playbook: A Media Guide</a>," a new report from the nonpartisan nonprofit group Protect Democracy. It offers the following advice:</b></font></strong></strong></p><blockquote style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.542px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">To the extent that the authoritarian playbook has a central theme, it is that democratic erosion is a process of power concentration and consolidation</b><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While all political actors seek to accumulate power, authoritarians, uniquely, seek to entrench that power and protect it from external checks. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Experts generally agree that democracies don't tend to die at the hands of individuals alone. Rather, contemporary attacks on democracy only succeed when they are coordinated, <b>systemic,</b> and undertaken by broad parties or movements.</span>
</font></strong></strong></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">If Donald Trump the American monster is somehow banished from American political life — through criminal prosecution, advancing age or some other force — another such monster will rapidly appear. In fact, Ron DeSantis and other leading Republican-fascists are eagerly waiting for Trump to leave the stage, and could well turn out to be more competent and more effective than him. Trumpism is a hydra-headed movement, no longer dependent on Trump as an individual: Chop off one of its heads and another will grow.<b> The only long-term solution is to drain the swamp that birthed the monster.</b></font></strong></strong></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 6 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The outgoing United Nations climate chief warned Monday that a victory by Donald Trump—or any other Republican ally of the fossil fuel industry—in the 2024 U.S. presidential election would represent a fatal setback for efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Well, yes," Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/un-climate-chief-warn-of-consequences-of-second-trump-term/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">told</a> <em>Politico</em> when asked whether Trump or another Republican president similarly hostile to climate action would spell doom for the Paris Agreement's lower-end warming target</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"Leadership was not there" on climate during Trump's four years in office, Espinosa said in an interview on the sidelines of the ongoing <a href="https://unfccc.int/SB56" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">climate conference</a> in Bonn, Germany.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"We didn't manage to get the same level of traction in the process," she added.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The prospect of a Republican win 2024 is highly unnerving for climate advocates, given the party's <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03062022/gop-climate-plan-fossil-fuels-new-mexico/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">fealty to the fossil fuel industry</a> and opposition to even the most basic emissions-reduction policies. It's not clear how other potential Republican presidential contenders—from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/14/cotton-big-donors-2024-presidential-race-00039476?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=00000160-07b3-d8b3-a3e3-9ff354a30001&nlid=964328" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Sen. Tom Cotton</a> (R-Ark.)—would substantively differ from Trump on climate.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"The climate's always been changing," Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1505936005819514885" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">said</a> in a <em>Fox News</em> interview in March, pushing several denialist talking points.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During his four years in the White House, Trump formally <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/04/us-officially-quits-paris-accord-amid-election-uncertainty-progressives-say-make" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">withdrew</a> the U.S. from the legally binding Paris accord, opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other pristine lands and waters to drilling, and went on a sprawling deregulatory frenzy that rewarded the fossil fuel industry at the expense of the environment and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/23/trumps-regulatory-rollbacks-linked-worse-air-quality-and-thousands-premature-deaths" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">public health</a>.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The former president also packed his <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2016/12/trump-s-cabinet-fossil-fools" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">cabinet</a> and other key posts with close friends of the fossil fuel industry.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Given his disastrous climate record, it's no surprise that the planetary consequences of another Trump term were a <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2020/8/27/21374894/trump-election-second-term-climate-change-energy-russia-china" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">major topic</a> ahead of the 2020 presidential election. Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/02/donald-trump-climate-change-michael-mann-interview" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">warned</a> months ahead of the contest that "a second Trump term is game over for the climate."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If we are going to avert ever more catastrophic climate change impacts, we need to limit warming below a degree and a half Celsius, a little less than three degrees Fahrenheit," Mann said. "Another four years of what we've seen under Trump, which is to outsource environmental and energy policy to the polluters and dismantle protections put in place by the previous administration... would make that essentially impossible.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Joe Biden ultimately defeated Trump in 2020 and—within hours of being sworn in—moved to return the U.S. to the Paris Agreement. Scientists have been sounding the alarm for years that a breach of the treaty's 1.5°C threshold would mean even more devastating extreme weather, flooding, displacement, a mass <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/10/05/fueled-climate-crisis-planet-lost-14-coral-reefs-just-one-decade" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">coral reef die-off</a>, and other harmful impacts.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While he won praise for rejoining the Paris accord, Biden's overall climate record has not exactly stoked activists who were—and still are—expecting bold action from the administration.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Just last week, Biden <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/10/statement-by-president-biden-on-consumer-price-index-cpi-in-may/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">boasted</a> that under his leadership "the United States is on track to produce a record amount of oil next year," adding that he is "working with the industry to accelerate this output" in an effort to rein in soaring prices at the pump.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Climate advocates have also voiced alarm at federal data showing that the Biden administration <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/01/21/biden-outpaced-trump-drilling-permits-first-year" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">approved</a> more permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands during its first year in power than the Trump administration did in 2017.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, the billions of dollars in renewable energy investments that Biden campaigned on remain stalled in the U.S. Senate largely due to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a top ally of the fossil fuel industry.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"He can't be the Climate President when he refuses to play hardball with Joe Manchin and corporate politicians who have prevented the passage of a historic climate bill that will save lives across the country," Sunrise Movement executive director Varshini Prakash said in a January <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/01/20/after-year-one-climate-group-says-biden-failing-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">assessment</a> of Biden's first year in the White House.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Put simply, he needs to act with the urgency and courage that the climate crisis demands," said Prakash. "Doing anything less risks young people's support, and Democrats' already slim majorities in the House and Senate."</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03062022/gop-climate-plan-fossil-fuels-new-mexico">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03062022/gop-climate-plan-fossil-fuels-new-mexico</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>r<span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">epublican members of Congress chose to hold the first public event for their new climate plan in the country’s No. 1 oil-producing county, in New Mexico, and before an audience of people who work in the oil industry.</span></b></font></strong></strong></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This is a climate plan that involves producing much more oil and gas.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It was immediately pilloried by environmental advocates and Democrats as evidence that Republicans want to say they’re doing something about climate change but are not serious about addressing the real problems.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But at this local government conference room in Hobbs, New Mexico, on Thursday afternoon, the people around the table talked about how the country needs to take a realistic approach to reducing emissions while also promoting economic growth. The discussion was likely a test run for the arguments that Republicans will make about energy and climate in the runup to the midterm elections in November.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I want to be clear on this: I’m fully supportive of moving in the direction of renewable energy,” said U.S. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), who leads the Energy, Climate and Conservation Task Force for the House GOP.</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...b</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);">ut Graves then quickly added that he also supports an “all-of-the-above energy policy” that includes oil and gas because the world is going to need U.S. energy sources to be able to meet rising energy demand.</span></font></strong></strong></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We do it safer and we do it cleaner than anyone else,” he said, about U.S. production of oil and gas. He has been a leading supporter of building additional terminals to allow for the export of liquified natural gas to Europe and other foreign markets, which Russia’s war in Ukraine has made a top industry priority.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So where are the emissions cuts in this Republican climate plan? It’s not clear. </font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">House Republicans have not released details beyond <a href="https://www.republicanleader.gov/the-energy-climate-and-conservation-task-forces-solutions-to-restore-energy-dominance/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">a set of bullet points</a>: “Unlock American resources,” which is the part of the plan covered at Thursday’s rollout; “American innovation,” which encourages an expansion of U.S.-based manufacturing; “Let America build,” which covers a streamlining of permit approval for construction of energy projects; “Beat China and Russia,” which covers the idea of U.S. energy exports as a counterweight to geopolitical rivals; “Conservation with a purpose,” which covers tree-planting and making changes to farming practices; and “Build resilient communities,” which covers adaptation to the effects of climate change.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ClearPath Action, a Republican-allied lobbying group, has <a href="https://clearpathaction.org/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">a website supporting the plan</a> and also hinting at some of the details yet to come.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the climate benefits are indirect but still important, according to ClearPath. For example, <a href="https://clearpathaction.org/the-plan/american-industry/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">encouraging manufacturers to operate in the United States is good for the climate</a> because the country has higher standards for clean air and water than many other countries that tend to attract heavy industry.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The larger significance of the plan is that House Republicans feel like they need to have a climate plan, which reflects the rising importance of the topic across the political spectrum, said Corey Schrodt, legislative affairs manager for climate issues for the Niskanen Center, a Washington, D.C., think tank that describes itself as politically moderate.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I think that the issue at this point is Republicans are still figuring out what policy prescriptions are going to be palatable, are going to work for them,” said Schrodt, who previously was chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.), a leader in his party in urging action to address climate change who did not run for re-election in 2020.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“But I think that you’ve seen a very significant shift in the last three to five years, from just the phrase ‘climate change,’ turning off the conversation, and ending all consideration, to where you can actually have those conversations,” he said, about talks among Republicans. “So it’s so striking how different that environment is.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But even if it’s OK to say “climate change,” Republicans have resisted the idea of a rapid retreat from fossil fuels, which puts the party at odds with the scientific consensus, outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and many others, about what’s needed.</font></strong></strong></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 48px 0px 24px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.28; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Environmental Groups Respond</span></font></strong></strong></h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From almost the moment that news outlets reported the existence of the House GOP climate plan this week, Democrats and environmental groups attacked the effort as a cynical ploy that is close to the opposite of climate action.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This would be laughable as a climate agenda in 2022 except there is absolutely nothing funny about the climate crisis or Congressional Republicans’ obstruction of desperately needed solutions in the name of lining the pockets of their corporate allies and big oil polluters who fund their campaigns,” said Tiernan Sittenfeld, senior vice president of government affairs for the League of Conservation Voters, in a statement.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Melinda Pierce, the Sierra Club’s legislative director, issued a statement saying the plan is an attempt to “greenhouse gaslight the American public.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The overwhelming majority of Americans have been demanding action on the climate crisis for years, while Republicans mocked or ignored their pleas,” she said. “Attaching ‘climate’ to today’s efforts does not change that.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mitch Jones, managing director of policy for Food & Water Action, said Republicans are unable to move away from seeing fossil fuels as the solution rather than the problem.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What’s needed now are serious plans that meet the monumental scale of the crisis, and also deliver the economic benefits and job opportunities that are so desperately needed,” he said in a statement. “We need to elect climate champions this year who will prioritize shifting off of dirty fossil fuels that poison communities and enrich corporate polluters.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite the heated responses, the plan contains several elements that are popular in both parties, like encouraging U.S. manufacturing and streamlining the permit process for energy projects.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There are probably a suite of policies Democrats and Republicans could support on climate if they could see their way to work together,” said Joshua Busby, a University of Texas at Austin public policy professor.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He lamented that the parties seem unable to agree on legislation, even on policies they both support.</font></strong></strong></p><h2 style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 48px 0px 24px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.28; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-weight: 700;">Reading the Room</span></font></strong></strong></h2><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the New Mexico event, about 20 people gathered in a conference room of the county economic development office, with GOP members of Congress at the head of the table, including Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-N.M.), whose district includes this oil-producing region.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The messaging or the storytelling has got to happen,” she said, about the need for Republicans and the oil and gas industry to do a better job of communicating the benefits of fossil fuels. (The meeting was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RepHerrell/videos/1059543688310793" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none;">broadcast live on Herrell’s Facebook page</a>.)</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The audience, including state and local officials and people who work in the oil and gas industry, was receptive to the message. Justin Bliffen, CEO of Brigade Energy Services, a company that operates oil and gas drilling rigs, said, “This is a little bit of an echo chamber here.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Don’t just end the vilification of this industry, but let’s flip it on its head and let’s promote, respect and appreciate the awesomeness and the goodness of this industry,” Bliffen said.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75rem; grid-column: 4 / span 6; word-break: break-word; z-index: 1; margin-top: 0px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hobbs is in Lea County, New Mexico, which borders Texas and is located over the Permian Basin, one of the richest deposits of oil and gas in the world.</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GOP fail at all but grift and dirty tricks to hold power</font></strong></strong></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/trump-raised-the-federal-deficit-more-than-either-obama-or-bush-conservative-economist/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/trump-raised-the-federal-deficit-more-than-either-obama-or-bush-conservative-economist/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 5 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">sixteen months into Joe Biden’s presidency, <b>Republican strategists are doing something they did during Barack Obama’s eight years in the White House: promoting the GOP as the party of fiscal responsibility. But those Republican deficit hawks didn’t do a lot of complaining when Donald Trump was president</b> and the United States’ federal deficit was rapidly increasing. And according to a new <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/trumps-fiscal-legacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">report by conservative economist Brian Riedl</a>, Trump did more to increase the deficit than either Obama or the U.S. president who preceded him, George W. Bush.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Riedl’s report, titled “Trump’s Fiscal Legacy: A Comprehensive Overview of Spending, Taxes, and Deficits,”</b> was released on May 12. And he discusses his findings in an <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-added-more-to-the-national-debt-than-obama-and-bush?ref=home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">op-ed published by the Daily Beast</a> over Memorial Day Weekend on Sunday, May 29.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Donald Trump’s final tab is in,” explains Riedl, who served as lead research fellow on federal budget and spending policy for the Heritage Foundation from 2001-2011. “Legislation and executive actions signed by former<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> President Trump added $7.8 trillion in ten-year budget deficits</span>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> When accounting for non-legislative budget savings, the total projected budget deficits expanded by $3.9 trillion over the decade. These figures appear in my new report, ‘Trump’s Fiscal Legacy: A Comprehensive Overview of Spending, Taxes, and Deficits,’ which analyzes Congressional Budget Office data.”</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Riedl notes that his report “begins with the ten-year, 2017-2027, budget baseline that Trump inherited in January 2017” and “then measures all subsequent changes to those ten-year estimates that occurred during his presidency.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“When President Trump was inaugurated, the CBO projected $10 trillion in deficits over the 2017-2027 decade,” Riedl explains. “By the time Trump left office, CBO’s estimate had grown to $13.9 trillion.</b> Reducing deficits from the $10 trillion projection should have been easy. During Trump’s presidency, faster-than-expected economic growth raised the ten-year revenue projections by $1.3 trillion, and lower-than-expected interest rates shaved the ten-year interest cost projections by $2.6 trillion.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Riedl continues, “That’s $3.9 trillion in automatic budget savings without lifting a finger. Instead of building on those savings, the president helped enact $7.8 trillion in new initiatives, flipping his total fiscal imprint to a $3.9 trillion net cost.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Riedl also criticizes Democratic lawmakers in his op-ed, writing that although they “understandably decried the Trump deficits,” they “share much of the responsibility.” But when Riedl makes a Trump/Obama/Bush comparison, he emphasizes that Trump did the most to increase the United States’ federal deficit.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“From a fiscal responsibility point of view, President Trump’s record compares poorly to his predecessors,” the former Heritage Foundation researcher writes.<b> “Using the same methodology, former President Barack Obama added $5 trillion in legislative costs over a decade, while former President George W. Bush added $6.9 trillion.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Riedl continues, “Not only did Trump sign more ten-year debt into law than his immediate predecessors, he also did it in just a single four-year presidential term, compared to his predecessors’ eight years in the Oval Office…. There is no dispute that President Trump left the federal budget outlook in poor shape. <b>He departed the White House with the largest peacetime budget deficit in American history, and a national debt exceeding 100% of the economy for the first time since World W</b></span><b>ar II.”</b></font></strong></strong></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cruz --> wingnuttery</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/damning-supercut/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/damning-supercut/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 5 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>s</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>enate Republican Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota immediately poured cold water on a just-passed House bill to help fight rising domestic terrorism, in the wake of his past weekend’s massacre of ten Black people in Buffalo </b>by a self-avowed white nationalist and antisemite and a California church shooting deemed a “politically motivated hate incident” by local law enforcement.</span></font></strong></strong></div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The House bill passed with all Democrats and just one Republican voting for it</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. 203 Republicans voted against the legislation that would establish new offices across three federal agencies to help identify and combat domestic terrorism. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Three of the Republicans who voted against the legislation are original co-sponsors of the bill, and many who voted for a very similar bill two years ago voted against this bill Wednesday. The final tally was 222-203.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CNN’s Manu Raju </span><a href="https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1527318289319198721" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">reports</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Senator Thune, the second-most-powerful Senate Republican, is “</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">skeptical the domestic terrorism bill that passed the House will get 10 GOP senators,”</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> which it would need to pass, assuming all 50 Democrats vote for it.</span>
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He noted that it was a ‘pretty party-line vote.’ Said he had not studied the details of the bill yet but noted the outcome in the House makes him think it is ‘largely a partisan bill.'”
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Republicans have a long history of blocking any attempt to curtail or get out in front of preventing domestic terrorism, despite – or because of – the vast majority of extremist-related murders are committed by right-wing extremists.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Republicans’ opposition to addressing right-wing extremism and domestic terrorism goes back at least as far as 2009, when, as Wired reported, “an analyst at the Department of Homeland Security focusing on far-right extremist groups” published this report about the danger of right-wing extremism. Outrage was so dramatic DHS was forced to retract it.</span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 2016 Politico reported Congressional Republicans also in 2009 “succeeded in pushing to shut” down a DHS program, an intelligence unit “called the Extremism and Radicalization Branch.” Its mission? “Studying and monitoring sub-sections of the population for potential signs of ideological and political radicalization.”</span></font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">obstruction/ stick it to libs/Biden? strict fr free mkt makers/takers BS?</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 5 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans just voted against two bills to ease the <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=baby+formula+shortage" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>baby formula shortage</strong></a> they have spent weeks falsely trying to pin on President Joe Biden.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In tweets and in floor speeches, Republicans have been attacking President Biden for the nationwide baby formula shortage caused by one manufacturer’s <a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/2nd-infant-dies-after-exposure-to-recalled-baby-formula-linked-to-bacterial-infections-fda-says/2771429/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">recall and closure of its plant for bacterial infection after two infants died</a>. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The shortage has been exacerbated by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/briefing/baby-formula-shortage-us-economy.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">a trade agreement signed by then-President Donald Trump</a> that makes it extremely difficult and expensive to import formula from other countries, and the fact that 90 percent of baby formula in the U.S. is <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/05/13/diversifying-infant-formula-industry-critical-to-preventing-another-shortage-startup-founders-say/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">manufactured by just four companies</a>. Also, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/05/13/baby-formula-shortage-price-gouge-cost/9750034002/?gnt-cfr=1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">hoarding, and price-gouging</a>.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last week <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/05/democrats-launch-investigation-into-baby-formula-shortage-as-biden-meets-with-manufacturers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">President Biden sat down with manufacturers and retailers</a> to map out a plan to get more formula onto store shelves immediately and directed the Food and Drug Administration to help get the plant reopened. This week he went two steps further<b>: he <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/05/18/house-formula-shortage-abbott/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">invoked the Defense Production Act</a></b> to force manufacturers to produce more formula and produce it ahead of other products and created a program to use federal planes to import baby formula from other countries.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>House Democrats last week also <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/05/democrats-launch-investigation-into-baby-formula-shortage-as-biden-meets-with-manufacturers/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">opened an investigation</a> into the baby formula shortage.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Wednesday the House voted on two emergency bills to further ease the shortage.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">One example of Republicans falsely attacking President Biden and the left is House GOP Caucus chair <a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Elise+Stefanik" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><strong>Elise Stefanik</strong></a>‘s now-infamous tweet accusing Democrats of having “no plan” as she labeled them “<a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/05/opinion-gop-house-chair-crosses-line-with-pedo-attack-against-the-left-in-lie-filled-baby-formula-rant/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">pedo grifters</a>.”...</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>one bill would give FDA $28 million to add staff, work to help get more formula to consumers, and create a long-term strategy, including increased safety inspections so this cannot happen again</b>. The second would dramatically increase supply from foreign sources to consumers using the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>192 House Republicans voted against giving FDA $28 million to help fix the crisis and ensure it does not happen again</b>.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nine House Republicans voted against making it easier for WIC customers to get access to baby formula.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many Americans are becoming outraged as the news from last night’s votes is spreading online.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s the list of 9 members of Congress (all Republicans)who voted NO:</span></font></strong></strong></p></div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Marjorie Taylor Greene
Matt Gaetz
Louie Gohmert
Lauren Boebert
Paul Gosar
Thomas Massie
Andy Biggs
Clay Higgins
Chip Roy.]</span></font></strong></strong><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/big-lie-2657346338/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/big-lie-2657346338/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">gop threat democ las vegas paper</font></strong></strong></div><div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 5 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The latest mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 10 Black victims in Buffalo, N.Y., has reignited concerns about dangerous rhetoric perpetuated by far-right media and conspiracy theorists. </b>The Guardian's Cas Mudde <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/16/republicans-are-fueling-extremism-and-terror-like-the-buffalo-shooting" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">recently explored how right-wing media and Republican lawmakers have contributed to this ongoing problem.</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"The problem is, we can talk endlessly about better regulating social media or calling for even more funding and powers for public and private 'counter-terrorism' organizations, but none of that will make us safer as long as the broader conservative movement embraces and propagates far-right propaganda,"</b> wrote Mudde, who is also a professor for the University of Georgia's School of Public and International Affairs. "This is a point worth repeating, even if I and others have made it many times before."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mudde went on to validate his point by highlighting how the Buffalo shooter's manifesto echoed dangerous talking points from far-right media. <b>The disturbed terrorist referenced concerns about "the Left," America's "open borders," and immigration.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"The so-called '<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/buffalo-supermarket-shooting-suspect-posted-apparent-manifesto-repeate-rcna28889" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">manifesto</a>' of the terrorist included a lot of the standard tropes of the far-right, including the so-called Great Replacement Theory</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Often linked to antisemitism, this conspiracy theory holds that 'the Left' is supporting </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">'open borders' to replace the 'original people' with 'immigrants,' who are inferior</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and therefore easier to control. Variants of this theory go back to at least the original Populists of the mid-19th century, but in its current iteration it has been around since the start of the 1980s postwar far-right in Europe."</span></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">He also expressed concern about Republican lawmakers' conflicting position on this topic. "Since the storming of the Capitol on 6 January 2021, I have had various informal conversations with people who work in Congress or in other state agencies about the far right," Mudde wrote. "They tell me that they want to talk about the threat it poses, but then rapidly narrow the focus to 'online radicalization' and violent groups with scary names like Atomwaffen Division or Feuerkrieg Division.<b> This is not just because these groups get disproportionate attention in the media and the counter-terrorism industry, but because they are politically safe. These groups are so extreme that they are out of bounds for almost all political elites, even on the right. But they are also small and marginal."</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">He added, "This is not the case for most other more mainstream actors and ideas of the far right. In fact, their power is now so great in Washington, that it is almost impossible to come up with a term that is acceptable to both sides of the political spectrum</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">. Republicans are skeptical about terms like 'far-right' and 'racism,' fearing this would include groups and ideas they sympathize with. This is not without reason."</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="">"The Grand Old Party has become a far-right party that advances racist arguments in both implicit and explicit form. And many organizations within the broader “conservative” movement have followed suit, from Fox News to Turning Point USA</b>."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the direction the Republican Party is going toward, Mudde emphasized the reality America is facing as he offered a piece of advice to President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.</font></strong></strong></p><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The sad reality is that fighting the far right has become a highly partisan affair in the United States," Mudde wrote. "Any attempt to make this a bipartisan effort means watering down of measures and limiting them to the most extremist fringes<b>. If Biden and the Democrats really want to fight white supremacy, including institutional racism, they must do it without the Republican party.</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>"</b></span></font></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">note bad faith; note violence is always defensive and he is careful never to explicitly call for it.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">180 pp gt replace manifesto, dad bought him one of the guns?</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/matt-gaetz/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/matt-gaetz/</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">amanda </font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in the 16 months since Jan. 6, 2021, Donald Trump and the hosts Fox News hosts — especially its top-rated personality, Tucker Carlson — haven't exactly been subtle in approving of what happened and longing to see more right-wing violence.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/02/03/donald-is-done-pretending-he-is-now-openly-celebrating-the-capitol-riot/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Trump has publicly mused about issuing pardons</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> to the Capitol insurrectionists if he wins back — or rather steals back — the White House in 2024. Like many of the far-right Republicans in Congress, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Trump has also <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/07/12/trump-cranks-it-up-at-cpac-why-raising-the-spectacle-of-right-wing-madness-right-now-is-so-scary/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">made a martyr out of Ashli Babbitt</a>, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/09/ashli-babbitt-capitol-mob-trump-qanon-conspiracy-theory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">QAnon believer who was shot </a>during the Capitol riot</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> when she tried to </span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/07/11/ashli-babbitt-as-the-21st-century-horst-wessel-symbolic-martyr-to-the-fascist-cause/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">break into a secure area</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and quite likely attack members of Congress. Carlson, meanwhile, has been at the forefront of popularizing various often contradictory conspiracy theories, mostly intended to portray </span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/10/29/former-fox-reporter-slams-tucker-carlsons-jan-6-special-a-betrayal-to-the-public_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the Jan. 6 insurrectionists as noble patriots</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and lambaste </span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/01/06/ted-cruz-blasted-by-tucker-carlson-right-wing-twitter-for-calling-jan-6-a-terrorist-attack/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">any Republican who dares say otherwise</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. While these GOP leaders and media personalities are generally careful to avoid direct calls for violence, their overall message of sympathy and support for right-wing terrorism is undeniable.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">So <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/05/14/buffalo-sheriff-mass-was-hate_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Saturday's mass shooting in Buffalo</a>, while horrifying, is really no surprise.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The alleged shooter who killed 10 people and injured three others in a Buffalo supermarket is 18-year-old Payton Gendron, who appears to have target a busy location in a predominantly Black neighborhoo</b>d. As has become far too common with these kinds of mass murders, Gendron reportedly live-streamed the massacre on video, and apparently also<b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://twitter.com/evanhill/status/1525625390684950530" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">published a manifesto that echoes</a> many of the paranoid right-wing talking points one can hear every day streaming from the mouths of Fox News hosts and Republican politicians: a series of scurrilous lies about "<a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/01/28/the-critics-were-right-critical-race-theory-is-just-a-cover-for-silencing-educators/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">critical race theory</a>," <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/02/22/parkland-paranoia-why-is-the-far-right-obsessed-with-george-soros/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">George Soros</a> and the "<a href="https://www.adl.org/blog/buffalo-shooters-manifesto-promotes-great-replacement-theory-antisemitism-and-previous-mass" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">great replacement</a>."</span></b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now a familiar refrain will commence. No doubt we will be hear a great deal of umbrage in the coming days from Republican leaders and right-wing pundits. "How dare you blame us?" they will proclaim, in almost hysterical terms, acting shocked, <em>shocked</em>, that anyone would suggest that their words have had horrible consequences. The point of this fake outrage will be to make it too emotionally exhausting to hold them accountable, and to reinforce the ridiculous victim complex that fuels the American right as it increasingly slides into fascism. But let's not mince words: These folks share the blame. They have been encouraging violence, and violence is what they got.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> </span><a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/08/21/the-dark-history-of-the-great-replacement-tucker-carlsons-racist-fantasy-has-deep-roots/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"great replacement" </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">theory has been a favorite of Carlson's</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> for some time now. This particular paranoid hypothesis is deeply </span><a href="https://www.adl.org/blog/buffalo-shooters-manifesto-promotes-great-replacement-theory-antisemitism-and-previous-mass" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">rooted in neo-Nazi</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and other white nationalist circles. A cabal of rich Jewish people, the theory holds, has conspired to "replace" white Christian Americans with other races and ethnic groups in order to gain political and social control.</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Carlson doesn't actually say "Jews,"</span> and generally blames the sinister plan on Democrats, socialists or unspecified <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"elites,</span>" <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/white-nationalists-love-tucker-carlson-great-replacement-fox-news_n_6077470de4b0293a7edda566" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">but otherwise has kept the conspiracy theory intact</a>. (Antisemitism remains the mix <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-george-soros-has-built-program-destruction-aimed-west" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">by singling out individual Jewish</a> people especially Soros, as the alleged ringleaders.)</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It's not like Carlson only invokes this narrative on occasion. As <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlsons-history-fearmongering-about-white-replacement-genocide-and-race-war" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Media Matters researcher Nikki McCann Ramirez has documented</a>, Carlson is obsessed with this idea that the people he calls<b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"legacy Americans" — a not-so-veiled euphemism</span></b><b> for white Christians of European ancestry — are under siege from shadowy forces</b> flying the banner of diversity. He uses anodyne terms like "demographic change" to make the point, but has gotten bolder more recently, using the word "replacement" to make it even clearer that he's borrowing his ideas from the white-supremacist fringe.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Carlson has also explicitly linked this conspiracy theory to the threat of violence, repeatedly "warning" that <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/tucker-carlson-says-ideas-critical-race-theory-end-rwanda" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">America faces a new civil war</a> <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-justifies-coming-revolt-unless-we-change-course-immediately" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">unless these fictional conspirators</a> stop trying to "replace" his cherished "legacy Americans</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">." </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The GOP base has been getting the message. A poll conducted in December showed tha</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">t <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/05/09/nearly-half-republicans-agree-with-great-replacement-theory/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">nearly half of Republican respondents buy into the idea</a> that there's a conspiracy to "replace" white Christians with different racial and ethnic groups</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. That proportion has probably risen since then, as Carlson's deluge has further mainstreamed this delusional and dangerous notion. Unsurprisingly, </span><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/08/31/1032932257/hate-crimes-reach-the-highest-level-in-more-than-a-decade" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">there has been a concurrent rise in hate crimes</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, of which this Buffalo shooting is merely the most dramatic recent example.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When called out for stoking a conspiracy theory that is likely to inspire violence, Carlson inevitably plays the victim</span>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/11/opinion/tucker-carlson-white-replacement.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">accusing liberals of being "hysterical"</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/letsgomathias/status/1525605023421542400" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">characterizing these criticisms as "cancel culture."</a> This only encourage his viewers to embrace the conspiracy theory even more, telling themselves that they (and he) are bold truth-tellers fighting against the forces of liberal oppression. </b>That's why the <b>how-dare-they posturing</b> we will almost certainly see from Carlson and other right-wing pundits in coming days so predictable. This article, for instance, will quite likely be characterized as hysterical name-calling or an attempt to censor bold political speech. But let's understand this <b>feigned outrage</b> for what it is: an attempt to leverage an act of terrorism in a way that leads people to accept it or even condone it.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The "great replacement" theory fits in with the larger pattern of right-wing Republicans (especially our former president and his allies) and Fox News pundits encouraging not just right-wing paranoia, but the inevitable acts of violence that flow from it. The most straightforward example of this, of course, is the relentless rewriting of the history of Jan. 6, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/desperate-not-take-responsibility-what-theyve-set-motion-pro-trump-media" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">which began in the immediate aftermath</a> and continues to this day. Republican leaders in Congress <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/02/01/sorry-republicans-but-theres-no-way-to-acquit-trump-without-endorsing-his-insurrection/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">voted down Trump's impeachment only weeks after the riot</a> and have tried to block <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/07/22/medias-both-sides-obsession-has-gone-too-far-jan-6-commission-fight-is-fault-of-the-gop-only/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">congressional efforts to uncover</a> exactly how the attempted coup went down.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Over this past winter, Fox News, Trump and other GOP leaders made another big push towards political violence, <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/02/17/anti-vaccine-hysteria-has-a-mission-violence/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">hyping outrageous conspiracy theories about COVID vaccines</a> and encouraging their audiences toward aggressive acts of so-called resistance</b>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">As with Carlson, these threats are often packaged as "warnings,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">" as when Trump declared on Fox News in February, "You can push people so far and our country is a tinderbox too, don't kid yourself."</span> Around the same time, Carlson, Sean Hannity, Carlson and Glenn Beck all started pushed the idea that anti-vaccination fanatics were potentially justified in using violence as "self-defense."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Indeed, as the shooting was unfolding in Buffalo, there was an overt call for right-wing violence at Trump's rally in Austin, Texas, where <a href="https://twitter.com/cd_hooks/status/1525591090526572544" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">oock geezer turned gun advocate Ted Nugent told the crowd of 8,000</a> that he'd "love" it if they all "went out and just went berserk on the skulls of the Democrats and the Marxists and the communist</b>s." In his speech afterward, <a href="https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/state/2022/05/15/trump-rally-austin-texas-american-freedom-tour-greg-abbott-ken-paxton/9775712002/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Trump praised Republican politicians in Texas</a>, including Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who have slavishly proven their loyalty to him.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Many of the people arrested for their actions on Jan. 6 , 2021, have stopped being apologetic about what they did, and are now portraying themselves as martyrs and heroes. Last week, one of the most prominent ringleaders on the insurrection,<b> Tim "Baked Alaska" Gionet,</b> a troll to the very end, dramatically declared at a hearing <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/baked-alaska-torched-plea-hearing-jan6?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">that he was changing his plea</a>. He had agreed to plead guilty to a lesser offense, but now wants to plead not guilty,</span> even though he filming himself inside the Capitol during the riot and put the evidence online. Other Jan. 6 defendants have also become more confrontational, including <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/jan-6-defendant-jail-loaded-shotgun" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">pulling a gun</a> on probation officers, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/christopherm51/former-cop-charged-capitol-attack-amasses-weapons" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">acquiring new guns</a> in defiance of a court order, or claiming that their actions on that day<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetillman/thomas-webster-self-defense-verdict-jan-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;"> amounted to "self-defense."</a> In fairness, why shouldn't they feel emboldened? Most <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/03/09/the-doj-is-aggressively-prosecuting-capitol-insurrectionists--and-dismantling-lies-about-jan-6/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Republican voters, along with the party's leadership</a>, are more interested in making excuses for Trump's coup than holding anyone accountable for it.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And all of the above doesn't even touch on the way Republican politicians and right-wing media have </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">mainstreamed the QAnon conspiracy theory <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/04/11/the-goal-of-the-gops-qanon-influenced-groomer-troll-more-political-violence/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">by regularly slurring Democrats</a>, LGBTQ folks and their allies as "groomers.</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">"</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Demonizing political opponents with false allegations of pedophilia is unbelievably slimy, even by Republican standards. It also serves to inspire or encourage potential acts of violence, by dehumanizing their targets and creating a delusional narrative that makes such attacks seem justified.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perhaps the horror unleashed in Buffalo on Saturday will cause Carlson and his allies to rethink their paranoid, racist and inflammatory rhetoric. That is doubtful, however. After all, this is just the latest in a series of mass shootings inspired by the "great replacement" theory, including the</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Just this week, the conspiracy theory got another round of hype as Republican pundits and politicians pretended to believe that <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-modest-proposal-baby-formula-crisis-starve-migrant-babies" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: currentcolor none medium; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">President Biden was stealing baby formula</a> from Americans to feed "illegals,"</b> their slur for refugees applying for asylum. Those who would support deliberately starving babies for racist and xenophobic reasons aren't likely to feel any real empathy for the victims and their families in Buffalo. We cannot legitimately hope that they will be chastened by this latest round of violence, but we can make clear that their hateful rhetoric helped to unleash it.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an ah 4 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The GOP’s authoritarian MAGA insanity isn’t getting better — and it won’t: conservative</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia speaking at the 2021 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona on December 19, 2021, Gage Skidmore]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Alex Henderson April 29, 2022</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In an April 28 column for the conservative website The Bulwark, Never Trump pundit Tim Miller reviews the new Jonathan Martin/Alexander Burns book “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden and the Battle for America’s Future.” Miller’s disturbing takeaway: the far-right MAGA extremism that has overtaken the Republican Party — which Miller was once a member of — isn’t going away. And it won’t.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“So, I’ve been paging through ‘This Will Not Pass’, the book by my pal Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns,” explains Miller, a one-time aide to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. “And for all the SHOCKING REVEALS — with audio! — about Kevin’s cowardice, Mitch’s cravenness, and Kamala’s ennui, the thing that keeps striking me throughout is that none of the ostensible political professionals being profiled seems to understand the reality of the political situation they find themselves in.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Miller continues, “By January 6th, (2021), Trump had been the number one story in politics for five years, upending all the conventional wisdom that came before. He was in the middle of an extended, multi-pronged effort to undermine our democracy. It may have been boobish, but it captured the imaginations of tens of millions of Americans. Yet most of the characters in ‘This Will Not Pass’ act as if they are caught up in some 24-hour fever that will subside with liquids and a good night’s rest.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Kevin, Mitch and Kamala that Miller is referring to are, of course, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Kamala Harris.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A “good night’s rest,” Miller emphasizes, isn’t going to cure the political sickness that ails the United States in 2022. Liberal democracy, according to Miller, continues to face a dire threat in the U.S. from the MAGA far right — and pundits and politicians who believe the GOP will return to traditional old-school conservatism are being hopelessly naïve.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“You fucking idiots. You maroons,” Miller writes with obvious frustration. “You really thought all this — waves hands — was over? That you were going to be let off that easy? That bipartisanship was coming back to Washington? That the radicals who stormed the Capitol wouldn’t get their dander up over Joe Biden? That the Republicans were going to bring back some old-timey comity?”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>To illustrate his point, Miller points to a video from the Republican Accountability Project — an anti-Trump conservative group — that shows Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, and other GOP candidates expressing their unwavering devotion to Trump:</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Miller laments that Republicans who have the courage to stand up and publicly call for Trump to be excised from the Republican Party — for example, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming — are few and far between.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Here is a reality check,” Miller warns. “This will not pass because people in power refuse to take on the risk required to force change.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Some days, it seems like the only one who gets this is Liz Cheney. And that’s why, in the book, Kevin McCarthy’s bestie Jeff Miller is quoted as saying ‘Fuck that bitch.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">’ Because anyone who shows actual courage and bursts the comfortable bubble where these Republicans tell themselves that things might magically get better if they just keep on doing the same shit they’ve been doing for seven years must be debased, degraded, and expelled from the club.”</span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style=""><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>an 4 22</strong></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When comedian Al Franken’s book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rush-Limbaugh-Idiot-Other-Observations/dp/0385314744/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N0JKY1XTVHH8&keywords=Rush+Limbaugh+Is+a+Big+Fat+Idiot+and+Other+Observations&qid=1650295955&s=books&sprefix=rush+limbaugh+is+a+big+fat+idiot+and+other+observations%2Cstripbooks%2C47&sr=1-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">“Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations”</a> was published in 1996, the former “Saturday Night Live” star humorously slammed radio host Limbaugh as a master of distortion and disinformation. And in a video posted on YouTube on April 13,<b> the liberal ex-senator, now 70</b>, laments that the right-wing media ecosystem is much worse in 2022 than it was when he wrote that book 26 years ago.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Franken revisited the subject of right-wing media in his 2003 book “Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.” In his video, the ex-senator notes, “The point of both books was that the right was deliberately spreading a lot of disinformation, and that that was very dangerous.” And he goes on to describe how often former President Donald Trump lied during his four years in the White House, using George Orwell’s dystopian science fiction novel “1984” to make his point.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Trump lied thousands and thousands of times throughout the presidency, from the size of his inaugural crowd all the way through to the Big Lie that the election was stolen,” Franken explains. “And of course, he has no intentions to stop. Now, here’s the thing: Two-thirds of Republicans now believe the Big Lie.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The right-wing media ecosystem, according to Franken, has as blatant a disregard for the truth as state-operated Kremlin media in Russia.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What strikes me now at this moment — this horribly tragic moment in Ukraine — is that what we are seeing in Russia, where its people are being told and believing that their army is fighting Nazis, is not that far from the Big Lie,” Franken warns. “How far are we really from ‘1984,’ where one of our two political parties attempts to overturn an election with an act of political violence…. How far are they away from Orwell’s thought police and the ministry of truth? How far is 2022 from ‘1984?’</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the 1980s and 1990s, Franken was both a staff writer and a performer on “Saturday Night Live” — where he famously mocked new age self-help culture with his Stuart Smalley character. Politics became his main focus after “SNL,” and Franken was elected to the U.S. Senate via Minnesota in 2008. Franken was reelected in 2014 but resigned in January 2018 due to allegations of sexual harassment.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his video, Franken draws a parallel between Trump supporters who believed the Big Lie violently attacking the U.S. Capitol Building on January 2, 2021 and Kremlin media convincing people in Russia that the invasion of Ukraine is justified.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Republican Party is still Donald Trump’s party,” Franken warns. “There are no alternative facts; there are only big lies. The Russia Army is not killing Nazis; they are killing civilians, they are killing children. Donald Trump did not win the 2020 election; he lost it…. As long as his party is committed to suppressing votes…. we are headed down a steep, treacherous road.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Watch the video below:</font></strong></strong></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">an 4 22 nl lnx twt</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">'You have nothing to offer': the GOP's Orwellian debate pledge whips up a frenzy on social media</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Brandon Gage April 14, 2022</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The Republican National Committee announced on Thursday that it is withdrawing from the Commission on Presidential Debates and that presidential candidates must pledge to only participate in debates that are sanctioned by the party.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Debates are an important part of the democratic process, and the RNC is committed to free and fair debates. The Commission on Presidential Debates is biased and has refused to enact simple and common-sense reforms to help ensure fair debates, including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage," RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a press release.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Today, the RNC voted to withdraw from the biased CPD, and we are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people," McDaniel added.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"The GOP is not walking away from debates. We are walking away from the Commission on Presidential Debates," the party tweeted later in the day. "It is biased and does not serve the interest of the American people."</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to The Wall Street Journal, "the RNC plans to form a working group to sanction debates based on input from presidential campaigns and criteria that may include timing, frequency, format, media outlet, candidate qualifications and the 'best interest of the Republican Party.'"</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>At face value, the RNC's move is a capitulation to former President Donald Trump's complaints that the debates he participated in with other GOP primary contenders in 2016 – as well as those with Democratic presidential nominees Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden – were unfair and rigged against him.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The bulk of Trump's ire was rooted in the moderators calling him out for outrageously false and provocative statements, such as when he directed the white nationalist Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by" during his one-on-one with now-President Biden in 2020.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The RNC's decision thusly adds credence to the possibility of Trump running for president again in 2024. If he does, the GOP is clearly attempting to manipulate its primary processes to favor Trump.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It also puts out an undeniable Orwellian vibe, which the Twitterverse noted in response to the Republican Party's edict</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">// young guns TP freedom caucus BS</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/historian-explains-how-far-right-extremists-are-the-future-of-the-gop/</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A historian of democracy is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/13/extremists-like-marjorie-taylor-greene-are-the-future-of-the-republican-party" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">explaining why he believes far-right Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) may be paving the way for a new era of the political party</a> that will not wane anytime soon.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an op-ed published by The Guardian, Thomas Zimmer, who currently serves as a visiting Georgetown University professor, shared an assessment of the Republican Party's evolution in recent years as he highlighted a common theme that is becoming more prevalent in the party's leaders and representatives: extremism.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"In any (small-d) democratic party, Greene’s extremism should be disqualifying," Zimmer wrote. "In today’s Republican party, she’s not being expelled, she’s being elevated. Greene is undoubtedly one of the right-wing stars in the country, and that’s not just a media phenomenon. Republican candidates <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-admit-marjorie-taylor-greenes-blessing-is-the-next-best-thing-to-donald-trumps-in-2022" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">crave her endorsement</a>."</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He went on to use Greene as an example while offering a brief historical timeline of her outrageous political antics. "There is a calculating quality to Greene’s polemics," Zimmer wrote. <b>"Last fall, for instance, she recorded a campaign video in which she used a military-grade sniper rifle to blow up a car that had the word 'socialism' written on it, promising to do the same to the 'Democrats’ socialist agenda.'"</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>However, he also highlighted what he believes to be the reason behind her antics. "It was over-exaggerated campaign nonsense," Zimmer noted. "But Greene knew the unsubtle insinuation of using violence against a political opponent would demand attention."</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While many have advocated for Greene's removal from the House of Representatives, Zimmer has noted that it does not appear she will be vacating her seat anytime soon.
</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>According to Zimmer, far-right voters actually support Greene. Subsequently, Republican lawmakers are refusing to fully denounce Greene's radicalized rhetoric for the same reasons they refused to to push back against former President Donald Trump in the midst of his wrongdoing,</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Overall, Greene’s position within the Republican party seems secure. That’s partly because the Republican leadership is surely aware that most of the energy and activism in conservatism is in the far-right wing that stands behind Greene. In fact, Greene is the poster child of a rising group of rightwing radicals: in Congress, she likes to present herself and like-minded allies such as representatives Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz as the <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/radicals-say-they-will-take-power-if-gop-takes-back-n1285624" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">future of the Republican party</a>, and they aren’t shy about their intention to purge whatever vestiges of “moderate” conservatism might still exist within the Republican party."</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 4 22</font></strong></strong><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Democratic lawmakers worked to finalize the confirmation of US Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a number perplexing events took place in national political theater this week. One of the most pivotal moments centered on Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison’s attack on Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) following the Republican senator's suggestion that Jackson is a Nazi sympathizer, per The Washington Post.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Harrison described Cotton as a “maggot, infested man” while collectively calling out the Republican Party and labeling it a political party “built on fraud, fear, and fascism.”</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Almost immediately after Harrison made the remarks, the Republican National Committee (RNC) fired back with a response. But <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/08/jamie-harrison-gop-republicans-fraud-fear-fascism/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">instead of criticizing the Democratic official for his charge about the party, the RNC focused more on his remarks targeting Cotton.</a> In a newly published op-ed, The Washington Post's Dana Milbank highlighted the seemingly odd argument from the party.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Interestingly, a statement from the Republican National Committee taking offense at the 'maggot-infested' charge did not dispute the “fraud, fear and fascism” formulation," Milbank wrote. "As your self-appointed fact-checker, I have therefore examined the merits of the accusation</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">."</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So, Milbank decided to discuss those three keypoints as he highlighted how they factually relate to the Republican Party. In reference to fraud, Milbank highlighted the irony Republicans' claims of <b>fraud as he noted the evidence of fraud that has been uncovered actually proves it was likely committed by members of their own party.</b>
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The 'big lie' about a rigged election, accepted by two-thirds of Republican voters, has spawned new frauds about the dangers of coronavirus vaccines (leading to sharply higher death rates in heavily Republican counties) and the promise, touted by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) of the deworming drug ivermectin to treat covid-19; an exhaustive new study finds the drug useless," he wrote.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">He went on to offer an example of the type of<b> fearmongering</b> Republicans are responsible for invoking. "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.)," Milbank highlighted, "said people like Ketanji Brown Jackson become public defenders because '<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/06/cruz-cotton-public-defender/?itid=lk_inline_manual_15" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">their heart is with the murderers</a>.' Cotton said <a href="https://www.roberthjackson.org/nuremberg-event/justice-robert-h-jacksons-opening-statement/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Justice Robert H. Jackson</a> 'left the Supreme Court to go to Nuremberg and prosecute the case against the Nazis. This Judge Jackson might have gone there to defend them.'”</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Milbank also noted recent remarks made by Ohio Senate Republican candidate J.D. Vance. In a recent <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/06/jd-vance-immigration-ukraine-great-replacement/?itid=lk_inline_manual_19" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ad, he </a>said, “Biden’s open border is killing Ohioans, with more illegal drugs and more Democrat voters pouring into this country.”</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Assessing Republican lawmakers' opposition to a resolution in support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Milbank explained how their perspective aligns with fascism. "Sixty-three House Republicans — 30 percent of the caucus — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/06/house-gop-nato-support/?itid=lk_inline_manual_25" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">voted against</a> a resolution this week affirming unequivocal support for NATO as authoritarian Russia attacks democratic Ukraine," he wrote.</font></p><p style=""><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On another note, he added, "A Republican National Committee resolution, never rescinded, refers to the Capitol insurrection not as an authoritarian attempt to overthrow democracy and keep the defeated Trump in power but as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/02/07/rnc-legitimate-political-discourse-insurrection/?utm_campaign=wp_follow_dana_milbank&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_danamilbank&itid=lk_inline_manual_26" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">legitimate political discourse</a>.' And Trump expresses regret he didn’t march to the Capitol with the insurrectionists.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He concluded, "Is the GOP 'a party built on fraud, fear, and fascism'? Certainly, not all Republicans think this way. But too many others are subverting democracy, cavorting with white nationalists, spreading racist fears and fantasizing about extrajudicial punishment for political opponents and the medi<b>a. For them, the jackboot fits."</b></font></p></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx twt</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ginni Thomas’ election conspiracy theories offer a ‘window into' a 'very distorted, very disturbed world’: conservative</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ginni Thomas speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Gage Skidmore]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Alex Henderson March 30, 2022</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">CBS News and the Washington Post recently reported that far-right Republican activist Ginni Thomas, who is married to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, exchanged 29 text messages with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows following the 2020 presidential election — texts in which she promoted the Big Lie and encouraged Meadows to aggressively pursue efforts to overturn the election results.<b> Never Trump conservative Peter Wehner, in an article published by The Atlantic on March 30, warns that those texts speak volumes about the mindset of many MAGA Republicans.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The 61-year-old Wehner has a very right-wing resumé. He served in the administrations of three Republican presidents — Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush — and was a speechwriter for Bill Bennett, former secretary of education in the Reagan Administration. These days, Wehner is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), a conservative think tank.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But Wehner is a blistering critic of former President Donald Trump, who he believes has been terrible for the conservative movement in the United States. And he cites the Thomas/Meadows texts as a glaring example of Trump’s toxic influence on the Republican Party.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“It was, by any measure, an extraordinary and unsettling set of exchanges,” Wehner writes in his Atlantic article. “President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and the right-wing political activist Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, texted each other at least 29 times in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. Their purpose was not to lament the result; it was to encourage efforts to overturn it.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wehner continues, “That would be worrisome enough, but what makes it doubly so is the arguments invoked, the sources cited, and the mindset revealed in these raw, unfiltered texts. They are a window into a very distorted, very disturbed world — a world of true believers, and a world that has largely influenced and defined the American right during the Trump era.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Never Trump conservative describes Ginni Thomas’ texts to Meadows as “<b>fully marinated in QAnon conspiracy theories.”</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>“Thomas thought that the attorney Sidney Powell — who, at a December (2020) press conference, blamed Cuba, Venezuela, the Clinton Foundation, George Soros, and Antifa for making Trump votes disappear — should be ‘the lead and the face’ of Trump’s legal challenge</b>,” Wehner notes. “Thomas believed that the ‘Biden crime family & ballot fraud co-conspirators’ were being arrested and detained for ballot fraud before being shipped to Guantánamo Bay for military tribunals. And she believed that Joe Biden and the left were ‘attempting the greatest Heist of our History.’”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ginni Thomas, Wehner adds, expressed her “contempt” for then-Vice President Mike Pence when, in one of her texts to Meadows, she wrote, “Most of us are disgusted with the VP and are in listening mode to see where to fight with our teams. <b>Those who attacked the Capitol are not representative of our great teams of patriots for DJT!!”</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Those texts, according to Wehner, underscore a larger problem in the Trumpified GOP.</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“To assume that the majority of Republicans hold all the same views that Thomas and Meadows expressed in their texts would be a mistake, but they don’t have to for there to be a problem,” Wehner argues. “Plenty of people on the right, although not as radical as Thomas and Meadows, share their basic attitudes, at least for now…. They disdain Republicans who don’t share their fervor, especially those who have spoken critically of Trump.<b> They fear that America is on the edge of the abyss, and they view our politics as a battle between good and evil. They see themselves, too, as God’s instruments — his foot soldiers — in this great political-spiritual battle.”</b></span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Wehner warns that U.S. democracy is in trouble when many Republicans reject facts and live in the same “fearful, angry, imaginary world” as Ginni Thomas and Meadows.</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">
</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“It’s difficult to sustain a democracy when there aren’t shared truths, when false perceptions become false gods,” Wehner laments. “And what becomes really dangerous is when people with power — of whatever party or ideology — don’t just enter a hall of mirrors, but try to force the rest of us to follow them there.”</span></div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/gop-qanon/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/gop-qanon/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Over the last few years, QAnon <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/03/qanons-takeover-of-the-gop-is-virtually-complete.html" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">has slowly infiltrated the Republican Party, replacing its traditional conservative values with far-right conspiratorial theories</a> that have nothing to do with reality.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Now, NY Mag's Jacob Silverman is explaining how QAnon has practically overtaken the Republican Party.</b> While the radicalized beliefs were previously verbalized among factions of the political party, Silverman notes how those beliefs are progressively becoming more mainstream.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"QAnon’s adherents tend to espouse some selection of bizarre beliefs from the conspiracist’s buffet that includes accusations of pedophile politicians eating children, secret political tribunals in Guantanamo Bay, a great bloodletting, and <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-truth-social-posts-read-every-message.html" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Donald Trump</a> swooping in to free us from evil. One day. Or maybe the day after. The prophecy is flexible, which is why it has evolved and endured."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Explaining the timeline of the political party's downward spiral, Silverman noted how the actions of Ginni Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, are an example of the radical shift in Republican values and belief systems.
</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"The latest exemplar of the GOP’s descent into anything-goes nuttery is <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/03/read-clarence-thomass-wife-virginias-texts-to-mark-meadows.html" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Ginni Thomas</a>,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> wife of Supreme Court Justice </span><a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/02/the-case-for-impeaching-clarence-thomas.html" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Clarence Thomas</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and a well-connected conservative activist who recently admitted to </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/14/ginni-thomas-jan-6-rally-capitol-attack/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">attending</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> the January 6 Stop the Steal rally in Washington, D.C.," he writes. "Ginni’s right-wing beliefs have long been known, but </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/24/virginia-thomas-mark-meadows-texts/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">leaked texts</a> between her and then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows revealed Thomas’ commitment to overturning the election, based on an apparently sincere belief that Joe Biden had stolen the presidency. She encouraged Meadows to help put a stop to Democratic perfidy. 'The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History,' went one message to Meadows, encouraging him to stand strong."</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Silverman is also highlighting Republican lawmakers' latest actions that signal the party's shift toward more extremist beliefs.
</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The signs of the Republican slide toward<b> full epistemic crackup</b> are all around us," Silverman writes. "One can see it everywhere lately, not only in the 'why do you want to hurt children?'-type questions hurled by Republican senators at Jackson, but also in the revanchist anti-LGBTQ laws being introduced in Texas and Florida and in fearful talk of teachers 'grooming' children on Fox News. The ginned-up moral panic, centered around the child exploitation themes that helped give life to QAnon, is now a regular part of Republican political rhetoric."</font></strong></strong></p></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><b> United States is experiencing an existential democracy crisis, with leading Republicans and millions of their voters and supporters either tacitly or explicitly embracing authoritarianism or fascism. Democrats, for the most part, have not responded with the urgency required to save America's democracy from the rising neofascist tide.</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div>American society was founded on white settler colonialism, genocide and slavery. This unresolved "birth defect" at the foundation of the American democratic experiment meant that the country was racially exclusionary by design, from the founding well into the 20th century. At present, American politics is contoured by asymmetrical political polarization, in which Republicans have moved so far to the right that the party's most "moderate" members are far more extreme than the most "conservative" Democrats. This makes substantive compromise and bipartisanship in the interests of the common good and the American people almost impossible.</div><div>Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, Trump supporters and Trump-loathers, increasingly do not live in the same neighborhoods or communities. In all, they largely do not socialize with each other, or have other forms of meaningful interpersonal relationships in day-to-day life.</div><div>
</div><div><b>To the degree that "race" is a proxy for political values and beliefs, the color line functions as a practical dividing line of partisan identity and voting. Religion is also a societal space that is divided by politics.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For example, public opinion research shows that white right-wing evangelical Christians have increasingly embraced authoritarian views, conspiracy theories and other anti-democratic and antisocial values.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As the new Faith in America survey by Deseret News & Marist College highlights, the basic understanding of the role of religion in a secular democracy has become so polarized that 70% of Republicans believe that religion should influence a person's political values, where as only 28% of Democrats and 45% of independents share that view.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, also do not consume the same sources of information about news and politics.</b> Conservatives now inhabit their own self-created media echo chamber, which functions as a type of lie-filled and toxic closed episteme and sealed-off universe. The creation of such an alternate reality is an important attribute of fascism, in which truth itself must be destroyed and replaced with fantasies and fictions in support of the leader and his movement.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">America's struggle for democracy and freedom against authoritarianism is taking place on a biological level as well. Social psychologists and other researchers have shown that the brain structures of conservative-authoritarians are different than those of more liberal and progressive thinkers<b>. The former are more fear-centered, </b>emphasizing threats and dangers (negativity bias), <b>intolerant of ambiguity and inclined to simple, binary solutions.</b> Conservative-authoritarians are also strongly attracted to moral <b>hierarchy and social dominance behavior.</b></span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Recent research by Darren Sherkat, a professor of sociology at Southern Illinois University, demonstrates that America's democracy crisis may be even more intractable than the above evidence suggests. In his recent article "Cognitive Sophistication, Religion, and the Trump Vote," which appeared in the January 2021 edition of Social Science Quarterly, Sherkat examined data from the 2018 General Social Survey and concluded that there are substantial negative differences between the thinking processes and cognition of white Trump voters, as shown in the 2016 presidential election, as compared to other voters who supported Hillary Clinton or another candidate, or who did not vote at all.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Sherkat observes that Trump support has been linked to religion and level of education, but until now not to "cognitive sophistication," which was found "to have a positive effect on voting, but a negative effect on choosing Trump." </b>He notes that "philosophers and political elites have debated the potential effects of mass political participation" for generations, concerned "about the unsophisticated masses coming under the sway of a demagogue." In effect, this debate was always about the quality he calls cognitive sophistication, since citizens who lack it "may not be able to understand and access reliable and valid information about political issues and may be vulnerable to political propaganda":</div><div>
</div><div><b>Low levels of cognitive sophistication may lead people to embrace simple cognitive shortcuts, like stereotypes and prejudices that were amplified by the Trump campaign.</b> Additionally, the simple linguistic style presented by Trump may have appealed to voters with limited education and cognitive sophistication. Beginning with [T.W.] Adorno's classic study of the authoritarian personality, empirical works have linked low levels of cognitive sophistication with right-wing orientations....</div><div>
</div><div><b>Trump's campaign may also have been more attractive to people with low cognitive sophistication and a preference for low-effort information processing because compared to other candidates Trump's speeches were given at a much lower reading level</b>…. While much of the Trump campaign's rhetoric and orientation may have resonated with the poorly educated and cognitively unsophisticated, those overlapping groups are less likely to register to vote or to turn out in an election.</div><div>As part of his research, Sherkat evaluated the political decision-making and cognition of Trump's voters, using a<b> 10-point vocabulary exam.</b> In a guest essay at the website Down with Tyranny, he explains what this vocabulary test revealed about white Trump voters:</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Overall, the model predicts that almost 73% of respondents who missed all 10 questions would vote for Trump (remember, that is controlling for education and the other factors), while about 51% who were average on the exam are expected to vote for Trump. Only 35% of people who had a perfect score on the exam are predicted to be Trump supporters.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Notably, this very strong, significant effect of verbal ability can be identified within educational groups. While non-college whites certainly turned out more heavily for Trump, the smart ones did not — only 38% of those with perfect scores are expected to go for Trump, and only 46% of non-college graduates who scored a standard deviation above the mean. The same is true for college graduates — low cognition college graduates were more likely to vote for Trump. ...</div><div>
</div><div>What is really depressing isn't just the poles of the vocabulary exam, it's the average. The mean and median of the scale is 6 — so half of white Americans missed 4 of the easy vocabulary questions.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Sherkat's research also explored how religion impacted support for Donald Trump among white voters:</b> "This study confirms that white Americans with fundamentalist views of the Bible and those who embrace identifications with sectarian Protestant denominations tended to vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 election."</div><div>Belief that the Bible is the literal "word of God" also impacted Trump voting: "Viewing the Bible as a book of fables is also significantly predictive of vote choice, with secular beliefs reducing the odds of a Trump vote by 80 percent when compared to literalists, and reducing the odds of a Trump vote by 52 percent when compared to respondents who view the Bible as inspired by God."</div><div>
</div><div>In an email to Salon, Sherkat offered additional context and implication on the relationship between white Christianity, American neofascism and cognition:</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The problem of the contemporary American fascist right is rooted in education and information. And this problem is not simply about attainment of some quantity of education, but of the quality and content of education, how that leads generations of white Christian Americans to process information about a wide range of issues. The segregation academies that proliferated in the mid-1960s and accelerated in the 1970s have taught millions of Americans a radically skewed version of American and world history and encouraged a continued segregated society. The homeschooling movement augmented this division, and further denigrated the value of knowledge</span>.</div><div>
</div><div>White fundamentalist Christians have always segmented their communities from the rest of America, and even exert considerable control over public educational institutions, particularly in rural areas and in the states which embraced slavery. White fundamentalist Christians distrust mainstream social institutions like education and print media, and they actively seek to eliminate public education and to provide alternative sources of information. As a result, people who identify with and participate in white Christian denominations and who subscribe to fundamentalist beliefs have substantial intellectual deficits that make them easy marks for a wide variety of schemes — from financial fraud to conspiracy theories.</div><div>
</div><div><b>If you can't read the New York Times, you're going to believe whatever you hear on talk radio or on television.</b> It's simply impossible for people with limited vocabularies and low levels of cognitive functioning to make sense of the complex realities of the political world. And we now have a population where for 55 years substantial fractions of white people have gone to private fundamentalist Christian schools that leave them both indoctrinated in Christian nationalism and ill-prepared to process any additional information. Worse, we now have over a million children in a given year who are homeschooled by parents who are uneducated white fundamentalists — and that total has been pretty constant for three decades since the homeschooling movement blossomed.</div><div>What does this mean for the present and future of American democracy in this time of crisis? Sherkat cited the "disturbing ... influence of anti-intellectualism on American public life," which lends "performative power to ignorant elites":</div><div>
</div><div><b>Spouting off obvious untruths is no longer a mark of shame, because even basic historical and contemporary truths are not recognized. We seem to have a stable set of about 30% of Americans, 35% of white Americans, who are oblivious to political realities and incapable and unwilling to come to terms with any of our key social problems</b>. The increasing control over public education by right-wing fanatics is entrenching ignorance and intellectual laziness in future generations. It does not bode well for the future of American democracy.</div><div>Donald Trump and his movement did not create all these American authoritarians and aspiring fascists. Such people have long been a feature of American society. What Trump and have accomplished in recent years is to empower and normalize a dangerous set of antisocial, anti-human, retrograde and anti-democratic values and beliefs.</div><div>
</div><div>Saving America's democracy will require a moral and political reckoning and acts of critical self-reflection on a nationwide scale about the American people's character and values, and about how their leaders and governing institutions have failed them.</div><div>
</div><div>Changes in laws and institutions are necessary. But on their own, such interventions will not stop the spread of fascism. A lasting remedy will demand that the country's political, cultural, and educational institutions be renewed, re-energized, and reimagined. The questions Americans must ask themselves are simple yet enormous: Who are we? What are we to become? How can we unite in defense of democracy, the common good and the general welfare? Without real answers to those questions, there will be no democratic renewal in the 21st century -- and fascism wins.</div><div>
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</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">// heartland reverse engr: we will be destroyed by evil dems, so therefore they did not win/will not rule? thus voter suppression is unfair (unAmerican in trad sense) but necessary ; mypillow guy sent gunmen to polls?
</font></strong></strong><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/far-right-biden-presidency/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/far-right-biden-presidency/</a></font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>a Georgetown University history professor is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/21/republicans-biden-trump-election-democracy" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">shedding light on the real reason why far-right Republicans still believe the unfounded claim that President Joe Biden's presidential win was illegitimate.</a></b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While its no secret that election conspiracy theories and false claims of widespread voter fraud have run rampant since former President Donald Trump lost his bid for re-election, there is a reason why Republicans "are convinced the outcome of the election was illegitimate <b>regardless</b> of whether or not there were specific procedural irregularities."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an analysis published via The Guardian, Thomas Zimmer, a Georgetown University history professor with a concentration on the United States' democracy, referenced a controversial essay written from the perspective of a far-right conservative.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The essay, titled “ <a href="https://americanmind.org/salvo/why-the-claremont-institute-is-not-conservative-and-you-shouldnt-be-either/" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">‘Conservatism’ is No Longer Enough</a>,” was penned by conservative writer <b>Glenn Ellmers for The Claremont Institute's right-wing publication, American Mind. </b>Zimmer notes:</font></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.546px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It is notable that Ellmers makes no claim that the 2020 election was 'stolen' – he doesn’t allege manipulation, voter fraud, or conspiracy, and in fact explicitly acknowledges that more people voted for Biden than for Trump. He does not peddle conspiracy theories. Yet Ellmers maintains that the outcome of the 2020 election is illegitimate and must not be accepted."</font></blockquote><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Zimmer then highlighted another key takeaway from Ellmer's piece:</font></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.546px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Ellmers is outraged precisely because he accepts the fact that a majority voted for Biden, that 'authentic Americans' have become the minority in a country which they are supposedly entitled to dominate</span><span style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);">. Here we have a striking glimpse of the depth of despair underlying the pervasive siege mentality on the right. <b>What’s scandalous about the 2020 election, in this interpretation, is not that it was “stolen”, but that “un-American” forces straightforwardly won."</b></span></font></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Zimmer's analysis also delved into the disturbing ideology behind the majority of Republican voters' thinking in regard to Biden being an illegitimate president.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"What is most alarming is the underlying ideology that leads so many on the right to consider Democratic victories invalid – even if they concede there was nothing technically wrong with how the election was conducted," Zimmer wrote. "</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">It has become a core tenet of the Republican worldview to consider the Democratic party as not simply a political opponent, but an enemy pursuing an 'un-American' project of turning what is supposed to be a white Christian patriarchal nation into a land of godless multiracial pluralism."</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Zimmer added, <b>"Conversely, Republicans see themselves as the sole proponents of 'real' America, defending the country from the forces of radical leftism, liberalism, and wokeism."</b></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">He went on to explain Republicans' beliefs of the Democratic Party. "Even if they don’t subscribe to the more outlandish conspiracies propagated by Trumpists, many Republicans agree that the Democratic party is a fundamentally illegitimate political faction — and that any election outcome that would lead to Democratic governance must be rejected as illegitimate as well."</font></p><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div></div></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>gop troll caucus LCV avg = 5%</b></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/03/new-report-destroys-gop-talking-points-blaming-dems-for-crime-trump-states-have-8-out-of-the-10-highest-murder-rates/">https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/03/new-report-destroys-gop-talking-points-blaming-dems-for-crime-trump-states-have-8-out-of-the-10-highest-murder-rates/</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mtg mccarthy</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>New Report Destroys GOP Talking Points Blaming Dems for Crime: Trump States Have 8 Out of the 10 Highest Murder Rates</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Published on March 16, 2022 By David Badash</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consider these explosive headlines from Fox News over the past several months: “Democrat-run cities overwhelmed by crime surge,” “Murder and crime rates spike in Democrat-run cities – is it a control play?” or, “Democrat-run cities experience record breaking homicide rates.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ten days before Christmas last year House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy falsely blamed Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a “crime wave” that’s “spreading across the country.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Speaker Pelosi should look in the mirror to see what caused the ‘attitude of lawlessness’ spreading across the country,” he wrote. “Democrat politicians defunded police, raised money for rioters, and pushed policies that are soft on crime. They own this crime wave.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And here’s McCarthy just days ago, again lying, claiming crime is “created by Democrats.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A new report from Third Way destroys all these GOP talking points – and points out that “murder rates are far higher in Trump-voting red states than Biden-voting blue states. And sometimes, murder rates are highest in cities with Republican mayors.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">About that claim Leader McCarthy made? He should look in the mirror – and at his own district before pointing fingers.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The report notes that “the homicide rate in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco was half that of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Bakersfield, a city with a Republican mayor that overwhelmingly voted for Trump.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In fact, in all of 2020, “per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It gets worse for the GOP.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century,” the report reveals.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The actual facts blow away what an average Fox News watching die-hard Republican voter would think.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“We found that murder rates are, on average, 40% higher in the 25 states Donald Trump won in the last presidential election compared to those that voted for Joe Biden. In addition, murder rates in many of these red states dwarf those in blue states like New York, California, and Massachusetts.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mississippi had the highest homicide rate at 20.50 murders per 100,000 residents,” Third Way reports, “followed by Louisiana at 15.79, Kentucky at 14.32, Alabama at 14.2, and Missouri at 14. <b>The national average was 6.5 per 100,000 residents, but the top five states had rates more than twice that high.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>These red states are not generating “murder is out of control” national headlines. They seem to generate no headlines at all. The rest of the top ten were filled out by South Carolina, New Mexico, Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee—all states rarely talked about in breathless media reports about rampant crime in Democratic strongholds.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report does not even mention guns, which are a massive part of the problem, exacerbated by red state gun free-for-all policies.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And for those Fox News watching die-hard Republican voters who may say Third Way is a left-wing think tank, it’s actually been criticized by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. And former bank regulator William K. Black has accused Third Way of being a “group that pretends sometimes to be center-left but is actually completely a creation of Wall Street.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read the full report here. <a href="https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-red-state-murder-problem">https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-red-state-murder-problem</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>New Report Destroys GOP Talking Points Blaming Dems for Crime: Trump States Have 8 Out of the 10 Highest Murder Rates</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Published on March 16, 2022 By David Badash</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Consider these explosive headlines from Fox News over the past several months: “Democrat-run cities overwhelmed by crime surge,” “Murder and crime rates spike in Democrat-run cities – is it a control play?” or, “Democrat-run cities experience record breaking homicide rates.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Ten days before Christmas last year House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy falsely blamed Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a “crime wave” that’s “spreading across the country.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Speaker Pelosi should look in the mirror to see what caused the ‘attitude of lawlessness’ spreading across the country,” he wrote. “Democrat politicians defunded police, raised money for rioters, and pushed policies that are soft on crime. They own this crime wave.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And here’s McCarthy just days ago, again lying, claiming crime is “created by Democrats.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A new report from Third Way destroys all these GOP talking points – and points out that “murder rates are far higher in Trump-voting red states than Biden-voting blue states. And sometimes, murder rates are highest in cities with Republican mayors.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">About that claim Leader McCarthy made? He should look in the mirror – and at his own district before pointing fingers.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The report notes that “the homicide rate in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco was half that of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s Bakersfield, a city with a Republican mayor that overwhelmingly voted for Trump.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In fact, in all of 2020, “per capita murder rates were 40% higher in states won by Donald Trump than those won by Joe Biden.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It gets worse for the GOP.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“8 of the 10 states with the highest murder rates in 2020 voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election this century,” the report reveals.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The actual facts blow away what an average Fox News watching die-hard Republican voter would think.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“We found that murder rates are, on average, 40% higher in the 25 states Donald Trump won</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> in the last presidential election compared to those that voted for Joe Biden. In addition, murder rates in many of these red states dwarf those in blue states like New York, California, and Massachusetts.”</span></b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mississippi had the highest homicide rate at 20.50 murders per 100,000 residents,” Third Way reports, “followed by Louisiana at 15.79, Kentucky at 14.32, Alabama at 14.2, and Missouri at 14. <b>The national average was 6.5 per 100,000 residents, but the top five states had rates more than twice that high.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>These red states are not generating “murder is out of control” national headlines. They seem to generate no headlines at all. The rest of the top ten were filled out by South Carolina, New Mexico, Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee—all states rarely talked about in breathless media reports about rampant crime in Democratic strongholds.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report does not even mention guns, which are a massive part of the problem, exacerbated by red state gun free-for-all policies.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And for those Fox News watching die-hard Republican voters who may say Third Way is a left-wing think tank, it’s actually been criticized by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. And former bank regulator William K. Black has accused Third Way of being a “group that pretends sometimes to be center-left but is actually completely a creation of Wall Street.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read the full report here. <a href="https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-red-state-murder-problem">https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-red-state-murder-problem</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 3 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The list of far-right MAGA Republicans who have praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022 — even in the days leading up to Russian troops’ horrific invasion of Ukraine — is a long one, ranging from former Secretary of State <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/cheney-rips-trump-pompeo-praising-russian-president-putin-evil-1682980" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Mike Pompeo</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/feb/25/tucker-carlson-fox-news-russia-putin" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Fox News’ Tucker Carlson</a> to <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/mike-pence-hits-trump-putin-love-1317060/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">former President Donald Trump</a> himself. And <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/03/05/qanon-supporter-praises-putins-decisions_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Lauren Witzke</a>, the QAnon supporter and self-described “Christian nationalist” who lost to Sen. Chris Coons by 22% in Delaware’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, recently praised Putin as a symbol of Christian piety, saying, “I identify more with Putin's Christian values than I do with Joe Biden.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trump and opinion hosts at Fox News have had so much praise for Putin that </span><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/snl-brutally-mocks-trump-and-fox-news-sick-putin-praise-in-chaotic-cold-open" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">“Saturday Night Live”</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> opened its March 5 broadcast with a skit that brutally mocked their admiration for the Russian strongman.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And other Republicans who haven’t outright praised Putin have been reluctant to openly criticize him because they are afraid to say or do anything that might offend Dear Leader Trump.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But one conservative Republican who hasn’t been shy about condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina,</b> and the Raleigh News & Observer’s editorial board applauds him for taking a stand in an <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/article259005618.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">editorial published on March 3</a>.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At a press conference on March 2, Tillis told reporters, “Anybody who compliments Vladimir Putin is complimenting a mass murderer. There are no compliments coming from me or my office.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In response to Tillis’ comments, the News & Observer’s editorial board writes, “Tillis showed that it’s not hard for Republicans to criticize Russia and Putin the right way. He didn’t dodge or deflect, nor did he taper his criticism by following it up with praise. He was clear: Putin is evil, and his invasion of Ukraine is wrong.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The publication’s editorial board continues, “It’s not common these days to see Republicans contradict fellow party members, unless their name is Liz Cheney. Too often, they eschew their principles in favor of party loyalty. Even now, as Putin’s war kills innocent civilians and displaces hundreds of thousands more, many GOPers have chosen to focus the bulk of their criticism on President Joe Biden instead…. <b>Tillis called for stiffer sanctions and for Biden to ‘take all steps necessary’ to expel Russia as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although the News & Observer’s editorial board isn’t without criticism of Tillis, it is clearly glad to see him speaking out against Putin forcefully now.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“We wish Tillis had been as outspoken earlier than this, specifically when Trump, as president, buddied up to Putin and attempted to strong-arm Ukraine</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,” the editorial board writes. “But Tillis was clear and right this week. North Carolinians can be thankful for that.”</span></font></strong></strong></p></div><div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see rnc ronna bossie on<b> legitimate political discourse</b></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">are cheney and kinz shorting trumpistas?</font></strong></strong></div><div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/conservative-national-review-slams-the-rncs-cheney-kinzinger-censure-as-morally-repellent-in-a-blistering-editorial/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/conservative-national-review-slams-the-rncs-cheney-kinzinger-censure-as-morally-repellent-in-a-blistering-editorial/</a></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">trump 2x dn on putin after invasion</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>VP often/always a lagging indicator? looking to pick up pieces of gop after trump finally implodes</b>? presumably fine w/ ass kissing of vlad 4 yrs? inner cold warrior?</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/pence/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: currentcolor none medium;">https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/pence/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">vp ~ djt</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/rick-scott-dark-rigthwing-agenda/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/rick-scott-dark-rigthwing-agenda/</a></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NO LNX</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>GOP Senator introduces dark right-wing blueprint for the future</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[Florida paper blasts GOP Sen. Rick Scott’s 'full partisan' defense of Trump in scathing editorial</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NBC News]</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Brandon Gage February 22, 2022</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Beginning in 2016 and continuing into 2020, the Republican Party’s platform has essentially parroted whatever former President Donald Trump has wanted. United States Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida), the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, is trying to change that.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Scott, who was among the cohort of lawmakers who objected to President Joe Biden's 2020 Electoral College victory in Pennsylvania, has introduced an “11 Point Plan to Rescue America,” a draconian 31-page manifesto spelling out how he envisions the GOP governing if it retakes control of Congress in November.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Hopefully, by doing this, we’ll have more of a conversation about what Republicans are going to get done. Because when we get the majority, I want to get something done,” Scott said in an interview with Politico. “There’s things that people would rather not talk about. I’m willing to say exactly what I’m going to do. I think it’s fair to the voter.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He also acknowledged that Democrats would probably never agree to any of his terms and that his plan may even “strike fear in the heart of some Republicans.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Indeed, Scott’s proposal is replete with extreme right-wing priorities:</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Our kids will say the pledge of allegiance, salute the Flag, learn that America is a great country, and choose the school that best fits them</b>. We will inspire patriotism and stop teaching the revisionist history of the radical left; our kids will learn about the wisdom of the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the founding fathers. Public schools will focus on the 3 R’s, not indoctrinate children with critical race theory or any other political ideology.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Government will never again ask American citizens to disclose their race, ethnicity, or skin color on any government forms.</b> We are going to eliminate racial politics in America. No government policy will be based on race. People “will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” We are all made in the image of God; to judge a person on the color of their epidermis is immoral.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The soft-on-crime days of coddling criminal behavior will end. </b>We will re-fund and respect the police because they, not the criminals, are the good guys. We will enforce our laws, all of them, and increase penalties for theft and violent crime. We will clean up our cities and stop pretending that crime is OK. We have zero-tolerance for “mostly peaceful protests” that attack police officers, loot businesses, and burn down our cities.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>We will secure our border, finish building the wall, and name it after President Donald Trump.</b> Nations have borders. We should give that a try. President Trump’s plan to build a wall was right. We welcome those who want to join us in building the American dream, immigrants who want to be Americans, not change America. We are a stronger nation because we are a nation of immigrants; but immigration without assimilation makes us weaker. Politicians from both parties talk big about border security and do nothing. We are done with that.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">We will grow America’s economy, starve Washington’s economy, and stop Socialism</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Socialism is un-American and always leads to poverty and oppression. We will stop it. We will shrink the federal government, reduce the government work force by 25% in 5 years, sell government buildings and assets, and get rid of the old, slow, closed, top-down, government-run-everything system we have today</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>We will eliminate all federal programs that can be done locally, and enact term limits for federal bureaucrats and Congress. </b>Many government agencies should be either moved out of Washington or shuttered entirely. Yesterday’s old government is fundamentally incompatible with the digital era. The permanent ruling class in Washington is bankrupting us with inflation and debt, so they must be removed. For you to have more, Washington must have less.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>We will protect the integrity of American Democracy and stop left-wing efforts to rig elections.</b> Today’s Democrat Party is trying to rig elections and pack the courts because they have given up on Democracy. They don’t believe they can win based on their ideas, so they want to game the system and legalize voter fraud to stay in power. In true Orwellian fashion, Democrats refer to their election rigging plans as “voting rights”. We won’t allow the radical left to destroy our democracy by institutionalizing dishonesty and fraud.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>We will protect, defend, and promote the American Family at all costs</b>. The nuclear family is crucial to civilization, it is God’s design for humanity, and it must be protected and celebrated. To say otherwise is to deny science. The fanatical left seeks to devalue and redefine the traditional family, as they undermine parents and attempt to replace them with government programs. We will not allow Socialism to place the needs of the state ahead of the family.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Men are men, women are women, and unborn babies are babies.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">We believe in science: Men and women are biologically different, ‘male and female He created them.’</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Modern technology has confirmed that abortion takes a human life. Facts are facts, the earth is round, the sun is hot, there are two genders, and abortion stops a beating heart. To say otherwise is to deny science.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Americans will be free to welcome God into all aspects of our lives, and we will stop all government efforts to deny our religious freedom and freedom of speech. The Democrat Party and their Big Tech allies are not merely secular; they have virtually created a new religion of wokeness </b>that is increasingly hostile toward people of faith, particularly Christians and Jews. They are determined to drive all mention of God out of public view. We will not be silenced, canceled, or told what words to use by the politically correct crowd.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>We are Americans, not globalists. America will be dependent on NO other country.</b> We will conduct no trade that takes away jobs or displaces American workers. Countries who oppose us at the UN will get zero financial help from us. We will be energy independent and build supply chains that never rely on our adversaries. We will only help countries that are willing to defend themselves, like Israel.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Each topic contains a trove of bullet points ranging from the ridiculous – like naming a border wall with Mexico after Trump – to mirroring the plot of a dystopian horror film, such as punishing single mothers for not having a spouse.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Even though many single moms heroically do the job of raising a family (as my mom often had to) children need and deserve both parents – and government should not be shy about saying so,” Scott writes.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scott’s plan also includes language that encourages discrimination against individuals who do not conform to the arcane conservative heteronormative standard.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Humans are born male and female, there are two genders, and to deny that is to deny science,” Scott writes. This is false and it leads to harm among LGBTQIA Americans.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Scott later adds that “no tax dollars will be used to pay for any diversity training or other woke indoctrination that is hostile to faith.” In other words, programs that are not in line with personal religious convictions will be banned.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He even suggests raising taxes on millions of low-income Americans.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">“All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax,” Scott, who is a billionaire, declares.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Washington Post noted on Tuesday that “in the Tax Foundation’s estimate, as many as 75 million people who paid no such taxes after deductions and credits in 2020” would see their tax obligations jump. “If you include the 32 million who didn’t file returns, such as retirees, the number climbs well over 100 million Americans.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That is unlikely to go over well with most voters.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nevertheless, despite the extraordinary diversion from mainstream American values, Scott maintains that his message is a winning one.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As a general rule, you know, probably this year’s election is going to be a lot about the Biden agenda. But I do believe we’re going to win,” Scott told Politico. “We ought to have a plan and what we’re trying to get done when we get the majority.”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2 22</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>These states are seeing some of the GOP’s most 'egregious' power grabs: reporter</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ron DeSantis speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland]</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alex Henderson February 16, 2022</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan and his allies in the Republican National Committee believed that the way to grow the GOP was by appealing to a wide range of voters — including the Blue Dog “Reagan Democrats” in his coalition. And during the 1990s and 2000s, members of the Bush family, along with Republican strategist Karl Rove, argued that many Latinos were potential Republican voters and natural conservatives even if they didn’t realize it yet.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, MAGA Republicans believe that the best way to stay in office is by making it more difficult to vote, and draconian GOP-sponsored voter suppression laws are being passed or proposed all over the United States.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Journalist Ari Berman, in a listicle published by Mother Jones on February 16, offers examples of some of the “egregious” power grabs that Republicans have been attempting or carrying out in various states — including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida and Colorado.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Ahead of the midterms,” Berman warns, “Republicans have launched a full-scale assault on the election system. Fueled by the Big Lie, this attack relies upon a multi-pronged strategy of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the takeover of election positions by ideologues who allege that the 2020 election was stolen.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Most of the states that Berman discusses are ones that President Joe Biden won in the 2020 election, although former President Donald Trump carried Florida by around 3.5%.</b> Describing Florida’s voter suppression law, Berman explains, “Mimicking Georgia, Republicans banned giving food and water to voters in line, along with making it harder to vote by mail — after more Democrats than Republicans did so for the first time in the state’s recent history. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill in May during a ‘Fox & Friends’ exclusive; all other media outlets were barred from the event.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In Texas, which Biden lost by 6% in 2020, Republicans have responded to Democratic gains in the light red state with a voter suppression bill that Gov. Greg Abbott happily signed into law</b>. Texas Republicans, Berman notes, have banned all ballot drop boxes in Texas — and Berman adds that in Galveston, “the GOP-controlled county commission has <b>adopted new redistricting maps that eliminated the county’s lone district where voters of color are the majority, represented by Democrat Stephen Holmes for 22 years — one of the most flagrant examples of racial gerrymandering since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013.”</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Meanwhile, in the swing state of Pennsylvania — which has gone Democrat in every post-1980s presidential election except 2016 — MAGA Republicans are not only pushing for voter suppression, but trying to take over election administration positions.</font></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Berman observes, “Stephen Lindemuth of Elizabethtown attended the ‘Stop the Steal’ rally on January 6 that led to the insurrection. In November, he won a bid to become a local election judge — part of a growing wave of Big Lie proponents who are taking over election administration positions.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The “Stop the Steal” movement is also alive and well in Wisconsin, another state that flipped from Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Berman warns, “Republicans have launched an all-out assault on the integrity of the state’s election system, with former conservative State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman — who admitted he didn’t have ‘any understanding of how elections work’ — launching a sprawling Arizona-style audit of the 2020 election, while other top Republicans have called for jailing members of the state’s bipartisan elections commission and stripping them of the authority to oversee elections.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Arizona, once a deep red state known for the conservative politics of Sen. Barry Goldwater and Sen. John McCain, is much more Democrat-friendly than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Biden won Arizona,</b> which has two centrist Democratic senators (Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly) and a conservative Republican governor (Doug Ducey).</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Describing the MAGA power grab in Arizona, Berman observes, “Republicans stripped Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs of the power to defend state election laws and transferred that authority to the Republican attorney general — but only through the 2022 election, in case the partisan composition of the offices is reversed after that.”</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2 22</font></strong></strong></div><div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">two stories straight out of Alabama this week really encapsulate how the panic over "critical race theory," the war on schools and the war on democracy itself are all a piece of a singular racist right wing movement</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. L</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">ast week, AL.com reported that <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/02/03/alabama-schools-accused-of-teaching-critical-race-theory-by-recognizing-black-history-month_partner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">school officials across the state say parents</a> are freaking out over the very existence of Black History Month, accusing schools of promoting "critical race theory" </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">by mentioning it or honoring it in any way. </span></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And on Monday, the </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/us/politics/supreme-court-alabama-redistricting-congressional-map.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Supreme Court declined to enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act</a></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b> in response to a plainly racist gerrymander in Alabama, on the grounds that doing so would interfere with the state's control of their elections systems. Yes, even though federal oversight of state election systems is literally what the Voting Rights Act was designed to do</b>.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It's been 13 months since Donald Trump incited an insurrection on the Capitol, one that was <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/02/03/race-fantasies-continue-to-escalate--while-the-media-pretends-not-to-notice/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">clearly driven by white supremacy</a> and the belief that the votes of Black Americans simply shouldn't count as much as those of white people</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. There continues to be a struggle between various factions of the GOP <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/02/03/donald-is-done-pretending-he-is-now-openly-celebrating-the-capitol-riot/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">over how to portray the violent insurrection itself</a> — to call it a glorious MAGA revolution or pretend it was a random event unconnected to the larger party — but these two stories show the sentiment that drove it has now taken root in every corner of the GOP. From the school board to the Supreme Court, Republicans are determined to stomp out anything that stands in the way of white supremacy, from history to the law to democracy itself.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Supreme Court's Monday decision is rife with confusing legalese, and will likely be mostly overlooked by both the media and the public because of it. But it's important. As with the <a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/11/02/simplify-their-defense-of-texas-abortion-ban-women-are-too-stupid-to-have-rights/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">court's recent approach to the Texas abortion ban,</a> <b>it showcases how the three Trump appointees to the court have transformed SCOTUS into an authoritarian body that will throw out the rule of law to enforce a far-right agenda.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a 5-4 decision, the conservative justices stayed a lower court's ruling that a new Alabama gerrymander disenfranchised Black voters, in a clear violation of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/alabama-supreme-court-kavanaugh-kagan-alabama-redistricting" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">In his defense of the decision</a>, Trump appointee Brett Kavanaugh didn't even bother to argue that the gerrymander was legal, but instead insisted that enforcing federal election law nine months out from an election would "lead to disruption" and that it was "unanticipated and unfair" to expect Alabama to obey a law passed 57 years ago.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"It is hard to overstate how lawless the Supreme Court's order is," wrote Mark Joseph Stern, who covers courts and law for Slate, on Twitter. "The five ultraconservative justices broke the court's own rules to intervene with an unreasoned shadow docket decision that effectively nullifies a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. It's profoundly alarming."</b>[twt]</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>the refusal of the court to enforce the plain letter text of the law is so egregious that <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/02/supreme-court-alabama-racial-gerrymander-roberts-kavanaugh.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">even Chief Justice John Roberts</a> — a man who <a href="https://www.vox.com/21211880/supreme-court-chief-justice-john-roberts-voting-rights-act-election-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">has made it his life's work to gut the Voting Rights Act</a> — voted with the liberal justices.</b> Roberts may share the racist goals of the other conservative judges, but even he clearly feels uneasy with the court simply rejecting the duty to enforce the law simply because they disagree with its aims.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>By issuing this decision, the conservative judges are throwing their lot in with Trump and the Capitol insurrectionists — if the law will not uphold white supremacy, the law itself is invalid.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>It's the same impulse underpinning the panic over "critical race theory," a cover story for white conservatives trying to stomp out acknowledgment of the country's racist history and contributions made by Black Americans</b>. Republicans spent months gaslighting the public about this, insisting the attacks on school boards and bans on "critical race theory" were about stopping supposedly "divisive" teachings and "anti-white" racism. But their actions speak otherwise, from these complaints about Black History Month to <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/01/28/the-critics-were-right-critical-race-theory-is-just-a-cover-for-silencing-educators/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">efforts to ban books about Martin Luther King Jr.</a> The goal is erasing history, literature and even facts that conflict with a white supremacist ideology.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>What was remarkable about the Capitol insurrection is that it was both an assault on rule of law and on reality itself</b>. The rioters rejected the basic fact that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. They also rejected the basic law that asserts that the winner of the election has the right to take power. The belief that they and people like them — white conservatives — have a "right" to rule overrules everything else.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The insurrection clearly didn't end on January 6, just because the rioters failed to overturn the election and enshrine the Big Lie. On the contrary, the insurrection has mutated and metastasized within the GOP. It has infused the whole party, from the ordinary voters freaking out at school boards to the highest court in the land. There might be a few Republican holdouts — <a href="https://www.salon.com/2022/02/07/mike-pence-finally-speaks-up--too-late-takeover-of-is-virtually-complete/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">like Roberts or former vice president Mike Pence</a> — who still think things like "rule of law" and "basic facts" matter. But they have clearly lost the battle with the rest of the party, as this 5-4 Supreme Court decision shows. There is no law or fact Republicans feel bound to respect. Anything that stands in the way of the white conservative will to power is expected to give way.</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><p align="left"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></p><p align="left"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 222</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Using former vice president <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-mike-pence-2656576109/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Mike Pence's speech</a> last week, where he broke with Donald Trump on his attempt to steal the 2020 presidential election, as a springboard, the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal ripped into the former president and called on the Republican Party <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/mike-pence-constitution-no-right-overturn-2020-election-electors-senate-trump-biden-pressure-11644171148" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">to regain its moorings</a>.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The board <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/mike-pence-2656561934/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">praised Pence</a> for making a big step forward and urged the GOP to move away from Trump because the United States needs a "sane" Republican Party.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The United States desperately needs a Republican Party that is a sane alternative to the ruling Democrats who have lurched to the coercive left. On that score, Americans should welcome <a href="https://www.wsj.com/topics/person/mike-pence" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Mike Pence</a>’s stand Friday for constitutional principle on elections no matter its political cost," they wrote before turning their ire on Trump for his unconstitutional attempt at throwing out the presidential election results.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Mr. Pence stands out as a rare Republican these days willing to stand up to Mr. Trump’s disgraceful behavior after the election. Too many in the GOP seem to have lost their constitutional moorings in thrall to one man," they wrote. "The conventional wisdom now is that Mr. Trump controls the Republican Party and can have the 2024 nomination if he wants it. But someone should remind voters that Mr. Trump ended as a three-time election loser. He mobilized Democrats against him in historic numbers to cost the GOP the House in 2018, then the White House in 2020, and finally the two Georgia Senate seats in 2021."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After praising Pence for standing on principle, the editors noted that they had predicted that the former president was his own worst enemy who eventually got what he deserved.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We wrote often during his Presidency that Democrats couldn’t defeat Donald Trump, but Mr. Trump could defeat himself. He did, and his post-election behavior compounded the harm to his party," they accused. "Republicans who want to repeat the experience may find the electoral result is the same—and this time without the fortunate presence of Mike Pence."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You can read <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/mike-pence-constitution-no-right-overturn-2020-election-electors-senate-trump-biden-pressure-11644171148" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the whole piece here</a> -- subscription required. cause you know, capitalism</font></strong></strong></p><p align="left"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">interesting she frames it not personal loyalty to dictator, but party loyalty</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">hedging bets in gop war, vp pick? sorta invoke RR 11th commandment?</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An attempt by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) to defend Donald Trump from vice president Mike Pence's criticism landed with a thud on Monday after she complained Republicans should not attack Republicans.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With Pence saying the former president was "wrong" in his attempt to have the former VP overturn the election in a highly-publicized speech on Friday, Haley was quick to run to Trump's defense during an appearance on Fox News.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Mike Pence is a good man. He’s an honest man. I think he did what he thought was right on that day. But I will always say, I’m not a fan of Republicans going against Republicans,” she told host Bret Baier.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That, in turn, led to a deluge of criticism of Haley who is often mentioned as a possible running mate with Trump should he run for president again in 2024.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to one Twitter commentator, Haley is "pathetic."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You can see some more responses below:</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/kevin-brady/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/kevin-brady/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">proxy war tx</font></strong></strong></div><div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 222</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><b>The Trumpified GOP has a whole new generation of power brokers and 'kingmakers': report</b></div><div>
</div><div>Alex Henderson February 04, 2022</div><div> </div><div><b>The fact that so many well-known right-wing Republicans endorsed Joe Biden during the United States’ 2020 presidential race —from former Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona to former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina to Sen. John McCain’s widow Cindy McCain</b> — speaks volumes about how dramatically former President Donald Trump remade the GOP in his image, and how alienated they fell from the party. The GOP landscape is radically different from what it was during the Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama years, and journalists Jonathan Swan and Lachlan Markay describe that landscape in an article published by Axios on February 4.</div><div>
</div><div>“Paths to power and winning elections inside the GOP are changing rapidly and radically, spawning a new generation of kingmakers while diminishing the clout of many who lorded over the party for years,” Swan and Markay explain. “Why it matters: 14 of the Republican Party's top consultants and operatives across the country spoke in detail with Axios about how profoundly primary races have changed since 2014 — the last pre-Donald Trump midterm election and the last midterms in which a Democrat occupied the White House.”</div><div>
</div><div>The reporters continue, “What we found: Those sources — whose clients range from as Trumpy as they come to establishment Republicans — described a clear shift in the party's power brokers. They spoke of changes to the ecosystem across four categories: institutional upheaval, endorsements, conservative media and donors.”</div><div>
</div><div>Swan and Markay go on to list Republicans who “had the power” in the past — a group that includes the National Review, the National Rifle Association, the Drudge Report, Heritage Action and the “Koch network,” among others.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But their “who has the power now” list is much more MAGA. That list includes Trump and his “family and former aides” as well as Breitbart News, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, Ben Shapiro’s the Daily Wire, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and the <b>Susan B. Anthony List.</b></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Swan and Markay also mention “online influencers, including Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino, Joe Rogan, Jack Posobiec, Charlie Kirk and Marjorie Taylor-Greene.”</span></div><div>
</div><div>“Most of these changes weren't gradual,” the Axios journalists note. “They were triggered by the shockwave of 2016. Much of the institutional GOP worked against Trump in 2016. Much of the heft they believed their endorsements carried evaporated as voters saw in real-time how Trump had little need for them and ultimately obliterated them.”</div><div>
</div><div>A Republican consultant, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Axios, “You wouldn't know that these groups were paper tigers — unless you ever ran against one of them."</div><div>
</div><div>In 2020, Never Trump conservatives hoped that if Trump were voted out of office, the Republican Party would return to a pre-MAGA brand of conservatism. But a year into Joe Biden’s presidency, that obviously isn’t going to happen.</div><div>
</div><div><b>“Many movement conservative brands are shadows of what they used to be,” Swan and Markay emphasize. “Many of the major conservative think tanks supported policy positions — such as reforming Social Security or free trade — that Trump obliterated and proved elderly GOP voters didn’t actually support</b>.”</div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman">ref </font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.axios.com/modern-republican-party-primary-trump-gop-d445dd51-adfc-469e-b1dd-5d6b25118bc7.html">https://www.axios.com/modern-republican-party-primary-trump-gop-d445dd51-adfc-469e-b1dd-5d6b25118bc7.html</a></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="font-regular leading-tight mb-0 text-h5 sm:text-h3" style="margin-top: calc(3rem * calc(1 - var(--space-y-reverse))); margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: calc(3rem * var(--space-y-reverse)); margin-left: 0px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.25; --space-y-reverse:0;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The making of a modern Republican</font></strong></strong></h1></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paths to power and winning elections<span style="font-weight: 600;"> </span>inside the GOP are changing rapidly and radically, spawning a new generation of kingmakers while diminishing the clout of many who lorded over the party for years.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Why it matters:</span> Fourteen of the Republican Party's top consultants and operatives across the country spoke in detail with Axios about how profoundly primary races have changed since 2014 — the last pre-Donald Trump midterm election and the last midterms in which a Democrat occupied the White House.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">What we found: </span>Those sources — whose clients range from as Trumpy as they come to establishment Republicans — described a clear shift in the party's power brokers. They spoke of <b>changes to the ecosystem across four categories: institutional upheaval, endorsements, conservative media and donors.</b></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Axios granted them anonymity so they could speak with a degree of candor that's not possible on the record because of personal and business relationships. Here's what they told us:</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Who</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> had</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> the power:</span></font></span></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. <b>Chamber of Commerce</b></font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The NRA</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Koch network</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Heritage Action</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Drudge Report</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">National Review</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conservative movement groups such as Tea Party Express, FreedomWorks, and the Senate Conservatives Fund.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Who</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> has power now:</span></font></span></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Donald Trump</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tucker Carlson</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Family and former aides to Trump</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fox News</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Club for Growth</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Daily Wire</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Breitbart News</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Online influencers including Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Dan Bongino, Joe Rogan, Jack Posobiec, Charlie Kirk and Marjorie Taylor-Greene.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steve Bannon</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Susan B. Anthony List</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Between the lines:</span> Most of these changes weren't gradual. They were triggered by the shockwave of 2016.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Much of the institutional GOP worked against Trump in 2016. Much of the heft they believed their endorsements carried evaporated as voters saw in real-time how Trump had little need for them and ultimately obliterated them.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Said one top consultant: "You wouldn't know that these groups were paper tigers — unless you ever ran against one of them."</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">INSTITUTIONAL UPHEAVAL:</span> Several GOP institutional titans in the 2014 cycle have since receded.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">The Koch network</span>: The vast operation established by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch was almost a parallel Republican Party. Candidates and their consultants regularly pitched themselves at Koch donor retreats and worried how the Kochs viewed them.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">But its high-profile breaks with Trump on issues such as immigration and free trade polarized GOP attitudes towards the network working across the aisle on foreign policy and criminal justice reform, and on traditional advocacy around taxes and regulation. </font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">David Koch died in 2019, at 79; Charles is 86.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Koch network's political arm says it broke records in 2020, making nearly <b>60 million voter contacts in 272 races, with a win rate of 78%. Despite that footprint, none of the operatives we interviewed considered Koch support to be important in 2022.</b></font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">The U.S. Chamber of Commerce:</span> In 2014, the Chamber was heavily involved in Republican primaries. "Chamber Republicans" competed against "Tea Party Republicans," claiming greater appeal to the business community than insurgent conservatives and better prospects in the general election.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Chamber endorsement was the gold standard and came with an expectation of meaningful outside financial support. These days, most Republicans in primaries —including establishment figures — want to stay as far away from the Chamber as possible.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is not a wing of a political party," a spokesman for the business group told Axios. "We are an association advancing the business community’s priorities that drive economic growth. On that front we are doing quite well: tax reform is law, infrastructure is law, and Build Back Better is not law.”</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <b>Chamber's direct donations to political candidates have remained fairly steady since then, according to OpenSecrets data, and it's beefed up its digital advocacy operation as well.</b></font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">But its late-cycle political advertising — broadcast buys in the pivotal weeks before voters go to the polls — declined dramatically, from <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="more than $35 million" data-vars-click-url="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/us-chamber-of-commerce/summary?toprecipcycle=2020&contribcycle=2020&lobcycle=2020&outspendcycle=2020&id=D000019798&topnumcycle=2014" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/us-chamber-of-commerce/summary?toprecipcycle=2020&contribcycle=2020&lobcycle=2020&outspendcycle=2020&id=D000019798&topnumcycle=2014" target="blank" style="">more than $35 million</a> in the 2014 cycle to <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="under $6 million" data-vars-click-url="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/us-chamber-of-commerce/summary?id=D000019798" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/us-chamber-of-commerce/summary?id=D000019798" target="blank" style="">under $6 million</a> six years later.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">During the past year, the Republican Party has effectively banished the Chamber for its increased support of Democrats.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b> House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has said he wants nothing to do with the Chamber if the GOP flips the House. And even establishment GOP primary candidates are steering clear of them</b>.</span></font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls you and says 'we want to endorse', You're like, 'please don't'," said a GOP consultant who works for some of the country's highest-profile Republicans.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Conservative movement groups:</span> Some of the most sought-after brands on the right pre-Trump are no longer considered as important.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2012, primary contenders coveted endorsements from the</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Tea Party Express, FreedomWorks and the Senate Conservatives Fund (SCF)</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> In the 2014 Nebraska Senate primary, Republicans considered it a coup when FreedomWorks <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="un-endorsed Shane Osborn" data-vars-click-url="https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/freedomworks-shane-osborn-ben-sasse-105147" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/freedomworks-shane-osborn-ben-sasse-105147" target="blank" style="">un-endorsed Shane Osborn</a> and switched their support to Ben Sasse.</span></font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A GOP operative who worked in those cycles — and today works for some of the top Republicans competing in 2022 primaries — recalled: "People were putting these endorsements in their ads, 'endorsed by Tea Party Express,' 'endorsed by the Senate Conservatives Fund.' I mean, think about how wild that is in relation to today…"</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"When you're courting one of these D.C., Beltway conservative organizations today, it's not for voters at all," the operative continued</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. Whereas their brand mattered to voters then, the operative said, now it's "hopefully they'll help you raise some money, or let you get in front of their donors."</span></font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">SCF's president, Mary Vought, rejected this analysis, saying, </span>"Our endorsement is sought after now more than ever because candidates know we do the hard work of raising money for their campaigns. Some groups only give them a press release, but SCF actually raises and transfers hundreds of thousands of dollars directly to their campaigns."</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FreedomWorks said it "has averaged several candidate interviews per week" this cycle. "Candidates and consultants come to us because they are interested in both our endorsement and the grassroots muscle that we bring to the table," Mac Stoddard, the group's political director, said in an interview.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">The NRA:</span> In his campaign to become governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin declined to even fill out the NRA's candidate questionnaire. As a result, the NRA didn’t endorse him. Nobody seemed to care, and he won the race. </font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The storied gun rights organization points to its down-ballot wins in Virginia, where it backed Attorney General Jason Miyares and Lieutenant Gov. Winsome Sears, as well as candidates that helped the GOP flip the state legislature. It's also remained active in policy and judicial fights, including its successful effort to scuttle President Biden's nomination to lead the ATF last year.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The group says candidates continue to line up in the hopes of winning an endorsement — and backing from its millions of members.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GOP operatives acknowledge the NRA's continued influence, but say it's a shadow of its former self due in large measure to its well-documented financial and management struggles.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Operatives said they like their candidates having the NRA stamp of approval — but gone are the days when the gun lobby had the money and organizational power to be a game changer in Republican politics.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Institutions that still matter: </span>The relationships between many candidates and groups are now explicitly transactional. A prominent consultant who's working for candidates in several GOP primaries this cycle advises clients when they meet with conservative groups to ask specifically <em>what</em> their endorsement comes with.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"What do you provide? Do you do door knocking? Do you do ballot access? Do you do voter education? Do you go after my opponents in the primary?" the consultant said. "Because honestly, if it [only] comes with 'I've been endorsed by FreedomWorks'… it ends up being</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> too much work and too much trouble</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> [</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">how so? baggage eg koch $?</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">]for the return on investment."</span></font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The groups that still matter are the ones that can offer tangible benefits: They have money to spend or staff and volunteers to organize voters. Their brands don’t matter at all, operatives said.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nearly every GOP operative Axios interviewed said the Club for Growth remains relevant for one reason: They have plenty of money and are willing to spend it in Republican primaries.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Operatives also singled-out the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List as an organization that is still worth courting.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> "They've got money, they've got people, they've got boots on the ground…that matters," said another top operative for multiple 2022 GOP candidates.</span></font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Operatives think about <b>support from leadership in the same way. Support from Kevin McCarthy in the House and Mitch McConnell in the Senate still carries substantial financial benefits.</b></font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">But with McConnell's approval ratings especially low with the Republican base — and Trump attacking McConnell constantly — candidates are assiduously courting him in private while avoiding being publicly associated with him.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">The bottom line:</span> Many movement conservative brands are shadows of what they used to be. Many of the major conservative think tanks supported policy positions — such as reforming Social Security or free trade — that Trump obliterated and proved elderly GOP voters didn’t actually support.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">2. ENDORSEMENTS:</span> Every operative said the only endorsement that really matters is Trump's. But there are nuances. His endorsement alone is not enough; what he actually does for a candidate matters, too.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In a primary, having Trump as a credential is good, obviously, but it doesn't do shit standalone,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">" said one top GOP operative. "He can endorse whoever he wants and if that's all it is, and they don't have much money to promote it, they don't have much money to use it, and he doesn't come in the state or whatever — people are quite comfortable loving him and not loving who he's with."</span></font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: 600;">Some recent polls pointed to those limits.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> A recent poll by </span><a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="Cygnal" data-vars-click-url="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2022/19091_JLF_NC_Toplines_v2.pdf" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/docs/2022/19091_JLF_NC_Toplines_v2.pdf" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent;">Cygnal</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, an analytics firm for GOP candidates, found just one in four North Carolina likely primary voters said they'd definitely vote for a Trump-endorsed candidate</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. A <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="January poll" data-vars-click-url="https://www.ajc.com/politics/interactive-poll-of-georgia-voters-january-2022/JKABIFY5GJFFREVAELJDH7D3EM/" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/interactive-poll-of-georgia-voters-january-2022/JKABIFY5GJFFREVAELJDH7D3EM/" target="blank" style="">January poll</a> by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution found less than half of Georgia Republicans say a Trump endorsement would make them more likely to vote for that candidate.</span></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GOP operatives told Axios that Trump's endorsement can be a game-changer only if candidates have enough money to promote it.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If every Republican primary voter were aware of President Trump's endorsement," one GOP operative said, "his endorsement would be tantamount to nomination. I can't think of a time that has ever happened before."</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Trump can occasionally clear a field. In Wyoming, a decent-sized field was lined up to challenge Liz Cheney. Then Trump announced he was endorsing Harriet Hageman and almost immediately <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="three candidates suspended" data-vars-click-url="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-wyoming-casper-election-2020-cheyenne-455034aee78b8380d3dd7de6ae767c7e" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-wyoming-casper-election-2020-cheyenne-455034aee78b8380d3dd7de6ae767c7e" target="blank" style="">three candidates suspended</a> their campaigns</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If a candidate can't get Trump's endorsement, their operatives will want a "patina of Trump," as one consultant put it. This is why Republican candidates are scrambling to hire former Trump aides and get endorsements from former Trump officials and members of the Trump family.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Operatives said that of the Trump associates and family, Don Junior's endorsement is the most valuable, because he has the Trump name and will do more than just send out fundraising emails. "Don Junior will actually get out, travel and campaign for your candidate," said one operative.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Operatives also said endorsements can matter in conferring ideological credibility. If you need to convince voters your establishment-seeming candidate is genuinely hardline on immigration, having an<b style=""> endorsement from Ted Cruz or Tom Cotton or praise from Tucker Carlson or Stephen Miller can help.</b></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the same vein, candidates still hunt for local endorsements to give them credibility — small business owners, law enforcement groups, local farm bureaus. Glenn Youngkin ran this playbook effectively in the Virginia gubernatorial race.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One operative summed it up this way: "In short, endorsements don't matter much at all. There's Trump. His endorsement matters, although less than many think. The top Fox hosts matter a bit, but more because of the venue they offer a candidate than because of their own ability to impact voters.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Endorsements from interest groups with real money matter, but again, much more because of the money than because of any cachet connected to the group. Some groups have useful symbolic importance because their very name has ideological heft, e.g. the Fraternal Order of Police. That's about it. Most voters don't care about endorsements."</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">The bottom line:</span> The GOP operatives we interviewed unanimously said that after Trump, they don't put a ton of stock in the power of endorsements to shape a primary race in 2022.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">3. CONSERVATIVE MEDIA:</span> As the news media fragmented overall, traditional conservative media was usurped in GOP primaries by New Wave populist-nationalist media — and some once-influential institutions have died or faded. The Weekly Standard shuttered.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Drudge Report used to be able to shape multiple conservative news cycles with one headline alone. These days, after a long fight with Trump, it's viewed skeptically if not unfavorably by many Republicans.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republicans <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="used to covet the cover of National Review" data-vars-click-url="https://www.politico.com/blogs/david-catanese/2011/09/ted-cruz-gets-the-national-review-cover-039600" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.politico.com/blogs/david-catanese/2011/09/ted-cruz-gets-the-national-review-cover-039600" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent;">used to covet the cover of National Review</a>. But after the publication <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="opposed Trump in 2016" data-vars-click-url="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/22/national-review-magazine-punished-after-telling-conservatives-to-shun-trump" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/22/national-review-magazine-punished-after-telling-conservatives-to-shun-trump" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent;">opposed Trump in 2016</a>, every operative we asked told Axios it's become irrelevant in GOP primaries. "Courting the National Review doesn't matter at all," said one with several high-profile GOP primary candidates. "I would argue there's more people who'd be turned off by NR writing positive pieces…"</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I don’t know who said that," National Review editor Rich Lowry told Axios, "but I guarantee you if we ran a negative item of any sort on one of his or her clients — whether a 1,000-word article or a brief comment — we would hear from that campaign pushing back almost immediately."</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lowry said he sees "an element of wish-fulfillment in some of these attacks" on National Review: "A fringe wants us gone, so they pretend it’s so, when they actually read us as closely as anyone."</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Fox still dominates.</span> GOP operatives work as hard as ever to book their candidates on Fox. Getting on the evening prime time shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight, Hannity, and The Ingraham Angle nets low-dollar donations and visibility with primary voters and Trump himself.</font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Fox News is still a very important deliverer of conservative Republican primary voting audience," said one operative. "There's not a lot that gets close to it."</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many of the operatives said a meaningful proportion of the base lost some trust in Fox after Trump went to war against the network after it was the first to call Joe Biden's victory in Arizona.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of these disgruntled Trump fans have turned instead to the even more fervently pro-Trump networks, OAN and Newsmax. But those two networks face growing distribution problems as providers <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="cut them" data-vars-click-url="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/directv-drop-far-right-channel-oan-its-service-2022-01-15/" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/directv-drop-far-right-channel-oan-its-service-2022-01-15/" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent;">cut them</a> from their services.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Tucker Carlson is the king of the GOP's media wing</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> — the person whose support GOP primary candidates most want and whose opposition is to be desperately avoided because it can "move numbers," in the words of one operative who has seen the Tucker effect up close.</span></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">One operative told Axios</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> there are two other media entities candidates do not want working against them in GOP primaries. "You don't want Bannon on your f---ing ass" and "you don't want <b>Breitbart </b>on your ass. Those are kind of the big ones."</span></font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Several operatives distinguished between Carlson and Fox's other prime time star Sean Hannity. Every operative Axios interviewed regarded Carlson as more influential than Hannity in a GOP primary and more dangerous if he attacks their candidates.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"That's why</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, when Tucker does a segment on you, why it's Code Red, Ted Cruz goes on his show the very next day <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="begging for forgiveness" data-vars-click-url="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/ted-cruz-begs-tucker-carlson-terrorists-january-6-capitol-police.html" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/01/ted-cruz-begs-tucker-carlson-terrorists-january-6-capitol-police.html" target="blank" style="">begging for forgiveness</a>,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">" the operative continued. "I don't think I've seen a more influential cable news anchor on the right. I think that even includes Bill O’Reilly in his heyday. I don't think Bill O’Reilly ever had the effect on Republican voters that Tucker has."</span></font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: 600;">An important shift is accelerating online.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Many GOP primary voters now get their information directly from influencers</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> including Candace Owens, Dan Bongino, Joe Rogan, Dave Portnoy, Charlie Kirk, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and websites like Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire and Breitbart, which dominate Facebook.</span></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The hardest core of Trump's election-denying base listen to<b> Bannon's War Room </b>— a podcast that has become <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="an audition stage" data-vars-click-url="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/bannon-has-his-maga-megaphone-back-gop-candidates-know-it-n1269050" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/bannon-has-his-maga-megaphone-back-gop-candidates-know-it-n1269050" target="blank" style="background-color: transparent;">an audition stage</a> for GOP candidates and a venue that consultants say is a goldmine for their candidates' digital fundraising.</font></strong></strong></li></ul><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">Between the lines:</span> Several operatives said they could easily go a whole primary without needing to engage at all with the mainstream media. When they do, they're often trying to provoke outlets the GOP base despises — such as CNN — to gain street cred with primary voters.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;">The bottom line:</span> The media landscape is so diffuse now — "fragmented, severely sliced and diced," as one operative put it — that GOP operatives aren't leaning on one source overall, or the mainstream media at all, in primaries.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: 600;">4. THE DONOR LANDSCAPE:</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The recent passing of Republican mega-donors Sheldon Adelson and Foster Freiss were significant in their own right. At the same time, newer donors are cutting the big checks, with people like tech investor Peter Thiel and industrial supply magnate Richard Uihlein single-handedly underwriting high-dollar super PACs</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></strong></strong></p><ul style="margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 3rem; list-style-image: url(" https="https" static.axios.com="static.axios.com" img="img" axios-site="axios-site" bullet-filled.svg="bullet-filled.svg" padding="padding" px="px" rem="rem"><li style="padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem;"><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump's unprecedented success in GOP small-dollar fundraising has also <a class="gtm-content-click" data-vars-link-text="driven party leaders to invest more" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/gop-rethinks-super-pacs-c6b6e52e-cc8f-4c94-ae89-eeb3654f1968.html" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/gop-rethinks-super-pacs-c6b6e52e-cc8f-4c94-ae89-eeb3654f1968.html" target="self" style="">driven party leaders to invest more</a> in donor prospecting, list acquisition and data projects that can hone the party's grassroots money game — and make it less reliant on top donors' six- and seven-figure contributions.</font></strong></strong></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding-left: 1rem; margin-top: 3rem;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>While Republicans remain eager to court corporate lobbyists and executives for campaign cash, the party's increasing divergence from the Reagan-era tax cutting and deregulation agenda threatens to further split the GOP from its longtime corporate patrons.</b></font></strong></strong></li></ul></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">an 1 22</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The 'radicalized, weaponized' Texas GOP is pushing Republicans all over the US to the extreme right: journalist</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas speaking at the 2021 Young Latino Leadership Summit, hosted by Turning Point USA at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, Arizona,]</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Alex Henderson January 31, 2022</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Although Texas is still a red state, it is by no means the reddest of the red. Trump carried Texas by about 6% in the 2020 presidential election compared to 43% in Wyoming, 26% in Alabama or 30% in Idaho. And former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who is running for governor in the 2022 midterms, came within striking distance of Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas’ 2018 U.S. Senate race, losing by only 2%.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Texas Republicans, however, haven’t responded to Democratic gains in their state by becoming more moderate, but rather, by becoming increasingly extreme. And journalist Wajahat Ali, in an op-ed published by the Daily Beast on January 30, argues that <b>Texas Republicans are having a destructive influence not only in Texas, but all over the United States.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Everything is bigger in Texas, including a radicalized, weaponized and emboldened GOP’s audacious abuse of power to fuel their culture wars and subvert democracy,” Ali warns. “If you want to see a sneak preview of the GOP’s national project to maintain white, minority rule, then look no further than Texas, the second-most populous state in the nation, that now serves as a trendsetter for Republican state legislatures across the nation.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></div><div><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ali continues, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“Texas Republicans, led by Gov. Greg Abbott and Sen. Ted Cruz, are committed to one-upping their colleagues by introducing the most extreme versions of voter suppression, open carry laws, anti-abortion bills, and critical race theory (CRT) bans</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">…. The Lone Star State has become the ‘laboratory’ for GOP politicians and their hard-right agenda, according to Democrat Ben Chou, who is running to be commissioner of Harris County Precinct 4.”</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Chou believes that Abbott and Cruz are trying to “one-up” far-right Republicans in other states, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Houston-area Democrat told the Beast, “This is all for a national platform for when they go into the Republican primary.”</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Abbott, Cruz and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to Ali, are pandering to the extreme right in a variety of ways </b>— from voter suppression to anti-vaxxer extremism.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Texas serves as a warning for Democrats across the nation to pay particular attention to state legislature races,” Ali writes. “Currently, both houses in Texas have a Republican majority. As a result, the GOP controls redistricting.”...</div></div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p></div><div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/qanon-influencers-are-urging-followers-get-involved-locally-and-school">https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/qanon-influencers-are-urging-followers-get-involved-locally-and-school</a></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">many lnx vod</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>QAnon influencers are urging followers to get involved locally and with school boards</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DANIL CUFFE, KAYLA GOGARTY & CLARA MARTINY</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PUBLISHED 01/26/22 </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This past summer, a woman named Anna Desenze -- an anti-masker who has expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory -- spoke at a school board meeting in Broward County, Florida. While railing against a school mask mandate, she falsely claimed that “there’s so much science out there that proves that the masks are more harmful than anything else” and that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine can effectively treat the coronavirus. She later made similar claims at another school board meeting in October. </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In July, the hosts of the MatrixxxGrooove Show, a show dedicated to QAnon, noted that Desenze was a listener of the show and claimed that they had encouraged her to take action. She’s “actually thanking us for her getting out there,” a co-host of the show said. They also posted and hyped the clips of her school board rants on Telegram.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">intheMatrixxx Desenze post2</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Similarly, in September, a group of anti-mask protesters disrupted a closed meeting of a California school board, forced it to adjourn, and then voted themselves in as new members without any legal basis. One of the protesters, a man named Derek Greco, was named president of the new (illegitimate) school board. </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Days before that meeting, Greco had posted a video on Facebook featuring QAnon show host Scott McKay claiming that he had been texting with Greco and that Greco had invoked a post from “Q,” the central figure of the conspiracy theory, while speaking before a city council meeting. Greco -- who has also posted a video about “the Great Awakening,” a QAnon-connected phrase -- wrote that he had met McKay in June and that he had “forever changed my view on how to address these issues in our local governments.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">McKay in turn posted praise for Greco’s school board takeover, writing, “This is where the war is being fought today.” And on his show, McKay claimed that Greco credited the QAnon show host for his actions at the school board meeting. McKay added that Greco “showed you how it works,” in that “you go after these milquetoast pussies and cowards, the dumbest people in America, on these school boards.” McKay declared, “It’s training ground for the city councils. It’s training ground for the town councils. It’s training ground for these city commissioners.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CitationFrom a stream of Patriot Streetfighter uploaded on Rumble on September 13, 2021</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In November, McKay posted an “update” from Greco about “taking over the school board,” claiming the government had “weaponized law enforcement against parent’s asking questions” and asking for help contacting other <b>QAnon influencers.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Desenze and Greco’s actions appear to be part of an effort among QAnon influencers to get supporters more involved with local office elections and school boards.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Michael Flynn, a QAnon-supporting former national security adviser for then-President Donald Trump, seems to have played a major role in spurring the movement, which appears to have already shown signs of impact.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In May, Flynn urged followers in a Telegram post to “get involved,” “take responsibility for your school committees or boards,” and “run for local, state and/or federal office.” He also added that “local action = national impact</span>” (the MatrixxxGrooove Show used a similar phrase when it posted about Desenze at the school board meeting). Over the coming months, Flynn continued to make the case for people to take “local action” for a “national impact.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Flynn May post</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Soon after Flynn’s call in May, attorney Sidney Powell also urged supporters to get involved locally. (Powell advised Trump’s legal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and also has extensive QAnon ties.) During a QAnon conference in May, Powell told attendees that “there are no military tribunals that are going to solve this problem for us” and “it’s going to take every one of us rolling up their sleeves.” She also specifically called for people to target school boards as part of this local effort. </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>And in July, Lin Wood, another QAnon-supporting attorney </b>involved with Trump’s election efforts and who unsuccessfully ran for chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, called for followers to “live local and take local action” and to “assemble and protest local school boards mandating masks or worse for our children.” </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A number of QAnon influencers have since called for local action, such as telling people to go “to your school board meetings and demand they remove mask mandates and critical race theory.” </font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In August, “QAnon John,” the influencer who organized the May conference that Powell (and Flynn) attended, wrote that Flynn’s call was “VERY important.” An administrator for QAnon John’s group The Patriot Voice urged others to “get loud and in the face of school boards, city councils, county commissioners, [and] state reps.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Zak Paine, a QAnon show host</b> who participated in part of the January 6 insurrection, urged his listeners to “please consider running for school board,” adding, “Start going to the meetings and once you’re at the meetings, then you can start learning how they do their business and then you can go ahead and run for school board yourself.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CitationFrom the October 28, 2021, edition of RedPill78</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jim Watkins -- the QAnon-supporting owner of 8kun, the site where Q posted -- argued that Q’s plan was “no more” and agreed with Flynn to “take action locally” instead. A major QAnon forum also added a banner featuring text from Flynn’s May post.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In October, a<b> major QAnon Telegram channel</b> even posted a link to an article on how to join a school board, calling it “food for thought” because “this nation ain’t gonna save itself.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">QAnon school board link post</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The influencers’ calls may be showing signs of impact, with some QAnon supporters claiming they’ve taken action in response. Some wrote that they were “running for school board” or were “in charge of my kids school board now.” Others wrote that they were helping to get “citizens involved on every level...city/county government, election boards, school boards, etc.,” or that they were “going to keep going every month” to school board meetings to attack mandates, noting that sometimes they were one of the few people there. “GhostEzra,” a neo-Nazi QAnon influencer, encouraged followers to run for office; in response, several said that they were “thinking about running for school board” or other offices like city council, including one follower who appeared to be a poll worker who was called as a “witness” by the Arizona state legislature following the 2020 presidential election to push voter fraud claims.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In response to a link shared in a QAnon channel about how to run for school board, users wrote that they “needed this” and asked for “a guide on how to become part of your city council and how to be appointed or elected to your county’s election board” as well. One follower of a QAnon influencer also bragged that she had joined her town council in West Virginia after encouragement from the influencer, sharing a video of herself being sworn in.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">QAnon supporter school board post6</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some QAnon shows have also highlighted what they claim are signs of impact. The MatrixxxGrooove Show highlighted a video of a QAnon-supporting follower of the show making false claims about vaccines at a board of supervisors meeting in California and saying that “nothing can stop the awakening of humanity.” The man wrote that he credited the show’s hosts and <b>Michael Flynn “for giving me the courage to do this,</b>” with the hosts on the show urging Flynn to share the video and claiming that they had sent it to his brother. (Flynn did share the video as well, repeating his “national impact” slogan.)</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CitationFrom the November 17, 2021, edition of the MatrixxxGrooove Show</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another QAnon show, SGT Report, has also featured an interview with an Ohio man who “read [his] school board the riot act, the legal riot act,” over mask mandates, and the man credited the show for his action. The host said the incident was part of “a great awakening,” and the man invoked Flynn’s “national impact” line for inspiring his strategy.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Video file</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CitationFrom a stream of SGT Report uploaded on Rumble on November 17, 2021</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There have also been multiple reported instances of school board members and candidates supporting QAnon in Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. (While responding to a question about her QAnon posts, the Michigan school board member falsely claimed, “There’s no such thing as QAnon.” She was echoing Q’s call from late 2020 urging followers to stop using the term “QAnon” and to instead deny its existence.) A Rhode Island woman who invoked the QAnon slogan -- “where we go one, we go all,” or “wwg1wga” for short -- formed an anti-critical race theory group to target her school committee and wrote that she planned to “run for school committee.”</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other people who have expressed support for QAnon have also been elected around the country or tried to run for office, such as Tracy “Beanz” Diaz, one of the first people to popularize QAnon, being elected to a position in the Horry County, South Carolina, Republican Party, and QAnon supporter Gene Ho unsuccessfully running for mayor of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The QAnon community’s focus on school boards was also noted at QAnon John’s follow-up QAnon conference in Las Vegas in October. While discussing how attendees could get more involved, the conference’s emcee said, “What's happening in the school boards is magic.” The National Education Association, a labor union, also warned in June about QAnon school board candidates as an increasing issue nationally.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Citation From the "Patriot Double Down" QAnon conference in Las Vegas on October 23, 2021</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition to the “local action equals national impact” plan, the QAnon community has also embraced a plan called the “precinct strategy” to sign up as Republican precinct committee members -- who are involved with election activities -- which multiple QAnon supporters have also since done. Others on the far-right have also focused on local positions as a strategy for consolidating power and gaining influence in recent months.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></p><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/republicans-sadists/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/republicans-sadists/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">an me 1 22 </font><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/paul-gosar/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/paul-gosar/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://yyy.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/26/paul-gosar-far-right-republicans</font></font></strong></strong></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Over the last two years, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) has <span style="transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">emerged as a heavy favorite among far-right conservatives.</span> [GUK?] As an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump, Gosar has managed to gain more than 90 endorsements as the midterm election season approaches.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>During a recent rally, Gosar spoke before a crowd of right-wing supporters as he declared to be “considered the most dangerous man in Congress."</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This is where it all began,” Gosar said prior to Trump taking the stage. “This is where we questioned: ‘Was there fraud? Absolutely. Was it enough to overturn the election? Absolutely.’”</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the same event, per The Guardian, the Republican lawmaker also echoed the stance of other right-wingers who have cr<b>iticized critical race theory (CRT), the military and food shortages. Last but not least, he pivoted toward a Trump favorite: voter fraud and illegitimate elections.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So what makes Gosar different from other Trump-supporting Republicans?</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Per The Guardian, Gosar is "the kind of politician that Trump – who is embarking on a series of rallies to try to cement his allies’ power in the Republican party – is increasingly seeking to support."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">"Gosar has extensive links to white nationalists and Capitol rioters and, many observers say, represents a dangerous new breed of Republican politician, who would have once been considered fringe, but whom Trump is increasingly making central to Republican party politics."</span>
</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Joe Lowndes, a political science professor at the University of Oregon who also co-authored the book "Producers, Parasites, Patriots: Race and the New Right-Wing Politics of Precarity</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">," weighed in on the rise of Gosar. “</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">We no longer have an ability to make a clear delineation between the right and far-right in the Republican party,”</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> said Lowndes.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He went on to explain how Gosar's rise underscores the problem within the Republican Party as Trump-like figures are taking center stage. The issue appears to be one that Republicans will be haunted by for quite some time.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The Trumpist wing of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/republicans" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Republicans</a> isn’t just ascending – it’s the dominant wing of the Republican party. It’s the dominant wing not just in national politics, but in state and local politics as well,” said Lowndes. “The Republican Party has committed itself to a party of minoritarian rule, figuring out ways to rule in the long term without having majority support of voters.”</font></font></strong></strong></p></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></font></strong></strong></div><div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" font-size="font-size" small="small"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div></div><div><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">john s salon an 1/22</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, who recently bowed out of a much-anticipated U.S. Senate bid, revealed that he was "bothered" after conversations with dozens of Republican Senators, who apparently wanted him to be a "roadblock" until the GOP retakes the White House. </b>Sununu <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/chris-sununu-explains-going-from-pretty-close-to-no-on-new-hampshire-senate-bid" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">told</a> The Washington Examiner this month that he was initially "pretty close" to running, explaining: "I wasn't ready to make an announcement, but I was like, 'OK, this makes sense. I think I could be a voice nationally.'" But after chatting with "most" of the GOP Senate caucus, Sununu reportedly soured on the role once it became apparent that they wanted him to be a legislative mule.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"They were all, for the most part, content with the speed at which they weren't doing anything. It was very clear that we just have to hold the line for two years," he told the Examiner. "OK, so I'm just going to be a roadblock for two years. <b>That's not what I do."</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It bothered me that they were OK with that," the governor added.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sununu's comments come in the wake of an intense legislative standoff between Democrats and Republicans over voting rights, an issue which became the focus of President Biden's agenda after negotiations on the "Build Back Better Act" – the president's $2.2 trillion social safety net plan – fell apart.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On Wednesday, Senate Republicans successfully filibustered Biden's sweeping voting rights overhaul – known as the "Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act" – which would standardize voting laws across all 50 states and clamp down on voter suppression. Not a single Republican backed the measure, even though the bill is supported by nearly 70% of Americans, according to a Navigator <a href="https://navigatorresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Navigator-Update-11.02.2021.pdf?emci=46dc6077-473b-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&emdi=3b847290-c13b-ec11-9820-c896653b26c8&ceid=1416431" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">poll</a> from November.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>With Republicans having dashed Biden's hopes of passing the party's two signature pieces of legislation – the "Build Back Better Act" and the "Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act" – Democrats now question whether their colleagues believe in anything other than mindless obstructionism.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During a press conference on Wednesday, Biden <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-press-conference-gop-name-me-one-thing-theyre-for-2022-1?r=US&IR=T" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">echoed</a> the spirit of Sununu's remarks, asking reporters, "What are Republicans for? What are they for? Name me one thing they're for."</font></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>That same day, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., sidestepped questioning when asked to lay out GOP's official agenda. "That's a very good question," McConnell said. "And I'll let you know when we take it back."</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to a recent Axios <a href="https://www.axios.com/mcconnell-no-agenda-midterms-91c73112-0a2e-441b-b713-7e8aa2dad6bf.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">report</a>, the Kentucky Republican has privately told colleagues and donors that the Republicans have no legislative agenda and are more interested in picking apart Democrats'.</font></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Meanwhile, the House GOP caucus appears to be adopting the opposite strategy, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2022/01/20/republican-midterm-plan-education-economy/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">The Washington Post</a>, with its leadership drumming up a "list of policy pledges" designed to buoy support for the party in 2022.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Among those helming this effort are H<b>ouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and House Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.</b>, both of whom ardently supported Donald Trump's election fraud conspiracy and voted to overturn the 2020 election.</font></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Playing an advisory role to McCarthy is former Republican House Speaker<b> Newt Gingrich</b>, who crafted the "Contract with America," a legislative platform widely linked to the GOP's successful campaign to flip both chambers in 1994.</font></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gingrich told the Post that McCarthy doesn't believe an anti-Biden agenda is sufficient for 2022, saying, "We need a positive message."</font></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I think that's clearly what McCarthy wants to do and I've offered to look at stuff and offer advice," Gingrich added. "There's lots of people in the House working on it. It will be a widespread commitment."</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While the exact details of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">McCarthy's agenda remain hazy</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, the broad contours of the plan are clear.</span></b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>So-called "parental rights" are expected to be front and center as Republican state officials continue to decry the alleged instruction of "critical race theory" – whose prevalence appears to be <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teaching-critical-race-theory-isn-t-happening-classrooms-teachers-say-n1272945" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">vastly</a> overstated. For remedy, McCarthy has already released an informal "<a href="https://www.republicanleader.gov/parents-bill-of-rights/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">Parents Bill of Rights,</a></b>" which includes such provisions as the "right to be heard" and the "right to know what's being taught in schools and see reading material."</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The House Speaker is also expected to assemble seven "issue-specific task forces" that will tackle a variety of other policy objectives, such as countering China's economic prowess, combating the recent crime wave, securing the nation's borders, regulating Big Tech,<b> cutting corporate taxes, bulldozing environmental regulations</b>, and curtailing inflation.</font></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">The soaring cost of consumer goods has proven an evergreen source of whataboutism for Republicans, even as the year-end jobs numbers indicate that Biden has steered the economy through an unprecedented economic recovery since he took office. Fox News called inflation a "<a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/inflation-surge-republican-weapon-2022-midterms" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">top weapon</a>" for the GOP to wield against Democrats in the upcoming midterms.</font></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Throughout 2021, the consumer prices index r<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/dec/10/us-inflation-rate-rise-2021-highest-increase-since-1982" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">ose</a> 6.8% – the highest increase it has seen since 1982.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But when it comes to actually tackling inflation, lawmakers have historically had to walk a tightrope, said Brian Riedl, who served as an aide to Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>"There is nothing that messages well, significantly reduces inflation and is painless,</b>" Riedl told the Post. "It's easier to criticize inflation than to map out an actual solution going forward, and that's the box Republicans are currently in."</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>bannon/putin disinfo to destabilize, erode civil society to the pt --> authoritarian fascism // orban</b></font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>'To defy Trump's wishes is to defy God's plan': The scary truth about modern right-wing misinformation</div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/right-wing-misinformation/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/01/right-wing-misinformation/</a></div><div> John Stoehr January 13, 2022</div><div>
</div><div>Death threats will change a person. During previous testimony before a Senate panel, the nation’s top infectious disease expert was calm and deferential. This week marked a break from the past. Enough is enough, apparently. Dr. Anthony Fauci was no longer in the mood.</div><div>
</div><div>Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas kept pressing the question of financial disclosures, implying that Fauci was benefiting from the effort to vaccinate the country against the covid pandemic.</div><div>
</div><div>Fauci, as head of the White House pandemic response, is a public servant. By law, he must disclose financial information. So of course he didn’t understand Marshall’s question, because his “financial disclosure is public knowledge” and has been for more than three decades.</div><div>
</div><div>Two things. Marshall knew this and was pretending not to or he didn’t know this, which should be embarrassing for a sitting senator. Either way, Marshall said his staff could not find the document. Well, it’s here. Ultimately, he was pandering to believers of rightwing misinformation.</div><div>
</div><div>READ: One sentence from the Supreme Court's ruling against an OSHA vaccine rule reveals its upside-down logic]</div><div>
</div><div>After a heated exchange in which Marshall kept insisting Fauci was hiding something and Fauci kept insisting he’s not – “all you have to do is ask” for the disclosure – Fauci said, “What a moron! Jesus Christ!” (He said this to himself, obviously, not realizing his mic was still on.)</div><div>
</div><div>Is Fauci showing us how to handle rightwingers? That’s what I asked <b>Sara Aniano on Wednesday. She’s a Monmouth University graduate student studying rightwing rhetoric and conspiracy theories on social media. She co-authored a new report for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology analyzing QAnon trends a year after J6.</b></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">She said Fauci’s pushback felt good, but in the end, it probably doesn’t help. “The reality is pretty dire,” she said. Propaganda, conspiracy theory and misinformation have “already infected the population.” It’s too late even for the Washington press corps to do much about it.</span></div><div>
</div><div>The way Anthony Fauci talked to the Republicans is how everyone should talk to rightwing extremists. Am I on to something?</div><div>
</div><div>READ: A right-wing talking point about Jan. 6 just completely collapsed after indictment of the Oath Keepers]</div><div>
</div><div>Absolutely. For a lot of people on the left, Fauci's pushback was refreshing.<b> People are tired of the pandering, and of watching misinformation be lumped into the category of “free speech.”[ = wht priv?]</b></div><div>
</div><div>While Fauci’s “moron” comment was indeed a great moment of transparency, we should also consider his ability to humanize the situation with the anecdote about his own harassment.</div><div>
</div><div>The left is often considered "soft” in contrast with the alleged "hard truth" attitude of the GOP. While Fauci's position is not about partisanship, anti-vaxx movements have unfortunately aligned with the right and the far-right. So it feels like Fauci is speaking for us, even though he's really speaking on behalf of everyone.</div><div>
</div><div>It seems to me speaking for everyone is often interpreted as soft. <b>In other words, acting for the benefit of the common good immediately marks you as an enemy by rightwingers.</b></div><div>
</div><div>READ: DOJ unveils explosive sedition charges against the Oath Keepers for the Jan. 6 attack]</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For a party that increasingly demonizes collectivism, it's in their best interest to continue promoting "individual responsibility,” as it works for their messaging politically. But for the extreme far-right, it's more sinister. In their minds, there is a war going on between good and evil. And if you're not on their side, their black-and-white thinking places you into the "enemy" category.</span></div><div>
</div><div>The irony is that they are actually collectivists, too, no?</div><div>
</div><div><b>I hear that a lot. In comparison to other countries, America is not a collectivist culture. In my opinion, anyone who pushes extreme nationalism here is also pushing extreme individualism.</b></div><div>
</div><div>As a leftist researcher of far-right misinformation, I admit to a certain level of bias. But January 6 marked a clear turning point in how we view partisanship, I think, and we can't discard that.</div><div>
</div><div>READ: Michigan Republicans who circulated fake 'Electoral College' documents are being investigated by the Jan. 6 committee: report]</div><div>
</div><div>Why is it a turning point? We turned from what to what?</div><div>
</div><div>For a lot of us studying far-right extremism and misinformation, we couldn't help but feel this collective "we told you so" when January 6 happened. For the first time, we had a visual manifestation of far-right conspiracism that wasn't limited to social media or fringe news programs. In other words, everyone saw people act on the ideologies that misinformation researchers sift through every day.</div><div>
</div><div>Of course, how people interpret what they saw is what's shaping their opinion now.</div><div>
</div><div>Which is where misinformation comes back, right?</div><div>
</div><div>Here's something I tweeted on the anniversary of the insurrection: “By the end of January 6, 2021, Americans were left with the most damaging relic of all: Yet another unfathomable event, born of hate and delusion, for <b>far-right conspiracy theorists to contort into a self-serving narrative that unfairly demonizes the innocent.”</b></div><div>
</div><div>I want to cry.</div><div>
</div><div>A lot of us can relate to that.</div><div>
</div><div><b>To what extent is anti-vaccination about purity of blood?</b> To what extent is anti-vaccination cover for plain old white supremacy?</div><div>
</div><div>It's interesting, because even if anti-vaxxers don't realize it, the "pure blood" characterization of the unvaccinated has roots to eugenics, which of course has roots to white supremacy.</div><div>
</div><div>But to go back to the idea of "infiltration," I think vaccine skepticism ties into that too.</div><div>
</div><div>Please go on.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>I've been thinking about what types of infiltration the far-right finds most threatening.</b> So far I've come up with three categories: 1) member infiltration, 2) spiritual infiltration and 3) bodily infiltration.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Member infiltration seems to stem from a fear of the "other" hiding in plain sight, trying to live among them but with heinous intentions. We see that a lot with paranoia about Antifa, the feds, Jews or journalists "posing" as patriots.</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Spiritual infiltration has a lot to do with "demonic forces" among us. Satanic panic stuff. With QAnon, we see allegations of Satanic rituals in Hollywood or even reptilians wearing skinsuits to pass as humans.</b></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Physical infiltration is a lot about co-opting "my body my choice" messaging to push back against the vaccine, which many think is the mark of the beast or a 5G transmitter or radioactive or a microchip. A lot of crossover with pseudo-science.</b></div><div>
</div><div>There is so much overlap that it's hard to make exclusive categories, but you get the idea.</div><div>
</div><div>We haven't talked about religion. What does your research say?</div><div>
</div><div>Yes, religion or spirituality is inextricable from far-right narratives overall. My thesis, currently in progress, focuses on QAnon Instagram comments in the week leading up to J6.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Rhetoric that pushes a higher power is always mixed in with far-right narratives, and overwhelmingly, that's Christianity. A lot of people who believe election fraud theories in QAnon circles genuinely think that Donald Trump was anointed by God – he is the chosen leader to usher in "the storm" and defeat the evil Democrats, once and for all.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>In their minds, to defy Trump's wishes is to defy God's plan.</b> I wouldn't say that this is ubiquitous across the right, to be clear. That's a pretty extreme version. But religion presents itself across far-right rhetoric in general, even when it doesn't involve Donald Trump.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump abruptly hung up on Steve Inskeep after the host of NPR’s “Morning Edition” challenged him repeatedly on the big lie? Are such challenges what a democratic republic needs?</div><div>
</div><div>I think Inskeep did a great job, although many were upset with NPR for bringing Trump on in the first place. Your question is a hard one. People asked the same thing during and after the 2020 election when Trump alleged fraud on TV before the ballot counting was even complete. Some networks cut his speech off, while others aired it.</div><div>
</div><div>Any time we platform misinformation, especially when we can see it coming, we must provide context and a good reason for showcasing it. If we can shut it down in the meantime, then yes, we should.</div><div>
</div><div>But if I'm being honest, I think that ship has sailed.</div><div>
</div><div>I don't know if it matters anymore if we cut off conspiratorial rhetoric from Trump and others when it's already infected the population.</div><div>
</div><div>Are you suggesting the press can’t really mitigate the spread?</div><div>
</div><div>Once Trump normalized discourse that was hateful, xenophobic, conspiratorial and sexist, he made it more mainstream. People who previously self-censored those thoughts felt free to not only think them, but say them – particularly on social media, where anonymity removes accountability. That hasn't really changed.</div><div>
</div><div>I guess my point is – the press should do what it can to mitigate misinformation, of course, but the reality is pretty dire.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">There's a serious epistemological crisis going on, and that's gonna require systemic change.[// heated pod occupy sunrise guy too late to stop authoritorian, congress paralyze so only prez can at,<b> crisis will give opening</b>]</span></div><div>
</div><div>Again, I want to cry.</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>How anti-vaxxers are finding 'clever workarounds' to Instagram's anti ... ›</div><div>Twitter permanently bans Marjorie Taylor Greene's account for ... ›</div><div>'They're laughing at you': Scathing video explains how right-wing ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Far-Right Misinformation Drives Facebook Engagement : NPR ›</div><div>Right-Wing Propagandists Were Doing Something Unique - The ... ›</div><div>Right-wing misinformation on Facebook is more engaging than its ... ›</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">disloyal gop purge</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/how-trump-and-his-maga-allies-are-purging-the-gop-of-disloyal-republicans-report/">https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/how-trump-and-his-maga-allies-are-purging-the-gop-of-disloyal-republicans-report/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/republicans-vigilante/">https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/republicans-vigilante/</a></font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">thom h IMU</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">T<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">he Rittenhouse verdict sent a shudder through America as terrorists and vigilantes celebrated: one right-winger called for wholesale slaughter of Democrats</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/11/20/2065434/-Rittenhouse-verdict-celebrated-on-right-wing-social-media-as-green-light-for-killing-protesters" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">saying on T<b>elegram</b></a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>, "The left won't stop until their bodies get stacked up like cord wood."</b></span></font></strong></strong></div><p style=""><strong><strong><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Facebook, right-wing sites celebrating the verdict were <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/11/20/2065434/-Rittenhouse-verdict-celebrated-on-right-wing-social-media-as-green-light-for-killing-protesters" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">the most popular nationwide by a factor of 9 to 1</a>.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The parents of Anthony Huber, who Rittenhouse killed as Huber tried to disarm him, put out a public statement that said, in part:</font></strong></strong></p><blockquote style="margin: 1em 40px 1em -5px; border-left: 4px solid rgb(11, 13, 101); line-height: 32px; padding: 10px 20px 10px 24px; width: 602.531px; background: rgb(245, 245, 245);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Today's verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son. <b>It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street.</b></font></strong></strong></blockquote><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">A right-wing militia group in New York celebrated in the streets and then put a punctuation mark on their disdain for the law and simple rules of a civil society by <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/11/21/2065507/-Rittenhouse-makes-mockery-of-justice-system-Then-Proud-Boys-make-mockery-of-NYPD" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">entering the NY subway system through the emergency exit, bypassing the toll booths</a>. "Rules don't apply to us!" they seemed to be shouting, along with, "You can't stop us!"</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump wannabees in public office who are still trying to capture the white supremacist and white nationhood vote have doubled down on his strategy of fear, hate, and vigilantism.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for example, recently signed into law legislation that gives legal protections to people who drive their cars into protesters in the street and defines <em>everybody</em> in any protest as a criminal felon if anybody in that protest breaks a window or engages in other illegal activity.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">With DeSantis and other Republican governors pre-exonerating people like the driver who viciously killed Heather Heyer and vigilante protest shooters like Rittenhouse, many are worried that we're entering a new era where vigilante shooters and drivers-into-crowds will become as normalized and accepted as Amy Vanderpool documents how normalized <a href="https://shero.substack.com/p/what-happened-was-55a" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">daily mass shootings have become</a> in America.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Laws similar to Florida's have been passed or are pending in numerous Republican-controlled states, presumably in anticipation of citizen protests when those states use their newly passed laws to overturn the will of voters in the 2022 and 2024 elections. Object to your politicians handing an election they lost to themselves? You go straight from the streets to the jail, just like in tinhorn dictatorships.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">There's always been a fringe movement of violent white supremacist vigilantes in America, particularly since the end of the Civil War, but they've never before been embraced by or succeeded in capturing a political party. Today, astonishingly, that's the case in our country.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">So, what's motivating today's vigilantes and the police who often aid and support them, as in the Rittenhouse case?</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Centuries ago, as white people fanned out across this continent to occupy land stolen from Native Americans, it usually took years or decades for stable government institutions to be created, including local police forces. Therefore, communities would organize their own forces, called <b>"vigilance committees"</b> whose job was to be "vigilant" to protect their own homes and communities.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">That sort of "classic vigilantism" pretty much completely disappeared in the US after the Civil War, however, when the southern-state slave patrols were merged into those states' militias (what we call the National Guard) and professional police forces, state and local, took over.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Modern post-Civil War violent vigilantism, therefore, doesn't usually emerge because the government is failing to protect citizens, and communities field their own equivalent of police forces.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead, these days it's almost always a conservative response to cultural change that creates a vigilante backlash.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Virtually the dictionary definition of "c<b>onservative" is "opposed to rapid change in society."</b> That's why, as America becomes more diverse and states like Texas have become less than 50% white, racist "conservative" factions that have had a home in the GOP since 1968 are turning to violence to try to maintain the absolute dominance of straight white men in American society.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">When the US Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, for example, those who were opposed to that change in our society, symbolized by the <em>Roe v Wade</em> decision, <b>organized vigilante groups that threatened women outside abortion clinics, followed and harassed women getting healthcare and people who worked in the clinics, and murdered multiple doctors and bombed multiple clinics across the nation.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In the 1980s, conservative billionaires who supported Reagan helped impose neoliberal austerity on America, so for forty years the country has been on a steady decline as jobs went overseas, wages fell so badly the middle class sagged below 50% of Americans by 2015, and a general rage began to build across the country.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Much of that rage was channeled into "anti-government" movements that were encouraged by Reagan, who told us that government was the <em>problem</em> and not the solution. </b>Neoliberal billionaires backed Republican politicians who kept their taxes low while openly and proudly obstructing any government efforts to help working class people.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The GOP also revived Nixon's "Southern Strategy" in 1980 using open appeals to racism with Reagan warning about "strapping young bucks" and Black "welfare queens" taking white people's tax dollars. George HW Bush put it on steroids in 1992 with his "Willie Horton" television advertisements against Michael Dukakis, charging the Democrat wasn't doing enough to protect Massachusetts from violent Black criminals.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By this time the GOP had totally embraced neoliberalism and stopped proposing any sort of policies that would lift up America. Instead, their efforts went to subsidizing billionaires with tax cuts, and</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);"> increasing profits for polluting industries via deregulation.</span></b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Working class white people continued to fall behind, particularly in rural areas, as wealthy CEOs and trust-fund billionaires made out like bandits, pouring their surplus cash into the campaigns of politicians because five rightwingers on the Supreme Court legalized political bribery with <em>Citizens United</em> in 2010.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Republican answer to the growing white angst in the country was to start a movement against affirmative action in the 1980s and 1990s, calling it "reverse racism," reviving the old saw from the 1950s that "Black people want to take your job!"</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Women, since the 1970s, have also been successfully competing for jobs formerly held by white men, building misogynous frustration and rage among lower-income and lower-education white men, and <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9493075/incel-documentary-murder-rejection-elliot-rodger/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">turning incels murderous</a>.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Much of this white male rage was channeled in the 1990s into the fringe "white nationalist" movement, which got their martyrs with Ruby Ridge (1992) and Waco (1993), where heavily armed white supremacists shot it out with the feds and lost terribly.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>That provoked Tim McVeigh to follow <em>The Turner Diaries</em> "create a race-based civil wa</b>r by provoking the government to seize guns so we can fight back" script and blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City on the anniversary of Waco in 1995, killing 168 and injuring 860.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He, however, was condemned by both political parties and ultimately put to death by a Republican president. The GOP had not yet fully turned toward embracing fascists, vigilantes and terrorists in the 1990s.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Modern race-based vigilantism <em>with the support of the GOP</em> took a big step forward after 9/11, when multiple Republican leaders used that crime as an excuse to vilify Muslims specifically and brown-skinned Arabs more generally. Most famously, Donald Trump perpetrated the lie that Muslims in New Jersey were celebrating in the streets the afternoon of 9/11.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>George W. Bush took that anti-Muslim energy and amplified it</b> as he pushed a revenge-based war against Afghanistan and Iraq, another Muslim country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Following Bush's presidency, a Black man whose middle name was Hussein became our president, creating a frenzy of bizarre conspiracy theories on the Fox Propaganda Channel and across right-wing internet and social media outlets.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Was Obama a <b>"real" American? </b>Was he really a secret Kenyan Muslim sleeper agent? <b>Was he trying to flip America communist with his radical Obamacare program? Trump and Republicans were asserting that those were <em>all</em> true claims</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>.</b></span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>With the hard right now empowered by these conspiracy theories on Fox and talk radio, in 2014 Cliven Bundy challenged the authority of the Obama administration to restrict him from grazing his cows on public federal land without paying a grazing fee;</b> Obama flinched and backed down, giving Bundy and armed, anti-government white men a huge national PR victory (as well as getting his cows back).</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Two years later his son, Ammon Bundy, attacked and occupied another federal facility, this time the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon near the Idaho border. </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">His armed vigilantes pointed their weapons at federal officers on live television</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, and, again, the Obama administration backed down.</span></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bundy's 2016 "victory" animated white supremacist vigilantes across the nation and made him enough of a media figure that he's now running in the GOP primary for governor of Idaho.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Things really stepped up throughout the Trump administration when the new president openly welcomed white nationhood militias and neo-Nazis into the GOP and praised them from the presidential pulpit, something no president had done since Woodrow Wilson <a href="https://dailyhistory.org/Did_Woodrow_Wilson_state_that_the_film_The_Birth_of_Nation_was%22like_writing_history_with_lightning%27" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">hosted the debut of the Klan recruiting film <em>Birth of a Nation</em></a> at the White House in 1915.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump invited vigilantes to the southern border to "help" with the problem of brown-skinned refugees trying to enter the country, and sucked up to police, encouraging them to be even more brutal with (presumably minority) criminal suspects.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">His presidency marked a turning point for American politics, with the GOP abandoning any pretense of caring about policy debates to full-on embrace fear and hate of racial, religious, and gender minorities as their core political position and strategy going forward.</font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a result, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fueled-trump-inspired-grievance-attempts-terrorize-public-officials-escalate-n1284291" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">NBC News </a>chronicles, threats against federal officials reported to Capitol Police have about tripled since Trump's first year in office, reaching over 9,000 incidents so far this year.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>When we've seen these kinds of things happen in other countries, we've historically called them out as naked assaults on democracy; now Trump and his armed Republican faction have turned America's moral and political standing in the world on its head.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">International observers have issued repeated alarms about the state of democracy in America since Trump's 2016 election. In 2017, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/01/25/us-is-no-longer-a-full-democracy-eiu-warns.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">we were downgraded</a> by The Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit: instead of being a "full democracy," we are now a "flawed democracy." The international think tank <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-backsliding-democracy-list-idea-thinktank-global-democracies/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" class="rm-stats-tracked" style="text-decoration-line: none; opacity: 1; transition: color 0.25s ease 0s, background 0.25s ease 0s, opacity 0.25s ease 0s;">IDEA just reported </a>that we're now a "backsliding democracy."</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Today, while the Democratic Party is working hard to secure benefits to <em>all</em> Americans, the Republicans have only two responses: block legislation and support armed white nationhood vigilantes.</b></font></strong></strong></p><p><strong><strong><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">All the Republican Party has left, now that they've abandoned any pretense over the past 40 years of supporting working people or even rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, is hate, fear and death.</font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his 1933 inaugural address about an earlier generation of Republican obstructionists: "They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish."</b></font></strong></strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And if we don't return to sanity, our democracy could perish as well.</font></strong></strong></p><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></strong></strong></div></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BAK 5 text no lnx</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></strong></strong></div><div><strong><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></strong></strong><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></strong></font></strong></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>SEE GOP6 troll auth, post kyle</div><div>
</div><div>6/21 belated/ redumb?</div><div>includes psych but see psychology node</div><div>
</div><div>see bannon and esp tucker maintrEAM rw bs --> RADICALIZATION/ FREEDUMB, VAXX BIG STEAL ETC</div><div>
</div><div>prolly some neglect interwebs down</div><div>
</div><div>HTML maralag</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>i've neglected rumors of legal, tho swalwell 2nd to sue under KKK law?</div><div>=</div><div></div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/republicans-vigilante/</div><div>
</div><div>thom h IMU</div><div>
</div><div>The Rittenhouse verdict sent a shudder through America as terrorists and vigilantes celebrated: one right-winger called for wholesale slaughter of Democrats saying on Telegram, "The left won't stop until their bodies get stacked up like cord wood."</div><div>On Facebook, right-wing sites celebrating the verdict were the most popular nationwide by a factor of 9 to 1.</div><div>
</div><div>The parents of Anthony Huber, who Rittenhouse killed as Huber tried to disarm him, put out a public statement that said, in part:</div><div>
</div><div>Today's verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son. It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street.</div><div>A right-wing militia group in New York celebrated in the streets and then put a punctuation mark on their disdain for the law and simple rules of a civil society by entering the NY subway system through the emergency exit, bypassing the toll booths. "Rules don't apply to us!" they seemed to be shouting, along with, "You can't stop us!"</div><div>
</div><div>Trump wannabees in public office who are still trying to capture the white supremacist and white nationhood vote have doubled down on his strategy of fear, hate, and vigilantism.</div><div>
</div><div>Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for example, recently signed into law legislation that gives legal protections to people who drive their cars into protesters in the street and defines everybody in any protest as a criminal felon if anybody in that protest breaks a window or engages in other illegal activity.</div><div>
</div><div>With DeSantis and other Republican governors pre-exonerating people like the driver who viciously killed Heather Heyer and vigilante protest shooters like Rittenhouse, many are worried that we're entering a new era where vigilante shooters and drivers-into-crowds will become as normalized and accepted as Amy Vanderpool documents how normalized daily mass shootings have become in America.</div><div>
</div><div>Laws similar to Florida's have been passed or are pending in numerous Republican-controlled states, presumably in anticipation of citizen protests when those states use their newly passed laws to overturn the will of voters in the 2022 and 2024 elections. Object to your politicians handing an election they lost to themselves? You go straight from the streets to the jail, just like in tinhorn dictatorships.</div><div>
</div><div>There's always been a fringe movement of violent white supremacist vigilantes in America, particularly since the end of the Civil War, but they've never before been embraced by or succeeded in capturing a political party. Today, astonishingly, that's the case in our country.</div><div>
</div><div>So, what's motivating today's vigilantes and the police who often aid and support them, as in the Rittenhouse case?</div><div>
</div><div>Centuries ago, as white people fanned out across this continent to occupy land stolen from Native Americans, it usually took years or decades for stable government institutions to be created, including local police forces. Therefore, communities would organize their own forces, called "vigilance committees" whose job was to be "vigilant" to protect their own homes and communities.</div><div>
</div><div>That sort of "classic vigilantism" pretty much completely disappeared in the US after the Civil War, however, when the southern-state slave patrols were merged into those states' militias (what we call the National Guard) and professional police forces, state and local, took over.</div><div>
</div><div>Modern post-Civil War violent vigilantism, therefore, doesn't usually emerge because the government is failing to protect citizens, and communities field their own equivalent of police forces.</div><div>
</div><div>Instead, these days it's almost always a conservative response to cultural change that creates a vigilante backlash.</div><div>
</div><div>Virtually the dictionary definition of "conservative" is "opposed to rapid change in society." That's why, as America becomes more diverse and states like Texas have become less than 50% white, racist "conservative" factions that have had a home in the GOP since 1968 are turning to violence to try to maintain the absolute dominance of straight white men in American society.</div><div>
</div><div>When the US Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973, for example, those who were opposed to that change in our society, symbolized by the Roe v Wade decision, organized vigilante groups that threatened women outside abortion clinics, followed and harassed women getting healthcare and people who worked in the clinics, and murdered multiple doctors and bombed multiple clinics across the nation.</div><div>
</div><div>In the 1980s, conservative billionaires who supported Reagan helped impose neoliberal austerity on America, so for forty years the country has been on a steady decline as jobs went overseas, wages fell so badly the middle class sagged below 50% of Americans by 2015, and a general rage began to build across the country.</div><div>
</div><div>Much of that rage was channeled into "anti-government" movements that were encouraged by Reagan, who told us that government was the problem and not the solution. Neoliberal billionaires backed Republican politicians who kept their taxes low while openly and proudly obstructing any government efforts to help working class people.</div><div>
</div><div>The GOP also revived Nixon's "Southern Strategy" in 1980 using open appeals to racism with Reagan warning about "strapping young bucks" and Black "welfare queens" taking white people's tax dollars. George HW Bush put it on steroids in 1992 with his "Willie Horton" television advertisements against Michael Dukakis, charging the Democrat wasn't doing enough to protect Massachusetts from violent Black criminals.</div><div>
</div><div>By this time the GOP had totally embraced neoliberalism and stopped proposing any sort of policies that would lift up America. Instead, their efforts went to subsidizing billionaires with tax cuts, and increasing profits for polluting industries via deregulation.</div><div>
</div><div>Working class white people continued to fall behind, particularly in rural areas, as wealthy CEOs and trust-fund billionaires made out like bandits, pouring their surplus cash into the campaigns of politicians because five rightwingers on the Supreme Court legalized political bribery with Citizens United in 2010.</div><div>
</div><div>The Republican answer to the growing white angst in the country was to start a movement against affirmative action in the 1980s and 1990s, calling it "reverse racism," reviving the old saw from the 1950s that "Black people want to take your job!"</div><div>
</div><div>Women, since the 1970s, have also been successfully competing for jobs formerly held by white men, building misogynous frustration and rage among lower-income and lower-education white men, and turning incels murderous.</div><div>
</div><div>Much of this white male rage was channeled in the 1990s into the fringe "white nationalist" movement, which got their martyrs with Ruby Ridge (1992) and Waco (1993), where heavily armed white supremacists shot it out with the feds and lost terribly.</div><div>
</div><div>That provoked Tim McVeigh to follow The Turner Diaries "create a race-based civil war by provoking the government to seize guns so we can fight back" script and blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City on the anniversary of Waco in 1995, killing 168 and injuring 860.</div><div>
</div><div>He, however, was condemned by both political parties and ultimately put to death by a Republican president. The GOP had not yet fully turned toward embracing fascists, vigilantes and terrorists in the 1990s.</div><div>
</div><div>Modern race-based vigilantism with the support of the GOP took a big step forward after 9/11, when multiple Republican leaders used that crime as an excuse to vilify Muslims specifically and brown-skinned Arabs more generally. Most famously, Donald Trump perpetrated the lie that Muslims in New Jersey were celebrating in the streets the afternoon of 9/11.</div><div>
</div><div>George W. Bush took that anti-Muslim energy and amplified it as he pushed a revenge-based war against Afghanistan and Iraq, another Muslim country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11.</div><div>
</div><div>Following Bush's presidency, a Black man whose middle name was Hussein became our president, creating a frenzy of bizarre conspiracy theories on the Fox Propaganda Channel and across right-wing internet and social media outlets.</div><div>
</div><div>Was Obama a "real" American? Was he really a secret Kenyan Muslim sleeper agent? Was he trying to flip America communist with his radical Obamacare program? Trump and Republicans were asserting that those were all true claims.</div><div>
</div><div>With the hard right now empowered by these conspiracy theories on Fox and talk radio, in 2014 Cliven Bundy challenged the authority of the Obama administration to restrict him from grazing his cows on public federal land without paying a grazing fee; Obama flinched and backed down, giving Bundy and armed, anti-government white men a huge national PR victory (as well as getting his cows back).</div><div>
</div><div>Two years later his son, Ammon Bundy, attacked and occupied another federal facility, this time the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon near the Idaho border. His armed vigilantes pointed their weapons at federal officers on live television, and, again, the Obama administration backed down.</div><div>
</div><div>Bundy's 2016 "victory" animated white supremacist vigilantes across the nation and made him enough of a media figure that he's now running in the GOP primary for governor of Idaho.</div><div>
</div><div>Things really stepped up throughout the Trump administration when the new president openly welcomed white nationhood militias and neo-Nazis into the GOP and praised them from the presidential pulpit, something no president had done since Woodrow Wilson hosted the debut of the Klan recruiting film Birth of a Nation at the White House in 1915.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump invited vigilantes to the southern border to "help" with the problem of brown-skinned refugees trying to enter the country, and sucked up to police, encouraging them to be even more brutal with (presumably minority) criminal suspects.</div><div>
</div><div>His presidency marked a turning point for American politics, with the GOP abandoning any pretense of caring about policy debates to full-on embrace fear and hate of racial, religious, and gender minorities as their core political position and strategy going forward.</div><div>
</div><div>As a result, NBC News chronicles, threats against federal officials reported to Capitol Police have about tripled since Trump's first year in office, reaching over 9,000 incidents so far this year.</div><div>
</div><div>When we've seen these kinds of things happen in other countries, we've historically called them out as naked assaults on democracy; now Trump and his armed Republican faction have turned America's moral and political standing in the world on its head.</div><div>
</div><div>International observers have issued repeated alarms about the state of democracy in America since Trump's 2016 election. In 2017, we were downgraded by The Economist magazine's Intelligence Unit: instead of being a "full democracy," we are now a "flawed democracy." The international think tank IDEA just reported that we're now a "backsliding democracy."</div><div>
</div><div>Today, while the Democratic Party is working hard to secure benefits to all Americans, the Republicans have only two responses: block legislation and support armed white nationhood vigilantes.</div><div>
</div><div>All the Republican Party has left, now that they've abandoned any pretense over the past 40 years of supporting working people or even rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, is hate, fear and death.</div><div>
</div><div>As Franklin D. Roosevelt said in his 1933 inaugural address about an earlier generation of Republican obstructionists: "They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish."</div><div>
</div><div>And if we don't return to sanity, our democracy could perish as well.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>// me vs we, macho, freedumb, anger, victim</div><div>
</div><div>11 21</div><div>...Another one of her cartoons, called "Avatar: The Last Airbender," speaks to our current social and political crisis, which I think of as a crisis of humility.</div><div>Meaning, there's not enough of it on account of there being not enough demand. That might be a consequence of history. When I was my daughter's age, in 1984, American culture was very worried about children and their feelings of shame. (To a degree, it still is.) The culture asked parents to encourage in their kids a pride of self. Healthy self-directing egos were thought to mean healthy self-directing children, which meant a society of healthy self-directing individuals.</div><div>
</div><div>But Uncle Iroh, one of the characters in "Avatar," knows better. For reasons I won't go into, Iroh is something of a pariah by the time we meet him. He has fallen from a great height. As such, he's come to understand the real link between pride and shame. As he tells his young nephew, who insists on being proud: "Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source. True humility is the only antidote to shame."</div><div>
</div><div>READ: Former Trump aide who was 'Anonymous': Why he stayed, why he left and how the GOP became more dangerous than ISIS]</div><div>
</div><div>Our culture still seems to think the answer to feelings of shame and insecurity is feelings of pride and self-confidence. You often see this after some kind of disaster, like a shooting massacre. We are frequently told suspects felt shame so they lashed out violently. If they had a more robust inner life, a more secure sense of self, perhaps the violence could have been averted. But as Uncle Iroh understood, high self-esteem is not the answer to low self-esteem. The ego is the source of rage, hate and violence. Humility is where one finds peace.</div><div>
</div><div>This has some empirical basis. In the 1990s, social psychologist Roy Baumeister led a team of researchers in finding that threats to the ego can disrupt a person's ability to self-regulate emotions. This can and does result in hate, which, in turn, can and does lead to violence. Baumeister does not address humility specifically, but he does imply it as he points to the problem of being proud instead of being humble.</div><div>
</div><div>"The new cultural demands on selfhood make it into a burdensome concern that can produce frequent stress," he wrote in The Self and Society in 1997. "People feel they must maintain a highly positive image of self that requires constant vigilance against dangers and threats. Even if they do not experience major experiences of humiliation or disgrace, the ongoing threat and resulting demand for vigilance may become tiresome and draining. Awareness of self may often be tinged with worry or stress and hence may take on an aversive aspect."</div><div>
</div><div>You can imagine how this plays out politically. Since 2008, the political right has stood against democracy on account of democracy electing a Black president. To these bigots and ghouls, America is a white man's country given to them by God to rule with impunity. Every time the outgroup wins a little freedom, the ingroup feels less free. Democracy, moreover, leads to equality. The political right hates that. Equality means bigots and ghouls aren't as super-duper as they believe they are. Equality means they just might have to go out and kill somebody.</div><div>
</div><div>You could say the election of Donald Trump, the anti-democratic turn we have seen from the GOP and all the shooting massacres we've seen since the reelection of a Black president altogether constitute one giant wounded ego. The result has been one giant lashing out against democracy the way mass shooters lash out against schools. As Baumeister said, in a different but relevant context: "Cultural prescriptions can exert considerable influence by telling people at what point it is appropriate to turn violent, ranging from 'only when someone is attacking you in a life-threatening fashion' to 'when the person implies disrespect toward you by making eye contact.'"</div><div>
</div><div>Ego, pride, shame, hate, rage, violence, fascism. These all have a common source in the human mind. The irony is our culture believes the antidote is more of the same. USA Today's Marco della Cava wrote today that the path toward national political healing this Thanksgiving holiday might be "practicing gratitude." As one of his sources told him: "We learn to appreciate things when we lose them, unfortunately."</div><div>
</div><div>How about we appreciate losing them? To be sure, you should have what you need. If that's not enough, rethink your needs. Desire, said Epicurus centuries ago, is what causes so much pain. To minimize pain, and maximize pleasure, you should minimize desire. "Practicing gratitude" can easily slip back to the original problem -- to an ego that can't be satisfied no matter how much self-confidence it has, an ego that can't tolerate the "disrespect of eye contact," and an ego that manifests itself politically as a Republican Party turned fascist.</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/gop-southern-strategy/</div><div>
</div><div>thom h</div><div>
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</div><div>on Wednesday, all but two Republicans in the House of Representatives went on record saying it's okay to openly encourage the assassination of one of their own, a person of color and elected Member of the House.</div><div>
</div><div>That part about Representative Ocasio-Cortez not being white was no coincidence, by the way. It was really at the core of the issue: Republicans now openly refer to her and the women of color who call themselves "the Squad" as the "Jihad caucus." As in "Muslim terrorists," as in "the Other."</div><div>
</div><div>Earlier in the day, known antisemite and racist Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called for her followers to prepare for war because "Joe Biden didn't win the 2020 election" and "the only way you get freedom back after you've lost it is with the price of blood."</div><div>
</div><div>We heard this rhetoric, too, many years ago when a much earlier generation of white supremacists tried to gin up bloodshed in America.</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>gop civil war // liz c?</div><div>
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</div><div>Christie torched for his disastrous Trump prediction as he tries to rehabilitate his image</div><div>Alex Henderson November 16, 2021</div><div>In recent weeks, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — once an outspoken Donald Trump supporter — has been promoting himself as someone who has a conservative post-Trump vision for the Republican...[he has clever-ish name for it?]</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>"a threat to democracy’: Survey finds 30% of Republicans think they may need violence to ‘save our country’</div><div>Alex Henderson November 01, 2021</div><div>The term "fragile democracy" has often been used by political science experts in connection with developing countries, but following the United States' 2020 election, former President Donald Trump's attempted...</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>11 21 an</div><div>
</div><div>CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday expressed astonishment at a new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) that found most Republican voters believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.</div><div>
</div><div>While discussing the report, Tapper brought on PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones and asked him to comment on why white evangelical Christians are the only major religious group in the country that believes Trump actually won the election.</div><div>
</div><div>"They're all in for Trump," he said. "They believe this... this is a religion that not that long ago talked about itself as the moral values of the country, that kind of, 'turn the other cheek,' and all that stuff. And yet here we are, a major mainstream religion that's been all in for Trump, and we have among those who believe the election was stolen, which is most of them, nearly 4 in 10 saying they can imagine it being justified to resort to violence."</div><div>
</div><div>Tapper then turned to some of the even wilder conspiracy theories that a significant minority of Americans believe.</div><div>
</div><div>"One in six believe that the U.S. government is controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles running a global child sex-trafficking operation," Tapper said. "I mean, what?"</div><div>
</div><div>"I know," Jones replied. "Let me tell you, as a social scientist, I never thought I'd be in a position of actually writing that question."</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>kos an 11 21</div><div>
</div><div>As Donald Trump has consolidated power in the Republican Party this year, his slow-but-steady takeover has sometimes masked the overwhelming creep of extremism into every corner of the Republican Party.</div><div>
</div><div>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's embrace of Herschel Walker this week as the establishment pick to win back Georgia's Senate seat is a perfect example.</div><div>
</div><div>On the one hand, McConnell's cowardly cave to Trump's chosen candidate is such a laughable outcome for a guy who's hailed as a "master tactician" and repeatedly told reporters that his only red line for candidates was electability. While Walker is potentially electable in today's Republican Party, his open struggle with mental illness and alleged history of abusing women makes him a wounded candidate right out the gate. Whatever Walker's upsides might be, he isn't who you pick if ensuring electoral success is truly your North Star.</div><div>
</div><div>Lurking just one layer beneath McConnell's acquiescence to Trump's demands is the unmistakable surrender of the establishment wing of the GOP to Trump. He is 100% calling the shots now about the Grand Old Party's future, and there's no pretending otherwise.</div><div>
</div><div>And as the Republican establishment bows to Trump, his manifest dominance of the party has also convinced candidates running for critical seats that no amount of personal baggage is prohibitive. In fact, men with violent histories are flocking to Republican primaries, often earning Trump's endorsement. That is the case not only for Walker, but also Sean Parnell, an Army veteran running for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat. Parnell, who won Trump's early backing partly by pushing a fraudit of the Keystone State's 2020 election results, is in the middle of a contentious divorce and custody battle over his three children. Parnell's estranged wife once called 911 during a domestic dispute, and also secured two temporary protective orders against him as their marriage crumbled. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, temporary orders only require a hearing with the accuser; making them permanent would have required a judge to hear from both parties, which never happened.</div><div>
</div><div>But now Senate Republicans are in the position of potentially fielding two Trump acolytes, each with a mountain of personal baggage that hasn't even been fully mined, in two seats that will surely play a role in deciding the fate of the upper chamber.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump also might play an outsized role in mucking up the reelection of a man he despises: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. This week, we learned that former GOP Sen. David Perdue, who Trump campaigned for in the run up to the state's January runoffs, might mount a primary challenge to Kemp. Trump would love nothing more than to knock off Kemp, who he blames for not overturning the state's 2020 election results.</div><div>
</div><div>Perdue's potential entrance is already radicalizing the race on the Republican side and will surely continue to do so. On Friday, Kemp announced that Georgia was suing President Joe Biden over his vaccine mandate for federal contractors. It's a clear bid to cater to Trump's fringe anti-mitigation, pro-pandemic base—setting up a telling trajectory for a Kemp-Purdue primary that could hamstring Republicans in the general election. On top of that, if Perdue does enter the gubernatorial race, he will lean heavily on the support of Trump, who will spend his every waking breath grousing about 2020 and the supposedly stolen election in Georgia. The net effect would be months of Trump constantly reminding his voters that Georgia elections aren't secure, and that their vote may not even matter in the end. That's on top of the fact that Trump voters already decided to stay home the last time Perdue was on the ballot.</div><div>
</div><div>Beyond Trump's impact at the federal and state level, his toxicity is also permeating local elections. Buzzfeed News reports that at least a dozen Republicans who attended Trump's Jan. 6 festivities at the Capitol are on the ballot for next week's elections. They include incumbent state lawmakers, first-time candidates for statehouses, and local officials—mostly running in New Jersey and Virginia, which have off-year elections. But that also suggests that the number of Jan. 6 participants running for office this year might just be the tip of the iceberg.</div><div>
</div><div>All of this information is just more evidence pointing to the fact that, whether or not Republicans take over congressional majorities next year, the party itself will be uniquely radicalized with an even more profound Trump bent following the midterms.</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/the-qanon-movement-was-always-based-on-neo-nazi-conspiracies-now-the-mask-is-slipping/</div><div>
</div><div>hunter kos</div><div>We have noted in the past that the "QAnon" movement is not a set of new conspiracy theories, but a recasting of some of the most popular neo-Nazi, white supremacist, antisemitic themes of the last century for broader conspiracy consumption. Nazi-era antisemitic conspiracy theories declared that "Jews" were secretly controlling the world, that they were working to undermine governments and cultures, and that they drank the blood of children in secret rituals.</div><div>
</div><div>QAnon's version is identical: A shadowy cabal of "globalists" is secretly controlling the world, is working to undermine governments and cultures (for example, through a "great replacement" of Americans with new nonwhite immigrants, as supposedly funded by wealthy Jewish American George Soros), and is secretly trafficking children to harvest compounds from their blood. The most bizarre of Nazi and neo-Nazi themes have found eager new homes in the brains of supposed "real" Americans who have invariably settled on the same targets and solutions as their neo-Nazi enablers: Round up the "globalists"—meaning liberals, socialists, Democrats, those who fight for LGBT rights, those who treat immigrants with decency—and jail them. "Lock them up." Purge them.</div><div>
</div><div>The "everyday" Americans who have adopted QAnon beliefs as their own, insisting that the "child trafficking" or blood "harvesting" or something-something George Soros conspiracies are real, are Good Nazis. They are the sort of citizens who made Nazi Germany tick. They are sweet, patriotic parents of somebody, or children of somebody, and all they know in life is that their enemies must be defeated, even if defeating them means toppling democracy and/or supporting the most incompetent of tax-dodging lying rapist perverts.</div><div>
</div><div>Whether they can be reformed once they've gone down that rabbit hole is a subject for others to engage. Myself, I expect not. Human beings do not accidentally fall into believing their not-white or not-Christian or not-Republican neighbors are barely human saboteurs plotting behind the scenes to do whatever evil you might imagine. They started out that way, then fell into conspiracy holes that were pleasing because they ticked off all the boxes their previous paranoias needed to tick off.</div><div>
</div><div>The movement itself, however, has been drifting back to the rawer antisemitism that first crafted it.</div><div>
</div><div>VICE News reports that John Sabal, the influential QAnon promoter who will this week host a major QAnon conference at which four aspiring Republican lawmakers are scheduled to speak recommended on Sunday to his followers a notorious neo-Nazi conspiracy film blaming Jews as the architects of communism, World Wars I and II, and the sabotage of Naziism. "The most important historical film of all time," Sabal touted.</div><div>
</div><div>The posts were removed after they were "highlighted by extremist researchers," reports VICE—and Sabal claims through his partner that he never actually watched the film or knew that it was antisemitic. And yes, this is the "QAnon" provocateur with enough clout to collect Republican candidates from across the nation.</div><div>
</div><div>This isn't an isolated incident. VICE reports that other QAnon figures have similarly embraced the film, though none as prominent as Sabal has been. The "Q" movement is also attracting much attention and support among German neo-Nazis, who after all have a closer connection to many of the Q-adopted tropes now being exported by American conspiracists.</div><div>
</div><div>It hasn't stopped national Republicans from courting conspiracy leaders and allied militias, either.</div><div>
</div><div>QAnon may have taken some of its heaviest hits from being uniformly and absurdly wrong in all its preelection and post-election predictions about, well, everything, and from its top founder and likely Q pretender Ron Watkins, who distanced himself slightly after Trump's loss. (He's now running for Congress himself—in Arizona, of course.) That doesn't mean it's dead.</div><div>
</div><div>It's unclear, however, if QAnon believers are becoming more enamored with antisemitism than they once were or if the movement is sloughing off now-bored, less-radical Americans, leaving behind a more radical, neo-Nazi-adjacent core. Conservatism in general is increasingly flirting with antisemitic speech and candidates: In Idaho, a Republican with a long history of antisemitic speech, one who claims "all Jews are dangerous," is enjoying his local party's support for joining the local school board.</div><div>
</div><div>Extremist rhetoric in general is being rewarded rather than scorned by Republican voters. It's probably not surprising that the Republican slide into fascism could not help but stoke the same antisemitic sentiments that past versions have relied on. The QAnon, Trump, and Republican movements are all coalescing into one ball of hate and hoaxes; in the House and Senate, party leaders are at worst helping to promote the conspiracies, and at best remaining silent in efforts to ride the hate to new election victories.</div><div>
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</div><div>no lnx pix </div><div>QAnon Is Becoming Even More Antisemitic</div><div>One of the movement’s biggest influencers just encouraged his followers to watch a 10-part neo-Nazi film.</div><div>
</div><div>By David Gilbert</div><div>October 18, 2021,</div><div>
</div><div>[A man wearing a 'Defund the Media' QAnon shirt is seen at a "Stop the Steal" rally against the results of the U.S. Presidential election outside the Georgia State Capitol on November 18, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. ]</div><div>
</div><div>[Disinfo Dispatch Padding</div><div>Unraveling viral disinformation and explaining where it came from, the harm it's causing, and what we should do about it.]</div><div>
</div><div>The organizer of a major QAnon conference in Las Vegas later this week, where at least four sitting GOP lawmakers speak on stage, shared a neo-Nazi film with his 70,000 followers on Sunday evening. </div><div>
</div><div>John Sabal, who’s known online as QAnon John, is preparing for Thursday’s “For God and Country: Patriot Double Down” conference, but on Sunday night he took time out of his busy schedule to share a post about people who had praised “Europa – the Last Battle.” It’s a 10-part film that claims Jews created Communism and deliberately started both world wars as part of a plot to found Israel by provoking the innocent Nazis, who were only defending themselves. </div><div>
</div><div>“If you want to know the truth, well look no further. Here it is, escape the matrix and watch it today,” the post Sabal shared said.</div><div>
</div><div>Moments later, Sabal shared a direct link to allow his followers to watch the film on the alternative video-sharing site Rumble.</div><div>
</div><div>While this film has been shared by some of QAnon’s more fringe and extremist figures, the fact Sabal feels emboldened to share it so publicly is a testament to how antisemitic thinking has become normalized within the movement.</div><div>
</div><div>This was reflected in the comments under the posts from Sabal’s followers who offered no pushback against his support of such antisemitic content. </div><div>
</div><div>When one follower did attempt to criticize Sabal for posting the link, other members of the channel quickly attacked that user, claiming they were some sort of undercover agent of the “deep state.”</div><div>
</div><div>Others credulously claimed the user criticizing Sabal had misunderstood the film: “I'm sorry that's what you took away from our neo-Nazi film. It's really about how killing the Jews is necessary and good because they're not real Jews,” one of Sabal’s followers wrote.[CUFI red calf bs?]</div><div>
</div><div>After Sabal’s comments were highlighted by extremist researchers on Twitter, the posts mysteriously disappeared from his channel.</div><div>
</div><div>The video series is very well-known in extremist circles, yet apparently Sabal shared it completely innocently with his tens of thousands of followers.</div><div>
</div><div>“He had no idea that there was any anti-Semitism connected to that film,” Sabal’s partner Amy told VICE News in a message. “He has never even watched the movie. It was referred to him by a supposed ‘trusted’ source.”</div><div>
</div><div>Later this week, Sabal will host a raft of GOP lawmakers, including sitting Arizona Reps. Wendy Rogers and Sonny Borrelli. Also scheduled to speak are multiple Republican candidates running for secretary of state, including candidates in the swing states of Michigan KEVARO SP?, Arizona FINCHEM, and Nevada. CA HAMM AND MARCHANT</div><div>
</div><div>Despite calling himself “QAnon John,” and even though many of the movement’s biggest influencers will be sharing speaking time with members of the Republican Party, Sabal has in the past claimed this is not a QAnon conference. Among them will be Ron Watkins, who facilitated the rise of QAnon and who last week announced his plan to run for Congress.</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>an 10 21</div><div>why a second high-profile Republican in Oklahoma just left the GOP</div><div>Jon Skolnik Salon</div><div>A second Oklahoma GOP gubernatorial candidate has switched party affiliations over the GOP's opposition to COVID-19 health precautions, inviting other "like-minded...</div><div>
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</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/10/trumpists/</div><div>
</div><div>no lnx</div><div>
</div><div>Black flag: Understanding the Trumpists' latest threatening symbol</div><div>
</div><div>Chauncey DeVega and Salon October 12, 2021</div><div> </div><div>It's an old truism that the "real bad men" (and bad women) "move in silence and violence." That's certainly true for the most dangerous and most effective of Donald Trump's allies, henchmen, henchwomen, and other followers. But for Donald Trump himself, and most of his political cult, that rule does not apply.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump and his followers were loud, exuberant and enthusiastic on Jan. 6. The lethal attack on the Capitol had been publicly announced weeks in advance, and should have come as no surprise. Trump's rallies and gatherings continue to celebrate violence and the prospect of revenge — and specifically of "getting even" with Trump's "enemies."</div><div>
</div><div>Steve Bannon, Trump's former campaign chairman and White House strategist, has now threatened to recruit Republican-fascist "shock troops" with the apparent goal of undermining the U.S. government, and by implication multiracial democracy, if and when Trump and the Republicans regain control of both Congress and the White House.</div><div>
</div><div>On a daily basis Fox News and other elements of the right-wing disinformation propaganda machine use stochastic terrorism and other techniques to radicalize their audience into committing acts of political violence. To this point, the Democratic Party and the political and news media class in general have remained in denial, and largely passive in response.</div><div>
</div><div>In one troubling new development, Trump supporters have begun flying all-black American flags, in an implicit threat to harm or kill their opponents — meaning nonwhite people, "socialist liberals," Muslims, vaccinated people and others deemed to be "enemies" of "real America." As media critic Eric Boehlert recently noted, the liberal opinion site Living Blue in Texas is sounding the alarm about the specific meaning of the black flag and the Republican-fascists support for terrorism and other political violence. That post, "Are Your Republican Neighbors Planning on Killing You?", merits lengthy quotation:</div><div>
</div><div>It didn't take long to find hundreds of videos where these Trumpers and so-called patriots were hanging black American flags. ...</div><div>
</div><div>Black American flags are the flags that mean "no quarter shall be given." They are the opposite of the white flag of surrender.</div><div>
</div><div>According to the people on TikTok and the Sun (British tabloid), the black American flag originated in the civil war and was flown by the Confederates.</div><div>
</div><div>It means that they will not surrender, will not take prisoners, and are willing to die for their cause. It means they will execute their enemies.</div><div>
</div><div>Who are their enemies? Pretty much any non-Conservative. You know, Democrats, Liberals, LGBTQ, BIPOC, and the vaccinated. ...</div><div>
</div><div>So, we're the enemy, and they're openly professing to want to execute us. … So, why are they doing this</div><div>Covid vaccinations, mostly. They believe that Joe Biden has declared a civil war on them by mandating that employers with over 100 employees and the military have vaccinations.</div><div>
</div><div>Yes, they say civil war, and they say it's already started. But, unfortunately, many of them also live in states where masks and vaccines are required by state governments, healthcare, and law enforcement.</div><div>
</div><div>An alarming number of military members have been making Tik Toks talking about how they are being discharged because they refuse the vaccine. It's alarming because there is probably an equal number of guys on there talking about the civil war plans and actively using Tik Tok to recruit these military and ex-military members.</div><div>
</div><div>The biggest message they have been sending out is, "it's time" or "the time is now." ...</div><div>
</div><div>Although showing guns on Tik Tok is supposed to be against community guidelines, they show lots of videos of their guns, shooting them, wearing them, or sitting on their bed.</div><div>
</div><div>They primarily use Tik Tok as a recruiting tool and let others know their willingness to commit violence. Then they tell people to message them or where to find them on Telegram.</div><div>
</div><div>However you interpret these videos posted by Trump followers and other neofascists — which could be mainly performative — it is clearly true that the American right is increasingly willing to accept or condone violence as a means of expanding and protecting their social and political power. (Salon did not find licensed news photographs of these flags, and has made the editorial decision not to reproduce the images mentioned above, which are easy to find on social media.)</div><div>
</div><div>Public opinion polls and other research have repeatedly shown that millions of Republican voters and Trump followers would support the use of violence to remove Joe Biden from office because of the "Big Lie" and their belief that that he is not a legitimate president. Similarly, a large proportion of Republicans believe that the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 were "patriots" whose use of violence was justified.</div><div>
</div><div>And a new poll from the University of Virginia's Center for Politics even suggests that more than 50 percent of Trump supporters want "red states" to secede from the Union. Republican elected officials and other right-wing opinion leaders have continued to escalate their threats of political violence against Democrats and other targeted groups.</div><div>
</div><div>In a recent speech to the North Carolina Faith and Freedom Coalition's "Salt & Light" conference, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., issued what sounded like a declaration of war:</div><div>
</div><div>It is time for the American Christian church to come out of the shadows to say, "No longer are we going to allow our culture to be determined by people who hate the things that we believe in…. We are going to stand valiantly for God's incredible inherent truths that predate any version of government. Because, my friends, if we lose this country today, if we bend the knee to the Democrats today, our country will be lost forever, our children will never know what freedom is. It's our duty to stand up, Let us stand united as men and women of faith to fight for our country.</div><div>
</div><div>During an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid, terrorism and national security expert Malcolm Nance said that Cawthorn's video "picks up on the themes that are not just coming from the Steve Bannon level and Donald Trump level, they are coming from the Republican street — and that Republican street is armed. They're angry. They have been fed an entire line which makes them believe that America is no longer America and that they no longer want the America that the rest of us, the 60 percent of the country, live in. And they`re willing to take up arms for it."</div><div>
</div><div>Nance also noted that Cawthorn's propaganda video is thematically similar to the type of propaganda used by Islamic terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaida to radicalize and recruit members.</div><div>
</div><div>During an interview with Scientific American magazine, Dr. Bandy Lee, the principal editor of the 2017 bestseller "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump," explained how a mentally pathological leader can "infect" his followers and perhaps even an entire nation:</div><div>
</div><div>I have outlined two major emotional drives: narcissistic symbiosis and shared psychosis. Narcissistic symbiosis refers to the developmental wounds that make the leader-follower relationship magnetically attractive. The leader, hungry for adulation to compensate for an inner lack of self-worth, projects grandiose omnipotence — while the followers, rendered needy by societal stress or developmental injury, yearn for a parental figure. When such wounded individuals are given positions of power, they arouse similar pathology in the population that creates a "lock and key" relationship….</div><div>
</div><div>"Shared psychosis" — which is also called "folie à millions" ["madness for millions"] when occurring at the national level or "induced delusions" — refers to the infectiousness of severe symptoms that goes beyond ordinary group psychology. When a highly symptomatic individual is placed in an influential position, the person's symptoms can spread through the population through emotional bonds, heightening existing pathologies and inducing delusions, paranoia and propensity for violence — even in previously healthy individuals. The treatment is removal of exposure.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump and his regime gave permission and encouragement to his followers and other supporters to engage in antisocial and other anti-human behavior on a national scale. Once such a process has begun, and those forces are unleashed, it is not easy to stop. Fascism is not a simple machine with an on-and-off switch. In practice, fascism is given life and takes corporeal form through its followers, with each one being a potential carrier of the pathology.</div><div>
</div><div>As Hussein Ibish warned in a recent article in the Atlantic, "The cancer of political violence is not an endemic American disease. At the moment, it is a Republican disease. No one but Republicans themselves can cure it. Until they do, the violence of the right is only going to keep swelling and crashing. From a Middle Eastern perspective, this is all appallingly familiar."</div><div>
</div><div>Fascism is a highly virulent social disease that usually destroys the host body – but not before spreading the disease to many other people. In fact, if the original host dies, he or she can be elevated to the status of martyr for "the cause," serving to inspire existing followers and lure in new ones.</div><div>
</div><div>Ultimately, Donald Trump, like other fascist and authoritarian leaders, is the symptom of a sick society. Trumpism is not actually the core disease. For America to counteract the deep underlying illness that has made Trumpism possible will require a long-term cultural and moral reckoning. Anything less, and the disease of American fascism will only go dormant until it is resurrected again — perhaps in a more dangerous and virulent form.</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>no lnx many</div><div>
</div><div>GOP pushes strategy to prolong the pandemic</div><div>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott feels the heat: analysis</div><div>
</div><div>Amanda Marcotte and Salon October 12, 2021</div><div> </div><div>Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, has once again proven his stalwart commitment to aiding the virus that causes COVID-19 in its goal of spreading as far as possible. Late Monday, the Republican state leader issued an executive order banning all entities in the state — including private businesses — from requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. (All other vaccine requirements remain untouched, because the "principled opposition" to vaccine mandates is an inch deep.)</div><div>
</div><div>As many folks who wish hypocrisy still mattered have pointed out, Abbott's ban violates his party's supposed commitment to a low regulatory environment for businesses by interfering with private businesses who wish to institute vaccine requirements. When it comes to the conflict between being pro-business and pro-virus, however, it was never any contest with Republicans. All other GOP principles fall before the newfound Republican commitment to making sure COVID-19 infects as many human bodies as it can.</div><div>
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</div><div>Abbott, of course, did not admit that he was preventing businesses from enacting basic health and safety standards. Instead, he presented the ban as a defense of business, accusing President Joe Biden of "bullying many private entities into imposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates, causing workforce disruptions that threaten Texas's continued recovery." That's is just a small taste of the doublespeak that the entire executive order is written in.</div><div>
</div><div>Abbott is not standing up for businesses or the economy.</div><div>
</div><div>Biden's vaccine mandate was quietly welcomed by many businesses who want to have normalcy-returning mandates but want someone else to blame when Trumper employees whine about it. And their worry about worker shortages was unfounded, as most vaccine resistant workers will get the shot rather than lose their job. Abbott's claims about economic recovery are also hot air. The sluggish recovery is due to the ongoing pandemic and will only bounce back if more people get vaccinated.</div><div>
</div><div>No, it's quite clear what's going on and has been going on with Republicans fighting every effort to get the pandemic under control: The GOP wants to prolong the pandemic because they think doing so will help them in the 2022 midterms.</div><div>
</div><div>Abbott himself is up for reelection in 2022, and, at first blush, it might seem a weird strategy to practically make the virus his running mate. (Though the coronavirus has tough competition in an "ew, gross" contest with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.) But Abbott is making a smart, if deeply evil and downright murderous, bet. Voters, especially fairweather voters, tend to blame everything on the party that controls the White House, even if the blame for any problem actually falls on the opposition. If the pandemic is still a problem in November 2022, then there's a very real chance that large numbers of Democratic voters, already demoralized by the lack of legislative progress on other fronts, simply won't show up to vote. That will make it easier for Republicans to sweep the midterms.</div><div>
</div><div>A new Axios-Ipsos poll demonstrates that the "prolong the pandemic" strategy is working for Republicans. Trust in Biden on the pandemic has fallen to 42%, down 10 points from where it was 6 months ago. Most of the trust has slipped with Democrats and independent voters. Americans are also getting depressed, with 30% saying it will be more than a year before life returns to normal, which is triple what the number from June.</div><div>
</div><div>The COVID-19 culture war isn't just demoralizing Democratic and potential Democratic voters. It appears GOP leadership sees this issue as a way to invigorate their own base, whose entire political reason for existing is increasingly just to "own the liberals."</div><div>
</div><div>Anti-vaccine and anti-mask protests, which are getting rowdy and even violent, started off as a classic right-wing Astroturfed phenomenon, but it's since gained a lot of traction among ordinary conservatives who aren't getting paid to throw tantrums at perplexed school board members. Culture war provocations over Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head floated earlier this year by Fox News weren't getting the job done — but freaking out over masks and shots really gets the juices going for the worst Americans, i.e. the people the GOP needs to turn out at the polls.</div><div>
</div><div>Vaccine mandates are a threat to the "victory through infecting our own voters with COVID-19" strategy for Republicans, for one simple reason: They work. As a White House report released last week details, "organizations with vaccination requirements have seen their vaccination rates increase by more than 20 percentage points and have routinely seen their share of fully vaccinated workers rise above 90%." Despite conservatives floating threats of mass walkouts, the paper-thin "principled" opposition to vaccines disappears the second that conservatives face an actual consequence for refusing to vaccinate.</div><div>
</div><div>The Biden administration has fallen far short of where it should be in terms of vaccine mandates, both slow-walking the employer mandates and completely sidestepping the possibility of banning the unvaccinated from planes before the holidays. Still, even the threat of vaccine mandates is starting to have an impact. As the report notes, the rate of unvaccinated Americans has been cut by one-third since Biden first started issuing mandates.</div><div>
</div><div>Republicans are in a race against time in their efforts to reduce vaccination rates to the point where the pandemic is still a live issue next November. COVID-19 rates are falling, down 24% in the past 14 days nationally and down 39% in Abbott's home state, which continues to have one of the highest COVID death rates in the nation. This is mostly because of vaccination, but also because so many Americans have been infected that it's adding to herd immunity. It's still unclear if there will be another winter surge or if the virus is finally running out of the unimmunized bodies it needs to remain a serious threat. There is a strong possibility that the end of the pandemic is closer than many Americans think.</div><div>
</div><div>So by making it as hard for Biden to get shots into arms faster, Republicans are keeping COVID-19 cases high to keep Biden's approval ratings low.</div><div>
</div><div>If that doesn't change — or if it gets worse with another surge — there's a very real chance that this pandemic makes the already dim prospects for Democrats in 2022 even worse. And that, in turn, sets the stage for Donald Trump to cheat his way back into the White House in 2024. So it's no wonder that power-hungry Republicans are betting big on their prolong the pandemic strategy, even if it comes at the cost of killing their own voters. Big risks lead to big rewards. For the Republicans, setting themselves up for permanent one-party minority rule is the biggest prize.</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>an ah 1021</div><div>
</div><div>former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows is among the Republicans who has been subpoenaed to testify before House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's select committee on the January 6 insurrection, but former President Donald Trump has urged him to refuse. Meadows discussed the committee Tuesday night during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, and liberal Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent slammed his comments as exemplifying the anti-democracy mindset that is so common in today's Republican Party.</div><div>Sargent, this week in his column, explains, "Meadows…. dismissed the January 6 committee's core mission…. Republicans have broadly renounced any obligation of any kind to hold actors on their side accountable for the effort to overturn U.S. democracy, first through corrupt and possibly illegal procedural means and then through mob violence."</div><div>
</div><div>During the interview, Sargent notes, Meadows and Ingraham "sneered at" the idea that extremists on the far right pose a "threat to democracy."</div><div>
</div><div>"Just look at that sneering at the very idea that Trumpists would undermine faith in our elections," Sargent observes. "How preposterous! Except just this weekend, Trump reiterated his stolen election lie, and the No. 2 House Republican [scalise?] refused to say the 2020 outcome was legitimate."</div><div>
</div><div>Sargent adds, "We just learned that a Trump lawyer authored a coup memo urging Vice President Mike Pence to ignore federal law to throw the election to Trump, and that Pence actually did entertain that scheme. Yet for Meadows, none of this is worth learning more about."</div><div>
</div><div>The fact that Meadows doesn't see the need for Pelosi's committee on January 6, Sargent stresses, shows how little Republicans care about the wellbeing of democracy in the United States.</div><div>
</div><div>"Meadows, apparently, doesn't want us to learn more about the full insurrectionist intentions of Trump and other co-conspirators — which likely include Republican lawmakers — or about the degree to which Meadows himself might have been one of those co-conspirators," Sargent writes. "Needless to say, a party this deeply committed to the absolute exoneration of Trump by definition does not see this effort to overthrow U.S. democracy as worthy of any national reckoning."</div><div>
</div><div>He concluded: "Meadows inadvertently captured an essential truth: The notion that a sustained effort to overthrow U.S. democracy requires a real reckoning and response has indeed become exclusively the Democratic Party position. But what does that say about the GOP?"</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>1021 ah</div><div>
</div><div>As much as there is to criticize about Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the right-wing Republican senator made perfect sense when he recommended getting vaccinated for COVID-19 during a recent speech at a GOP event in his state. But anti-vaxxers in the crowd responded by booing, jeering and heckling him, and liberal Washington Post opinion writer Eugene Robinson — discussing that embarrassing incident in his October 8 column — poses the question, "How dumb can a nation get and still survive?"</div><div>
</div><div>It's a perfectly legitimate question in light of the fact that Graham, in August, was infected with COVID-19 — which, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has killed more than 4.8 million people worldwide, including over 710,000 in the United States. Graham had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but was infected anyway; he was an example of what medical experts call a "breakthrough" case. However, it wasn't a really serious or life-threatening infection; the senator didn't need to be hospitalized and was never on a ventilator — and during his speech in South Carolina, he attributed the vaccine to the fact that his case of COVID-19 wasn't more serious.</div><div>
</div><div>But anti-vaxxer wingnuts didn't want to hear that, and they responded by booing him loudly.</div><div>
</div><div>Robinson writes, "COVID-19 is a highly infectious disease that has killed more than 700,000 Americans over the past 20 months. The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines all but guarantee that recipients will not die from COVID. I have, or had, an acquaintance who refused to get vaccinated, despite pleas from his adult children to protect himself. He got COVID-19, and it killed him. Most of the deaths the nation has suffered during the current Delta variant wave of the disease — deaths of the unvaccinated — have been similarly needless and senseless."</div><div>
</div><div>The Post columnist points out that Graham, unlike his unvaccinated acquaintance, is still very much alive — and he slams the booing of Graham by anti-vaxxer Republicans as "just plain stupid."</div><div>
</div><div>Robinson writes, "How did we become, in such alarming measure, so dumb? Why is the news dominated by ridiculous controversies that should not be controversial at all? When did so many of our fellow citizens become full-blown nihilists who deny even the concept of objective reality? And how must this look to the rest of the world?"</div><div>
</div><div>The booing of Graham isn't the only example of "droolingly stupid" behavior by Republicans that Robinson calls out in his column — he also slams Republicans who play "frequent games of chicken" with the United States' debt ceiling, obsess over Critical Race Theory and promote the Big Lie.</div><div>
</div><div>"Conservatives in state legislatures across the country are pushing legislation to halt the teaching of 'Critical Race Theory' in public schools," Robinson explains. "I put the term in quotes because genuine Critical Race Theory, a dry and esoteric set of ideas debated in obscure academic journals, is not actually being taught in those schools at all. What's being taught instead — and squelched — is American history, which happens to include slavery, Jim Crow repression and structural racism."</div><div>
</div><div>Robinson adds, "I get it. The GOP has become the party of white racial grievance, and this battle against an imaginary enemy stirs the base. But the whole charade involves Republican officials — many of them educated at the nation's top schools — betting that their constituents are too dumb to know they're being lied to. So far, the bet is paying off. And then, of course, there's the whole 'stolen election' farce, which led to the tragedy of January 6."</div><div>
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</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/09/right-wing-science-denial</div><div>
</div><div>no lnx grafx</div><div>
</div><div>The psychology behind right-wing authoritarians' denial of science</div><div>
</div><div>The Conversation September 17, 2021</div><div> </div><div>by Adrian Bardon, Wake Forest University</div><div>
</div><div>Vaccine refusal is a major reason COVID-19 infections continue to surge in the U.S. Safe and effective vaccines have been available for months, but as of mid-September 2021, only 65% of eligible American adults are fully vaccinated. In many areas, a majority of eligible adults haven't taken advantage of the opportunity to get vaccinated.</div><div>
</div><div>In the U.S., polling on intent to get vaccinated shows a massive political divide. Counties that went for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election show higher vaccination rates than counties that went for Donald Trump. Attendees at the Conservative Political Action Committee's summer meeting cheered the fact that the U.S. didn't meet Biden's July 4 vaccination goals for the country.</div><div>
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</div><div>Politically motivated denial of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness tracks with a dramatic politicization of trust in science itself. In a survey conducted in June and July, Gallup found that the percentage of Republicans expressing a “great deal" or “quite a lot of" trust in science is down, shockingly, from 72% in 1975 to only 45% today. Over the same period, confidence in science among Democrats is up from 67% to 79%.</div><div>
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</div><div>Scientific institutions have never been perfect, but overall they have a tremendous track record of success – both in basic research and in applied sciences like epidemiology and immunology. The vast majority of expert opinion on, say, antibiotics, radio waves, orbital mechanics or electrical conductivity is accepted without complaint by the general public. Evidently people are satisfied with applied science in almost all walks of life.</div><div>
</div><div>So why is confidence in science so malleable, and what does a person's political orientation have to do with it?</div><div>
</div><div>The rejection of scientific expertise with regard to COVID-19 vaccines appears to be standing in for something else. As a philosopher who has studied science denial, I suggest that this “something else" includes factors like distrust in public institutions and perceived threats to one's cultural identity.</div><div>
</div><div>Ideologies that mesh with science denial</div><div>
</div><div>Identifying as a Republican is very strongly associated with embracing central tenets of conservative ideology. A 2021 public opinion study confirms that endorsement of conservative political ideology is currently the dominant predictor of anti-science attitudes.</div><div>
</div><div>Another recent study of anti-science attitudes identifies several tendencies particularly associated with conservative ideology. People who hold anti-science beliefs tend to be sympathetic toward right-wing authoritarianism – that is to say, they are conformists who defer to selected authority figures and who are willing to act aggressively in the name of those figures.</div><div>
</div><div>They also tend to support group-based hierarchy, with “superior" groups dominating “inferior" groups. Political psychologists call this “social dominance orientation" and see it in, for example, attitudes about racial or gender equality.</div><div>
</div><div>Indeed, social scientists looking at the causes of science denial have increasingly narrowed in on two contributing causes. Certain personality traits, including comfort with existing social and cultural hierarchies and a predilection for authoritarianism, go along with a skepticism for science. So do closely related aspects of identity, such as identification with a dominant social group like white evangelical Christians.</div><div>
</div><div>Conservative traditionalists from the historically dominant white Christian demographic in the U.S. have had the most reason to feel threatened by science. Evolution by natural selection is threatening to many doctrinal religious traditionalists. Climate science threatens the economic status quo that conservatives seek to conserve. The whole concept of a public health mandate runs counter to the “small government" individualism of political conservatives.</div><div>
</div><div>Further, because COVID-19 has been starkly politicized since the beginning of the pandemic, public health measures have become directly associated with the political left. Rejection of such measures has consequently become a signal of political and cultural identity.</div><div>
</div><div>Other recent studies on science denial have shown that people who don't have a lot of confidence in the honesty and reliability of others, as well as in social institutions like government, academia and media, tend to deny the dangers of COVID-19. Low social trust tends to track with conservative political orientation – in particular, with support for Trump. His supporters are much more likely to say that scientific inquiry is driven by political considerations.</div><div>
</div><div>Grasping for a sense of control</div><div>Increasing economic inequality and racial and ethnic diversification are also part of the science denialism mix.</div><div>
</div><div>One school of thought in psychology, called compensatory control theory, holds that many social phenomena – including ideological science denial – stem from the basic human need for a sense of control over one's environment and life outcomes. According to this theory, perceived threats to one's sense of personal control can motivate denial of scientific consensus. [koch afp grn police ad]The idea is that due to a combination of economic insecurity, demographic changes and the perceived erosion of cultural norms favoring whites, some people feel an existential threat to the white supremacy they've long benefited from – which in turn spurs them to deny government warnings about the dangers of COVID-19.</div><div>
</div><div>I believe this compulsive defensiveness plays a big part in the phenomenon of science denial, once trusted elites like politicians or news media hosts trigger the inclination to oppose some particular science-based public policy. You can't control the coronavirus – or inequality, or a changing culture – but you can control whether you take the vaccine or wear a mask. This sense of control is implicitly but powerfully attractive on a deep, emotional level.</div><div>
</div><div>The need for control may also explain an attraction to politicians or media figures who promise to give you your power back by endorsing unproven, alternative home remedies.[horse rx v big pharma?]</div><div>
</div><div>Denial feeds on political polarization</div><div>
</div><div>As I discuss in my book, “The Truth About Denial," I think that science denial, including COVID-19 vaccine denial, is probably best seen as the result of vicious feedback loops. Factors like economic pain, white Christian identity and low social trust play off one another in populations experiencing relative social and informational isolation. This denialism can take hold more easily in people who have chosen to limit their experiences to relatively homogeneous geographic areas, social contexts and news media environments.</div><div>
</div><div>In the short run, the failure of a society to vaccinate enough people to get COVID-19 under control will dramatically change life for everyone for years to come. The larger issue is the way science itself has become politicized in ways never seen before. This development endangers the ability of organized society to respond effectively to pandemics and other existential threats, including climate change.</div><div>
</div><div>Is there any hope of depolarizing the issue of COVID-19 vaccination, or trust in science itself? I'd say probably not until leaders in conservative politics, media and religion exert a concerted effort to change the narrative.</div><div>=</div><div>mirror BS deflection an 921</div><div>
</div><div>Donald Trump, Jr. is falsely claiming President Joe Biden is responsible for the impending deaths of Americans sick with COVID-19 after the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services bought an additional 1.4 million doses of Regeneron's monoclonal antibody treatments. After discovering that 70% of all monoclonal antibody treatment doses were being ordered by just seven states, HHS announced it is taking over distribution of the life-saving drug.</div><div>
</div><div>Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana – states that have some of the highest per-capita cases of COVID-19 and some of the lowest vaccination rates, have been limiting the supply of monoclonal antibody treatments to the rest of the nation, CNN reports.</div><div>
</div><div>"Given this reality, we must work to ensure our supply of these life-saving therapies remains available for all states and territories, not just some," an HHS spokesperson said.</div><div>
</div><div>"HHS will determine the amount of product each state and territory receives on a weekly basis. State and territorial health departments will subsequently identify sites that will receive product and how much," the spokesperson said. "This system will help maintain equitable distribution, both geographically and temporally, across the country – providing states and territories with consistent, fairly-distributed supply over the coming weeks."</div><div>
</div><div>"HHS will determine the amount of product each state and territory receives on a weekly basis. State and territorial health departments will subsequently identify sites that will receive product and how much," the spokesperson said. "This system will help maintain equitable distribution, both geographically and temporally, across the country – providing states and territories with consistent, fairly-distributed supply over the coming weeks."</div><div>
</div><div>That's akin to killing people, Donald Trump, Jr. is suggesting.</div><div>
</div><div>"Americans will die because of Biden's despicable decision to punish his political enemies in red states by restricting their ability to secure life-saving monoclonal antibody treatments for all that need them," the former president's son, who is not a medical expert, declared on social media. "Their blood is directly on Joe's hands," he added, disrespectfully refusing to address President Joe Biden by his elected position.</div><div>
</div><div>When his father was president Donald Trump, Jr. repeatedly praised the coronavirus vaccine and the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed. But after Joe Biden became President Trump Jr. switched tactics, repeatedly attacking any efforts to promote vaccination or help keep Americans safe through social distancing measures including masks. At least 17 times since Biden was elected Trump Jr. has railed against "vaccine passports" and other methods of protecting Americans' health from the coronavirus that has already killed over 650,000 people in the U.S.</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>gOP Rep. Elise Stefanik gets slammed for ‘vile’ and ‘xenophobic’ anti-immigrant ads</div><div>Alex Henderson September 16, 2021</div><div>In the past, Rep. Elise Stefanik of Upstate New York had a reputation for being a moderate Republican and was critical of Donald Trump's far-right hyper-nationalist agenda. But Stefanik has since flip-flopped and gone</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>921 amanda</div><div>The stakes of the California recall election of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom couldn't be higher. Voting, either by mail or in person, ends Tuesday, and if Newsom is recalled, the bluest state in the country will not just have a Republican governor, but Larry Elder, a right-wing talk radio host who is a loon even by the standards of the party that elected Donald Trump.</div><div>
</div><div>If Elder wins, he threatens California's fragile recovery from the pandemic, since, like most Republicans these days, he's running interference for the virus. Plus, he would have the power to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is literally 88 years old, if she were to leave office — and one name that's being floated is Elder's protege and white nationalist former Trump advisor Stephen Miller.</div><div>
</div><div>In a normal circumstance, someone like Elder — he suggested Women's March participants are too ugly to rape and argued that it's the descendants of slave owners and not slaves that deserve reparations — would never have a chance of winning the governorship of a deep blue state like California. Unable to win in a free and fair election, however, Republicans in the state have turned to dirty tricks and shenanigans. The entire Republican strategy is built around suppressing voter turnout through confusing and demoralizing the public. The recall ballots are confusing, and may lead voters to not understand that voting yes on recalling Newsom automatically means voting yes on his replacement being a Republican. Republicans are also counting on pandemic-induced disillusionment to keep Democratic voters from bothering to mail in ballots at all.</div><div>
</div><div>In other words, the California recall is a microcosm of what has become the GOP's national strategy.</div><div>
</div><div>Republicans have given up entirely on the basic premise of democracy. They no longer think that politicians should try to appeal to a majority of citizens to win power. Instead, their focus is entirely on finding ways to circumvent public will and gain power anyway. In some states, this manifests as gerrymandering, outright voter suppression and even a new slate of laws meant to allow Republican officials to simply vacate the results of elections they don't like. In California, it's about forcing an off-year election in the most confusing way possible, hoping to hoodwink voters into accidentally giving themselves a Republican governor.</div><div>
</div><div>Regardless of the state-specific method, what holds all of this together is a widespread rejection within the Republican Party of the right of the people to choose their own leaders. Republicans feel entitled to rule, no matter what, and therefore feel entitled to lie, cheat, and steal their way to power. The technical legality of the California recall election doesn't change this reality. The spirit of the whole enterprise is driven by a willingness of Republicans to find some backhanded way to force a governor on the state that they know very well the majority of Californians do not want.</div><div>
</div><div>Ultimately, it comes down to the increasingly rigid Republican belief that most Americans are not legitimate citizens and therefore have no right to vote Republicans are bound to respect. This belief manifests most commonly in the Big Lie, which is metastasizing beyond Trump's false claims that he lost the 2020 election due to "fraud". Already, right-wing pundits and Republican politicians are prepping their followers for the possibility that Newsom survives the recall with an updated version of the Big Lie, claiming the election is "rigged" and that Newsom will only win through "voter fraud."</div><div>
</div><div>No real evidence of actual fraud that could swing an election is ever produced with these relentless Big Lie claims, but then again, it doesn't need to be.</div><div>
</div><div>"Voter fraud" is not really a literal belief among Republicans, but more a code phrase to convey the larger belief that most legal voters shouldn't have the right to vote at all. To call these legal voters "frauds" is to contest the legitimacy of their citizenship. It functions in the same way as conspiracy theories about Barack Obama's birth certificate did, as a way for conservatives to signal to each other a belief that the first Black president is not a "real" American. With the Big Lie, the group of people who conservatives refuse to admit are legitimate citizens has grown to encompass pretty much anyone who votes for the Democrats.</div><div>
</div><div>This notion that most Americans aren't "real" Americans and therefore are "fraud" voters has become a majority belief among Republican voters. A recent CNN poll, which found that 6 in 10 Republican voters said that affirming the Big Lie — which again, is code for the belief that Democratic votes are inherently illegitimate — is an important part of being a Republican. We see this in the support for the January 6 insurrection that has been quietly solidifying among the GOP base. It all goes back to a belief that if Republicans can't win a fair election, they should be able to cheat their way into power — or, if that fails, use violent force.</div><div>
</div><div>As Igor Derysh reported last week for Salon, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is facing down a similarly sleazy power grab by Republicans in Michigan. Republicans in the state legislature are trying to pass an anti-voting bill to keep those voters they see as illegitimate — particularly urban residents and Black voters — from casting ballots. To get around Whitmer's veto, they're using the same tactic that California Republicans used to force a recall, exploiting an ill-advised loophole that allows a shockingly small number of petitioners to force the issue. In this case, it's not a recall, but even worse, the ability simply overrule the decision of a duly elected governor. Democrats in the state are accusing Republicans of using a "playbook of losing, lying, and attempting to cheat their way into office."</div><div>
</div><div>It's not just a fair accusation, but such an obvious observation that it's verging on banal. It's the playbook that fueled Trump's failed coup and is currently fueling Elder's attempt to seize the California governor's office through the back door. Elections are increasingly not going to be contests of two candidates trying to appeal to voters, but a Democratic candidate appealing to voters while a Republican candidate tries to find some way to get around that pesky "democracy" problem. Newsom will probably survive this recall effort, but the country is going to have a much harder time surviving the relentless GOP assault on democracy.</div><div>=</div><div></div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/09/steve-bannon/</div><div>
</div><div>dart kos</div><div>
</div><div>on Wednesday evening Rachel Maddow made an excellent point: While Democrats and the Biden administration focus on the mundane aspects of trying to do what's best for the American people—passing infrastructure legislation, preserving and protecting the right to vote against GOP measures to suppress it, combating the causes and effects of climate change, and trying to ensure that women retain autonomy over their own bodies, for example—for Republicans, even addressing or staking out a position on these issues has become, at most, a peripheral concern.[wedge issue cult war, own the libs]</div><div>You would expect a party that professes some legitimate relationship to the American people to at least set forth its policy views on these matters. But, as Maddow noted on Wednesday, that is not what Republicans are talking about. In reality, the Republicans have only one focus now: the negation of fair and lawful elections that don't go their way. That has been the crux of their entire collective effort since Trump lost the election last November. It is the focus in California, where the racist Fox News crackpot Larry Elder apparently received unpleasant news from his internal polling and is now playing the "fraud" card, in the apparent expectation that he will lose that state's recall election against Gavin Newsom. It is happening in Nevada, where Trump-endorsed candidate Adam Laxalt has preemptively suggested that if he fails to unseat Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in 2022, it will only be due to some unspecified "fraud."</div><div>
</div><div>The "stolen election/voter fraud" theme is now the official GOP talking point. As Maddow observed, Republicans everywhere are now using it and will continue to use it in 2022 and beyond. The tactic is being chiefly promoted and driven by Steve Bannon, Donald Trump's former chief of staff, and reinforced through his daily podcasts, which, like NBC News, ProPublica and others have pointed out, are now virtually required listening for most Republican officials, whether elected or intent on being elected. This is where their marching orders are coming from.</div><div>
</div><div>While Bannon's podcasts touch obliquely on current events (the latest fixation of their contrived outrage is Afghanistan, for example), the overwhelming emphasis is on conjuring up and amplifying the phony threat of "election fraud," urging on the nationwide bogus, partisan audits and investigations, and providing preordained conclusions to those investigations. As Pro Publica reported in their analysis of Bannon's efforts, this nationalization of Trump's Big Lie has been extraordinarily successful up to this point, prompting a massive surge in local election precinct membership among Trump's most delusional, violent, and white nationalist base of support:</div><div>
</div><div>The new movement is built entirely around Trump's insistence that the electoral system failed in 2020 and that Republicans can't let it happen again. The result is a nationwide groundswell of party activists whose central goal is not merely to win elections but to reshape their machinery.</div><div>Bannon's podcast is a disinformation megaphone the likes of which Josef Goebbels could have only dreamed of, and it is incredibly corrosive to this country's democratic institutions. It is the cynical product of a man who has exercised (or attempted to exercise) an insidious influence not only on far-right, proto-fascist movements and political parties in Europe but now apparently in Brazil as well, on behalf of would-be dictator Jair Bolsonaro. And the fact that the entire GOP is currently operating in lockstep with—and at the bidding of—such a person tells you everything you need to know about how the 2022 election will be framed: Every contest in which a Republican loses will now be susceptible to an ongoing, malicious attack on that election's integrity, bar none.</div><div>
</div><div>And Democrats have every reason to be appalled by this Bannon takeover of the Republican party. (In reality, all Americans should be appalled, but as the listless reaction by the GOP faithful to the terrorist assault of Jan. 6 showed, we cannot expect any fealty to democracy from the vast majority of Republicans.) But there is a silver lining to this seditious perfidy by Bannon and others: it serves to make all forthcoming elections a referendum on Donald Trump, to the exclusion of all else.</div><div>
</div><div>Bannon himself has created this effect by tying his entire effort to the 2020 election. (In his podcasts, rather than refer to it directly, he calls it "3 November," as if the bare mention of the date has a mobilizing resonance similar to Jan. 6 or Sept. 11.) All of the invented, phony, and racially tinged rhetoric about voter fraud hawked in his podcasts stem from the given assumption that Trump was wrongfully denied reelection. And Trump himself has been more than eager to support it, as he showed this week by injecting his assessment of the California recall election as tainted, even before any votes were tallied. Trump's anointed candidates, such as Laxalt and the countless others who will follow him, have all irrevocably signed onto this playbook. That is their sole roadmap.</div><div>
</div><div>So be it. Just a few weeks ago, plenty of political prognosticators were gleefully downplaying Democrats' chances in California (and, by implication, the 2022 midterms), touting the fact that Trump was no longer on the ballot. Republicans, by leaping onto the Bannon bandwagon, have now made it essential that he be implicitly on the ballot, even as they resolve to delegitimize any Democratic wins as the product of fraud. Seen in this perspective, every election from this point forward is a referendum on Trump and Trump-ism. Fascist-admirers like Bannon believe that this is a winning strategy, but to an electorate that has already rendered a decidedly negative verdict on Joe Biden's predecessor—a judgment which was amply reinforced by the horrific attacks by Trump supporters on Jan. 6—he may have inadvertently provided the single strongest motivation for Democrats to vote.</div><div>
</div><div>When Georgia held its special election on Jan. 5, pitting Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff against two GOP incumbents, it was in the wake of weeks of rhetoric from Trump attempting to delegitimize the electoral process. At that time, Trump's mob of white supremacist terrorists had yet to demonstrate their violent and utter contempt for our institutions by assaulting the Capitol. Many political observers concluded that Trump's efforts sabotaged the GOP's chances by depressing and demotivating the vote. But the converse effect, the concerted mobilization of the Black vote by Stacey Abrams and others, was perhaps less remarked upon. Far from having its desired effect, the tactic of falsely crying voter fraud hurt GOP turnout.</div><div>
</div><div>The entire underlying premise of Bannon's podcast is the illegitimacy of the Democratic voter. But as the elections of Sens. Warnock and Ossoff showed, people react very negatively to attempts to delegitimize them. For many, it simply increases their resolve to vote. While every district is certainly different, if Republicans expect the tactic to work as a national strategy, they have to resign themselves to the fact that the election thereby becomes all about Trump, everything that Trump did in office and has done in the wake of his defeat. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, for example, is doing just that in Virginia right now.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump is the most polarizing figure in American politics, and by and large, all Democrats viscerally despise him. By overtly basing their entire strategy on the petulant lies of a failed president, Republicans who choose to follow down the primrose path Bannon has laid for them may well be giving the Democrats a midterm opportunity of a lifetime.</div><div>
</div><div>Democrats should embrace that opportunity: make every election a referendum on Donald Trump, tying every Republican to his attempts to overturn the election. And pull out all the stops to get our voters to the polls.</div><div>
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</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/09/election-deniers/</div><div>
</div><div>no lnx</div><div>
</div><div>Election deniers organize to seize control of the GOP — and reshape America’s elections</div><div>
</div><div>Steve Bannon speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Gage Skidmore]</div><div> ProPublica September 05, 2021</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>by Isaac Arnsdorf, Doug Bock Clark, Alexandra Berzon and Anjeanette Damon</div><div>
</div><div>ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. </div><div> </div><div>One of the loudest voices urging Donald Trump's supporters to push for overturning the presidential election results was Steve Bannon. “We're on the point of attack," Bannon, a former Trump adviser and far-right nationalist, pledged on his popular podcast on Jan. 5. “All hell will break loose tomorrow." The next morning, as thousands massed on the National Mall for a rally that turned into an attack on the Capitol, Bannon fired up his listeners: “It's them against us. Who can impose their will on the other side?"</div><div>
</div><div>When the insurrection failed, Bannon continued his campaign for his former boss by other means. On his “War Room" podcast, which has tens of millions of downloads, Bannon said President Trump lost because the Republican Party sold him out. “This is your call to action," Bannon said in February, a few weeks after Trump had pardoned him of federal fraud charges.</div><div>
</div><div>The solution, Bannon announced, was to seize control of the GOP from the bottom up. Listeners should flood into the lowest rung of the party structure: the precincts. “It's going to be a fight, but this is a fight that must be won, we don't have an option," Bannon said on his show in May. “We're going to take this back village by village … precinct by precinct."</div><div>
</div><div>Precinct officers are the worker bees of political parties, typically responsible for routine tasks like making phone calls or knocking on doors. But collectively, they can influence how elections are run. In some states, they have a say in choosing poll workers, and in others they help pick members of boards that oversee elections.</div><div>
</div><div>After Bannon's endorsement, the “precinct strategy" rocketed across far-right media. Viral posts promoting the plan racked up millions of views on pro-Trump websites, talk radio, fringe social networks and message boards, and programs aligned with the QAnon conspiracy theory.</div><div>
</div><div>Suddenly, people who had never before showed interest in party politics started calling the local GOP headquarters or crowding into county conventions, eager to enlist as precinct officers. They showed up in states Trump won and in states he lost, in deep-red rural areas, in swing-voting suburbs and in populous cities.</div><div>
</div><div>In Wisconsin, for instance, new GOP recruits are becoming poll workers. County clerks who run elections in the state are required to hire parties' nominees. The parties once passed on suggesting names, but now hardline Republican county chairs are moving to use those powers.</div><div>
</div><div>“We're signing up election inspectors like crazy right now," said Outagamie County party chair Matt Albert, using the state's formal term for poll workers. Albert, who held a “Stop the Steal" rally during Wisconsin's November recount, said Bannon's podcast had played a role in the burst of enthusiasm.</div><div>
</div><div>ProPublica contacted GOP leaders in 65 key counties, and 41 reported an unusual increase in signups since Bannon's campaign began. At least 8,500 new Republican precinct officers (or equivalent lowest-level officials) joined those county parties. We also looked at equivalent Democratic posts and found no similar surge.</div><div>
</div><div>“I've never seen anything like this, people are coming out of the woodwork," said J.C. Martin, the GOP chairman in Polk County, Florida, who has added 50 new committee members since January. Martin had wanted congressional Republicans to overturn the election on Jan. 6, and he welcomed this wave of like-minded newcomers. “The most recent time we saw this type of thing was the tea party, and this is way beyond it."</div><div>
</div><div>Bannon, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.</div><div>
</div><div>While party officials largely credited Bannon's podcast with driving the surge of new precinct officers, it's impossible to know the motivations of each new recruit. Precinct officers are not centrally tracked anywhere, and it was not possible to examine all 3,000 counties nationwide. ProPublica focused on politically competitive places that were discussed as targets in far-right media.</div><div>
</div><div>The tea party backlash to former President Barack Obama's election foreshadowed Republican gains in the 2010 midterm. Presidential losses often energize party activists, and it would not be the first time that a candidate's faction tried to consolidate control over the party apparatus with the aim of winning the next election.</div><div>
</div><div>What's different this time is an uncompromising focus on elections themselves. The new movement is built entirely around Trump's insistence that the electoral system failed in 2020 and that Republicans can't let it happen again. The result is a nationwide groundswell of party activists whose central goal is not merely to win elections but to reshape their machinery.</div><div>
</div><div>“They feel President Trump was rightfully elected president and it was taken from him," said Michael Barnett, the GOP chairman in Palm Beach County, Florida, who has enthusiastically added 90 executive committee members this year. “They feel their involvement in upcoming elections will prevent something like that from happening again."</div><div>
</div><div>It has only been a few months — too soon to say whether the wave of newcomers will ultimately succeed in reshaping the GOP or how they will affect Republican prospects in upcoming elections. But what's already clear is that these up-and-coming party officers have notched early wins.</div><div>
</div><div>In Michigan, one of the main organizers recruiting new precinct officers pushed for the ouster of the state party's executive director, who contradicted Trump's claim that the election was stolen and who later resigned. In Las Vegas, a handful of Proud Boys, part of the extremist group whose members have been charged in attacking the Capitol, supported a bid to topple moderates controlling the county party — a dispute that's now in court.</div><div>
</div><div>In Phoenix, new precinct officers petitioned to unseat county officials who refused to cooperate with the state Senate Republicans' “forensic audit" of 2020 ballots. Similar audits are now being pursued by new precinct officers in Michigan and the Carolinas. Outside Atlanta, new local party leaders helped elect a state lawmaker who championed Georgia's sweeping new voting restrictions.</div><div>
</div><div>And precinct organizers are hoping to advance candidates such as Matthew DePerno, a Michigan attorney general hopeful who Republican state senators said in a report had spread “misleading and irresponsible" misinformation about the election, and Mark Finchem, a member of the Oath Keepers militia who marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6 and is now running to be Arizona's top elections official. DePerno did not respond to requests for comment, and Finchem asked for questions to be sent by email and then did not respond. Finchem has said he did not enter the Capitol or have anything to do with the violence. He has also said the Oath Keepers are not anti-government.</div><div>
</div><div>When Bannon interviewed Finchem on an April podcast, he wrapped up a segment about Arizona Republicans' efforts to reexamine the 2020 results by asking Finchem how listeners could help. Finchem answered by promoting the precinct strategy. “The only way you're going to see to it this doesn't happen again is if you get involved," Finchem said. “Become a precinct committeeman."</div><div>
</div><div>Some of the new precinct officers were in the crowd that marched to the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to interviews and social media posts; one Texas precinct chair was arrested for assaulting police in Washington. He pleaded not guilty. Many of the new activists have said publicly that they support QAnon, the online conspiracy theory that believes Trump was working to root out a global child sex trafficking ring. Organizers of the movement have encouraged supporters to bring weapons to demonstrations. In Las Vegas and Savannah, Georgia, newcomers were so disruptive that they shut down leadership elections.</div><div>
</div><div>“They're not going to be welcomed with open arms," Bannon said, addressing the altercations on an April podcast. “But hey, was it nasty at Lexington?" he said, citing the opening battle of the American Revolution. “Was it nasty at Concord? Was it nasty at Bunker Hill?"</div><div>
</div><div>Bannon plucked the precinct strategy out of obscurity. For more than a decade, a little-known Arizona tea party activist named Daniel J. Schultz has been preaching the plan. Schultz failed to gain traction, despite winning a $5,000 prize from conservative direct-mail pioneer Richard Viguerie in 2013 and making a 2015 pitch on Bannon's far-right website, Breitbart. Schultz did not respond to repeated requests for comment.</div><div>
</div><div>In December, Schultz appeared on Bannon's podcast to argue that Republican-controlled state legislatures should nullify the election results and throw their state's Electoral College votes to Trump. If lawmakers failed to do that, Bannon asked, would it be the end of the Republican Party? Not if Trump supporters took over the party by seizing precinct posts, Schultz answered, beginning to explain his plan. Bannon cut him off, offering to return to the idea another time.</div><div>
</div><div>That time came in February. Schultz returned to Bannon's podcast, immediately preceding Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who spouts baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.</div><div>
</div><div>“We can take over the party if we invade it," Schultz said. “I can't guarantee you that we'll save the republic, but I can guarantee you this: We'll lose it if we conservatives don't take over the Republican Party."</div><div>
</div><div>Bannon endorsed Schultz's plan, telling “all the unwashed masses in the MAGA movement, the deplorables" to take up this cause. Bannon said he had more than 400,000 listeners, a count that could not be independently verified.</div><div>
</div><div>Bannon brought Schultz back on the show at least eight more times, alongside guests such as embattled Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, a leading defender of people jailed on Capitol riot charges.</div><div>
</div><div>The exposure launched Schultz into a full-blown far-right media tour. In February, Schultz spoke on a podcast with Tracy “Beanz" Diaz, a leading popularizer of QAnon. In an episode titled “THIS Is How We Win," Diaz said of Schultz, “I was waiting, I was wishing and hoping for the universe to deliver someone like him."</div><div>
</div><div>Schultz himself calls QAnon “a joke." Nevertheless, he promoted his precinct strategy on at least three more QAnon programs in recent months, according to Media Matters, a Democratic-aligned group tracking right-wing content. “I want to see many of you going and doing this," host Zak Paine said on one of the shows in May.</div><div>
</div><div>Schultz's strategy also got a boost from another prominent QAnon promoter: former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who urged Trump to impose martial law and “rerun" the election. On a May online talk show, Flynn told listeners to fill “thousands of positions that are vacant at the local level."</div><div>
</div><div>Precinct recruitment is now “the forefront of our mission" for Turning Point Action, according to the right-wing organization's website. The group's parent organization bussed Trump supporters to Washington for Jan. 6, including at least one person who was later charged with assaulting police. He pleaded not guilty. In July, Turning Point brought Trump to speak in Phoenix, where he called the 2020 election “the greatest crime in history." Outside, red-capped volunteers signed people up to become precinct chairs.</div><div>
</div><div>Organizers from around the country started huddling with Schultz for weekly Zoom meetings. The meetings' host, far-right blogger Jim Condit Jr. of Cincinnati, kicked off a July call by describing the precinct strategy as the last alternative to violence. “It's the only idea," Condit said, “unless you want to pick up guns like the Founding Fathers did in 1776 and start to try to take back our country by the Second Amendment, which none of us want to do."</div><div>
</div><div>By the next week, though, Schultz suggested the new precinct officials might not stay peaceful. Schultz belonged to a mailing list for a group of military, law enforcement and intelligence veterans called the “1st Amendment Praetorian" that organizes security for Flynn and other pro-Trump figures. Back in the 1990s, Schultz wrote an article defending armed anti-government militias like those involved in that decade's deadly clashes with federal agents in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas.</div><div>
</div><div>“Make sure everybody's got a baseball bat," Schultz said on the July strategy conference call, which was posted on YouTube. “I'm serious about this. Make sure you've got people who are armed."</div><div>
</div><div>The sudden demand for low-profile precinct positions baffled some party leaders. In Fort Worth, county chair Rick Barnes said numerous callers asked about becoming a “precinct committeeman," quoting the term used on Bannon's podcast. That suggested that out-of-state encouragement played a role in prompting the calls, since Texas's term for the position is “precinct chair." Tarrant County has added 61 precinct chairs this year, about a 24% increase since February. “Those podcasts actually paid off," Barnes said.</div><div>
</div><div>For weeks, about five people a day called to become precinct chairs in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, southwest of Green Bay. Albert, the county party chair, said he would explain that Wisconsin has no precinct chairs, but newcomers could join the county party — and then become poll workers. “We're trying to make sure that our voice is now being reinserted into the process," Albert said.</div><div>
</div><div>Similarly, the GOP in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, is fielding a surge of volunteers for precinct committee members, but also for election judges or inspectors, which are party-affiliated elected positions in that state. “Who knows what happened on Election Day for real," county chair Lou Capozzi said in an interview. The county GOP sent two busloads of people to Washington for Jan. 6 and Capozzi said they stayed peaceful. “People want to make sure elections remain honest."</div><div>
</div><div>Elsewhere, activists inspired by the precinct strategy have targeted local election boards. In DeKalb County, east of Atlanta, the GOP censured a long-serving Republican board member who rejected claims of widespread fraud in 2020. To replace him, new party chair Marci McCarthy tapped a far-right activist known for false, offensive statements. The party nominees to the election board have to be approved by a judge, and the judge in this case rejected McCarthy's pick, citing an “extraordinary" public outcry. McCarthy defended her choice but ultimately settled for someone less controversial.</div><div>
</div><div>In Raleigh, North Carolina, more than 1,000 people attended the county GOP convention in March, up from the typical 300 to 400. The chair they elected, Alan Swain, swiftly formed an “election integrity committee" that's lobbying lawmakers to restrict voting and audit the 2020 results. “We're all about voter and election integrity," Swain said in an interview.</div><div>
</div><div>In the rural western part of the state, too, a wave of people who heard Bannon's podcast or were furious about perceived election fraud swept into county parties, according to the new district chair, Michele Woodhouse. The district's member of Congress, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, addressed a crowd at one county headquarters on Aug. 29, at an event that included a raffle for a shotgun.</div><div>
</div><div>“If our election systems continue to be rigged and continue to be stolen, it's going to lead to one place, and it's bloodshed," Cawthorn said, in remarks livestreamed on Facebook, shortly after holding the prize shotgun, which he autographed. “That's right," the audience cheered. Cawthorn went on, “As much as I'm willing to defend our liberty at all costs, there's nothing that I would dread doing more than having to pick up arms against a fellow American, and the way we can have recourse against that is if we all passionately demand that we have election security in all 50 states."</div><div>
</div><div>After Cawthorn referred to people arrested on Jan. 6 charges as “political hostages," someone asked, “When are you going to call us to Washington again?" The crowd laughed and clapped as Cawthorn answered, “We are actively working on that one."</div><div>
</div><div>Schultz has offered his own state of Arizona as a proof of concept for how precinct officers can reshape the party. The result, Schultz has said, is actions like the state Senate Republicans' “forensic audit" of Maricopa County's 2020 ballots. The “audit," conducted by a private firm with no experience in elections and whose CEO has spread conspiracy theories, has included efforts to identify fraudulent ballots from Asia by searching for traces of bamboo. Schultz has urged activists demanding similar audits in other states to start by becoming precinct officers.</div><div>
</div><div>“Because we've got the audit, there's very heightened and intense public interest in the last campaign, and of course making sure election laws are tightened," said Sandra Dowling, a district chair in northwest Maricopa and northern Yuma County whose precinct roster grew by 63% in less than six months. Though Dowling says some other district chairs screen their applicants, she doesn't. “I don't care," she said.</div><div>
</div><div>One chair who does screen applicants is Kathy Petsas, a lifelong Republican whose district spans Phoenix and Paradise Valley. She also saw applications explode earlier this year. Many told her that Schultz had recruited them, and some said they believed in QAnon. “Being motivated by conspiracy theories is no way to go through life, and no way for us to build a high-functioning party," Petsas said. “That attitude can't prevail."</div><div>
</div><div>As waves of new precinct officers flooded into the county party, Petsas was dismayed to see some petitioning to recall their own Republican county supervisors for refusing to cooperate with the Senate GOP's audit.</div><div>
</div><div>“It is not helpful to our democracy when you have people who stand up and do the right thing and are honest communicators about what's going on, and they get lambasted by our own party," Petsas said. “That's a problem."</div><div>
</div><div>This spring, a team of disaffected Republican operatives put Schultz's precinct strategy into action in South Carolina, a state that plays an outsize role in choosing presidents because of its early primaries. The operatives' goal was to secure enough delegates to the party's state convention to elect a new chair: far-right celebrity lawyer Lin Wood.</div><div>
</div><div>Wood was involved with some of the lawsuits to overturn the presidential election that courts repeatedly ruled meritless, or even sanctionable. After the election, Wood said on Bannon's podcast, “I think the audience has to do what the people that were our Founding Fathers did in 1776." On Twitter, Wood called for executing Vice President Mike Pence by firing squad. Wood later said it was “rhetorical hyperbole," but that and other incendiary language got him banned from mainstream social media. He switched to Telegram, an encrypted messaging app favored by deplatformed right-wing influencers, amassing roughly 830,000 followers while repeatedly promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.</div><div>
</div><div>Asked for comment about his political efforts, Wood responded, “Most of your 'facts' are either false or misrepresent the truth." He declined to cite specifics.</div><div>
</div><div>Typically, precinct meetings were “a yawner," according to Mike Connett, a longtime party member in Horry County, best known for its popular beach towns. But in April, Connett and other establishment Republicans were caught off guard when 369 people, many of them newcomers, showed up for the county convention in North Myrtle Beach. Connett lost a race for a leadership role to Diaz, the prominent QAnon supporter, and Wood's faction captured the county's other executive positions plus 35 of 48 delegate slots, enabling them to cast most of the county's votes for Wood at the state convention. “It seemed like a pretty clean takeover," Connett told ProPublica.</div><div>
</div><div>In Greenville, the state's most populous county, Wood campaign organizers Jeff Davis and Pressley Stutts mobilized a surge of supporters at the county convention — about 1,400 delegates, up from roughly 550 in 2019 — and swept almost all of the 79 delegate positions. That gave Wood's faction the vast majority of the votes in two of South Carolina's biggest delegations.</div><div>
</div><div>Across the state, the precinct strategy was contributing to an unprecedented surge in local party participation, according to data provided by a state GOP spokeswoman. In 2019, 4,296 people participated. This year, 8,524 did.</div><div>
</div><div>“It's a prairie fire down there in Greenville, South Carolina, brought on by the MAGA posse," Bannon said on his podcast.</div><div>
</div><div>Establishment party leaders realized they had to take Wood's challenge seriously. The incumbent chair, Drew McKissick, had Trump's endorsement three times over — including twice after Wood entered the race. But Wood fought back by repeatedly implying that McKissick and other prominent state Republicans were corrupt and involved in various conspiracies that seemed related to QAnon. The race became heated enough that after one event, Wood and McKissick exchanged angry words face-to-face.</div><div>
</div><div>Wood's rallies were raucous affairs packed with hundreds of people, energized by right-wing celebrities like Flynn and Lindell. In interviews, many attendees described the events as their first foray into politics, sometimes referencing Schultz and always citing Trump's stolen election myth. Some said they'd resort to violence if they felt an election was stolen again.</div><div>
</div><div>Wood's campaign wobbled in counties that the precinct strategy had not yet reached. At the state convention in May, Wood won about 30% of the delegates, commanding Horry, Greenville and some surrounding counties, but faltering elsewhere. A triumphant McKissick called Wood's supporters “a fringe, rogue group" and vowed to turn them into a “leper colony" by building parallel Republican organizations in their territory.</div><div>
</div><div>But Wood and his partisans did not act defeated. The chairmanship election, they argued, was as rigged as the 2020 presidential race. Wood threw a lavish party at his roughly 2,000-acre low-country estate, secured by armed guards and surveillance cameras. From a stage fit for a rock concert on the lawn of one of his three mansions, Wood promised the fight would continue.</div><div>
</div><div>Diaz and her allies in Horry County voted to censure McKissick. The county's longtime Republicans tried, but failed, to oust Diaz and her cohort after one of the people involved in drafting Wood tackled a protester at a Flynn speech in Greenville. (This incident, the details of which are disputed, prompted Schultz to encourage precinct strategy activists to arm themselves.) Wood continued promoting the precinct strategy to his Telegram followers, and scores replied that they were signing up.</div><div>
</div><div>In late July, Stutts and Davis forced out Greenville County GOP's few remaining establishment leaders, claiming that they had cheated in the first election. Then Stutts, Davis and an ally won a new election to fill those vacant seats. “They sound like Democrats, right?" Bannon asked Stutts in a podcast interview. Stutts replied, “They taught the Democrats how to cheat, Steve."</div><div>
</div><div>Stutts' group quickly pushed for an investigation of the 2020 presidential election, planning a rally featuring Davis and Wood at the end of August, and began campaigning against vaccine and school mask mandates. “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery," Stutts had previously posted on Facebook, quoting Thomas Jefferson. Stutts continued posting messages skeptical of vaccine and mask mandates even after he entered the hospital with a severe case of COVID-19. He died on Aug. 19.</div><div>
</div><div>The hubbub got so loud inside the Cobb County, Georgia, Republican headquarters that it took several shouts and whistles to get everyone's attention. It was a full house for Salleigh Grubbs' first meeting as the county's party chair. Grubbs ran on a vow to “clean house" in the election system, highlighting her December testimony to state lawmakers in which she raised unsubstantiated fraud allegations. Supporters praised Grubbs' courage for following a truck she suspected of being used in a plot to shred evidence. She attended Trump's Jan. 6 rally as a VIP. She won the chairmanship decisively at an April county convention packed with an estimated 50% first-time participants.</div><div>
</div><div>In May, Grubbs opened her first meeting by asking everyone munching on bacon and eggs to listen to her recite the Gettysburg Address. “Think of the battle for freedom that Americans have before them today," Grubbs said. “Those people fought and died so that you could be the precinct chair." After the reading, first-time precinct officers stood for applause and cheers.</div><div>
</div><div>Their work would start right away: putting up signs, making calls and knocking on doors for a special election for the state House. The district had long leaned Republican, but after the GOP's devastating losses up and down the ballot in 2020, they didn't know what to expect.</div><div>
</div><div>“There's so many people out there that are scared, they feel like their vote doesn't count," Cooper Guyon, a 17-year-old right-wing podcaster from the Atlanta area who speaks to county parties around the state, told the Cobb Republicans in July. The activists, he said, need to “get out in these communities and tell them that we are fighting to make your vote count by passing the Senate bill, the election-reform bills that are saving our elections in Georgia."</div><div>
</div><div>Of the field's two Republicans, Devan Seabaugh took the strongest stance in favor of Georgia's new law restricting ways to vote and giving the Republican-controlled Legislature more power over running elections. “The only people who may be inconvenienced by Senate Bill 202 are those intent on committing fraud," he wrote in response to a local newspaper's candidate questionnaire.</div><div>
</div><div>Seabaugh led the June special election and won a July runoff. Grubbs cheered the win as a turning point. “We are awake. We are preparing," she wrote on Facebook. “The conservative citizens of Cobb County are ready to defend our ballots and our county."</div><div>
</div><div>Newcomers did not meet such quick success everywhere. In Savannah, a faction crashed the Chatham County convention with their own microphone, inspired by Bannon's podcast to try to depose the incumbent party leaders who they accused of betraying Trump. Party officers blocked the newcomers' candidacies, saying they weren't officially nominated. Shouting erupted, and the meeting adjourned without a vote. Then the party canceled its districtwide convention.</div><div>
</div><div>The state party ultimately sided with the incumbent leaders. District chair Carl Smith said the uprising is bound to fail because the insurgents are mistaken in believing that he and other local leaders didn't fight hard enough for Trump.</div><div>
</div><div>“You can't build a movement on a lie," Smith said.</div><div>
</div><div>In Michigan, activists who identify with a larger movement working against Republicans willing to accept Trump's loss have captured the party leadership in about a dozen counties. They're directly challenging state party leaders, who are trying to harness the grassroots energy without indulging demands to keep fighting over the last election.</div><div>
</div><div>Some of the takeovers happened before the rise of the precinct strategy. But the activists are now organizing under the banner “Precinct First" and holding regular events, complete with notaries, to sign people up to run for precinct delegate positions.</div><div>
</div><div>“We are reclaiming our party," Debra Ell, one of the organizers, told ProPublica. “We're building an 'America First' army."</div><div>
</div><div>Under normal rules, the wave of new precinct delegates could force the party to nominate far-right candidates for key state offices. That's because in Michigan, party nominees for attorney general, secretary of state and lieutenant governor are chosen directly by party delegates rather than in public primaries. But the state party recently voted to hold a special convention earlier next year, which should effectively lock in candidates before the new, more radical delegates are seated.</div><div>
</div><div>Activist-led county parties including rural Hillsdale and Detroit-area Macomb are also censuring Republican state legislators for issuing a June report on the 2020 election that found no evidence of systemic fraud and no need for a reexamination of the results like the one in Arizona. (The censures have no enforceable impact beyond being a public rebuke of the politicians.) At the same time, county party leaders in Hillsdale and elsewhere are working on a ballot initiative to force an Arizona-style election review.</div><div>
</div><div>Establishment Republicans have their own idea for a ballot initiative — one that could tighten rules for voter ID and provisional ballots while sidestepping the Democratic governor's veto. If the initiative collects hundreds of thousands of valid signatures, it would be put to a vote by the Republican-controlled state Legislature. Under a provision of the state constitution, the state Legislature can adopt the measure and it can't be vetoed.</div><div>
</div><div>State party leaders recently reached out to the activists rallying around the rejection of the presidential election results, including Hillsdale Republican Party Secretary Jon Smith, for help. Smith, Ell and others agreed to join the effort, the two activists said.</div><div>
</div><div>“This empowers them," Jason Roe, the state party executive director whose ouster the activists demanded because he said Trump was responsible for his own loss, told ProPublica. Roe resigned in July, citing unrelated reasons. “It's important to get them focused on change that can actually impact" future elections, he said, “instead of keeping their feet mired in the conspiracy theories of 2020."</div><div>
</div><div>Jesse Law, who ran the Trump campaign's Election Day operations in Nevada, sued the Democratic electors, seeking to declare Trump the winner or annul the results. The judge threw out the case, saying Law's evidence did not meet “any standard of proof," and the Nevada Supreme Court agreed. When the Electoral College met in December, Law stood outside the state capitol to publicly cast mock votes for Trump.</div><div>
</div><div>This year, Law set his sights on taking over the Republican Party in the state's largest county, Clark, which encompasses Las Vegas. He campaigned on the precinct strategy, promising 1,000 new recruits. His path to winning the county chairmanship — just like Stutts' team in South Carolina, and Grubbs in Cobb County, Georgia — relied on turning out droves of newcomers to flood the county party and vote for him.</div><div>
</div><div>In Law's case, many of those newcomers came through the Proud Boys, the all-male gang affiliated with more than two dozen people charged in the Capitol riot. The Las Vegas chapter boasted about signing up 500 new party members (not all of them belonging to the Proud Boys) to ensure their takeover of the county party. After briefly advancing their own slate of candidates to lead the Clark GOP, the Proud Boys threw their support to Law. They also helped lead a state party censure of Nevada's Republican secretary of state, who rejected the Trump campaign's baseless claims of fraudulent ballots.</div><div>
</div><div>Law, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment, has declined to distance himself from the Las Vegas Proud Boys, citing Trump's “stand back and stand by" remark at the September 2020 presidential debate. “When the president was asked if he would disavow, he said no," Law told an independent Nevada journalist in July. “If the president is OK with that, I'm going to take the presidential stance."</div><div>
</div><div>The outgoing county chair, David Sajdak, canceled the first planned vote for his successor. He said he was worried the Proud Boys would resort to violence if their newly recruited members, who Sajdak considered illegitimate, weren't allowed to vote.</div><div>
</div><div>Sajdak tried again to hold a leadership vote in July, with a meeting in a Las Vegas high school theater, secured by police. But the crowd inside descended into shouting, while more people tried to storm past the cops guarding the back entrance, leading to scuffles. “Let us in! Let us in!" some chanted. Riling them up was at least one Proud Boy, according to multiple videos of the meeting.</div><div>
</div><div>At the microphone, Sajdak was running out of patience. “I'm done covering for you awful people," he bellowed. Unable to restore order, Sajdak ended the meeting without a vote and resigned a few hours later. He'd had enough.</div><div>
</div><div>“They want to create mayhem," Sajdak said.</div><div>
</div><div>Soon after, Law's faction held their own meeting at a hotel-casino and overwhelmingly voted for Law as county chairman. Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, a longtime ally of Law who helped lead Trump's futile effort to overturn the Nevada results, recognized Law as the new county chair and promoted a fundraiser to celebrate. The existing county leaders sued, seeking a court order to block Law's “fraudulent, rogue election." The judge preliminarily sided with the moderates, but told them to hold off on their own election until a court hearing in September.</div><div>
</div><div>To Sajdak, agonizing over 2020 is pointless because “there's no mechanism for overturning an election." Asked if Law's allies are determined to create one, Sajdak said: “It's a scary thought, isn't it."</div><div>
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</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/08/far-right/</div><div>bobby Azarian and Raw Story August 05, 2021</div><div> </div><div>
</div><div>Do not be alarmed, but consider this article a prediction and a warning. Actually, it's okay to be a little alarmed, because recent events—like the storming of the Capitol—are certainly cause for concern. Let's call it what it is; Donald Trump has created a cult and radicalized its members. QAnon also shares a large part of the responsibility, whoever they are. We may not be able to see it because Trump has been banned from Twitter and Q conversation cleaned from social media, but behind the scenes, this cult is being transformed into an army of soldiers.</div><div>
</div><div>How do we know that it is as serious as I say; that this is not just more fear mongering? Well, for one, people have died. Heather Heyer, a counterprotester protesting the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, was run over by a white supremacist, and 19 others were injured. Last year a man drew a hunting bow on protestors in Salt Lake City before being taken out by the crowd, a chilling moment that was captured on video. On the day of the Capitol riot, a pipe bomb was found a few blocks from the Capitol building. In addition to these troubling events, many others who will go unnamed have been the victims of hate crimes that can be traced to the alt-Right, pro-Trump movement.</div><div>
</div><div>But the causalities have not only been on one side. Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt was fatally wounded by a cop as the mob tried to breach a door, another frightening moment caught on video. The point I'm making has nothing to do with whether or not the shooting was justified—though saying that level of force was necessary strikes me as uncomfortably close to Right-wing apologists who defend cops that shoot unarmed black men. The point is that the violence is escalating, and there's every reason to believe that escalation will continue. To use Newton's third law as a metaphor—for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, what does this mean for the future of America?</div><div>
</div><div>Since aggression provokes fear, and fear promotes aggression, a dangerous feedback loop has been established, dividing the nation to such a degree that something like civil war seems imminent. It may be a "cold civil war," but there will still be violence, destruction, and death. There will also be more gridlock in Washington, which makes any kind of progress impossible. It is hard to calculate the suffering that could have been avoided with a functional Congress, but we can be sure it is substantial. And if the division gets too severe, which is where we are headed, there will be a point of no return. Social chaos and economic collapse will follow, the United States will lose its status as a superpower, and life as we know it, will cease. If the pandemic showed us anything, it is that despite how advanced we are technologically, we are not protected from disaster, and our way of life can change overnight.</div><div>
</div><div>The good news is that this gloomy future is only inevitable should we choose not to intervene. But we do have to make a conscious effort to avoid catastrophe if we want any chance of being successful. I'm not talking about compromising, or forgiving, or forgetting—because we should do none of those things. I'm proposing something altogether new, something radical to stop Right-wing radicalism. But to understand the solution, and why it is necessary, we first have to get a clearer understanding of the problem, and of the predictive power of science.</div><div>
</div><div>The Predictive Power of Terror Management Theory... [long]</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/the-right-wing/</div><div>
</div><div>1 in 3 microchip</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/watch-republicans-exposed-for-flip-flopping-on-vaccines-as-soon-as-trump-left-office/</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>=</div><div>amanda m</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/gop/</div><div>
</div><div>After months of sliding downwards, COVID-19 transmission rates are now beginning to creep back up. The reasons for the backslide given in the media are often biological — lots of talk about how the delta variant is more contagious, for instance — but this surge was much more political. From the moment that President Joe Biden stepped into the White House, Republican leaders have understood that he will be blamed if the pandemic isn't brought under control. And so they've set out to sabotage his efforts by encouraging their followers to risk their own health and reject getting vaccines in an effort to get the COVID-19 numbers up.</div><div>
</div><div>The GOP's pro-virus campaign has been wildly successful.</div><div>
</div><div>While 86% of Democrats have been vaccinated, only 45% of Republicans have gotten a shot. Nearly all of the currently unvaccinated Republicans flat-out refuse to do it ever. So COVID-19 is quickly becoming a regional disease, with hotspots concentrated in deeply Republican areas of the country. And while the delta variant is more contagious, the main reason it's spreading is because of low vaccination rates, as 99.7% of new cases have been among the unvaccinated.</div><div>
</div><div>I've been writing about this Republican scheming to use the bodies of their own people as disease vectors for months, but only in recent days has the mainstream media started to wake up to this grim reality.</div><div>
</div><div>On CNN on Wednesday, Erin Burnett played a supercut featuring Republican leaders like Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado screeching "don't come knocking on my door with your Fauci ouchie" and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin falsely suggeting the shot kills people. On the same day, another CNN anchor, Chris Cuomo, got angry with Republican Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas for being "OK with this kind of jackassery that has absolutely led to a deficiency among Republican people in this country taking the vaccine." There's been a lot of attention paid to Republicans shutting down vaccine outreach to young people in Tennessee. The Washington Post released a video showing that Republicans who supported the vaccine while Donald Trump was in office immediately switched to dissing the shot the second the president was a Democrat: [vid]</div><div>
</div><div>why did it take so long for the mainstream media to admit that Republican leaders are intentionally encouraging infection? As has happened repeatedly in the past, it comes back to a reluctance to accept that Republicans really are as bad as they seem. It was just plain easier to imagine that those who said that Republicans were pro-virus are merely #resistance hysterics until the numbers made the truth undeniable.</div><div>
</div><div>But that Republicans really are terrible enough to spread disease for political gain is unsurprising to those who have been paying attention to the sexual health wars. For decades, Republicans have done everything they can to discourage preventive sexual health care, including cutting off access to birth control and condoms and lying about the usefulness of various methods. The claim was that this was all justified to promote "abstinence," but the result, time and again, was just more disease and unwanted child-bearing.</div><div>
</div><div>Megan Carpentier at Dame Magazine took a deep dive on Wednesday on the Republican war on a vaccine for HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that causes many kinds of cancer, most notably cervical cancer. Pressuring parents to forgo this vaccine for their kids has been wildly successful at keeping preventable cancer rates high, Carpentier writes, as "the American Cancer Society predicts that 14,480 people will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer in 2021" and "more than 4,000 people will die from cervical cancer this year."</div><div>
</div><div>Republicans happily promote policies to kill these people because they think it serves their political interests. Spinning their followers up about the supposed evils of women's sexual freedom has been the bread and butter of right-wing politics for decades: These women's lives are being sacrificed for conservative propaganda.</div><div>
</div><div>It's the same story with all other sexually transmitted infections, especially HIV, which conservatives have long exploited to stigmatize LGBTQ people. And the same story with unwanted pregnancy and childbirth, which is useful to conservatives who want to demagogue about how girls today are a bunch of sluts and feminism is the reason. They need people to get sick and get pregnant against their will, so, with great deliberation, Republicans embraced policies and rhetoric designed to get people to forgo simple prevention measures. They slash funding for sexual health care every chance they get, often redirecting it to groups that will lie to people about the efficacy of contraception. In public schools, health classes across the country have long been forced to distribute anti-contraception propaganda. When the Affordable Care Act included copay-free coverage for contraception — a measure that, as predicted, reduced unintended pregnancy and abortion rates — Republicans lost their minds with rage. And they will lie and lie and lie about the supposed dangers of contraception and other preventive care.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, was deeply invested in the spread-disease-and-despair agenda, back when the targets were mostly women and LGBTQ people. In 2002, as a congressman from Indiana, Pence gave an interview where he falsely claimed that "condoms are a very, very poor protection against sexually transmitted diseases." Later, when Pence was governor of Indiana, he gutted the HIV prevention systems in the state. When this predictably led to a surge in HIV transmissions, Pence fought against every effort to curb the infection rate, ensuring that the virus spread for months before he reluctantly did anything about it.</div><div>
</div><div>Republicans justify this anti-prevention stance by claiming they promote sexual abstinence. The goal itself is unworthy — the government should not be in the business of pushing anti-sex religious dogma on the public — but, as Pence's experience in Indiana shows, it doesn't even work. All anti-prevention policies do is lead people to have unprotected sex. Abstinence-only programs in high schools are linked with higher teen pregnancy rates. Cutting contraception funding doesn't lead to women forgoing sex, but it does lead to a surge in unintended childbirth. And, as Carpentier's piece shows, replacing life-saving prevention tools like condoms and HPV vaccines with a "just say no" lecture leads to people dying.</div><div>
</div><div>Republicans know this. They have seen the studies. They, like Pence, watched over and over as undermining prevention measures just leads to more disease and unwanted pregnancy. They just keep doing it anyway. After a certain point, it becomes hard to deny that they simply don't care if people are suffering. On the contrary, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies serve the GOP agenda, because all that misery can be exploited for propaganda about the supposed evils of modernity, feminism, and gay rights. Republicans have a long history of hurting people's health to serve a larger political agenda. So of course they were well-prepared to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic and encourage disease transmission for political gain. Anyone who watched Republican responses to sexually transmitted infections and unplanned pregnancy knows this playbook well. The only thing that's changed now is that they're doing it to their own people.</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>GOP chair tweets proof that Biden was right about Trump's COVID ... ›</div><div>New polling reveals GOP governors' disastrous handling of COVID ... ›</div><div>Trump-loving former GOP official who hated face masks dies from ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Kristi Noem criticizes GOP governors who enacted Covid-19 ... ›</div><div>Opinion | Republicans refusing to get vaccinated are owning no one ... ›</div><div>Some G.O.P. Leaders Speak Out in Favor of Covid Vaccines - The ... ›</div><div>=</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/gop-vaccines/</div><div>
</div><div>thom h</div><div>
</div><div>Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a CNN Medical Analyst, said last week, "A surprising amount of death will occur soon..." But why, when the deadly Delta variant is sweeping the world, are Republicans and their media warning people not to get vaccinated?</div><div>
</div><div>There's always a reason. People don't do things — particularly things involving a lot of effort and a need for consistency — without a reason. It just doesn't happen. No matter how bizarre, twisted or dysfunctional the reason may be, there's always a reason.</div><div>Dr. Anthony Fauci told Jake Tapper on CNN last Sunday, "I don't have a really good reason why this [unwillingness to get vaccinated] is happening."</div><div>
</div><div>But even if he can't think of a reason why Republicans would trash talk vaccination and people would believe them, it's definitely there.</div><div>
</div><div>Which is why it's important to ask a couple of simple questions that all point to the actual reason why Republicans and their media are discouraging people from getting vaccinated:</div><div>
</div><div>1. Why did Trump get vaccinated in secret after Joe Biden won the election and his January 6th coup attempt failed?</div><div>
</div><div>2. Why are Fox "News" personalities discouraging people from getting vaccinated while refusing to say if they and the people they work with have been protected by vaccination?</div><div>
</div><div>3. Why was one of the biggest applause lines at CPAC: "They were hoping — the government was hoping — that they could sort of sucker 90% of the population into getting vaccinated and it isn't happening!"</div><div>
</div><div>4. Why are Republican legislators in states around the country pushing laws that would "ban" private businesses from asking to see proof of vaccination status (they call it "banning vaccine passports")?</div><div>
</div><div>5. Why, when President Biden suggested sending volunteers door-to-door into low-vaccination communities to let people know how and where they could get vaccinated, did rightwing media go nuts about "government thugs" coming to your door to "force" vaccines on you?</div><div>
</div><div>6. Why are about half of all the Republicans in Congress refusing to say if they've gotten a vaccine or not? For that matter, why do the CPAC speakers who are trashing vaccines refuse to say if they're vaccinated or not?</div><div>
</div><div>7. Why would a Newsmax host trash-talk vaccines saying, "I feel like a vaccination in a weird way is just generally kind of going against nature"?</div><div>
</div><div>8. Why did Republican Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota downplay the dangers of Covid last week by bragging that she never shut her state down (and Ron DeSantis did) when SD has 230 Covid deaths per 100,000 people while similar low-population states like Vermont and Oregon are at 41 and 66 deaths per 100,000 respectively?</div><div>
</div><div>I hope I'm proven wrong on this, but the only possible explanation I can see for all this activity that seems so well-coordinated and largely consistent is that they all think there's something in it for them. And what might that be?</div><div>
</div><div>Political power. And, of course, the eventual wealth that often comes with political power, particularly corrupt power. Retired Republicans make a lot of money.</div><div>
</div><div>Put simply, I believe these Republicans are trying to promote outbreaks of Covid in America to soften or damage Joe Biden's red-hot economy on the assumption that if the economy tanks then people will vote out Democrats and vote in Republicans in 2022 and 2024.</div><div>
</div><div>As Pat Buchanan wrote today: "Are the Democrats headed for their Little Bighorn, with President Joe Biden as Col. Custer? The wish, you suggest, is father to the thought."</div><div>
</div><div>They're not just willing to let tens or hundreds of thousands of Americans die just to win the next two elections, they're actively encouraging that outcome.</div><div>
</div><div>Death is their electoral strategy.</div><div>
</div><div>Is there any other possible explanation?</div><div>
</div><div>They're not stupid (although they're banking on their audience being, at least, poorly informed) and most have college degrees (and Lauren Boebert finally got her GED). Even if a few of them fell down the Facebook or YouTube rabbit hole into anti-vaxxer territories, they still have no shortage of actual medical experts and staffers who know how to use Google available to them.</div><div>
</div><div>It's remotely possible they just hate and want to damage the US, and a few who are pushing vaccine "hesitancy" like Ron Johnson and John Kennedy recently celebrated the 4th of July in Moscow, but it's unlikely that they'd take the chance of coordinating with a foreign power to kill Americans (even if much of the foreign troll activity on social media is also trashing vaccines to American social media users).</div><div>
</div><div>A bizarre faux masculinity could be behind it, the way Trump tried to promote the idea that only wimps wear masks, but, seriously, do you really think these folks are taking fashion/appearance tips from an obese geriatric guy with a huge comb-over who wears absurd amounts of makeup, contacts, men's diapers and false teeth? And what's "masculine" about slowly dying by drowning in your own snot? Or becoming unable to get an erection, as happens to a significant number of men who get Covid?</div><div>
</div><div>It's certainly not fear of, or concern about, the vaccine itself; whether they'll admit it or not, virtually all of these Republicans and media stars telling people to be afraid of getting a shot have been secretly vaccinated themselves, just like Trump and his family were in January. As CNN Medical Analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, said, "Over 100 members of Congress, all of them GOP members, refuse to tell their constituents whether they have been vaccinated. They've all been vaccinated, every single one of those characters have been vaccinated."</div><div>
</div><div>This also has nothing to do with "conservative" ideology. Vaccination has been a part of the American landscape since George Washington ordered his troops inoculated against smallpox during the Revolutionary war, and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower (and his VP, Richard Nixon) had schoolchildren across the nation get the polio vaccine in the 1950s (I was one of them who lined up in school to get it and remember it well).</div><div>
</div><div>As California governor, Ronald Reagan oversaw a public school system that required vaccination for admission and conservatives like Bill Kristol and George W. Bush are proudly vaccinated against Covid. Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, said, "As a victim of polio myself, I'm a big fan of vaccinations, and if I were a parent who had a child … being subject to getting any particular disease, I would come down on the side of vaccinations." This is not about fearing or not understanding vaccines.</div><div>
</div><div>They're certainly not being paid by "big Pharma" to trash vaccines, and you can bet your last dollar that the billionaires who pay for big Republican events are not only themselves vaccinated but have made sure the entire staff of their multiple mansions, from the cooks to the pool boys to the masseuses and the live-in chefs are all vaccinated.</div><div>
</div><div>So, what's left?</div><div>
</div><div>Politics, and the power and money that derive from it.</div><div>
</div><div>The reason why Donald Trump spent much of 2020 desperately encouraging people to keep shopping and working was because he knew that when an economy collapses in the 18 months before an election, the party in power always loses.</div><div>
</div><div>In his desperation to get the economy back in shape, Trump even issued an executive order forcing mostly Black and Hispanic meat-packing and slaughterhouse employees back to work under threat of imprisonment.</div><div>
</div><div>But, sure enough, the economy tanked anyway and Democrats now control the White House, Senate and House of Representatives.</div><div>
</div><div>Thus, it appears that today's entire GOP strategy of encouraging "vaccine hesitancy" is to try to replicate that dynamic, to tank the economy, only this time in a way that works in favor of Republicans.</div><div>
</div><div>Encouraging Americans to die so they can win elections. That's how low today's GOP has sunk.</div><div>
</div><div>---</div><div>721 noem brag on covid fail</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/19-republicans/</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/07/how-trumpists-contradict-themselves-by-preaching-unapologetic-love-of-america-while-hating-half-of-its-population-conservative-historian/</div><div>
</div><div>ah</div><div>Historian Joshua Tait is known for focusing on the history of conservatism in the United States. Ask Tait about the influence of the late William F. Buckley or the platform of President Ronald Reagan's 1980 campaign, and he can recite chapter and verse. But Tait has major issues with Trumpism, and in an article published by The Bulwark on July 6, he addresses one of Trumpism's glaring contradictions: claiming to have an "unapologetic" love of the United States while expressing an intense hatred of half of its population.</div><div>
</div><div>"How is it that we hear the loudest jingoistic yelps from dismal patriots who cannot stand the state of the nation and half the people in it?," Tait argues. "Traditionally, the conservative right has prided itself on its heightened patriotism in contrast to the 'cosmopolitan' left…. An influential set of Trumpist intellectuals shows such disdain for progressives and 'elites,' and the country they supposedly corrupted, that their grandiose professions of love for country ring hollow."</div><div>
</div><div>In his article, Tait uses the term "post-conservative" to describe these liberal-hating Trumpistas — implying that they fall outside of traditional conservatism by failing to recognize Americans they disagree with as the loyal opposition.</div><div>
</div><div>"In a shift from earlier conservatives, key writers and publications from the pro-Trump and self-professedly post-conservative right have begun to see the United States not just at a critical point in its history, but in many ways, as past the point of no return," Tait explains. "They envisage America as under assault by disciplined and united leftists."</div><div>
</div><div>Tait cites Michael Anton and Glenn Ellmers, both with the Clairemont Institute, as examples of Trumpistas who view liberals and progressives not as the loyal opposition, but as haters of the United States. Anton, Tait notes, has said, "One side loves America, the other hates it — or can tolerate it only for what it might someday become." And in an article published by American Mind on March 24, Ellmers wrote, "Most people living in the United States today — certainly more than half — are not Americans in any meaningful sense of the term…. (They) may technically be citizens of the United States but are no longer, if they ever were, Americans."</div><div>
</div><div>Tait points out while it is nothing new for conservatives to argue that liberal and progressive ideas have been bad for the United States, the "post-conservative" Trump supporters go way beyond that.</div><div>
</div><div>"The narratives of decline identify various points at which the fatal misstep was taken — where everything started to go wrong," Tait explains. "Sometimes, it's (President Abraham) Lincoln, sometimes (President Woodrow) Wilson — often FDR or the 1960s. What's unusual about the Trumpist right is the extent to which they think that America is not just on the brink of collapse, but that it has already toppled. This may just be post-electoral defeat malaise, but increasingly, these American-greatness patriots appear to actively hate America and their fellow citizens."</div><div>
</div><div>President Joe Biden has emphasized that he considers himself president of all 50 states, including all the red states that Trump won in 2020. But Trump obviously doesn't see blue states as anything other than his enemies.</div><div>
</div><div>"In his public addresses," Tait observes, "President Biden has made a conscious effort to speak to all Americans. Donald Trump, by contrast, typically reverts to the language of us-versus-them — his people, the ones who want to make America great again, against their various enemies."</div><div>
</div><div>Trumpistas like to think that they represent "the real America," but Tait concludes his article by stressing that their "post-conservative" view is decidedly unamerican.</div><div>
</div><div>"Fundamentally at odds with modernity, the Trumpist intellectuals are at odds with the real America, but remain committed to the rhetoric of patriotism," Tait notes. "They are strangers in their own country, all the while professing to love it."</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>Why the Southern Baptist Convention finally rejected Trumpism ... ›</div><div>Trump's suburban outreach is simply naked racism -- right out of the ... ›</div><div>The rise of the 'New Right intellectuals': Political theorist explains ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Trump Lost. But Racism Will Probably Win Again. – Mother Jones ›</div><div>Republicans embrace Trump, tolerate racism and give up on Black ... ›</div><div>Trumpism is built on racism | The Week ›</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>authoritarian</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/conservative/</div><div>=</div><div>facebk dark posts ~ bidim bernier, aoc, socialism...</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/trumpworld-is-attempting-to-capitalize-on-the-war-against-critical-race-theory/</div><div>
</div><div>ME</div><div>
</div><div>Allies and former aides of President Donald Trump have joined the war on critical race theory.</div><div>
</div><div>According to Politico, devout members of Trumpworld have dumped a substantial amount of money into the effort as they believe it could cause enough backlash to help them regain control of Congress.</div><div>
</div><div>In addition to the financial contributions, they have also began working with Congressional members to block the military from moving forward with plans for diversity training. Efforts are also being made to withhold federal funding for schools that choose to incorporate education on race theory.</div><div>
</div><div>In a recent interview, Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon discussed the fight against critical race theory and how he believes it could be beneficial for their party.</div><div>
</div><div>"This is the Tea Party to the 10th power," Bannon said. "This isn't Q, this is mainstream suburban moms — and a lot of these people aren't Trump voters."</div><div>
</div><div>Bannon went on to express confidence about critical race theory being a political driving force for Republicans in 2022.</div><div>
</div><div>"I look at this and say, 'Hey, this is how we are going to win.' I see 50 [House Republican] seats in 2022. Keep this up," Bannon said. "I think you're going to see a lot more emphasis from Trump on it and DeSantis and others. People who are serious in 2024 and beyond are going to focus on it."</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>The threat of violence from Trumpworld is still urgent — but people ... ›</div><div>Mike Pence's whining about 'cancel culture' leads to epic blowback ... ›</div><div>Does Trump really believe he will be 'reinstated' in August ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>What Matters: The President might want Trump World, but he needs ... ›</div><div>Infamous 'Hoax' Artist Behind Trumpworld's New Voter Fraud Claim ›</div><div>The Trump regime defends racism: At least they're being honest for ... ›</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>trad DTricks is used in election to get pwr, now used to hold onto power, using tools of state = fascism [tho nixon]</div><div>
</div><div>aha: // mlk on switch out modifier: good trouble, gang of 5 we are the new/true radicals; appropriation/inversion/perversion of lefty god term [at the same time attacking woke, new PC]; for left/reality racial diversity does being intellecti\ial diversity dofferent POV; builds on Lichter? Horo BS of how lefty commie profs discriminate ~ conservatives; gop is in death spiral, at least demographically so must cheat to preserve minority power[states rights BS ~ HR1 ~ voter suppress, gerry, dark corp $); GOP can't win in mktplace of ideas[libtard bankrunpted by covid fail; must explain away fail by saying media, soc media and univ ~ them</div><div>
</div><div>msnbc moral panic: you raise kids w/ right values/american and univ makes them into liberals[and/or gay?]</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/ron-desantis-2653505905/</div><div>Florida goes full fascist': Ron DeSantis sparks furious backlash with ‘authoritarian’ campus political surveys</div><div>
</div><div>Raw Story June 23, 2021</div><div> </div><div>Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation requiring Florida students, faculty, and staff to register their political views in surveys in an effort to promote "intellectual diversity" at colleges and universities, and the measure set off backlash across social media.</div><div>
</div><div>Critics decried the law, which DeSantis claims will promote freedom of speech, as a "thoroughly Orwellian" attempt to gain control over academic debate at institutions of higher learning.</div><div>
</div><div>Well, this is thoroughly Orwellian. ?? Faculty and students of Florida, you know what to do! Freep Mini-Trump's stup… https://t.co/N2nEE5UzuM</div><div>— Betty Cracker ?? (@Betty Cracker ??)1624454881.0</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>Well that's got to be unconstitutional: Florida students required to register political views with the state to pro… https://t.co/b1Bh8p98uN</div><div>— David Rothkopf (@David Rothkopf)1624455537.0</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>DeSantis wants to survey university students and staff, with the threat of budget cuts if he doesn't get his way???… https://t.co/IWfcM8nGhI</div><div>— Witty Librarian In a Mask (@Witty Librarian In a Mask)1624455089.0</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>an 621</div><div>w</div><div>hen a grifter gets swindled: Former GOP chairman accused of stealing from Paul Manafort's PAC</div><div>Zachary Petrizzo Salon June 19, 2021</div><div>Former Colorado Republican Party chairman Ryan Call allegedly stole nearly $280,000 from a pro-Trump super PAC over the course of three years while he was the committee's treasurer, according to a newly filed...</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>mma621</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/qanon-influencers-want-their-followers-infiltrate-republican-precinct</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>florida man?</div><div>an 621</div><div>
</div><div>republican candidate in secret recording says he has access to Russian hit squad and would 'end' opponent's life</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>an kos 621</div><div>Senate Republicans desperately want to tee up some policy-focused jabs at the Biden agenda that can resonate with their base and independents alike ahead of next year's midterms.</div><div>
</div><div>But every time they appear in the conservative right-wing echo chamber, hosts quickly redirect the conversation back to some sensational culture war issue to keep their viewers hopped up on rage.</div><div>
</div><div>Take Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who recently went on Newsmax to stoke consternation over President Joe Biden's energy policy, including cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, job losses, and rising gas prices.</div><div>
</div><div>But according to the Washington Post, within minutes of the 8-minute appearance, Newsmax hosts steered Cramer to more incendiary territory—whether Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was incorporating critical race theory into military training.</div><div>
</div><div>Cramer admitted to the Post that Republicans were failing to engage their voters with policy discussions that once resonated and even inflamed their base, like the runaway deficit charge that became a flashpoint for the Tea Party movement. But he also insisted that a discussion around inflation could break through if Americans continued to be impacted by things like rising gas prices at the pumps.</div><div>
</div><div>"If there's anything to worry about, it's this sense that something has to happen instantly for it to be effective," Cramer said. "I reject that."</div><div>
</div><div>But the problem for Republicans is twofold. First, for four years, Trump juiced up GOP voters on a steady diet of sugary sodas and pop rocks. But now that congressional Republicans are back to pretending to care about substantive policy again, their voters are too addicted to the sugar highs to give a damn about last decade's red meat.</div><div>
</div><div>Second, almost all of Biden's agenda is exceedingly more popular than Republicans or, for that matter, the policy they're trying to sell. For instance, a month after Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law, a Washington Post-ABC poll found that 65% of Americans still supported the $1.9 trillion relief package, while just 31% opposed it.</div><div>
</div><div>Biden's American Jobs Plan typically hasn't drawn quite as much support as the relief plan in polling, but in poll after poll people still favor it far more than they oppose it, and the more voters hear about it the more they like it. An April Navigator Research poll of the jobs plan, for instance, found baseline support of 53% for the $2.3 trillion jobs and infrastructure proposal but just 23% opposition to it. And after the plan was described in greater detail to respondents, support shot up to 70%.</div><div>
</div><div>As for Republicans, they're a wildly unpopular party pushing wildly unpopular policies to defend their wildly unpopular 2017 tax giveaway to the rich.</div><div>
</div><div>Senate Republicans also appear to be a bit out of practice after holding the majority since 2014. Even they eventually came around to the realization that their efforts to combat Biden's coronavirus relief plan was a 100% flop.</div><div>
</div><div>Now it's occurring to them that focusing their message 100% on Dr. Seuss and the great Potato Head controversy without incorporating any crossover appeal whatsoever for independent voters isn't exactly a winning strategy for the midterms, particularly in the Senate.</div><div>
</div><div>So for now, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the Senate GOP's No. 3, will keep hosting press conferences with the caucus every Wednesday and Thursday in an effort to drive messages that occasionally manage to veer into policy territory.</div><div>
</div><div>McConnell will keep appearing on Fox News to slam Biden's "radical left-wing proposals" only to end up talking about that latest tweets of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.</div><div>
</div><div>And all Republicans will appeal to the heavens to give them some policy gift such as sustained soaring inflation that might allow them to ween their voters off Trump's steady junk food diet.</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>Trump's trial defense strategy comes at a high price for Senate ... ›</div><div>Senate Republicans make Joe Manchin look like a gullible chump ... ›</div><div>Senate Republicans use filibuster to kill bill that would ensure ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Biden ends infrastructure talks with Senate GOP, starts engaging ... ›</div><div>Senate GOP proposes police changes, less sweeping than Dems' ›</div><div>AP FACT CHECK: Senate GOP misrepresents Jan. 6 riot panel ›</div><div>=</div><div>an 621</div><div>Following the Trump era, Democrats control the White House and both branches of Congress — where they have a narrow majority in the U.S. Senate and a majority that shrunk in the U.S. House of Representatives following the 2020 election. However, many state governments are still controlled by Republicans. And journalist Joan E. Greve, in an article published by The Guardian on June 15, examines the type of damage Republicans are inflicting at the state level.</div><div>
</div><div>"In 23 U.S. states, Republicans hold the governorship and the legislature, giving the party near total control to advance its policies," Greve explains. "This year, Republicans have used that power to aggressively push their conservative social agenda — taking aim at abortion access, transgender rights and gun safety, as well as voting laws."</div><div>
</div><div>Much has been written about all the voter suppression bills coming from Republicans in state legislatures, but voting rights aren't the only thing far-right Republicans have been going after with a vengeance. Greve notes that in Texas, South Carolina, Idaho and Oklahoma — all red states — Republicans have passed severe anti-abortion bills. The one in Texas bans abortion after about six weeks into a pregnancy.</div><div>
</div><div>Greve explains, "This trend of states approving increasingly extreme laws on issues like abortion and trans rights is alarming Democrats, who accuse Republicans of using their legislative power to target vulnerable communities…. Republican legislators' focus on social issues marks a shift from previous decades, when the party was more concentrated on economic priorities like small government and fiscal responsibility."</div><div>
</div><div>Under the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade decision of 1973, states cannot legally have an outright abortion ban — and the Republican strategy has been to restrict abortion as much as possible at the state level. But with the High Court having moved more and more to the right, it is entirely possible that Roe v. Wade will be overturned. If Roe is overturned, many red states would no doubt pass statewide abortion bans — creating, for example, a scenario in which abortion might be illegal throughout Texas but legal across the state line in New Mexico, or legal in Illinois but illegal in neighboring Indiana.</div><div>
</div><div>One of the things that is encouraging Republicans to move even more to the right, Greve notes, is the fear of primary challenges. Greve points out that far-right Allen West has threatened a Republican gubernatorial primary challenge to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is up for reelection in 2022.</div><div>
</div><div>Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control group Moms Demand Action, told The Guardian, "We know that the GOP is scared of primaries from fringe gun extremists. We're watching the politics play out as opposed to true policy beliefs."</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>Trump may be gone — but state GOP lawmakers are still doing his ... ›</div><div>'Shameful power grab': Pennsylvania GOP state senators slammed ... ›</div><div>Idaho paper slams GOP state lawmakers for failing to take COVID ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>State Republicans Weigh New Laws Making It Harder To Vote : NPR ›</div><div>GOP state legislators backed Trump in Capitol attack. It's on them to ... ›</div><div>How GOP State Legislatures Are Remaking the Country - The Atlantic ›</div><div>=</div><div>tom b raw an 621</div><div>
</div><div>According to a report from the Guardian's Sam Levine, Republicans who have always dabbled in playing to the red meat crowd are now ramping up their efforts to use that voting bloc to remain in power by disrupting and questioning election results.</div><div>
</div><div>Faced with changing demographics and states -- - notably Arizona and Georgia --- that were once reliably Republican but are now sending Democrats to Congress, Republicans are looking for ways to stop the bleeding as their power melts away.</div><div>
</div><div>According to Levine, Donald Trump just gave them the roadmap by blatantly saying the election was stolen from him -- which has been well-received by more than just conservative extremists.</div><div>
</div><div>As his Guardian report notes, "... fanned repeatedly by Donald Trump throughout 2020, the myth of a stolen American election has shifted from a fringe idea to one being embraced by the Republican party. The so-called big lie – the idea that the election was stolen from Trump - has transformed from a tactical strategy to a guiding ideology."</div><div>
</div><div>According to UC Irvine law professor Richard Hasen, Republicans embracing Trump's "Big Lie" is a sign of an emerging trend that doesn't bode well for future elections.</div><div>
</div><div>"Voter suppression is not new, the battle lines have been drawn over that for quite some time. But this new concern about election subversion is really worrisome," he explained.</div><div>
</div><div>Edward Foley, a law professor at the Ohio State University, concurred, adding, "I do think it's a relatively new phenomenon, unfortunately, and disturbing. We've had disputed elections in the past, but we've never had the denial of the basic mathematical reality of counting votes."</div><div>
</div><div>With the Guardian's Levine noting polls show that a majority of Republicans still believe that Trump is the "true president," he spoke with a former GOP operative from Florida who made a very candid admission that Republicans are seeing their position of power wither away and are being forced to embrace Trump's tactics .</div><div>
</div><div>"In the past, party elders, party leaders … exploited the crazies in order to win elections and then largely ignored them after the elections," explained Mac Stipanovich. "What has happened since then is that Trump opened Pandora's box and let them out. He not only let them out, he affirmed them and provoked them. And so now they're running wild and they are legitimatizing these delusions."</div><div>
</div><div>You can read more here.</div><div>
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</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/trump-gop-2653364196/</div><div>
</div><div>kos</div><div>
</div><div>When Donald Trump reentered the public spotlight last weekend at the North Carolina Republican Party Convention, the first thing he did was upend the GOP primary for the state's open Senate seat. Trump welcomed far-right Rep. Ted Budd to the stage and promptly gave him a surprise endorsement, leaving two other top Republican contenders to pick up the pieces.</div><div>
</div><div>One of them, former Gov. Pat McCrory, held an impromptu news conference in which he tried to convince reporters that Trump's endorsement fell "flat" with the room of attendees, according to The Washington Post.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump ally and former Rep. Mark Walker was also likely caught off guard by his change of fortunes, since he had just won the straw poll—an informal gauge of who attendees hope will prevail in the GOP primary.</div><div>
</div><div>Get ready to see a lot more mayhem in critical battleground states as Trump ramps up his rallies this summer. The truth is, even as I continue to be alarmed by the fascist turn of the Republican Party and its voter suppression efforts, I am simultaneously impressed with how much havoc Trump is already wreaking on GOP officials at both the state and federal level.</div><div>
</div><div>Minority Leader Mitch McConnell effectively admitted this week that Trump is on his own mission and it doesn't align with the Republican Party. Asked by Fox News hosts if he would welcome Trump's involvement in the midterms, McConnell offered, "Well, he has his own agenda," before pivoting to his own message for 2022. That's a pretty telling statement from the highest ranking Republican in the country.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump's agenda, naturally, is self-aggrandizing Trump, and the Republican Party is merely a means to that end. Numerous outlets have now reported that Trump is obsessed with the GOP-led and QAnon-funded sham audit in Arizona, which he views as a leverage point for potentially invalidating the election and ultimately being "reinstated" as commander-in-chief.</div><div>
</div><div>In fact, one could view Arizona as ground zero for a lot GOP headaches to come. Inside the state, the Republican-led board of supervisors for Maricopa County, where the Senate GOP-inspired audit is taking place, has called the project a "sham" and a "con." Republican state officials who defended the election results and could make solid statewide candidates are also struggling to navigate Trump, including state Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who's running for Senate. Gov. Doug Ducey is term-limited out of running again in 2022, but he chairs the Republican Governors Association. He isn't even on speaking terms with Trump, despite the fact that he's in charge of defending GOP-controlled governorships nationwide. Trump will also be a dominant presence in the Republican scrum to replace Ducey, which could yield a candidate who isn't ideally positioned to win statewide.</div><div>
</div><div>But the Arizona audit is also having nationwide ramifications, as Trump-aligned GOP lawmakers make pilgrimages to observe the effort in a bid to launch their own fraudits back home. Three Pennsylvania GOP lawmakers kicked off the frenzy, Georgia Republicans weren't far behind, and now Republicans from Colorado, Nevada, Alaska, Virginia, and Wisconsin all want in on the action.</div><div>
</div><div>But the places where fraudit efforts are roiling the Republican Party most is in states like Arizona, where GOP officials ultimately certified the election and are now getting eaten by their own. When it comes to midterm battleground states, nowhere is that toxic dynamic more pronounced than in Georgia. As I reported this week, the Peach State GOP is being torn apart at the seams as Republican state lawmakers absolutely vilify all the GOP executive officials who certified and defended the vote. Gov. Brian Kemp was booed at the same party convention last week where two state lawmakers were presented with "Warrior Awards" for their work to overturn the election. Both of those lawmakers made the trek to observe Arizona's audit, as did Kemp primary challenger Vernon Jones, a former Democrat-turned-Trumper. At the same time, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger continues to be pilloried by Trumpers and tragically, his family continues to receive death threats more than half a year after the state's results were certified. Attorney General Chris Carr is also fighting for his political life as he takes to the campaign trail for 2022.</div><div>
</div><div>What I think the national media is missing here, as Republicans and Democrats in Washington resume a predictably contentious fight over President Joe Biden's agenda, is just how corrosive Trump's effect is on Republican politics at the state level. Even in Ohio, which Trump won pretty handily, a Trumper has launched a primary challenge to Gov. Mike DeWine. And in Florida, where the election results were never really in question, GOP state lawmakers responded to Trump's Big Lie by making it more difficult to vote by mail there, tearing apart a decades-old Republican playbook in the Sunshine State that has proven pretty effective.</div><div>
</div><div>In states like Pennsylvania, where Republicans don't control the governor's mansion and a coveted open Senate seat is up for grabs, two Trump-aligned candidates recently announced their bids for governor and Senate—Lou Barletta and Sean Parnell, respectively. Trump's stamp of approval in a swing state like Pennsylvania could help cement victories for both men.</div><div>
</div><div>Jim Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling and Research, conducts voter surveys for Republican candidates and says Trump's hold on GOP voters in the state continues to be strong. But he also described opposition to pro-Trump candidates among independent voters as a "brick wall with a couple layers of thickness to it."</div><div>
</div><div>"What's an asset in a primary could potentially be a liability in the fall," Lee told the Associated Press.</div><div>
</div><div>The picture that's developing is one in which Trump and Trumpism is upending the Republican Party in all different types of states—states like Georgia and Arizona, which could be in the throes of a political tipping point; states like Pennsylvania and North Carolina, where Trump could play kingmaker in the primary only to doom Republicans in the general election; and even states like Ohio and Florida, where Trumpism might actually upend a political landscape that has provided pretty solid footing for the Republican Party in the recent past.</div><div>
</div><div>The other X factor in all this is the white-hot intensity of the Republican divisions in states such as Georgia and Arizona, where base turnout will almost surely prove decisive in several critical races that determine the state's leadership, along with its representation in the U.S. Senate. Whichever faction of the GOP prevails in these statewide primaries will almost surely suppress at least some base enthusiasm for the general election. There's nothing normal here about the political wrangling over the direction of the party. Rather the battles have such an existential feel to them that they could leave one side or the other completely disillusioned and unenthusiastic about the general election push.</div><div>
</div><div>Once again, the country and the Republican Party, in particular, are in completely uncharted territory. The fact of the matter is that a lot of GOP voters in these battleground states voted against Trump at the top of the ticket, and then for Republican candidates down-ballot. Republican Party leadership then took that information and decided to double down on Trumpism even as Trump himself faded from political view for a handful of months after leaving office. That decision was almost unprecedented in modern political history: Parties simply don't double down on the persona and agenda of presidential losers immediately after they have lost an election.</div><div>
</div><div>None of this to say that Republicans are doomed next year, or that they couldn't cheat their way out of election losses. But it is to say that the deep rifts currently roiling the party cannot possibly be maximizing their turnout potential at the ballot box next year.</div><div>
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</div><div></div><div>no lnx https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/republicans-trump-reinstated/</div><div>
</div><div>A disturbing number of Republicans actually think Trump will likely be 'reinstated' soon: poll</div><div>New analysis finds Trump’s support among white voters is slipping</div><div>
</div><div>Aldous J. Pennyfarthing</div><div>and Daily Kos</div><div>June 10, 2021</div><div>
</div><div>I'll never understand why anyone listens to Donald Trump on any subject. He wanted to nuke hurricanes. He wanted to put alligator-filled moats along the southern border. He thinks windmills cause cancer, asbestos is swell, and exercise is bad for you. He seriously suggested pumping our bodies full of UV light and disinfectant. He thinks we have planes that are literally invisible, for God's sake!</div><div>
</div><div>Nevertheless, millions of Trump fans have bent their brains into pretzels trying to make his doofus proclamations sound presidential—or even marginally nonsimian (see also: hydroxychloroquine).</div><div>
</div><div>We've pretty well established that Trump's brain is, at best, masticated circus peanut and, at worst, Lucifer's molten boom-booms, and yet when he dry-heaves utter batshit nonsense, plenty of his fans seem all too ready to lick it up like feral purse poodles.</div><div>
</div><div>Case in point: Fully 29% of Republicans think Donald Trump is returning before the year is out—possibly riding in on a cloud or a flaming chariot or (more likely) a golf cart with a cupholder and custom-installed deep fryer.</div><div>
</div><div>A new Politico/Morning Consult poll asked survey respondents this straightforward question: "How likely do you think it is that former President Donald Trump will be reinstated as U.S. President this year, if at all?" The question was no doubt included in the poll because Trump himself has been telling insiders that he thinks he'll be back in office by August. (Narrator: He won't.)</div><div>
</div><div>The results? (You still have time to bail if you've had your yearly quota of frothing insanity. You're still here? Okay, gird your loins.)</div><div>
</div><div>Among Republicans surveyed, 17% think it's "very likely" that Trump will return to the White House this year, 12% think it's "somewhat likely," and 10% don't know or have no opinion. Taken together, this shows that two-fifths of Republicans have not yet accepted that Joe Biden won the presidency.</div><div>
</div><div>Of course, that wasn't the only eye-opening result. Asked whether things are going in the right direction in the U.S. or on the wrong track, only 15% of Republicans thought things were going in a positive direction, while 85% said we're veering off course. Guess 85% of Republicans prefer raging pandemics and collapsing economies to Democratic presidents.</div><div>
</div><div>Is this what it's like to lick hallucinogenic toads for breakfast in lieu of frosted Pop-Tarts? At some point, do you just surrender to the unreality of your environment?</div><div>
</div><div>Over at Civiqs, even more Republicans report they're worried; a stunning 93% of card-carrying GOPers think we're all gonna die.</div><div>
</div><div>If you enjoy watching Donald Trump eat the Republican Party from within, like a genetically modified tropical eyeball worm, you'll be happy to know that the Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 80% of Republicans want to stick around so they can see him play either a major (59%) or a minor role (21%) in the party going forward. If you'd prefer he stay in Florida chucking oyster shells at flamingos from his balcony, you'll likely be disappointed by the 13% of Republicans who want him to slink away.</div><div>
</div><div>There's also some good news, of course. President Biden's approval rating is at 53% among all registered voters, with 28% of respondents "strongly" approving of the job he's doing, 25% "somewhat" approving, 43% disapproving, and the rest offering no opinion.</div><div>
</div><div>Meanwhile, 66% of registered voters want Congress to pass an infrastructure bill—so maybe we should get that done, huh?</div><div>
</div><div>There's still some sanity left in the world, so long as you look in the right place. And that right place is clearly nowhere in the vicinity of the right wing. I invite Republicans to hurry on back to planet Earth. The water's fine. At least it is for now—unfortunately, only 12% of Republicans consider passing a bill to address climate change a "top priority."</div><div>
</div><div>Go figure.</div><div>From Your Site Articles</div><div>
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</div><div>https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/06/donald-trumps-parting-gift-to-washington-was-a-party-of-shitposters/</div><div>
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</div><div>rkj</div><div>
</div><div>i've seen many things at the Conservative Political Action Conference over the years, including many things I wish I hadn’t. But until Ted Cruz spoke to a ballroom of activists from the main stage in Orlando in February, I had never seen an elected official interrupt his own speech to promote a podcast.</div><div>
</div><div>“Please go subscribe,” barked the Texas Republican, sounding more like a street performer with a SoundCloud than a second-term senator. “Verdict With Ted Cruz! Verdict With Ted Cruz! Click on ‘subscribe.’ Five stars, please!”</div><div>
</div><div>One week earlier, Cruz had left his constituents and his poodle behind to wait out his state’s deadly grid failure at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancun. It was the sort of PR disaster that would leave many politicians reeling. Cruz tried to monetize the controversy instead, printing a line of Barstool Sports–chic “spring break” tank tops with a caricature of his nascent mullet. He may never lead the Republican Party, but Cruz always knows its temperature, and in the space of a few minutes in Orlando, between jokes about his ill-advised Mexican vacation and plugs for his side project, he managed to distill this conservative moment to its essence. Increasingly, as world-historical crises unfurl all around them—often exacerbated by their own policies and actions—the GOP’s most ambitious officials view their primary responsibility less as public servants than as content creators, churning out an endless stream of takes, memes, stunts, and podcasts. So many podcasts.</div><div>
</div><div>The Republican Party has long been infused with an irrepressible hustle, what the historian Rick Perlstein calls “mail-order conservatism.” Talk radio and direct mail were not only effective at peddling reactionary politics to voters; they were also perfect vehicles to sell products, such as gold and home-security systems. For decades these conjoined strains of politics, entertainment, and marketing have eroded trust in public institutions and the media and provided a template for self-aggrandizement and enrichment. There is nothing really like this on the left; Infowars and Goop sell the same pills, but Gwyneth Paltrow is not fomenting rebellion.</div><div>
</div><div>The way conservatism manifested itself over the airwaves has shaped what rank-and-file conservatives expect to be told and how they expect to feel about it. The late Rush Limbaugh’s listeners called themselves “dittoheads,” eager to nod along with everything. Newt Gingrich used to distribute tapes of himself talking so that candidates could emulate his language. In the 1980s, he weaponized C-SPAN’s new House cameras—where members previously addressed each other, Gingrich and his allies began speaking past them. They turned the Capitol into a studio and made politics into a product. Donald Trump easily won the Republican base because it had been primed for someone who could provide both the programming and the commercial breaks, sometimes all at once; in conservative politics, after all, you’re always being asked to buy something. </div><div>
</div><div>Trump’s presidency blew past the old frontiers: The performance of politics became the purpose of it.</div><div>
</div><div>But Trump’s presidency blew past the old frontiers: The performance of politics became the purpose of it, and the grind of governance became secondary to the responsibilities of posting. </div><div>
</div><div>It was as if, after years of awkward but largely profitable power-sharing between conservative politicians and conservative media, the Republican Party at last stumbled upon the ultimate efficiency: What if both roles could be played by the same person? Trump once dreamed of spinning a losing presidential bid into his own media entity. </div><div>
</div><div>During the pandemic, in lieu of crisis management, he turned briefings into a variety show, assembling a rotating cast of characters, and plugging an array of sponsors—MyPillow, Carnival, Pernod Ricard. You would not necessarily get good medical advice, but you would learn that Hanes is a “great consumer cotton products company” that’s being recognized more and more.</div><div>
</div><div>no lnx</div><div>
</div><div>There was no issue grave enough to take seriously and no controversy too petty to weigh in on. Anything could be resolved via tweet, precisely because nothing really can; the ephemerality was the point. And a rising generation of politicians learned an important lesson about what conservative voters wanted. If Limbaugh taught them all how to talk, Trump taught them how to govern. His enduring gift was a caucus of content creators.</div><div>
</div><div>Just consider the Republican congressional class of 2021—the new arrivals to Washington who modeled themselves most directly after Trump. They seem almost blissfully detached from the work of Congress. There is 25-year-old Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who was elected on the strength of a largely invented personal story amplified with loads of influencer-style Instagram posts. He recently posted a 19-second video of himself punching the bark off a tree. Cawthorn boasted to his colleagues that he had built his staff “around comms rather than legislation.” He was in Washington, in other words, mostly just to post.</div><div>
</div><div>Cawthorn boasted to his colleagues that he had built his staff “around comms rather than legislation.”</div><div>
</div><div>When Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon representative from Georgia, was stripped of her committee assignments in February by colleagues upset that she had harassed fellow members of Congress and blamed forest fires on the Rothschilds, she greeted the news with relief. “If I was on a committee, I would be wasting my time,” she said. Now she was more free to share videos of her CrossFit workouts with the hashtag #FireFauci. Not that showing up for committee hearings necessarily means you’re there to work. Colorado’s Lauren Boebert, who like Cawthorn and Greene spent her first weeks on the job scaring the shit out of her co-workers, recently hijacked a virtual committee hearing by posing like John Wick in front of a shrine of firearms in her living room. (“Who says this is storage?” she responded to critics. “These are ready for use.”) </div><div>
</div><div>Cawthorn, Greene, and Boebert were all members of the National Republican Campaign Committee’s “Young Guns” program, which takes its name from an earlier trio of House Republicans—one of whom, Paul Ryan, went on to become a vice presidential nominee and speaker of the House and unite the party behind a vision of budget austerity. There is surely some sort of ideology at work here, too, but it’s more Jake Paul than Paul Ryan; they are treating the Capitol like their own hype house, using the stature of their office for clout.</div><div>
</div><div>R. Kikuo Johnson</div><div>
</div><div>These younger, gunnier guns are taking cues from their elders. Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a content farm of a congressman who has filmed not one but two Avengers-style videos in which the ex–Navy SEAL parachutes out of airplanes to fight Democrats, also hosts a podcast. So does Devin Nunes. Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has a podcast called Hot Takes. Before he became publicly embroiled in a federal sex-trafficking investigation (“If you aren’t making news, you aren’t governing,” Gaetz once said), he was considering retiring to take a job at the conservative cable channel Newsmax. In February, more than a dozen House Republicans—including Gaetz and Nunes—skipped work to speak at CPAC with Cruz. They took advantage of a covid-era policy that let members vote by proxy in medical emergencies; to them, promoting their brands is the job.</div><div>
</div><div>After watching Cruz’s speech I took his advice and checked out Verdict, which he co-hosts with Michael Knowles, who rose to prominence after publishing an entirely blank book called Reasons to Vote for Democrats. Cruz recorded the first episode at 2:40 a.m. after the opening day of Trump’s Ukraine impeachment trial—hence the name of the show—and returned to the studio every night of the proceedings. Within days of its debut, Verdict had passed Joe Rogan on the iTunes charts. At CPAC, Cruz announced it had been downloaded 25 million times. It is almost certainly the most popular thing he has ever done.</div><div>
</div><div>From the start, there were gestures that this was all “for work”; while Cruz plugs his book with regularity, he does not hawk brain pills or sell ads. In the premiere episode, Cruz solicited listener questions he could ask during the impeachment. When Knowles asked him why he was doing the show, Cruz replied with two words: “Substance. Matters.”</div><div>
</div><div>This is true in a technical way: Cruz talks on his show about many of the things he and his Republican colleagues talk about in the Capitol. But that Washington conversation is increasingly just an extension of what they talk about on their podcasts. The biggest crises in America right now, according to Cruz, CPAC, and Trump, are the interlocking threats of Big Tech and “cancel culture.” Hearings with tech executives have become a must-watch for conservatives. Cruz advertised his hearing-room clash with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey last summer with a Christopher Nolan–ish movie trailer and a poster reminiscent of welterweight boxing—“The Free Speech Champion vs. the Czar of Censorship.” There are substantive things to say about corporate power, but this brand of conservative opportunism zips past what’s real to fixate on what isn’t. Twitter moderators, or someone being “canceled,” is not something Congress is really positioned to do much about. They are just creating content about content creation; this is the uroboros of mail-order conservatism. </div><div>
</div><div>Twitter moderators, or someone being “canceled,” is not something Congress is really positioned to do much about. They are just creating content about content creation.</div><div>
</div><div>Big Tech and “cancel culture” have emerged as key villains for the new right, not just because of how neatly they fit into long-standing tropes about “cosmopolitan elites,” but because so much of modern conservatism lives online. Offline, there are issues that warrant serious attention from one of the nation’s two governing parties—cities without water, cities soon to be underwater, whole states without power, and a world still suffering from a deadly virus. But with a nudge from Trump, the right has become ever more dissociated from reality, channeling its energy into an endless series of fights over “deplatforming” and who’s triggering whom. During the Obama years, a Breitbart provocateur interrupted a White House press conference to complain about losing his Twitter verification badge. Then, it was a sideshow; now, it’s the whole point. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely presidential candidate, recently signed a law prohibiting social media companies from banning public officials.</div><div>
</div><div>The rise of politics as content creation is hardly the sole domain of the right. After his 2016 presidential campaign ended, Bernie Sanders kept his media imprint running. He organized town halls on Facebook Live and recorded a regular podcast. Sanders, who has made no secret of his distaste for corporate-owned media, hoped to build out his own information stream for his supporters. So did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York representative whose prolific posting has gotten her in trouble with other members of her caucus. (Her arrival in Washington precipitated a closed-door meeting in which a colleague pleaded, “Everyone stop tweeting!”)</div><div>
</div><div>The content creators of both the left and the right pose some of the same big-picture challenges—the rise of politicians as independent news sources, of politics as stan culture, and the acceleration of the permanent campaign. A Pew analysis found that the outgoing 116th Congress was one of the least productive of the last half-century, but the most prolific ever when it came to posting. Members sent 50 percent more tweets than they did two terms ago; they were still talking—just not to each other. The more politicians function as affinity brands peddling a product to be consumed, the more “politics,” the entertainment vehicle, becomes dissociated from politics, the distributor of power. Barack and Michelle Obama run a media company now and each hosts podcasts, too; the ease with which political figures can rebrand themselves as entertainers speaks to the two spheres’ increasing coziness. This is not what “seizing the means of production” was supposed to mean.</div><div>
</div><div>But the way this dynamic is unfolding on the left and the right is asymmetrical. Though you would not necessarily know it from listening to Gaetz, Obama is not in office. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are not angling for TV gigs; nor are they reducing the world of lawmaking to the kind of retrograde distractions that get you booked on Tucker. They use their enormous social media platforms for civics lessons, offering behind-the-scenes glimpses of the legislative process and the work of movement building, in an effort to get more people invested in both. You can buy the “Tax the Rich” sweatshirt Ocasio-Cortez wears when she holds court on policy and procedure on Instagram Live, but it is not the only thing she is selling. She and Sanders are trying to make the online world more engaged with the real world, rather than the other way around, to advance an ambitious governing program. It is a theory of change, of which clout and performance are merely a means, not the endpoint, of politics. That is the opposite of the reductive nihilism of Cawthorn or Boebert, or the eternal stagecraft of Cruz.</div><div>
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</div><div>In the first few months of the Biden administration, the world of Twitter and real life have become increasingly estranged. In a paradoxical way, the transformation of a major political party into a meme factory has even eased some of Washington’s dysfunction. While Republicans were pitching their podcasts and talking about Dr. Seuss and his imaginary canceling—Cruz began selling copies of Green Eggs and Ham, signed by himself—Democrats pushed through a $1.9 trillion covid relief and stimulus package with little dissent.</div><div>
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</div><div>In March, Trump, banned from Facebook and Twitter, announced that he was considering launching his own social media network. “I’m doing things having to do with putting our own platform out there,” he promised. “You’ll be hearing about [it] soon.” The website he unveiled didn’t amount to much, but that’s what made it so perfectly Trump—there’s not supposed to be a there there. Meanwhile, younger Republicans aiming to take his place continued their auditions. In April, Marco Rubio called on the government to treat companies that pollute “our culture” just as harshly as it treats companies that pollute our water—sort of like an Environmental Protection Agency for tweets. Cruz, himself accused of poisoning the discourse by John Boehner, polled his hive on whether he should shoot the former speaker of the House’s new book with a machine gun. </div><div>
</div><div>But none of the Republicans vying for Trump’s role have embraced the new posting reality as fluidly as DeSantis. In May, not long after guaranteeing Florida politicians the right to shitpost, DeSantis scored his biggest coup yet: passage of a bill to roll back voting access in the state, fueled by Trump’s lies about the 2020 election. When it came time to sign it, local reporters were stopped at the door—only a crew from Fox and Friends got in. DeSantis had turned an attack on fundamental rights into a live television event. Supporters of the ex-president stood behind him, cheering on cue, as the governor bantered with the hosts via satellite. Then he picked up a blue Sharpie, scrawled his name, and held up the embossed legislation for the cameras.</div><div>
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</div><div>Trump may be gone, but the show never ends.</div><div>
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</div><div>=</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/conservative-mind/</div><div>
</div><div>cody f</div><div>observers of the Republican Party and the American right wing have noticed a perplexing pattern of beliefs about the COVID vaccines. While many in conservative media are critical or skeptical of the vaccines, highlighting supposed dangers while also downplaying the risk from the virus itself, many have also insisted that former President Donald Trump deserves much more credit for the vaccine than he's getting.</div><div>It creates something of a paradox in the conservative mind: The vaccines are dangerous and overhyped, but also they're something Trump deserves endless praise for having helped create. These ideas do not easily fit together. It's not exactly clear how many people are making these exact claims in parallel, seemingly contradicting themselves, but there's no question that both strands of thought exist comfortably in right-wing discourse without appearing to come into conflict. And there's no real sign of major right-wing figures resolving the contradiction by saying: "The vaccines are bad, and Trump is bad for having had a hand in their creation." Such a thought is anathema.</div><div>
</div><div>There have been some conservative figures, such as Fox News' Geraldo Rivera, who have fought against the anti-vax strains in their movement while praising Trump for his administration's role overseeing the development. This is a more consistent view, but it's more marginal in right-wing circles, which tends to be welcoming of anti-vax sentiment, like Fox News prime time host Tucker Carlson.</div><div>
</div><div>When it comes to the attack on Jan. 6, a similar paradox emerges. Much of the right wing has come around to the idea that the insurrection at the Capitol was no big deal — indeed, the Trumpy outlet "American Greatness" recently even argued that the rioters themselves should be elected to Congress. This reaction, and the fear that Democrats were making too big a deal out of the attack, was a large part of why Republicans in Congress blocked the formation of a bipartisan commission to study it.</div><div>
</div><div>But since the day of the attack, there's been an alternative view on the right. In reality, some claim, it wasn't Trump supporters who violently stormed the Capitol, but leftists and Antifa. This idea came up even this Thursday when "Women for Trump" co-founder Amy Kremer claimed that video of a Trump supporter at the Capitol riot didn't actually show a Trump supporter[kremer twt pix]</div><div>
</div><div>if this were really true, that the left was responsible for the violence at the Capitol, then surely Republicans would be demanding an investigation that would expose this reality. Of course, it's not true — the U.S. Justice Department has arrested hundreds of right-wing Trump supporters involved in the attack with ample evidence of their identities and beliefs.</div><div>
</div><div>There's been some internal pushback among those on the right who suggested Antifa was responsible for the attack — including from many of the right-wing rioters themselves. Still, somehow these narratives — the insurrection was no big deal, and also it was infiltrated by violent leftists who framed Trump supporters — somehow manage to exist peaceably within right-wing discourse.</div><div>
</div><div>But there's a unifying explanation for both of these contradictions. They derive from the principle that, in the parlance of the internet, the thing that matters the most is "owning the libs."</div><div>
</div><div>This simple phrase has somehow become the dominant motivational force for conservatives. It, of course, explains the success of the uber-troll Donald Trump. The right-wing movement and the Republican Party are defined so much more by their opposition to their perceived enemies than any other coherent principles. That's why they can claim to be defenders of the U.S. Constitution while also arguing it should be ripped up if it will keep Trump in power.</div><div>
</div><div>When it comes to vaccines, it's clear the libs love them, which immediately makes them suspicious to many conservative thinkers. And even if the conservative is personally willing to take the vaccine, the liberals' insistence that vaccines should be widely encouraged, is anathema, so they're willing to tolerate and accommodate the anti-vaxxers. But liberals also hate Trump, so it's just as appealing to the conservative mind to demand that Trump get credit for the vaccines that the liberals love so much. Whether this all makes sense is less important than if it can make liberals feel bad.</div><div>
</div><div>The same goes for Jan. 6. Obviously, the liberals are concerned about the attack, so dismissing it is one way to "own the libs." But if you can also somehow blame the attack on the libs — all the better.</div><div>
</div><div>There's another similar paradoxical thought process I found vexing at the start of the pandemic. At the time, many conservatives, following Trump's lead, dismissed the seriousness of the virus. But they also sought to blame the virus on the Chinese government, often insinuating that it was an intentional attack. These ideas didn't make much sense together. If the virus is no big deal, how is it plausible that it's a bioweapon?</div><div>
</div><div>Again, though, it didn't have to make sense. This time, it wasn't all about owning the libs. But it was still about knowing who the enemy was. And the Democrats, the public health establishment, and those taking the virus were clearly the enemy. And so was China (even though just weeks before Trump had been praising Chinese President Xi Jinping). This view didn't provide for a coherent response to the virus, but it triggered the emotions conservative figures and their audiences want to feel. And that's much more important than a little cognitive dissonance.</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>They 'just want to watch the world burn': Psychological analysis ... ›</div><div>Conservatives lose it after the guilty verdict for the murder of George ... ›</div><div>How these 2 witnesses could change Republican senators' minds ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>The conservative mind has become diseased - The Washington Post ›</div><div>The Conservative Mind ›</div><div>Opinion | The Conservative Mind - The New York Times ›</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>comm dr</div><div>Liz Cheney's removal from House GOP leadership over her rejection of Trump's election lies and Republican senators' blocking of a bipartisan proposal to create an independent panel that would investigate the Capitol siege reveal in stark terms at least two things: (a) that Republicans have built a cult of personality around Trump, and (b) that they are now at the mercy of the proto-fascist mob that their Dear Leader energized and nurtured during his four-year tenure in the White House.</div><div>
</div><div>Either way, the fact of the matter is that, for purposes of political expediency, the GOP has opted to become a dark political force, relying almost entirely on lies and deception—while at the same time waging a coordinated onslaught on voting rights—as its governing techniques. As such, it represents a real threat to the stability of the republic.</div><div>
</div><div>Following Trump's defeat, the strategic objective of the Republican Party is not simply to engage in obstructionism, but to continue dividing the nation and radicalizing the American public against the democratic system. This is the only way that the Republican Party can hope to stay in the game in the political, economic, social, and cultural landscape that defines 21st century America.</div><div>
</div><div>Always the party of Big Business and the rich, the Republican Party has oscillated from conservatism to reactionism pretty much throughout the twentieth century and the early part of the twenty-first centuries, but today's GOP has gone so far toward abandoning basic democratic norms that it now belongs firmly in the political universe of parties and movements that make up the far-right. In fact, it is considered to be more extreme that Le Pen's National Rally, according to findings based on data collected from the Manifesto Project.</div><div>
</div><div>The political identity of today's GOP reflects a decades-long transformation. It begins to take form sometimes during the early 2010s, a decade that historian Andrew Bacevich characterized as an era of "venomous division." Driven primarily by fear of losing power in an increasingly diverse United States, the GOP made a dramatic shift towards extremism as a way of mobilizing white working-class voters, who experienced income stagnation and felt deep economic insecurity thanks to 40 years of brutal neoliberal capitalist policies, and scaring the hell out of the petty bourgeoisie with visions of chaos and disorder brought about by radical forces bent on destroying America and its traditional values and way of life.</div><div>
</div><div>Indeed, well before Trump threw his hat in the ring for Presidency, a 2013 survey of local party leaders found that, in contrast to Democrats who preferred more extreme candidates to more moderate candidates by a 2-to-1 margin, Republicans did so by 10-to-1.</div><div>
</div><div>Of course, it is Trump himself who solidifies the shift towards extremism. Fully cognizant of the mood both inside the Republican Party and the country as a whole, especially with a large segment of disenchanted and angry white voters seeing equal opportunity as a zero-sum game for them, Trump embarks on the complete transformation of the GOP into an extremist political party by lurching towards reactionary nationalism and diving deeply into nativism with his MAGA campaign slogan and inflammatory rhetoric about immigrants, Muslims, and African-Americans, respectively.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump also breaks with elite bipartisan consensus on a broad range of other issues, including trade and foreign policy, in order to secure his image as a unique figure in American politics, while falsehoods and outright lies become indispensable weapons on his performative proto-fascist march towards power.</div><div>
</div><div>To be sure, this was a bid for power with a strong resemblance to the political strategy that authoritarian parties have long adopted in many parts of the world, including that of the Nazi Party between 1919-1933. An unmistakable sign of Trump's "performative proto-fascism" was also his dalliance with armed militias—undoubtedly as grave a threat to democracy as were Hitler's brown shirts.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump's tenure in office ended on the same note as his rise to power—namely, with another act of "performative proto-fascism." His rejection of the 2020 election as "the big lie" was intended to cement in the minds of his fanatical base the idea of a "deep state" conspiracy and, subsequently, undermine democratic procedures. A movement built on lies, deception, and sheer propaganda can only be maintained by the very same tactics that energized it. There is no other way around it.</div><div>
</div><div>The reason that Republicans have opted to continue down the path charted by Trump is because this is now the only way to maintain the support of the proto-fascist base. Without that support, the GOP will have to reinvent its political identity—no small task for a party that has made a remarkable transition from conservatism to reactionism and finally to neoliberal proto-fascism—or cease to exist.</div><div>
</div><div>However, the paradox that Republicans face in the post-Trump era is that they cannot sustain a movement built around the cult of personality without the presence of a charismatic leader in its midst. In this sense, the Republicans can continue with Trumpist shenanigans as long as Trump is still around and politically active, but sooner or later they would have to look for an appropriate replacement—and perhaps an authentic fascist—otherwise the proto-fascist base may gradually begin to wither away.</div><div>
</div><div>What the future holds for the American republic is impossible to predict. However, what is abundantly clear right now is that with its delusional attachment to Trump, the GOP is methodically dragging the country into the abyss of instability, chaos, and proto-fascism.</div><div>
</div><div>C.J. Polychroniou is a political economist/political scientist who has taught and worked in numerous universities and research centers in Europe and the United States. He has published scores of books and his articles have appeared in a variety of journals, magazines, newspapers, and popular news websites. His latest books are Optimism Over Despair: Noam Chomsky On Capitalism, Empire, and Social Change, an anthology of interviews with Chomsky originally published at Truthout and collected by Haymarket Books; Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet (with Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin as primary authors); and The Precipice: Neoliberalism, the Pandemic, and the Urgent Need for Radical Change, an anthology of interviews with Chomsky originally published at Truthout and collected by Haymarket Books (scheduled for publication in June 2021).</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>ultimate betrayal of oaths sworn': Michigan GOP congressman slams 'treacherous snakes' who 'salivate for civil war'</div><div>Meaghan Ellis June 01, 2021</div><div>Rep. Pete Meijer (R-Mich.) is fed up with the pro-Trump conservative Republicans whom he describes as "treacherous snakes." On Monday, May 31, Meijer, a military veteran, took to Twitter with a post in</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>gop civil war</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/02/gop-congressman-peter-meijer/</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/peter-meijer/</div><div>~ trump civil war lunacy</div><div></div><div>
</div><div>// milleninalist, just recalculATE WHEN DATE Passes?</div><div>jenna attacked for saying trump can't be re-install in aug b/c you know lAW/REALITY?</div><div>621 MAGA heads go berserk over 'incompetent failure' Jenna Ellis after ... ›</div><div>=</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/06/trump-reinstated/</div><div>
</div><div>NO LNX TWT</div><div>
</div><div>On June 1, the New York Times' Maggie Haberman reported, on Twitter, that former President Donald Trump still believes that the 2020 election results will be overturned and that he will be "reinstated" to the White House by August. Haberman discussed her reporting during a June 2 appearance on CNN's "New Day," stressing to hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar that Trump is "echoing" the false claims he is hearing from attorney Sidney Powell and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.</div><div>
</div><div>"There is no mechanism by which this can happen," Haberman said of Trump's delusional claim that he will be returning to the Oval Office by August. But Trump's delusions, Haberman added, are being encouraged by Powell and Lindell — and he is "regurgitating" their bogus claims.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump has been telling a number of people he’s in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August (no… https://t.co/0gUGozPQQR</div><div>— Maggie Haberman (@Maggie Haberman) 1622551318.0</div><div>
</div><div>Haberman told Berman and Keilar, "What he's doing is echoing things that are being said by Sidney Powell, who was his lawyer — although he distanced himself from her at certain points over the final months of the administration. But she was helping advise him on these efforts to overturn the election last year. This is being said my Michael Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow — who has been pushing this for some time. (Trump) is echoing what they're saying. The difference between them saying it and Donald Trump saying it is that one is the former president — one is a possible future (Republican) Party nominee…. There are people telling him things are possible that are not possible."</div><div>
</div><div>Powell and Lindell have been relentless far-right promoters of the Big Lie, falsely claiming that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump — who, Haberman said, has been "so laser-focused" on the recent election "audits" taking place in Arizona and other states because he "thinks they are going to overturn" the 2020 election results.</div><div>
</div><div>JUST NOW: "“There is a dangerous component about this conversation that's going on.” @maggieNYT on her reporting t… https://t.co/u3fuzgsHhr</div><div>— John Berman (@John Berman) 1622632941.0</div><div>
</div><div>Trump, Haberman warned, is trying to use the "conservative media ecosystem" to promote his fantasies of being "reinstated" to the White House this summer.</div><div>
</div><div>"People are in their own media ecosystems," Haberman observed.</div><div>Berman pointed out that some Trump opponents are upset with Haberman for tweeting about the former president's delusions, and the Times reporter responded that "ignoring" Trump will not make him go away in 2021 any more than it did in 2015 and 2016.</div><div>
</div><div>Haberman told Berman and Keilar that Trump "is in control of the Republican Party, to a big extent…. Ignoring him was not the answer in 2015."</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>MAGA heads go berserk over 'incompetent failure' Jenna Ellis after ... ›</div><div>'A new inauguration date is set': Inside the latest QAnon conspiracy ... ›</div><div>Trump tells followers he 'expects to be reinstated' in August as ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Trump's Facebook account should never be reinstated because we ... ›</div><div>Today Is The Day QAnon Believes Donald Trump Will Be Reinstated ... ›</div><div>QAnon Believes Donald Trump Will Be Reinstated As President ... ›</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>twt maricopa voter db DELETED</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>cody f</div><div>while the criminal investigations of former President Donald Trump often make the news with fresh developments, many of these revelations don't truly amount to much. On Tuesday, though, there was a significant exception to this pattern when multiple reports found that New York DA Cy Vance, who is working with the state's Attorney General Letitia James, has impaneled a special grand jury of his investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization. This suggests that serious charges may be on the horizon.</div><div>
</div><div>After the news broke, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, a longtime close observer of the president, explained how he will fight back against the investigations as it threatens to ensnare him or his interests.</div><div>
</div><div>"Trump is going to use talk of running again as a way to tar the Vance/James probes," she wrote on Twitter. "From his latest statement in response to the grand jury being empaneled: 'Interesting that today a poll came out indicating I'm far in the lead for the Republican Presidential Primary…'"</div><div>
</div><div>He has already suggested that he intends to run for president again in 2024 (even as he insists that he really won in 2020 and thus should be president now.) It's one way he can maintain power in the Republican Party and at least some level of attention from the media.</div><div>
</div><div>But Haberman is right that dangling a run — genuine or not — can be helpful in his effort to tar the investigations that target him. As long as he remains a potential candidate, he can say that criminal charges are just an effort to keep him out of power by his political enemies. Of course, that won't make an indictment go away — but it will likely be a potent message for his fans.</div><div>
</div><div>Since many are already primed to believe the 2020 election was stolen from him, it's not hard to imagine the prospect of his facing serious criminal charges could inspire more dangerous and lawless actions from his supporters like those seen on Jan. 6.</div><div>
</div><div>In the case of Letitia James, the criticism that she's a political enemy of his does have some genuine force. She explicitly campaigned in 2018 on investigating Trump, and she has used her investigation of him to elevate her profile. Vance is a more complicated story though. A ProPublica report actually found that Vance went easy on the Trump family as his office prepared to indict two of Trump's children in 2012. After Trump's lawyer Marc Kasowitz donated $25,000 to Vance, he reportedly overruled his own prosecutors and declined to bring the charges.</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>at least they recycle grift</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/newt-gingrich-trump/</div><div>
</div><div>ah</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>In 1994, when President Bill Clinton was serving his first term, then-House Minority Whip Newt Gingrich unveiled his Contract With America — a hard-right Republican legislative agenda that Gingrich's critics slammed as the Contract On America. Republicans recaptured the House in the 1994 midterms, and Gingrich became House speaker in January 1995. Now, in the Biden era, Gingrich is a major ally of former President Donald Trump — and according to Politico reporter Meridith McGraw, Gingrich and Trump are joining forces for a new version of the Contract With America for the 2022 midterms. But the 2022 version, McGraw reports, will have a much more Trumpian focus.</div><div>
</div><div>"With an eye toward winning back the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections, former President Donald Trump has begun crafting a policy agenda outlining a MAGA doctrine for the party," McGraw reports. "His template is the 1994 'Contract With America,' a legislative agenda released ahead of the midterm elections in the middle of President Bill Clinton's first term. And as a cherry on top, he's teaming up with its main architect — Gingrich — to do it."</div><div>
</div><div>McGraw adds that according to a Politico source, Trump recently met with Gingrich, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida to "begin crafting the document." twt]</div><div>
</div><div>"The group is still just beginning to hammer out the details of what a Trumpified Contract might look like," McGraw explains. "But it is likely to take an 'America first' policy approach on everything from trade to immigration. The source described it as 'a policy priority for 2022 and beyond.' Its construction has been teased and talked about for weeks, but the fact that the principals are beginning to put it together underscores Trump's continued interest in trying to shape the Republican Party."</div><div>
</div><div>The 77-year-old Gingrich, however, told Politico that he doesn't expect the 2022 plan to be finalized "anytime soon." When Politico asked him to outline some policy priorities that it may include, the former House speaker responded, "It should be positive. School choice, teaching American history for real, abolishing the '1619 Project,' eliminating critical race theory and what the Texas legislature is doing. We should say, 'Bring it on.'"</div><div>
</div><div>Like Barack Obama, Clinton went down in history as a president who was decisively reelected but suffered a major setback at the midterms. 1996 was a great year for Clinton, who was reelected with 379 electoral votes compared to only 159 for Republican nominee Bob Dole. But Democrats suffered a major pounding in the 1994 midterms.</div><div>
</div><div>"The original 'Contract with America' was credited with helping Republicans gain their first majority in four decades after the party picked up 52 seats in 1994 in the House and nine seats in the Senate," McGraw recalls. "Republicans have used it as a template in elections since."</div><div>
</div><div>The Politico reporter continues, "In 2010, the so-called Republican 'Young Guns,' led by Reps. Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, introduced a much longer version of Gingrich's contract with a 224-page publication outlining policy goals ahead of the midterm elections. And Graham, who was one of the Contract's signatories when he first ran for a House seat in 1994, has frequently advocated for Republicans to adopt Contract-style declarations to unify the party during election years."</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/end-of-enlightenment/</div><div>
</div><div>common dr robt freeman</div><div>
</div><div>The Enlightenment was a time of intellectual ferment in the Western world following the Middle Ages. Its ideas gave birth to the modern world.</div><div>
</div><div>We know the Enlightenment from the names of its most brilliant expositors: Francis Bacon, John Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Adam Smith, and others. We know its ideas as the foundation of our social world: the social contract, the rule of reason, the rule of law, consent of the governed, natural rights, constitutionalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, and others.</div><div>
</div><div>The Republican agenda is a direct assault on all of that. It literally aims to return America to the pre-modern, pre-Enlightened darkness of the Middle Ages. If it succeeds, it will reverse more than three hundred years of human progress.</div><div>
</div><div>The most egregious of Republican assaults on the modern world is its rejection of Reason. Reason is the way we know what we know. It is not through revelations from God, or the pronouncements of priests or monarchs as had been the case before the Enlightenment.</div><div>
</div><div>Reason as a process for discovering Truth started in the Scientific Revolution around 1550. It was so powerful a way of knowing the physical world, the philosophers of the Enlightenment adopted it for knowing—and improving—the social world. It became the foundation of all subsequent Enlightenment thought, and all modern institutions.</div><div>
</div><div>The Republican broadside against Reason was on display in the first days of the Trump administration when Trump asserted that his inauguration crowd size was the largest in history. Presented with facts to the contrary, in photographic evidence, his assistant, Kellyanne Conway, proclaimed the existence of "alternative facts." It's been downhill since.</div><div>
</div><div>Republican discourse is a never-ending torrent of lies, idiocies, and absurdities—the very antithesis of Reason. The Muslim invasion. The caravan bringing murderers, rapists, drugs, and disease. Democrats eating babies. A satanic cult of pedophiles running the "Deep State." A pandemic that would "disappear, like a miracle." The greatest economy in the history of the world. Dr. Seuss and Mr. Potato Head being canceled. Biden's hamburger ban. A rigged election. Massive voter fraud. Terrorists who were really just tourists handing out hugs and kisses. It never ends.</div><div>
</div><div>The Republican assault on Reason is an attack not just on truth itself, but on our very capacity to think at all. With their base, Republicans address not the neo-cortex—the thinking part of the brain—but the amygdala—the lizard-brain seat of fight-or-flight. The amygdala subordinates logic, facts, reason, and deliberation to deceit, conspiracy, hysteria, and fear.</div><div>
</div><div>It's easier to trigger hatred and fear than thinking and logic. That's why Republicans do it. That's why their base—and increasingly, their "leaders"—sound like zombies, like robots, like members of a cult when they're interviewed for the evening news. They are. They've been programmed to fear and hate and blame, and the reinforcement is unending, [feedback? amplif?] because, to work, it has to be. Otherwise, they become unprogrammed.</div><div>
</div><div>It doesn't matter that none of the endless effusion of lies ever turn out to be true or that they are routinely, repeatedly abandoned in favor of newer lies for the next news cycle. What matters is that the lies incite indignation, and that the dopamine high that follows gets its constant, programmed, ever-increasing reinforcement.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump's 35,000 documented lies are the embodiment of it all. It is a leprous, insidious disease, an inability to deal with reality, but literally the one by which Republicans define themselves. Glandular excretions are the Republican formula for generating voter turnout: inciting Pavlovian rage based on a torrential fantasmia of lurid lies. It works, but it is the living, suppurating antithesis of Reason.</div><div>
</div><div>Another Republican assault on the legacy of the Enlightenment is the attack on Democracy. It was John Locke who, in 1689, wrote that people who were able to think could not be bullied like ignorant people could. If government wanted thinking people's cooperation it could no longer rely on the medieval divine right of kings. It needed to obtain "the consent of the governed." This, of course, became a sacrament of the American political order.</div><div>
</div><div>The opening words of the Constitution are, "We the people of the United States…" That is not a paean to monarchy, or to dictatorship. It is a statement that the consent of the people—and only that consent—provides a government its legitimacy. But Republicans are working feverishly to overturn the consent of the governed, to destroy Democracy.</div><div>
</div><div>Their assault on the Capitol on January 6th was the most conspicuous effort to overthrow the legitimately elected government of the United States but it was not the first and will certainly not be the last. Republicans insist that their reason-denying mobs, their goons, their Brownshirts will tell the rest of us how we will be governed. No consent involved, only submission: ours. You can see this in their fevered efforts at voter suppression, explicitly preventing majority rule and the consent of the governed.</div><div>
</div><div>Republicans cannot win power on the strength of their ideas and policies. They lost the presidency, the Senate, and the House. Large majorities favor policies backed by Democrats. So, they need to destroy Democracy itself to gain power. To do that, they need to destroy Reason as the way we know what we know. That is the core, the essence, the modus operandi of the Republican enterprise.</div><div>
</div><div>Constitutionalism is a third Enlightenment ideal that Republicans are intent on destroying. A constitution defines how a country is to be governed. Before constitutions, it was autocracy that called the shots. Think of Louis XIV's notorious declaration: "I am the state." Decisions were made by caprice, by the rich and powerful, in their own interests, everyone else be damned. Constitutionalism embeds the Rule of Law—another Enlightenment ideal—into a society, making "equal treatment under the law" a modern treasure, however badly it may be realized.</div><div>
</div><div>Besides losing all of the branches of the federal government, Republicans failed over and over and over to persuade the judicial branch to sanction their usurpation of the Constitution. So, they resort to performative charades like the farcical ballot laundering farrago in Arizona to try to undo the Constitutionally-ordained process for the peaceful transfer of power. Now, they're taking it to other states. It will not end.</div><div>
</div><div>We could go on. Republicans want to destroy the social contract—another Enlightenment ideal—that says you get ahead on the basis of hard work. They insist, instead, that privilege should be based on race, with the best spots reserved for whites. This violates the Enlightenment ideal of equality for all.</div><div>
</div><div>Remember the opening words of the Declaration of Independence? "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Pure Enlightenment. In the Republican world, however, like in Orwell's Animal Farm which was an allegory of the degradation of Soviet totalitarianism, all men are created equal, but some—whites—are more equal than others.</div><div>
</div><div>We should be clear. This is not about peripheral protests over policy preferences. It is a broadside against the foundation, the institutional undergirding of our civilization. It is an attempt to destroy the conceptual milieu that has survived for centuries and that, however flawed it may be, has delivered the greatest freedom, expansion of rights, material progress, and human opportunity the world has ever known.</div><div>
</div><div>The measure of our alarm should be that Republicans, with the help of a complicit media, have managed to normalize rampant public lying, the unrestrained desecration of Reason, are carrying out an open, unabashed attack on our democracy, are carrying out notorious, savage assaults on Constitutionalism, the Rule of Law, Equality, and more. Our nation is literally under attack by anti-Enlightenment zealots determined to tear it down and it's not at all clear that they will not succeed.</div><div>
</div><div>It is indicative that the Republican party's highest priest is a thrice-married pathological liar, an admitted sexual assaulter, a draft dodger, a six-time filer for bankruptcy, a man who inflicted hundreds of thousands of excess deaths on the country, was twice impeached, who lost two successive popular vote counts, and who then attempted to overthrow the government. Read that sentence again and think about its implication.</div><div>
</div><div>The Republican hero, the man they model themselves on, the one they want us to bow down to, is a failed business man, a failed reality TV star, a failed president, a career con man who is the most corrupt, certainly the most craven and creepy individual ever known to American politics. This is the best Republicans have to offer. That is who they are, and what they insist on inflicting on all the rest of us, our consent be damned.</div><div>
</div><div>The Enlightenment helped the world replace monarchy with republicanism, a world ruled by theology with a world of science, autocracy with the rule of law, aristocratic privilege with the equality of all men, and feudalism with capitalism. No matter how imperfectly it may have been realized, it was as noble a vision as human beings have ever devised. The two worlds are the difference between the "Dark Ages" that went before and the modern world. That is the Republicans' promise to America.</div><div>
</div><div>More regression. More destruction of beautiful ideals and noble institutions. More degradation of deserving people. More humiliation of undignified people, themselves being the examples. More carnage. More chaos. More slime spewed on everyone.</div><div>
</div><div>There's not a syllable of inspiring vision in anything they have to say, not a word of uplifting ideals in any of it. It is all pathetic self-victimization and a lust for vengeance against those who refuse to respect them. We must all be dragged into the sewer that spawned, that is, and that sustains Donald Trump. That is his and Republicans' retaliation against a people who once had the temerity to believe in majestic ideals, the audacity to strive for them, and who once imagined that they might even be worthy of them.</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>
</div><div>an 521</div><div>
</div><div>Weak or stupid': Trump lashes out at Republican officials — even as they continue to defend him</div><div>
</div><div>Bob Brigham Raw Story May 21, 2021</div><div>
</div><div>Donald Trump lashed out at Republicans for not further embracing his debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump was interviewed by Chanel Rion on OAN on Thursday.</div><div>
</div><div>"We don't have a free and fair press any more media anymore," Trump said on the far-right network. "This is not free and you know, you look at communist countries. That's what happens, nobody can talk, and when you can't talk, there's nothing to discuss."</div><div>
</div><div>He then pushed his conspiracy theories about the election, which he decisively lost to President Joe Biden....</div><div>
</div><div>=</div><div>here are the ‘classic signs of authoritarianism’ the Trumpified GOP now exhibits: conservative</div><div>Alex Henderson May 17, 2021</div><div>The Joe Biden coalition of 2020 was shockingly diverse, with everyone from self-described "democratic socialists" like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to hardcore conservatives such as...</div><div>
</div><div></div><div>=</div><div>why did Trump issue this bizarre military memo in the final days of his presidency?</div><div>Travis Gettys Raw Story May 17, 2021</div><div>Former president Donald Trump issued a bizarre memo days after he lost the election that his interim defense secretary ignored.</div><div>
</div><div>The ousted president signed a one-page memo without the knowledge of White House counsel Pat Cipollone or national security adviser Robert O'Brien directing then-Defense secretary Christopher Miller to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Africa, Germany, Iraq and Syria, reported Axios.</div><div>
</div><div>"This is what the president wants you to do," said trusted aide John McEntee to retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor, who was offered a post as senior adviser to Miller.</div><div>
</div><div>Macgregor told McEntee, who was head of the presidential personnel office, that he doubted all of those things could be accomplished by Jan. 20.</div><div>
</div><div>"Then do as much as you can," McEntee told him.</div><div>
</div><div>Miller himself was astonished when the memo landed on his desk two days later, on Nov. 11, and top military brass were appalled when news of the order traveled through the Pentagon, as Trump worked to overturn his election loss to Joe Biden.</div><div>
</div><div>Trump was ultimately talked out of the unilateral order by Pentagon officials who told him the Taliban could take Kabul in the waning days of his presidency.</div><div>
</div><div>Biden in April announced the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11.</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>Proud Boys leader accuses Trump of leaving group 'on the battle ... ›</div><div>Trump officials used secret terrorism unit to question lawyers at the ... ›</div><div>Trump's New Drug Pricing Plan is Just Another 'Nonsensical' Scam ... ›</div><div>=</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/05/new-gop/</div><div>
</div><div>ME</div><div>Confederates may have lost the Civil War back in the 1800s but, according to a new Daily Beast editorial, it appears they are on the road to victory when it comes to the present-day, intraparty war with the Republican Party. The piece highlights the evolution of a new disturbing breed of lawmakers and politicians within the Republican Party.</div><div>
</div><div>Describing the Republican Party's rising "heroes" as "killers, kooks, and creeps," Wajahat Ali, Beast editor and Senior Fellow at The Western States Center, details the blind support of former President Donald Trump's Big Lie and how it may not only impact the political party but U.S. government in its entirety.</div><div>
</div><div>According to Ali, "we are witnessing the end of a long molting process as the GOP slithers into its final form: a counter-majoritarian, fascist entity."</div><div>
</div><div>Those who were once silently supportive of far-right ideologies are now "shedding their masks and hoods, spitting out their dog whistles" as the party's Trumpists, racists, conspiracy theorists, and violent insurrectionists are increasingly gaining representation in Congress.</div><div>
</div><div>While Trump may no longer be walking the halls of the White House, that has not stopped his agenda as many an overwhelming number of Republican leaders and lawmakers are still out to do his dirty work. The former disgraced president's influence, alone, is enough for his supporters to continue down the path he paved.</div><div>
</div><div>"Trump was not a cancerous growth but the end product of the party's decades-long molting process. He's the beating heart. He's Republicans' orange avatar, their unrestrained ID, their boiling, festering rage that quenches its appetites while securing power and wealth by any means necessary," he wrote, later adding, "Just because Trump is golfing in Mar-a-Lago instead of rage-tweeting from the White House, doesn't mean the threat has been removed. His tactics and tantrums have merely been picked up and copied by Republicans desperate to ride the same strategy to power in 2022 and 2024, perhaps with less sensationalism and fanfare."</div><div>
</div><div>With the path Republicans are embarking on, the party appears to be in what is described as "the final molting stage," which consists of "an increasingly radicalized, weaponized, and fascist entity."</div><div>
</div><div>FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES</div><div>A new GOP 'big lie' plot is in the works - Alternet.org ›</div><div>The 'lost' political party: New report reveals why thousands are ... ›</div><div>The GOP's attacks on voting rights have a new enemy in Florida ... ›</div><div>Trump spawned a new group of mega-donors who now hold sway ... ›</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Georgia's new GOP election law draws criticism, lawsuits ›</div><div>Texas House Approves Voting Restrictions Bill : NPR ›</div><div>Over 100 Republicans, Including Former Officials, Threaten to Split ... ›</div><div>=</div><div></div><div>dirty dregs of dixie: rino purge</div><div>publication reports that a local South Carolina Tea Party leader named Pressley Stutts is at the center of the political shakeup. While he admitted that he is aware of the stark changes, he claims there is a reason for it. Trump had a request and he and others feel obligated to fulfill his request.</div><div>
</div><div>"There are a lot of good people that did lose their positions. Some are my friends," Stutts admitted during a recent chat with The Daily Beast on Tuesday. "Some people say, Pressley, what have you done?"...</div><div>
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</div><div>https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/trump-gop/</div><div>
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