massie, Th Rep 0 10%

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PRIMARY 4 26 BROKE W/ TRUMP ON EPSTEIN // KHANNA

IMPEACH HEGSETH BOAT STRIKE

massive pow --> mofo // troll caucus? BENGHAZI

tp?

no merri

ONLY GOP ~ B3 BC DEBT

anti-trump?!

libtard engr

see school shoot

butina thus vlad? ~ ukraine w/ gosar

5 26

MASSIE BEAT BUT 32MIL$ MOST EXPENSIVE IN HISTORY?

// 5 IN INDIANA GERRY? 100M FOR PAXTON TX?

Payback: Republican Trump targeted is now going after his ballroom - Alternet.org

BILL CASSIDY PRIMARIED

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MMA CHYRON SLAMS AS POL SPECTACLE

November 10, 2026, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends

Neither Hegseth nor the Fox & Friends crowd gave any indication of where they were getting their claim that the drug boat strikes have saved the lives of thousands of Americans. Fact-checkers have debunked similar claims from Trump, reporting that experts say the evidence for such assertions “is similar to that of the moon being made of blue cheese,” that the alleged number of American lives saved from overdose would account for more than typically die of drug overdose each year, and that in reality, the strikes “have little or no impact on overdose deaths in the United States.”

The Washington Post further reported in July that the DEA and Pentagon concluded that the strikes had not curbed cocaine trafficking into the United States. According to the DEA analysis the Post cited, they “had failed to affect the supply or price of cocaine in the United States and had led traffickers to diversify beyond go-fast boats and to avoid international waters, opting instead for larger boats and hemming close to coastlines, where U.S. forces are less likely to open fire.”

What did the U.S. give up for a policy that accomplished little? According to Massie’s article of impeachment:

[Hegseth] chilled independent legal review within the Department of Defense, constructed a purported legal basis for the use of military force without constitutional or statutory authorization, and displaced longstanding precedent and codified maritime law-enforcement practices that are jurisdictionally assigned to Coast Guard and law enforcement agencies, by substituting in such place the use of summary lethal force by Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps elements. While doing so, Secretary Hegseth also oversaw orders denying quarter and failing to provide rescue, including secondary strikes against shipwrecked survivors, who were hors de combat, and the abandonment of shipwrecked survivors at sea, thereby endangering members of ... our Armed Forces in future military engagements by encouraging adversaries to subject American service members to the same treatment.

By subjecting persons merely suspected of criminal conduct to lethal military force without judicial process, without Congressional authorization, and without establishing a lawful basis for treating such persons or vessels as military targets, Secretary Hegseth arrogated to himself and the Executive Branch the roles of judge, jury, and executioner and asserted a unilateral power to determine who may live and who may die. Such a power is foreign to the rule of law, repugnant to the legal traditions and fundamental values of the United States and the Western world, and contrary to United States law and customary international law. This conduct undermined the integrity and credibility of the United States and its Armed Forces, damaged the diplomatic standing of the United States, and injured the interests of the Nation.

Hegseth, as a Fox host, endorsed the extrajudicial killing of helpless, captured enemy combatants. “If he committed premeditated murder,” Hegseth said of an American service member who admitted to executing an alleged Taliban bombmaker, “then I did as well. What do you think you do in war?”

While Fox appeared to sour on Hegseth after he implemented stringent restrictions on the Pentagon press corps, the network appears to be going all-in to defend him from impeachment.

Another key pillar of the MAGA defense for Signalgate is crumbling

04/08/25 12:21 PM EDT

Fox praised and validated Trump's legally questionable boat strikes in the Caribbean

10/29/25 3:31 PM EDT

Right-wing media concoct their own legal justification for Trump’s extrajudicial strike on Venezuelan boat

09/05/2

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an 8 26

In spite of President Donald Trump's insistence that he still knows what MAGA wants, a new piece from The i Paper argued that he is now facing an "insurgency" from the movement he created as he continues to sow divisions.

"With just over two months to go before voters are set to seal his fate in America’s midterm elections, President Donald Trump is once again bucking tradition: instead of uniting his party around him and leading from the front, he has spent days stoking divisions among Republicans that could advance the day when the GOP splits asunder," reporter Simon Marks wrote in the Tuesday piece,

He later added, "last Friday night, the President fired the latest, dramatic salvo in his efforts to retain the leadership of a movement that shows every sign of fracturing beneath him. Amid collapsing trade talks with Canada, fresh revelations of the damage Iran has done to America’s military infrastructure, and several days of primary contest losses for a host of Trump-backed Republican candidates, the President turned his social media blowtorch on 'traitors' around him."

Marks further argued that "Ground Zero" for the MAGA pushback against Trump could be traced back to Wyoming, "America's reddest state," earlier this year, when "five [GOP] lawmakers broke ranks and condemned the President for a social media post in which he compared himself to Jesus." More recently, his endorsed candidate for governor in Wyoming "went down to a crushing defeat" against another Republican candidate "who pledged to lower the temperature of extremist debate in the state."

Marks also highlighted the Florida House race in which "antisemitic influencer Dan Bilzerian" sought to unseat incumbent Rep. Randy Fine, calling him a "Jewish supremacist" and attacking Trump as "nothing but a tool for Israeli hegemony." While Bilzerian did not win the primary, Marks argued that his ability to secure 19 percent of the final vote offered "a fresh indication that Trump and his approved candidates are vulnerable to accusations that the President has betrayed MAGA and sold the movement out."

Elsewhere, three spurned former Trump supporters — Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie and Tucker Carlson — shared a photo of a meeting together, amid rumors that they might be plotting the creation of a new political party to take on Trump and his remaining GOP elite backers. Trump himself was dismissive of this idea, lambasting the group as a bunch of "losers."

"Trump now finds himself confronting a paradox. In many ways, MAGA’s greatest strength since he announced his presidential candidacy in 2015 has been the movement’s ability to portray Republicans as a single insurgency seeking to overthrow an elitist radical-left establishment and the so-called 'deep state,'" Marks concluded. "But today, Trump’s control of MAGA is threatened by a fresh insurgency vowing to overturn the very Republican elite that he now leads. Containing those threats will be no small matter, as Carlson, Massie, Greene and others build support for their version of Trump’s handmade political universe.

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an 5 26

MAHA and wellness advocates sound the alarm after the primary defeat of Rep. Thomas Massie | Media Matters for America

RWW 5 26

Finally, Rep. Thomas Massie is hoping to fend off a Republican primary challenge by campaigning with antisemitic white nationalist David Reilly.

HUFFPO 5 26 MAGA Attack Ad Uses AI To Show Thomas Massie 'Cheating With The Squad' | HuffPost Latest News

A new campaign advertisement uses video generated by artificial intelligence to depict Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) in a romantic liaison with progressive Democratic women in the so-called Squad.

In the ad, made by a group aligned with President Donald Trump, a narrator accuses Massie of going against the president on key votes in Congress — while showing Massie going on a dinner date and then holding hands in a hotel lobby with Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).

“Thomas Massie, caught in a throuple in Washington,” the ad’s narrator says. “He’s cheating with The Squad on the America First movement.”

It’s actually “worse than adultery,” the narrator says. “It’s a complete and total betrayal of president Trump and Kentucky conservatives.”

Massie is facing a Trump-backed challenger named Ed Gallrein in a Republican primary election this month. Limited polling suggests Massie holds a slim lead despite an onslaught of spending by Trump-aligned groups.

Omar called the ad despicable and said it should be taken down.

“Campaign attack ads are generally misleading, but AI-generated ads like this cross a line and should never have been allowed in the first place,” Omar said in a statement to HuffPost. “This ad must be taken down immediately.”

A spokesperson for Ocasio-Cortez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a social media response, Massie called the ad disgusting and defamatory. “It reeks of desperation, but they’re hoping the older generation won’t realize it’s an AI generated lie,” Massie wrote.

The libertarian-leaning Republican has voted against several pieces of legislation that have been top Trump priorities, including a massive tax cut bill last year, because of his longstanding opposition to federal budget deficits. Democrats and members of The Squad have voted against the bills for different reasons. Massie also went against Trump by pushing for the release of the government’s files on sex predator Jeffrey Epstein.

Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said the ad violates a law Congress passed last year intended to criminalize nonconsensual porn. The Take It Down Act outlawed the publication of intimate visual depictions or “digital forgeries” of identifiable people in an effort to cause them reputational harm.

“Thomas Massie NEVER dined, held hands with, or intimately engaged with AOC and Ilhan Omar,” Greene wrote on X. “Thomas Massie has voted with Trump 91% of the time EXCEPT when he’s pushing war, protecting Epstein pedophiles, violating your freedoms with warrantless spying FISA 702, or overspending your money into further ruinous debt!!!

Gallrein’s campaign and its allies have repeatedly suggested Massie is more at home with The Squad — the younger, highly visible progressive Democrats who happen to be women and minorities — than with his fellow Republicans.

Massie told HuffPost in an interview last month his closest friends in Congress are members of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus. He scoffed at the idea he’s actually intimate with Ocasio-Cortez and Omar.

“I don’t make enemies with anybody, because on any given day, you’re going to need their votes,” Massie said. “We don’t go out to dinner or have secret handshakes or anything like that.”

===:

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AN 4 26

President Donald Trump’s media ecosystem for a long time depended on major online brands like The Daily Wire and Blaze Media, but as one of their fellow conservative publications pointed out, Trump’s coalition is dissolving — and with it, the base of support upon which many of these media outlets once stood firm.

“Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire is in trouble on YouTube, losing significant numbers of subscribers—with Shapiro himself down a whopping 80,000 in the first quarter of the year, according to a new survey of political channels by researcher Kyle Tharp,” wrote The Bulwark’s Will Sommer on Monday. “It’s more proof that dissident and increasingly anti-Trump voices like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson have the energy in right-wing media. Shapiro, by contrast, is stuck defending an unpopular war with Iran.”

Sommer noted that even Shapiro’s attempts to offset losses to his political brand by crafting mainstream motion pictures has failed.

“Deadline reports that the set of the Daily Wire’s upcoming film Run Hide Fight Infidels is in chaos, with black mold on the site, a tree branch hitting a crew member, and actor Jonathan Majors falling out of a window during a recent shoot,” Sommer wrote. “Undeterred by crew complaints, producers say they won’t negotiate on safety ‘with communists.’ By communist, they mean unionized crew members.”

Sommer also took shots at Blaze Media, an outlet owned by Glenn Beck, which is facing problems because of a journalist associated with them who spread an incorrect story about the January 6th coup attempt.

“Back in November, the conservative media outlet the Blaze claimed that reporter Steve Baker had the scoop of the century: compelling evidence that the pipe bombs planted outside Republican and Democratic headquarters on January 6th were laid by a Capitol Police officer,” Sommer wrote. “Blaze founder Glenn Beck declared it would be ‘the biggest scandal of my lifetime, maybe in the last hundred years.’ Republican members of Congress like Anna Paulina Luna and Thomas Massie championed the story, saying it was proof the deep state was behind January 6th.”

Yet the story proved not to be true, with Blaze Media retracting it in December, and Sommer wrote that Baker “was fired on Wednesday morning, as the publication faces the possibility of a massive libel judgment over the story.”

Beck has a long history of extravagant behavior, perhaps becoming most famous for dramatically crying during many of his speeches. Beck remains a stalwart in the conservative movement, although Shapiro has wavered somewhat at times. In a recent interview with the New Yorker, Shapiro admitted to David Remnick that he does not believe Trump is entirely honest and that he has concerns about the Trump family’s involvement in cryptocurrency schemes.

"I raised red flags on my show, consistently, about how I thought this was wrong. If the name were Biden instead of Trump, people would be screaming bloody murder," Shapiro told Remnick. "And this was not beneficial to President Trump’s agenda, either. So, sure, that concerns me."

Speaking with this journalist for Salon Magazine in 2019, Shapiro also admitted that he has been singled out for hate by some of his own far right supporters because of his Jewish background.

“I’ve gotten enormous amounts of hatred from the alt-right, and while folks on the far left try to lump me in with the alt-right, that is the height of absurdity on every possible level,” Shapiro said. “I mean, it’s honestly one of the most reprehensible things that I’ve experienced personally, people trying to lump me in with people who have legitimately threatened to kill my children … so that’s always a party.”

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AN 12 25

FRANKFORT — A super PAC supporting U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has won crucial backing from one of the biggest Republican mega-donors — a man who has the wherewithal to offset millions of dollars that Republican President Donald Trump is trying to raise to beat Massie in the spring primary elections.

That man is Jeff Yass, who recently — and indirectly — gave $1 million to a new super PAC that in recent weeks has been advertising in support of Massie’s reelection, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. Those records show Yass has set aside millions more in what could potentially be used for additional independent spending to help reelect Massie.

Trump recruited and has endorsedShelbyville Republican Ed Gallrein, a former Navy Seal, to challenge the incumbent Massie who drew the president’s ire by differing with him on several high profile issues and House votes.

Yass is co-founder of the Philadelphia-based trading firm Susquehanna International Group. Bloomberg reports he is worth $63 billion, making him the 27th wealthiest person in the world. Politically conservative with a libertarian streak, Yass has backed Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul since Paul’s failed bid for the 2016 Republican nomination for president. And, according to the campaign finance watchdog group OpenSecrets, Yass has made more than $100 million in contributions to super PACs in the 2023-24 election cycle.

Massie, a Republican from Vanceburg, has won election to the U.S. House in Kentucky’s 4th District by wide margins seven times, but now is a target of the Republican president because he has strayed from the Trump line on several important votes. Most significantly, Massie opposed Trump’s showcase public policy proposal, the Big Beautiful Bill Act, over concerns about the bill’s impact on the national debt. Massie drew widespread media attention over the summer and fall as the key Republican who successfully pushed to force a vote to require the Justice Department to release its records of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump opposed releasing the Epstein files until it became clear Congress would vote for their release.

In June a new anti-Massie super PAC was created by Trump supporters, and it reported quickly raising $2 million that funded a media campaign attacking Massie over the summer.

But reports filed recently with the FEC show that a new super PAC called Kentucky First PAC countered with a pro-Massie advertising campaign in late October.

Those reports show the following steps:

On Oct. 20 Yass contributed a whopping $7.5 million to a super PAC called Protect Freedom Political Action Committee. This super PAC was created in 2017 by political advisors to Paul that for the past five years has gotten 95% of its money (about $35 million) from Yass. Its cash on hand was down to about $114,000 until Yass provided the $7.5 million on Oct. 20.
On Oct. 23 Protect Freedom donated $1 million to the new pro-Massie Kentucky First PAC.
On Oct. 31 Kentucky First reported paying a bit over $1 million ($1,006,986 to be exact) to a company called Maverix Media, for the pro-Massie media campaign now going on in the district.

Massie’s campaign declined to comment for this story.

But in an article published by Roll Call on Monday, Massie said he is ready for an onslaught of attack ads from super PACs aligned with Trump.

And he referred to some of the recent activity by super PACs in the campaign.

“The state of play now is that the anti-Massie super PAC has gone dark and has been dark for a few months, and a pro-Massie super PAC is spending a million dollars on ads right now in the congressional district,” Massie told Roll Call....

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AN 11 25

MS Now Opinion Columnist Ja’han Jones said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) is lobbing more firebombs into an already burning MAGA house this week.

“Conspiracy theories are devouring any semblance of unity among the MAGA movement these days,” writes Jones, revealing never-before seen rifts tearing the formerly Trump-centric community to pieces.

“Massie made eye-popping, unsubstantiated allegations of political targeting involving FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who are well-known for spreading conspiracy theories themselves,” said Jones, which runs counter to President Donald Trump’s “absurd” post that the Republican Party “has never been so UNITED.”

“A quick look online shows that couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Jones. “Whether it’s theories surrounding the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk or bigoted allegations against Jewish people, the conservative movement can’t seem to get on the same page. And the divisions appear to be increasingly acrimonious.”

Massie has already garnered positive press for his battle to force the release of the Epstein files, in spite of Trump’s open opposition. But more recently, Jones said he “sat for a chummy interview with admitted Jan. 6 rioter Steve Baker,” who works for right-wing outlet The Blaze. The conversation discussed claims surrounding a pipe bombing suspect who allegedly sought to wreak havoc in Washington on Jan. 6.

“The congressman has been among several conservatives to fuel conspiracy theories about the incident – claims that have been disputed by the FBI and which have prompted an online war of words between Bongino and Massie,” said Jones.

During the interview,, without evidence, that a member of Patel’s staff threatened Massie’s staff with a criminal fraud investigation “if we didn’t straighten up and play ball,” suggesting political targeting by the nation’s top law enforcement agency. He went on to opine the alleged conduct from Patel’s staffer was probably illegal, though Jones said “some obvious caveats apply.”

“Massie’s claim shouldn’t be taken as gospel, even though we have ample evidence that the Justice Department has pursued politicized investigations against other critics of Trump and his administration,” said Jones, adding that The FBI declined to comment to MS NOW inquiries.

Jones said Massie’s accusation is already being “parroted by numerous pro-MAGA accounts on social media.” And while the spread of Massie’s allegations certainly don’t count as “irrefutable evidence of FBI wrongdoing,” Jones said it is “absolutely indicative of the unfolding infighting within the conspiracy-obsessed MAGA movement.”

Read the MS NOW report at this link.

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AN 9 25

Amid escalating intra-party conflict, President Donald Trump and his allies are orchestrating a high-stakes primary challenge against Rep. Thomas Massie (R‑Ky.), who has frequently criticized the president over key policy issues.

CNN reported Sunday that Trump's super PAC, Kentucky MAGA, is revving up to flood Massie’s district with resources and attacks designed to topple the lawmaker, who is up for reelection next year.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) lambasted his Kentucky colleague for undermining party unity. “He is actively working against his team almost daily now and seems to enjoy that role. So he is, you know, deciding his own fate,” Johnson told CNN.

"Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team are sending their clearest signals to date that their conservative colleague will have to fend for himself as Trump’s allies prepare to dump millions into Massie’s district to purge him from the Northeastern Kentucky district he’s represented for nearly 13 years. In interviews with CNN, five members of House GOP leadership declined to offer their backing for Massie’s reelection bid – and Johnson would not say if he’d support his colleague," the report said.

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Massie is pushing fiercely to force the release of files related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, needing just two more GOP signatures for a discharge petition that would bypass leadership. Earlier, he bucked the party line on crucial votes, most recently ambushing a continuing resolution aimed at preventing a government shutdown, as well as lampooning Trump’s domestic priorities for ballooning the deficit.

Meanwhile, Trump’s apparatus is hard at work. His MAGA-aligned super PAC, launched in June, is staffed by veterans Tony Fabrizio and Chris LaCivita. They have pledged to spend “whatever it takes” to replace Massie in the May 2026 primary.

Trump has not yet found a challenger to take on the Kentucky Republican. According to the report, "Trump and his team are still searching for a candidate who can go toe-to-toe with the 54-year-old Massie, who has burnished a brand of a party maverick not afraid to break from his leadership and the president of his own party – namely on issues of government spending and budget deficits. But Trump views Massie as a deeply disloyal actor in a party where he demands unflinching support."

But Massie isn’t going down quietly. In mid‑July, his campaign announcedthat it had more than $1.7 million in its war chest for his reelection, including a solid $584,000 raised between April and June. He claims financial resilience and backing from high-profile backers, including tech billionaire and former Trump advisor, Elon Musk.

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AN 7 25

President Donald Trump has openly declared war on Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has been a consistent thorn in his side throughout his second term. Now, the billionaires funding Trump's primary campaign against Massie are being unmasked.

In a Thursday report for Politico, journalist Jessica Piper identified the three Republican megadonors behind the effort to oust Massie out of his northern Kentucky congressional district. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings, hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer (known for taking Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on a luxury fishing trip) has so far contributed $1 million to the MAGA KY Political Action Committee (PAC), making him the leading funder of the anti-Massie effort.

In addition to Singer, hedge fund manager John Paulson has ponied up $250,000 to MAGA KY. And a super PAC tied to Miriam Adelson — the widow of Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson — has so far donated $750,000 to the effort. Singer, Paulson and Adelson have net worths of $6.2 billion, $3.8 billion and $33.5 billion, respectively.

The $2 million from Singer, Paulson and Adelson has so far more than paid for the $1.2 million that MAGA KY has spent so far on the 2026 race in Kentucky's 4th Congressional District, which Massie has represented since 2012. But the Kentucky Republican has a sizable war chest of his own, with Politico reporting that he ended June with $1.7 million in his campaign account.

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Trump singled out Massie after the six-term lawmaker joined all Democrats in voting against his "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" this summer. While Democrats opposed the legislation over its $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and more than $100 billion in cuts to food stamps, Massie railed against the bill for its gargantuan deficit spending — most of which went toward extending Trump's tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthiest Americans.

Even though Trump has significant financial resources at his disposal to deploy against Massie, the Kentuckian is not likely to be an easy opponent for the president. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called himself a "big supporter" of Massie, and said he would be campaigning with him across the Bluegrass State in 10 different cities across Massie's district. And anti-Massie Republicans have yet to coalesce around a single challenger. According to Ballotpedia, the only Republican who has formally declared her candidacy in the district is Nicole Lee Ethington, who is a registered nurse with no prior experience in elected office.

"They are wasting millions of dollars against me, and they are gonna lose the [House] majority because of that," Massie told NBC earlier this month.

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The legislation does name several individual officers, including Goodman, for their valor, saying “Capitol Police Officers Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffrey Smith, and those who sustained injuries, and the courage of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, exemplify the patriotism and the commitment of Capitol Police officers, and those of other law enforcement agencies, to risk their lives in service of our country.”

The 21 Republicans who voted against the bill are:

Lauren Boebert of Colorado
John Rose of Tennessee
Andy Harris of Maryland
Thomas Massie of Kentucky
Bob Good of Virginia
Louie Gohmert of Texas
Barry Moore of Alabama
Ralph Norman of South Carolina
Matt Rosendale of Montana
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Chip Roy of Texas
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Warren Davidson of Ohio
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Matt Gaetz of Florida
Greg Steube of Florida
Andrew Clyde of Georgia
Jody Hice of Georgia
Mary Miller of Illinois
Michael Cloud of Texas

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bb 6 25

no twts]

Donald Trump instructed his followers to turn against Republican Rep. Thomas Massie for refusing to join the MAGA cult.

"Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is. Actually, MAGA doesn't want him, doesn't know him, and doesn't respect him," Trump fumed yesterday after the Kentucky congressman criticized the president for bombing Iran without consulting Congress first.

"This is not Constitutional," the GOP lawmaker had posted on X.

But Massie's old-fashioned adherence to the nation's bygone laws did not sit well with Dear Leader, who, like an expert coder, went straight to Truth Social to program his followers. "He is a negative force who almost always Votes 'NO,' no matter how good something may be," the cult leader fed to the fertile MAGA-Mind in a long-winded post.

"He's a simple minded 'grandstander' …this 'lightweight' Congressman is against what was so brilliantly achieved last night in Iran… Massie is weak, ineffective, and votes 'NO' on virtually everything put before him… He is disrespectful to our great military, and all that they stand for…"

In the same brainwashing session, Trump then threatened to primary Massie. "MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER, Tom Massie, like the plague!" he ordered. "The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I'll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard. MAGA is not about lazy, grandstanding, nonproductive politicians, of which Thomas Massie is definitely one."

To make sure his followers received their instructions loud and clear, Trump then grabbed his iPad this morning to refactor his message: "GET THIS "BUM" OUT OF OFFICE, ASAP!!!" And this is how Trump obliterates the last few remaining, old-school (or libertarian-leaning) Republicans who refuse to drink the powdered stuff.

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an 5 25

When President Donald Trump visited Capitol Hill on Tuesday, May 20, he pressured GOP lawmakers to go ahead and pass a "big, beautiful bill" that will combine his legislative priorities. And one of the Republicans he singled out for attack was Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), a hardcore budget hawk who opposes the current U.S. House version of the bill.

Attacking Massie as a "grandstander," Trump told reporters the Kentucky congressman "should be voted out of office."

Trump said of Massie, "If you ask him a couple of questions, he never gives you an answer. He just says 'I'm a no.' He thinks he's going to get publicity, and you have that. You have that."

But Massie is using the attack as a fundraising opportunity.

In a May 20 post on X, formerly Twitter, Massie posted, "I need your help. For having the audacity to say this bill does NOT repeal the green new deal, but DOES increase the deficit and debt substantially, I was threatened by Trump today. Can you contribute to my reelection at this link?"

IFrame Content

Although Massie isn't a Never Trumper, he has, at times, criticized Trump for not being fiscally conservative enough. And he doubled down on his messaging during a May 20 appearance on CNN.

Massie pushed back against Trump's claim that his "big, beautiful bill" will not add to the federal deficit, telling CNN's Manu Raju, "Now, that's a joke. We're going to add $20 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years, which is three and a half to $5 trillion more than would have been added otherwise."

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february 2025 an

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is struggling to corral rogue members of the House Republican Conference during this week's Congressional recess to support his budget resolution. But his chances of success appear to be dwindling by the day.

That's according to a Tuesday article in Politico, which reported that there are at least a dozen House Republicans on the fence about the budget bill for various philosophical reasons. And because the House Republican majority is so slim, Johnson can only afford to lose one vote if he hopes to get the bill to the Senate without any Democratic votes.

Among those opposed, seven of them are specifically worried about the bill's proposal to cut billions of dollars in support for state Medicaid programs. Even though Johnson aims to sell the bill as Republicans' opportunity to help pass Trump's legislative agenda, one Republican anonymously told Politico that they were concerned the bill would actually "undermine the basic care provided by Medicaid," and pointed to Trump's promises to not touch the program that provides health insurance for low-income residents.

The speaker's resolution would cut roughly $2 trillion in federal spending across all agencies, though some hardline Republicans like Reps. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have said the proposed cuts aren't steep enough. And other members of the conference are opposed to a provision in the legislation that would raise the debt ceiling.

....

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tex obs

These accounts have drawn the attention of conservative commentators, activists, and even elected officials. The X account belonging to Republican U.S. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky follows three of the four neo-Nazi accounts, while the account belonging to GOP Arizona state Senator Wendy Rogers follows two. The account belonging to Sebastian Gorka, former and future deputy assistant to Donald Trump, follows 9mm_smg, and the account belonging to Chuck DeVore, an executive at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, has retweeted one of 9mm_smg’s posts.

===

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Candace Owens says Donald Trump should replace JD Vance as his running mate with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY)

09/17/24 mma

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an 6 24

“War Room" host Steve Bannon and his legal team have been making a last-ditch effort to keep him out of federal prison.

But so far, it hasn't worked. And the former White House chief strategist for the Trump Administration has been ordered to surrender to authorities on July 1.

Some of Bannon's far-right MAGA allies in Congress, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia), have been pushing a plan to keep him out of prison. But MSNBC's Steve Benen, in a June 19 column, lays out some reasons why he believes the scheme is likely to fail.

"A couple of weeks ago," Benen observes, "Rep. Thomas Massie endorsed a provocative idea: Maybe, the Kentucky Republican argued, the House could keep Bannon free by voting to rescind the subpoena that Bannon chose to ignore. Yesterday, Marjorie Taylor Greene threw her support behind the idea, vowing to help lead the effort."

Benen adds, however, that "GOP leaders haven't given any indication whether such a vote is likely."

"But even if such a measure were to pass," the MSNBC columnist and Rachel Maddow producer argues, "there's no reason to assume such a bill would serve as a get-out-of-jail-free card for the notorious podcaster. As a report in The New Republic noted, 'Unfortunately for Greene and other House Republicans, rescinding the subpoenas doesn't magically mean no crime was committed.'"

Benen continues, "It's an important point. Bannon ignored a subpoena, was held in contempt, and faced a criminal trial. A jury heard the evidence and convicted him. A judge — a Trump-appointed judge — sentenced him to prison. The Massie/Greene plan is rooted in the idea that if the House were to effectively declare in the coming days, 'Never mind!' that would wipe the slate clean for the convicted criminal. I have a hunch the courts wouldn't quite see it that way."

*Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

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mtg tossed by freedom cocks?

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came up 1 24? some fuckery //

In the months following the deadly US Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021, both chambers of Congress voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal — the highest civilian award in the United States along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom — to US Capitol police officers who defended members of Congress during the attack. 21 House Republicans voted no.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), who was one of those 21 no votes, defended his "no" vote on his official X (formerly Twitter) account on the third anniversary of the attack that killed resulted in five deaths of police officers with hundreds more injured.

"Did you know all but 21 US Representatives voted for a bill written by Nancy Pelosi that called the January 6th protestors 'insurrectionists'?" Massie tweeted, along with a link to the legislation. "I voted No and took a lot of heat for it."

Massie's objection to the bill was that it referred to supporters of then-President Donald Trump who breached the US Capitol building as a "mob of insurrectionists." The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines an "insurrection" as "the act or an instance of revolting especially violently against civil or political authority or against an established government," and "the crime of inciting or engaging in such revolt." According to The Hill, Massie disagreed with the characterization of January 6 rioters as "insurrectionists" when the bill was being discussed.

"They were protesting. And I don’t approve of the way they protested, but it wasn’t an insurrection," Massie said at the time.

According to CNN, there were ultimately three medals awarded — one for the entire US Capitol Police Department, one for the entire DC Metropolitan Police Department, and a third to be displayed at the Smithsonian museum naming all of the law enforcement agencies that participated in the defense of the US Capitol during the insurrection.

The final vote on the bill was 406-21, with 218 "yea" votes from Democrats and 188 "yea" votes from Republicans. No Democrats voted against the bill.

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troll caucus official on mo truckers

Holocaust meme-tweeting House Republican casts only 'no' vote on resolution condemning antisemitism

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https://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/thomas-massie

0% 10%

2020

242Phasing Out Harmful Fishing GearOceans, Wildlife

2020203Increasing Funding for Renewable Energy Research & DevelopmentClean Energy, Climate

2020182Protecting the U.S. Postal ServiceJustice and Democracy

2020166Pro-Environment Funding PackageOther, Environmental Justice, Water, Dirty Energy, Drilling, Lands/Forests

2020164Slashing EPA FundingOther, Water, Air, Environmental Justice

2020163Blocking Trump’s Inadequate Soot StandardAir, Environmental Justice

2020156Removing Confederate Statues from the U.S. CapitolOther

2020155Great American Outdoors ActLands/Forests

2020147Protecting the Grand Canyon and Colorado’s public landsPublic Lands/Forests, Dirty Energy

2020142Maintaining Suspension of Nuclear Weapons TestingDirty Energy

2020138Investing in Climate-Ambitious InfrastructureClimate Change, Clean Energy, Transportation, Water, Environmental Justice

2020136Eliminating Lead Service Lines to Protect Public HealthWater, Environmental Justice

2020135Harming Workers by Rolling Back Wage ProtectionsOther

2020122Washington D.C. StatehoodJudiciary, Justice and Democracy

2020109Heroes Act COVID-19 Relief PackageOther

202069Protecting Wilderness Across the WestLands/Forests

202054Emergency and Climate Disaster Aid for Puerto RicoClimate Change

202050Protecting the Rights of Workers to OrganizeOther

202036Great Lakes Restoration InitiativeWater

202013Protecting People from PFAS PollutionToxics/Public Right to Know; Water

202011Closing the PFAS Clean Water LoopholeToxics/Public Right to Know, Water

2019701USMCA Trade DealClimate Change, Other

2019666Attack on Marine Mammal Protections from Harmful Air Gun BlastingWildlife, Oceans, Drilling

2019654Protecting the Right to VoteOther, Justice and Democracy

2019634Shark Finning BanOceans, Wildlife

2019609Protecting Colorado's Public LandsLands/Forests

2019602Protecting the Grand Canyon from Toxic Uranium MiningDirty Energy, Lands/Forests

2019597Protecting Chaco Canyon from Oil and Gas DevelopmentDirty Energy, Drilling, Lands/Forests

2019530Restoring Protections for the Arctic RefugeDirty Energy, Lands/Forests, Drilling

2019525Banning Offshore Drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific OceansDirty Energy, Drilling, Oceans

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/thomas-massien-no-condemning-antisemitism/

only vote ~

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https://www.alternet.org/send/bill-lee/

18 yo can carry ar15?

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shiteating fratboy smirk

https://abc7ny.com › jamaal-bowman-thomas-massie-house-floor-gun-violence › 13045799

Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Thomas Massie get into heated exchange over ...

Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Thomas Massie (R-WV) had a heated exchange over gun control following the deadly school shooting in Nashville. ABC7 New York 24/7 Eyewitness News Stream.

https://www.theguardian.com › us-news › 2023 › mar › 30 › nashville-school-shooting-congress-jamaal-bowman-thomas-massie

Nashville school shooting prompts shouting match between congressmen ...

TodayTwenty young children and six adults were killed in that shooting. Law enforcement officials continue to seek to determine a motive for the shooting. The 28-year-old shooter, Audrey Hale, was a...

https://dailycaller.com › 2023 › 03 › 29 › thomas-massie-responds-jamaal-bowman-nashville-school-shooting

'He Just Shouted More': Thomas Massie Responds To Confrontation With ...

Massie talked over Bowman's yelling by telling reporters that he has a bill to increase the number of guns on school campuses to protect children against shootings. "We have guns here to protect us, and the kids should have somebody to protect them," Massie told reporters.

https://nypost.com › 2023 › 03 › 30 › reps-bowman-and-massie-get-into-shouting-match-over-gun-violence

Reps. Bowman and Massie get into shouting match over gun violence

TodayMassie proceeded to try and explain to Bowman that arming teachers may be a way of countering school shootings, but Bowman wasn't having it. "You know, there's never been a school...

https://www.cnn.com › videos › politics › 2023 › 03 › 30 › jamaal-bowman-thomas-massie-house-gun-control-argument-sot-pt-vpx.cnn

See heated gun control discussion between lawmakers in the halls of ...

Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Thomas Massie (R-WV) had a tense exchange over gun control legislation following the deadly school shooting in Nashville. 01:19 - Source: CNN Nashville school...

https://www.newsmax.com › newsfront › school-safety-shooting › 2023 › 03 › 30 › id › 1114422

GOP Rep. Massie Shouted at by Dem Rep. Bowman on Guns

Democrats have sought to push a gun-control agenda after the Nashville, Tennessee, school shooting left three 9-year-old children and three adult administrators dead, but Massie was stressing a point that schools with armed staff are not targets for mass shooters.

https://www.newsweek.com › jamaal-bowman-erupts-thomas-massie-over-guns-children-are-dying-1791343

Jamaal Bowman erupts at Thomas Massie over guns: "Children are dying"

The fiery exchange occurred just two days after a heavily armed assailant entered The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three students and three staff members. The shooter,...

https://www.cnn.com › 2021 › 12 › 05 › us › thomas-massie-kentucky-representative-guns-family-photo › index.html

Days after school shooting, Rep. Thomas Massie posts family photo with ...

Dec 5, 2021US Rep. Thomas Massie is drawing criticism after tweeting a photo of him and his family holding guns in front of a Christmas tree, just days after four teenagers were killed in a school shooting ...

https://www.realclearpolitics.com › video › 2023 › 03 › 29 › dem_rep_bowman_blows_up_on_gop_rep_massie_for_saying_there_are_no_shootings_at_schools_where_teachers_have_guns.html

Dem Rep. Bowman Blows Up On GOP Rep. Massie For Saying There Are No ...

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) in the hallways of the Capitol on Wednesday had a heated argument over school shootings. Massie passed Bowman as he was yelling about...

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an 3 23 no lnx thom

https://www.alternet.org/far-right-culture-wars/

Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling for an American “divorce.”

She apparently sees herself as a modern-day John C. Calhoun, a demagogue who serves the interests of the white oligarch class and, in turn, receives their support, and the power and wealth that come with it.

She's started a secession propaganda campaign much like Calhoun and his buddies did when he left the White House as VP in 1833, the same year England outlawed slavery on British-territory plantations and talk of abolition in the US kicked into high gear.

It took Calhoun and his fellow traitors about 25 years to convince enough people in the South to go to war against America and try to replace our democracy with a fascist, race-based oligarchy.

But today—with electronic media providing instant communication and AR15s being much more efficient killing machines than the Confederacy had available—the heirs to Calhoun's sedition apparently think they can pull it off in a much shorter time.

Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie recently suggested the tipping point, the second American Civil War, will come when:

“[T]hirty to forty percent could agree that [the American government] was legitimate tyranny and it needed to be thrown off."

He then openly argued that American fascists should be sufficiently well-armed to take on the US Marines. Finishing that sentence, Massey—who tweeted a Christmas picture of his family (including his young children) each cradling an assault weapon—added:

“They [those trying to bring down the American government] need to have sufficient [fire]power without asking for extra permission. It should be right there and completely available to them in their living room in order to effect the change [of our form of government].”

Make no mistake about it: this is sedition. It's anti-American. It's pro-fascist.

Yesterday on my radio/TV program, Congressman Mark Pocan said Greene's comments were “almost treasonous. "I'd drop the “almost.”

Greene even said out loud the part Republicans have been trying to not get caught saying for several decades now: she doesn't think Democrats should be allowed to vote if they live in Red states.

When a resolution came to the House floor last week condemning Putin's ally, Syrian dictator Assad, the only two “no" votes came from Greene and Massey.

Dictatorship good, democracy bad.

It's an old, old song for America that dates back to the 1840s.

Keep in mind that the Civil War wasn't just about slavery: it was primarily about preserving the wealth of the Southern oligarchs. While slavery was the source of their wealth, morbidly rich planters had so overtaken the political system of the South that it ceased to be anything close to a democracy—even for white people—by the 1840s.

That decade of the 1840s, in fact, was a key turning point for the effort to end democracy altogether in America. In just the ten years from 1840 to 1850, over 800,000 enslaved people were brought into the deep South.

Poor whites suddenly found themselves without work and pay generally collapsed across the region, while the plantation owner class became fabulously rich. It led to an internal abolition movement in the South, as white workers who didn't own slaves desperately tried to regain opportunities in the workplace.

As Southern abolitionist Hinton Helper wrote in his 1857 book The Impending Crisis of the South:

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“The lords of the lash are not only absolute masters of the blacks, but they are also the oracle and arbiters of non-slaveholding whites, whose freedom is merely nominal, and whose unparalleled illiteracy and degradation is purposely and fiendishly perpetuated.”

The book became one of the biggest bestsellers in American history(even though you could go to prison for owning it in the South where it was banned), and sparked such a political crisis in 1860 that the House of Representatives was unable to elect a Speaker for almost two months. Sound familiar?

Abraham Lincoln didn't even advocate ending slavery until well into the Civil War: he was too busy fighting against Southern oligarchs who were hell-bent on ending democracy in America and replacing it with a white supremacist oligarchy. Lincoln's goal in responding militarily to Southern succession wasn't to free enslaved African Americans, it was to keep the country together and try to restore some semblance of democracy to the South.

On Aug. 22, 1862 (the Emancipation Proclamation would come exactly one month later), after more than a year of war, Lincoln wrote a letter to the New York Tribune pointing this out:

“If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.”

Here we are again, and once more the issue that's got working-class white people riled up is the intersection of economics end race.

Republicans pass laws against Critical Race Theory, teaching Black history, and complain about “woke" and “BLM," but at its core it's all about distracting white people from their being ripped off by a white oligarchic class that promotes racial hatred to deflect anger from themselves.

As Marjorie Taylor Greene is essentially pointing out, just like in 1860.

The genesis of today's discontent began in the 1980s with the Reagan Revolution, as the Reagan/Bush administration opened America to “free trade" with the early stages of what became the World Trade Organization and negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which Bill Clinton signed on January 1, 1994.

Like the middle-class working white people in the South—who'd been about a third of that region's population prior to the 1840s when all those slaves were imported—the four decades since Reaganism began here have also seen the collapse of white working-class income and wealth.

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When Reagan came into office in 1980 about two-thirds of white Americans were solidly in the middle class: today that number is around 45 percent and it requires two people working full time to pull even that off.

Meanwhile, the rich have gotten fabulously richer. Several of America's billionaires are today richer than any person has ever been in history. Richer than the pharaohs.Richer than the ancient kings of Europe. Rich enough to shoot themselves into outer space with their pocket change.

And where did that money come from? Just like the plantation owners in 1850, it came from rigging the system.

:{:{}:

The past 42 years have seen over $50 trillion in wealth stolen from the homes and pockets of working-class people and deposited into the money bins of the morbidly rich through GOP tax-cut and union-busting policies.

In the past 42 years over 60,000 factories and 15 million well-paying union jobs have been shipped to Mexico and China, leaving working class whites (among others) literally out in the cold.

Just like in the 1850s, that's an explosive transition. And just like in the 1850s, it has brought out oligarch-funded political demagogues to tell white working-class people that their problems are all caused by Black people and their “woke" allies, and therefore the nation must divide itself.

Greene, Massey, and the rest of the sedition caucus in Congress are playing with fire. The people they're trying to crank up on behalf of America's rightwing oligarchs have already tried to murder the Governor of Michigan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Vice President of the United States.

:{:{}:

As The Washington Post's Philip Bump noted this week:

:{:{}:

“Over the past decade, 96 percent of incidents in which extremists killed someone were committed by people motivated by right-wing ideologies.”

The number of people murdered for political purposes over the past 25 years by SDS or Antifa or other anti-fascist or “left wing" ideologues? Zero.

And in promoting bloodshed in 2023 America, the seditionists among us aren't even subtle. Last December 10th, Greene told a Young Republican group in New York:

“I want to tell you something, if Steve Bannon and I had organized that [January 6th insurrection and effort to murder Vice President Pence], we would have won. Not to mention, it would've been armed."

Pitting Americans against each other by race, geography, or even politics when simultaneously invoking bloodshed as a justified outcome is as anti-American as it gets.

It's why the 14th Amendment says:

“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”

If the seditionists within today's Republican Party had any goal other than to tear America apart and create an apartheid state run by and for the oligarchs who fund their campaigns and lifestyles, they'd be telling us about it right now. But are they?

Do they have anything to offer the working class of America?....

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mma 1 23

Mainstream news outlets are already failing in their coverage of a newly created House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government by allowing false Republican claims to go unchallenged, and omitting crucial context about suppression of left-wing groups at the hands of federal law enforcement.

The new committee is chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and was reportedly established as a concession to hardline opponents of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in his recent, rocky bid for the chamber’s top office. Jordan and his team have set their sights on the Department of Justice, the FBI, the IRS, and other offices that Republicans falsely claim are specifically targeting and persecuting conservatives.

In describing the committee’s investigative prospects, several mainstream outlets allowed false or misleading claims to go unchallenged.

Axios described Rep. Thomas Massie’s (R-KY), who has announced his spot on the subcommittee, as “a libertarian-minded conservative long skeptical of the federal security apparatus,” who “pointed to IRS targeting of Tea Party groups in the 2010s and Trump's sparring with the FBI as inflection points.”

Axios failed to inform its readers that Massie’s claim of a partisan witch hunt by the IRS is false. Although the IRS did audit some Tea Party groups, the agency also targeted “scores” of progressive groups for audits as well.

The New York Times reported that the committee is planning to investigate “allegations that the federal government encouraged Twitter to discriminate against Republicans and the treatment of conservative or right-wing protesters at school board meetings and abortion clinics.”

Readers of the Times’ coverage wouldn’t know that Twitter, in fact, has shown a bias toward promoting conservative content, not suppressing it. Conservatives have also claimed, falsely, that the DOJ has targeted parents at school boards, including identifying them as domestic terrorists. Although the Times didn’t use that phrase, their coverage failed to challenge the myth that conservative parents are facing federal persecution.

One of the focuses of the subcommittee is likely to be an examination of the FBI and DOJ’s case against a group of men who plotted to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The FBI used undercover agents and informants in their investigation, which conservatives have argued could amount to entrapment.

In Politico’s article on the subcommittee, they quoted Rep. Dan Bishop (R-NC), who cited the Whitmer case, and asked, “Exactly what is the line on entrapment and then the law on entrapment?”

Although that is a fair question to ask in the abstract, Politico’s readers could be left thinking that the FBI specifically uses informants against right-wing movements. In fact, the FBI has been using informants extensively against Muslims at least since 9/11. John Miller, a high ranking police officer turned conservative pundit turned CNN analyst exemplifies the right-wing impulse towards increased investigations of Muslim communities.

None of these articles include broader historical context, which is that the FBI has disproportionately targeted left-wing movements since its inception. None of them include more recent examples of the FBI targeting the left, either, especially FBI operations to infiltrate and spy on Black activists, including creating the ridiculous category of “Black Identity Extremist” to justify the Bureau’s actions.

Those real documented examples of FBI overreach are nowhere to be found in this overly credulous mainstream coverage. Nor are readers given an adequate sense of what this committee is likely actually about, as detailed recently by a Trump-aligned think tank called the Center for Renewing America, which released a proposed federal budget sharing almost the exact same title as the new subcommittee.

CRA is run by Christian nationalist Russ Vought, who served as former President Donald Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget. His organization’s budget proposal makes clear that the conservative aim here is unleashing the FBI on the right’s political enemies while ensuring immunity for themselves.

All of that context is crucial to understanding this new subcommittee, and the new Republican House majority writ large. Jordan and company haven’t even begun their work, but mainstream outlets are already falling short.

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no lnx an 922

'Hero' and 'national treasure': Jamie Raskin lauded for fiery rebuke of GOP hostility to January 6th panel

David Badash and The New Civil Rights Movement September 22, 2022

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has once again achieved “national treasure” and “hero” status to the many Americans who watched his unrelenting destruction of Republican talking points and conspiracy theories about the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, on which he serves.

Congressman Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, was the lead impeachment manager for the second impeachment of Donald Trump, and has repeatedly been the subject of praise for his passionate defense of democracy.

On Wednesday, as many were focused on the New York Attorney General’s announcement of a civil fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, other Trump associates and several of the former president’s businesses, and still others focused on President Joe Biden’s historic speech before the United Nations,Congressman Raskin was sitting in a House Judiciary Committee hearing fielding a conspiratorial question from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), as Mediaite reported.

[READ MORE: In Scathing Rebuke DOJ Wins Stay of Trump Judge’s Ruling in National Security Appeal Over Classified Documents

Massie is perhaps best known for his conspiracy theories, along with his Christmas photo he posted of him, his wife, and their children, all photographed holding assault rifles.

Raskin’s destruction of GOP conspiracy theories and talking points started with Massie dredging up Ray Epps. Mediate explains the background:

“The theory holds that Epps was acting as an agent provocateur working for the deep state who was at the Capitol to rile up supporters of Donald Trump and get them to cause mayhem. Trump himself held a rally that morning and encouraged his supporters to march to the Capitol as the 2020 presidential election was being certified by members of Congress. The former president falsely claimed the election was stolen from him.”

Raskin wasn’t having it.

Massie claimed they “were told” a transcript of the January 6 Committee’s interview with Epps “would be released, but it’s never been released.”

Raskin blasted Massie in response.

[READ MORE: ‘Lacks Courage’: Experts Question Why Alvin Bragg ‘Stood Down’ on Trump Criminal Case After Bombshells in Civil Suit

“None of the transcripts have been released so you don’t need a conspiracy theory about that,” he replied. “We’ve done more than a thousand interviews. You guys are trying to make this poor schmuck who showed up to your protest into something a lot bigger than he is. He’s just trying to survive and he’s on your side. You don’t have many voters left, you might want to try to hang on to them without demonizing and vilifying your own people.”

Raskin was unrelenting.

“That’s the Donald Trump way. Sell everybody else down the road. Unless you can get a pardon,” Raskin continued. “Most people have opened their eyes about what he’s done to our country. What he’s done to his family.”

But the back-and-forth did not end there.

Congressman Raskin took Massie on a walk through recent history over the creation of the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.

Blasting House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Raskin said, “After we went back and conveyed our agreement to the GOP proposal,” about the formation of a committee to investigate the January 6 attack, “it was vetoed by the fourth branch of government,” meaning Donald Trump, who Raskin has previously referred to in that manner.

“It was vetoed by the cult leader, Donald Trump, who said he wanted no investigation at all! That’s your guy! Donald Trump, he said he wanted no investigation. And so, you pulled the plug on the investigation you originally advocated because Donald Trump didn’t want it. Let’s tell some truth! You’re talking about the truth? I’m giving you the truth! I’m giving you the facts about it!”

[READ MORE: NY AG Referring Criminal Charges Against Trump to the Feds, Alleges He ‘Grossly Inflated’ Net Worth by ‘Billions’

“And then when Speaker Pelosi said, ‘well in that case the House of Representatives will conduct our own investigation,’ then, again, you guys boycotted because you wanted to put pro-insurrection members on the committee. And so, we ended up with a bipartisan committee of people really interested in getting the facts,” Raskin reminded Massie.

“And you know what? This is what you guys can’t stand: America listened to it because we had real congressional hearings,” he said proudly, noting that “25, 30 million Americans [were] watching because we told the truth about Donald Trump’s assault on democratic institutions and the right to vote in America.”

Raskin launched in to a near-rendition of the courtroom scene in “A Few Good Men,” declaring, “maybe you can’t handle the truth, but that’s the reality and nobody’s laid a glove on any of the testimony that has come out during those hearings.”

“So, we hear this absurd whining about ‘Ray Epps,’ who has absolutely nothing to do with any of it. And all of these conspiracy theory allegations have been debunked – up and down. Up and down! You think you’ve got something? Bring him in and talk to him or send us a letter. But why don’t you deal with the reality of the situation?”

Once again, Raskin is receiving high praise for his defense of democracy.

Noted political scientist Norm Ornstein declared Raskin a “national treasure.”...

an 6 22 uvalde

Matt Gaetz thinks voters going to the polls should be able to carry guns to protect themselves from “intimidation.” The Florida Republican repeatedly delivered extreme opposition to legislation the House Judiciary Committee debated on Thursday, with every Republican opposing the “Protecting Our Kids Act.”

The bill would raise the minimum age to purchase certain firearms from 18 to 21, require firearms to be stored in a lockbox or other safe storage, and help prevent gun trafficking.

In response to an amendment proposed by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, as The Hill reported, Gaetz casually declared:

“I sort of like Massie’s legislation that maybe everyone who’s a voter or on their way to vote ought to have the opportunity to carry a firearm to ensure that they’re not subject to any intimidation.”

Watch (clip begins at the 3:07 mark):

// ukraine pro putin

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 GosarThomas Massie Andy Biggs Clay Higgins Chip Roy.]

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)

...

US Congress passes resolution in support of Ukraine

The US House of Representatives approved a resolution "steadfastly, staunchly, proudly and fervently" in support of Ukraine. Many in Congress urged that more be done to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Only three members of the House voted against the resolution: Republicans Paul Gosar of Arizona, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Matt Rosendale of Montana.

US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, is introducing a similar resolution in the Senate, the upper chamber....

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, andThomas 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

an 3 22

federal judge dismissed an anti-mask lawsuit against Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, brought last year by three far-right-wing members of Congress, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.The three extremist Republicans argued that the mask mandate, instituted to protect their fellow members of Congress and their staffs, was a violation of the First and the Twenty-Seventh Amendments.

The judge disagreed:

U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Thomas Massie (R-KY), and Ralph Norman (R-SC) “said they were fined for entering the House to vote without wearing masks in May 2021,” Bloomberg Law reports.They were initially fined $500, but Congresswoman Greene has since racked up thousands of dollars in fines since last May.

“The representatives said they wanted to engage in a ‘protest against the double standard being enforced,’ and to demonstrate ‘the well-founded beliefs’ they shared that mask wearing ‘is not scientifically based’ and ‘not necessary for the vaccinated or naturally immune.'”

It was clear during oral arguments in December thatSenior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a Bush 43 appointee, disagreed.

“Maybe if we took this pandemic seriously we wouldn’t have so many Americans in the grave,” Judge Walton said at the time, admonishing the three extremists.

In his ruling, Judge Walton was also dismissive of their victimization claim of being discriminated against for what the three called, “contrary viewpoint-based symbolic speech.”

Judge Walton also rejected their false claim of “recent scientific findings that the use of face coverings has no appreciable effect on slowing or halting the spread of COVID-19.”

Walton “said the consensus within the scientific community is clear that masks—and, in particular, well-fitting, protective masks—are effective in slowing the spread of the Covid-19 virus.”

A large part of their argument was the 27th Amendment makes it unconstitutional for them to be fined, which they claimed is a reduction in salary. The judge also tossed out that argument.

Here’s Congressman Massie complaining on Fox Business last year. “We’re ready to take this all the way to the Supreme Court,” he declared.[twt vid]

an 222

U.S. Congressman is calling on Americans to own “sufficient” weaponry to overthrow the government, suggesting they should do so “if 30 to 40 percent agree” the nation is living under “tyranny.”

“If 30 to 40 percent could agree that this was legitimate tyranny and it needed to be thrown off they need to have sufficient power without asking for extra permission – it should be right there and completely available to them in their living room in order to effect the change,”**U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie** (R-KY) said in a video (below) posted by Right Wing Watch.

Congressman Massie, who recently came under fire for tweeting a quote by a pedophile-pornography possessing neo-Nazi and falsely attributing it to French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire, appeared on far-right Youtuber Tim Pool’s show.

Pool’s videos get “millions” of views each day, according to The Daily Beast, which adds he “has racked up more than a billion views and millions in earnings while dangerously whitewashing the far right.”

Massie, known for his assault-weapons brandishing Christmas family photo this week was widely mocked for arguing against Medicare for All, because “Over 70% of Americans who died with COVID, died on Medicare.”

During Pool’s show, according to Right Wing Watch, theYouTuber added that he believes the Second Amendment entitles Americans to own nuclear and biological weapons.

https://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2015/12/fred-upton-delivered-big-time-for-big.html

upton barton whores

our old nemesis-- and by "our" I mean planet Earth's, the L.A. Times explaining that his "disdain for green regulation, he represents one of the biggest threats to planet Earth on planet Earth"-- got his energy bill passed yesterday. Upton's H.R. 8, the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act, passed the House 249-174, only 3 Republicans (libertarian leaning GOPers Justin Amash, Walter Jones and Thomas Massie) voting against it... although 9 worthless DINOs crossed the aisle in the other direction-- as they always do-- and voted with the GOP:

• Brad Ashford (Blue Dog-NE)

• Jim Costa (Blue Dog-CA)

• Gwen Graham (Blue Dog-FL)

• Gene Green ($1,221,738-TX)

• Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)

• Ann Kuster (New Dem-NH)

• Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN)

• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)

• Kyrsten Sinema (Blue Dog-AZ)

If it passes the Senate-- unlikely-- President Obama has promised to veto it. It was known around Capitol Hill as Fred Upton and Global Warming Denier's Corporate Energy Bill. Pennsylvania progressive Democrat Matt Cartwright, who offered a motion to recommit, predicted that Upton and the Republican climate change deniers would go down in history as the "greatest ignoramuses of all time... Sticking our heads in the sand, pretending a serious problem will go away on its own, doing nothing in the face of a grave threat, is not the American way, and it never was."

The League of Conservation Voters urged all Members of Congress to vote no because Upton's bill "further entrenches fossil fuels while failing to make the necessary clean energy investments for our future" and included a provision "that would allow pipelines to be built on National Park land without the necessary environmental reviews... This bill contains an efficiency title that would increase energy use and costs to consumers, a hydropower title that curtails NEPA review along with state, local, and tribal authority over projects on their own lands, and provisions that could lock in dirty fossil energy for decades to come at a time that we should be investing in cleaner, cheaper alternatives." They also asked congressmembers to reject Joe "Oily Joe" Barton's amendment "that would lift the crude oil export ban. This provision is a massive giveaway to the oil industry and would be on top of billions in existing permanent tax subsidies. Multiple analyses show that lifting the crude oil export ban would increase oil production by at least 500,000 barrels per day, leading to more climate pollution and more drilling on our public lands, in the Arctic, and off our coasts."

Frank Pallone is the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and he took to the floor of the House to warn that Upton's lobbyist-written bill meant bad news for "the environment, on air pollution and on climate change" and offered an amendment to prevent the bill from becoming law until the Energy Information Administration had analyzed the impact and scored its carbon impact. That was voted down 181-243, a little closer because 4 Republicans (2 from districts in Florida already being impacted by rising oceans) voted with the Democrats, while only 4 (instead of 9) hardcore energy industry whores among the Democrats-- Costa, Peterson, Schrader and, Washington state New Dem Rick Larsen-- voted with the Republicans.

The bill is also a national security threat inasmuch as it lifts the ban on selling U.S. crude oil overseas, something the oil companies heavily bribed Upton and Joe Barton to include. Since 1990 Upton has taken $2,494,518 from energy special interests, more than any other current members of the House other than Joe "Oily Joe" Barton (R-TX) and Steve Pearce (R-NM), formerly an oilfield services company owner himself. This current cycle has seen the Energy Sector step up to the plate for Upton again, his $282,650 (so far) being second only to Republican Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's $292,550.

The Democrat in southwest Michigan opposing Upton and his Big Oil Machine is professor and environmental activist Paul Clements (you can help him win here) who told us right after the vote that "Congressman Upton is one of the top ten recipients of campaign contributions from Big Oil in the House and Senate combined. With H.R. 8 he once again increases profits for carbon polluters, raises costs for consumers, and undermines environmental protections. We need to quit subsidizing the energy of the past and take the lead in energy for the future."

So who got the biggest payoffs so far this cycle from the Energy Sector? No surprises here; these are the dirty dozen, polluting the earth to pad their campaign war chests this year:

• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $292,550

• :{Fred Upton (R-MI)- $282,650

• Steve Scalise (R-LA)- $258,550}:

• Charles "Lord Charles" Boustany (R-LA)- $196,750

• Ed Whitfield (R-KY)- $159,600

• Bill Shuster (R-PA)- $156,700

• John Shimkus (R-IL)- $144,500

• Joe "Oily Joe" Barton (R-TX)- $143,650

• Steny Hoyer (D-MD)- $133,400

• Greg Walden (R-OR)- $129,800

• Will Hurd (R-TX)- $125,400

• Bill Flores (R-TX)- $124,859

Labels: Big Oil, energy bill, Fred Upton, global warming, Matt Cartwright, MI-06, Paul Clements

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Massie

Thomas Harold Massie (born January 13, 1971) is an American politician and businessman. A member of the Republican Party, Massie has been the United States representative for Kentucky's 4th congressional district since 2012, when he defeated Bill Adkins in the special and general elections. The district covers much of northeastern Kentucky, but is dominated by the Kentucky side of the Cincinnati area and Louisville's eastern suburbs.

Before joining Congress, Massie was Judge-Executive of Lewis County, Kentucky, from 2011 to 2012. He also ran a start-up company based in Massachusetts, where he previously studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).^[2]

Massie has been described as a libertarian Republican,^[3] and is associated with the House Liberty Caucus of Tea Party Republicans.

Early life, education, and business career

Thomas Massie was born in Huntington, West Virginia.^[4] He grew up in Vanceburg, Kentucky.^[4] He met his wife Rhonda at Lewis County High School in Vanceburg.^[4][5] His father was a beer distributor.^[4]

Massie earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering and a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).^[6] He participated in the MIT Solar Car Club, which took second place behind a Swiss team in the Solar and Electric 500 at the Phoenix International Raceway in 1991. At the time, the team set several world records including a lap speed in excess of 62 mph (99 km/h), and straight-away speeds in excess of 70 mph (112 km/h).^[7]

In 1992, Massie won MIT's then-named 2.70 ("Introduction to Design and Manufacturing", now named 2.007) Design Competition.^[8] MIT professor Woodie Flowers, who pioneered the 2.70 contest, mentioned that Massie watched this contest on television in seventh grade and wanted to come to MIT to win it.^[9]

In 1993, at MIT, Massie and his wife started a company called SensAble Devices Inc.^[10] He completed his bachelor's degree the same year and wrote his thesis, Design of a three-degree of Freedom force-reflecting haptic interface.^[11][12] In 1995 Massie won the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for inventors^[6] and the $10,000 David and Lindsay Morgenthaler Grand Prize in the sixth annual MIT $10K Entrepreneurial Business Plan Competition.^[13] In 1996 his company was reincorporated as SensAble Technologies, Inc., after partner Bill Aulet joined.^[10] It raised $32 million of venture capital, had 24 patents, and 70 other employees.^[14]

In 1996, Massie completed a master's of science degree (SM) with his thesis "Initial haptic explorations with the phantom: virtual touch through point interaction".^[15]

Lewis County Judge Executive

In 2010, Massie ran for Judge Executive of Lewis County.^[11][16] He won the primary election, defeating the incumbent by a large margin,^[11] and then beat the Democratic nominee by nearly 40 points.^[17] Massie also campaigned for then-U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul, speaking to various Tea Party groups on his behalf.^[11]

Massie resigned as Lewis County Judge-Executive effective July 1, 2012.^[18]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2012

Main article: 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky § District 4

[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kentucky_Republican_4th_Congressional_District_Primary_Election_Results_by_County,_2012.svg)

Results of the primary by county. Red indicates a county won by Massie, green by Webb-Edgington. Gray indicates a county that is not within the 4th congressional district.

In December 2011, Congressman Geoff Davis announced his decision to retire from his seat in Kentucky's 4th congressional district. Massie announced his candidacy on January 10, 2012.^[19] He was endorsed by Senator Paul^[20][21] and Texas Congressman Ron Paul.^[22][23] He was also endorsed by FreedomWorks,^[24] Club for Growth,^[25][26] Gun Owners of America,^[27] and Young Americans for Liberty.^[28]

On May 22, 2012, Massie won the Republican nomination, beating his closest opponents, State Representative Alecia Webb-Edgington and Boone County Judge Executive Gary Moore, by a double-digit margin.^[29][30] In his victory speech, Massie thanked "the Tea Party, the liberty movement, and grassroots Ronald Reagan Republicans".^[31] He faced Democratic nominee Bill Adkins in the general election, and was expected to win the election by a wide margin.^[29][32] Massie resigned as Lewis County Judge-Executive effective July 1, 2012, to focus on his campaign for Congress and allow an election to be immediately held in order to replace him.^[18] He was succeeded by Deputy Lewis County Judge-Executive John Patrick Collins, who was appointed temporarily by Governor Steve Beshear.^[33] On July 31, 2012, Congressman Geoff Davis resigned from office, citing a family health issue for his abrupt departure.^[34] On August 1, 2012, the Republican Party committee for Kentucky's 4th Congressional district voted unanimously to endorse Massie as the party's nominee once a special election was called.^[35] Beshear called a special election to take place on the same day as the general election, November 6.^[36] This meant Massie ran in two separate elections on the same day – a special election for the right to serve the final two months of Davis's fourth term (within the lines that had been drawn after the 2000 Census), and a regular election for a full two-year term (within the lines that had been drawn for the 2010 census).^[37] On November 6, Massie won both elections by a wide margin.^[38]

Tenure

Massie being sworn into office by Speaker of the House John Boehner on November 13, 2012.

Massie speaking at the 2013 Liberty Political Action Conference (LPAC)

Massie was sworn in for the balance of Davis's term on November 13, 2012.^[1] He thus gained two months' seniority on the rest of the 2012 House freshman class. As a measure of how much the Cincinnati suburbs have dominated the district, he became the first congressman from the district's eastern portion in 45 years.

Upon arriving in Congress he was assigned to serve on three committees: Transportation and Infrastructure, Oversight and Government Reform, and Science, Space and Technology.^[39] He later became chair of the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation, replacing outgoing chair Ben Quayle.^[40]

Massie broke from the majority of his party by opposing the reelection of Speaker of the House John Boehner, instead casting his vote for Justin Amash of Michigan.^[41] In May 2013, he voted against the Stolen Valor Act of 2013, which passed 390–3.^[42] In December 2013, he was the only congressman to vote against the Undetectable Firearms Act.^[43]

In March 2014, Massie voted against a bill to name Israel an American strategic partner.Massie voted no because the bill would have subsidized green energy companies in Israel. He said he would not support subsidies for American green energy companies, let alone foreign ones.^[42] The bill passed by a margin of 410–1.^[44]

In May 2014, Massie objected to a voice vote to award golf star Jack Nicklaus a gold medal recognizing his "service to the nation", and demanded a roll call vote.^[42] The vote passed easily, 371–10.^[42] Through mid-June 2014, Massie had voted "no" at least 324 times in the 113th Congress – opposing one of every three measures that came to the House floor. Politico named him "Mr. No".^[42]

In 2015, Massie was the sole member of the House to vote "present" on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action of Iran's nuclear agreement, citing constitutional concerns that the treaties are not ratified by the House of Representatives and that he had no authority to vote for or against the nuclear deal.^[45][46] In November 2016, he voted against an extension of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the only member of the House to do so.^[47]

In 2017, Massie introduced a one-page bill that would abolish the United States Department of Education,^[48] and cosponsored a bill that would abolish theEnvironmental Protection Agency.^[49]

InApril 2017, Massie expressed skepticism over the role of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the 2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.^[50]

On May 4, 2017, Massie was the sole House member to vote against sanctions on North Korea.^[51]

In July 2017, Massie joined Representatives Amash and John Duncan Jr., and Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders in opposing a bill to impose new economic sanctions against Russia, Iran, and North Korea. President Donald Trump opposed the bill, arguing that relations with Russia were already "at an all-time and dangerous low". He did, however, sign the bill.^[52]

On December 29, 2017 [VOODOO?] , Massie voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.^[53] Before voting, he said he would support the bill to cut taxes, but that he would oppose "new government spending," despite the $1.5 trillion estimated to be added to the national debt according to the Congressional Budget Office in wake of the bill being passed.^[54][55]

As of January 2019, Massie was ranked number 1 in Conservative Review Top 25 Conservatives list.^[56]

On March 26, 2019, Massie was one of 14 Republicans to vote with all House Democrats to override Trump's veto of a measure unwinding Trump's declaration of a national emergency at the southern border.^[57]

In 2019, Massie signed a letter to Trump led by Representative Ro Khanna and Senator Rand Paul asserting that it was "long past time to rein in the use of force that goes beyond congressional authorization" and that they hoped this would "serve as a model for ending hostilities in the future – in particular, as you and your administration seek a political solution to our involvement in Afghanistan."^[58][59] Massie was also one of nine lawmakers to sign a letter to Trump requesting a meeting with him and urging him to sign "Senate Joint Resolution 7, which invokes the War Powers Act of 1973 to end unauthorized US military participation in the Saudi-led coalition's armed conflict against Yemen's Houthi forces, initiated in 2015 by the Obama administration". They asserted that the "Saudi-led coalition's imposition of an air-land-and-sea blockade as part of its war against Yemen's Houthis has continued to prevent the unimpeded distribution of these vital commodities, contributing to the suffering and death of vast numbers of civilians throughout the country" and that Trump's approval of the resolution through his signing would give a "powerful signal to the Saudi-led coalition to bring the four-year-old war to a close".^[60]

Massie speaking at the Young Americans for Liberty convention in April 2019.

On April 10, 2019, Massie got in a tense exchange with former United States Secretary of State John Kerry during Kerry's testimony to the House Oversight and Reform Committee when Massie called Kerry's political science degree from Yale University a "pseudoscience degree" and called Kerry's position on climate change "pseudoscience." Kerry responded, "Are you serious? I mean this is really a serious happening here?"^[61][a]

In July 2019, Massie was the only Republican among 17 members of Congress to vote against a House resolution opposing efforts to boycott Israel and the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.^[62][63]

On November 20, 2019, Massie was the sole "no" vote in Congress on the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, which he called an "escalation" with the People's Republic of China.^[64][65][66]

In July 2021, Massie voted against the bipartisan ALLIES Act, which would increase by 8,000 the number of special immigrant visas for Afghan allies of the U.S. military during its invasion of Afghanistan, while also reducing some application requirements that caused long application backlogs; the bill passed the House, 407–16.^[67]

In September 2021, Massie was the only Republican to vote against $1 billion of funding for Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system.^[68][69]

COVID-19 pandemic response

On March 27, 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Massie forced the return to Washington of members of the House who were sheltering in place in their districts by threatening a quorum call that would have required an in-person vote on the $2.2 trillion aid package that had passed the Senate by a 96–0 vote.^[70]On the House floor, Massie said he was trying to "make sure our republic doesn't die by unanimous consent in an empty chamber." His actions caused widespread concern about endangering members of Congress by requiring them to gather amid a pandemic.^[71][72][73]

Following Massie's unsuccessful push, Trump said Massie should be removed from the Republican Party, calling him a "third rate [g]randstander";John Kerry quipped that he "tested positive for being an asshole"; Representative Sean Patrick Maloney tweeted, "@RepThomasMassie is indeed a dumbass"; Representative Dean Phillips called his actions a "principled but terribly misguided stunt".[citation ^needed]^ Some Republicans defended Massie: Paul Gosar called him a "good man and a solid conservative" and Chip Roy said Massie was "defending the Constitution today by requiring a quorum".^[74]

In an interview with Politico, Massie said that "the fact that they brought all of these congressmen here in order to get a quorum shows you that I was right. The Constitution requires a quorum to pass a bill, and they were planning to subvert the Constitution". He also questioned why people such as grocery store employees or truck drivers should be expected to work during the pandemic, but not members of Congress, who "make $174,000 a year" and have "the best health care in the world".^[72]

On April 23, 2020, Massie was one of five House members to vote against the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which added $320 billion of funding for the Paycheck Protection Program.^[75][76] Trump signed the bill into law the next day.^[77]

:{In July 2020, Massie argued against face mask mandates and compulsory vaccinations.^[78] He faced allegations of antisemitism after comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaus:(style="background-color:#ffff66ff"):}:t:{.}:^[79][80]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Political positions

Foreign policy

A non-interventionist,^[81] Massie has supported various efforts to scale back the use of the U.S. military abroad. He supported legislation in 2019 to repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force of 2001, arguing that it is too broad and that Congress should reclaim its constitutional right to declare war.^[82] He also supported efforts to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq and Afghanistan,^[83][84] and introduced a bill in 2019 to clarify that no authority exists for military action against Iran.^[85] Massie introduced legislation to stop unauthorized military operations in Egypt and Syria,^[86] as well as legislation blocking unauthorized military aid from being sent to Syrian rebels.^[87]

Massie voted "present" on the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, the only member of the House to do so and the only Republican not to vote against it.^[88] Massie was the only member of the House to vote against extending sanctions on Iran in 2016.^[89] He was also one of only three House members to vote against a 2017 bill to impose new sanctions on Iran, Russia, and North Korea^[90] and one of only three to vote against the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in 2020.^[91]

In 2019, Massie was the only Republican House member to vote against condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.^[92] Among other reasons that he cited for voting against the resolution, Massie stated that he does not support "federal efforts to condemn any type of private boycott, regardless of whether or not a boycott is based upon bad motives" and that "these are matters that Congress should properly leave to the States and to the people to decide".^[92]

In 2021, Massie was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against a measure condemning the Myanmar coup d'état that overwhelmingly passed, for reasons reported to be unclear.^[93] The same year, he joined eight Democratic representatives in voting against $1 billion in funding for Israel's Iron Dome air defense system, saying that he opposed all foreign aid out of concern about the national debt.^[94] Massie was among 19 House Republicans to vote against the final passage of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.^[95]

Environment

Massie rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.^[96] He has said, "there's a conflict of interest for some of the people doing the research. I think some people are trying to integrate backwards, starting with the answer and working the other way. I think the jury is still out on the contribution of our activities to the change in the earth's climate".^[96] In 2013, he implied that cold weather undercut the argument for climate change, tweeting, "Today's Science Committee Hearing on Global Warming canceled due to snow".^[97] During a 2019 House Oversight Committee hearing on the impact of climate change, Massie suggested that concerns over rising carbon dioxide levels were exaggerated, and asked Kerry why carbon dioxide levels millions of years ago were higher despite humans' absence.^[98][99] CNN and The Washington Post described Massie's exchange with Kerry as "surreal" and "bizarre".^[98][99]

Massie supports dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency.^[100] He voted to block the Department of Defense from spending on climate adaptation.^[101] He voted to repeal the Stream Protection Rule, which imposed stricter requirements on coal mining to prevent coal debris from getting into waterways.^[102]

In 2018, after French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Congress and mentioned his desire that the United States rejoin the Paris Climate Accords to curb climate change, Massie said Macron was "a socialist militarist globalist science-alarmist. The dark future of the American Democratic Party".^[103]

Government surveillance

Massie is a critic of the PATRIOT Act and warrantless surveillance of Americans.^[104][105] In 2014 he sponsored an amendment to stop warrantless "backdoor" searches of U.S. citizens' online data; it passed the House 293–123.^[106][107] The amendment also contained a provision prohibiting the NSA or CIA from requesting companies to install surveillance backdoors in their products.^[108]

In 2015 Massie introduced the Surveillance State Repeal Act, a bill that sought to repeal the PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act.^[109][110] Also in 2015, he joined with Representative Justin Amash in an effort to ensure the expiration of certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act.^[111]

Massie has called for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to be pardoned^[112] and for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to be prosecuted for lying about the phone metadata program that Snowden exposed.^[113]

Food regulation

Massie and Rep.Jared Polis promote "food freedom" legislation by sharing a meal that includes hemp scones, raw milk, kombucha, and beef raised by Massie (August 2015)

In 2014 Massie introduced the Milk Freedom Actand the Interstate Milk Freedom Act, a pair of bills that would allow the transportation of raw milk across state borders.^[114][115] Massie explained: "It's legal to drink raw milk in 50 states. It is legal to sell raw milk in 28 states. The Feds need to quit arresting farmers for taking raw milk from one raw milk state to another raw milk state".^[116]

In 2015 Massie introduced the Processing Revival and Intrastate Meat Exemption (PRIME) Act to ease federal regulations regarding the sale of meat within state borders.^[117][118] Massie says that under current federal regulations "farmers and ranchers are increasingly forced to ship their animals to far-off slaughterhouses for processing" which "presents financial burdens, threatens the quality of meat sold, and ultimately makes it difficult for consumers to purchase fresh, local meat".^[119]

Criminal justice reform

In 2013 Massie introduced the Justice Safety Valve Act to provide judges with greater sentencing flexibility.^[120] He stated: "The one size fits all approach of federally mandated minimums does not give local judges the latitude they need to ensure that punishments fit the crimes. As a result, nonviolent offenders are sometimes given excessive sentences. Furthermore, public safety can be compromised because violent offenders are released from our nation's overcrowded prisons to make room for nonviolent offenders."^[121]

Massie has criticized civil asset forfeiture laws, calling them "legal robbery" and "completely unconstitutional".^[122] In 2019 he helped introduce the Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act to reform federal asset forfeiture policies.^[123]

Human rights

In November 2019, Massie was the sole member of the United States Congress to vote against the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act^[124] and in December 2019 was the sole member of the House of Representatives to vote against a condemnation of the treatment of Uyghurs in China.^[125][126] Massie clarified on Twitter that his reasoning was that it is not the role of the United States to intervene in other nations' internal affairs.^[127] Massie also cast the sole "no" vote on the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act.^[128]

Massie opposes the death penalty, and voted against a bill to expand the list of federal capital crimes to include the murder of first-responders.^[129]

On February 26, 2020, Massie voted against making lynching a federal hate crime.^[130]

Government transparency

In 2014, Massie joined Representatives Walter B. Jones and Stephen Lynch at a press conference to call for release of the 28 redacted pages of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001.^[131] In 2016 Massie joined both representatives in writing to President Obama urging him to declassify the pages.^[132]

In 2015, Massie introduced the Federal Reserve Transparency Act to "require the Comptroller General to conduct a full examination of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve banks".^[133] Said Massie: "It is time to force the Federal Reserve to operate by the same standards of transparency and accountability to the taxpayers that we should demand of all government agencies."^[134]

Health care

Massie supports repealing the Affordable Care Act.^[135] In 2017, he criticized the Republican-led efforts to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, saying the efforts fell "far short of our promise to repeal Obamacare".^[136]

Massie does not support compulsory vaccination. He stated on Twitter, "There is no authority in the Constitution that authorizes the government to stick a needle in you."^[137]

Cannabis

Massie has supported efforts to legalize industrial hemp cultivation,^[138][139] introducing the Industrial Hemp Farming Act in 2013^[140][141] as well as hemp-related amendments in 2013,^[142] 2014,^[143] and 2015^[144] that were approved by the House. In 2013 he testified before the Kentucky Senate regarding the matter.^[145]

Massie has stated that medical cannabis patients should be able to legally purchase firearms and that he would introduce legislation allowing them to do so.^[146] Massie has endorsed legislation in Kentucky to legalize the medical use of cannabis.^[147]

Disaster relief

Massie is among a handful of members of Congress who consistently vote to block disaster relief, including for areas affected by Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Harvey. But when Kentucky has been hit by natural disasters, Massie has supported disaster relief.^[148]

Immigration

Massie voted against the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020 which authorizes DHS to nearly double the available H-2B visas for the remainder of FY 2020.^[149][150]

Massie voted against Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1158) which effectively prohibits ICE from cooperating with Health and Human Services to detain or remove illegal alien sponsors of unaccompanied alien children (UACs).^[151]

Other

In October 2019, Massie criticized the jail sentence for Maria Butina, a Russian citizen who pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as a foreign agent in the United States. Butina had sought to infiltrate the National Rifle Association in order to influence a more favorable U.S. foreign policy towards Russia. Massie described her jail sentence as Russophobia. In August 2019, Massie said that former FBI Director James Comey should be put in prison instead of Butina.^[152][153]

In September 2020, on the topic of the Kyle Rittenhouse incident following the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Massie said he believed Rittenhouse had acted in self-defense.^[154][155]

Massie describes himself as a constitutional conservative. He believes in intellectual property and thinks it is necessary for incentivizing innovation. Massie has remarked that this is one of the areas where he is not a libertarian.^[156]

Massie spoke at the John Birch Society’s 60th anniversary celebration. He talked about government corruption and spoke out against the advisability of an Article V Convention to amend the Constitution.^[157][158]

Massie is a part of a small group of Republicans that voted against a House resolution reaffirming commitment to the orderly and peaceful transfer of power in the United States under democratic principles.^[159][160] However, he was also one of seven Republicans who did not support their colleagues' efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election on January 6, 2021; these seven signed a letter that, while giving credence to election fraud allegations made by President Donald Trump, said Congress did not have the authority to influence the election's outcome.^[161]

In June 2021, Massie was one of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to give the Congressional Gold Medal to police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6.^[162] Also in June 2021, he was one of 14 House Republicans to vote against legislation to establish June 19, or Juneteenth (officially named "Juneteenth National Independence Day"), as a federal holiday.^[163] He said he "fully support[ed] creating a day to celebrate the abolition of slavery" but opposed its being named "Independence Day" because that would cause confusion.^[164]

On June 27, 2021, Massie said he and Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Ralph Norman were suing Speaker Nancy Pelosi after they were fined for refusing to wear masks on the House floor.^[165][166]

Electoral history

....

2017 oversight maloney

...  I now recognize Mr. Massie for five minutes of questions.
	Mr. Massie. Thank you very much.
	Dr. Hoffert, do you support a CO2 tax?
	Mr. Hoffert. You're asking me directly. Yes, I do but\--
sorry. I always forget this.
	Mr. Massie. Did you say yes, you support a CO2 tax?
	Mr. Hoffert. Yes, but it's not\--I don't think the question 
is properly formatted.
	Mr. Massie. Okay. Well, I get to ask it. I'll ask you 
another followup.
	Mr. Hoffert. I understand. A carbon tax. Depends on the 
details.
	Mr. Massie. Reclaiming my time.
	Mr. Hoffert. Yes.
	Mr. Massie. Reclaiming my time.
	Dr. Garvey, do you support a CO2 tax?
	Mr. Garvey. I support that the Congress needs to deal with 
the problem and decide how best to manage CO2.
	Mr. Massie. Do you think it's a good tool to do it?
	Mr. Garvey. I'm not a legislature.
	Mr. Massie. So you're not qualified to comment on that.
	Mr. Garvey. That's correct.
	Mr. Massie. Okay. Thank you very much.
	Dr. Oreskes, do you support a CO2 tax?
	Ms. Oreskes. Well, let me say that I'm not an expert on 
taxation policies, but leading economists around the globe, 
including my good colleague Nicholas Stern, with whom I have an 
op-ed piece in today's New York Times, who wrote the Stern 
report, former economist at the World Bank, he and virtually 
all of his colleagues do think that carbon pricing is an 
effective way to address the issue without damaging the 
economy.
	Mr. Massie. Okay.
	Ms. Eubanks, do you support a CO2 tax?
	Ms. Eubanks. Not necessarily.
	Mr. Massie. Okay.
	Dr. Ali, do you support a CO2 tax?
	Mr. Ali. Not if it creates hot spots and hot zones.
	Mr. Massie. So there are only two people here that support 
a CO2 tax.
	Dr. Hoffert, what should the tax be per ton?
	Mr. Hoffert. I prefer something called a fee-and-dividend 
tax, you're probably familiar with it, because it uses market 
mechanisms, and essentially all of the money collected, except 
for administrative fees, would be returned to taxpayers. I 
think that given the polarization in the United States\----
	Mr. Massie. Can you tell me what the fee would be?
	Mr. Hoffert [continuing]. that would be the most viable way 
to\----
	Mr. Massie. Can you tell me what the fee would be?
	Mr. Hoffert. I can't, because I haven't prepared the 
specific numbers on that.
	Mr. Massie. Okay.
	Dr. Oreskes, what would your fee be?
	Ms. Oreskes. Well, it wouldn't be my fee. I think that's a 
very unfair way of posing the question. I think this whole line 
of questioning is a bit weird for this committee. But since you 
asked\----
	Mr. Massie. It's not weird because the presumption\--let me 
get to my point here, which you all are doing a great job of 
making.
	The presumption of this hearing being held in the Civil 
Rights and Civil Liberties Committee is that somehow raising 
the price of energy would help the economically challenged in 
our society.
	Ms. Oreskes. Okay.
	Mr. Massie. Ms. Gunasekara, can you talk about the impact 
of the price of energy on\----
	Ms. Oreskes. Well, could I answer that?
	Mr. Massie. No, I'm asking\--you had a chance.
	Ms. Gunasekara, could you talk about the impact of the 
rising price of energy if there were a CO2 tax on vulnerable 
populations?
	Ms. Gunasekara. Yes. And let me say for the record, I do 
not support a tax on CO2, primarily because it would increase 
the price of energy and electricity. We know the impacts 
because you've seen this happen in Germany where energy and 
electricity is now a luxury commodity.
	So a significant number of studies were done during the 
last administration assessing the impact of cost increases 
affiliated with their Clean Power Plan.
	One of the studies that stood out to me was from the Black 
Chamber of Commerce that found that it would result in hundreds 
of thousands of less jobs in the Hispanic and Black 
communities, as well as communities where people are living on 
fixed-income or low-income budgets.
	It would force them to make decisions where they forego 
meals, they keep their house at unsafe temperatures, they stop 
going to the doctor, and they don't seek out preventive 
healthcare because of the costs that they're trying to save in 
order to afford expensive electricity.
	Mr. Massie. Thank you very much.
	Dr. Ali, you stated that most of the refineries are located 
in minority communities. Is that true?
	Mr. Ali. I said disproportionately located.
	Mr. Massie. Disproportionately located. Can you give us an 
example of one that's not?
	Mr. Ali. That's not located in a community of color?
	Mr. Massie. Yes.
	Mr. Ali. No, I can't, not at this\----
	Mr. Massie. Let me give you an example. There's one in my 
district, and it provides jobs. It's actually one of the best 
things that's ever happened to our district because we have a 
problem with brain drain in eastern Kentucky. People grow up, 
they want to get an education and get a career in STEM. And the 
one opportunity we have is at that refinery.
	I worked there three summers while I was a college student. 
The only opportunity that I had to get a job in science, 
technology, engineering, and math, was at that refinery.
	If you could wave a wand and make those refineries go away 
from the communities of color, would you do that?
	Mr. Ali. I always honor the work that has happened in the 
past when we didn't have other opportunities for different 
types of energy sources. I would.
	Mr. Massie. Would your community be better\--would those 
communities be better off or worse off without those jobs in 
those refineries?
	Mr. Ali. That's why we talk about a just transition. That's 
why we talk about getting advanced manufacturing opportunities. 
That's why we talk about solar, wind, thermal.
	Mr. Massie. Would you answer my question? Are you better 
off or worse off with that refinery in those communities?
	Mr. Ali. You're worse off because of the health impacts, 
and you can get other types of industries in those areas.
	Mr. Massie. Well, if they leave those communities, please 
send another one to my congressional district, because it has 
been a godsend to our congressional district, particularly for 
the people who need jobs....

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)is leading the charge among House Republicans to refuse to follow Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rule continuing the mask mandate, with at least a dozen far right lawmakers flouting their obligation.

"Masks are oppressive and nothing but a political tool. End the oppression!" Greene tweeted Tuesday.

As with many issues from the far right House members, they are literally the cause of their own issues. The House mask mandate has remained in place because, according to CNN, less than half of the House members say they are vaccinated. One hundred percent of House Democrats are, the unvaccinated are all Republicans.

Forbes' Andrew Solender reports among those refusing to wear masks on the House floor are "some of the House's most vocal right-wingers: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Laure Boebert (R-Colo.), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas)."

The hypocrisy isn't limited to refusing to be vaccinated.

Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, according to Solender, "says he 'got into it' with the GOP lawmakers and joked that they are pro-choice when they told him the mandate is a 'violation of their right to decide for themselves.'"

They replied 'absolutely not, it's a totally different thing,' he says."

The U.S. is approaching 34 million cases of COVID-19, and just passed 600,000 coronavirus deaths.

As for Republicans, much of their rhetoric shifted from a simple defense of Rittenhouse’s actions to full-throated commendation. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky stated that Rittenhouse showed “incredible restraint and presence and situational awareness” because he “didn’t empty a magazine” on the protesters. Florida State Rep. Anthony Sabatini wrote “KYLE RITTENHOUSE FOR CONGRESS” in a tweet that had some demanding his resignation.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/house-adopts-resolution-calling-for-a-peaceful-transfer-of-presidential-power-except-for-5-republicans

claiming that Democrats are trying to use mail-in voting to promote voter fraud, President Donald Trump has refused to say that he will accept the election results if former Vice President Joe Biden wins in November. The U.S. House of Representatives, in response, adopted a resolution on Tuesday calling for a peaceful transfer of power in the presidential election — and it passed 379-5. Most House Republicans voted in favor of the resolution, but five didn't: Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Rep. Steve King of Iowa, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana.

Gaetz, according to Axios reporter Rebecca Falconer, views the resolution as a Democratic attack on Trump even though many Republicans voted for it. Falconer quotes the Florida congressman as saying: "This resolution is a way for Democrats to attack the president and disguise the fact that they will refuse to accept the election results unless they win. Professional loser Hillary Clinton has told Joe Biden that he should not concede — and I'm quoting — 'under any circumstances.'"

Gaetz is taking Clinton's words out of context. During an August interview with Jennifer Palmieri for Showtime, Clinton stressed that under no circumstances should Biden, in a close election, concede until he is certain that all of the votes have been counted. Clinton fears that Trump will prematurely claim victory on Election Night before all of the votes have been counted in key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Florida and Arizona.

Clinton, during that interview, said, "Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances, because I think this is going to drag out, and eventually, I do believe he will win if we don't give an inch — and if we are as focused and relentless as the other side is." But Clinton wasn't saying that Biden should never concede under any circumstances, only that under no circumstances should he concede until there has been a thorough vote count. And Clinton is confident that a thorough vote count will eventually favor Biden, who unlike Trump, has said that he would concede if a final vote count showed a Trump victory.

During that interview, Clinton also said, "We've got to have a massive legal operation; I know the Biden campaign is working on that. We have to have poll workers, and I urge people who are able to be a poll worker. We have to have our own teams of people to counter the force of intimidation that the Republicans and Trump are going to put outside polling places. This is a big organizational challenge, but at least we know more about what they're going to do."

https://thinkprogress.org/gop-congressman-thomas-massie-stalls-disaster-aid-bill-a-second-time-chip-roy-blames-democrats-8d6eec7258c1/

swamp?

https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00034041&cycle=2016

Thomas Massie

Representative (R - KY)

Bio | Email | Website ...fb

First Elected: 2012 Next Election: 2018

Top 5 Contributors, 2015 - 2016, Campaign Cmte and Leadership PAC

Contributor	Total	Indivs	PACs
Fischer Homes	$41,200	$41,200	$0
College Loan Corp	$15,200	$15,200	$0
Tennessee Industrial Electronics	$10,800	$10,800	$0
Young Americans for Liberty	$10,800	$10,800	$0
Avidyne Corp	$10,400	$10,400	$0

...view more data

Top 5 Industries, 2015 - 2016, Campaign Cmte and Leadership PAC

Industry	Total	Indivs	PACs
Securities & Investment	$43,333	$43,333	$0
Republican/Conservative	$42,290	$34,943	$7,347
Home Builders	$41,200	$41,200	$0
Retired	$28,402	$28,402	$0
Internet	$17,600	$14,600	$3,000

...view more data

1	Fischer Homes	$41,200	$41,200	$0
2	College Loan Corp	$15,200	$15,200	$0
3	Tennessee Industrial Electronics	$10,800	$10,800	$0
3	Young Americans for Liberty	$10,800	$10,800	$0
5	Avidyne Corp	$10,400	$10,400	$0
5	Zivity LLC	$10,400	$10,400	$0
7	Russell Stover Candies	$10,000	$10,000	$0
8	National Assn of Home Builders	$8,500	$0	$8,500
9	Wells Fargo	$8,000	$8,000	$0
10	First Principles Fund	$7,500	$0	$7,500
11	Golden Age Farm	$6,400	$6,400	$0
12	American Council of Engineering Cos	$6,000	$0	$6,000
12	National Assn of Realtors	$6,000	$0	$6,000
14	Morning Star Co	$5,400	$5,400	$0
14	JW Childs Assoc	$5,400	$5,400	$0
14	Research Affiliates LLC	$5,400	$5,400	$0
14	Stellar Acquisition Co LLC	$5,400	$5,400	$0
14	Bavarian	$5,400	$5,400	$0
14	New Spark Holdings	$5,400	$5,400	$0
14	Bavarian Trucking	$5,400	$5,400	$0
14	Bachman Group

There have been many postmortems about the Alabama Senate primary runoff last Tuesday, mostly focusing on what its result tells us about Donald Trump and whether it affects Mitch McConnell's future. These are good questions, since the candidate endorsed by Trump and McConnell lost to a deranged theocrat considered to be so extreme that even the National Rifle Association dropped nearly a million dollars' worth of ads to try to defeat him. How can it be that a man who was opposed by just about everyone in the Republican Party won the Republican nomination in the most Republican state in the country?

One way of looking at this result is to simply note that President Trump didn't back the Trumper candidate. In a rare moment of party comity, Trump agreed to help out Mitch McConnell and endorse the establishment's chosen candidate, appointed incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, against the wishes of Trump's revolutionary wingman Steve Bannon. Trump was either convinced by his advisers and the party poobahs that wild man Roy Moore couldn't win and he needed to back the winner or that Moore was nuts and Trump needed to pull Strange over the goal line with his massive popularity. Whatever the reasoning, Trump seemed to understand that he'd backed a dud when he mused out loud at his big rally for Strange last Friday night, "Maybe I've made a mistake."

One can easily understand why so many Republicans from all factions of the party wanted to keep Judge Roy Moore out of the United States Senate. He is a notorious political figure from the most extreme corner of the religious right, who was twice removed from the Alabama Supreme Court for refusing to enforce the rule of law. First it was for refusing to remove a 10 Commandments monument from the courthouse and then it was for ordering the state to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Moore is a vocal birther who believes that sharia law is being enacted in states around the nation and claimed that Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota should not be allowed to serve in Congress because he is a Muslim. Not only did he refuse to honor the Supreme Court's order legalizing gay marriage, he thinks homosexual conduct should be outlawed. He has said that the 9/11 attacks and the Newtown mass shooting occurred because God was upset that we "legitimize sodomy” and “legitimize abortion.”

In other words, Moore is exactly the kind of fringe candidate that caused the Republicans to fail to win the Senate back in 2010 and 2012 after running kooks like Todd "legitimate rape" Akin and Sharron "Second Amendment remedies" Angle. As a leaked GOP memo about the Alabama race that was circulated among donors pointed out, the party leadership thought it had purged the self-destructive Tea Party impulse by running more mainstream candidates in 2014 and 2016 and winning the majority. Apparently you can't put that genie back in the bottle.

Charlie Sykes, a Trump critic and former right-wing radio host, pointed out inTime magazine this week that the right has been dealing with a strong strain of "crackpottery" for many decades. and it's true. The modern conservative movement was hatched in the McCarthy era, after all, and the Republican party has been dealing with one group of flakes after another ever since, from the gold bugs to the theocrats to the gun nuts and sovereign citizens and more. It's in the GOP DNA. Until recently, party leaders were able to skillfully exploit the prejudices and paranoia of those factions of their base, while keeping a lid on the worst excesses most of the time and maintaining a somewhat respectable reputation.

But talk radio changed everything and, along with Fox News and the newer online media platforms, has radicalized the grassroots.Starting in the '90s, the Republican Party began to lose control of its own supposed constituency. Sykes quotes a fellow apostate in explaining his own epiphany:

Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, tried to diagnose the mindset of the Tea Party voters when he told the Washington Examiner, "I thought they were voting for libertarian Republicans." Massie continued, "But after some soul-searching, I realized when they voted for Rand and Ron [Paul] and me in these primaries, they weren't voting for libertarian ideas. They were voting for the craziest son of a bitch in the race. And Donald Trump won best in class."

Roy Moore, like fellow birther Sheriff Joe Arpaio, is likely to become a close pal of the president if he wins the election. He's Trump's kind of guy, a card-carrying kook. Trump isn't likely to make the same mistake again and will be backing the extremists from now on. He may not know much about politics, but he knows his base.

The political press generally saw this campaign as a test of Steve Bannon's political clout versus the president's, and Bannon's "win" as a high-profile Moore booster has them swooning. According to the New York Times, Bannon and his billionaire benefactors Robert and Rebekah Mercer are planning to run primaries against incumbent Republicans in order to "drain the swamp" and "blow up the establishment." If this feels like déjà vu all over again, that's understandable. Just a few years ago, the billionaire Koch brothers decided to do the same thing and financed the Tea Party movement. The philosophical goals are different -- the Kochs are pro-business libertarians and the Mercers are eccentrics who want to usurp the establishment -- but the process is the same.

The result for the Republican Party is likely to be what Sykes describes as "an endless feedback loop as it tries with diminishing success to placate its most bombastic voices. The most obvious consequence is their inability (so far) to legislate." Longer term, the party seems to be headed for the long-awaited crack-up.

The GOP stuck together to vote for Donald Trump despite the misgivings of many more mainstream Republican voters. They are party loyalists and simply couldn't imagine themselves voting for a Democrat, especially not the hated Hillary Clinton. Those voters aren't the ones who will get fed up and leave. It's far more likely that if the party finally splits it will be the people who want to vote for "the craziest son of a bitch in the race" who will go their own way. That's not how Steve Bannon originally envisioned blowing up the establishment, but it could achieve his goal anyway.

Heather Digby Parton,

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GOP rep attacks Dr. Fauci — by quoting neo-Nazi convicted for child porn

Jon Skolnik and Salon January 31, 2022

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Sunday tweeted out an inspirational quotation he attributed to Voltaire, the 18th-century French writer and philosopher. In fact, its original source was likely an American neo-Nazi and accused pedophile, who pled guilty to child pornography charges in 2008.

Massie's remarks, reported by Insider, came in a tweet targeting Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who over the past several years has repeatedly been scapegoated by conservatives over the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

"You mustn't question Fauci, for he is science," tweeted Massie, alongside a cartoon illustration of weary workers holding up a large hand attempting to squash them.

"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize," Massie captioned the photo, attributing it to Voltaire.

According to a USA Today fact-check, the quote, which regained popularity last May, has no apparent connection to Voltaire, a major figure of the 18th-century Enlightenment regarded as one of the greatest French writers. In fact, Etymologist Barry Popik has concluded that themaxim likely stems from a 1993 radio broadcast by neo-Nazi Holocaust denier Kevin Alfred Strom, the founder of a white nationalist group called National Vanguard. In 2008, Strom pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in after being charged, among other things, with attempting to coerce a 10-year-old into a sexual relationship. National Vanguard disintegrated shortly after Strom's conviction.

In an online post from 2017, Strom confirmed that the quote was his, writing that "it's pretty clear, even to my critics, that I came up with the idea and the quote — and Voltaire never did."

One Twitter user, Kendall Brown, also pointed out that the illustration Massie shared originated as an anti-child labor cartoon from the early 1900s, "which is ironic, given Massie's vote in Dec. to protect importers who use forced labor."

Indeed, in December, Massie voted against a House bill to blocks the importation of products made through forced labor in China's Xinjiang region. The measure was passed 428-1, with Massie as the sole member of Congress to vote no.

Despite Massie's misattribution and strange choice of visual imagery, at this writing the congressman has not yet taken the Twitter post down.

This isn't the first time Massie has apparently invoked Nazism in debates around COVID-19. Back in August, one of Massie's interns quit after the congressman compared vaccine cards to the policies of Nazi Germany. At the time, Massie tweeted a photo with an image of a weathered wrist tattooed with a concentration camp identification number, captioning it: "If you have to carry a card on you to gain access to a restaurant, venue or an event in your own country … that's no longer a free country." He later deleted that post.

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