troll caucus 5%

MTG TAG IS FOR CAUCUS

1 23 primary on 118th

11 21 just heard term, chris hayes

see MTG 2 ANGLO-SAXON precursor?

nancy mace belated member? // cos-play queen noem? kari lake?

MTG sure but also gosar

see pro putin ~ ukraine war

see hard rt / freedom cocks

gohmert wacko enough but no soc med chops?

bopp?

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aha yikes they are monetizing victimization, polarization, demonization see crensharrrrh vs mtg

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an new rep 6 25

The future trajectory of the Republican Party may be forecasted not by President Donald Trump, but by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), according to a recent analysis.

In a Wednesday essay for the New Republic, author Grace Byron argued that the three-term South Carolina Republican embodies both Trump's far-right politics and insatiable thirst for media attention, making her a unique figure who represents "the future of the Republican Party." And she's also proven herself to be capable of changing her political views on the fly, with Byron observing that the redrawing of her congressional district necessitated Mace shift from being a moderate feminist Republican who occasionally criticized Trump (as she did after January 6) to a strident MAGA acolyte "more or less overnight."

According to Byron, Mace has carved out a niche for herself as "Congress' most vociferous anti-trans culture warrior," frequently targeting Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) — who is the first openly transgender person elected to Congress — for bullying and harassment. Byron also pointed out that Mace has a penchant for "theatrical displays of cruelty that capitalize on anti-trans sentiment" as a means of earning media coverage

"Mace offers a portal into the topsy-turvy world of Trumpian radicalization," Byron wrote. "She may have backtracked on LGBTQ rights, but she now feels compelled to discuss her belief in extraterrestrials and distrust of vaccines. Selective moderation is out; embracing crank conspiracy theories is in. Her transformation was obviously shameless, but in Trump’s Washington, shamelessness is in, too."

IFrame Content

Byron went on to opine that whether Mace — who she called a "brutally effective clown" — truly believes her extreme views matters less than her goal of garnering media attention. She described the South Carolina congresswoman as "desperate for recognition and not particularly interested in most aspects of governance," whereas Democrats like McBride are more focused on the largely thankless work of serving constituents and passing legislation.

The New Republic contributor also alluded to comments from former Mace staffers who described their workplace as less like a congressional office and more like a public relations firm for someone building a personal brand. But Byron made the point that Mace's personal ambitions and the GOP's goal of political dominance converge when it comes to denying government resources to people deemed undesirable by the far right.

"Stripping health care from trans people is, of course, a goal in and of itself for Republican lawmakers. GOP members have made it clear that they believe trans people are unwelcome in public spaces and even that they should not exist at all. But the denial of government funding for trans health care betrays a deeper, more insidious goal as well—it justifies austerity politics for everyone," she wrote. "By making the case that some people are fundamentally undeserving of material support, Republicans are undermining the idea that any government program could be universal. Health care, they argue, is a privilege, not a right."

Click here to read Byron's essay in the New Republic.

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an 7 24

Jeremy Sherman

July 06, 2024

The culture war is not fundamentally between left and right, liberal and conservative, progressive and reactionary, tolerant and intolerant.

Fundamentally it has nothing to do with ideals, values or visions of the future. It’s a fight between decent people and sociopaths.

Psychopaths are congenitally shameless. Born, that way, they are neurologically deaf to the inner nag of empathy.

Sociopaths aren’t born but made. Some are brainwashed but many are not. Many are motivated sociopaths because being one is tempting, satisfying, efficient and effective.

Sociopaths learn how to be shameless. We underestimate the appeal of shamelessness. Shame constrains us. Shamelessness is a liberation. If you learn to be absolutely shameless – even shameless about your shamelessness, you grant yourself the ultimate dream come true, a reliable feeling of perfect freedom and perfect invincibility, as though you can do anything and whatever you do beats all. Sociopathy is like being granted a wildcard/Trumpcard.

Learning to be absolutely shameless is easy. It takes no study and very little practice before you get the hang of it. Whatever path you’re on has easy detours down to the haven of motivated sociopathy.

There are many ways to learn it. They all boil down to learning to blurt words as if you really mean them, without you thinking about their meaning at all.

What words? Any words that declare you the winner. No matter what you do, you can always find words to blurt that will do the trick and if you don’t care which words you use, but use them with intense conviction, the trick will work – so long as other people misinterpret you as meaning your words

Once you’re getting away with it, it’s smooth sailing. Even if people say “shame on you!” you can just blurt more shameless words that make you feel like a winner.

Once it’s smooth sailing your conscience just atrophies. You don’t need it anymore and it only gets in your way. Eventually you become a proud, deaf shameless sociopath blurting whatever makes you feel invincible no matter what you do.

People become proud motivated sociopaths by many routes. Some just get fed up, say “Aw, hell no! I’m tired of being pushed around” and start blurting cliches they get from popular culture. For example, they can say “just deal with it” to people who are already dealing with it by challenging them. And weirdly the people back down. If they grab a cliché that works, they’ll use it more.

Some people fall into a patch of such cliches all clustered around some brand-name ideology which enables them to make a crusade out of proudly, shamelessly insisting that they’re the winners. It could be any brand, left, right, spiritual, religious, philosophical, whatever.

As a cluster, the words are hypocritical ways to play god or a god or demagog’s humble servant lording it over everyone.

Omnipotence: “I’m heroic because I’m winning/I’m heroic because I’m losing.”

Omniscience: “I know everything/I don’t know about that, so it’s irrelevant.”

Omnificent: “Shame on you for not living up to my moral standards/Moral standards are for losers”

Motivated sociopaths take shameless pride in their hypocrisy. Still, they’re consistent about one thing: “I never contradict myself and no matter what happens, it proves I’m right, righteous and heroic.”

Sociopath simply means “socially-sick” – pretty vague. There are vulgar names for them too, also vague. I call them Trumpbots – lowercase “t” not after the Donald though he fits the description perfectly as would a leftist parroting the same cliches.

The word “trump” means both fake as in “trumped up” and “beats all.” A Trumpbot robotically plays fake trump cards. Again, it’s a tempting lifestyle that one can fall into from any angle, left, right, center, religious, spiritual, philosophical. One can become a Trumpbot for anything or nothing. Once one falls into this tempting lifestyle there would be no reason to leave so long as one can get away with it.

So how can we keep them from getting away with it? How can we make motivated sociopathy costly? How can we honorably shame the absolutely shameless? How can we humbly humble people who will say anything to avoid humility?

The answer is simple and obvious and yet consistently overlooked in our culture wars: Expose and flout their Trumpbot formula; taunt and flaunt the alternative.

Expose and flout their trumpbot formula:

Flout: Care about their words as much as they do: Not at all. You’ve been taught to listen, value and be open to everyone’s ideas. That’s wrong. Do that with decent people but with trumpbots it’s as enabling as listening to a psychopath.

Expose: If you have to deal with a trumpbot, simply declare over and over that they’ll say and do anything to pretend they’re right and righteous. You know what they’ll do in response? They’ll confirm your diagnosis. They’re one trick phonies. They’ve got nothing else. When they trumpbot at you in response, say “there he goes again.” Again and again. They’ll give up and declare themselves the winners but you will have cost them, especially if you do it in front of others.

Taunt and flaunt the alternative:

Taunt: What’s the alternative to being a trumpbot? Being human, trying to guess what best to do. Experiencing ambivalence and being brave enough to show it. Trumpbots want you cornered, wincing at your moral failings. Trying to prove your morality to them is deadly. They don’t care about morality. They’ll shame you for immorality and then laugh at you for caring about morality. So be yourself. Stand your ground without trying to prove it. Your power lies in taunting them with brave honest humanness while they’re robotically playing God.

Flaunt: If they accuse of you of violating some moral code (that they don’t care about) don’t deny it. For example, if they shame you for shaming, say “Of course I shame, like everyone, like you just did, trying to shame me for shaming. I try to shame where it’s deserved whereas you pretend you don’t shame while shaming.”

It is our civic duty to make motivated sociopathy costly.

===}:

wannabe trolls?

an 12 23

Since the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last week that Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the 2024 Republican primary ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment — which says an "officer" cannot participate in an insurrection — three GOP lawmakers have worked to keep President Joe Biden off the 2024 ballot as well, Truthout reports.

Per the report, "In a statement to the far right website *Breitbart*, Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-Pennsylvania), Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Georgia) and Rep. Cory McGarr (R-Arizona) explicitly cited the court ruling from last week as their motivation. The GOP representatives described the court's decision as 'lawfare,' despite strong evidence demonstrating Trump did indeed engage in insurrectionist behavior."

Furthermore, the news outlet reports the Republican lawmakers' rationale "has nothing to do with insurrection," but with "disagreements over policies on immigration and border security, as well as" Biden's "'alleged corrupt family business dealings with China,' which Republicans have yet to actually demonstrate beyond innuendo and unsubstantiated assertions.'"

The lawmakers wrote, "The absurdity of radical Democrat judges removing Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado will be a stain on the American political system for decades. By their very own interpretation of the law, Joe Biden is 100% not eligible to run for political office."

The news outlet reports, "This effort to disqualify Biden from being able to run isn't the only action being taken by Republicans in the wake of the Colorado ruling — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), for instance, has similarly said he may try to block Biden from his state’s ballot, citing the same dubious claim that Biden’s border policies make him an insurrectionist."

Truthout also notes, "A snap poll from YouGov the day after the Colorado Supreme Court ruling found that 54 percent of Americans approved of the court's action, with only 35 percent opposed to it. Although quick turnaround polls such as this one aren't the most scientifically accurate, the poll suggests that a significant portion of the U.S. electorate likely approves of pursuing this option in other states to block Trump from being president again."

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an 12 23

the New York Young Republican Club recently held its annual gala in New York's financial district, and former President Donald Trump gave the keynote address with some of the global far right's most notorious political figures in attendance.

According to Talking Points Memo (TPM), the gala's attendees included not just American far-right politicians like Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), but also European right-wing extremists like Austrian politician Gerald Grosz and European Parliament member Susanna Ceccardi, who is from Italy's far-right Lega party. German politician Maximilian Krah — whose party, Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) has been criticized as a "neo-Nazi party" — was also at the event.

"Donald Trump rubbing elbows with Nazi-linked groups might be surprising if Trump’s last month wasn’t defined by him parroting Hitler and Mussolini, and promising to rule as a dictator so he can rip away Americans’ freedoms and round up millions of Americans into detention camps," said Ammar Moussa, who is the rapid response director for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign.

"The American people rejected Trump and his MAGA attacks on democracy in 2020, and it’s why he’s going to lose again next November," Moussa added.

Gerald Grosz was initially a member of Austria's far-right Freedom Party, which was founded by Anton Reinthaller — a former Nazi Party leader and SS officer. Grosz and his colleague Jorg Haider, who was the son of a Nazi stormtrooper who praised Adolf Hitler's regime, eventually joined a Freedom Party offshoot. While they all come from different countries, TPM described Grosz, Ceccardi and Krah as comrades-in-arms in movements that are "staunchly nationalist and anti-immigrant" in nature.

Prior to Trump's speech, he was introduced as the "45th, 46th and 47th presidents of the United States," which alludes to Trump's baseless conspiracy theory that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election. Trump doubled down on his "dictator" comments during his speech, repeating that if elected to another term he would assume dictatorial powers on day one of his administration to build a border wall and "drill drill drill."

The New York Young Republican Club's flirting with global far-right figures is in line with how international political scholars have described the modern GOP. In 2019, Harvard University political scientist Pippa Norris surveyed roughly 2,000 political experts around the globe on the authoritarian leanings of various modern far-right parties. She found that the American Republican Party has more in common with authoritarian, fascist-adjacent parties like Turkey's AKP and Hungary's Fidesz than with their counterparts in G7 countries like the Tories in the UK and the conservatives in Canada.

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// fever swamp generates meme that troll provocateurs boost?

Rep. Lauren Boebert promoted a post from a Nick Fuentes fan account | Media Matters for America

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tdb hunter plea 6 23

beast

...In the end, though, the most fiery remarks predictably came from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). Boebert fumed that there was “no raid of [Hunter Biden’s] crackhouse,” referencing the presidential scion’s well-known battles with substance use.

Greene took it further with a buzzword-filled tweet about the DOJ’s “stunt,” echoing Trumpworld’s unproven claims about President Biden’s corruption schemes and portraying Trump as a helpless victim.

“Meanwhile the pathetic and weaponized DOJ who protects their puppet President and refuses to prosecute Joe Biden and Hunter for taking bribes from Ukrainian oligarchs and raking in tens of millions of dollars from foreign countries bc the Big Guy makes policy decisions to be help his customers are the real crimes the Biden’s should be charged with!” Greene raged.

“Oh but hey, look at Jack Smith trying to throw President Trump in jail for 100 years for legally possessing documents he’s allowed to posses under the Presidential Records Act,” she concluded. “We are controlled by COMMUNISTS!!”

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bribe tapes BS

https://www.alternet.org/we-dont-know-:(style="background-color:#ffffffff"):}::{biggs:(style="background-color:#ffff66ff"):}::{-greene/

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no lnx

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/20/us/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-boebert-gaetz.html

A Super PAC Targets Greene, Gaetz, Boebert and Others on the Far Right

The bipartisan group will challenge hard-right House Republicans in their home districts, running ads that accuse the lawmakers of holding antidemocratic positions.

By Nick Corasaniti

April 20, 2023

3 MIN READ

A bipartisan group of political operatives — spanning the ideological spectrum from former members of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus to a Democrat who challenged Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — has started a political action committee aimed at “stopping MAGA” and eradicating what the operatives call an authoritarian streak among some Republican lawmakers.

The group, Mission Democracy PAC, will challenge far-right members of Congress in their often deep-red home districts, running ads and messaging campaigns that accuse the politicians of holding antidemocratic and extreme positions.

Mission Democracy PAC begins with just over $500,000 in the bank, but the advisers say they hope to raise $18 million for the coming election cycle, and plan to spend all of it within the targeted congressional districts.

Who’s behind the group? The leaders are former Representative Denver Riggleman of Virginia, who once belonged to the Freedom Caucus but has since left the Republican Party and spoke out against conspiracy theories from the House floor; Olivia Troye, a former official in Donald J. Trump’s administration who has been critical of him; and Marcus Flowers, an Army veteran and Democrat who lost heavily to Ms. Greene last year.

“If we don’t do something now, if we don’t get these extreme MAGA members out of Congress, we stand to lose our very democracy,” Mr. Flowers said in an interview. “It’s time to hold those members accountable, take them to task, attack them in their districts.”

[Politics Across the United States

A Moral Quandary: Jewish Democrats defending Israel have often spoken of the country’s democratic values. But defending the current far-right government is proving difficult.

A Challenge to the Far Right: A bipartisan group of political operatives spanning the ideological spectrum has started a political action committee aimed at eradicating what they call an authoritarian streak among some Republican lawmakers.

A Tug of War: As Democrats look toward the 2024 elections, a push and pull between progressives and moderates is shaping the party’s agenda, messaging and tactics.

Broken Legislatures: The dysfunction that drove the ousting of two lawmakers from the Tennessee House of Representatives is increasingly common across the United States, fueled by one-party control of state legislatures, hyperpartisan politics and uncompetitive races.]

First shots fired. The first ad from the group, a minute-long spot that ticks through several Republican moves to restrict abortion rights, strikingly uses an F-word that is rarely wielded in political advertising.

“Our government is held hostage by a band of politicians so extreme that only the word fascist describes them,” the ad says.

The ad then lists its targets: Ms. Greene, described as “the avatar of these extremists,” as well as Representatives Matt Gaetz of Florida, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Paul Gosar of Arizona.

Only the offices of Ms. Boebert and Mr. Gaetz responded to requests for comment. In a statement, Ms. Boebert said that she had “no doubt” that Democrats would target her seat, but that “my policies are right for our district, our state, and our country.” A spokesman for Mr. Gaetz pointed to his large margins in victories in past elections and added that “special-interest PACs aren’t trusted by Floridians.”

The group has booked what it describes as a mid-five-figure buy for the ad in Ms. Greene’s district, a relatively small opening salvo.

In an interview, Ms. Troye said the group was focused on defeating “the worst of the worst,” and expected to add more officials to target in the future.

Uphill battle: All of these House members come from heavily Republican districts, and all except Ms. Boebert and Mr. Perry won re-election last year by more than 30 percentage points. (Ms. Boebert eked out victory by 546 votes.) None of them faced a serious threat in their primary elections.

In short, while many Democratic voters dream of toppling these pugilistic Republicans, it is often all but impossible.

Mr. Flowers, for example, raised nearly $17 million in his race against Ms. Greene. She crushed him by 32 points.

But the group argues that pouring money and negative advertising into such races can still weaken politicians: They are forced to spend more time defending their seats, raising money and campaigning at home instead of traveling the country and expanding their political profiles with endorsements and speeches.

There’s always money in the banana stand. In liberal politics, there are few better ways to rake in mountains of cash than by targeting far-right Republicans.

For example, the Lincoln Project, a group of former Republicans that has pumped out stinging ads attacking former President Donald J. Trump and his allies, has raised $118 million since forming in 2019.

The leaders of Mission Democracy expressed confidence in their ability to raise money.

“We’re all pretty prolific with our lists, we know a lot of people to call and we all have pretty good reputations for sticking to facts, not fantasy,” Mr. Riggleman said. “We’ve all had incredibly insane real jobs in the real world. And I just think it’s given us a unique way not only to do the mission, but also fund-raise and get the monies that we need to continue.”

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yikes

an 3 23

no lnx

author Jeff Sharlet has spent years interviewing conservatives and found many unassuming Americans are ready and eager for violence against their political enemies.

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.

"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."

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.

"[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."

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.

"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.'"

"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.'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."

:{:{}:

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, 'This is the most democratic I’ve ever felt. I am not only receiving – I receive, I interpret and then I transmit back.'"}:

:{:{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?"}:

"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."

FROM YOUR SITE ARTICLES

Ron DeSantis sending 'very dangerous sign' to GOP voters — and Trump’s worried: religious scholar ›

NY Post's editorial board delivers scorching op-ed urging GOP voters to move on from 'unhinged' Trump ›

GOP voters have bought into an 'apocalyptic, grotesquely distorted' view of 'Blue America': Paul Krugman ›

Greene spokesperson throws profane tantrum when confronted by CNN fact-checker

David Badash The New Civil Rights Movement

March 01, 2023

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Tuesday falsely claimed that President Joe Biden was to blame for a congressional witness’s family tragedy, the deaths of two of the mother’s children from fentanyl. But wh

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the maths are hard': Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for not understanding what 'seized' means

Brandon Gage

February 28, 2023

United States Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) undermined her own attack on President Joe Biden's immigration policies surrounding illegal drugs that have been intercepted by Customs and

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How confident your stupidity is': Lauren Boebert lampooned for posting crudely-cropped US map

Brandon Gage

March 02, 2023

United States Representative Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) attempted to be clever on Twitter early Wednesday evening but instead was met with derision and ridicule.

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Boebert’s right-wing antics are having a surprising impact back home

Travis Gettys Raw Story

March 08, 2021

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has gained notoriety for her public displays of firearms -- whether in campaign ads, in the halls of Congress or in the background of her online presence in committee hearings -- and her

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2x?

"it sounds interesting': NRA-A-rating Lauren Boebert befuddled by biblical synonym for mass murder

Brandon Gage

September 14, 2022

United States Representative Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) recently got tripped up by a Bible verse that she was reading aloud during a speech to an audience of conservative constituents.

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bb 3 23

Rep. Jamie Raskin worked overtime on the Floor yesterday, schooling Lauren Boebert not only on basic facts about ex-president Donald Trump's disastrous handling of Covid, but also on basic grammar. Her poor grasp of the English language, he said, was not only unpleasant to the ears, but was contagious, as he heard some of her "distinguished colleagues" also making the gaffe.

"I believe that she referred to a 'Democrat solution.' I heard another member talk about a 'Democrat member.' I just wanted to educate our distinguished colleagues that 'Democrat' is the noun," he explained. "When you use it as an adjective you say the 'Democratic member.' Or the 'Democratic solution.'"

He then hilariously compared her bad grammar to sounding like a political speech impediment: "As if every time we mentioned the other party, it just came out with a kind of political speech impediment, like 'Oh, the Banana Republican Party' … 'the Banana Republican member' … 'the Banana Republican plan' … 'the Banana Republican conference.'" (See video below, posted by Acyn.)

The only problem with Raskin's lesson on grammar is that he did not first explain to Boebert what a noun and adjective was, losing her as soon as the exercise began.

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Congress quack Lauren Boebert (R–CO) spouted utter nonsense (again) as she tried to defend Donald Trump as a tough-on-Covid, tough-on-China ex-president who was mischaracterized by the media. This was during a larger conversation on the House floor in which she blamed President Biden for the mishandling of Covid-19.

"You're right. President Trump was in office when the Covid virus was released from a lab in China – from the Wuhan lab," she spat. "And he tried to make that very clear that this came from China, and reporters regularly dismissed that."

So Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) kindly volunteered to enlighten the simple lawmaker with some common knowledge history, sprinkling in a bit of ol' fashion sarcasm to make an otherwise dreary task amusing. "I appreciate the gentlelady's passion," he began.

He then explained two points the forgetful gentlelady should be "alerted to":

1) Trump on at least 20 occasions boasted about China's "wonderful" President Xi and the "wonderful job" he and Xi were doing together. "So, if there's a problem with the Chinese government unleashing a virus ― which has not been proven anywhere, but it certainly could be true ― you would have to pin that on your favorite president, Donald Trump, not on Joe Biden."

2) Trump's very own special advisor, "Deborah Birx – I'm sure you've read her book," wrote about the "reckless lethalness" of the bumbling former president's handling of Covid that cost the U.S. hundreds of thousands of lives. (Make that about a million.)

"So you don't have to believe anybody on the Democratic side of the aisle," Raskin wrapped up. "That's Donald Trump's own special adviser on Covid-19." (See video below, posted by Acyn.)

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an 2 23

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) boisterously complained about the "Black National Anthem" being played at Super Bowl LVII on Sunday.

"America only has ONE NATIONAL ANTHEM," Boebert tweeted. "Why is the NFL trying to divide us by playing multiple!? Do football, not wokeness."

The song, Lift Every Voice and Sing, will be performed by Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph and had its National Football League debut at the 2020 season's inaugural game. It was then reaired ahead of Super Bowl LV on February 7th, 2021. It was also broadcast before every match this year.

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an raw 3 23

During a hearing this week, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was humiliated after promoting a report from the Global Times to justify the end of military aid to Ukraine — only for the witness to point out the Global Times is Chinese state-run media.

But there's a lot more to the story, wrote Aaron Blake for The Washington Post on Tuesday.

"The Trump administration in 2020 designated the Global Times and three other outlets as 'foreign missions' because they are 'effectively controlled by the government of the People’s Republic of China,'" wrote Blake. "'This designation recognizes PRC propaganda outlets as foreign missions and increases transparency relating to the CCP and PRC government’s media activities in the United States,' the State Department said."

"Some media scholars have likened the Global Times to China’s Fox News. The New York Times in 2019 labeled it 'a 24-hour propaganda machine' whose top editor at the time was 'seen as a combative public voice of the administration of President Xi Jinping in an era of more open rivalry with the United States,'" said the report. "Responding to a request for comment from The Washington Post, Gaetz spokesman Joel Valdez said, 'Congressman Gaetz wanted to ask if the report was true. The panelist said it wasn’t true, and that was a good enough answer for him.' He did not address the congressman’s apparent surprise at where his source came from."

The specific article Gaetz was pushing alleged that the Azov Battalion was getting access to U.S. weapons. The Azov Battalion is a militia founded by far-right extremists that was later incorporated into Ukraine's military and separated from its original extremist mission. Russian propagandists have long used the existence of the group to claim, baselessly, that the entire Ukrainian government is run by neo-Nazis, one of the public justifications used by Vladimir Putin for the invasion of the country.

The Global Times article cites a 2018 blog postto support the idea the U.S. is training the Azov fighters — but there is no firm evidence to support this.

"The Global Times article goes on to cite various experts accusing the United States of 'inciting conflicts between Ukraine and Russia” and “being very much conniving with the neo-Nazi forces' in Eastern Europe," wrote Blake. "It cites the United States and Ukraine having voted against a United Nations resolution on 'combating the glorification of' Nazism and neo-Nazism. But it does not explain that this is a resolution frequently pushed by Russia, which many European countries abstain from voting on. The United States has repeatedly said the resolution calls for 'unacceptable limits on the fundamental freedom of expression' and that it’s a thinly veiled political attack on Ukraine and even a pretext for Russia’s invasion."

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--> violence?

an 2 23

A new analysis suggests Republican lawmakers' behavior during President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech is a disturbing look into the new norm in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a new piece published by The New York Times, Karoun Demirjian pointed out some of the most egregious aspects of lawmakers' antics as she noted that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) even warned them from partaking in "childish games."

"The catcallers heckled with impunity, despite a private warning from McCarthy before the speech to be on good behavior and his public promises that the House would avoid 'childish games' during the address," Demirjian wrote. "It was the latest example of the speaker’s struggles to control his unruly rank and file. A vocal subset of ultraconservative Republicans has exacted steep concessions from McCarthy in exchange for supporting his bid for the speakership — and he has demonstrated repeatedly that he is willing to cater to their whims to placate his party’s base."

According to Demirjian, the chaos that erupted might be a clue of what's to come as Republicans take over the House of Representatives.

"The display — captured in images of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) her mouth wide-open as she booed and gave a thumbs-down to the president — reflected the ethos that has come to define the Republican-led House, where an emboldened right-wing that styles itself after former President Donald Trump is unapologetic about its antipathy for Biden and eager to show it in attention-grabbing ways," she wrote.

Offering more context into what transpired, Demirjian pointed out a pivotal moment in the night when Greene yelled "liar" at the president.

“If the American people had been on that House floor listening to that speech, it would have been a lot worse names than I called him,” said Greene.

Although lawmakers have not been reprimanded for their actions, experts warn of how lack of accountability could be problematic in the very near future as it may send a conflicting message.

"Experts worry that ignoring Tuesday night’s heckling could make it difficult to return to an era of more polite dealings — especially given how much more indecorous behavior has graced the halls of Congress in the past," she wrote. "One famous example of how bad things can get comes from 1856, when a House member beat a senator with a cane."

Joanne Freeman, an American history professor for Yale University, also expressed her concerns about Greene's outbursts and what transpired.

“It’s not as though there has never been this kind of violation of behavior,” said Freeman. “This one was extreme, it was repeated, and it was coming from people who have already disrespected the government and the office of the presidency.”

She added, “It isn’t just a few random people yelling something at the president. It’s part of an ongoing attack against national institutions of government and the national political process.”

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an 2 23 no vid? twt

Ex-GOP congressman: 'Awful' Marjorie Taylor Greene should face 'censure' for heckling the State of the Union

David Badash and The New Civil Rights Movement February 08, 2023

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) numerous times heckled President Joe Biden as he delivered the State of the Union Address, including repeatedly calling him a “liar.”

Not in modern history has anyone so clearly disturbed the decorum of the nationally-televised event watched live by 40 million Americans. Not even U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC), who infamously also called the President a liar – “You lie!” – during another nationally-televised event, that one by President Barack Obama in September of 2009.

OBAMA YOU LIE

youtu.be]

Tuesday night Congresswoman Greene repeatedly yelled, “You lie!” and, “Liar!” at President Biden, who, ironically, was sitting one seat back from his current position the last time it happened.

Here is that moment:

\u201cRep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) yells "you lie, you lie" and "liar" after President Biden says Republicans are proposing to sunset Medicare and Social Security.\u201d

— The Recount (@The Recount) 1675824479

Greene also heckled President Biden at other times throughout his speech – something she and Rep. Lauren Boebert did one year ago, also during the State of the Union.

Republican former U.S. Congressman Adam Kinzinger Tuesday night tweeted, “Did @RepMTG just yell ‘liar’?! Awful. Yet she will not be punished in response.”

READ MORE: ‘Salute Their Flags’: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Appears to Attack LGBTQ Americans and BLM During Angry GOP SOTU Response

He then called for Greene’s censure – and called for her fellow Republicans to do it.

“The GOP should lead the censure of @RepMTG for her behavior,” Kinzinger tweeted.

He wasn’t done.

Posting a screenshot of Greene standing during the State of the Union heckling President Biden, with her thumb pointing down, Kinzinger asked, “My fellow Republicans… you really want this as a role model for your kids? Do you really think the next generation will want to be part of this? I don’t.”

Kinzinger went one step further, reposting a tweet likening Congresswoman Greene to the fictional Disney villain Cruella de Vil – a comparison many on social media had been making during the evening’s event.

“Representative Joe Wilson was formally rebuked by the House on Tuesday for his outburst during President Obama’s health care address,” The New York Times reported, less than a week after what was at the time an unthinkable act. “The vote came after a Congressional clash over civility that showcased the deep partisan divisions in the House.”

Congressman Wilson also apologized for calling President Obama a “liar,” barely hours after his outburst.

:{:{}:

“This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill,” he said in a statement. “While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.”

Congresswoman Greene likely will not apologize, and likely will not face any formal rebuke.

---

lnx

https://web.archive.org/web/20220617033852/https:/webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3AfMD-7z_7CpEJ%3Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fmerissahamilton%2Fstatus%2F1450829232368672768

Merissa Hamilton

Congressman

, Congresswoman

, and Congresswoman

Frontliners for Liberty ❤️"My children's freedom is my motivator because I refuse to send them into a socialist nation." -

@laurenboebert

oct 2021 frontliners for liberty (freedomworks?]

---

but recall if gubmint inherently bad/evil rubes have no expectation that it could help them [or already is, massive red state rural subsidies from blue states; get your hands off my healthcare; get rid of regs [park land] and unleash economy --> prosperity [war on coal]

an 2 23 sonali

Republicans are resorting to their age-old tactic of manufactured moral outrage to distract from the fact that they have no economic agenda other than to enrich the already wealthy. It would be laughable if their culture wars didn’t have a deadly impact on people’s lives. From attacks on the right to an abortion, to the right to be transgender, to the right to study accurate history, conservative attacks on vulnerable populations have reached a fever pitch. And it’s destroying the nation.

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

As if overturning Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court in 2022 wasn’t enough, 20 GOP state attorneys general are now targeting pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS for fulfilling mail orders of the abortion drug mifepristone. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a federal agency, in January expanded availability of the drug across the country. The abortion pill was relatively unknown some years ago but is now used in more than half of all abortions nationwide, likely in response to the rapidly disappearing access to surgical abortions. Now, as they go after mail-order abortion pills, Republicans are showing just how hell-bent they are on ensuring that the bodies of women (and transgender men) remain glorified baby incubators.

Republicans claim that in addition to protecting the life of a collection of fetal cells that they are determined to personify, they are working in the interests of women’s health. Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey explained his opposition to the abortion pill in a written statement, saying he was merely “protecting the health of women and their unborn children.”

However, not only are abortion pills safer than penicillin or Viagra, but going through pregnancy and childbirth is far more dangerous to women’s health than aborting a fetus. According to a New York Times report on one study of the effects of abortion restrictions on women, “Women who were denied an abortion and gave birth reported more chronic headaches or migraines, joint pain and gestational hypertension compared with those who had an abortion.” Furthermore, “They also reported more life-threatening complications like eclampsia and postpartum hemorrhage, and burdens that included higher exposure to domestic violence and increased poverty.” (It is a wonder that some of us choose to have children at all.)

The GOP’s war on transgender people has also gained steam.Just as Republicans are determined to control the bodies of people who want to terminate pregnancies, they are battling the right of transgender people to transition via surgeries, hormone supplements, or other gender-affirming medical treatments. It’s a shocking attack on people’s right to be who they want and need to be—one that targets young people in particular.

Again, the right wing uses concerns over health as cover for its attacks on human rights. For example, GOP lawmakers in Texas have introduced 35 anti-LGBTQ bills, three of which would view medical care as child abuse. But, even though the vast majority of the anti-LGBTQ bills that are introduced fail to become law, according to the Trevor Project, the debate itself is deeply traumatizing for young people. The organization found that “86% of transgender and nonbinary youth say recent debates around anti-trans bills have negatively impacted their mental health.” It has further encouraged bullying, and the risk of suicide.

Writing in the Nation, Amy Littlefield and Heron Greenesmith point out how “The right is deploying tactics against trans rights that are eerily similar to those mounted against abortion rights over the past five decades.” It’s the same Republican playbook over and over: claim that attacks on vulnerable people are in their own best interests to distract from the fact that the party has no actual plan to make people’s lives truly better.[b/c that wd PO olig and corps]

Like the attacks on abortion and transgender rights, Republicans are also so worried about the supposed harm to students of American history that their third major battlefront is educational courses that question white supremacy and its impact. Claiming they are fighting a college-level academic approach to history called critical race theory, GOP leaders such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are busy banning books and classes at all levels of education. DeSantis’s latest assault is a ban on a new AP-level high school African American studies course that the College Board spent years devising and is set to pilot in 60 schools across the country.

The pushback by DeSantis and his allies has already yielded results. The College Board seemingly capitulated and sanitized the AP course, paring back mentions of Black feminism, queer theory, and the Black Lives Matter movement and replacing it with a new section on Black conservatism.

The move came at the same time that congressional Republicans took aim at Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN), unceremoniously stripping her of membership in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy justified his ousting of Omar from the committee over her alleged antisemitism because she has criticized the state of Israel. Never mind that criticism of Israel is not equivalent to racist attacks on Jews; two of the GOP’s own representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), whose antisemitism is well documented, are now poised to regain their committee seats.

In a speech on the House floor, Omar rightly pointed out that the Republican attack was about “who gets to be an American.” She called out the GOP for its earlier culture war aimed at the nation’s first Black president, Barack Obama, and for spreading rumors that he was a secret Muslim and not a natural born U.S. citizen.

The message that emerges from the conservative party is that those who are not either straight, white, cisgender men, or in service of white supremacist patriarchy, had better fall in line or face prohibition and the threats of violence.

Meanwhile, congressional Republicans are busy readying their pitchforks over the federal government’s debt, hoping to extract austerity measures in exchange for their support to raise the debt ceiling. According to the Washington Post, “the party has focused its attention on slimming down federal health care, education, science and labor programs, perhaps by billions of dollars.” And, some have “pitched a deeper examination of entitlements,” which is a euphemistic way of saying they want cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

Aggressively bombarding women, transgender people, Black people, immigrants, and people of color over their bodily autonomy and their gender and racial identity is a tactic that Republicans hope will keep conservative voters loyal to the GOP and lets them off the hook on regressive economic policies. It’s a classic bait and switch—one that we ought not to fall for.

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mma 1 23

BEN SHAPIRO (HOST): Republicans are getting hit for putting a bunch of firebrands and a couple of kooks on the House Oversight Committee. Again, the game that is being played here is that Republicans might not have done that, right? Republicans might not have put Paul Gosar on, for example, the House Oversight Committee if Democrats had not been in the habit of kicking people off committees. So now the game is going to be Democrats seat everybody, Republicans seat everybody and they kick other people of the opposing party who they don't like off these various committees.

It is worth noting here the media is making a huge deal over the fact that you have some of the, sort of, more loud members of the caucus -- more of the media-centric members of the caucus, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and Paul Gosar on the House Oversight Committee. But let me read you a list of the people on the House Oversight Committee....

So, like a thousand people on the Oversight Committee, obviously.

This is making everybody in the media utterly insane. But the reality is that putting people on the Oversight Committee so that they can ask tough questions of member of government is really not the biggest deal in the world. And it is good to have people who are more firebrandy, like Boebert, on committees like that one. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

If you're going to put people on committees then that seems like a pretty good committee to put them on. Those are the investigative committees where they, actually, would like to be and you're going to get a lot of aggressive questions answered.

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rs 1 23

THE FOUNDER OF “Stop the Steal” delivered an early warning about the violence soon to overwhelm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 in a text to the chief of staff of Rep. Paul Gosar, according to a deposition released by the Jan. 6 Committee.

Ali Alexander is a far-right agitator who was one of the key mobilizers of the protest that morphed into the insurgency of Jan. 6, 2021. After making an early exit from the Ellipse rally he’d helped organize — at which Donald Trump demanded his backers march on the Capitol — Alexander became an eyewitness to the chaos unfolding as insurrectionists breached the Capitol perimeter.

“People were scaling the wall like Spiderman,” Alexander testified to the Jan. 6 committee. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

But Alexander didn’t just stop and gawk. He took time to sound the alarm to Gosar, one of his top House allies. “I think you and your staff should maybe leave,” Alexander texted Gosar’s chief of staff, Thomas Van Flein. “This is hell out here.”

This partisan early warning is cited in the Jan. 6 committee’s 236-page deposition of Alexander, and has not previously been reported. That message, and other details from Alexander’s and related depositions, offer new clarity into the Stop the Steal movement’s links to both far-right paramilitary groups and far-right MAGA lawmakers, including Gosar, Lauren Boebert, and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The committee questioners pressed Alexander about his relationship to the Arizona congressman/dentist. “Dr. Paul Gosar and I share political beliefs about election irregularities,” Alexander responded, citing the baseless conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. Alexander then added that Gosar is “a friend to the movement” and “a stellar dude.”

A questioner for the committee sought to clarify Alexander’s warning text: “So you thought Mr. Gosar and Mr. Gosar’s staff was in danger?” Alexander responded: “I thought that they could potentially be in danger … if this escalated.” He added, “I knew a lot of people in Congress. I wouldn’t want them hurt. So I said ‘I think you and your staff should maybe leave.’ Now in retrospect,” Alexander conceded, “that’s stupid because where were they going to go?” There was, of course, no safe exit from the Capitol on Jan. 6. — as it was soon overwhelmed on all sides by the dead-end Trump supporters Alexander had summoned to the Capitol.

the timestamp of the text Alexander sent is 1:10 p.m., according to additional evidence released by the committee. The warning was delivered just two minutes before Gosar rose on the floor of the House t of the Electoral College votes from his home state of Arizona. “I rise up for myself and 60 of my colleagues to object,” Gosar said with an American flag Covid mask pulled down under his chin, “to the counting of the electoral ballots from Arizona.”

Ali Alexander is a protégé of Roger Stone, the Trump-pardoned felon who has been a dirty trickster in American politics for decades. Stone coined the phrase “Stop the Steal” in 2016, but Alexander testified that the two have a “gentleman’s agreement” for him to use it politically. Alexander is a top ally of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as well, whom he accompanied during the chaos of Jan. 6.

Alexander, who bears a passing resemblance to Sammy Davis Jr.. is also known to Trump, who always greets him, Alexander testified, by pretending to mistake him for the member of the Rat Pack: “Whenever we see each other, he makes the comment to say, ‘Sammy?’”

In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Alexander organized a roving series of Stop the Stealrallies that brought together far-right extremists, toughs, and militants — including the Oath Keepers, Proud Boys, and “Groypers” (or followers of the white-supremacist Nick Fuentes). Oath Keepers former general counsel Kellye SoRelle testified to the Jan. 6 committee that Alexander, Jones, and Stone were “the center point for everything” having to do with the Stop the Steal movement.

‘Baked Alaska’ Sentenced to 2 Months After Livestreaming Himself Rioting on Jan. 6

Twitter Reinstates QAnon Kingpin Ron Watkins

‘Stop the Steal’ Scoundrel Ali Alexander Reinstated to Twitter Day After Praising Brazilian Riot

In addition to his connections with extremist groups, Alexander also had forged connections with far-right members on Capitol Hill. Alexander’s relationship with Gosar appears the most extensive. Alexander testified that in the runup to Jan. 6, Gosar would share messages from Trump with him. “Representative Gosar, if he would talk to the President or meet with the President, might relay some good news back to me,” Alexander told the committee.

When specific plans for Jan. 6 were in development, Alexander testified, he initially sought to hold a morning rally in the shadow of the Capitol — at which Gosar was confirmed to be a speaker.

But planning for the events surrounding Jan. 6 fluctuated as the date neared. The original time slot for Alexander’s Capitol event was pushed back to the afternoon, when Congress would be in session, making Gosar’s participation impossible. Alexander, in turn, got roped into planning for the primary event at the Ellipse, where Trump would address the day’s rabid throng.

Alexander’s participation in that Ellipse rally was not fully welcome. Kylie Kremer, a lead organizer of the Ellipse rally, told the Jan. 6 committee that “Ali is a shady character.” But she said she chose to keep him in the loop because he was “the devil that you know,” and she “would rather keep him close” than risk having him turn on her.

Caroline Wren was another key organizer and fundraiser for the Jan. 6 rally. Alexander testified that Wren was “my main point of contact with what I’m calling Trump world.” Wren testified that Alexander’s participation was needed because he was a better organizer than Kremer and her mother, Amy, who ran the group Women For America First.

“His website, at the end, had 50,000-plus RSVPs,” Wren testified to the committee. “The Kremers had somewhere around 20,000, and that was after the President of the United States had tweeted it multiple times, the Kremers had promoted it. They had less than half the number of RSVPs that Ali Alexander did.”

As part of his planning for the Ellipse event, according to text messages cited by the Jan 6. committee, Alexander hosted a Jan. 3 conference call about logistics for the event. On the call and afterward, Alexander touted that it was joined by several, high-profile right-wing members of Congress.

Wren, who had to drop off the call early, texted Alexander soon after with the query: “Who are the Members of Congress that were on…?” Alexander responded: “Gosar, Lance Goodman, Lauren B, Marjorie, and maybe Congressman Kelleyat a minimum were on.” In his testimony Alexander said he could not recall the specifics of the call but that “Lauren B” referred to Lauren Boebert and “Marjorie” meant Marjorie Taylor Greene, of whom Alexander said, “she’s awesome.”

If Alexander anticipated a peaceful day on Jan. 6, it’s hard to square with his rhetoric leading up to the event. At a rally in D.C. on Jan. 5 he led a crowd in a chant of “Victory or death!” And in the predawn hours of Jan. 6 he tweeted that it was the “first official day of the rebellion.”

First official day of the rebellion.

— Ali Alexander (@ali) January 6, 2021

Alexander was originally slated to be a speaker at the Ellipse rally, but was ultimately boxed out from a turn at the mic. He was, instead, given VIP access for the president’s speech, which Alexander attended along with Alex Jones.

Alexander testified that he did not stay for the duration of Trump’s speech.Instead, he and Jones were tapped (by either Wren or her aide, he said) to lead protesters from the overflow area listening to Trump’s speech in a march toward the Capitol.

Alexander recalled that he traveled with Jones, accompanied by Jones’ security detail, and that they walked toward the Capitol after Jones first made an impromptu speech.Alexander insisted that he and Jones had the intention of reaching the staging area on the north side of the Capitol where Alexander’s separate Stop the Steal event was permitted to begin that afternoon.

But the agitator told the committee that as chaos began to unfold, he quickly realized that his event wasn’t going to happen. He claimed that he tried to “deescalate” the crowd, but the committee questioner was incredulous. “Can you help me understand that assertion with the fact that you were walking to the Capitol, chanting things such as ‘Stop the Steal’?” (Alexander claimed that by chanting he was “gathering people to us … so that we can then move people where they belong.”)

Alexander wasn’t the only one offering text-message warnings to flee the scene that day. As the violence began to unfold, Wren texted Alexander, warning him that this outcome spelled trouble for him. “I think you should leave,” Wren wrote in a text cited by the committee. “This will come down on you hard.”

Alexander has not been charged for any crime in relation to Jan. 6, nor was he referred for prosecution by the Jan. 6 committee. He did reveal that he’s communicated with the FBI through an attorney. In an opening statement, Alexander told the committee: “I had nothing to do with any violence or law breaking that happened on January 6th. I had nothing to do with the planning of violence. I had nothing to do with the preparation of violence. I had nothing to do with the execution of violence. Any suggestion to the contrary is factually false.”

Neither Alexander, Thomas Van Flein (on behalf of Gosar), nor Wren replied to requests for comment for this story.

Alexander is in the news this week because Elon Musk overturned the permanent Twitter ban he received in the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6. Alexander has shown no signs of being chastened by his close encounter with the insurrection, or of reforming his inflammatory rhetoric. In fact, his reinstatement to Twitter came just hours after he’d cheered on the insurrection by far right Brazialians who stormed key government buildings in Brasilia on Sunday.

For his part, Alexander made clear to the Jan. 6 committee that one social media platform wasmore important than all others as a tool he’d used to whip up the crowds who stormed the Capitol. “Which social media platforms did you use to promote the events on Jan. 6?” a committee questioner asked. Alexander responded: “Primarily Twitter.”

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mccarthy 100 yr fail, looking for scalp

During a House GOP meeting this week, $_{tensions rose}_$ as the party proceeded to determine who will be the next Speaker of the House.

Current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) reaffirmed his competence in the position to colleagues who oppose his second term. During $_{a CNN segment}_$ , Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju said that McCarthy passionately raised his voice, saying “I have earned this job!”

“Bulls***!", Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) exclaimed in response.

Raju noted that even if McCarthy does not receive all 218 House votes, the congressman is saying that he is “not going anywhere.”

Strains continued to linger after the meeting during Raju’s interview with Texas GOP Rep. and McCarthy ally Dan Crenshaw, who declared that McCarthy's supporters will be “more stubborn” [than McCarthy's opposers] when it comes to the vote.

“This handful of members are very clearly looking for notoriety over principle,” Crenshaw told Raju. “And anyone who suggests differently is in some kind of make-believe fantasy reality.”

Crenshaw said, “they lost those debates, and that should’ve been the end of it.” But, “if you’re a narcissist and you believe your opinion is so much more important than everyone else’s and you’ll threaten to test down the team for the benefit of the Democrats just because of your own sense of self-importance.”

“We will not vote for anyone else other than McCarthy,” Crenshaw said. “These people think they’re stubborn; we’re more stubborn.”

He asserted, “They are enemies now. They have made it clear they prefer a Democrat agenda over a Republican one.”

Watch the interview below or at this link.

---

12 22 dartagnan

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/25/2143776/-Trump-supporting-losers-double-down-on-alienating-the-rest-of-the-country

no lnx

you may have missed it, since it’s been percolating anew over the holidays, but there’s a word out there being wielded by the right to describe everyone who’s opposed to Trump and “Trumpism.” It’s a word increasingly in vogue on Fox News, and it’s been propagated by pro-Trump folks like Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz — and many others.

The word is “Uniparty.” And — wait for it — you are likely a member. Now an epithet being indiscriminately employed by the far-right to castigate not only Democrats, but anyone, including Republicans, who deviate from the extremist, nihilistic “Trumpian” philosophy, its origins are not particularly mysterious. Back in 2017, Wall Street Journal columnist Ben Zimmer, in an article for Politico, called it out after hearing it emitted from Steve Bannon’s mouth:

“The Uniparty” is the latest populist buzzword to seize the imagination of the drain-the-swamp crowd, those who see grand conspiracies in the machinations of the “deep state” and globalist-corporate forces. It has a crisp clarity, instantly conveying the idea of an establishment cabal, Democrat and Republican alike, arrayed against their outsider hero, Donald Trump.

(And yes, the assertion of a globalist “Uniparty” unmistakably echoes the same dog-whistle connotations as the “global elites” trope).

Somewhat ironically, and as Zimmer recounts, the word is a bastardization derived from terminology once used by the Green Party and its then-standard bearer, Ralph Nader, to attack what they perceived as an “unsavory” collaboration between Democrats and Republicans that operated to thwart their agenda. But its usage today by far-right Republicans has a new meaning. As most recently employed last week by Fox News personality and Putin apologist Tucker Carlson, it denotes a sinister, united purpose underlying the reaction of the U.S. “establishment” — be it Democratic or Republican — to Putin’s unprovoked assault on Ukraine:

“The uni-party is alive and well,” Carlson said, before flashing a photo of Republican leaders “in their orthopedic shoes” with Zelenskyy. Carlson then launched into Zelenskyy’s apparent “war against Christianity in the Ukraine” and Mitch McConnell’s assertion that “defeating Putin is the number one priority” for the senate – plus a laundry list of things that American politicians should be more worried about than Putin, including securing our borders and deaths by Fox’s recent favorite boogeyman, Fentanyl.

(emphasis supplied)

Right-wing Trump acolytes, seemingly flustered at recent Democratic successes (such as the bipartisan passage of the omnibus Budget bill) appear to have embraced the term as a type of rallying call to focus their base’s ire. Here’s Rep. Andy “Sweepstakes” Biggs, for example, writing for the Daily Caller, declaring “[T]he establishment is rather indifferent to the consequences of the Swamp’s policies on Americans, just so long as the Establishment, the uniparty remains in power.”

And here’s Rep. Matt Gaetz, “guest columnist” for the Florida Daily, railing this month against that same “uniparty:”

This is the uniparty in action and should let you know that McCarthy is not a threat to the system destroying America. How could he be? His closest adviser has represented Pfizer, Amazon, and a firm dedicated to giving out a path to American citizenship to wealthy Chinese. His roommate counts Google among his clients.

Just prior to the midterms, sad right-wing rag Breibart jumped on the “uniparty” bandwagon as well, with their headline supporting New Hampshire Senate hopeful (and loser) Dan Bolduc’s effort against Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan:

Republican Gen. Don Bolduc defied Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and the Washington, D.C., uniparty by deploying the Granite State’s motto – “Live Free or Die” – in his closing campaign ad before Tuesday’s election.

Not to be outdone, the public face of the Republican Party, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has also (earlier this year) adopted this terminology:

Greene concluded by condemning lawmakers she dubbed members of the "Uniparty" – a term used by conservatives to describe bipartisan establishment figures they believe do not prioritize the people's will over their own.

She alluded to negotiations between a handful of members including Sens. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Pat Toomey, R-Pa., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., – who engaged in discussions about a path forward on gun legislation, according to CBS.

"The members of the Uniparty slither in the Capitol and have been there too long," she said.

The prospect of right-wing Trumpers driving a wedge between themselves and the rest of the GOP — those who refused to endorse their less-than stellar effort in 2022 to “purify” the party by nominating a panoply of like-minded, unelectable losers — can’t do anything but help Democrats in 2024. As explained by reporters Charles Homans, Jazmine Ulloa and Blake Hounshell, writing for the New York Times, an analysis of the 2022 midterm elections showed:

[A] precariously narrow but consequential slice of the electorate that went against its own voting history this year in order to reject Republican candidates who sought control over elections, at least in part out of concern for the health of the political system and the future of democracy.

{****]

The election results suggest that a focus on Mr. Trump’s election lies did not merely galvanize Democrats but also alienated Republicans and independents. Final turnout figures show registered Republicans cast more ballots than registered Democrats in Arizona and Nevada, but election-denying candidates nevertheless lost important races in each of those states.

Republican candidates in statewide contests who embraced Mr. Trump’s election lies also significantly underperformed compared with Republicans who did not. This was true even in districts that voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Trump in 2020,...[.]

Anything that drives “ordinary” Republicans from Trump helps us, because Trumpian Republicans continue to dominate their own primaries.

So, by all means, Trumpites, please proceed with demonizing your fellow Republicans, by calling them members of this sinister “uniparty” or anything else.

We’ll be here to reap the rewards.

---

dirty trick

an 9 22 badash

More than 50 House and Senate Republicans are joining in an effort to disenfranchise “lame duck” Democrats 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.

In a move that sounds somewhat like what Senator Mitch McConnell did to derail Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court appointment, 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.“

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.

“We must not accept anything short of a ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution (‘CR’) that contains no additional spending or extraneous policy riders,” writes Sen. Mike Lee (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, prolong the current economic recession, and advance policies contained in the Biden administration’s progressive wish-list.”

The U.S. is not in a recession, nor is one expected in the coming months.

The House letter is even more extreme.

“Federal dollars are fueling rampant inflation and funding theBiden administration’s radical agenda,” it begins. “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.”

Among the far right Republicans signing on to the Senate letter are Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

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.

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note mccarthy has joined the trolls gubmint

aha recall conservatives hard-wired to be sensitive to threat/fear, amplified by soc media bubble, boost by troll caucus [all built on libtard/ koch fdn]

conserv all want to get rid of income tax/also trumpistas? b/c they think they will be rich someday?

recall the gubmint is evil, so starve the beast

self-ish me vs we; if gubmint corrupt if not evil or even just inept no pt in wasting $ on it

8 22

https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/gop-rumors-irs/

An official from the U.S. Treasury Department confirmed Friday that, contrary to the unrelenting barrage of lies repeated by GOP operatives for over a week, the Internal Revenue Service is not going to hire 87,000 new agents to harass working people at their homes.

Not a single Republican in the House or Senate voted for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that was passed through the filibuster-proof budget reconciliation process last week and signed into law by President Joe Biden on Tuesday, choosing instead to condemn the package's relatively modest but popular tax reforms.

Despite analysts' predictions that the 98.2% of U.S. households with annual incomes of $400,000 or less will receive the same tax bill or a slight cut as a result of the IRA, [plus study for free file] far-right lawmakers have sown disinformation about how the law's provision of roughly $80 billion in new IRS funding over 10 years—money intended to help the agency crack down on rich tax cheats—poses a threat to every American.

:{:{Last week, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) went so far as to claim that Democrats are "using the power of the federal government for armed robbery!" Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has made similar allegation:(style="background-color:#ff9900ff"):}:s.}:

It's not just fringe members of the GOP who are spreading such falsehoods. One day before Boebert's tirade, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), the highest-ranking Republican in the lower chamber, tweeted, "Democrats in Washington plan to hire an army of 87,000 IRS agents so they can audit more Americans like you."

On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis—currently a top contender, along with former President Donald Trump, to be the Republican Party's 2024 nominee for the White House—called hiring 87,000 IRS agents "a middle finger to the American public," making clear that he would prefer more "might at the border."

Where does this oft-repeated number of IRS agents come from?

"The 87,000 figure does exist, buried within a May 2021 Treasury Department report when the Biden administration was pushing a bigger spending bill with the same $80 billion IRS funding," Reuters noted Friday. "The report estimated the money could fund 86,852 full-time hires through 2031."

But the actual net increase in staff would be much lower, as the IRS expects more than 50,000 aging Baby Boomer employees to retire over the next half-decade.

In addition to an unspecified number of new revenue agents—there were 8,321 in fiscal year 2021—the agency is looking to hire tens of thousands of new information technology specialists and customer service personnel who can create a user experience more akin to online banking, Natasha Sarin, Treasury counselor for tax policy and administration, told Reuters.

There are 2,100 special agents in the IRS Criminal Investigation branch who are authorized to carry firearms, but right-wing assertions that all 87,000 new hires would be auditors, criminal enforcement agents, or armed are "deeply dangerous nonsense—and false," said Sarin.

"The speed and voracity with which [Republicans] are coming at this is really a testament to how important these resources are going to be—because there are many wealthy tax evaders that stand to lose a lot," Sarin continued.

The GOP's intentionally misleading attacks come after a decade of budget cuts approved by congressional Republicans left the IRS with 16,000 fewer employees in 2021 than it had in 2010.

As ProPublica has documented, the IRS now audits low-income taxpayers at the same rate as the top 1%, but that is a direct result of years of austerity, which have undermined the agency's ability to audit the rich.

The IRA's boost in IRS funding aims to rectify this injustice and to begin closing an estimated $600 billion annual "tax gap"—the difference between taxes paid and owed—by strengthening enforcement against the complex avoidance strategies used by the wealthy, especially those with murky sources of income.

New information technology hires will develop "tools to identify more high-end audit targets," Reuters reported. "To target wealthy taxpayers and handle sophisticated audits, Sarin said the IRS needs mid-career individuals with accounting and often tax law experience."

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the increase in IRS funding will raise $204 billion in additional revenue over 10 years, while the Treasury projects that the real revenue impact will likely be $400 billion over a decade—a substantial portion of the IRA's climate and healthcare spending.

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen instructed IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig—a scandal-plagued Trump appointee who spent decades battling the agency—to submit an $80 billion spending and hiring plan within six months. Yellen previously directed the agency not to use any new resources to increase audits of people making less than $400,000 per year.

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PHONE SEIZED 8 22

refused to testify jan 6

One day after the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, federal agents have executed a search warrant on a GOP member of Congress at the center of the Jan. 6 investigations.

"This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone," Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) exclusively told Fox News.

"They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish," he claimed, even though prosecutors usually prefer that subpoena route unless they fear the evidence could be destroyed or not turned over.

"I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting member of Congress," Perry complained.

While Trump's search warrant was reportedly about alleged mishandling of classified information and public documents, Perry's search may be related to Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

When Perry was subpoenaed by the House select committee in December, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) wrote that they were searching for information on the effort to install former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark as acting Attorney General.

“We have received evidence from multiple witnesses that you had an important role in the efforts to install Mr. Clark as acting Attorney General," Thompson wrote. "Acting Attorney General Rosen and acting Deputy Attorney General Donoghue have provided evidence regarding these issues, and we have received evidence that others who worked with Mr. Clark were aware of these plans. We are also aware that you had multiple text and other communications with President Trump’s former Chief of Staff regarding Mr. Clark—and we also have evidence indicating that in that time frame you sent communications to the former Chief of Staff using the encrypted Signal app.Mr. Clark has informed us that he plans to invoke his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in anticipation of a deposition to be conducted by the Committee.When Mr. Clark decided to invoke his 5th Amendment rights, he understood that we planned to pose questions addressing his interactions with you, among a host of other topics."

“In addition, we have information indicating that you communicated at various relevant times with the White House and others involved in other relevant topics, including regarding allegations that the Dominion voting machines had been corrupted," Thompson added.

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raw story

Some of the most radical Republicans in Congress freaked out after GOP Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania had his cell phone seized by FBI agents executing a search warrant.

"This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone," Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) exclusively told Fox News. "They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish."

"I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting member of Congress," Perry added.

Perry, the chairman of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, has been subpoenaed by the House Select Committee Investigating the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capitol.

And some far-right Republicans leaped to his defense, even though a federal judge found there was probable cause his cell phone contains evidence of a federal crime.

"The FBI has gone rogue and is doing the dirty work of a communist regime," tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). "Who is giving these orders?"

"They've declared war!" Rep. Ronnie Jackson argued in all-caps. "Now they’re seizing the phone of a sitting member of Congress. The regime grows more tyrannical every day. If we don’t win and win big in November, our country as we know it will cease to exist!"

"The Biden regime is out of control," argued Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).

"This is America, and these Gestapo tactics are not welcome," said Rep.Lauren Boebert (R-CO). "There will be a reckoning."

"We will not be intimidated," Boebert added. "We will not back down to Biden’s thugs. Game on."

GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said, "Garland has lost the trust of the American people and will answer for his abusive tactics."

Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) tweeted "defund the FBI" after two years of Republicans claiming Democrats are running on a "defund the police" message.

"Our country is becoming unrecognizable," Gosar said. "The FBI, and the Regime they take marching orders from, are the enemy of the American People."

"They must be stopped," Gosar demanded.

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an raw 8 22

Former President Donald Trump spoke for nearly two hours in his closing address at the CPAC summit in Dallas.

In Trump's view, America has been destroyed in the 18 months since he left office, with out-of-control crime, inflation, and oddly enough unemployment, which Trump estimates to be three times the official number.

Trump took the stage to the song "God Bless the USA" and began by thanking the "proud patriots" in attendance.

Trump said he was proud to be joined by Rep. Ronnie Jackson (R-TX), who was his White House surgeon.

"He was an admiral, a doctor, and now he's a congressman," Trump noted, saying he asked him which was the best.

"And he sort of indicated doctor, because he loved to look at my body. It was so strong and powerful," Trump said.

Trump then introduced Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

"This is no time for complacency," Trump warned. "We have to seize this opportunity to deal with the radical left socialist lunatic fascists. We have to hit them very, very hard. It has to be a crippling defeat."

He went on to complain about Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) for supporting the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed a procedural vote after Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote while Trump was speaking, resulting in harsh words for GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

"But McConnell is the most unpopular politician in the country, even more so thancrazy Nancy Pelosi, and something has to be done," Trump urged.

Trump said Biden "surrendered our strength and our everything [in Afghanistan], they surrendered our dignity."

Michael Hardy, senior editor at the Texas Monthly, was one of the local journalists covering the speech.He said that line had "echoes of the Nazi 'stab in the back theory' of losing WW1."

Trump then described crime in "Democrat-run (sic) cities" in very dark terms.

"The streets of our Democrat-run cities are drenched in the blood of innocent victims," Trump claimed. "Bullets are killing little beautiful little children who never had a chance. Car jackers lay in wait like predators."

Hardy described that as "some literal blood-and-soil rhetoric."

And Trump went on saying "we need to courage to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done," which Hardy said "is a rallying cry for street violence and worse."

Trump went on to call for a military takeover of San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Portland.

"Trump's rhetoric is significantly more extreme than even a few years ago," Hardy said. "This might be most frightening speech I've ever heard. Full-on, unapologetic fascism. Trump has either been reading Mein Kampf or having someone read it to him."

Trump repeated his lies about election fraud and teased a 2024 presidential comeback.

Former RNC official Tim Millersaid, "I know everyone in the DC GOP is just hoping Trump will die but it’s impossible to watch this CPAC speech and not come to the conclusion that he’s going to run and be very hard to beat in a primary. Sorry to be the bearer of bad weekend news."

After his speech, Trump danced on stage to the song "Hold On I'm Coming" by Sam and Dave.

"Don't you ever feel sad; lean on me when times are bad," Sam and Dave sang. "Then the day comes and you're down; in a river of trouble and about to drown. Just hold on, I'm coming. Hold on, I'm coming."

You can watch his speech here.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/17/ginni-thomas-tied-facebook-group-frontliners-for-liberty-could-be-a-new-focus-in-jan-6-investigation.html

cnbc

a Facebook group that appears to be run by Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, could become a new point of interest in the U.S. House Select Committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Congressional investigators said they planned to ask Ginni Thomas to testify before the committee hours after Trump attorney John Eastman on Thursday publicly posted a Dec. 4, 2020 email from Thomas asking him to speak to a gathering she called “Frontliners,” which she described as featuring “grassroots state leaders.” Ginni Thomas is listed as an administrator of a Facebook group that goes by a similar name and description: “FrontLiners for Liberty.”

The private group, which listed more than 50 members, was created in August 2020, just two months before the November elections, according to the page’s description.

The group,which CNBC reviewed before it was removed from public view, described itselfas “a new collaborative, liberty-focused, action-oriented group of state leaders representing grassroots armies to CONNECT, INFORM and ACTIVATE each other weekly to preserve constitutional governance.” Although Thomas’ personal Facebook page isn’t verified, it contained numerous photos of Justice Thomas.

The group’s pages were removed from public view after CNBC reached out to Thomas about the organization. It now shows a notice from Facebook saying that it’s either been deleted or the privacy settings have been changed.

CNBC also tried to get answers through Facebook messenger to Stephanie Coleman, who is also listed administrator of the group and the wife of the late Gregory Coleman who was Texas’ solicitor general. Greg Coleman was once a clerk for Justice Thomas.[kia in plane crash --> listserv says paoletta]

Coleman and Thomas are repeatedly pictured together on Coleman’s personal Facebook page, including a photo of the two together in December 2016 with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.

[doc]

thomas asked Eastman to speak to her Frontliners group on Dec. 8, according to her email to him. Eastman said Thomas “invited me to give an update about election litigation to a group she met with periodically,” according to his post on Substack, an email newsletter subscription service. Thomas told Eastman she was “on sabbatical until this election stuff is resolved.”

At the time, Trump and his allies were filing legal challenges against the 2020 election results after President Joe Biden was declared the winner. Trump and those close to him lost most of those lawsuits.

Thomas’ email to Eastman appears to be at issue in his legal dispute with congressional investigators looking into the Jan. 6 attack. A federal judge recently ruled against Eastman,who was trying to assert attorney-client privilege to withhold emails about the 2020 election. The judge ordered Eastman to turn over ten documents, including four that pertained to a meeting on Dec. 8, 2020, which was the same date Ginni Thomas asked him to speak to Frontliners. “Two emails are the group’s high-profile leader inviting Dr. Eastman to speak at the meeting, and two contain the meeting’s agenda,” U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote in his June. 7 order.

Based on the event’s agenda, Eastman discussed ”‘State legislative actions that can reverse the media-called election for Joe Biden.’ Another speaker gave an ‘update on [state] legislature actions regarding electoral votes,’” Carter wrote.

Eastman, according to the Jan. 6 House select committee investigating the riot that took place about 17 months ago, tried to convince former Vice President Mike Pence that he held virtually unilateral power to overturn the election. Yet, according to Pence’s former counsel who testified at a Thursday Jan. 6 committee hearing, Eastman once told him that the Trump advisor’s own legal theory would be rejected 9-0 if it went before the Supreme Court.

The select committee said it plans to invite Ginni Thomas to testify about her correspondence with Eastman. Thomas told The Daily Caller that she was willing to testify. “I can’t wait to clear up misconceptions. I look forward to talking to them,” Thomas said. She reportedly supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election, sending text messages to Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows that encouraged him to stand behind the then president’s false election claims.

A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court, a spokesman for the Jan. 6 House select committee, Thomas, Eastman and his attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

The Frontliners group also worked with a conservative advocacy organization known asFreedomWorks, according to the nonprofit’s spokesman Peter Vicenzi. He also said that Thomas and FreedomWorks activists have been allies for years. FreedomWorks does not publicly disclose their donors.

“Frontliners for Liberty, it is yet another conservative grassroots organization that FreedomWorks partners with to advance our issue set,” Vicenzi said in an email. “Ginni Thomas, for years, has been an invaluable ally to our activist community when it comes to engaging on shared issues.”

Since Trump lost the election, FreedomWorks has pushed the idea that there needs to be election reforms. Conservative lawyerCleta Mitchell, who used to work with Trump’s campaign, now chairs FreedomWorks’ multimillion dollar National Election Protection Initiative, according to Newsmax.

Merissa Hamilton, who says on her LinkedIn page that she’s a grassroots director at FreedomWorks, tweeted out in October a picture at what she described as an event at“FreedomWorks Frontliners for Liberty.” The picture showed Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Louie Gohmert, R-Texas and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo. attending the event.

After CNBC emailed Hamilton about the tweets, they were deleted off her page. She did not return follow up requests for comment.

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an 6 25/22

Trump told Congressional cronies how to get pardons for aiding his bogus election scheme, GOP Rep. says

Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are panic-tweeting after revelations they sought pardons

Conservative insider denounces Republicans who wanted Trump to provide pardons for their involvement in his election scheme

Mo Brooks texts email to CBS containing instructions from Donald Trump on how to request pardons

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CDV note sys

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/donald-trump-an-american-monster/

quite long]

...Dowd surmises that it never occurred to Donald Trump that a president openly plotting a seditious coup "would be a debilitating, corrosive thing for the country. It was just another way for the Emperor of Chaos to burnish his title." The House Jan. 6 committee's first prime-time hearing, she writes, played out as "a horror story with predatory Proud Boys and a monster at its center that even Mary Shelley could have appreciated":

In his dystopian Inaugural speech, Trump promised to end 'American carnage. 'Instead, he delivered it. Now he needs to be held accountable for his attempted coup — and not just in the court of public opinion.

...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 system political theorist Sheldon Wolin described as "inverted totalitarianism."

As part of that long-term assault, 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.

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.

As Wajahat Ali wrote this week in the Daily Beast, some of Trump's "most prominent enablers" are now trying to distance themselves from the "ongoing, concentrated, right-wing effort to overturn the 2020 election":

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….

If you believe that there is a 'team normal' in the modern GOP, then you'll also probably believe that fewer doors and arming teachers will reduce mass gun shootings, banning books will save your child from being transgender, and climate change is a hoax created by China.

Either way, you're not acknowledging that the GOP is now a weaponized cult that no longer produces 'rational' Republicans, but instead caters to the festering, fevered paranoid swamp of dangerous conspiracy theories and white supremacist ideologies. This persistent right-wing disinformation has now radicalized its base, in which many membersbelieve violence is necessary to 'take back' their country. 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.

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.

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.

In a recent essay for ScheerPost republished at Salon, 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:

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. 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. They worked in tandem to pervert and destroy democratic institutions on behalf of the rich and corporations. 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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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 "The Authoritarian Playbook: A Media Guide," a new report from the nonpartisan nonprofit group Protect Democracy. It offers the following advice:

To the extent that the authoritarian playbook has a central theme, it is that democratic erosion is a process of power concentration and consolidation. While all political actors seek to accumulate power, authoritarians, uniquely, seek to entrench that power and protect it from external checks. 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, systemic, and undertaken by broad parties or movements.

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.The only long-term solution is to drain the swamp that birthed the monster.

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6 22

united States Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) appeared on a recent edition of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia)'s podcast and suggested that Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) is unable to do his job because his son committed suicide.

Raskin served as the House of Representatives' manager of former President Donald Trump's second impeachment for inciting the January 6th, 2021 Capitol insurrection. Raskin also sits on the Select Committee investigating the attack, which was triggered (at least in part) by Republican lawmakers refusing at Trump's behest to acknowledge President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election.

Now, with just 24 hours remaining before public hearings revealing what the bipartisan congressional commission has found begin, Gaetz and Greene have launched a new and unusually cruel offensive against Raskin.

"When people encounter trauma, they often associate a lot of the other things around that trauma with it, even if they don't naturally or even rationally associate. And what I worry about for the Congress and for Jamie Raskin, you know, no one would ever want to lose a child, particularly to suicide," said Gaetz.

"As human beings, our hearts go out to him. But I think that he takes that trauma and he associates it now with his work in the Congress to such an interwoven way that he's unable to do the congressional experience outside of just the dungeon of that personal trauma," Gaetz continued, "and I think it makes him look at everything in these very like, dark and severe ways."

Greene agreed.

"You know, we try to come to the job to uplift people," Gaetz resumed.

"We're here to serve the people," Greene interjected.

"Well and we love this country," Gaetz added.

"Absolutely," said Greene.

"We're not here out of a sense of grievance or hatred. We love America," Gaetz said.

"No we love it," Greene chimed in again.

"And we want to vindicate the rights of our citizens and we want to champion their causes and battle their dislikes," Gaetz remarked.

"Yes that's right," Greene said.

"But I think for Jamie Raskin, it's really like, his service in the Congress has almost become like inextricably attached to this sad personal trauma he's had," Gaetz proclaimed. "And I do think it clouds his judgment and you could see that, that very darkness and that pain manifest on Thursday in a way that's not particularly relevant to the challenges that we've talked about, but it might be deeply relevant to what he's going through. And the country shouldn't have to go through all that with him."

Greene then stated the quiet part out loud.

"Well my goodness, it's a horrible thing, what he went through, but it doesn't change the fact of, uh, his political beliefs," she said, "andI believe he's a communist and I believe what he's doing on the January 6th Committee is completely wrong."

Watch below via PatriotTakes:

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an 6 22

some establishment Republicans, when asked about the far-right extremism of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia or Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, will engage in “whataboutism” — saying, “What about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar?” It’s a weak, totally disingenuous attempt to downplay the radicalization of the GOP; AOC and Omar can be combative debaters, but they haven’t threatened anyone — and they obviously want to have a conversationwith those they disagree with, not intimidate them into silence.

Nonetheless, bogus “whataboutist” comparisons of the AOC/Omar/Rashida Tlaib wing of the Democratic Party and the Greene/Gosar/Lauren Boebert wing of the GOP are common among establishment Republicans. But in an op-ed written by the New York Times’ Thomas B. Edsall and published on June 8, a GOP staffer offered a very different — and more honest and accurate — take on the Democratic Party’s left versus the “MAGA Caucus.”

The Republican staffer, described by Edsall as “high-ranking” and interviewed on condition of anonymity, told the journalist, “They are different in that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and The ‘Squad’ seem to me to be more ‘idealist.’ They actually do want to legislate/accomplish the very far-left social ideas they propose. They are willing to cause Pelosi headaches, but they have shown they are not going to go so far as to jeopardize the government (operations) and safety net that so many families depend on from a working government.”

The staffer went on to tell Edsall, “The ‘MAGA Caucus’ members operate more like bullies — legislative bullies. If they have the opportunity, they will gladly hold bills/government funding hostage for the sake of populism and social media. They would take pride in ‘shooting the hostage’ as that would be very popular with their tribal base and their social media.”

The Squad refers to a left/populist alliance of four Bernie Sanders allies, all Democrats, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives: AOC, Omar, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. The name “MAGA Caucus” is typically used to describe Greene, Boebert, Gosar, Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina (who recently lost a GOP primary) and other MAGA extremists in the House.

Referring to The Squad as “far left” is misleading; their idea of “socialism” is the social democracy of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, not communism as it is practiced in Cuba or North Korea. Nonetheless, the GOP staffer generally made a good-faith argument — the type that is usually absent when Republicans appear on Fox News or Fox Business.

“The Squad and the MAGA Caucus are best known for their most visible members, Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia,” Edsall explains. “Both factions have caused major headaches for their respective party leaders.”

Edsall continues, “Centrist Democrats contend — citing poll data from USA Today Ipsos, Pew Research, a FiveThirtyEight polling summary and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Survey — that support from members of The Squad and their allies for defunding the police has undermined the reelection chances of moderate House Democrats running in purple districts. The participation of members of the MAGA Caucus in events linked to White supremacists have increased the vulnerability of the Republican Party to charges of racism, alienating moderate suburban voters.”

Edsall, adds, however, that there are “major dissimilarities” between The Squad’s methods and the Maga Caucus’ methods.

John Lawrence, former chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told Edsall, “The MAGA people seem far more focused on personal celebrity and staking out extremist stances, whereas The Squad — while pushing the policy envelope to some extent — remain reliable party members.”

Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann, authors of the book “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism,” also offered Edsall a Squad/MAGA Caucus comparison — and saw enormous differences between the two.

Mann told Edsall, “The MAGA Caucus is anti-democratic, authoritarian and completely divorced from reality and truth. The Squad embraces left views well within the democratic spectrum. What’s striking about the MAGA Caucus is that they are closer to the Republican mainstream these days, given the reticence of Republican officeholders to challenge Trump. We worry about the future of American democracy because the entire Republican Party has gone AWOL. The crazy extremists have taken over one of our two major parties.”

Ornstein told Edsall, “The true believers…. think Trump won, that there is rampant voter fraud, the country needs a caudillo, we have to crack down on trans people, critical race theory is an evil sweeping the country and more. The Squad is certainly on the left end of the party, but they do not have authoritarian tendencies and views.”

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ron fein does better w/ MTG on block election, she rattled

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influencers as escalator of BS, a peach tree dish, as it were:

5 22

in wake of the back-to-back mass shootings that have taken place inBuffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, right-wing conspiracy theorists have begun spreading lies and misinformation about the deadly attacks.

According to Axios, a growing "pipeline of misinformation" that spans from "obscure internet platforms to the mouths of sitting members of Congress 'seems to be going a lot faster now.'" Speaking to the news outlet, Bryce Webster-Jacobsen, who serves as the intelligence operations director at the firm GroupSense, weighed in on the narratives he has been seeing online.

"The misinformation narratives that start on places like 4chan or Reddit make it to the public consciousness really quickly," he added.

Jared Holt, a Digital Forensic Research Lab resident fellow at theAtlantic Council, also noted that they are "getting picked up by individuals with more power and louder voices. Holt added, "So the effect of misinformation has felt like it's multiplying."

Many of the conspiracy theories circulating on social media platforms have aligned the mass shooters with politically-motivated narratives. Per Axios:

In Uvalde, misinformation falsely claiming the shooter was transgender appears to have quickly spread from 4chan, an anonymous message board, to the mainstream. The pictures used to support the falsehood were pulled from a user on Reddit. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) tweeted that the shooter was a "transsexual leftist illegal alien," but later deleted the post.

In Buffalo, misinformation falsely claiming that the shooting was a "false flag" operation — an attack disguised to look like it was made by the opposite side in a conflict — spread quickly in the aftermath of the massacre. A conservative Arizona state lawmaker is under investigation by the Arizona Senate for her Telegram post endorsing the theory.

"Often, it strikes me that these kinds of communities or figures ... want to believe a certain thing, and someone on the internet finds something to provide source material," Holt said. "They come up with the concept first and then scour the internet to patch details in there so that it can live on."

The so-called "great replacement theory" is said to have motivated the Buffalo shooter, according to his "manifesto."

"There are some common stories that always get spread, and they’re usually about the shooter's identity — and they usually use the same pictures and names," Webster-Jacobsen also noted.

Caroline Orr Bueno, a behavioral scientist who conducts research on social media manipulation also explained the rise in conspiracy theories. "People want answers, and if they’re not getting them from authorities, they’ll get them somewhere else," said Bueno.

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an 5 22

Republicans just voted against two bills to ease the baby formula shortage they have spent weeks falsely trying to pin on President Joe Biden.

In tweets and in floor speeches, Republicans have been attacking President Biden for the nationwide baby formula shortage caused by one manufacturer’s recall and closure of its plant for bacterial infection after two infants died.The shortage has been exacerbated by a trade agreement signed by then-President Donald Trump 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 manufactured by just four companies. Also, hoarding, and price-gouging.

Last week President Biden sat down with manufacturers and retailers 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: he invoked the Defense Production Act 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.

House Democrats last week also opened an investigation into the baby formula shortage.

On Wednesday the House voted on two emergency bills to further ease the shortage.

One example of Republicans falsely attacking President Biden and the left is House GOP Caucus chair Elise Stefanik‘s now-infamous tweet accusing Democrats of having “no plan” as she labeled them “pedo grifters.”...

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. The second would dramatically increase supply from foreign sources to consumers using the federal Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program.

192 House Republicans voted against giving FDA $28 million to help fix the crisis and ensure it does not happen again.

Nine House Republicans voted against making it easier for WIC customers to get access to baby formula.

Many Americans are becoming outraged as the news from last night’s votes is spreading online.

[Here’s the list of 9 members of Congress (all Republicans) who voted NO:

Marjorie Taylor Greene Matt Gaetz Louie Gohmert Lauren Boebert Paul Gosar Thomas Massie Andy Biggs Clay Higgins Chip Roy.]

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-legal-challenge-to-take-her-off-the-ballot-is-a-globalist-ploy-for-a-one-world-government/

rww

rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene testifies in a Georgia courtroom today in a hearing to determine whether the far-right congresswoman can be barred from running for reelection for her role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. In preparation, she spent the day prior with Alex Jones—the radical conspiracy theorist who is underinvestigation for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection—insisting that the legal challenge to disqualify her candidacy is all part of the “globalist” ploy for a “One World Government.”

Georgia voters and a supporting legal group, Free Speech For People, filed the challenge against Greene, winning a victory last week when a federal judge ruled that the case could proceed. At the heart of the case is a provision in the 14th Amendment that forbids any member of Congress who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” from serving in office. The provision was passed years after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates from returning to their seats in Congress.

In making their case, lawyers for Free Speech For People point to evidence like a Jan. 5 tweet by Greene calling Jan. 6 a “1776 moment.”The judge on the case will make a recommendation to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who will then decide whether Greene remains on the ballot.

On Jones’ “InfoWars” Thursday, Greene insisted that the hearing was a “show trial” that has “nothing to do with Jan. 6,” and that she did nothing wrong. “They know there was no insurrection,” she told Jones. “That is their big lie.”

Jones agreed that the challenge was “so villainous,” declaring, “this is next level tyranny.”

“Clearly the globalists want to implode the country, Cloward and Pivento make us dependent and take control. And all the polls show a total collapse and realignment of Republicans,” Jones said. “How do you think the Democrats and the deep stateare going to try to stop this populist peaceful uprising?”

“They don’t want me in there,” Greene said. “So theseglobaliststhat are completely trying to destroy our country and move us into their global economy and theirOne World Government to where NATO is telling us what, who they should go to war with, and the UN is running the entire world. This is what Democrats want. They know to achieve these goals they have to get the strongest fighters out. That’s why they’re coming after me, and they’re coming after Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, they went after Madison [Cawthorn].”

And who does Greene believe is behind it? Greene claimed that the attorney group lodging the challenge “is totally funded by George Soros dark-money groups.”

“They hope that we have a civil war,” Jones said, adding that it was the “devil system.”

Earlier in the show, Jones also compared Greene’s hearing to his own legal troubles stemming from comments he made about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting.

“Well, I’m dealing with the same thing where I was found in default in a case of not giving them documents, but they have all the documents, and then I’m supposed to have a jury trial about how guilty I am but were not even allowed to speak at that trial,” Jones protested.

In addition to being investigated by both the House select committee and the Department of Justice for his role in instigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Jones is facing multiple defamation lawsuits after he called the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting a “hoax” and accused the parents mourning the death of their children of being paid actors.Jonesfailed to turn over documents to the judge in one of those cases and failed to show up to a hearing.

Toward the end of the show, Greene expressed her admiration of Jones. “I love those T-shirts, ‘Alex Jones was right,’” Greene said. “I need to get one of those.”

Tags: Alex Jones Marjorie Taylor Greene Capitol Insurrection conspiracy theories Georgia Jan. 6 InfoWars

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an 4 22

former Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel and his allies suffered a major disappointment when former President Donald Trump endorsed “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance in Ohio’s 2022 GOP U.S. Senate primary. Mandel and Vance have been fighting an ugly, mudslinging battle to show who is the most MAGA, and Mandel views Vance as a pretender. But Mandel hasn’t given up on trying to “own the liberals.” And onApril 22, Mandel — a climate change denier — decided to thumb his nose at environmentalists by posting, “Let’s celebrate Earth Day by building more pipelines.”

This wasn’t the first time Mandel has made a ridiculous comment about the environment. On Valentine’ Day, he tweeted, “Climate change isn’t a threat to our national security, Joe Biden’s open borders are.”

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an 4 22

According to a report from Politico's Olivia Beavers, despite all outward appearances, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are at odds with each other, with the Colorado Republican unhappy she is mentioned in the same breath as her Georgia colleague.

In a deep dive into squabbles that are pulling apart the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, Beavers reports that at a recent conference the two had to be separated.

According to the report, "Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert look from the outside like MAGA twins, both loathed by Democrats for their incendiary right-wing rhetoric. But inside the House GOP, they’re not quite buddy-buddy."

The report notes that Boebert fits in more with the thinking of her Republican colleagues ("a team player") and she joined many of them in being furious with Greene over her appearance at a white nationalist conference well months ago.

As Beavers wrote, when the House Freedom Caucus board of directors gathered last month at its usual spot a few blocks from the Capitol, the two tangled over Greene’s appearance at a February event organized by a known white nationalist."

"Their confrontation grew so heated that at least one onlooker feared the Greene-Boebert back-and-forth might escalate beyond the verbal cage match had another board member not stepped in to de-escalate, according to a GOP lawmaker who was granted anonymity to describe what happened," Politico reports.

"The incident was confirmed by three people connected to the Freedom Caucus, whose members largely avoided public criticism of Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) at the time and focused their discontent on the event organizer, Nick Fuentes," the report added.

You can read more here.

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no lnx twt

Trump’s most strident House 'exhibitionists' are spending more than they’re bringing in: report

[Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia speaking at the 2021 AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona, Gage Skidmore]

Alex Henderson April 20, 2022

In the 2022 midterms, a long list of far-right House Republicans — from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina to Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado — are running for reelection. And if Republicans regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives as many pundits are predicting, extremists like Greene and Boebert, assuming they are reelected, will be part of the House’s majority party.But the Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger, in an article published on April 20, reports that some of Trump’s most strident “exhibitionists” in the U.S. House have been underperforming from a fundraising standpoint in 2022.

“Last year, it was a fundraising feast for the MAGA Goon Squad,” Sollenberger explains. “But in 2022, without the donor stimulus of an attempted insurrection, things are going in the wrong direction. The first three months of the year took more than $275,000 combined out of the pockets of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) — the foursome of America First, Donald Trump-loving, exhibitionist election objectors. All told, it was their worst showing to date.”

Sollenberger continues, “It wasn’t always like this. In 2021, that crew saw eye-popping returns, stacking up a combined year-over-year gain of $4.8 million. The only one who showed a net loss on the year was Gaetz, whose campaign account shed $95,000 amid a drumroll of bombshell headlines and steep costs related to an ongoing child sex trafficking investigation. Still, the post-insurrection fundraising ground was so fertile that even he posted record fundraising hauls, taking in $3.2 million in the first half of 2021.”

Greene’s 2022 reelection campaign, according to Sollenberger, is spending more money than it’s bringing in.

“The campaign that led the way last year has also done the most damage this year,” Sollenberger observes. “That distinction would go to the Greene campaign, which, after banking $5.2 million last year, kicked off 2022 with a $3 million haul. While stunning, that total didn’t outstrip the record spending that ultimately left her $314,000 in the hole. It was Greene’s first negative fundraising return since she was elected.”

Sollenberger notes that Boebert “hasn’t turned in a quarterly loss,” but Gaetz and Cawthorn have. And even Boebert’s “quarter’s totals represented her smallest gains by far,” according to Sollenberger.

“The Gaetz campaign took a bath in both the second and third quarter last year, and Cawthorn hasn’t bulked up since his million-dollar fundraising spree on the heels of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol,” Sollenberger writes. “After losing another $41,300 since January, the Cawthorn campaign only holds about $282,000 — a little more than half its stash this time last year. And he’s sapped whatever firepower he might hold in his other committees, in the process rankling potential allies.”

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/historian-explains-how-far-right-extremists-are-the-future-of-the-gop/

A historian of democracy is 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 that will not wane anytime soon.

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.

"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 crave her endorsement."

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. "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.'"

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."

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.

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,

"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 future of the Republican party, and they aren’t shy about their intention to purge whatever vestiges of “moderate” conservatism might still exist within the Republican party."

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note rubber glue (how much of that is " See they do it too" so not only are they corrupt, they are hypocrites, not to be trusted , morally deficient; how dare they [global coastal elitist) accuse real patriotic americans of wrongdoing; putin disinfo is to tear down trust in system/gov't/civil society/ pols, a pox on both houses leads to apathy if not polarysis; soc med gives instant quantitative feedback (it's an instant poll of your constituents/maga base?

an 3 22

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), like many other Republican lawmakers, has made this week’s U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings for justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson into more of a political circus than a professional inquisition.

From subtly misogynistic insinuations the blatantly racist remarks, Republican lawmakers have been deeply criticized for their treatment of Jackson.

Now, The Daily Beast's Matthew Fuller is offering an unfiltered breakdown of all that has transpired this week. At one point during the 200th episode of The Daily Beast podcast, "The New Abnormal," Fuller joined the panel to speak with the show's co-host Andy Levy as they rehashed the Republican senator's bizarre behavior.

Fuller, who bluntly describes Republican lawmakers' actions as "the full-flavored version" of “straight racism," weighed in with his reaction to the grotesque displays during the confirmation hearings.

"I think I expected it to be maybe a little bit more coded, a little bit more dog whistle-y," Fuller said. "'Certainly, I knew that they were gonna bring up stupid things like critical race theory. I didn’t expect the line of attack to be just so overtly racist, with false suggestions that 'Jackson is soft on crime, she’s soft on child pornographers' even though her sentencing practices were well in line with the average sentences people were getting.'”

Fuller went on to express concern about the bigger problem as he noted the real reason for Republican lawmakers' antics during the confirmation hearings.

“But the broader issue,” Fuller explains, “is Republicans know Democrats have all the votes. At the end of the day, I'd be very surprised if Jackson is not confirmed, and confirmed with probably a couple Republican votes. They know that, and the hearing is just aboutscoring points, which is why yousee Cruz giving his speech and then checking his Twitter mentions. This isn’t about actually moving people. This is about raising money. This is about adding to their own clout.And it’s been frankly a pretty disgusting confirmation.”

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4/22 edit bd

I don’t follow what every Democrat says. No one can. There’s no way for me to know whether the tenor and tone of their collective rhetoric changed last week. But it felt like it got stronger, sharper and angrier.

Consider Brian Schatz.

The Hawaii Senator took to the Senate floor to scorch his colleague Josh Hawley of Missouri, who’s been holding up appointments to the Department of Defense that are necessary to America’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Before he signs off, he said, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin must resign for his “failures” in Afghanistan.

Schatz said that’s rich coming from a guy who raised his fist in solidarity with the J6 insurrectionists and who voted to acquit the former president for the high crime of extorting Ukraine’s president.

“This comes from a guy who before the Russian invasion suggested that maybe it would be wise for [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy to make a few concessions about Ukraine and their willingness to join NATO.”

He added:

“They withheld lethal aid until, unless Zelenskyy released false smears against Joe Biden's son. Then [Hawley] voted to exonerate President Trump for this. So spare me the new solidarity with the Ukrainians and with the free world, because this man's record is exactly the opposite.”

His tirade amazed those of us longing for the Democrats to take a strong stand against the Republican Party’s lies and bad faith. Perhaps we’ll see more now that Greg Sargent put a brighter light on it.

The Post columnist interviewed Brian Schatz on Friday. “Democrats need to make more noise,” the Senator conceded. “We have to scream from the rooftops because this is a battle for the free world now.”

Let’s not forget what Schatz said, however.

He said Hawley is “doing a very specific thing.”

“He is damaging the Department of Defense.”

So far, Schatz is the only Democrat seeing what needs seeing.

Though he says he’s outraged by the US pullout from Afghanistan, Josh Hawley is also attacking, directly, the military leadership itself. (He won’t move on appointments until the secretary of defense resigns.)

Demanding Austin’s resignation is not a “reasonable request,” Schatz said. It can’t be. The point is sabotaging civilian control of the military.

You read that right.

The point is cleaving the ranks. The point is to create conditions in which military personnel feel inspired to take action that’s favorable to the Republicans’ (perhaps the former president’s) return to power.

They are picking up where the J6 insurrection left off. But next time, it won’t be a mob of schlubs. It will be an army of highly-trained insurgents bent on restoring whiteness to the center of the republic.

At gunpoint.

Everyone should see what Schatz sees.

So I interviewed Fred Wellman, founder of Beer Hall Projectand a 20-year Army veteran who served when Secretary Austin was General Austin. I called Fred after US Rep. Matt Gaetz failed to humiliate the secretary in testimony before the House Arms Services Committee.

Fred said: “A standing army can’t be a tool of a political party. Under the Trump years, it became more partisan. Now Matt Gaetz and his peers in the Republican Party are directly undermining the apolitical and nonpolitical nature of the military by dividing troops from leaders.”

Matt Gaetz and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Thoughts?

My main frustration has always been with the “performance wing” of the Republican Party. They don’t want to govern. They want to act.

In this case, Matt Gaetz tried convincing people that “wokeism,” or trying to get a more diverse American military force, is hurting our ability to fight wars. It shows how monumentally stupid he is.

He's dragging culture wars into national defense. That he does so while sitting on the House Armed Service Committee is outrageous.

It’s a committee responsible for oversight of the men and women in uniform, but it’s oversight partially provided by someone as monumentally asinine as Matt Gaetz – that’s just disgusting to me.

Good point. When a country sends people overseas, the presumption should be that leaders will take that responsibility deadly seriously. Deadly serious responsibility is the opposite of Matt Gaetz.

I'm a 20-year Army veteran. I rose through the ranks to be a lieutenant colonel. I retired after Desert Storm and three Iraq tours. I’m the son of a World War II Marine veteran. My son is an Army veteran. My son-in-law continues to serve in the National Guard.

But not everybody can serve.

Less than 7 percent of our nation is veterans. Less than 1 percent serve at all. Less than one-third of the eligible population is capable of serving. I'm talking about fitness, criminal record, mental health, etc. This is the reality of maintaining and growing an all-volunteer force.

That's the point of trying to increase the diversity of the officer corps. That's the point of trying to increase the diversity of the pilot corps. That's the point of welcoming all races and creeds. As Secretary Austin said, anybody who's eligible, who has the capability to serve, should be welcomed even if they're non-binary, gay, straight, whatever.

If they're capable of serving, of meeting the physical and mental requirements we need in our military, we've got to open our arms.

There are just not enough white dudes left.

When you have someone like the Florida congressman directly attacking that, that turns away possible recruits. Gaetz is literally undermining those who serve and who may serve in the future.

Sounds like you’re angry?

I amangry.

The Matt Gaetzs and Marsha Blackburns of the world are openly undermining good order and military discipline with a culture war for political effect. A representative sitting on the Armed Services Committee should understand the challenges of an all-volunteer force.

Civilian oversight of the military matters even though those civilians may never have served, may not have been qualified to serve. People like me, people like Secretary Austin – we understand that. Someone who rose to the rank of four-star understands he’s going to answer to some 25-year-old kid on the Armed Services Committee.

That's the nature of it.

But what frustrates me is the lack of respect for the office and a lack of respect for the military as an apolitical and non-political entity.

One of the biggest fears of our founding fathers was a standing army. They didn't want one and that undermined efforts early on in the republic because of rebellions. We had no army to address them.

Even Washington was like, man, we need an army.

A standing army can’t be a tool of a political party. Under the Trump years, it became more partisan. Now Matt Gaetz and his peers in the Republican Party are directly undermining the apolitical and nonpolitical nature of the military by dividing troops from leaders.

The troops love Trump, they believe, but the troops are being failed by “woke” leaders. Where the fuck do you think the leaders are? You don't just magically make a general. Secretary Austin started as a fucking second lieutenant. He rose through the ranks. This is dangerous.

I do not say this lightly.

This is incredibly dangerous.

They attack the military leadership as“woke”because they're trying to cause a break in the ranks. They're literally undermining good order and military discipline deliberately to break the chain of command.

I've never seen that in my lifetime.

You’re describing national security risk. Is that overstating it?

No, I don't think so.

The very nature of our republic relies on an apolitical military every American knows serves them, no matter their race, creed, religion, color, region, political party, whatever. Our republic depends on everyone knowing a standing army is not a threat to the country.

Many in the Republican Party are super-fans of Putin, let's be honest.They're having CPAC in Hungary, for God's sake, a country led by a rightwing dictator, a Putin fan. Imagine a scenario in which they’re in power and we can't fight because they’ve undermined the military.

It's terrifying to think where this could go.

I've seen reports of white nationalism gaining traction in the ranks of the military. There's an effort from above to deal with that.

I learned in military science 101 at West Point that an all-volunteer force is a direct reflection of our society. You raised your children for 18 years before they get into the military. I give them 12 weeks of basic training. That won’t overcome 18 years of raising them as racists.

All I can do is ensure they don't act on those beliefs and undermine good order and military discipline. If they do behave inappropriately, we use the separate military system to discipline them appropriately and remove them from the military as they're no longer a threat.

But we do know white nationalist and patriot front-type groups have been actively sending “their troops,” if you will, into the military for military training. Right-wing nationalist groups are infiltrating the ranks and recruiting veterans after they get out of the military.

At one point,10 percent of Jan6 cases were United States military and veterans. One of them is an active-duty Marine Corps major!

How horrifying that is.

Talk about the fundamental tension between universal values, like honor, and individual interest, like investment in whiteness.

Some really extreme right-wing politicians say universal values are an attack on conservative thought. It's not against conservative thought.

Conservative thought should mean taxes and “pulling up my bootstraps and raising myself up by going into the military” – that's fine.

Saying Black people are inferior soldiers, assaulting the ranks, inciting homophobia and transphobia and attacking fellow service members – That’s not conservative. That’s extremism, white nationalism.

That needs to be stomped out.

There have been several surveys of service members saying the biggest threat they face isn’t Muslim terrorists. It’s extremism in the ranks....

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3 22 trade vote ukraine

The vote was 424-8.

Here are the eight “no” votes – all from Republicans:

Lauren Boebert (CO)

Thomas Massie (KY)

Matt Gaetz (FL)

Andy Biggs (AZ)

Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA)

Dan Bishop (NC)

Chip Roy (TX)

Glenn Grothman (WI)

---

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/christian-nationalist-lance-wallnau-prays-that-god-will-raise-up-more-great-leaders-like-reps-greene-gaetz-and-cawthorn/

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massie officially in qanon? vxr?

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/peoples-convoy-fails-to-disrupt-washingtons-roads-meets-with-far-right-congress-members/

no lnx

rww thus trifecta 3 22

the convoy of anti-vaccine-mandate, pro-Trump, and QAnon-conspiracy activists was determined to disrupt Washington, D.C., by circling the Beltway, the 64 miles of highway that’s generally a hellscape for commuters. Organizers of the “People’s Convoy” modeled their efforts after the trucker convoy in Canada that took over downtown Ottawa and shut down the bridge connecting Ontario to Michigan, disrupting trade and business in both countries. U.S. organizers demanded an end to vaccine and mask mandates and an end to the national emergency around COVID-19 that was declared under former President Donald Trump and extended under President Joe Biden.

On Monday, the truck convoy entered the Beltway with instructions to take up two lanes of traffic. By 2 p.m., the convoy was “struggling to occupy one lane of traffic let alone two,” The Daily Beast’s Zachary Petrizzo reported. Regular traffic separated convoy vehicles as it had on Sunday. With diesel hitting $4.75 this week, driving their gas-guzzlers slowly around the Beltway seemed like an expensive effort in futility, especially since D.C. had lifted its mask and vaccine mandate and the Biden administration and Congress had. Brase stated the convoy’s demands to “end the state of emergency, end the vaccine mandates” and to hold “our elected and unelected officials accountable for their actions that led to this,”” the AFCLF representative told Cruz and Johnson. “We have a pendulum that’s swinging from ‘woke’ to ‘the great awakening’.”

Shortly thereafter, a larger group met with Reps. Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Thomas Massie for a “trucker round table” on Capitol Hill. The truckers and adjacent activists complained about rising gas prices, mask and vaccine mandates, critical race theory, and government tyranny, with one trucker calling on the legislators to simply stop funding the government. When one convoy member from Michigan asked how to prevent stolen elections, Gaetz repeated debunked voter fraud claims about the state.

“Michigan, where they waited, the center in Detroit, to see how the rest of the state voted to figure out how many ballots they needed,” Gaetz said. “You want to be very suspicious of federalizing elections. If we federalize elections, then we have the swamp and the Washington, D.C., Beltway telling you how to count votes in Lansing, Michigan.”

Massie decided to focus on mail-in ballots—which Trump baselessly insists was a source of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election—warning that “they may have to find some excuse to go back to mail-in ballots.”

Greene was in agreement. “The last thing you want is the federal government to be involved in your election,” she said.

Gaetz tried to wrap up the questions, joking that if the group stayed over its allotted time in the room he reserved, they would be accused of “an insurrection.”

“We don’t want to be accused of that,” Greene said. “It’s frowned upon here.”

The meeting with far-right members of Congress and the focus on the Big Lie from a convoy demanding an end to COVID-19-related mandates might be surprising to those just tuning in. But the rhetoric exhibited on rally stages and social media throughout the convoy’s two-week trek across the country and the organizations supporting the convoy have always indicated that this was never just about public health mandates.

A new report from the nonprofit research organization Advance Democracy, Inc., details the ties that three organizations supporting the effort have to the so-called Stop the Steal movement, whose massive rallies to overturn the 2020 presidential election attracted many of the same elements featured in the People’s Convoy.

AFCLF, whose representative met with Cruz and Johnson, has faced scrutiny over its connections to dubious efforts to overturn 2020 election results in Michigan. It claims to have raised more than $1.6 million for the convoy as of Monday, but it’s unclear how that money has been used.

The People’s Convoy also partnered with Freedom Fighter Nation on strategic and logistical planning, Brase, the convoy organizer, said on a Feb. 12 livestream.

“We don’t want to end up on the news for weird money stuff, we’re making sure that accountants and attorneys are handling it personally through freedomfighternation.org. They have helped set up a lot of this infrastructure. They are working with us one on one to help guide us,” Brase said.

Freedom Fighter Nation is led by Leigh Dundas, a COVID-19 and election conspiracy theorist who was seen near the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection. The day before the attack, she told Trump supporters at a D.C. rally that they would be “well within our rights to take any alleged American who acted in a turncoat fashion and sold us out and committed treason, we would be well within our rights to take ’em out back and shoot ’em or hang ’em, because that is what we did when they tried to overthrow our government by way of assassinating Abe Lincoln, and it is not too good of an end for the guys who sold out our government on our own soil.” Dundas and Chris Marston of AFCLF say they are https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/03/04/peoples-convoy-donations-fraud-afclf

Before the convoy left from California to make its way across the country, it was also supported by The America Project, an organization founded by election conspiracy theorists Mike Flynn and Patrick Byrne.

The organization frequently promotes election fraud claims and contributed $3.2 million to fund the 2020 election audit in Maricopa, Arizona. The group was listed as a supporter of the convoy in a Feb. 20 press release, but by Feb. 23—when the convoy began its trip and...Byrne announced The America Project was “stepping away” from the convoy, alleging that it had been “penetrated by the left.” The convoy—which an estimated 1,000 people committed time and money to join—doesn’t appear to be penetrated by the left in the least bit.

At a Sunday night convoy rally in Hagerstown, Maryland, speakers railed against tyranny, stolen elections, and the mainstream media. QAnon conspiracy theorists ...;Christian nationalists, members of the Proud Boys hate group, and likened the rally to a “county fair,” with music, food, and speeches building community and connections among factions of the fringe right-wing.

The convoy continues its Beltway circling this week. It has yet to be as successful as its Canadian counterpart in bringing gridlock to the nation’s capital, but it has served a purpose for far-right organizers, attracting Republican star power and bringing activists from different factions of the movement together under the banner of “freedom.”

Tags: Marjorie Taylor Greene American Foundation for Civil Liberties and Freedom Freedom Fighter Nation People's Convoy

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any division on putin ukraine?

no lnx many twt

How ‘Kremlin-friendly’ MAGA Republicans — and Tulsi Gabbard — became propaganda for Russia’s Ukraine invasion

Alex Henderson March 14, 2022

Some conservative Republicans have been unwavering in their disdain for Russian President Vladimir Putin, including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah. But in MAGA World, Putin has a long list of apologists — even as thousands of people die during Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. And Never Trump conservative Amanda Carpenter, in an article published by The Bulwark on March 14, takes a look at some of the “Kremlin-friendly” talking points coming from America’s far right.

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“During the Cold War,” Carpenter explains, “the Soviet Union invested heavily in its global disinformation and propaganda efforts. And back in 2016, the Russians had to go to the trouble of creating a troll farm to push their divisive messages to the American audience. But today, they needn’t go to such lengths: Plenty of prominent right-wing media figures in the United States are pushing out Vladimir Putin’s propaganda for him.”

The media figures and politicians that Carpenter slams as “Kremlin-friendly” in her article include Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, the Daily Wire’s Candace Owens, former President Donald Trump, “War Room” host Steve Bannon and Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina. Carpenter notes that these are the sort of MAGA Republicans Cheney has dubbed “the Putin wing of the GOP.”

“It’s all the same people: fringe internet figures, Fox News hosts, Steve Bannon and his acolytes, Marjorie Tayor Greene caucus members, and the millions of people who love them,” Carpenter observes. “Most of these people claim to be free-thinking contrarians, but their accusations, questions, and conclusions about the United States, Russia and Ukraine always seem to go one way: The United States and Ukraine are somehow wrong, and the Russians have their reasons for waging war. If you don’t believe that, it’s only because all the Democrats are lying to you. Well, all the Democrats except for 2022 CPAC special guest Tulsi Gabbard, anyway.”

Carpenter notes that Carlson’s commentary on Fox News has been “so Kremlin-friendly” that according to a Kremlin memo obtained by Mother Jones, Kremlin officials have asked government-run media outlets to feature more clips of him.

:{:{}:

Mother Jones’ David Corn reported, “On March 3, as Russian military forces bombed Ukrainian cities as part of Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion of his neighbor, the Kremlin sent out talking points to state-friendly media outlets with a request: Use more Tucker Carlson.”

Carlson has promoted the conspiracy theory that the Ukrainian government is manufacturing bioweapons in laboratories and that Putin is merely protecting Russia’s safety by invading Ukraine.

Carpenter comments, “One could have guessed that the same people who blamed Dr. Fauci for the coronavirus might try to find some other government bureaucrats to blame for Putin’s war. This time, according to Carlson, ‘Dangerous biological agents remain, thanks to the Biden Administration, unsecured in a chaotic war zone’…. This is the big story in their minds. Not the Russian invasion and the unfolding humanitarian disaster, but the Russian disinformation about bioweapons, which provides a cudgel for whacking the Biden Administration — no matter how bogus the claims.”

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) says many things, mostly because he desperately wants to become Speaker of the House. He recently promised that he's going to have a talk with Reps.Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA.) and and Paul Gosar (R-AZ)about their "appalling" decision to speak at a conference organized by a far-right fringe figure and self-proclaimed white nationalist Nick Fuentes.

Greene smiled and waved to the crowd right after Fuentes asked for a “round of applause for Russia” as Vladimir Putin rained down missiles and mortars on Ukraine. It's not clear exactly what McCarthy plans to say to Greene and Gosar or when, but as Politico reports he might be postponing "the talk" because there's really nothing he can do to control their behavior.

The two already have been stripped of committee assignments and any move to censure the pair only would draw attention to the far right faction of the GOP. One House Republican, Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), says the wanna-be speaker should focus on issues much more important than Greene and Gosar.

“Dealing with dumb, stupid things people do in Congress should probably go down — and go pretty far down — on the list when you’ve got peacekeeping tanks rolling into a country that was not in conflict, when you’ve got record inflation, when you’ve got all of these things,” Armstrong said.

One centrist Republican, who spoke about the flap on the condition of anonymity, observed that the GOP leader has few options with which to threaten Greene and Gosar because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats have “fired all our shots” by stripping their panel assignments.

“I want them to shut up. Just stop it,” this Republican said. “[But] there’s nothing else. What else can Kevin do officially through the conference?”

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nbc

reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., repeatedly interrupted and interjected during President Joe Biden's State of the UnionaddressTuesday night.

Greene was heard grumbling through the entire part of Biden's speech about Covid policy before she shouted a remark about women's sports when Biden mentioned new laws targeting transgender Americans and their families.

Boebert and Greene tried to start a "build the wall" chant — a reference to former President Donald Trump's calls to construct a wall across the U.S. southern border — when Biden referred to securing the border and reforming immigration law.

[vid]

but the moment that stood out most was when Boebert shouted "13 of them" — referring to the 13 U.S. service members who died in an attack in Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal last year — when Biden discussed battlefield conditions that may contribute to veterans' developing cancers "that would put them in a flag-draped coffin."

Boebert's remark came just before Biden mentioned that one such veteran was his son Beau Biden, who served in Iraq and died of brain cancer in 2015.

Her remark prompted some boos from fellow lawmakers.

"Her disruption was inappropriate, especially given the substance of the comments that the president was making at the time, which is to continue this way, which is to protect service members and our veterans," Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said: "It's something that I think that there's a place. That's not the place to do that."

The heckling came a day after Republican leaders condemned Greene for speaking at a gathering of white nationalists in Florida over the weekend. Both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., condemned her appearance at the America First Political Action Committee conference, which was organized by a prominent white nationalist and where attendees chanted in praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/americans-admonish-mgt-sotu-response/

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/03/lauren-boebert-2656827455/ ~ heckle

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sotu 3 22

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wasn't part of the Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address, but she tried to be. In her own SOTU response video, she ranted against everything President Joe Biden stands for, Newsweek reported.

Republicans have been criticized as the "party of no," for the past two Democratic presidents, columnist Nicholas Goldberg noted in the Los Angeles Times. Greene brought that to a whole new level Tuesday night after the big speech. While many Republicans gave Biden standing ovations over bipartisan initiatives and cheers for America, Greene struggled to find anything she liked. Instead, she sought to rant against Democrats in a 30-minute, conspiracy-laden, word-salad for the Right Side Broadcasting Network.

Greene was one of two Republicans, with Lauren Boebert, who attempted to heckle Biden during the speech, drawing boos from both sides. While Biden addressed the international coalition he's worked to build to help Ukraine, Greene maintained, "under President Trump, this [war] would have never happened. For four years, our country had a real leader that led America and the entire world to peace for strength."

Greene didn't clarify how Trump would have prevented the war, however, or clarify how Trump is stronger. The international community has praised Biden, making it clear that there's no way Trump could have crafted the coalition that Biden worked months to build.

The congresswoman hurled insults, calling Biden "a mentally incompetent, feckless, dementia-ridden piece of crap."

Her speech came after she was triggered into making a video on the right-wing site Gettr. "Joe Biden, you are not a president. You are a piece of s*it," she said.

Greene went on to rant about Afghanistan, falsely claiming "thousands of Americans" were still stuck there. As of Jan. 11, that number was closer to 80. On Feb. 1, Qatar reached a deal with the Taliban to restart the flights and evacuations.

She then claimed that Biden was "compromised" by foreign leaders due to the conspiracy theory about his son's laptop. Biden, she said, is working for "anyone, anywhere that has blackmail evidence on his sexually deviant drug-addled deadbeat dad pathetic, sorry, embarrassing excuse of a son."

Newsweek noted: "Fox News' Tucker Carlson also promised to reveal 'authentic, real and damning' documents regarding Hunter Biden's business dealings in China and the Ukraine, which he later claimed were lost in the mail."

Greene has been criticized this week after she spoke at a white supremacist conference where Vladimir Putin and Adolf Hitler were praised from the podium. Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took the rare opportunity to rebuke her and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) promised to give her another "talking to." But according to Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), it's Republicans like Greene who are actually running the caucus now.

See the complaints from angry Americans below:

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recycled 2 22

https://twitter.com/deneenborelli/status/1493292467994730496?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

hillary scary pix // rudy]

many twts troll caucus

Durham Investigation Reveals Clinton Operatives Spied on Trump https://deneenborelli.com/?p=3722010:34 AM · Feb 14, 2022·TweetDeck25 Retweets1 Quote Tweet69 LikesKarey Bruner@KareyBruner·Feb 14Replying to @deneenborelliGIFShow more repliesMore Tweets

Donald Trump Jr.@DonaldJTrumpJr·21hTime for some Truth!!!7,78311.6K53.4K

Rep. Jim Jordan@Jim_Jordan· They spied on President Trump.

:{:{}:

They locked down the country.

:{:{}:

They targeted parents at school boards.

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They masked your kids.

Durham Investigation Reveals Clinton Operatives Spied on Trump

https://deneenborelli.com/?p=3722010:34 AM · Feb 14, 2022·TweetDeck25 Retweets1 Quote Tweet69 LikesKarey Bruner@KareyBruner·Feb 14Replying to @deneenborelliGIFShow more repliesMore TweetsDonald Trump Jr.@DonaldJTrumpJr·21hTime for some Truth!!!7,78311.6K53.4K

Rep.Madison Cawthorn@RepCawthorn·19hSpying on a sitting President is a crime.3,0117,97537.6K

. ᴾᵃʳᵒᵈʸ@DJT1946Official·16hRetweet if I should go on the Joe Rogan Podcast.1,15217.1K34.7K

Mike Pompeo@mikepompeo·17hSocialism doesn’t work. I saw it firsthand when I patrolled the Iron Curtain — and I know nothing good comes of it.

thebradfordfile@thebradfordfile·17hThe same people screaming Trump was a dictator are cheering Trudeau for actually becoming one.1774,98122.6KKevin Sorbo@ksorbs·20hJustin Trudeau: “The truckers are fascists.”

Also Trudeau: *freezes bank accounts of people involved in the freedom convoy*6694,46421.5K

Lauren Boebert@laurenboebert·21hThe fact that the corporate press has completely ignored the Durham filing for 2+ days says so much more about it’s validity than if they actually reported on it.

Sad but true.2,3295,17921.2KBreanna Morello@BreannaMorello·18hThe bar was set so low for NYC Mayor Eric Adams and he still managed to go lower.5052,59520.5KLiz Willis@LizWillis_·Feb 15TRUTH Social (beta) has dropped and President Trump is active on his own account!

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an 2 22

...Mac and Lerer note that according to OpenSecrets, Thiel and Citadel CEO Kenneth Griffin are “the largest individual donors to Republican politics this election cycle.”

Thiel obviously isn’t looking for moderation in the Republicans he donates to. At a recent event in Miami, according to the Times’ sources, Thiel described Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming as the face of “the traitorous ten” —which is how he views non-MAGA Republicans.

Mac and Lerer stress that “what sets Mr. Thiel’s spending apart” from Griffin’s is Thiel’s disdain for moderation and a preference for “hard-right candidates who traffic in the conspiracy theories espoused by Mr. Trump and who cast themselves as rebels determined to overthrow the Republican establishment and even the broader American political order.”

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aha: as trms and i think hayes note goal not to govern b/c gubmint inherently corrupt/incompetent and regulation evil; plus they would have to understand how system works and do work and even compromise, and the latter is evil and former unappealing, so do standup like boebert; troll own the libs tickled up from alt rt swamp:

presumably he's looking for adulation like bannon or anyone would get on gab or talk radio, a brave act of speak truth to power, ok to insult an illegitimate prez who stole election?

a bit like 2nd freedumb rightwingers see as absolute with no acctability eg

an 12 21

...Bombarded with criticism for his childish stunt, the 35-year-old Schmeck told the Oregonian, “Now, I am being attacked for utilizing my freedom of speech.”And Obeidallah slams Schmeck for painting himself as a victim.

“Schmeck is now doing the cliché conservative move of saying he's being unfairly criticized because people have slammed his ‘joke’…. Aww, poor ‘victim’ Schmeck,” Obeidallah argues. “Apparently, he thinks he should be able to tell Biden to basically go f**k himself while on a family-friendly holiday call,but no one should be able to take issue with his actions. Sorry, that's not how freedom of speech works.”

Obeidallah continues, “If you want to troll a president to apparently make others on the right happy, you can expect criticism. If you don't want criticism because you are painfully thin-skinned, then don't say ‘Let's go, Brandon’ on a live Christmas Eve special. It's as simple as that.”...

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proto- ur-troll?

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E&E

The anniversary of the snowball both sides love to troll

By Timothy Cama | 03/13/2020

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) displays and tosses a snowball on the Senate floor in 2015.

"You know what this is?" Sen. Jim Inhofe rhetorically asked Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who was presiding over the Senate one afternoon five years ago.

"It’s a snowball. It’s just from outside here. So it’s very, very cold out, very unseasonable," Inhofe said. "So, Mr. President, catch this."

With that, the Oklahoma Republican lobbed the snowball — to a Senate page, not to Cassidy — and into history.

The Snowball Speech, as it has come to be known, has since lived in infamy, which is notable for the author of "The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future."

The five-year anniversary of the speech was last month, but it still serves Inhofe’s opponents as a mocking illustration of the Republican Party’s climate change policy. For his supporters, it’s an epic troll against Democrats.

Inhofe and his staff frequently bring up that the snowball and the speech were not meant to disprove climate science by showing that snow still falls.

Instead, they were meant to mock Democrats’ focus on climate, which then-President Obama had recently told Vox is deadlier than terrorism.

It came at an important moment for climate policy.EPA was working to make final the Clean Power Plan, Obama’s signature climate policy, meant to cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

He was also preparing for the United Nations’ climate summit in Paris later that year, which resulted in the Paris Agreement.

And federal officials had recently concluded that 2014 was most likely the hottest year on record — a conclusion Inhofe mocked with the snowball.

Feb. 26, 2015, was a big day for memes and for the internet. "The dress," a photo of a striped dress that some saw as black and blue and some saw as white and gold, exploded on social media that day, as did a video of two loose llamas being chased in Arizona.

Inhofe made the trifecta. His speech and snowball quickly went viral, with mentions in news outlets around the world.

E&E News spoke with some of the figures involved in the speech and its aftermath. Inhofe’s staff declined multiple requests to make him available.

Mandy Gunasekara had just started working for Inhofe as majority counsel for the Environment and Public Works Committee.

"This was actually my first floor speech for the senator that I had written and that I was the designated staffer to escort him to the floor. I had started less than a month before," she recalled recently.

In videos from that 2015 day, Gunasekara is instantly recognizable as the staffer sitting just behind him during the speech, switching out his posters, including a 1974 Time magazine story predicting a coming ice age and a photo of his family building an igloo.

There was still snow on the ground outside the Capitol — pretty standard for February.

"I don’t know who made the snowball. I just know when I went to go brief him, I had the speech, got the poster and was handed the snowball," said Gunasekara, who is now EPA’s incoming chief of staff.

"It was his idea to bring in the snowball, because he was trying to point to the media’s dishonesty in covering weather events versus actual climate," she said.

"Whenever it’s hot in the summer, everyone’s like ‘Oh, my gosh, climate change!’ But if it’s something that doesn’t play into the global warming element, like a snowstorm in February, people don’t say, ‘Oh, my gosh, it’s climate change.’"

When he got to the Senate floor, Inhofe surveyed the pages there at the time to see who could catch the snowball, Gunasekara said. The pages were high school juniors or seniors, nominated by their home-state senators, helping with the day-to-day operations of the chamber.

One page mentioned he played baseball. He happened to be from Oklahoma. Inhofe had found his catcher.

The pages were now all in the loop, but Cassidy apparently wasn’t.

"No, not really. He just kind of pulled it out and threw it," he recalled. The mainly immovable cameras in the upper chamber didn’t show the recipient. Tracked down five years later, he, too, declined to comment for this story.

Another factor Cassidy could see that the C-SPAN viewer couldn’t: the reaction of Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate’s parliamentarian, to Inhofe’s use of a snowball as a prop during a floor speech. The parliamentarian is a nonpartisan referee who enforces the chamber’s rules, like one against using props.

"The parliamentarian was like, ‘What?! That shouldn’t be on here,’" Cassidy said, miming a frazzled reaction. MacDonough’s office didn’t respond to a request to confirm Cassidy’s recollection.

Later in Inhofe’s speech, he formally asked for retroactive unanimous consent to use his snowball, which Cassidy granted.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) responded to Inhofe’s speech later that day with one of his own, arguing that authorities including the Navy and NASA disagreed with Inhofe.

"You can believe NASA, and you can believe what their satellites measure on the planet, or you can believe the senator with the snowball," he said.

‘An illusion as to how far it went’

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla) and Mandy Gunasekara. Photo credit: C-SPAN[

Inhofe holding a snowball during a session of the Senate in 2015. To his right is aide Mandy Gunasekara, who is about to be EPA’s new chief of staff. | C-SPAN]

Cassidy also remembered seeing it on TV later. With the snowball going off the frame and the scale of the Senate chamber, the toss of a mere few feet looked much bigger.

"There was an illusion as to how far it went," Cassidy said. "Somehow, with the optics of TV, it looked different, as if it was more than it actually was, like Joe Burrow threw a touchdown pass," he said, referring to the Louisiana State University quarterback and 2019 Heisman Trophy winner.

In the coming days and weeks, mockery about the speech spread. Obama mentioned the speech in interviews to make fun of the GOP’s climate positions. Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" joined in, too.

"You think global warming is a hoax because you — in February — were able to collect one ball’s worth of snow," Stewart said on his show, calling Inhofe a "crazy old fuck."

Gunasekara said she wasn’t on Twitter at the time nor following the news closely, so she didn’t know that day what had happened.

"I was totally oblivious to it. And the next morning, Alex came in, and he said, ‘Sit down. You should know that millions of people saw your face last night.’ And I was like, ‘What? What are you talking about?’" she said, referring to Alex Herrgott, then deputy staff director at the Environment and Public Works Committee.

Herrgott is now executive director of the White House’s Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. He’s not the only former Inhofe staffer from that time to land a job at the executive level.

Gunasekara, who starts her new job at EPA next week, is already facing fire from Democrats who question if she can be impartial, given her strong rhetoric against liberals and the secrecy behind the funding of her group (Greenwire, March 11).]

Andrew Wheeler, a former Environment and Public Works staff director under Inhofe, is EPA administrator, and Ryan Jackson, the staff director who hired Gunasekara, was EPA’s chief of staff until recently.

‘Boogeyman’

“Daily Show” host Jon Stewart commenting on Inhofe throwing a snowball. | Comedy Central

The snowball stuck with Obama. He revisited it throughout 2015 as he ramped up his climate agenda and advocated for what became the Paris Agreement.

He called Inhofe’s stunt "disturbing" in a Vice News interview the following month; said it was "stupid, shortsighted, irresponsible" in a comedy bit at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April; and mentioned it again while touring a melting glacier in Alaska in September.

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The next year, he said the country wouldn’t find solutions to climate change "if we pretend a snowball in winter means nothing is wrong."

Jesse Lee, the White House’s rapid-response communications leader at the time, said the video of the speech quickly made the rounds among staff members.

To them, the snowball speech served as a symbol of the GOP’s position on climate change. It occurred around the time that "I’m not a scientist" became a frequent refrain for Republicans looking to avoid controversy over climate science.

"We were all very prepared for a real tough, hard-fought debate on climate, since we never had that in the past," Lee said.

"This was the moment when it really crystallized that actually, Republicans really didn’t have anything to show for themselves. Rather than look ridiculous, they would rather ignore it, and that left Inhofe standing there alone as the spokesman for them," he continued.

"It was an indication that we had a clear path to drive agenda. And, if anything, it emboldened us to be aggressive about it."

Gunasekara, for her part, doubts the speech changed any minds.

"People either saw it like, ‘That’s so funny how upset it makes people’ or ‘Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe Republicans think that,’" she said. "It emboldened whatever position somebody already had."

Marc Morano, a former Inhofe communications staffer from his earlier stint atop the Environment panel and climate skeptic who cheers on the mocking of Democrats and climate activists, said the speech was an excellent act of trolling, even if it didn’t change minds.

"He was having fun. It was a lot of fun," said Morano, now an executive at the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow.

"I don’t think it did anything; I just thought it was fun, and it was a great visual, and I think it really helped him," he said. "It gave the debate a lot of fun. It gave them their boogeyman, and he had fun being their boogeyman."

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kpfa fri mtg endorse as more sought than trump?!

https://www.alternet.org/2022/02/marjorie-taylor-greene-2656645182/

Texas Republican candidate Bianca Garcia is vowing to become a "mini Marjorie Taylor Greene" if elected to the Senate, according to Newsweek. On Wednesday, February 9, Garcia —who currently serves as the president of the conservative group, Latinos for Trump— appeared on The McFiles podcast.

During the interview, Garcia discussed her platform as she gave listeners a depiction of the type of politician she'd be. Although Greene is often at the center of controversy, Garcia has applauded her for her political stance. In fact, Garcia believes Greene is "the only one right now that's really fighting back."

"They don't like her. So I might be a little mini Marjorie Taylor Greene," she said. "I don't know. They're going to call me BRG."

The Republican candidate went on to issue an ultimatum to local pastors in her area saying they would "be held accountable" if members of their church did not cast their votes for her. "You're going to either have to show up and show out, or you're going to have to deal with it with the Lord," she said.

Garcia's remarks come as she continues her campaign for the Texas Senate seat located in the 11th district. Her area covers vast metropolitan areas including suburbs south of Houston, Pearland, Texas, and Galveston.

Her praise of Greene comes just days after the extremist Republican lawmaker was mocked on Twitter for confusing Adolph Hitler's private german state police, the Gespado, with the Spanish chilled soup, Gazpacho.

During an appearance on One America News Network's (OANN) Real America with Dan Ball, Greene said, "So everything is completely out of control. Not only do we have the DC jail, which is the DC Gulag, but now we have Nancy Pelosi's Gazpacho Police spying on members of Congress."

Although Garcia is a fierce supporter of Greene, some Republican lawmakers have expressed disapproval of her. In fact, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) recently spoke out against the controversial lawmaker.

"She [Greene] doesn't want solutions and she doesn't care if you get censored," Crenshaw said back in January. "She just wants to be a victim so she can keep asking you for campaign donations. It's a scam."

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/turning-point-usas-america-fest-aims-to-reach-gen-z-with-christian-nationalists-conspiracy-theorists-and-country/

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec wants you to hang out with him at Turning Point USA’s “America Fest,” billed as the “biggest event in the conservative movement” in Phoenix, Arizona, Dec 18-21. At least that’s what hesays on Twitter, where he offers a promo code for the event and insists it “makes a great Christmas present.” Joining him will be TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, and Donald Trump Jr.

The event brings together right-wing Congress members, Christian nationalists, conspiracy theorists, and even right-wing activist athletes. A flashy promo video shows young conservatives dancing at what looks like a concert—and indeed, the event promises full concerts from a handful of younger country music stars, “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, and Dee Jay Silver.

While the promotion makes the event look more like a party, Turning Point USA is an organization that trains and mobilizes right-wing college students. This summer, that mobilization focused ontargeting public school boards for allowing schools to teach about racism in U.S. history and implementing LGBTQ-inclusive policies. The group has raisedtens of millions of dollars, peddled disinformation about President Joe Biden’s win in 2020, and stoked fears about COVID-19 vaccines. TheAssociated Press writes that Kirk, who has called George Floyd a “scumbag,” “exploits the racial divide to reach Gen Z.”

Kirk has increasingly partnered with Christian nationalist forces, and the “America Fest” speaker attendee list reflects that.Religious-right activist pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills will be in attendance as willreligious-right activist musician Sean Feucht, who hastoured the country protesting pandemic-related restrictions on public gatherings. Feucht launched a projectto mobilize conservative Christian millennials after his unsuccessful run for U.S. Congress in Northern California.

The speaker list includes some newer (and younger) Congress members: 26-year-old Madison Cawthorn, who released a ferventlyChristian nationalist ad urging Christians to “take our country back” and in another speech called on parents to raise their sons to be“monsters”; Lauren Boebert, whose extremist rhetoric includessuggesting Rep. Ilhan Omar is a terrorist; and Matt Gaetz, who is facing a Justice Department investigation into whether hepaid women for sex and, separately,whether he slept with a minor and transported her across state lines.

:{:{Rep. Louie Gohmert and Rep. Andy Biggs}::{, the latter of whom Ali Alexander said helped plan the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, are also scheduled to speak.}::{ The attendee list also features athletes and gun aficionados of the right-wing movement: with appearances from Michael Chandler, a Trump-supporting mixed martial arts fighter with the UFC; professional bow hunter Cameron Hanes; and John Lovell, better known as}:}:{, who offers trainings on tactical pistol and rifle use and small unit tactics as well as his vision of a “bold and dangerous masculinity.”}:

The event’s speaker list indicates the right’s vision for the future.

Posobiec, who peddled the far-right Pizzagate conspiracy theory, is a contributor to TPUSA and, judging from his promotion of the event, will likely be a main feature of it.

He recently teamed up with Kirk to interview18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three and killed two protesters at a Black Lives Matter protest last year. Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges last month andbecame a hero, first in the eyes of the far-right and then the broader right-wing movement. The interview opened with Kirk expressing personal affinity: “Kyle, from the first moment I saw you in the news and saw video of you defending yourself, I felt we had something in common.”

Tags: Charlie Kirk Donald Trump Jr. Jack Posobiec Kayleigh McEnany Lauren Boebert Louie Gohmert Madison Cawthorn Matt Gaetz Sean Feucht Tucker Carlson

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https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/lauren-boebert-2655985643/

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teenage vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse, recently acquitted on homicide and attempted homicide charges, is being exalted as a hero by far-right MAGA Republicans —some of whom are offering him internships. Steve Benen, a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show" who frequently writes for Maddow's MaddowBlog on MSNBC's website, weighs in on these internship offers in an op-ed published on November 24 and describes some ways in which they are becoming "increasingly bizarre."

Rittenhouse, now 18, was only 17 when he went to a racial justice demonstration in August 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin carrying an AR-15-style weapon. And shot three Black Lives Matters supporters, two of them fatally. Rittenhouse, during his trial, insisted that he acted in self-defense, and the jury voted "not guilty" on the charges he was facing.

Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida are among the far-right MAGA Republicans who have offered Rittenhouse internships.

"As Kyle Rittenhouse's trial unfolded," Benen observes, "a variety of Republican officials and candidates saw a political opportunity to exploit. The defendant, charged in the fatal shooting of two men during protests in Wisconsin last year, took on totemic value for the far-right. With this in mind, in the wake of Rittenhouse's acquittal late last week, many Republicans quickly embraced and celebrated the verdict as a victory in some kind of culture war. This, in and of itself, said a great deal about the state of the GOP and its unhealthy approach to our civic life."

Benen continues, "But then it got a little weird. Some congressional Republicans not only saw Rittenhouse's acquittal as validation of a conservative worldview — they wanted to be personally and directly associated with the defendant."

After Gaetz offered Rittenhouse an internship, far-right Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona — who recently drew widespread condemnation for posting an animated video that depicted him murdering Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — tweeted, "I will arm wrestle @mattgaetz to get dibs for Kyle as an intern."

Benen says of Gosar, "It's possible the Arizonan was kidding. It's also possible he wasn't. The fact that it's become difficult to tell the difference is itself disconcerting."

Justice was served for #KyleRittenhouse and he is fully exonerated. As I said last year, obviously self-defense. \n\nI will arm wrestle @mattgaetz to get dibs for Kyle as an intern.https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1461760240739917832\u00a0\u2026

— Paul Gosar (@Paul Gosar) 1637346122

Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado is also offering Benen an intership. Appearing on Newsmax TV, Benen told Sebastian Gorka (a former Donald Trump aide turned cable news host), "Now, I do have some colleagues on the Hill who have, just like me, offered Kyle Rittenhouse an internship in their office. And Madison Cawthorn, he said that he would arm wrestle me for this Kyle Rittenhouse internship. But Madison Cawthorn has some pretty big guns, and so, I would like to challenge him to a sprint instead…. Let's make this fair."

Benen notes that because Cawthorn is in a wheelchair, "competing in a sprint isn't much of an option."

"Given his attorney's recent comments, it seems unlikely that Rittenhouse will intern for any of these GOP officials," Benen writes. "But that doesn't change the fact that it's unsettling to see them compete for his affection in increasingly bizarre ways."

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After the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on Friday afternoon, right-wing trolls — many of whom are elected members of Congress — were ecstatic at this prime opportunity to trigger the liberals.Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Madison Cawthorne of North Carolina, and Paul Gosar of Arizona — all Republicans more interested in trolling than governance — made showily public offers of an internship to Rittenhouse. Cawthorne even took it to the next level, instructing his supporters to "be armed and dangerous."

Never one to be out-trolled, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia let loose with some truly unhinged tweets about "radical Marxists" who are trying to start "a race war," proclaiming that "gun rights are the only thing holding back the Communist Revolution the Democrats are waging." And on the Senate side, Ted Cruz of Texas attacked the "corrupt corporate media," skillfully targeting the very people he needs to amplify his message and get that sweet trolling attention.

Right-wing pundits joined in on all the gleeful trolling, as well.

Ann Coulter tweeted a meme equating Rittenhouse with superheroes, and Donald Trump Jr., forever trying and failing at being a Twitter wit, wrote, "The Rittenhouse jury just gave Biden his second colonoscopy of the day." Multiple right-wingers on social media wrote songs to honor Rittenhouse. On Friday, popular and t**rollish YouTuber Steven Crowdercelebrated the verdict by insisting, "it's so wrong that we teach young men that violence is immoral," and encouraged viewers to follow in Rittenhouse's lead by taking up arms against Black Lives Matter protesters. Tucker Carlson, King of the Trolls, will host Rittenhouse on his Fox News show and insisted that he's "not a racist person." This claim is impossible, of course, to square with the photos taken earlier this year in a Wisconsin bar where Rittenhouse partied with Proud Boys and flashed white supremacist signs at the camera.

All of these provocations worked as intended: They got attention and garnered liberal outrage. "Liberal tears" are the most valuable commodity in Republican circles these days, and nothing brings forth tears like senseless violence. For those who subsist on liberal outrage, the dunks were easy and plentiful, because it turns out those silly liberals really do make frowny faces over the celebration of political violence.

The right is reacting to this verdict like they're sports fans whose team just vanquished a rival team in the Superbowl. The excitement on the right was palpable, but also measurable. As an analysis from Raw Story shows, Facebook exploded with conservative celebrations of the verdict, with "18 of the top 20 most engaged page links in the world" originating with conservative American pages. And the pleasure of the moment was explicitly tied to joy over how upset liberals — or at least those perceived as liberals — were. Right-wing figurehead Dan Bongino, who is reliably one of the most popular figures on Facebook, posted a link claiming Chuck Todd "nearly cries" after the verdict. The post garnered over 3,000 shares and 68,000 reactions, the majority of which were the "laughing" emoji.

It's not just that this behavior is tasteless. It also illustrates how violence is the logical endpoint of the right-wing obsession with trolling liberals. If your goal is provoking a reaction, then violence is surely the most efficient way to do it. Unlike mean tweets and "f*ck your feelings" T-shirts, violence simply cannot be ignored. By celebrating this violence, congressional Republicans and right-wing media are openly inviting more of it, because the reward of upsetting people on the left is just so delicious. The distinction between right-wing trolling and violence is collapsing.

To be certain, the escalation of violence-as-trolling has been going on for a while now. As Eric Boehler wrote in his Press Run newsletter, "The flashpoints of Republicans and conservatives promoting political violence have become ceaseless, to the point of frightening normalization," to the point where polling data suggests "that as many as 21 million Americans think that the use of force is justifiedto restore Donald Trump to the presidency."

Much of the month has been dominated by a story about Gosar tweeting out a fan-made video that depicts him murdering President Joe Biden and Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. The Democratic-controlled House responded to this unsubtle threat by censuring Gosar and stripping him of his committee assignments, but nearly all Republicans stood by Gosar. The excuse used to defend Gosar's behavior was that he was just trolling liberals for fun. Gosar's digital director even put out a statement saying, "Everyone needs to relax. The left doesn't get meme culture. They have no joy."

However, right-wing "joy" is not mutually exclusive from violence.

Gosar's tweet wasboth trolling to get a reaction from the left and a threat of violence. Trolling is a crucial aspect to both amplifying violent threats and helping conservatives hype each other up for more violence. That's why Gosar doubled down by retweeting the video minutes after being censured for it. The message is clear: If you love outraging the left, then violence is the swiftest way to do it.

Even Rittenhouse's behavior prior to killing two people at a Kenosha, Wisconsin protest last year embodies this troll logic. As Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times observed, Rittenhouse's presence at the protest was clearly a provocation. Rittenhouse carried a showy AR-15 "in part because the rifle "looked cool," and the gun "seemed to invite conflict." Popular right-wing troll Drew Hernandez was at the protest that night, anthat, when some protesters saw Rittenhouse and other men with guns, "they immediately attempted to agitate them, to try and start some conflict with them."

In other words, Rittenhouse's AR-15 functioned both as a troll and as a deadly weapon. The distinction between trying to "trigger the liberals" and actually pulling the trigger on liberals collapsed completely the night Rittenhouse shot three people, killing two. He certainly got what every right-wing troll wants, which is an outraged and dramatic reaction from people he perceived as liberals. The result was two dead bodies — and another opportunity for GOP leaders to troll some more, further reinforcing the idea that, for those who live for triggering the liberals, nothing works better to get a reaction than actual violence.

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cawthorne arm selves

https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/gop-southern-strategy/

thom h

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.

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."

Earlier in the day, known antisemite and racistRepresentative Marjorie Taylor Greene called for her followers to prepare for warbecause "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."

We heard this rhetoric, too, many years ago when a much earlier generation of white supremacists tried to gin up bloodshed in America.

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hayes

: Kevin McCarthy understands Republicans like him are not the future of the party.

The troll caucus—Gosar, Greene, Gaetz, Boebert—"they are where the Republican Party is headed.”

"And quite frankly McCarthy is properly, correctly scared of their influence."

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https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/louisiana-s-kennedy-dabbles-modern-day-mccarthyism-n1284201

no lnx

louisiana's Kennedy dabbles in modern-day McCarthyism

If Sen. John Kennedy's line of questioning against Saule Omarova sounded familiar, it's probably because it echoed Joe McCarthy's tactics.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., speaks during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.Patrick Semansky / Pool via AP

:{Nov. 19, 2021,

By Steve Benen

Senate fights over the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are not especially common, but the dispute over Saule Omarova's nomination is proving to be unusual.

At face value, Omarova's story reads like a classic American story. She was born in Kazakhstan, before the collapse of the Soviet Union. She immigrated to the United States, studied law and business, became an American citizen, took on a role in the Bush administration's Treasury Department, and ultimately became a law professor at Cornell University. see WITH pod]

President Joe Biden nominated her for a position in which she'd be responsible for regulating bank assets — she specializes in financial regulation — and yesterday, Omarova's nomination arrived at the Senate Finance Committee for a confirmation hearing.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana apparently thought it'd be entertaining to take aim at her personal background, starting with this question: "You used to be a member of a group called the Young Communists, didn't you?" The Washington Post took it from there:

But this isn't where Kennedy was headed. Instead, he spent his designated time suggesting that Omarova was a communist sympathizer, beginning with that loaded question. Omarova indicated that she wasn't sure what group he was referring to, a bit of caution that Kennedy wasn't interested in. Kennedy, reading from handwritten notes, identified the group by name: "the Leninist Communist Young Union of the Russian Federation," also known as the Komsomol.

As a child in a USSR country, Omarova's participation in Komsomol was not optional. The professor patiently tried to explain this to the Republican senator, who didn't seem overly concerned about the relevant details.

"I don't mean any disrespect — I don't know whether to call you professor or comrade," Kennedy said.

Of course, why would anyone find such nonsense disrespectful?

As part of the line of questioning, the Louisiana Republican sought proof that Omarova "resigned" from the school program as a child. She explained that participants didn't have to formally quit the group, since they simply "grow out of it with age."

Kennedy, either confused or willfully ignorant, wasn't satisfied, seeking some kind of letter of resignation. No such letter existed, because the question didn't make sense.

The Post's analysis added, "It's safe to assume that Kennedy, who attended Oxford University during the Cold War, is aware that Soviet youth were conscripted into party organizations and that socialist views are not communist ones. But he is a politician representing a deep-red state, and he clearly understands that it's easier to submarine a presidential nominee using old-school Red scare tactics than it is to challenge her actual belief systems one by one."...

troll caucus 5%

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