babin, brian Rep 1%
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anglo-saxon // troll caucus
trump coup
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DENTIST ON SCI SPACE COMM W ZOE
SEE CURRY RED TEAM CWG BS
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Brian Philip Babin[1] (/ˈbæbɪn/ *BAB-in*; born March 23, 1948) is an American dentist, politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the U.S. representative from Texas's 36th congressional district since 2015. The district includes much of southeastern Houston, some of its eastern suburbs, as well as Orange and some more exurban areas to the east.
A graduate of Lamar University and the University of Texas Dental Branch, Babin served in the United States Air Force from 1975 to 1979. He then opened a dental practice in Woodville, south of Lufkin, and became involved in Republican politics. He worked for various state and federal campaigns and held numerous local and regional government positions, including president of the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (1981–1987), on the Deep East Texas Council of Governments (1982–1984), mayor of Woodville (1982–1984), on the Woodville City Council (1984–1989), on the Texas Historical Commission (1989–1995), chairman of the Tyler County Republican Party (1990–1995), on the Woodville Independent School District Board (1992–1995) and on the Lower Neches Valley Authority (1999–2015).
Babin was the Republican nominee for Texas's 2nd congressional district in 1996 and 1998, losing to Democrat Jim Turner both times. He ran again in 2014 to succeed Steve Stockman, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate, and was elected to succeed him.
Early and personal life
Babin graduated from Lamar University in 1973 and served as an officer in the United States Air Force from 1975 to 1979, leaving with the rank of captain. While serving, he earned a B.S. in biology from Lamar University in 1975[2] and then enrolled in the University of Texas Dental Branch and graduated with his D.D.S. in 1976.[3] To pay for his tuition, he worked as a janitor, merchant seaman and postman and sang folk and country music in local restaurants with his wife Roxanne, whom he met in college.[3][4]
Babin and his wife have been married since 1972 and have five children: Marit, an attorney and former press staffer at the National Republican Congressional Committee; Leif, a former Navy SEAL; twins Kirsten, an educator, and Lucas, a district attorney and former model and actor; and Laura.[3][4] He is also the father-in-law of journalist and former Fox News Channel anchor Jenna Lee, who is married to Leif.[5] Babin and his wife are members of the First Baptist Church of Woodville, where he is a deacon, Sunday school teacher, choir member, and member of Gideons International.[6]
Career
Babin has been engaged in general dental practice in Woodville since 1979.[3] He first entered politics in 1980, saying that when stationed overseas he felt "demoralized" by President Jimmy Carter. He thus worked for Ronald Reagan's campaign for president, first as county coordinator and then regional coordinator. He became active in the GOP when it barely existed in then heavily Democratic Deep East Texas, and is considered "instrumental" in turning the region Republican over the years.[3][7][8][9] He also worked at the county, regional and state level for Reagan's reelection campaign, George H. W. Bush's presidential campaign, and Bill Clements's and George W. Bush's campaigns for governor of Texas.
Babin has served as mayor of Woodville (1982–1984), a Woodville city councilman (1984–1989), chair of the Tyler County Republican Party (1990–1995), a member of the Woodville Independent School District Board (1992–1995) and director of the Tyler County Chamber of Commerce.[3] He has also served as president of the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (1981–1987), on the Deep East Texas Council of Governments (1982–1984) and on the Texas Historical Commission (1989–1995).[3][10] In 1999, Governor Bush appointed Babin to the Lower Neches Valley Authority, and Governor Rick Perry reappointed him, most recently in 2013, for a term that was to expire in 2019.[3][11][12] He resigned before being sworn into Congress.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
1996
When 12-term representative Charlie Wilson of Texas's 2nd congressional district decided to retire in 1996, Babin ran to succeed him. In the Republican primary, he was second of five candidates, with 7,094 votes (31.01%), behind Donna Peterson, the nominee for the seat in 1990, 1992 and 1994, who took 8,047 votes (35.18%). As no candidate secured a majority, Babin faced Peterson in a runoff, and defeated her, 7,405 votes (66.83%) to 3,675 (33.16%). In the general election, he lost to Democrat Jim Turner, a State Senator and former State Representative, 102,908 votes (52.24%) to 89,838 (45.6%).
After the 1996 election, Babin became involved in a campaign finance scandal concerning $37,000 in illegal donations from businessman Peter Cloeren that were moved through "vehicles" to circumvent the individual contribution limit of $1,000. Cloeren asserted in an affidavit that Babin and then-House majority whip Tom DeLay laundered his donations through other candidates and organisations.[13][14] Babin and DeLay denied his allegations.[15] Cloeren pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, paid a $400,000 fine and received a two-year suspended prison sentence. Babin paid a $20,000 civil penalty and paid back $5,000 in excessive contributions for "accepting an excessive contribution and a contribution in the name of another and failing to disclose financial activity properly."[16]
1998
Babin sought a rematch with Turner in 1998. Unopposed in the Republican primary, he again lost the general election, 81,556 votes (58.42%) to 56,891 (40.75%).
During the campaign, Babin's campaign manager was 21-year-old Jon-Marc McDonald. McDonald gained national attention when he simultaneously came out of the closet as a gay man and resigned as campaign manager.[9][17] In August 1998, McDonald abruptly stepped down, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Babin over homosexuality.[9][18] According to The Dallas Morning News, McDonald announced his resignation via press release without discussing it with Babin, and his sudden departure left those in the campaign shocked and confused.[19][20][21]
McDonald generated further press coverage when he said in an interview after his resignation that Babin had made disparaging remarks about homosexuals in private, which Babin adamantly denied.[22] In some press reports, Babin claimed that McDonald was not the campaign manager, but instead a "volunteer coordinator", also a paid position.[22] An article by Hastings Wyman of the Southern Political Report suggested that McDonald was forced to resign by the local media threatening to "out" him.[23] The resignation received widespread national media attention because of the sensationalistic way it transpired.[24]
2014
After Representative Steve Stockman of Texas's 36th congressional district made a late decision to run for the U.S. Senate instead of for reelection, Babin ran to succeed him.[25] In the 12-candidate Republican primary—the real contest in this heavily Republican district—Babin finished first with 17,194 votes (33.36%). As he did not receive a majority, he proceeded to a runoff with the second-place candidate, mortgage banker and candidate for Texas's 10th congressional district in 2004 Ben Streusand, who had received 12,024 votes (23.33%). In the runoff, Babin defeated Streusand, 19,301 votes (57.84%) to 14,069 (42.16%).[26] He then faced Democrat Michael Cole in the general election,[27] defeating him 100,933 votes (75.97%) to 29,291 (22.04%).[28]
2016
On November 27, 2015, Babin announced that he would run for reelection in 2016.[29] 2014 U.S. Senate candidate Dwayne Stovall, a bridge construction contractor, school board member from Cleveland and candidate for the State House of Representatives in 2012, announced in July 2015 that he would challenge Babin for the Republican nomination, but suspended his campaign in December 2015, citing poor fundraising and the difficulties of challenging an incumbent.[30] Babin was thus unopposed in the March 1 Republican primary.[31] The Democrats did not field a challenger in the general election; his only opposition came from Green Party candidate Hal Ridley Jr., who also ran in 2014.[31]
Tenure
On January 6, 2015, Babin was one of 25 House Republicans to vote against John Boehner's reelection as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Boehner, who needed 205 votes, was reelected with 216.[32] 24 Republicans voted for another candidate and Babin voted "present", effectively abstaining.[33] Two days later, Babin explained his vote. He said that he didn't want to vote for Boehner to reflect dissatisfaction with him in his district, particularly over the Cromnibus. But he declined to vote for another candidate because "he would have preferred to see Boehner denied reelection on the first ballot, forcing a closed-door GOP caucus meeting at which a replacement might emerge."[34]
On January 25, in an interview with The Daily Caller, Babin said that President Barack Obama "deserves impeachment", but he doubted that Congress would act on that. He also criticised Obama's foreign policy, calling him an "appeaser deluxe".[citation needed]
In June 2015, after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in King v. Burwell that the tax subsidies in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) were constitutional, Babin introduced the "SCOTUScare Act". His bill would force the Supreme Court Justices to enroll in Obamacare and purchase health insurance under the health exchanges, so that they could, as he said, "understand the full impact of their decisions on the American people [and] see firsthand what the American people are forced to live with!" The name of Babin's bill references Justice Antonin Scalia's dissent, where he said that, after the Court had upheld the law twice, "we should start calling this law SCOTUScare."[35][36]
In July 2015, Babin endorsed Senator Ted Cruz for president. He praised Cruz's "conservative leadership and fortitude" and said that he "will speak honestly to the American people".[37]
In September 2015, in response to the Syrian refugee crisis, Babin introduced the Resettlement Accountability National Security Act, designed to oppose Obama's plan to expand the country's refugee program.[38] The bill calls for a "temporary halt to the refugee program until the general accounting office can do an assessment of just exactly how much this is costing the taxpayer." Babin said that this was urgently necessary because the refugee program amounted to an "open invitation" to the "problems of the Middle East, of terrorism, oppression of women and all the things that go along with it." He also claimed that over 90% of refugees "are already on some sort of entitlement program when they come in" and that American cities could end up with "no-go zones", claiming that such places already existed in London, Liverpool, Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.[38]
On October 9, 2015, Babin chaired a hearing of the House Space Committee attended by various NASA executives. He criticised the Obama administration for cutting the NASA budget, saying that they would have a negative effect on the agency's space exploration programs and that budget uncertainty would impair efficiency. Babin also noted that the recent discovery of liquid water on Mars and the release of the Ridley Scott film The Martian had "garnered the public's attention, and rightly so" which would prompt the public to ask when there would be a human mission to Mars.[39]
In 2015, Babin cosponsored a resolution to amend the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.[40] Babin also cosponsored a resolution disagreeing with the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which held that same-sex marriage bans violated the constitution.[41]
On October 20, 2016, Babin defended comments by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump calling Hillary Clinton "a nasty woman" at the final presidential debate, saying "sometimes a lady needs to be told when she's being nasty."[42]
In June 2017, Babin asked Trump in a letter to order a review of the case of Derrick Miller, a former US Army National Guardsman sergeant who was sentenced in to life in prison with the chance of parole for the premeditated murder of an Afghan civilian during a battlefield interrogation, and the cases of other veterans who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq who were imprisoned for battlefield crimes.[43]
After the 2020 presidential election, Babin joined many of his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate in an effort to overturn Joe Biden's victory. The House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack obtained 21 text messages from Babin to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about the outcome of the election. The first urged Meadows to "[f]ight like hell and find a way. We're with you down here in Texas and refuse to live under a corrupt Marxist dictatorship. Liberty!".[44]
Babin supports efforts to impeach President Biden, having cosponsored a resolution to impeach Biden in September 2021.[45] Also during the 117th Congress, Babin cosponsored a resolution to impeach Biden's secretary of homeland security Alejandro Mayorkas[46] and another resolution to impeach Biden's secretary of state Antony Blinken.[47] Very early into the 118th Congress, Babin cosponsored another resolution to impeach Secretary Mayorkas.[48]
Committee assignments
- Committee on Science, Space and Technology
- Subcommittee on Environment
- Subcommittee on Space (Chairman)
- Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Source:[49]
Caucus memberships
Political positions
Babin cites water conservation, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and stopping illegal immigration as his main priorities.[7] He believes in the Christian work ethic and that "if you don’t work, you don’t eat, if you are able to work." He supports term limits and wants to reduce the number of out of wedlock births and restore the traditional family unit.[7] He also believes that taxes are too high and the tax code too complex.[7]
Although Babin helped found and is a member of the Tyler County Patriots, he does not identify as a member of the Tea Party, saying, "I believe with all my heart in less government, lower taxes and more individual responsibility and more economic freedom, and you can put whatever label you want to on it."[8]
Immigration
Babin supported Trump's 2017 executive order to temporarily curtail travel to the U.S. from six Middle Eastern nations until better screening methods are devised. After the EO was signed, he posted on social media: "Great news—now let’s get it into law!"[52] Babin also wholeheartedly supported building a wall at the southern border.[53]
Babin sponsored H.R. 6202, the American Tech Workforce Act of 2021, introduced by Representative Jim Banks. The legislation would establish a wage floor for the high-skill H-1B visa program, thereby significantly reducing employer dependence on the program. The bill would also eliminate the Optional Practical Training program that allows foreign graduates to stay and work in the United States.[54]
Israel
Babin voted to provide Israel with support following 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[55][56]
Transgender bathroom use
On May 19, 2016, Babin introduced HR 5294, the "Student Privacy Protection and Safety Act of 2016", which would invalidate the "Dear Colleague Letter on Transgender Students" until superseded by an Act of Congress.[57] The "Dear Colleague" letter was an official correspondence jointly issued by the United States departments of Justice and Education on May 13 providing significant guidance that Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, also prohibits discrimination based on a student's gender identity.[58] Babin characterized HR 5294 as a "bathroom bill" in a subsequent press release, where he stated, in part, that "The federal government should not be in the business of throwing common sense and decency out the window and forcing local schools to permit a teenage boy who ‘identifies’ as a girl to use changing rooms, locker rooms and bathrooms with five-year-old girls."[59]
Babin also cosponsored HR 5275, the "Prohibiting the Usurpation of Bathroom Laws through Independent Choice School Act (PUBLIC School Act) of 2016". HR 5275 would allow state and local governments to enact and enforce policies on the use of sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms.[60] He also cosponsored HR 5307, the "Title IX Clarification Act of 2016", on May 24. HR 5307 would amend Title IX to define sex as 'the biological sex'.[61] Later in 2016, Babin cosponsored HR 5812, the Civil Rights Uniformity Act of 2016.[62] All four bills (HR 5294, 5275, 5307, and 5812) died in committee. HR 5812 was reissued in 2017 as the "Civil Rights Uniformity Act of 2017" (HR 2796), which Babin cosponsored on June 7, 2017.[63]
Texas v. Pennsylvania
In December 2020, Babin was one of 126 Republican members of the House of Representatives to sign an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated[64] Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[65][66][67]
2024 Republican primary
Babin was named as part of the Trump campaign's Texas leadership team in March.[68]
Veterans
The PACT ACT which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service, received a "nay" from Babin.[69] Regarding cannabis, despite lobbying from VSOs such as the DAV,[70] Babin also voted against the 2022 MORE Act.[71]
References
no lnx an 8 23
twenty-two House Republicans have signed on to a motion filed in federal court requesting to be allowed to join Governor Greg Abbott in defending the Texas Republican against a federal government lawsuit alleging his 1000 feet of razor wire and floating buoys constructed of circular saw blades, designed to prevent migrants from crossing into the United States from Texas, are illegal.
They have invoked the Bible’s Book of Genesis, including Noah’s Ark, to make their case.
“In a motion filed on behalf of U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, and other GOP members, lawyers for the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundationhave asked to be part of the case and targeted how a key law is interpreted in it,” the Houston Chronicle reports.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is the right-wing organization The New York Times last year profiled as “The Texas Group Waging a National Crusade Against Climate Action.”
RELATED: Supreme Court in Hand, Far Right Wing Prepares to ‘Take the Reins of Government’
The buoys, deployed on the Rio Grande river, may have led to the deaths of two migrants, possibly including a child.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas called the buoys “barbaric,” and in video showed they are constructed of circular saw blades. In that video Congressman Castro also points to Governor Abbott’s razor wire fences.
Sawyer Hackett, a senior advisor to former Obama Cabinet Secretary Julián Castro, referred to the floating fences as “razor wire death trap buoys.”
“A key point to the Arrington group’s defense is whether the 1,900-mile Rio Grande should be defined as a navigable waterway despite being used by thousands of boats every year,” The Chronicle explains. “They point to a court case from 1870 that suggested that the term navigable waterway is intended to mean moving commerce from one state to another or to a different country and not just one where any small boat occasionally uses the river.”
READ MORE: Critics Blast Top US Conservative Think Tank President for Applauding Italy’s Election of ‘Neo-Fascist’ Prime Minister
That’s where the Bible and Noah’s Ark come in.
“Indeed, if one takes the Book of Genesis literally, then the entire world was once navigable by boats large enough to carry significant amounts of livestock,” the proposed amicus brief reads. “Under the federal government’s theory, these anecdotes would render any structure built anywhere in Texas an obstruction to navigation subject to federal regulation.”
Governor Abbott has had a long partnership with theTexas Public Policy Foundation.
In 2016, as NCRM reported, Abbott while at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, unveiled a major policy plan toalter the U.S. Constitution, adding nine amendments,the result of which could have lead to same-sex marriage bans and anend of LGBTQ protections.
According to Congressman Arrington, the list of signatories to his amicus brief include: Rep. Jodey Arrington, Dr. Michael Burgess, Rep. August Pfluger, Rep. Brian Babin, Rep. Andy Biggs, Rep. Roger Williams, Rep. Lance Gooden, Rep. Beth Van Duyne, Rep. Jake Ellzey, Rep. Vern Buchanan, Rep.Chip Roy, Rep. Nathaniel Moran, Rep. David Rouzer, Rep. Pete Sessions,Rep. Ronny Jackson, Rep. Sam Graves,Rep. Clay Higgins, Rep. Michael Cloud,Rep. Keith Self, Rep. John Carter, Rep. Jeff Duncan, Rep. Kat Cammack.
Watch the video above or at this link.
'Very scary': Former RNC staffer dishes on the more terrifying members of GOP's right-wing
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grid
...Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
Participated in early stages of White House Jan. 6 discussions: Boebert, while still congresswoman-elect, was among the core group of four congressmembers or members-elect involved in raising the idea that Pence might have a role other than simply counting the electoral votes on Jan. 6, Hutchinson testified.
Participated in planning conversations with Jan. 6 rally organizers: Two organizers behind the Jan. 6 rally in D.C. and others around the country said Boebert or an aide participated in planning discussions,Rolling Stone reported.
Tweeted “Today is 1776″: At 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 6, Boebert tweeted: “Today is 1776,” a rally cry repeated by the mob as it broke into the Capitol later that day.
Boebert did not respond to a request for comment. She condemned the violence on Jan. 6 in a statement on Jan. 11, 2021.
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md.
Attended Dec. 21 White House meeting: Harris was among at least 11 lawmakers who met at the White House to help orchestrate efforts to overturn the election results, according to testimony and White House visitor logs obtained by the committee.
Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Brian Babin, R-Texas
Attended Dec. 21 White House meeting: Babin was among at least 11 lawmakers who met at the White House to help orchestrate efforts to overturn the election results, according to testimony and White House visitor logs obtained by the committee.
Babin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Last night’s hearing, however, suggested one more layer.
A cover-up of the congressional coup.
By the Congress.
Hinting hard
The goal appears to have been getting enough members of the US Congress to vote to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The GOP had a Senate majority at the time. They could have, in theory, overruled the will of the people, at least temporarily. Ultimately, however, just 147 Republicans, including eight senators, objected.
I don’t know, had they amassed enough votes in the Senate, where things would have gone after that. Perhaps it would have triggered the 12th Amendment. Perhaps it would have thrown the process back to red states that Joe Biden had won, where friendly Republican legislators would have fixed things so Trump could stay in office.
READ MORE: [Watch: Outtakes of Trump on January 7th — he can't say the election's over
In any case, the former president spent a lot of time talking about congressional Republicans and talking directly to congressional Republicans to such a degree as to suggest there was another layer of his grand seditious conspiracy that’s only now coming into light. That’s certainly what the J6 committee has been hinting hard at.
Co-conspirators?
Last week, the panel’s Stephanie Murphy saidTrump met in late December with US Reps. Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs,Brian Babin, Jody Hice, Louie Gohmert, Andy Harris, Mo Brooks, Paul Gosar, Scott Perry and Jim Jordan. Margaret Taylor Greenewas there. So were Mike Pence, Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani. (Seven of these members asked for pardons. Ditto Meadows, Giuliani and Greene.)
They tried getting the former vice president to go along with the conspiracy. It called for him to reject the count all by himself or send it back to the states where state GOP legislators were waiting.
Pence had refused before. I’m guessing those at the meeting expected him to again. He did. The next step was finalizing a scheme to bring tens of thousands of Trump loyalists to the capital, including armed paramilitaries (eg, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers), in order to terrify not only Pence but GOP senators into reinstalling Trump.
Terrifying GOP senators
According to the J6 committee’s Elaine Luria, Trump was told 15 minutes after returning to the White House after his speech on the Ellipse that the US Capitol was under siege by an armed mob. After the briefing, Luria said, Trump began calling GOP senators for the purpose of persuading them to overrule the results of the election.
On the one hand, the former president had insurgents sacking and looting the seat of government, threatening lawmakers with death – in Mike Pence’s case, with hanging from a makeshift gallows. (It was revealed last night that Pence’s Secret Service detail believed they were going to die. They sent messages of love to their families.) On the other, Trump pushed GOP senators by phone to get on board.
During that time, White House staffers tried and failed to persuade Trump to respond to the assault. (He did not issue orders to anyone, not the secretary of defense, the secretary of homeland security, the attorney general, no one.) Instead of telling them to go home, as staffers had hoped, he posted a tweet accusing Pence of betrayal.
After “pouring gasoline on the fire,” as witness Sarah Matthews said, the former president made more phone calls to Republican senators. Later that evening, after Trump had called for the insurgents to go home, Rudy Giuliani made even more calls to Republican senators.
Indeed, the J6 committee’s Adam Kinzinger named them. They were: Josh Hawley, Ted Cruz,Marsha Blackburn, Bill Hagerty, Tommy Tuberville and Lindsey Graham. Of that number,only three voted to overturn the results of the election: Cruz, Tuberville and Hawley.
The cover-up
Giuliani also called US Rep. Jim Jordan.
Jordan, as I wrote last week, was nominated to serve on the initial select committee to investigate J6. Speaker Nancy Pelosi vetoed his nomination, though. Good thing she did. The current committee would have been compromised by the presence of a congressman who was a serial witness to the serial crimes under investigation.
Jordan was nominated by Kevin McCarthy. As the J6 committee reminded us last night, the House minority leader talked to Trump after the attack. He said Trump said he had “some responsibility” for J6. McCarthy said he told Trump that the House Democrats were likely to pass an impeachment resolution and that he should resign.
Trump didn’t resign, of course.
Perhaps the fix was in.
Implication by omission
Liz Cheney, the vice chair of the J6 committee, reminded us that the committee’s work goes on. Hearings will resume in September, she said. Then the Wyoming congresswoman used some curious math:
Today, we know far more about the president’s plans and actions to overturn the election than almost all members of Congress did when President Trump was impeached on January 13, 2021, or when he was tried by the Senate in February of that year.
Fifty-seven of 100 senators voted to convict President Trump at that time, and more than 20 others said they were voting against conviction, because the president's term had already expired.
Cheney said “almost all,” I think, because a dozen GOP members had been deeply involved in or material witnesses to Trump’s conspiracy.
She said “57 of 100,” I think, because it takes 67 senators to remove and convict a president. She said “more than 20 others,” because she’s apparently giving these GOP senators the benefit of the doubt.
But that still leaves around 20 unaccounted for. Why?
Perhaps because some, or all, of these 20 or so Republican senators had been in contact with the former president as the insurrection was unfolding and therefore potential co-conspirators in the crime.
Perhaps because some, or all, of these 20 or so Republican senators voted against conviction, thus taking steps to cover up the crime.
In any case, it was implication by omission.
The appearance of a conspiracy
We know at least six of them were evidently in both camps. On the evening of J6, Rudy Giuliani called Blackburn, Hawley, Cruz, Hagarty, Tuberville and Graham hoping they would object to the vote count. (Three did.) This same group voted to acquit Trump of treason.
If that’s not a rigged outcome, it sure looks like one.
Liz Cheney seemed to be inviting us to put the former president’s second impeachment trial in light of what we know now.
She seemed to be asking us to consider what it means when at least a dozen sitting members of the House were material witnesses as well as grand jury members deciding on an indictment (impeachment).
She seemed to be asking us to see that at least six of those Senators were materially involved in a crime of which they sat in judgment.
If that’s not a conspiracy, it sure as hell looks like one.
READ MORE:**Video shows Josh Hawley running to evade the rioters he had earlier praised**
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'Deeply dangerous': MSNBC host reveals the history behind the GOP embrace of a deadly conspiracy theory
Mehdi Hasan // Hasan
Alex Henderson October 01, 2021
Fox News' Tucker Carlson generated considerable controversy when, on his April 8 show, he promoted the Great Replacement Theory — a racist conspiracy theory that has become prominent in white supremacist and white nationalist ideology. And almost half a year later, Carlson is still claiming that President Joe Biden and other Democrats are trying to "replace" white voters with immigrants from developing countries. MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan called Carlson out on his show this week, warning that he is promoting a claim that "gets people killed."
The progressive firebrand described the Great Replacement as a "conspiracy theory so vile, so extreme, so dangerous" that it was, in the past, avoided by mainstream conservatives and kept "on the furthest fringes of the far right."
Hasan told viewers, "What is the Great Replacement? It's a story, or a theory if you will, about liberal elites secretly changing our demographics, helping Black and Brown immigrants to invade America and replace white people. It's a white supremacist story about so-called white genocide. Scary, right? Bonkers, too. And yet, this year, Fox's Tucker Carlson came along and thought, 'Hmmm, let's bring this idea into the light to a prime-time cable audience."
The MSNBC host went on to say that the Great Replacement Theory has become a "rallying cry for the neo-Nazi far right," noting that it originated in France with white nationalist author Renaud Camus and his book "Le Grand Remplacement." And Hasan noted that a series of terrorist attacks have been carried out by White supremacists who embrace and promote that theory.
"The Great Replacement Theory gets people killed," Hasan warned. "And yet, you now haveTucker Carlson— the most influential right-wing cable news host in America — defending it, promoting it, mainstreaming it. And elected Republicans are now following in his footsteps…. Members of the GOP are now openly trafficking in neo-Nazi rhetoric."
Hasan showed clips of Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rep. Brian Babin of Texaspromoting the Great Replacement Theory, arguing that "members of the GOP are now openly trafficking in neo-Nazi rhetoric" rather than simply using racist "dog whistles" like Republicans of the past. And he noted thatRep. Matt Gaetz of Floridahas vigorously defended Carlson by explicitly promoting the Great Replacement Theory by name.
"This is how white supremacy is normalized in America today: the marriage between Rupert Murdoch's Fox and Donald Trump's GOP," Hasan warned. "And they make us numb to this stuff…. This is a deeply dangerous moment for America."
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2/19
House Committee on Science, Space and Technology devoted its first hearing of the 116th Congress to exploring the wide-ranging effects of climate change and explaining the science fueling them, a discussion that revealed a subtle shift among key Republicans toward accepting the prevailing research that points to human-driven global warming.
In her opening comments, committee Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) said that the hearing is one of multiple sessions on climate change the new Congress plans to hold in order to develop policies to address it. The committee's move to highlight mainstream climate science is a marked break from the last six years when it was led by Republican Rep. Lamar Smith, an ardent climate denier from Texas who retired.
The committee's new top Republican, Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, staked out a more pragmatic and less provocative position than Smith and many other conservatives in Congress had.
"Droughts and heat waves come and go naturally, but the changing climate has intensified their impacts," Lucas said in his opening remarks. "We know the climate is changing and that global industrial activity has played a role in this phenomenon. But our communities, like the farmers and ranchers in my district, need to know more about the extent to which a changing climate affects short- and long-term weather patterns."
under Lucas, the committee's minority side invited as its expert Joseph Majkut, who holds a doctorate in atmospheric science and is director of climate policy at the bipartisan Niskanen Center. Majkut adheres to broadly accepted climate science, unlike some GOP-invited speakers in the past. During the question-and-answer period, Majkut quashed fringe theories that a few members floated about climate change as handily as the scientists invited by the Democrats did.
Democrats on the committee welcomed the change in approach by the ranking GOP member.
"For years, too often we found ourselves wasting time with non-technical witnesses about whether it's a matter of scientific debate whether or not it would be a good thing if the Greenland Ice Sheet melted," said Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.), a physicist. "I was really thrilled to see some of the changes appearing in this committee. I'd also like to thank Ranking Member Lucas and my Republican colleagues for selecting Dr. Majkut as their witness for this hearing. He's someone with a Ph.D. in a relevant science and someone with views which are inside the scientific mainstream and that's refreshing."
Old (and Odd) Arguments Batted Down
Not every minority member on the committee followed Lucas's lead. Some of the older members, such as Rep. MoBrooks (R-Ala.), relied on the old climate denying argument that, because other factors besides human activity caused warming 21,000 years ago, those are the factors driving changes now. (They're not.) Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) brought up a period of warming in Greenland that was followed by a harsh freeze about 1,000 years ago, in an effort to prompt the expert panel to say that global warming might be a good thing.
Majkut, the GOP-invited expert, demurred. "What we do know is we built our society around the temperatures that we've encountered over the last 200, 300 years," he said, "We're fixing to change those temperatures quite a bit, and that rapid transition is the cause for concern."
In her written testimony, Kristie Ebi, an expert witness and director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at University of Washington, highlighted the vulnerabilitysome populations have to heat by mentioning that more than 700 children died from 1990 to 2014 because they were left in hot cars. Rep. Jim Baird (R-Ind.) suggested they may have perished because vehicles now are built "tighter" than before, allowing less air in.
Baird also speculated that species might adapt swiftly enough to climate change to avoid mass extinctions, despite vast scientific evidence to the contrary.
"The climate now is changing faster than it has been in 10,000 years, so it has to be a challenge for many of our plants and other species to try to evolve fast enough in the face of this rapid rate of change," Ebi responded.
Republicans Attacked the Green New Deal
Younger GOP members on the panel, such as Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, opened their questioning by saying they accepted climate change and, unlike their older colleagues, did not offer alternative theories.
But nearly all the GOP members used the hearing as an opportunity to bash the Green New Deal, a job creation and climate plan whose outlines were unveiled last week by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Ocasio-Cortez's office bungled the rollout of the project when it posted a meandering draft document with "Frequently Asked Questions" that said, among other things, that its goal was net-zero emissions rather than absolutely zero because "we aren't sure that we'll be able to fully get rid of farting cows and airplanes that fast."
The GOP members of the Science Committee seized on elements of the FAQ to allege that the Democrats' solution to climate change was a socialist takeover of industries. Republican members also alleged that gasoline and electricity prices would skyrocket. The GOP has used such doomsday scenarios to great effect in the past, including to derail Senate ratification of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill in 2010, the last two times Congress was tasked with reining in greenhouse gases.
Democratic members did not address the apocalyptic predictions of their GOP colleagues. But Majkut, who described the Green New Deal as a broad progressive agenda with some climate policies attached to it, rebuffed the idea that broad-based efforts to cut emissions would throttle the economy.
"I think the intent is not to overly punish any particular class of people or any particular technology. It's to put in place a system we're all going to benefit from in the long term," Majkut said. "Frankly, I don't know if it will be too costly.
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he 17 Freedom Caucus members who have joined with Babin, also a caucus member, to sign the letter to Ryan are as follows: Dave Brat of Virginia, Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee, Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Andy Harris of Maryland, Jody Hice of Georgia, Walter Jones of North Carolina, Steve King of Iowa, Barry Loudermilk of Georgia, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Matt Salmon of Arizona, Randy Weber of Texas and Ted Yoho of Florida.:{
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/09/only-37-republicans-back-plan-to-defund-muslim-refugees/#efgAA3Z8GobctoJH.99}:
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