Redstate.com

see 2 americas inequality

refers to website itself but also conserv states:

===

===

hotair blog --> redstate pj etc townhall 12 24

EARTH2 ON MUSK GOVT SHUTDOWN

Larry the Cable Guy tore into Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT) following her unhinged rant about House Republicans supposedly being "scared" of Elon Musk.

Let me repeat that. The guy who plays Mater — you know, like "tuh-mater," but without the "tuh" — is trying to break down simple concepts regarding congressional spending to a sitting congresswoman.

Now, don't get me wrong. Larry is a bright guy who created a brilliant character in the world of comedy. But DeLauro, as a Representative of the people, is supposed to be one of our best and brightest.

Instead, we get this.

IFrame Content

I'm sure Ms. DeLauro, who represents the fine state of Connecticut, is just doing what any good Democrat foot soldier has been doing the past few days. They got the memo to try and taunt President-elect Trump by declaring Musk as the real leader, and they're going at it full bore.

She claimed GOP representatives "agreed on a bill," but "You know what? They got scared because President Musk told them, President Musk said don’t do it."

To recap, what you’re looking at above is a sitting congresswoman with purple hair ranting like some sort of coked-up violet-backed starling, suggesting her colleagues are too scared to pass a bill that there is a 0% chance she read.

Connecticut — specifically the 3rd District — thisis the best you have to offer?

Larry the Cable Guy, real name Daniel Whitney, often shies away from politics due to the toxicity level of the unhinged on social media but has been openly suggesting on X that both political parties need to break the resolution down into standalone bills.

He furthered that argument by addressing DeLauro's "lunatic behavior."

"These are our best and brightest. Sheeesh. Why doesn’t Grandma purple hair and all the D’s and R’s draft stand alone bills?" Mr. Cable Guy wondered. "Hmm.. then they get pissed at Musk for providing a platform where taxpayers get to see the shenanigans in real time."

"I have a feeling punk rock retiree here is more upset they no longer have control of what Americans get to see."

---

2 trending on biden senile

https://redstate.com/terichristoph/2024/12/20/elon-musks-latest-political-move-has-everyone-on-the-left-reaching-for-their-smelling-salts-n2183468

The Five Words Tweeted by Elon Musk That Have the Global Elite Reaching for Their Smelling Salts

By Teri Christoph | 4:25 PM on December 20, 2024The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Elon Musk has done it again.

Fresh off of tweeting the original Continuing Resolution (CR) into oblivion, Musk has now set his sights on Europe, and what he tweeted about Germany has the international community of leftists retreating to their fainting couches and calling Jeeves to bring the smelling salts.

I’ve Got a Question for All Those Democrats Who Are Gnashing Their Teeth Over Elon Musk

Elon Musk Issues Ominous Threat to Any Member Who Votes for the 'Cramnibus'; Vivek Also Weighs In

In response to a video posted to X by Naomi Seibt—a young German YouTuber who is known as the "anti-Greta Thunberg"—in which Seibt calls out Germany's presumptive chancellor Friedrich Merz for not wanting to work with the "Germany First" AfD party, Musk tweeted out five words:

Well, you would have thought he had called for Christmas and Kwanzaa to be canceled and all the gifts to be given to Jewish children based on the tantrums thrown by globalists everywhere. Here's a taste of some worldwide headlines:

"Outrage as Elon Musk claims ‘only AfD can save Germany’" (The Guardian)

"Backlash builds as Elon Musk endorses Germany’s far right" (Politico EU)

"Anger after Musk backs German far right" (France 24)

Musk Pauses Torment of GOP to Praise German Extremists (New York Magazine)

They are big, big mad.

The propagandists at NBC had this to say about the endorsement:

Elon Musk waded into Germany’s election Friday, expressing his support for a far-right anti-immigrant and anti-Islam party that's being monitored by the country’s domestic intelligence agency.

Sounds like Germany has its very own Deep State, doesn't it?

Let's take a closer look at what Musk is actually endorsing here. Is AfD (Alternative für Deutschland) the second coming of Adolph Hitler (not that the modern-day left would have a problem with that based on their unabashed support of Hamas)?

Here's how AfD describes itself on its official website, under the headline, "COURAGE FOR GERMANY. FREE CITIZENS, NOT SUBJECTS":

We are liberals and conservatives. We are free citizens of our country. We are convinced democrats.

And what does AfD stand for?

As free citizens, we stand up for direct democracy, the separation of powers and the rule of law, the social market economy, subsidiarity, federalism, the family and the living tradition of German culture. Because democracy and freedom are based on shared cultural values and historical memories. In the tradition of the two revolutions of 1848 and 1989, with our civil protest we articulate the will to complete national unity in freedom and to create a Europe of sovereign democratic states that are bound together in peace, self-determination and good neighborliness.

We are committed to fundamentally renewing our country in the spirit of freedom and democracy and to restoring these principles. We are open to the world, but we want to be and remain German. We want to permanently preserve human dignity, the family with children, our Western Christian culture, our language and tradition in a peaceful, democratic and sovereign nation state of the German people.

AfD is basically as close to a Germanic MAGA movement as you're going to get. They are Europeans, though, so not as MAGA as they could be, but still, the most promising party to save the country with the largest economy in Europe. You'll notice that the attacks against AfD are the same exact attacks that they've been leveling against Donald Trump for years, and look where that's gotten them.

The worldwide left is running scared at Donald Trump's looming second term, Elon Musk's growing political influence, and the rise of hardline conservative politicians like Giorgia Meloni and Marine LePen. European governments are collapsing at a regular rate, yet the left keeps pushing the same propaganda that saw them soundly defeated in the U.S. on November 5th.

Germany is expected to vote on February 23 to replace the leftist government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz that collapsed earlier this week.

Teri Christoph

Teri Christoph is the author of the Smart Girl Politics meme-letter. Follow her on Twitter or check out her carefully curated meme-posting over on Facebook.

Feel free to hit her up with memes, complaints and the like at teri.christoph@gmail.com.

===

...ALSO

pj media

WATCH: Scott Jennings Drops the Mother of All Truth Bombs on CNN

Matt Margolis | 10:02 AM on December 20, 2024

In an epic exchange on CNN, Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings delivered a brutal reality check to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and the Democrats, cutting through their rhetoric with precision. The moment came after Jayapal launched into a tirade blaming Elon Musk and Donald Trump for the looming government shutdown.

“We already had a bill,” she said. “We negotiated it. Mike Johnson agreed to it. And because, as you said, Elon Musk, a billionaire, tweeted about it — President Musk tweeted about it — these Republicans tried to go around their own caucus, all the work that's been done, and they are in charge of shutting down the government. Now, that is what's going to happen tomorrow night at midnight if we don't come to a deal.”

Jayapall also accused Trump of ceding control to Musk, saying, “I mean, this is a real crisis in my mind for Donald Trump: who’s the president right now… and who’s going to be the president come – come the New Year?” She even posed the bizarre question, “Are we now negotiating with Elon Musk? Is Mike Johnson not the speaker anymore?”

She continued, “I mean, this is abdicating all of the responsibilities of elected officials, whether it's the Republican speaker or the Republican president-to-be and giving it to an unelected guy. So I am shocked at the speed with which Donald Trump seems to have conceded his power to Elon Musk.”

Jennings, however, didn’t let this hyperbole slide.

When host Erin Burnett asked him for his response, Jennings zeroed in on Jayapal’s slip of the tongue. “She let the mask slip right at the end. She said, ‘Who’s the president right now?’” he noted.

Jennings went on to cite a recent Wall Street Journal exposé revealing that Joe Biden hasn’t actually been in charge over the past four years, and that unelected staffers and cabinet members have basically been running the government.

"Joe Biden, who we rarely hear from, The Wall Street Journal reported today has been diminished for the last four years, and we've had unelected people running around running the federal government, apparently."

Related: Bombshell Report Exposes Massive Cover-Up of Biden’s Cognitive Decline

Jennings didn’t stop there. He turned Jayapal’s criticism of Trump and Musk back on the Democrats, pointing out their glaring hypocrisy. “If that is what they’re worried about, if they’re worried about people who aren’t Donald Trump, you know, running the government or having influence, I wonder where they’ve been the last four years,” he quipped.

Jayapal’s attempt to frame Musk as some unelected villain harming “working-class Americans” fell hard and flat in the face of Jennings’ unflinching assessment. He highlighted the real issue that Democrats would rather avoid: their own president’s lack of leadership. “The current president, a Democrat, is AWOL and apparently not able to execute the duties of the office,” Jennings noted.

It's interesting how little Democrats are bothered by the fact that Joe Biden has been president-in-name-only the past four years.

Matt Margolis

Matt Margolis is the author of Airborne: How The Liberal Media Weaponized The Coronavirus Against Donald Trump, the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama, and The Scandalous Presidency of Barack Obama.

ref

Bombshell Report Exposes Massive Cover-Up of Biden’s Cognitive Decline

Matt Margolis | 12:24 PM on December 19, 2024

The Wall Street Journal has just dropped a bombshell exposé that reveals the depths of deception surrounding Joe Biden’s presidency, particularly the concerted effort to obscure his apparent cognitive decline. The report exposes the inner workings of an administration more focused on maintaining the illusion of competence than on transparency or governance.

Advertisement

The article highlights how Biden’s team downplayed Jill Biden’s vitality to avoid making the president seem weaker by comparison, with a campaign aide being warned against praising her too much. But the underlying truth is that Jill prioritized power over her husband’s well-being, with her actions amounting to elder abuse.

The article makes clear that the Biden White House operates like a fortress, with staff meticulously curating his schedule and public appearances. Initially excused as COVID-era precautions, these controls remain firmly in place. The WSJ highlights how this “bubble” is used to protect Biden from situations that could expose his senility, further reinforcing the narrative that his team is running the show while the president plays a ceremonial role.

To adapt the White House around the needs of a diminished leader, they told visitors to keep meetings focused. Interactions with senior Democratic lawmakers and some cabinet members—including powerful secretaries such as Defense’s Lloyd Austin and Treasury’s Janet Yellen—were infrequent or grew less frequent. Some legislative leaders had a hard time getting the president’s ear at key moments, including ahead of the U.S.’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.

Senior advisers were often put into roles that some administration officials and lawmakers thought Biden should occupy, with people such as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, senior counselor Steve Ricchetti and National Economic Council head Lael Brainard and her predecessor frequently in the position of being go-betweens for the president.

Advertisement

For roughly three years, the strategies the White House employed were somewhat effective. The article even notes that Biden’s interactions with his cabinet members “were relatively infrequent and often tightly scripted.”

The White House kept Biden out of sight whenever possible, even from the people with whom he was supposed to be working hand-in-hand. The mainstream media, of course, was willing to help push the narrative that Biden’s mental decline was a right-wing conspiracy. And then Joe Biden’s debate blew it all up.

Biden, now 82, has long operated with a tightknit inner circle of advisers. The protective culture inside the White House was intensified because Biden started his presidency at the height of the Covid pandemic. His staff took great care to prevent him from catching the virus by limiting in-person interactions with him. But the shell constructed for the pandemic was never fully taken down, and his advanced age hardened it.

[…]

The strategies to protect Biden largely worked—until June 27, when Biden stood on an Atlanta debate stage with Trump, searching for words and unable to complete his thoughts on live television. Much of the Democratic establishment had accepted the White House line that Biden was able to take the fight to Trump, even in the face of direct evidence to the contrary.

Advertisement

The bombshell report also describes how Biden’s team “insulated him on the campaign trail.”

In the summer of 2023, one prominent Democratic donor put together a small event for Biden’s re-election bid. The donor was shocked when a campaign official told him that attendees shouldn’t expect to have a free ranging question-and-answer session with the president. Instead, the organizer was told to send in two or three questions ahead of time that Biden would answer.

At these events, Biden’s campaign provided donors with pre-approved questions on notecards, yet he still made flubs, leaving donors puzzled since he had the questions in advance. Donors also noticed staff masking other signs of decline. Unlike previous administrations, a tight-knit group of aides, including Annie Tomasini and Ashley Williams, stayed close to Biden, often repeating simple instructions like where to enter or exit a stage.

For our VIPs: The Biden Bombshells Are Coming!

It’s a shocking exposé that proves that the effort to cover up Biden’s senility was extensive and that a lot of people knew the truth but refused to admit it publicly. The article demonstrates that the Biden presidency was built on a foundation of deception, with a compliant media and a complicit political establishment shielding a senile leader. As the fallout continues, one thing is clear — this story isn’t going away anytime soon. The American people deserve answers, and the reckoning is overdue.

===

rs

*real* Florida family walking through floodwaters as they return home after Hurricane Helene. AP

There has been no shortage of gut-wrenching photographs from communities in the southeast devastated by Hurricane Helene, which caused extreme flooding and killed at least 215 people — pictures of houses destroyed, families trapped on rooftops, wreckage from mudslides and roads washed out by torrential rains. But rather than focus on the actual victims or damage, many right-wing influencers and politicians have extended their sympathies to a nonexistent girl and her puppy (who is also not real).

The AI-generated image they’re sharing depicts a crying girl in a boat, seemingly alone except for the little dog she’s clutching. She wears a lifejacket and appears to be adrift on floodwaters caused by a major storm. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah posted the picture on X on Thursday, writing “Caption this photo,” apparently inviting his followers to vent their outrage at the Biden-Harris administration for allowing American children to suffer such misery on their watch. After users pointed out that he’d fallen for AI slop, he deleted the picture. (The image originated on the Trump web forum Patriots.win, where several users immediately recognized it as the product of an AI model.)

IFrame Content

Others, however, have left the misleading picture up on their social media accounts — and some are defending it as an accurate representation of Helene’s effects even though it’s fake. Far-right conspiracy theorist and Donald Trump associate Laura Loomer called the image “sad,” quote-tweeting a post from Buzz Patterson, columnist for the conservative blog RedState, who wrote of the picture: “Our government has failed us again.” Neither have taken their posts down as of press time. Amy Kremer, RNC National Committeewoman for the Georgia GOP and co-founder of Women for Trump, tweeted on Thursday that the image had been “seared into my mind.”

Informed that she was not looking at an authentic photo, Kremer doubled down. “Y’all, I don’t know where this photo came from and honestly, it doesn’t matter,” she replied. “There are people going through much worse than what is shown in this pic. So I’m leaving it because it is emblematic of the trauma and pain people are living through right now.”

A large anonymous blue-check account on X that routinely attacks Democrats did remove the picture but similarly argued: “Even though that image was AI, it spoke a truth about the disregard Harris and Biden have for ordinary Americans, as evidenced by their criminal non-response to Helene.” Another X user posted a since-deleted screenshot of a more succinct response from an apparent family member advised that the image was bogus. “Who cares,” they answered.

The little girl and her puppy — there are AI-generated variants of the more viral image floating around as well — have been widely presented by MAGA world as evidence of a failed disaster response in the aftermath of Helene. Similar fake images depict girls or women clutching Bibles as floods rage around them. Trump himself is pushing lies about the U.S. government not being able to fund relief efforts, adding an overtone of racism with the groundless claim that the White House “stole” money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and “spent it all on illegal migrants.” (The irony being that in 2019, the Trump administration itself redirected millions in disaster funds, during hurricane season, to pay for detention centers at the border.)

...

===

===

origin is neo nazi blood tribe at city mtg? pix of goose; a white woman in another town killed and ate her own cat to freak out neighbors?

Right-wing media are celebrating JD Vance for his racist lie that Haitian immigrants are widely spreading disease in Springfield, Ohio

Data from Ohio’s Department of Health and Clark County Combined Health District shows only a handful of new tuberculosis and HIV cases, which Vance falsely claims “have skyrocketed”

Written by Zachary Pleat

Published 09/14/24

Right-wing websites are celebrating Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Sen. JD Vance for spreading a longstanding xenophobic trope in a CNN interview that “communicable diseases like HIV and TB have skyrocketed” in Springfield, Ohio, because of Haitian immigrants in the city. This falsehood follows his debunked smear that Haitian residents of the city were eating people’s pets, a lie reportedly linked to recent bomb threats.

Vance had already spread this smear in a September 10 post on X, formerly known as Twitter. But it was Vance repeating the falsehood in a CNN interview shortly after the ABC News presidential debate which right-wing websites are celebrating.

SEN. JD VANCE: And again, whether those exact rumors turn out to be mostly true, somewhat true, whatever the case may be, Kaitlan, this town has been ravaged by 20,000 migrants coming in. Health care costs are up, housing costs are up, communicable diseases like HIV and TB have skyrocketed in this small Ohio town. This is what Kamala Harris' border policies have done.

Vance repeated this smear in a September 13 post on X as well.

Right-wing blogs have responded to Vance's misinformation with widespread praise.

A Townhall post which quoted his smear that Haitian immigrants are widely spreading disease in Springfield declared his CNN appearance “masterful,” adding, “Bravo, sir.”

The Media Research Center’s NewsBusters embedded a clip of Vance’s CNN interview, declaring: “JD Vance SCHOOLS CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Immigration and Cat Memes.”

And RedState included a transcript of Vance’s disease smear in its post congratulating him for making “a very real and damning point about the media,” adding: “When you come at JD Vance, you better get ready for a fight. CNN's Kaitlan Collins certainly wasn't.”

For all of their congratulations to Vance over continuing to push this smear, these right-wing blogs missed the reality that Vance is simply lying. Making it up.

Data from the Ohio Department of Health and Clark County Combined Health District — which Vance presumably could easily obtain, given that he’s one of the state’s senators — shows that there are barely any new cases of either TB or HIV in Clark County, of which Springfield is the county seat.

The most recent data available, for 2018-22, shows that in 2018, Clark County reported 10 new HIV infections. Six new HIV infections were reported there in 2019, six again in 2020, 12 in 2021, and 13 in 2022. These five years of data reveal that between 2018-22, the county had a cumulative total of 322 HIV diagnoses — while the state’s cumulative total during this time period was 39,729 HIV diagnoses. To put it simply, Clark County, which includes Springfield, represented less than 1% of all HIV diagnoses in Ohio during this time period.

A December 2022 report of TB cases in Clark County prepared for the Clark County Combined Health District goes back a full decade, showing several incidences of 1, 2, 3, and sometimes zero cases of active TB in the entire county each year.

Clark County Combined Health District Commissioner Chris Cook told NBC News that Vance’s claim of a surge in diseases there is false: “Overall, we have not seen a substantial increase in all reportable communicable diseases. In fact, if you look at all reportable communicable diseases together (minus COVID) for the year ending 2023 you will see that we are at our lowest rate in Clark County since 2016.” And according to Bruce Vanderhoff, the director of Ohio’s Health Department, the state isn’t seeing a “measurable or discernible increase” in vaccine-preventable illnesses, further debunking Vance’s smear.

As Advocate explained, Vance is reinforcing “historical stigmas, stoking xenophobia and racial fear.” Right-wing media may be celebrating Vance pushing these cruel lies, but legitimate media organizations should be prepared to call him out.

ref

When you come at JD Vance, you better get ready for a fight. CNN's Kaitlan Collins certainly wasn't.

During a post-debate interview, Collins attempted to confront Vance on the thing currently making Democrats apoplectic — cat memes.

The memes originated from reports in Springfield, Ohio, that Haitians were killing and consuming, geese and ducks from the park, as well as pets like cats. This was brought up during the debate by Trump in order to reinforce the fact that illegal immigration has gotten out of control. The clearly biased moderators who had been protecting Kamala Harris all night seemed to be ready for that, as they said they'd contacted the Springfield city manager, and were told nothing of the sort was happening.

Quick aside: That's not what residents are saying.

xittr collin rugg

1833885634425188555

Collins took the issue to Vance.

"The other thing that he brought up, which I was kind of surprised by, I guess I would say, is he brought up this misleading, false claim that you yourself have talked about in recent days about Haitian immigrants in Springfield Ohio, abducting people's pets and eating them, which officials there have said is not true. You yourself acknowledged it may be false on Twitter. You still told people to- to keep spreading it, but Trump just amplified it to tens of millions of people who were watching. Why push something that's not true?

Vance corrected her, saying that the city officials have said it's not true, which isn't exactly a solid source of information in this case, since it's pretty clear that city officials are very amenable to the Haitians. He told Collins that while the city officials might not be saying much, the residents are practically screaming it.

"We've heard from a number of constituents on the ground. Kaitlan, who both firsthand and secondhand reports, saying this stuff is happening," said Vance. So they very clearly, meaning the people on the ground dealing with this, think that it is happening."

It was then that Vance turned this around on Collin.

"I think that it's important for journalists to actually get on the ground and uncover this stuff for themselves," he said. "When you have a lot of people saying, “my pets are being abducted” or “geese at the city pond are being abducted and slaughtered right in front of us, this is crazy stuff."

"This town has been ravaged by 20,000 migrants coming in, health care costs are up, housing costs are up," he continued. "Communicable diseases like HIV and TB have skyrocketed in this small Ohio town. This is what Kamala Harris's border policies have done. And I think it's interesting Kaitlan, that the media didn't care about the carnage wrought by these policies until we turned it into a meme about cats and that speaks to the media's failure to care about what's going on in these communities. If we have to meme about it to get the media to care, we're going to keep on doing it because the media could, should care about what's going on."

Collins tried to defend the media, saying they do care which is why the mainstream media is covering these stories, to which Vance noted it was only because of cat memes, and nobody would care about this story if the memes weren't doing damage to the Democrats.

Collins then tried to say that if people were claiming they saw Bigfoot, if the Trump campaign would believe them, but Vance again had her number.

"Kaitlan, it's a totally fair point, but nobody's calling my office and saying that they saw Bigfoot," said Vance. "What they're calling and saying is we're seeing migrants kidnap our dogs and cats and city officials aren't doing anything about it. Now again, I have a responsibility as a United States Senator. I think the media has a responsibility as an institution that cares about truth, to actually take people seriously when they say their lives have been ruined by this migrant crisis and again, if every single thing that the media says about this story is false, the verifiable facts are that this community has had their lives destroyed by 20,000 migrants coming in and uprooting life."

===

// rush bad trinity

https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/red-state-capitol-retraction/

AH

Several days after a violent mob of far-right extremists stormed the U.S. Capitol Building in the hope of preventing Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory, the right-wing RedState website published a ridiculous op-ed claiming that liberals and RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) were exaggerating the severity of the attack and distorting the events. But RedState has since retracted the piece.

RedState explained, "Overnight, this article about Jan. 6 was published. Many details, opinions, and analysis contained in the piece were either incorrect or inappropriate. It has been retracted, and we regret its publication."

The retracted op-ed, written by RedState's Mike Ford, was headlined: "Opinion: Enough! There Was No Riot, Insurrection or 'Storming!'"

Ford wrote, "Enough! Enough of the gaslighting by the press. Enough of the gaslighting by the party of slavery, Jim Crow, the KKK, want, deprivation, envy and murder of the unborn in the womb. Most especially, enough of their 'Republican,' enablers, who believe they can gain political favor or DC cocktail circuit invites, by promoting these blatant lies."

So far, at least five people have died because of the Jan. 6 attack, including a member go the Capitol Police. The fact that some of the rioters hoped to murder Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been well-documented. The crowds barreled down barricades and threatened police that stood in their way. One video showed a police officer being crushed as a throng if the insurgents struggled to force themselves into the building; he cried out in agony. The Capitol was ransacked, burgled, and vandalized while lawmakers hid for their lives for hours.

But Ford, in his op-ed, insisted that the media was exaggerating — and he even described the insurgents as "concerned Americans."

"Let me be real clear. There was no riot in DC," Ford wrote. "There was no insurrection. There was no 'storming" of the Capitol Building. There was a peaceful rally. There was a largely peaceful protest that was marred by some bad acts by a very few people. There was and is, absolutely nothing to be traumatized or intimidated by. It's time to tell the press, the politicians and even our pastors, stop the gaslighting."

While Ford was trying to convince RedState readers that the events of Jan. 6 were no big deal, national security experts were saying that Washington, D.C. will require enormous security when Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. A former Secret Service agent, following the Jan. 6 siege, told Politico that on Jan. 20, "There will be barriers in place you didn't have yesterday. And I think instead of having just the Capitol Police there to protect the Capitol (to start), you're going to have thousands of other law enforcement that are going to be standing elbow to elbow."

CNN's Jake Tapper slammed Ford's op-ed, tweeting:...

https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/trumps-troll-presidency-takes-another-pointlessly-cruel-action/

no lnx

Trump’s troll presidency takes another pointlessly cruel action

Trump eating McDonald's fast food/InstagramTrump eating McDonald's fast food/Instagram

Written by David Atkins January 19, 2020

There is so much news happening in the last 24 hours that it feels like drinking from a fire hose. Others like our own Martin Longman can analyze the situation around Lev Parnas better than I can—and it’s a very busy weekend for me, so apologies in advance. But I would be remiss not to highlight one of the more minor stories of the day that might otherwise escape attention, if only because it puts in sharp focus the pointless, petty cruelty of this administration.

The Trump Administration decided to roll back the amount of fruits and vegetables given to school children. This is obviously terrible, so why do it? Well, because it was a Michelle Obama initiative, that’s why. Why do it now? It was Michelle Obama’s birthday.

No, seriously.

The Trump administration moved on Friday to roll back school nutrition standards championed by Michelle Obama, an effort long sought by food manufacturers and some school districts that have chafed at the cost of Mrs. Obama’s prescriptions for fresh fruit and vegetables…

Combating childhood obesity was Mrs. Obama’s signature issue, a rallying cry for her supporters and a lightning rod for conservative critics who saw it as epitomizing the liberal “nanny state” of the Obama era.

The administration says, of course, that it was just a coincidence and not intentional:

A spokeswoman for the department said that it had not intended to roll out the proposed rule on Mrs. Obama’s birthday, although some Democratic aides on Capitol Hill had their doubts. Food companies applauded the proposal, while nutritionists condemned it, predicting that starchy foods like potatoes would replace green vegetables and that fattening foods like hamburgers would be served daily as “snacks.”

Sure. The folks at Red State are certainly celebrating it as an act of aggressive trolling.So even in the unlikely event it wasn’t intentional, Trump’s base is reveling in the meanness of it nonetheless. Which is further astonishing since…don’t some of these people also have kids who go to public schools? Certainly they must. Do they not care about their own children’s health? Apparently not as much as scoring a point against their hated political opponents.

It’s just another reminder that we don’t actually have a government. We have a cult of grievance orchestrated by a cable news network for bitter, angry bigots with a cruelty streak.

==

==

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/redstate-editor-who-published-revenge-porn-of-congresswoman-has-ties-to-political-opponent

redState managing editor Jennifer Van Laar published articles that contained revenge porn of Rep. Katie Hill on the conservative blog RedState and in the Daily Mail without disclosing that she was set to be employed by one of Hill’s Republican challengers. Hill’s estranged husband had shopped around the explicit photographs, which made their way into California Republican circles before Van Laar’s articles were published. The failure to disclose this pertinent information raises new questions about Van Laar’s obtainment of the photographs and her reasoning for including them in her articles, which seemed designed only to humiliate Hill out of office.

Since the publication of the compromising photographs, and Van Laar’s false allegation that Hill had a “Nazi-era” tattoo visible in one of the photographs, Hill has announced her resignation from Congress and expressed her intention to seek legal recourse against those who published and shared the photographs. Both Washington, D.C., and California have laws against revenge porn.

RedState’s and Daily Mail’s publication of the photographs has drawn scrutiny. Politico reported that in July that Van Laar—who hardly pretends to be nonpartisan—had “praised a Republican who at the time was planning to run against Hill in 2020.” That Republican, Suzette Valladares, Mediaite’s Caleb Ecarma reported yesterday, was planning to take on Van Laar as a campaign manager just one month before Hill’s estranged husband Kenny Heslep appears to have begun shopping around the photos of Hill. From Mediaite:

In an August 5 email sent by Van Laar and obtained by Mediaite, she referred to herself as the “campaign manager” for Valladares, who was running for Hill’s seat at the time. The message was sent using an official email address for the candidate’s campaign. In the email, which was sent to the local podcast show The Talk of Santa Clarita, Van Laar explicitly told host Stephen Daniels, “Yes, I’m coming on as her campaign manager.”

[…]

Per screenshots obtained by Mediaite, Hill’s husband sent Facebook direct messages in late September to the local news program saying that he had dirt on Hill, but the podcast shot down his pitch, leading Heslep to block the show and hurl a vague threat about exposing the host.

Stephen Daniels, host of the local podcast “The Talk of Santa Clarita,” mentioned above, also provided Right Wing Watch with a copy of the email chain between himself and Van Laar from August of this year. The Valladares campaign did not respond to an email inquiry from Right Wing Watch.

In screen captures of Facebook comments provided by Daniels, Van Laar was asked if she had identified herself as “someone who would be managing the campaign” of Valladares, which Van Laar confirmed, but claimed that the job had “never materialized.” Van Laar does not appear as a paid staffer on Valladares’ October FEC filing.

Valladares planned to run against Hill in the 2020 congressional race in Hill’s district, but on Sept. 11 she dropped out to pursue a seat in the 38th Assembly District in California instead. At the time of Van Laar’s email, Valladares still planned to challenge Hill in California’s 25th Congressional District. Neither RedState nor the Daily Mail disclosed Van Laar’s relationship to Hill’s then-opponents.

RedState’s senior editor Joe Cunningham accused news outlets of not giving Van Laar due credit as a journalist who broke the story, but The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics states that journalists should avoid conflicts of interest “real or perceived” and disclose “unavoidable conflicts” to readers when applicable. Daniels told Right Wing Watch that he believed that Van Laar’s role in Valladares’ campaign posed a personal conflict of interest in her reporting.

“She obviously had an agenda to get rid of Katie Hill and had a candidate in mind that she wanted to bring in. I don’t know how you can’t see that as a conflict, especially when she wants to tout that she’s a real journalist,” Daniels told Right Wing Watch on the phone Tuesday.

Tags: Jennifer Van LaarMediaRedState

==

https://www.alternet.org/2019/08/right-wing-media-outlets-are-booming-in-the-trump-era-report/

no lnx

Right-wing media outlets are booming in the Trump era: report

Written by Alex Henderson August 26, 2019

Right-wing media outlets have traditionally experienced their biggest growth when a Democrat was in the White House. Many far-right outlets knew how to turn fear-mongering over President Bill Clinton in the 1990s or President Barack Obama in the late 2000s/early 2010s into major advertising revenue. But in a report for Axios, Sara Fischer explains that some right-wing outlets have been enjoying substantial growth under a Republican president: Donald Trump.

Citing a Columbia Journalism Review analysis of right-wing websites using Comscore data, Fischer reports that RedState, the Washington Times and the Washington Examiner are among the outlets that have been thriving during the Trump era. Those sites, Fischer notes, “are experiencing major growth by widening their coverage. Their goal is to cover whatever is capturing the world’s attention that day, from human interest stories to trending entertainmentdevelopments.”

Fischer notes that although the right-wing Weekly Standard folded in late 2018, other websites on the right continue to “rank high” in terms of “engagement on Facebook” — and Fox News, according to Fischer, remains “the #1 news site on Facebook” in 2019 “in terms of reader engagement,” according to the analytics company Newswhip.

Podcasts that have been thriving in the Trump era, Fischer reports, include “The Joe Rogan Experience” and “The Ben Shapiro Show.” Shapiro, she points out, has “built a megabrand aimed at targeting younger conservatives.”

Fischer stresses, however, that although “conservative media remains strong across most major media platforms,” some “left-leaning outlets” — including HuffPost— “rank highly” in the Trump era. But Trump’s presidency and the 2020 election, she writes, continue to benefit right-wing media.

“Typically, the opposition party has a media explosion in response to whichever political group is in power,” Fischer reports. “But the economic stress of the media industry, combined with the Trump-driven conservative strategy of broad messaging, has upended that dynamic.”

==

--

IRS punish blue, also will send migrant prisoners to sanct city/state, we say yes pls

https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/trump-and-republicans-weaponized-the-tax-code-to-punish-blue-states-cnn-analyst/

On Monday’s edition of CNN’s “New Day,” political analyst John Avlon laid bare the way that President Donald Trump and the GOP have politicized the federal tax code.

“Whether you see your taxes go up or down will depend on whether you live in a red state or blue state, and that’s by design,” said Avlon. “First, a little history. December 22nd, 2017, that’s when President Trump’s tax plan was signed into law. Kind of a Christmas gift to corporations and red state residents. Passed entirely along party lines … it slashed the amount of state and local taxes you could deduct to $10,000, it limited the mortgage interest deduction and that’s where the representation of the tax code became evident.”

“According to data from H&R block, among states where refunds went up this year the top ten are all red states,” said Avlon. “Among states where tax refunds went down, you guessed it, the top ten are all blue states. Notice a pattern?”

“It’s no surprise in areas where most Americans live, it costs more to buy a house, and guess who is more likely to need a mortgage, again, red states deduct while new states are stuck,” Avlon continued. “This has become known as the blue state triple whammie because Trump’s tax code has made it more expensive to buy a home, more expensive to own a home and harder to sell your home.”

“But guess who does even better under Trump’s tax code, Trump’s own commercial real estate industry, the same industry which Jared Kushner’s company bought a white elephant of a building at a record price right before the market crashed and is still worth around $3 million and paid little or no federal income taxes or at least seven years,” Avlon added.

“President Nixon said never make taxation popular, but we can make it fair,” said Avlon. “With the politically weaponized tax code that punishes blue states, President Trump seems to have failed at both and that’s your reality check.”

Watch below:

==

==

Erick Woods Erickson (born June 3, 1975) is a conservative American blogger and radio host. He hosts the radio show Atlanta's Evening News with Erick Erickson, broadcast on 750 WSB (AM), and runs the blog The Resurgent. Previously, he served as the editor-in-chief and the CEO of the conservative political blog RedState^[1] and was a political contributor for CNN.

• :{1:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Early life and career:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{1.1:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Macon city council:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
• :{2:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Political commentator:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{2.1:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{RedState:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{2.2:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Television and radio:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{2.3:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{The Resurgent:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
• :{3:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Political views and controversies:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{3.1:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Donald Trump:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{3.2:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Gender:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{3.3:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Guns:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{3.4:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{LGBT rights:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{3.5:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Attacks on public figures:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
  • :{3.6:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Augusto Pinochet:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
• :{4:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{Book:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
• :{5:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{References:(style="display:table-cell"):}:
• :{6:(style="display:table-cell;padding-left:0px;padding-right:0.5em;color:#222222;"):}::{External links:(style="display:table-cell"):}:

Early life and career:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

Erick Woods Erickson was born in Jackson in East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates when he was five, and returned to Jackson when he was fifteen.^[2][3] Erickson attended the American School of Dubai, previously known as the Jumeirah American School. His father worked for Conoco Oil^[4] as an oil company production foreman.^[5] Erickson received a bachelor's degree from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and a J.D. degree from Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law. He is an inactive member in good standing of the State Bar of Georgia.^[6]

Macon city council:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

Erickson was elected on November 6, 2007 to a four-year term as a Republican member of the Macon, Georgia city council.^[7] He resigned his office on February 16, 2011, partway through his first term to pursue a job with WSB radio in Atlanta;^[8] The Macon Telegraph noted his poor attendance as a council member before his resignation.^[9] While he was in office, Macon police officers considered forming a union. To counter it, Erickson urged that the police department be dissolved.^[10]

Political commentator:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

RedState:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

Erickson joined the conservative blog RedState in 2005.^[11] He later served as its editor-in-chief. Erickson was CEO of RedState, Inc. While working at RedState, Erickson developed a reputation as one of the most influential American conservatives.^[12] Erickson's "Morning Briefing" e-mails grew from 498 subscribers when they began in February 2009 to nearly 70,000 by January 2010. The Washington Post noted that "The ability of a single e-mail to shape a message illustrates the power of the conservative network." The article described Erickson as one of the American conservative movement's "key national players".^[13]

Erickson wrote the "Confessions of a Political Junkie" blog and is former editor-in-chief of the "Peach Pundit" blog. His first book, Red State Uprising: How to Take Back America (co-authored with Lew Uhler), was published by Regnery Press in September 2010.^[14][15] Later that month, Erickson said that growing up his parents refused to serve "Asian food" on December 7, the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.^[16]Erickson's mother appeared to deny the claim to a journalist.^[17] Erickson criticized the report, citing his mother's age.^[18]

In 2014, RedState was sold by RedState, Inc. to Salem Media Group.^[19] In December 2015, Erickson left his position at the site to focus on his radio show.^[11]

Television and radio:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

From 2010 to January 2013, Erickson was a political contributor at CNN.^[20][21] Erickson later joined FOX News as a contributor.^[22]

In January 2011, Erickson began hosting a local radio show on WSB Radio 750/95.5, replacing Michael Savage. Erickson eventually moved to the slot vacated by Herman Cain when he announced his 2012 presidential bid. In 2014 and 2015, Erickson guest-hosted the national broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show on numerous times. Toward the end of Erickson's career at RedState he began to increase his focus on his radio show, which was owned by Cox Media Group.^[19] He eventually quit the site to work on it full-time.^[11][19]

The Resurgent:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

In January 2016, Erickson launched the conservative website The Resurgent.^[23]

Political views and controversies:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

The Daily Telegraph of London put Erickson on its "List of Most Influential US Conservatives", giving him a rank of 69th most influential in 2007 and 65th in 2010.^[24] According^[19] to the 2007 newspaper article: "Erickson epitomises the new power of the internet. A small-government fiscal and social conservative based in the south, he taps into and influences the Republican 'base' that the GOP’s 2008 candidates are courting."^[25]According to The Atlantic, Erickson's conservatism is more traditional (as opposed to libertarian) and "deeply informed by his evangelical faith".^[26] Erickson emphasizes small government, strong national defense, and the primacy of the traditional family.^[26]

Donald Trump:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

During a CNN interview after a Republican Party debate hosted by Fox News on August 6, 2015, Donald Trump had said that Fox News anchor and debate co-moderator Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever” while questioning him during the debate. The next day, Erickson disinvited Trump from a RedState gathering held in Atlanta,^[27] calling Trump's remark "a bridge too far” and that even "blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross" certain lines, including decency.^[27] The following day, Trump released a statement stating that Erickson had a history of making controversial statements for which he has had to apologize, and that he, Trump, was an outsider who did not fit into Erickson's agenda.^[28]

Yet, on February 11, 2019, Erickson endorsed Trump for re-election in the 2020 presidential election.^[29]

Gender:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 2013, Erickson was criticized for saying in an interview on Fox Business Network that males dominate females in the "natural world" and it was only "science" for men to be the breadwinners for their family.^[30]

Guns:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

In December 2015, Erickson posted a picture of a bullet ridden copy of The New York Times that he had shot at. That day's edition contained a front-page editorial in favor of gun control.^[31][32]

Erickson spread a false story by RedState which claimed that 17-year old Parkland, Florida school shooting survivor David Hogg was not actually at the Parkland school when it was attacked.^[33] He later described Hogg as a "bully" after Hogg called for an advertiser boycott of right-wing Fox News host Laura Ingraham when she mocked him for not getting into a number of universities.^[34][35]

LGBT rights:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 2017, Erickson signed a manifesto which condemned homosexuality and transgender identity, saying that homosexual and transgender identity was not according to God's plan.^[36]

Attacks on public figures:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

In April 2009, Erickson described retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter on his Twitter account as "the only goat fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court”. In an appearance on The Colbert Report, Erickson said the statement was "not my finest hour."^[24] Erickson called Texas state senator Wendy Davis “Abortion Barbie.”^[26] In a blog post, Erickson considered whether President Obama was “shagging hookers” and wondered whether Michelle Obama (whom he called a “marxist harpy”) “would go Lorena Bobbit [sic] on him should he even think about it.”^[26] Erickson argued that President Obama won the Nobel Prize because of an “affirmative action quota.”^[37] Erickson compared the Obama administration's health care communications director Linda Douglass to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.^[38]

Augusto Pinochet:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

In November 2018, Erickson tweeted that foreign aid to Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Mexico would be more effectively spent installing "Pinochet types" in these countries. He added that the US should "support strong leaders who support free market reforms and promote economic stability, even if with a heavy hand". When challenged on this proposal, Erickson replied "I'm hoping for some helicopters in this plan", a reference to Death flights in Chile during Pinochet's regime.^[39]

Kathryn Sikkink, a professor in International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, responded to Erickson's remarks. She noted that "Pinochet was a Chilean dictator who committed massive human rights abuses," and that Erickson got the "facts exactly backward. Recent history and social science don’t show that authoritarian regimes stop people from fleeing across borders. They show that they make more people want to flee."^[40]

Book:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em;color:#54595d;"):}:[edit:{]}:

In 2017 he published a book Before You Wake: Life Lessons from a Father to His Children.^[41]

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/right-wing-site-inaccurately-smears-david-hogg-liar-blames-mistake-confusing-video

corrected

parkland

==

https://kpfa.org/episode/the-ralph-nader-radio-hour-november-28-2016/

ralph sez left out will get mad up (corps) or down : welfare queen line jumper etc

Strangers in their :{own:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{Land:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}:: Anger and Mourning on the ...:{:(style="margin:auto;padding:0px 1em;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:middle;transition:opacity 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;border-radius:1em;visibility:hidden;opacity:0;display:inline-block;position:absolute;background-color:rgba(138, 138, 138, 0.901961);height:2em;z-index:200;bottom:2.5em;left:-0.95em"):}:

In "Strangers in Their Own Land," Arlie Russell Hochschild tries to understand the worldview of Louisiana Tea Party supporters. ... STRANGERS IN THEIR ...

[](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=strngers%20intheir%20own%20land%20hochscild%20ucb+site:www.nytimes.com&atb=v31-5__ "Search domain www.nytimes.com"):{nytimes.com:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline"):}::{/2016/09/25/books/review/strangers-in-thei...:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;opacity:1;visibility:visible"):}:

Strangers in Their :{Own:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{Land:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: | The New Press:{:(style="margin:auto;padding:0px 1em;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:middle;transition:opacity 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;border-radius:1em;visibility:hidden;opacity:0;display:inline-block;position:absolute;background-color:rgba(138, 138, 138, 0.901961);height:2em;z-index:200;bottom:2.5em;left:-0.95em"):}:

New Republic reviews Strangers in Their Own Land: "Hochschild is fascinated by how people make sense of their lives, ...

[](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=strngers%20intheir%20own%20land%20hochscild%20ucb+site:thenewpress.com&atb=v31-5__ "Search domain thenewpress.com"):{thenewpress.com:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline"):}::{/books/strangers-their-own-land:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;opacity:1;visibility:visible"):}:

Arlie R. Hochschild | UC Berkeley Sociology Department:{:(style="margin:auto;padding:0px 1em;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:middle;transition:opacity 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;border-radius:1em;visibility:hidden;opacity:0;display:inline-block;position:absolute;background-color:rgba(138, 138, 138, 0.901961);height:2em;z-index:200;bottom:2.5em;left:-0.95em"):}:

Arlie R. Hochschild . Professor Emerita. ... Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (The New Press, September 2016), ...

[](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=strngers%20intheir%20own%20land%20hochscild%20ucb+site:sociology.berkeley.edu&atb=v31-5__ "Search domain sociology.berkeley.edu"):{sociology.berkeley.edu:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline"):}::{/professor-emeritus/arlie-r-hochschild:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;opacity:1;visibility:visible"):}:

Arlie Russell Hochschild on "Strangers in Their :{Own:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{Land:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: ...:{:(style="margin:auto;padding:0px 1em;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:middle;transition:opacity 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;border-radius:1em;visibility:hidden;opacity:0;display:inline-block;position:absolute;background-color:rgba(138, 138, 138, 0.901961);height:2em;z-index:200;bottom:2.5em;left:-0.95em"):}:

Arlie Russell Hochschild on "Strangers in Their Own Land: ... Arlie Hochschild is author of the new book Strangers in Their Own Land: ...

[](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=strngers%20intheir%20own%20land%20hochscild%20ucb+site:www.democracynow.org&atb=v31-5__ "Search domain www.democracynow.org"):{democracynow.org:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline"):}::{/2016/9/28/arlie_russell_hochschild_on_str...:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;opacity:1;visibility:visible"):}:

Review: 'Strangers in Their :{Own:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{Land,':(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:600;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: by Arlie Russell ...:{:(style="margin:auto;padding:0px 1em;border:0px;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:middle;transition:opacity 0.3s ease-in-out 0s;border-radius:1em;visibility:hidden;opacity:0;display:inline-block;position:absolute;background-color:rgba(138, 138, 138, 0.901961);height:2em;z-index:200;bottom:2.5em;left:-0.95em"):}:

... Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. ... Review: 'Strangers in Their Own Land,' by Arlie Russell Hochschild. NONFICTION: ...

==

40 min vid (tracked by ggle?)

line cutting story, elite vs hick

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM5ReFAh-YQ

==

These 9 Maps Should Absolutely Outrage Southerners various socio-economic factors 3/14.

alternet rt mad at CA economist krugman

==

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/09/opinion/despair-american-style.html?_r=0

...

 been a lot of comment, and rightly so, over a new paper by the economists Angus Deaton (who just won a Nobel) and Anne Case, showing that mortality among middle-aged white Americans has been rising since 1999. This deterioration took place while death rates were falling steadily both in other countries and among other groups in our own nation.

Paul Krugman

Even more striking are the proximate causes of rising mortality. Basically, white Americans are, in increasing numbers, killing themselves, directly or indirectly. Suicide is way up, and so are deaths from drug poisoning and the chronic liver disease that excessive drinking can cause. We’ve seen this kind of thing in other times and places – for example, in the plunging life expectancy that afflicted Russia after the fall of Communism. But it’s a shock to see it, even in an attenuated form, in America.

Yet the Deaton-Case findings fit into a well-established pattern. There have been a number of studies showing that life expectancy for less-educated whites is falling across much of the nation. Rising suicides and overuse of opioids are known problems. And while popular culture may focus more on meth than on prescription painkillers or good old alcohol, it’s not really news that there’s a drug problem in the heartland.

But what’s causing this epidemic of self-destructive behavior?

If you believe the usual suspects on the right, it’s all the fault of liberals. Generous social programs, they insist, have created a culture of dependency and despair, while secular humanists have undermined traditional values. But (surprise!) this view is very much at odds with the evidence.

For one thing, rising mortality is a uniquely American phenomenon – yet America has both a much weaker welfare state and a much stronger role for traditional religion and values than any other advanced country. Sweden gives its poor far more aid than we do, and a majority of Swedish children are now born out of wedlock, yet Sweden’s middle-aged mortality rate is only half of white America’s.

You see a somewhat similar pattern across regions within the United States. Life expectancy is high and rising in the Northeast and California, where social benefits are highest and traditional values weakest. Meanwhile, low and stagnant or declining life expectancy is concentrated in the Bible Belt.

==

http://www.alternet.org/print/10-republican-red-states-mooch-coastal-liberal-states

September 17, 2014 |

One of the most hilarious talking points coming from far-right Republicans and the Tea Party is that when “red states” like Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana are asked to bail out California or Massachusetts, that’s when they will finally become “fed up with socialism” and secede from the Union once and for all.

The problem with that meme is that it has no basis in reality: the more prosperous and Democrat-leaning areas of the United States are likely to be subsidizing dysfunctional “red states,” many of which are suffering from insufficient tax revenue and an abundance of low-wage workers who don’t have much to tax. Tea Party Republicans like to point out that poor cities like Detroit, Baltimore and Camden, New Jersey are run by Democrats, but they neglect to mention that some of the most affluent parts of the United States—from Manhattan to the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area to Cambridge, MA to Seattle to Chicago’s North Shore suburbs—are dominated by the Democratic Party. People in those heavily Democratic areas pay a lot of federal income taxes, and quite often, their tax dollars go to red states.

Earlier this year, the personal finance website WalletHub.com conducted an in-depth study of the amounts individual states are paying in federal taxes [3] compared to the amounts they are receiving. WalletHub analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Commerce Department and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. WalletHub’s research demonstrates that, as a rule, the states that are the most likely to rail against “big government” are the most likely to be benefiting from it. 

A few of the states in WalletHub’s study that were receiving the most tax revenue from the federal government are states that President Barack Obama won in 2012 (most notably, New Mexico and Hawaii), but most were hardcore “red states.” And most of the states that, according to WalletHub, are taking less from the federal government than they are paying in are “blue states” that Obama won in both 2008 and 2012, including California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Minnesota. WalletHub’s research bears out comparable figures released by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in the past: analyzing IRS data, Tax Foundation has found, more than once, that red states are likely to be the biggest recipients of federal tax money.

Below are 10 red states that take full advantage of the federal government and would be much worse off without the “coastal liberal elites” they love to complain about.

1. Mississippi:Mississippi is one of the most Republican states in the U.S.: Republicans dominate the state government, and not since Jimmy Carter’s victory in 1976 has a Democrat carried Mississippi in a presidential race. “Fiscal responsibility” is a recurring theme in Mississippi politics, where Democrats are often characterized as people who couldn’t balance a budget if their lives depended on it. Yet the reality is that Mississippi is one of the most blatant examples of a state receiving more federal tax money than it gives [4]: WalletHub finds that for every dollar in federal taxes Mississippi pays, it receives $3.07 from the federal government. A 2007 report from the Tax Foundation [5] found that Mississippi was receiving $2.47 from the federal government for every dollar it was paying in.

The fact that Mississippi has a hard time making ends meet without help from Washington, DC stems from being a so-called “right to work” state, meaning it has a very low rate of unionization and plenty of low-wage jobs. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the country, and Republican policies in that state—hostility to unions, opposition to raising the minimum wage at either the federal or state level, tax breaks for the wealthiest 1% of Americans—will likely keep Mississippi from being a substantial contributor to federal income taxes.

2. Alaska:Alaska didn’t become part of the U.S. until 1959, and since then, it has gone Republican in every presidential race except 1964 (when Alaska favored Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson over Republican Barry Goldwater). A bastion of hard-right politics, Alaska is the state where Sarah Palin was elected governor in 2006. But when it comes to “small government,” Alaska Republicans don’t practice what they preach: according to WalletHub, Alaska receives $1.42 from the federal government for every dollar it contributes. Tax Foundation’s research showed Alaska receiving $1.93 from Uncle Sam for every dollar paid in. Alaska Republicans love to rail against the federal government, but the reality is that Alaska needs federal tax revenue badly [6] in order to function.

Alaska is infamous for its harsh winters, which put considerable wear and tear on the state’s infrastructure—and the money for that much upkeep and maintenance has to come from somewhere. That somewhere is Boston, Santa Monica, Brooklyn, Seattle and all the other places that are full of upscale Democrats Palin considers “un-American."

3. Alabama:Like Mississippi, Alabama is a state that hasn’t given a Democratic presidential candidate its electoral votes since 1976. Alabama is one of the most Republican-dominated states in the U.S., and it is also a state that is very reliant on the federal government. According to Wallet Hub’s study, Alabama receives 37% of its revenue from the federal government [7] and receives $3.28 for every dollar it pays in federal taxes. Tax Foundation’s data showed Alabama receiving $2.03 in federal tax money for every dollar it was paying in.

There are ways in which Alabama could become less reliant on Washington, DC: raising the minimum wage and having a more unionized workforce would generate more income tax revenue. So would raising income taxes on Alabama’s 1%. But Alabama is a so-called “right to work” state, and a workforce that is generally underpaid and overworked isn’t going to generate a lot of federal income tax revenue.  

4. Louisiana:In Republican-dominated Louisiana politics, it is fashionable to bash “big government liberals” who live in San Francisco or New York City. But when Louisiana Republicans do that, they are biting the hands that feed them. According to Wallet Hub’s research, Louisiana receives $3.35 from the federal government for every dollar it pays in; 44% of Louisiana's funding, WalletHub says, comes from Washington, DC.

Louisiana, under Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, is another “right-to-work” state, and a state with so many underpaid workers is naturally going to have a lot less income to tax. So instead of hating the “limousine liberals” in Seattle or Boston for voting Democrat, Louisiana Republicans should thank them for all the federal income tax revenue they are getting from them.

5. Indiana:When Barack Obama won Indiana’s electoral votes in 2008, it was an anomaly: Indiana, which went Republican in every presidential election from 1968-2004, is one of the most conservative states in the Midwest and is much more Republican than Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois or Michigan. Pundits have often said that when it comes to politics, Indiana is “more southern than the South.” But the disdain that Indiana Republicans often express for “big government” rings false because according to Wallet Hub, Indiana receives $2.01 from the federal government for every federal tax dollar it contributes and receives 33% of its funding from Uncle Sam. Indiana Republicans can hate coastal Democrats all they want, but without the federal tax revenue Democratic areas generate, Indiana would have a hard time functioning.

6. Montana:Montana has a long history of going Republican in presidential elections. Between 1952 and 2012, Montana went Republican in every presidential race except 1964 and 1992. But for a state that is so conservative-leaning, Montana receives a lot of help from the federal government: WalletHub’s research shows that Montana receives $1.55 from the federal government for every dollar it contributes (the Tax Foundation’s 2007 report found that Montana’s intake from Uncle Sam was $1.92 for every dollar paid). Montana faces the same challenge as Alaska—long, harsh winters that can put considerable stress on its infrastructure—and the idea that Montana could function without tax revenue is pure fantasy.

7. South Carolina:The fact that South Carolina hasn’t gone Democrat in a presidential election since 1976 is a badge of honor to the state’s GOP. And Republican Gov. Nikki Haley once boasted, “I love that we are one of the least unionized states in the country.” But that is nothing to be proud of, especially in light of the fact that non-union workers tend to have lower wages and therefore, contribute less tax revenue. The Tax Foundation found that South Carolina was receiving $1.92 from the federal government for every federal tax dollar it was contributing.

Haley doesn’t think much of liberals, but considering that Delaware, Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota and New York State—all of which Obama won in both 2008 and 2012—aregiving more tax dollars [8] to the federal government than they are receiving, she might want to reconsider and start thanking them for their help.

8. West Virginia:Although West Virginia presently has a Democratic governor (Earl Ray Tomblin) and has a Democratic majority in its state senate (most of them center-right Blue Dogs), it is still a conservative-leaning state with a strong Republican influence. Republicans have carried West Virginia in the last four presidential elections (Mitt Romney won 62% of West Virginia’s vote in 2012), but that doesn’t mean that the state doesn’t receive a lot of help from the federal government: WalletHub described West Virginia as a state that receives $2.22 in federal tax revenue for every dollar it pays, and the Tax Foundation’s figure in its 2007 study was $2.57 received per dollar paid.

Poverty has a lot to do with that: West Virginia is one of the poorest states in the country, with 17.6% of its population living in poverty from 2008-2012 compared to 14.9% nationwide (according to the U.S. Census Bureau). And with so many West Virginians living in poverty, they simply aren’t going to be a major source of income tax revenue [8].

9. Tennessee:One of the ludicrous talking points from Republicans is that the poor aren’t paying enough taxes. Actually, the poor do pay a lot of taxes, from sales taxes to taxes on utilities. But according to Republicans, the poor are freeloaders because they aren’t paying enough federal income taxes—and one way to balance state budgets, they cluelessly argue, is to cut state services and raise state taxes on the poor. Republicans flunk math, however, because someone making $7.25 an hour is going to have a lot less to tax than someone making $30 or $40 an hour. And therein lies the budgetary problem for a so-called “right-to-work” state like Tennessee: too many of its residents are working low-paying, non-union service jobs that generate a lot less sales and other state tax revenue than the unionized jobs Republicans are so bitterly opposed to. Tennessee, according to WalletHub, receives $1.64 from the federal government for every federal tax dollar it contributes—and WalletHub notes that 41% of Tennessee’s funding comes from Uncle Sam.

10. Kentucky:Kentucky, despite having a two-term Democratic governor (Steve Beshear), leans Republican: although Bill Clinton won Kentucky’s electoral votes in 1992 and 1996, that state has gone Republican in every other presidential race since 1980. Mitt Romney carried Kentucky by 22% in 2012, and many of the Democrats who hold office in the Bluegrass State are center-right Blue Dogs. But as widespread as talk of “small government” and “fiscal responsibility” are in Kentucky, WalletHub’s research shows that Kentucky receives $2.39 from the federal government for every dollar it pays. According to WalletHub, 35% of Kentucky’s revenue comes from Washington, DC. And the Tax Foundation found that Kentucky was receiving $1.75 [9] from the federal government for every dollar paid.

lcv 2013:  Lowest Senate Delegations:

Wyoming 0% · Oklahoma 4% · Idaho 8% · Kentucky 8% · 

Utah 8%

Senate Scores below 10:

Florida Rubio Idaho Crapo · Risch Kansas Roberts Kentucky 

McConnell ohio Portman oklahoma Coburn · Inhofe 

Pennsylania Toomey South Carolina Scott, T. South Dakota

Thune Texas Cornyn Utah Hatch · Lee, M. Wisconsin Johnson, 

R. Wyoming Barrasso · Enzi

Lowest House Delegations:

Wyoming 0% · Arkansas 3% · Alaska 4% · Idaho 4% · Montana 

4% · Nebraska 4% · North Dakota 4% · South Dakota 4% · 

Kansas 5% · Oklahoma 6% · Utah 9%

House Scores of 0:

Alabama Bachus, S. · Bonner · Roby · Rogers, M. Arkansas

Griffin · Womack California Calvert · Campbell · Issa · LaMalfa · 

McCarthy, K. · McKeon · Miller, Gary · Nunes · Valadao Florida

Buchanan · Crenshaw · Mica · Rooney · Southerland Idaho

Simpson Illinois Schock Indiana Brooks, S. · Walorski · Young, 

T. Iowa King, S. Louisiana Cassidy Maryland Harris Minnesota

Kline, J. Mississippi Nunnelee Missouri Emerson North Carolina

Ellmers · McHenry Ohio Johnson, B. · Latta Oklahoma Mullin 

Oregon Walden Pennsylvania Murphy, T. South Carolina

Rice Tennessee Black, D. · Blackburn, M. · Roe Texas Barton · 

Conaway · Farenthold · Hall · Olson Wyoming Lummis

chart:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_U.S._states

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2013/06/19/red-states-rank-low-on-u-s-human-development-index/print/

alec (not defin)

• :{Arizona:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (PFAW/CC) :{(*supplemental*):(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now) :{*NEW* 2013:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now/AWF)

• :{Florida:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Progress Florida/ PFAW/CMD/Florida Watch Action/CC)

• :{Iowa (NEW!):(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Progress Iowa/ CMD/PFAW/CC/Progress Now)

• :{Maine:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Maine's Majority Education Fund)

• :{Michigan:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Progress Michigan/ Michigan Citizen Action/CMD/CC/PFAW)

• :{Minnesota:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Common Cause)

• :{Missouri:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Progress Missouri)

• :{Nevada (NEW!):(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Progress Now Nevada)

• :{New Hampshire:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Granite State Progress) :{(*supplemental on "Right to Work for Less"*):(style="color:#cc0000"):}:

• :{New Jersey:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (PFAW/CMD/CC/Progress Now)

• :{Ohio:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (CMD/Progress Ohio/PFAW/CC)

• :{Pennsylvania:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Keystone Progress)

• :{Texas:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Progress TX/CMD)

• :{Utah:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (PFAW/CC/Alliance for a Better Utah/CMD)

• :{Virginia:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Progress VA)

• :{Wisconsin:(style="color:#cc0000"):}: (Center for Media and Democracy)

http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/secrets_of_the_conservative_media_machine/

RedState.com was launched in 2004 as a **:{527:(style="color:#ed1c24"):}:** **:{political action committee:(style="color:#ed1c24"):}:**. In 2005 the name was changed from RedState.org to RedState.com "to create a for-profit entity that could accept advertising."^[1]

In mid-December 2006^[2], the "conservative community group site announced it had agreed to be purchased by Eagle Publishing, the parent company of Human Events, Regnery Publishing, Evans-Novak Political Report, the Conservative Book Club, among other movement conservative publishing enterprises."^[3]

Personnel

The following are listed as corporate officers by RedState Network:^[4]

• Erick Erickson, CEO
• Clayton Wagar, CFO
• Mike Krempasky, President and Founder^[5]
• Ben Domenech, Director and Founder

Contact information

Weblog: http://www.erickerickson.org/blog/

Web: http://www.redstate.com

Web: http://www.redstatenetwork.com

Resources and articles

Related SourceWatch articles

• bloggers
• Jeff Emanuel

References

1. ↑ William Beutler, "Let The Eagle Soar: Behind The RedState Acquisition," Blog P.I., January 17, 2007.
2. ↑ Robert B. Bluey, "RedState, Eagle Publishing Join Forces," Human Events Online, December 20, 2006.
3. ↑ William Beutler, "Let The Eagle Soar: Behind The RedState Acquisition," Blog P.I., January 17, 2007.
4. ↑ About, RedState.com, accessed August 6, 2007.
5. ↑ Krempasky.com website.

External articles

• RedState in the Wikipedia.
• "RedState Blogger Boosts Wal-Mart For Bucks," PR Watch, September 21, 2005.
• Matt Stoller, "Redstate Racists," MyDD, February 7, 2006.
• "Domenech's defense distorted apparently plagiarized column," Media Matters for America, March 24, 2006.
• Ben Domenech, "Ben Domenech Resigns," Red America Blog/Washington Post, March 24, 2006.
• "RedState.com falsely claimed McCain 'confirmed' on *Hannity* that he was heckled by CNN's Ware," Media Matters for America, April 10, 2007.
• redstatehatemonitor, "REDSTATE a perfect example of Hypocrites in Denial," The Daily Kos, July 7, 2007.

Categories:

• Right wing
• Blogging and Bloggers
• Politics (U.S.)
• Elections (U.S.)

WaPo Driving the "Right"

The Washington Post has hired Ben Domenech, co-founder of the conservative *RedState.com*, to write a new daily blog on its website called *Red America*, Editor & Publisher reported March 21, 2006.

"After a stint as chief speechwriter for Senator John Cornyn (R-Tx.), he co-founded [RedState.com] and became a book editor at Regnery Publishing, where he worked with Michelle Malkin and others," E&P wrote.

"Almost immediately the liberal blogosphere exploded with outrage over Domenech's hiring by the Post. But by Thursday bloggers had more than ideological reasons to oppose the Post's move, as he plagiarized film critic Stephanie Zacharek, and Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing about television," Joe Conason reported in Slate March 24, 2006. "As a college student Ben Domenech lifted arts criticism; as a GOP henchman, he was accused of fabricating a Tim Russert quote."

Dan Froomkin "has spent a decade at the Post, and also worked for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Miami Herald and the Orange County Register. Froomkin is also deputy editor of niemanwatchdog.org, the web site of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University," E&P wrote.

"Whatever Froomkin's political views may be, he is a veteran reporter with a long résumé of newspaper jobs, including a decade at the Post. Domenech is a partisan operative with no newsroom experience of any kind, no training in journalistic standards and ethics, and nothing to guide him except home schooling and Republican reflexes," Conason wrote.

• Utah (R + 30.768)
• Idaho (R + 27.018)
• Wyoming (R + 26.132)
• Nebraska (R + 22.606)
• Alaska (R + 20.946)
• Oklahoma (R + 20.567)
• Kansas (R + 16.892)
• North Dakota (R + 16.484)
• Alabama (R + 15.162)
• Texas (R + 14.920)
• Mississippi (R + 12.766)
• South Dakota (R + 11.920)
• South Carolina (R + 11.230)
• Montana (R + 9.668)
• Kentucky (R + 9.408)
• Indiana (R + 9.398)
• Georgia (R + 6.814)
• North Carolina (R + 6.086)
• Tennessee (R + 5.228)
• Arizona (R + 4.990)
• Louisiana (R + 4.824)
• Virginia (R + 3.252)

(combined 2012 Electoral Votes: 198)

sued on health care: