Wednesday, January 20, 2021

A New Day in History

Four years of unimaginable dystopia come to an end today as Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn into office as President and Vice President of the United States. It is a solemn occasion held in a city filled end to end with soldiers to protect the incoming executives from the white nationalist rebellion fostered by the outgoing President. The event will be attended by a carefully selected few in a time when uncontrolled pandemic sweeps through the country, killing thousands every day and interrupting normal business and daily activity. There will be no inaugural balls, no parties, not even a parade.

The country looks ahead to recovery. Management at the federal level, which has been suspended for months, will be resumed today. Incompetent grifters appointed to powerful positions will be ushered out. Policies implemented to serve the rich and greedy will be reversed in executive orders and legislative bills, one by one. Hands will reach across the chasm to our allies, reassuring them that we are awakening from our nightmare. Tyrants around the world will once again be pressed to promote policies of freedom and human rights.

The Trump legacy will not end abruptly. We can expect racist mobs, police violence, outbreaks of anti-American sentiment, to continue. Republicans and their propaganda media outlets have declined to refute the Big Lie, and millions of gullible citizens still believe against all evidence that Biden and Harris won a rigged election. The Big Lie will be the Trump legacy, and it will be Biden's challenge.

The fact that we survived to this point is confirmation of the strength of the Constitution and the wisdom of the Framers. We wish the new administration good fortune in leading the recovery of a badly injured country.

156 Comments:

Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

Good last paragraph, Jim.

Fortunately, we probably got the least divisive and most moderate of Dems. Since Trump had to go, Biden was probably the best choice. He could be another Jerry Ford. Jill's sparkly coat looked great while the snow fell lightly.

Let's celebrate new beginnings for a few days.

January 20, 2021 11:42 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

Just watched Kamala walk Mike Pence out and wave as he drove off. So very civil and appropriate.

America wins.

January 20, 2021 12:50 PM  
Anonymous It's a new day said...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9oH6Hj2bzA&feature=emb_logo

January 20, 2021 12:50 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Congratulations my American friends on your new president. I briefly watched as a young black girl read a poem and looking at her in her bright yellow coat I just felt a sense of calm and relief as she spoke that I haven't known since 2016. Here's to hoping Republicans turn the page on the gas lighting and unbridled corruption of the Trump presidency. God, let them learn from history at least this once.

January 20, 2021 1:08 PM  
Anonymous JackFknTwist said...

Americans never look outside their own country, they are not prepared to learn, they are not prepared to see how other countries solved similar problems.
Sadly this state of affairs will not change. They are still being fed the bulls*t of 'American greatness' as they have the worst pandemic figures in the world, their economy is reeling and their democracy has been completely undermined by division and suffered a direct insurrection.
After these years things will not go back to normal; certainly Europe will never trust America in the same way again.
America is now regarded as one of those countries which reneges on its international agreements at the drop of a hat !

January 20, 2021 1:11 PM  
Anonymous AyJayDee said...

American exceptionalism is one of the worst mass delusions in this country. It’s a major of the reason things don’t change for the better here - if you’re convinced you’re “the greatest nation in the world” and that world has nothing to teach you, why would you need to improve anything?

January 20, 2021 1:12 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"American exceptionalism is one of the worst mass delusions in this country. It’s a major of the reason things don’t change for the better here - if you’re convinced you’re “the greatest nation in the world” and that world has nothing to teach you, why would you need to improve anything?"

America is the greatest nation in the world because we are always looking to other countries and cultures of the world to see what they can teach us, always looking to improve. That doesn't mean we don't critically consider those things, which angers our enemies and other envious parties. We're like the Borg. We assimilate the best.

It's why we are the greatest nation in the world!

January 20, 2021 2:30 PM  
Anonymous It's our democracy that makes us the greatest nation in the world. said...

You either support democracy or you support the mob.

I'm with democracy.



January 21, 2021 7:09 AM  
Anonymous Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate said...

“The Hill We Climb”

When day comes we ask ourselves

Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry,

A sea we must wade.

We braved the belly of the beast;

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace.

And the norms and notions of what just is

Isn’t always justice.

And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.

Somehow we do it;

Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed

A nation that isn’t broken but simply unfinished.

We, the successors of a country and a time

Where a skinny black girl descended from slaves

And raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president,

Only to find herself reciting for one.

And yes we are far from polished, far from pristine,

But that doesn’t mean we aren’t striving to form a union that is perfect.

We are striving to forge a union with purpose,

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gaze not to what stands between us,

But what stands before us.

We close the divide, because we know to put our future first,

We must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms

So we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew,

That even as we hurt, we hoped,

That even as we tired, we tried,

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious—

Not because we will never again know defeat

But because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision

That everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree,

And no one shall make them afraid.

If we’re to live up to our own time,

then victory won’t lie in the blade but in all the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promised glade,

The hill we climb if only we dare it.

Because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it,

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded,

But while democracy can be periodically delayed

It can never be permanently defeated.

In this truth, in this faith we trust,

For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption.

We feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour,

But within it we found the power

To author a new chapter,

To offer hope and laughter,

To ourselves sow. While once we asked:

How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert: How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was,

But move to what shall be,

A country that is bruised but whole,

Benevolent but bold,

Fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation

Because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.

Our blunders become their burdens

But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might and might with right,

Then love becomes our legacy

And change our children’s birthright.

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

With every breath of my bronze pounded chest,

We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

We will rise from the golden hills of the West.

We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.

We will rise from the lakeland cities of the Midwestern states.

We will rise from the sunbaked South.

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

In every known nook of our nation,

In every corner called our country,

Our people, diverse and beautiful,

Will emerge battered and beautiful.

When day comes we step out of the shade,

Aflame and unafraid.

The new dawn blooms as we free it.

For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it,

If only we’re brave enough to be it.

January 21, 2021 9:59 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"You either support democracy or you support the mob.

I'm with democracy."

other than the mob, which is a fringe group, no one is with the mob

the problem America has right now is that many shifty Dems are trying to conflate certain positions with the mob

thankfully, the President doesn't appear to be one of those Dems

we'll disagree but it is to his credit that he doesn't demonize his opposition

TTF should try it

January 21, 2021 10:45 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"Amanda Gorman, National Youth Poet Laureate said...
“The Hill We Climb”"

the country found this young talent amazing

best poet inaugural reading since Frost in 1961

we may still remember the last two lines for decades

January 21, 2021 10:47 AM  
Anonymous Go figure said...

"other than the mob, which is a fringe group, no one is with the mob"

The mob wanted to stop the certification of Biden/Harris as the winners of the 2020 election.

Here Are The Republicans Who Objected To The Electoral College Count

"More than a dozen Republican senators had said they would object to at least one state's election results.

They began with a debate over a challenge to Arizona's results. But after pro-Trump extremists brought violence and chaos to the Capitol, both chambers were forced into an emergency recess while the building was locked down.

When lawmakers reconvened hours later, a number of Senate Republicans abandoned their plan to cast objections.

Only six senators, all Republicans, sustained the Arizona objection.

Here's a list those six senators who maintained their course.

Josh Hawley, Missouri
Ted Cruz, Texas
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
Roger Marshall, Kansas
John Kennedy, Louisiana
Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi

The Senate rejected the Arizona challenge 93-6. The House rejected it 303-121...."

Of the 121 House members who supported the objection, every one of them is a GOPer.

All of them should be expelled from Congress for supporting the mob that wanted to overthrow our democracy and install rump.

"he doesn't demonize his opposition"

But Biden does stress the importance of telling the truth and the truth is 127 elected Republicans voted their support of the mob of insurrectionsnists on January 6, 2021.

January 21, 2021 12:20 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"The mob wanted to stop the certification of Biden/Harris as the winners of the 2020 election.

Here Are The Republicans Who Objected To The Electoral College Count

Josh Hawley, Missouri
Ted Cruz, Texas
Tommy Tuberville, Alabama
Roger Marshall, Kansas
John Kennedy, Louisiana
Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi

Of the 121 House members who supported the objection, every one of them is a GOPer.

All of them should be expelled from Congress for supporting the mob that wanted to overthrow our democracy and install rump."

they should only be expelled if they advocated violent overthrow of Congress to prevent certification of the results

they didn't, although Haley and Cruz didn't behave responsibly

not voting to certify results sent in is not the equivalent of mob violence

indeed, there are numerous examples of Dems voting not to certify states' vote counts

The last three times a Republican has been elected president -- Trump in 2016 and George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004 -- Democrats in the House have brought objections to the electoral votes in states the GOP nominee won. In early 2005 specifically, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., along with Rep. Stephanie Tubbs, D-Ohio, objected to Bush's 2004 electoral votes in Ohio.

That forced the chambers to leave their joint session and debate separately for two hours on whether to reject Ohio's electoral votes. Neither did. But the objection by Boxer and Tubbs serves as a modern precedent for what happened in Congress on Jan. 6.

the truth is that Dems are responsible for doubts that will always remain about the 2020 election

back earlier in the 21st century, a bipartisan commission, headed by Jimmy Carter, concluded that mail-in voting is the biggest potential source of fraud in American election

but, of course, that's obvious

when you add that FACT to their statistical evidence that the vote didn't follow expected patterns, without feasible explanation, and that 90% of votes counted after election night went for Biden

don't get me wrong, I think Biden won

but mail-in voting tends to undermine voter confidence

you don't have to be a mobster to have suspicions

to be a mobster, you have to believe mob rule is the way to solve anything

like so many believed in the BLM riot last Spring

"But Biden does stress the importance of telling the truth and the truth is 127 elected Republicans voted their support of the mob of insurrectionsnists on January 6, 2021"

lying is common to politicians

don't want to be too hard on Biden but one of his several presidential campaigns was derailed by plagiarism

in the media, the champion liar in the 2020 election was CNN

January 21, 2021 1:17 PM  
Anonymous Be honest said...

"there are numerous examples of Dems voting not to certify states' vote counts"

And not a single time were those Democratic votes accompanied by armed thugs encouraged by the top Democrat to storm the Capitol.

"back earlier in the 21st century, a bipartisan commission, headed by Jimmy Carter, concluded that mail-in voting is the biggest potential source of fraud in American election"s

Biggest?

After researching your claim, I believe you are lying.

Here's the report.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070609115256/http://www.american.edu/ia/cfer/report/full_report.pdf

Show us the quote saying there was a conclusion that "mail-in voting is the biggest potential source of fraud in American election."

Here's what I found (on page 36):

" Recommendation on Vote by Mail
4.2.1 The Commission encourages further research on the pros and cons of vote by mail and of early voting."


The Commission's conclusions (starting on page 69) do not mention mail-in voting at all.

You still seem to have trouble with the truth. Try harder.

"but mail-in voting tends to undermine voter confidence"

What a good rump back-up soldier you are.

It was rump who lied repeatedly about the mail-in voting he uses to vote in every election because he wanted to undermine voters' confidence in mail-in voting.

He continued to lie to Americans about wide-spread voting even after his DOJ Director Bill Barr and his FBI Director Christopher Wray told him widespread voter fraud was not found in 2020.

Defying Trump, Attorney General Barr says the DOJ and the FBI didn't discover any evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election

January 21, 2021 2:53 PM  
Anonymous king of 2021 said...

"And not a single time were those Democratic votes accompanied by armed thugs encouraged by the top Democrat to storm the Capitol."

well, if you want to say the top Repub has culpability, I don't disagree

but we weren't talking about him

the effort by Dems to say anyone who questions the election is equivalent to the mob is actually a lie

kind of ironic coming from someone who was making a bunch of self-righteous assertions about lying earlier

"Biggest?

After researching your claim, I believe you are lying."

actually, it says "largest"

here's the quote from section 5.2 on page 46 of the report:

Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.

"You still seem to have trouble with the truth. Try harder."

I won't say the same about you. But you should reflect on the contribution you make to the Incivil War that President Biden discussed in his speech yesterday

there is a tendency among progressives to default to accusations of deceit any time they disagree with anyone

turns out I was exactly right but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and just say you were confused

all I am saying is give civility a chance!

"What a good rump back-up soldier you are."

I'm not a Trump supporter at all

the Carter report discusses in detail what the problems with mail-in voting are

but you don't have to be a genius to see it

it's really obvious

mail-in voting undermines confidence in the voting system

"It was rump who lied repeatedly about the mail-in voting he uses to vote in every election because he wanted to undermine voters' confidence in mail-in voting."

he was trying to stretch hypothesis to the breaking point but it's common for politicians, on both sides, to do that

you have heard of Hillary Clinton, right?

she paid to have a theory cooked up that the Russians somehow manipulated the voting system

that undermined confidence in the 2016 election

and it was a lie

"He continued to lie to Americans about wide-spread voting even after his DOJ Director Bill Barr and his FBI Director Christopher Wray told him widespread voter fraud was not found in 2020."

Hillary continues with this lie even after the Mueller report said it wasn't true

but, again, we aren't talking about Trump, or Hillary, or Al Gore

truth is, Carter was right

Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.

if it wasn't for mail-in voting, Trump would have never convinced the mob to storm the Capitol

January 21, 2021 6:46 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"And not a single time were those Democratic votes accompanied by armed thugs encouraged by the top Democrat to storm the Capitol."

as progressives all over the country voted to defund the police last Spring, they were accompanied by thugs burning down a police station in Seattle

January 21, 2021 7:48 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"if it wasn't for mail-in voting, Trump would have never convinced the mob to storm the Capitol"

B.S.

Trump spent a year working his base up into a frenzy telling them things like:

“We have to win the election. We can’t play games. Go out and vote. Do those beautiful absentee ballots, or just make sure your vote gets counted. Make sure because the only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged. Remember that. It’s the only way we’re going to lose this election, so we have to be very careful.”

He kept promoting the lie with his lawyers going to court 60 times, claiming a fraudulent election before the cameras, and then getting thrown out of court for lack of evidence.

Trump knows how to manipulate the media and people, and he has no qualms about lying to do it. Republicans fell for it all... hook, line, and sinker.

They did exactly what he wanted them to do.

Mail-in ballots didn't make those idiots do anything.

January 21, 2021 10:43 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

last year at this time, it looked like Trump would win the election easily

the economy was great, Biden had just gotten clobbered by Kamala for being a life-long racist

he didn't recover until the South Carolina primary

the only reason that Trump's claims of election fraud caught on with a certain group was that mail-in voting made it impossible to prove there was no fraud

mail-in voting, on a large scale, allow for a number of games to be played

read the Carter report if you want details

January 22, 2021 12:16 AM  
Anonymous True believers said...

"read the Carter report if you want details"

Yes, by all means read it like I did so I could cite from it yesterday.

Here it is again.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070609115256/http://www.american.edu/ia/cfer/report/full_report.pdf

It doesn't say what you claim it says and you obviously found nothing to cite to back up your claim -- this lying claim you made here -- "back earlier in the 21st century, a bipartisan commission, headed by Jimmy Carter, concluded that mail-in voting is the biggest potential source of fraud in American elections"

No such conclusion was stated in the report.

But you can keep lying about it if you want to and I'll keep posting the truth.

You're just like one of those true believers who are just now figuring out "the movement’s years-old promises of mass executions and an extended Trump presidency had been bogus all along."

Bogus indeed!

"even as reality intrudes, many QAnon adherents are finding ways to carry on, including by concocting new explanations for QAnon failures. And with Q having vanished and Trump out of office, other far-right extremist groups are seeking to capitalize on the leadership void by targeting disillusioned believers in hopes of radicalizing them to a new cause."

Have fun in the minority!

January 22, 2021 7:23 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"It doesn't say what you claim it says and you obviously found nothing to cite to back up your claim -- this lying claim you made here -- "back earlier in the 21st century, a bipartisan commission, headed by Jimmy Carter, concluded that mail-in voting is the biggest potential source of fraud in American elections"

No such conclusion was stated in the report.

But you can keep lying about it if you want to and I'll keep posting the truth."

it says almost verbatim what I said

I even gave you the section and page number of the report where you can find the statement

again, here's the section and page number:

section 5.2 on page 46

here's the direct quote:

"Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud."

so, when you say I "obviously found nothing to cite to back up your claim -- this lying claim you made here", do you think you can convince people who will take your word for it and not look at the report? are you relying on nazi-like propaganda technique where you keep repeating a lie, hoping it will start to sound true? have you tried therapy?

"Have fun in the minority!"

as I told before, I'm used to being in the minority

I come here all the time and express a singular POV

I'm a libertarian living in the most liberal county in America

the only way I may be in the majority right now is I support the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, and his ban from Federal office, if convicted

having said that, I think the Dems may have already blown it by making the wrong charge

he'll probably evade conviction

January 22, 2021 8:42 AM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud."

...largest source of *POTENTIAL* voter fraud - it did not say that it was the largest source of ACTUAL voter fraud.

"the only reason that Trump's claims of election fraud caught on with a certain group was that mail-in voting made it impossible to prove there was no fraud"

BS.

Trump's claims that Obama was born in Kenya made it impossible to prove he was actually born in Hawaii even AFTER he released his birth certificate.

The reason the election fraud claims caught on with a certain group of people was Trump made a massive propaganda effort to discredit the entire election process, starting from the beginning of his campaign, and the fact that there are a bunch of idiots out there that somehow still think he tells the truth, even after 60 court cases were thrown out - basically because they showed no evidence of voter fraud.

These folks probably really believed Mexico was going to pay for his border wall too - rather than him stealing the funds from the US military budget.

It's amazing how easily you can manipulate people prone to wishful thinking.

January 22, 2021 12:28 PM  
Anonymous Stop appealing to the ignorant, and trying to shift the burden of proof said...

"the only reason that Trump's claims of election fraud caught on with a certain group was that mail-in voting made it impossible to prove there was no fraud"

And Republicans don't understand how logic works:

The unprovability of non-existence.

Here's what the The Objectivist Newsletter (April 1963) had to say on the logical fallacy of proving a negative:

"Proving the non-existence of that for which no evidence of any kind exists. Proof, logic, reason, thinking, knowledge pertain to and deal only with that which exists. They cannot be applied to that which does not exist. Nothing can be relevant or applicable to the non-existent. The non-existent is nothing.

A positive statement, based on facts that have been erroneously interpreted, can be refuted - by means of exposing the errors in the interpretation of the facts. Such refutation is the disproving of a positive, not the proving of a negative.... Rational demonstration is necessary to support even the claim that a thing is possible.

It is a breach of logic to assert that that which has not been proven to be impossible is, therefore, possible.

An absence does not constitute proof of anything. Nothing can be derived from nothing."

If I say, "Anything is possible" I must admit the possibility that the statement I just made is false. (See Self Exclusion) Doubt must always be specific, and can only exist in contrast to things that cannot properly be doubted."


Matt Dillahunty gives the example of a large jar full of gumballs to illustrate the burden of proof.[20][21] The number of whole gumballs in the jar is either even or odd, but the degree of personal acceptance or rejection of claims about that characteristic may vary. We can choose to consider two claims about the situation, given as:

The number of gumballs is even.
The number of gumballs is odd.

Either claim could be explored separately; however, both claims tautologically take bearing on the same question. Odd in this case means "not even" and could be described as a negative claim. Before we have any information about the number of gumballs, we have no means of checking either of the two claims. When we have no evidence to resolve the proposition, we may suspend judgment.

From a cognitive sense, when no personal preference toward opposing claims exists, one may be either skeptical about both claims or ambivalent about both claims.[22] If there is a dispute, the burden of proof falls onto the challenger of the status quo from the perspective of any given social narrative.[23]

If there is no agreeable and adequate proof of evidence to support a claim, the claim is considered an argument from ignorance.[24]

Argument from ignorance (from Latin: argumentum ad ignorantiam), also known as appeal to ignorance (in which ignorance represents "a lack of contrary evidence"), is a fallacy in informal logic.

It asserts that a proposition is true because it has not yet been proven false or a proposition is false because it has not yet been proven true. This represents a type of false dichotomy in that it excludes the possibility that there may have been an insufficient investigation to prove that the proposition is either true or false.[1]

It also does not allow for the possibility that the answer is unknowable, only knowable in the future, or neither completely true nor completely false.[2] In debates, appeals to ignorance are sometimes used in an attempt to shift the burden of proof.

January 22, 2021 1:01 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"...largest source of *POTENTIAL* voter fraud - it did not say that it was the largest source of ACTUAL voter fraud."

nor did I

I clearly said "potential"

this kind of argumentation you are doing is a form of lying

why are you doing it?

"Trump's claims that Obama was born in Kenya made it impossible to prove he was actually born in Hawaii even AFTER he released his birth certificate."

no, it didn't

"The reason the election fraud claims caught on with a certain group of people was Trump made a massive propaganda effort to discredit the entire election process, starting from the beginning of his campaign, and the fact that there are a bunch of idiots out there that somehow still think he tells the truth, even after 60 court cases were thrown out - basically because they showed no evidence of voter fraud."

the reason he could make "idiots," as you say, believe is because mail-in voting makes voter fraud impossible to uncover

further, the phenomena of having huge election leads disappear because 90% of mail-in ballots were for the candidate losing on election night is unprecedented and naturally causes suspicion

so was the fact that absentee ballots were disqualified at a fraction of the level seen in other recent elections

indeed, it's entirely possible, fraudulent activity of a level to turn swing states occurred

it can't be proven either way because of the lax mail-in voting

but that's not something to address after the election

"It's amazing how easily you can manipulate people prone to wishful thinking."

yes, it is

that's why mail-in voting is a bad idea

if the situation had been reversed, Dems would have acted in a similar manner

January 22, 2021 2:11 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

And Republicans don't understand how logic works:

The unprovability of non-existence.

Here's what the The Objectivist Newsletter (April 1963) had to say on the logical fallacy of proving a negative:

"Proving the non-existence of that for which no evidence of any kind exists. Proof, logic, reason, thinking, knowledge pertain to and deal only with that which exists. They cannot be applied to that which does not exist. Nothing can be relevant or applicable to the non-existent. The non-existent is nothing."

I never said there was proof election fraud occurred

I said mail-in voting is too loose to assure that none occurred

under your logic, we shouldn't ask for ID when accepting a check

we shouldn't have conflict of interest policies on corporate boards

votes should not be accepted unless proof of eligibility is secured

Dems never liked that because their base thinks voting's not worth the trouble to do that

January 22, 2021 2:19 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"I clearly said "potential"

I never said you didn't.

"this kind of argumentation you are doing is a form of lying"

You're projecting again.

"why are you doing it?"

Because you insist on promoting the voter fraud propaganda as if there were lots of it, despite the fact that thousands of Republicans all around the country reported incidents they misconstrued as voter fraud, it went to court 60 times, and none of it was ever proven.

There is far more evidence of a propaganda campaign to sow doubt in voters' minds about voter fraud than there is actual voter fraud.

"the reason he could make "idiots," as you say, believe is because mail-in voting makes voter fraud impossible to uncover"

Thousands of cases brought up by Republican lawyers were investigated for fraud; one example:

TRUMP: “The other thing, dead people. So dead people voted. And I think the number is in the — close to 5,000 people. And they went to obituaries. They went to all sorts of methods to come up with an accurate number. And a minimum is close to about 5,000 voters.”

THE FACTS: Not true. Georgia officials have debunked previous claims by the Trump campaign in November that three particular people had voted illegally, finding that other people with similar names had voted. At the time, a local district attorney announced an investigation into whether a ballot had illegally been cast in the name of a northwest Georgia man who died in 2015.

On Saturday, Raffensperger said two illegal votes on behalf of dead people have been confirmed, not thousands as Trump alleged. “The actual number were two. Two. Two people that were dead that voted. And so that’s wrong,” Raffensperger said.

In another case, it was the wife of a deceased man who voted - and clearly put "Mrs." in her title before her husbands name. You would think that Republicans with their straight marriage fetish would understand what that meant.

January 22, 2021 3:30 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt and Regina lie and say the Trump administration was Republican in name only and that they now reject Trump, but here they are yet again defending and minimizing Trumpism by trying to give credence to totally baseless claims of voter fraud.

There were a handful of cases, 4 or 5, all Republicans if I remember correctly. Wyatt and Regina still asserting there was even the remotest real concern over actual voter fraud is immoral. There can't be healing and reconciliation as long as you continue to deny reality as a normal course of debate.

January 22, 2021 3:43 PM  
Anonymous Hemant Mehta said...

Christian Terrorist in Capitol Siege Said It Was “God’s Will” to Kill Millions

One of the Christians who stormed into Speaker Nancy Pelosi‘s office during the Capitol siege earlier this month was William McCall Calhoun, Jr., an attorney from Georgia who was denied bail yesterday by a federal judge.

Like many of the terrorists at the Capitol that day, Calhoun bragged about his crimes on social media networks, allegedly saying things like “we are going to kill every last communist who stands in Trump’s way.” The pictures of himself in the Capitol didn’t exactly help his case.

But when U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles H. Weigle denied Calhoun’s bail yesterday, he cited additional posts which weren’t in the original charging document as evidence that Calhoun couldn’t be trusted with just home confinement and GPS monitoring. That’s according to Law & Crime’s Colin Kalmbacher, who watched the hearing.

For example, this little nugget reminding everyone that he’s not just a horrible person; he’s a horrible person with God on his side.

“God is on Trump’s side,” the veteran lawyer wrote in a separate post. “God is not on the Democrats’ side. And if patriots have to kill 60 million of these communists, it is God’s will.”

“Think ethnic cleansing but it’s anti-communist cleansing,” he added.

This is religious extremism no matter what evangelical liars like Franklin Graham say. There were Christian terrorists in the Capitol during the siege. They bragged about their faith like they bragged about their crimes.

We know what white evangelicals would say if we were talking about Muslims. They need to come to terms with the fact that the sort of people they go to church with — maybe even the people running their church — are right-wing extremists who would gleefully murder others if they felt justified in pulling the trigger (or, in Calhoun’s case, using a tomahawk).

This is what Jesus taught him. Maybe it’s time people like him take the moral advice of atheists considering their church leaders haven’t done them any good.

January 22, 2021 3:44 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

In other cases, it appears Republican lawyers down know how service personnel vote:

A letter sent Nov. 5 on behalf of President Donald Trump's reelection campaign to Attorney General William Barr alleges that 3,062 voters who do not live in the state of Nevada "improperly cast" absentee ballots in the 2020 election.

But the list that accompanies the letter of those accused of "criminal voter fraud" contains hundreds of overseas military post office boxes and more than 1,000 locations where military personnel are stationed, such as Minot, North Dakota; Edwards and Fort Irwin, California; Hill Air Force Base, Utah; Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and Yuma, Arizona.

To at least one military spouse whose residences of Henderson, Nevada, and Davis, California, are listed -- with their specific nine-digit ZIP codes (exact addresses are not included) -- finding herself and her husband, an Air Force major, on the list was "shocking."

"To see my integrity challenged, along with other members of the military to be challenged in this way, it is a shock. And to be potentially disenfranchised because of these actions, that's not OK," said Amy Rose, who votes absentee and claims Henderson as her home while the couple is stationed in California.

There were lots of investigations into mailed-in ballots - instigated by Republican lawyers who didn't do their homework. When they actually investigated these claims, they found 2 dead voters out of an alleged 5000, and a bunch of service personnel, people that had moved, and people with the same or very similar names.

They can never prove Bigfoot doesn't exist either. But most reasonable people have looked at the evidence (or lack thereof) and concluded he isn't real.

"I never said there was proof election fraud occurred
I said mail-in voting is too loose to assure that none occurred"

You also said:
"indeed, it's entirely possible, fraudulent activity of a level to turn swing states occurred"

The numerous investigations showed that there WAS fraudulent activity: 2 voters out of the 5,000 they had claimed voted illegally.

They showed that whatever illegal activity existed was at a tiny fraction of the levels they accused people of.

Could there have been more illegal votes? Sure. Bigfoot could have voted. But unless you have some evidence, after all the legal battles and disproved cases of illegal votes, you're just furthering right-wing propaganda.

January 22, 2021 3:47 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"under your logic, we shouldn't ask for ID when accepting a check"

No. That's not what the proving non-existence argument is about at all.

No wonder you don't understand any of this.

"we shouldn't have conflict of interest policies on corporate boards"

That isn't even related.

"votes should not be accepted unless proof of eligibility is secured"

How did you even get there from here?

"Dems never liked that because their base thinks voting's not worth the trouble to do that"

LOTS of dems, republicans, and independents thought it was worth voting to save our country from the Orange Menace last November.

"further, the phenomena of having huge election leads disappear because 90% of mail-in ballots were for the candidate losing on election night is unprecedented and naturally causes suspicion"

Everyone knows that a number of states legally don't start counting mail-in votes until election day, and some after the polls close. That leaves them with millions of envelopes they need to open, verify, and scan.

The extra time it takes is only a mystery to those who refused to acquaint themselves with the pertinent facts.

You're trying to sow doubt and confusion by deliberately ignoring reality.

It's that kind of behavior that gets people pissed off enough to storm a capitol.

Looks like you're doubling down.

January 22, 2021 4:00 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"further, the phenomena of having huge election leads disappear because 90% of mail-in ballots were for the candidate losing on election night is unprecedented and naturally causes suspicion"

Not really.

Trump fans are big never-maskers complaining that it takes away their "freedom." They always claimed the threat was blown WAY out of proportion, that the economic slowdown was worse than the number of people dying, and that Biden was going to lose for staying too long in his bunker.

Meanwhile, dems took the pandemic seriously and looked for ways to stay home to protect themselves and their families. Voting by mail was a cheap and easy way to keep their family safe, rather than standing in line with a bunch of non-mask wearing mouth-breathers.

So it's really not a surprise at all how the mail-in votes broke - in fact, it makes perfect sense.

January 22, 2021 4:10 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

you can tell TTFers are desperate and nervous when they take a dozen to refute a couple of comments by me

a bipartisan panel, led by the very partisan Jimmy Carter, said this:

"Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud."

I told you exactly where in the report to see the statement

given that this is obvious even to a partisan Dem, it's not surprising that the some are suspicious

never has there been such a large mail-in vote, never have absentee ballots been rejected at such a low rate, never has a mail-in vote swung the election so wildly after election night

it's not preposterous to wonder if fraud took place

I don't think there was enough to voter fraud to swing the election

and, even if there were, that's no excuse for January 6

I also don't think we should banish people who suggest there may been voter fraud

TTFers need to learn to live with the idea that people disagree with htem

"it went to court 60 times, and none of it was ever proven."

the point is, the system was set up to make it impossible to prove if the many ways mail-in fraud could become reality

btw, you expect us to say it couldn't have possibly happened because the courts ruled there was no evidence

I assume that when the Senate finds trump innocent at the impeachment trial, you'll accept the ruling

January 22, 2021 5:27 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"btw, you expect us to say it couldn't have possibly happened because the courts ruled there was no evidence"

No, I even showed that the investigations found that there were two "dead" people that voted - a tiny fraction of the 5000 that Trump claimed just in Georgia.

But to keep claiming things like:

"never has there been such a large mail-in vote, never have absentee ballots been rejected at such a low rate, never has a mail-in vote swung the election so wildly after election night"

And insinuating lots of voter fraud undermines your own statements like:

"I don't think there was enough to voter fraud to swing the election"

Very nearly all the cases Republicans tried to show of "widespread voter fraud" turned out to be legitimate voters. 2 out of 5000 isn't no evidence at all, but evidence of a very tiny amount - and not nearly enough to swing elections.

There are very good reasons 2020 didn't look like previous voting years. One is called a pandemic, and it changed how a very large portion of the country voted like never before.

Two is the fact that we had the most OBNOXIOUS president ever to sit in the White House.

Occam's razor applies here. There's a pandemic going on. LOTS of people consider HIM to be a con man, liar, incompetent, and a narcissist with totalitarian intentions. Arguably, those are some of his better qualities. His loss is easily explained without resorting to theories of widespread voter fraud or inexplicable "wildly" swinging vote counts.

"I assume that when the Senate finds trump innocent at the impeachment trial, you'll accept the ruling"

I fully expect the trial votes to fall along partisan lines, with only a few crossovers - probably not enough to convict. I find that result just as unacceptable as just about everything else about him. It makes my conscious decision to stop voting for Republicans after 2000 look even more correct.

While some Republicans are desperately trying to wash their hands of Rump now, calling him a "RINO" and "not even a real conservative," - much like they did before he won the primary - it was amazing to see how quickly Republicans started suckling him like piglets on a sow.

Some of them couldn't tear themselves away from his teat even after the attack on the Capitol.

THAT is what Republicans should be worried about now. They should be trying to figure out how to neutralize his appeal and base bring back some normalcy to the party.

Maybe they'll even start to question what it is about their messaging that attracts the likes of conspiracy cults ala Alex Jones and Q, and try to win back some of the middle ground, instead of relying on the rabid white-nationalist crowd and the tin-foil hat brigade.

Nah... that's never gonna happen!

Stand back and stand by!

January 22, 2021 6:34 PM  
Anonymous RIP Henry Louis Aaron said...

Hank Aaron, the baseball legend who smashed Babe Ruth's home-run record while enduring a constant barrage of racist hate mail and death threats, died today at 86.

Check out this video of him hitting his 715th home run to break Ruth's record in 1974.

Aaron's 755 home-run record stood for 33 years.

January 22, 2021 6:34 PM  
Anonymous This is what happens when the Kool-Aid wears off said...

A man known as the "QAnon Shaman," who stormed the Capitol shirtless while wearing fur and horns, feels he was “duped” by Donald Trump after the president failed to pardon him, his lawyer has revealed.

Al Watkins, the lawyer for Jacob Chansley, said his client "regrets very, very much having...been duped by the president," he told local news station KSDK.

Mr Watkins added that he regrets "having not just been duped by the President, but by being in a position where he allowed that duping to put him in a position to make decisions he should not have made. As to my client, the guy with the horns and the fur, the meditation and organic food...I'm telling you that we cannot simply wave a magic wand and label all these people on January 6th the same."

Mr Watkins put the blame squarely on former President Donald Trump, telling KSDK: "Let's roll the tape. Let's roll the months of lies, and misrepresentations and horrific innuendo and hyperbolic speech by our president designed to inflame, enrage, motivate."

"What's really curious is the reality that our president, as a matter of public record, invited these individuals, as President, to walk down to the Capitol with him," Mr Watkins said.

Many of those who have been arrested for being part of the mob appealed for last-minute pardons from Mr Trump on his way out the door but were unsuccessful in their attempts.

“I feel like I was basically following my president. I was following what we were called to do. He asked us to fly there. He asked us to be there. So I was doing what he asked us to do,” said Jenna Ryan, a Texas real-estate agent who took a private jet to the rally and ensuing riot to disrupt the certification of the election of Joe Biden.

Ryan, who prosecutors say posted a now-deleted video of herself marching to the Capitol with the words, “We are going to f***ing go in here. Life or death," told Dallas television station KTVT: “I think we all deserve a pardon. I’m facing a prison sentence. I think I do not deserve that.”

Mr Watkins told the Associated Press that he reached out to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows about a possible pardon on behalf of Mr Chansley. He said that the lack of pardon would help awaken his client to the fact that the devotion Mr Chansley showed the former president was a one-way street, comparing it to being a jilted lover or a member of a cult.

“The only thing that was missing at the Capitol was the president, our president, stirring up the Kool-Aid with a big spoon,” Mr Watkins said.

January 22, 2021 7:06 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"No, I even showed that the investigations found that there were two "dead" people that voted - a tiny fraction of the 5000 that Trump claimed just in Georgia."

you also repeatedly, and, yes, we know you have the liberal media echoing through your head, that "courts have found no evidence of voter fraud", as if that means there couldn't be any

"But to keep claiming things like:

"never has there been such a large mail-in vote, never have absentee ballots been rejected at such a low rate, never has a mail-in vote swung the election so wildly after election night""

well, it's more than a claim

those are all verifiable facts

"And insinuating lots of voter fraud"

no, I didn't insinuate that at all

I was just saying it's understandable for that to raise some people's suspicions

"undermines your own statements like:

"I don't think there was enough to voter fraud to swing the election""

no, it doesn't, and I stand by that statement

I think Biden won

"There are very good reasons 2020 didn't look like previous voting years. One is called a pandemic, and it changed how a very large portion of the country voted like never before."

the pandemic didn't make mail voting necessary

there are any number of things that people do in person

in early November, voting in person was perfectly safe if you were wearing a mask and maintaining a sufficient physical distance

"Two is the fact that we had the most OBNOXIOUS president ever to sit in the White House."

that's true

but he still would have probably won if not for the pandemic

"I fully expect the trial votes to fall along partisan lines, with only a few crossovers - probably not enough to convict."

that's correct

Dems made a fallacious charge so what should have been a slam-dunk conviction won't happen

January 23, 2021 1:02 AM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"the pandemic didn't make mail voting necessary"

The fact that the new Covid cases shot up dramatically to their highest levels ever shortly afterward says otherwise.

"in early November, voting in person was perfectly safe if you were wearing a mask and maintaining a sufficient physical distance"

Not all voting locations kept sufficient physical distance - mine in particular was packed at least twice at tight as it should have been. It would have been better if they had left the old voting locations in place rather than combining a bunch of them. In the past, I typically waited in line for 10 minutes, and usually there were more voting officials than voters at the location.

This time I had to drive out of my way and stand in line outside for nearly two hours before getting inside to vote, where people were packed far too closely. But I live in a red county, and I've come to expect lots of fat beardy guys with red MAGA hats, pickup trucks, and poor social distancing.

"but he still would have probably won if not for the pandemic"

Wishful thinking. The pink pussy hatters didn't go away - they organized and got out the vote. Georgia is a prime example. There are still a LOT of workers out of a job thanks to Rump's incompetent Covid response.

"Dems made a fallacious charge so what should have been a slam-dunk conviction won't happen"

Wrong. It won't happen because there are a number of Republicans that want to stay on the good side of Trump and his base when it comes to fundraising and winning their primaries in 2022.

If the Senate had a secret ballot, Rump would be convicted easily and most Republicans would wipe their hands and pretend it was all a bad dream that they had no responsibility for.

January 23, 2021 1:43 AM  
Anonymous Mail-in voting is OK for Rump and the Armed Services said...

"the reason he could make "idiots," as you say, believe is because mail-in voting makes voter fraud impossible to uncover"

And yet Rump, all armed services personnel and US citizens serving and living overseas mail in their ballots every time.

How is mail-in voting OK for Rump,vsoldiers, and citizens living overseas but not for American citizens avoiding a raging pandemic here at home?

Oh yeah, Rump told us on Fox and Friends"

"Donald Trump admitted on Monday that making it easier to vote in America would hurt the Republican party.

The president made the comments as he dismissed a Democratic-led push for reforms such as vote-by-mail, same-day registration and early voting as states seek to safely run elections amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Democrats had proposed the measures as part of the coronavirus stimulus. They ultimately were not included in the $2.2t final package, which included only $400m to states to help them run elections.

“The things they had in there were crazy. They had things, levels of voting that if you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends. “They had things in there about election days and what you do and all sorts of clawbacks. They had things that were just totally crazy and had nothing to do with workers that lost their jobs and companies that we have to save.”

Democrats often accuse Republicans of deliberately making it hard to vote in order to keep minorities, immigrants, young people and other groups from the polls. And Republicans often say they oppose voting reforms because of concerns of voter fraud – which is extremely rare – or concerns over having the federal government run elections. But Trump’s remarks reveal how at least some Republicans have long understood voting barriers to be a necessary part of their political self-preservation."

January 23, 2021 8:00 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"The fact that the new Covid cases shot up dramatically to their highest levels ever shortly afterward says otherwise."

rates rose steadily throughout the fall and new "highest levels" were almost daily occurences

there's no reason to think it was because of one day when everyone was distanced and wearing masks outside in an outside was the reason

"Not all voting locations kept sufficient physical distance - mine in particular was packed at least twice at tight as it should have been."

in most places, the polls were open for a week or more

you could have chosen a less crowded time

"It would have been better if they had left the old voting locations in place rather than combining a bunch of them."

agreed

"This time I had to drive out of my way and stand in line outside for nearly two hours before getting inside to vote, where people were packed far too closely. But I live in a red county,"

where was this?

"and I've come to expect lots of fat beardy guys with red MAGA hats, pickup trucks, and poor social distancing."

yeah, I live in a blue county

a lot of bug-infested pony-tailed guys with slept-in tees that say "I'm with her" and masks pulled under their nose

"Wishful thinking."

not really

most oddsmakers had him winning until that point, the economy was a marvel and, for once, the prosperity and opportunity was broad-based

"It won't happen because there are a number of Republicans that want to stay on the good side of Trump and his base when it comes to fundraising and winning their primaries in 2022."

the GOP cut the margin is the House significantly and the Senate is 50-50

most in the GOP would like to disassociate from Trump

he served a purpose and had some accomplishments but his inability to get along with anyone at all will likely stop him from returning

Trump won't be convicted of inciting a riot because there is evidence the plan was already in place

what he was guilty of was dereliction of duty and, possibly, being part of the planning

"How is mail-in voting OK for Rump,vsoldiers, and citizens living overseas but not for American citizens avoiding a raging pandemic here at home?"

two reasons:

1. there aren't enough of those to turn the election
2. those people aren't as susceptible to intimidation and ballot harvesting as people voting domestically

"Democrats often accuse Republicans of deliberately making it hard to vote in order to keep minorities, immigrants, young people and other groups from the polls."

there you go

the mail-in voting had nothing to do with the pandemic

Dems have been pushing this for years

they have a base that thinks it's too damn much trouble to show up in person with ID

their idea is "never waste a crisis"

it's how they blocked the stimulus package for months by trying to blackmail America into bailing out NY and California spending excesses

facts remain:

mail-in voting has been acknowledged by bipartisan study as the largest potential for fraud in America

never has there been such a large mail-in vote, never have absentee ballots been rejected at such a low rate, never has a mail-in vote swung the election so wildly after election night

it undermines confidence in our democratic processes

January 23, 2021 11:05 AM  
Anonymous Jason Whitlock said...

Wednesday evening, during an appearance on a cable news program, I analogized Black Lives Matter to the Ku Klux Klan.

It's a provocative and jarring analogy. It's a comparison I truly believe.

Friday morning, a reporter from my hometown paper, the Indianapolis Star, contacted me asking for clarification of my analogy.

Here's what I wrote to the Star reporter:

The Ku Klux Klan was founded on Christmas Eve 1865 by Confederate soldiers dedicated to undermining the racial progress sparked by the Civil War and Emancipation Proclamation. "The KKK engaged in terrorist raids against African Americans and white Republicans at night, employing intimidation, destruction of property, assault, and murder to achieve its aims and influence upcoming elections," according to History.com.

Black Lives Matter and Antifa protests have primarily terrorized and destroyed property in black communities at night. BLM and Antifa have attempted to intimidate white Republicans. BLM protests have been violent and caused the assassination of law enforcement officers and other citizens. BLM is a cleverly marketed slogan that provides cover for extremists to undermine racial progress and bully American citizens to support Democrat politicians. It's not a coincidence that BLM riots pick up during an election cycle and disappear after the votes have been counted.

My analogy is not far fetched or hard to comprehend, particularly for the mainstream media. My analogy is far more substantive and accurate than pretending the events at the Capitol on January 6 were an armed insurrection analogous to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. BLM, founded by self-described trained Marxists, has a stated goal of disrupting Western Civilization traditions and values. Despite the sweet-sounding name, BLM acts as a racial divider — no different from the KKK.

It's my belief that the KKK and BLM share the same intent. They use race, intimidation, violence, and property destruction to achieve political goals on behalf of the Democratic Party.

Cultural changes and technological advances explain the difference in tactics between the KKK of old and its modern-day successor, BLM. Burning buildings have replaced burning crosses. Social media lynch mobs destroy a person's character, strike fear, and silence dissent.

In the KKK's heyday, a black man could have his life destroyed for making eye contact with a white woman. In BLM's heyday, a black man can have his life destroyed for expressing an opinion that contradicts the ideology of white liberals.

January 23, 2021 12:17 PM  
Anonymous everyone knows said...

Leaders in the Middle East threw their weight behind the “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, just days before U.S. President Joe Biden took office this week.

The United Arab Emirates said it was “absolutely” in favor of continuing to pressure Iran — a policy by the Trump administration aimed at forcing the regime to halt its nuclear activities and cut off support for militants in the Middle East.

Israel’s energy minister said the campaign has been “very productive,” while the deputy mayor of Jerusalem said it is the “only thing” that will work.

Biden is widely expected to take the diplomatic route, in contrast with his predecessor Donald Trump, who slapped heavy economic sanctions on Iran after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal. One analyst told CNBC in November that the two presidents are “as stark as black and white” when it comes to enforcing maximum pressure on Tehran.

Politicians in the region, however, praised Trump’s strategy.

“I think we are still in favor of maximum pressure — absolutely,” said Omar Ghobash, the UAE’s assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy.

“Was it successful? We think it will succeed,” he told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble on Sunday.

We don’t have a problem with rapprochement with Iran, but … it needs to be conditional, it needs to be participatory.

For its part, Iran has slammed the Trump administration and called on Biden to return to the nuclear deal.

“Tyrant Trump’s political career and his ominous reign are over today and his ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran has completely failed,” said President Hassan Rouhani, according to Reuters.

Israeli politicians have also expressed support for the maximum pressure policy.

“We thought that the maximum pressure policy with regard to Iran was very productive,” Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble.

“Iran was weakening, Iran had to reduce its military-force building and also its support to some terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and others in the region,” he said on Wednesday.

Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim political and militant group with significant influence in Lebanon, has been designated a terrorist organization by the mainly Sunni Muslim Gulf Cooperation Council and countries including the U.S., Canada and Germany.

The only thing that works with Iran is economic pressure, combined with a valid military threat.

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, deputy mayor of Jerusalem and co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council, echoed the same sentiment.

“It is the only thing that will work,” she said on “Capital Connection” on Thursday. “Anything else is a capitulation.”

“It’s not going to be Israel fighting on its own here, to try and keep the maximum pressure,” she said, pointing out that Israel now has friends in the region who share the same concerns.

Israel signed the so-called Abraham Accords with the UAE in August, ushering in a new era of normalized diplomatic relations between the two countries after decades of antagonism. The tiny kingdom of Bahrain followed suit and established ties with Israel.

“It’s going to be Israel, the Gulf countries and possibly even Saudi Arabia, that’s going to be putting the pressure on the United States to keep the pressure on Iran, and I think that that’s the only policy that’s shown any signs of working,” Hassan-Nahoum said.

January 23, 2021 2:08 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

Black people tried protesting peacefully - Colin Kaepernick led the way by kneeling quietly before some football games to bring focus to the injustices suffered by black people at the hands of American police.

Trump and the right-wing media pilloried and demonized him until he lost his job. And they did nothing to address the violence he was protesting.

Black men in particular, and in some cases black women were murdered before they were even seen in court. Much of it was caught on video via cell phones.

How long do you think people are going to sit back and let people get murdered by the state before they start fighting back?

Armed right wingers took over a park building and occupied it for weeks over having to pay cattle grazing fees.

January 23, 2021 2:20 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"rates rose steadily throughout the fall and new "highest levels" were almost daily occurences [sic]

there's no reason to think it was because of one day when everyone was distanced and wearing masks outside in an outside was the reason"

It wasn't just "one day." The rise started a bit before November - when Rump was going around the country having massive rallies with unmasked people crammed together and screaming at the top of their lungs.

At the same time, right wing media was heckling Biden for "hiding in his basement" and democrat rallies were held in parking lots with families in their cars.

It's no secret why rates started jumping up then - it was inevitable.

"in most places, the polls were open for a week or more"

Not in my county.

"you could have chosen a less crowded time"

I did.

"it's how they blocked the stimulus package for months by trying to blackmail America into bailing out NY and California spending excesses"

The right keeps trying to blame blue states for money problems. But let's see what the facts are:

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700

Federal assistance to states has come into the spotlight recently during the coronavirus pandemic, where some states have received far more money per case than others. For example, in the initial $150 billion given to states from the stimulus package, which was allocated by population, New York got less than $24,000 per positive case while Alaska received over $3.3 million. While the government has shelled out around $750 billion total to states during this crisis, it faces questions about whether the distribution has been truly equitable and efficient.


Here's the top 10 list of most federally dependant states:

1: New Mexico
2: Kentucky (Hello Mitch!)
3: Mississippi
4: West Virginia
5: Montana
6: Alaska
7: South Carolina
8: Indiana
9: Arizona
10: Wyoming

Bonus states:
11: Alabama
12: Louisiana

24: New York

41: California

January 23, 2021 2:40 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"most oddsmakers had him winning until that point, the economy was a marvel and, for once, the prosperity and opportunity was broad-based"

The polls said Hillary was going to win too. Do you still think you have a valid point?

If the election had been held before his disastrous handling of CV-19, the loss of 4 million jobs and about a quarter million people, then he might have won. But never underestimate the ability of the so-called "right" to ignore pertinent facts:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/11/06/fact-check-pandemic-unaccounted-presidential-job-growth-chart/6177339002/

"A chart posted to the Center for American Progress Action Fund page on Facebook showed negative job growth numbers for Trump compared with 12 of his predecessors. Trump is "the worst jobs president in history" with job losses totaling 4 million, according to the post's caption.

Per the chart, Trump is the only president in the last 80 years to net job losses during his presidency. President George W. Bush is the runner-up with 1 million jobs added during his administration. Bush's successor, Barack Obama, is credited with 12 million jobs.

The nation is in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, according to USA TODAY. But several factors are responsible for historically low job growth. Jesse Lee, senior adviser at CAP, said Trump's performance on jobs performance was rated accordingly...

...The September numbers from the Labor Department report reflected a bounce-back in the economy; the unemployment rate reached 13.3% in May but fell to 7.9% in September. Nonetheless, this is the highest unemployment rate preceding a presidential election since the government began tracking monthly rates in 1948, according to CNN.

Tracking job growth figures from Truman to Trump reveals unprecedented job losses during the Trump administration. CAP's assertion that Trump is the worst jobs president in history appears to be true based on available data.

We rate this claim TRUE, based on our research. More jobs were lost during the Trump administration than any other in history. Approximately 4 million fewer people were employed from January 2017 to September 2020, according to the most recent publicly available data."

January 23, 2021 2:54 PM  
Anonymous AP source: Lawmakers threatened ahead of impeachment trial said...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal law enforcement officials are examining a number of threats aimed at members of Congress as the second trial of former President Donald Trump nears, including ominous chatter about killing legislators or attacking them outside of the U.S. Capitol, a U.S. official told The Associated Press.

The threats, and concerns that armed protesters could return to sack the Capitol anew, have prompted the U.S. Capitol Police and other federal law enforcement to insist thousands of National Guard troops remain in Washington as the Senate moves forward with plans for Trump’s trial, the official said.

The shocking insurrection at the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob prompted federal officials to rethink security in and around its landmarks, resulting in an unprecedented lockdown for Biden’s inauguration. Though the event went off without any problems and armed protests around the country did not materialize, the threats to lawmakers ahead of Trump’s trial exemplified the continued potential for danger.

Similar to those intercepted by investigators ahead of Biden’s inauguration, the threats that law enforcement agents are tracking vary in specificity and credibility, said the official, who had been briefed on the matter. Mainly posted online and in chat groups, the messages have included plots to attack members of Congress during travel to and from the Capitol complex during the trial, according to the official.

The official was not authorized to not discuss an ongoing investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Law enforcement officials are already starting to plan for the possibility of armed protesters returning to the nation’s capital when Trump’s Senate trial on a charge of inciting a violent insurrection begins the week of Feb. 8. It would be the first impeachment trial of a former U.S. president.

Thousands of Trump’s supporters descended on the Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress met to certify Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential race. More than 800 are believed to have made their way into the Capitol during the violent siege, pushing past overwhelmed police officers. The Capitol police said they planned for a free speech protest, not a riot, and were caught off-guard despite intelligence the rally would descend into a riot. Five people died in the melee, including a Capitol police officer who was struck in the head with a fire extinguisher...

More than 130 people have been charged by federal prosecutors for their roles in the riot. In recent weeks, others have been arrested after posting threats against members of Congress.

They include a Proud Boys supporter who authorities said threatened to deploy “three cars full of armed patriots” to Washington, threatened harm against Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and who is accused of stockpiling military-style combat knives and more than 1,000 rifle rounds in his New York home. A Texas man was arrested this week for taking part in the riot at the Capitol and for posting violent threats, including a call to assassinate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y

January 25, 2021 7:39 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

Here's what MoCo residents need to do with Marc Elrich. The next election is too far off.

The effort to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has attracted more than 1.2 million signatures.

Recall organizers have until March 17th to collect 1,495,709 signatures.

Californians are fed up with Newsom’s authoritarian Covid lockdown orders that have destroyed thousands of small businesses.

Newsom came under fire after he ordered businesses to close while keeping his own winery, Plumpjack Winery open.

Governor Newsom was also caught dining at The French Laundry in Napa Valley at $800 per person while telling Californians they couldn’t gather for Thanksgiving.

Newsom and his allies in the California swamp are working to smear anyone associated with the recall efforts.

The longtime strategist for ousted California Governor Gray Davis is now advising Gavin Newsom and set up a “war room” to attack dissenters.

Former California Governor Gray Davis (D) was recalled in 2003 over the state’s energy crisis, rolling blackouts and skyrocketing car registration fees.

Republican California legislator Kevin Kiley is working around the clock to remove Newsom.

January 25, 2021 11:19 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

The Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to lawsuits over whether Donald Trump illegally profited off his presidency.

The justices threw out lower court rulings that allege that Trump violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause by accepting payments from foreign and domestic officials who stay at the Trump International Hotel.

The high court also ordered appeals courts in New York and Richmond, Virginia, to dismiss the suits.

January 25, 2021 12:08 PM  
Anonymous @LaikenJordahl said...

At last, #BorderWall construction crews have been sent packing. Today, for the first time in a year, I heard water flowing & birds chirping along the San Pedro in peace. This halt to construction comes too late for what was once Arizona's last free-flowing river.

#TearItDown

January 25, 2021 12:35 PM  
Anonymous Now, for the rest of the story said...

The Supreme Court on Monday brought an end to lawsuits over whether Donald Trump illegally profited off his presidency.

The justices threw out Trump’s challenge to lower court rulings that had allowed lawsuits to go forward alleging that he violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause by accepting payments from foreign and domestic officials who stay at the Trump International Hotel and patronize other businesses owned by the former president and his family.

The high court also ordered the lower court rulings thrown out as well and directed appeals courts in New York and Richmond, Virginia, to dismiss the suits as moot now that Trump is no longer in office.

The outcome leaves *no judicial opinions* on the books in an area of the law that has been rarely explored in U.S. history.

The cases involved suits filed by Maryland and the District of Columbia, and high-end restaurants and hotels in New York and Washington, D.C., that “found themselves in the unenviable position of having to compete with businesses owned by the President of the United States.”

The suits sought financial records showing how much state and foreign governments have paid the Trump Organization to stay and eat at Trump-owned properties.

Other cases involving Trump remain before the Supreme Court, or in lower courts.

Trump is trying to block the Manhattan district attorney ’s enforcement of a subpoena for his tax returns. Lower courts are weighing congressional subpoenas for Trump’s financial records. And the justices also have before them Trump’s appeal of a decision forbidding him from blocking critics on his Twitter account. Like the emoluments cases, Trump’s appeal would seem to be moot now that he is out of office and also had his Twitter account suspended.

January 25, 2021 12:57 PM  
Anonymous holy impeachment, Batman!!!!!!!!!!!1 said...

Chief Justice John Roberts won’t preside over former President Donald Trump's Senate trial, Senate sources confirmed Monday.

Instead, Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the Senate’s president pro tempore, will oversee the hopeless proceedings against Trump, who left office on Jan. 20.

The House on Jan. 13 passed one article impeaching Trump for inciting an insurrection against the Capitol, even though evidence indicates the crowd had plans to do what they even before Trump spoke.

Trump is now gone from office.

The Constitution calls on the high court’s chief justice to preside over a Senate impeachment trial of the president. Roberts presided over Trump’s 2020 impeachment trial, which lasted nearly three weeks and resulted in his acquittal.

But Roberts is not coming this time around.

The Constitution does not outline how to impeach an ex-president. Indeed, the action may be unconstitutional and wind up before the Supreme Court anyway.

The lack of authority in the Constitution for ex-president impeachment has left Senate Democrats making up their own rules, including who will preside over the trial.

They have chosen Leahy, the highest-ranking, and most senile senator, due to his tenure.

"Sen. Leahy is expected to preside at trial," a Senate source said. "Senators preside when the impeached is not the president of the United States."

Leahy, 80, has served as a Democratic buffoon in the Senate since 1975, occasionally moonlighting as an actor. He starred in such horrible Hollywood movies as Batman Forever and other installments in the series.

January 25, 2021 3:57 PM  
Anonymous What's in store for the biggest looser said...

The sooner Trumps is convicted of crimes, the sooner the Republican party can move on to an adult to lead their party, and excise the gullible insurrectionists with white nationalist propensities from their base.

Republicans should be thanking Democrats for bringing him to trial. If Trump isn't convicted, the Republican party will be subject to his bombastic tantrums for the foreseeable future - otherwise he will threaten to form his own party, split the right-wing base, and leave the field open for democrats to win all sorts of 3-way races.

Should Trump decide to run for president again, it is likely he will be defeated again. What the whining right has lost sight of while crying about their fever-dreams of voter fraud, was that 2020 was the SECOND time Trump lost by millions of votes. It was only where a tiny minority (77k) of votes spread out over 3 critical states managed to tip the electoral college in his favor.

Trump tried to claim there were millions of illegal votes cast for Hillary in 2016 as well, and he even set up a commission to root it out. It quietly disbanded several months later without finding what he was hoping for.

What we now know is that Trump and his cronies (like Oozy Rudy) make far more lies about voter fraud than there was actual voter fraud.

January 25, 2021 4:49 PM  
Anonymous The GOP said...

The Democrats will have to answer for the lies we told our base!

January 26, 2021 1:23 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"The cases involved suits filed by Maryland and the District of Columbia, and high-end restaurants and hotels in New York and Washington, D.C., that “found themselves in the unenviable position of having to compete with businesses owned by the President of the United States"

those cases would have neve succeeded because the emoluments clause exists to prevent bribery, not protect competition

btw, Dems who are aghast to think Trump profited from a few hotels and restaurants that people might go to because the President owns them

are a riot when they ignore Hunter Biden making millions by promising access to his VP father

now, the possibilities are endless

for Hunter, and the hypocrisy of Dems

January 26, 2021 6:55 AM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

Trump's DOJ has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018. If they had managed to find something regarding emoluments, they would have used it against Biden in the election.

You need to update yourself on the available facts:

President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter is under investigation by the Justice Department, Hunter confirmed in a statement issued by the Biden transition Wednesday.

“I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,” the statement reads. “I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.”

After this announcement, several news outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Politico, and the New York Times, provided more details on the probe, citing anonymous sources “with knowledge of” or “familiar with” the inquiry.

The investigation was reportedly opened in late 2018, before Bill Barr became attorney general. It has focused on Hunter’s business dealings in China and began as a money laundering probe, but is now focusing on potential violations of tax law. The investigation was kept “covert” to avoid influencing the election, and Hunter was indeed only told of it Tuesday. And Joe Biden “is not implicated,” per CNN.

President Trump has long seized on Hunter’s work for foreign interests to try to argue that Joe Biden was corrupt. Trump’s 2019 effort to pressure Ukraine’s president into announcing an investigation of the Bidens eventually led to his impeachment. More recently, in October, Trump allies leaked emails, texts, and images — purportedly from a hard drive owned by Hunter, or provided by associates of Hunter — to media outlets, in an effort to swing the election in Trump’s favor.

With news of the investigation, some of these Trump allies have claimed vindication. But the main argument they and Trump made at the time was that Joe Biden was corruptly involved in Hunter’s dealings — and that has not been shown to be true.

So how long are you going repeat that lie that "Hunter Biden making millions by promising access to his VP father" when Trump's own DOJ found that not to be true?

January 26, 2021 10:28 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"Trump's DOJ has been investigating Hunter Biden since 2018. If they had managed to find something regarding emoluments, they would have used it against Biden in the election."

Biden wasn't President then

but evidence was found that he sold his father's influence as VP to hostile foreign governments

the media, as you recall, suppressed it

"“I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Delaware advised my legal counsel, also yesterday, that they are investigating my tax affairs,”"

tax investigations are generally what the government focuses on when it is difficult to prove other charges

influence-peddling is hard to prove and may not even be illegal, depending on how it plays out

my point was Dems were aghast by petty hotel and restaurant fees while nonchalant about more significant fees paid to Hunter Biden

the emoluments clause was actually intended to keep foreign governments from having sway over a President

unlikely to happen as a result of having foreign visitors at a hotel

much more likely in the Hunter situation

"The investigation was kept “covert” to avoid influencing the election, and Hunter was indeed only told of it Tuesday. And Joe Biden “is not implicated,” per CNN."

meaning you first statement about using it in an election is false

"President Trump has long seized on Hunter’s work for foreign interests to try to argue that Joe Biden was corrupt. Trump’s 2019 effort to pressure Ukraine’s president into announcing an investigation of the Bidens eventually led to his impeachment. More recently, in October, Trump allies leaked emails, texts, and images — purportedly from a hard drive owned by Hunter, or provided by associates of Hunter — to media outlets, in an effort to swing the election in Trump’s favor."

one of the most Orwellian moves by the Dem-media-entertainment complex was an attempt to make criticism of Hillary or Joe illegal - the aim of both the Mueller investigation and the Ukraine impeachment farce

"With news of the investigation, some of these Trump allies have claimed vindication. But the main argument they and Trump made at the time was that Joe Biden was corruptly involved in Hunter’s dealings — and that has not been shown to be true."

both the laptop and one of Hunter's business partners testify that Joe was involved

"So how long are you going repeat that lie that "Hunter Biden making millions by promising access to his VP father" when Trump's own DOJ found that not to be true"

that clearly happened in both China and Ukraine

the DOJ hasn't found it to be untrue

January 26, 2021 11:22 AM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"meaning you first statement about using it in an election is false"

The DOJ wouldn't have used it, but as soon as Trump got wind of it, he certainly would have. It's simply not credible to believe that Trump wouldn't have.

"that clearly happened in both China and Ukraine"

You have no proof. Just insinuation.

You might as well try and prove the existence of Bigfoot. Or that Obama was really born in Kenya.

January 26, 2021 11:34 AM  
Anonymous And what about that laptop? said...

In early February, Attorney General William Barr was forced to acknowledge that the Justice Department was accepting dirt on Joe Biden’s family provided by President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. This was after Giuliani had embarked on a very public mission to uncover politically damaging information about Biden’s son, Hunter, in Ukraine — including efforts that helped lead to Trump getting impeached. At the time, Barr attempted to dismiss the plainly obvious ethical concerns of entertaining Giuliani’s shady allegations, claiming that the DOJ had an obligation to accept such information from anyone, while also trying to downplay how seriously the department would take Rudy’s information. Barr said that he had “established an intake process” for evaluating the credibility of Giuliani’s dirt.

On Friday, the New York Times reported that the Justice Department took Giuliani’s allegations far more seriously than Barr let on they would. That “intake process” included Barr tasking Pittsburgh-based U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady with evaluating Giuliani’s so-called evidence, which led Brady to open an investigation into Hunter Biden, on top of another probe led by federal prosecutors in Delaware.

In other words, the president’s personal attorney — who was himself under investigation by federal prosecutors in Manhattan over his own business ties to Ukraine — was successfully able to get the Justice Department to open a new, suspicious investigation into the family of the president’s political opponent during an election year.

The investigation based on Giuliani’s very shady dirt led to no charges, according to the Times, but Brady apparently had taken the matter very seriously: He had multiple meetings with Giuliani and Giuliani’s lawyer, who sent Brady reams of documents. The aggressive and unusual inquiry raised plenty of red flags in the Justice Department:

Colleagues saw Mr. Brady, whom Mr. Trump nominated to the post in 2017, as a deeply partisan leader. While an assistant prosecutor in the office during the George W. Bush administration, he said he would never serve a Democrat, and he left after former President Barack Obama was elected …

Officials said that Mr. Brady almost immediately started pushing to take aggressive steps … The steps were outside “normal investigative procedures,” one former senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the events said, particularly in an election year; Justice Department policy typically forbids investigators from making aggressive moves before elections that could affect the outcome of the vote if they become public.

The Times reports that FBI officials balked at Brady’s requests to ramp up the investigation in a way that could disrupt the election:

Mr. Brady’s demands soon prompted a tense confrontation with F.B.I. officials at the bureau’s headquarters in Washington. The meeting was mediated by Seth D. DuCharme, now the acting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn and at the time a trusted aide and ally of Mr. Barr’s at the Justice Department in Washington.

The F.B.I. viewed the investigative steps into Mr. Biden that Mr. Brady sought as unwarranted because the Delaware inquiry involving money laundering had fizzled out and because they were skeptical of Mr. Giuliani’s material. For example, they had already examined a laptop owned by Mr. Biden and an external hard drive that had been abandoned at a computer store in Wilmington and found nothing to advance the inquiry.

But Brady kept pressuring the FBI, and agents subsequently “found ways to ostensibly satisfy Mr. Brady without upending the election.”

January 26, 2021 11:48 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"The DOJ wouldn't have used it, but as soon as Trump got wind of it, he certainly would have."

well, the head of the DOJ, who works for Trump had an obligation to tell his boss about it

Dems and the media have tried to rewrite the Constitution and imply that the Justice Department is another branch of government, independent from the Chief Executive

it isn't

it reports to the President

"It's simply not credible to believe that Trump wouldn't have."

it's information the voters should have had

a poll taken after the election found that if voters had known about it, it would have changed enough votes to alter the election results

"You have no proof. Just insinuation."

we were discussing the emoluments clause

it is based on the idea that certain relationships create a conflict of interest even if it can't be proved that official decisions were swayed

and, frankly, the situation with Hunter Biden is much more suspicious than Trump's hotel business

"In early February, Attorney General William Barr was forced to acknowledge that the Justice Department was accepting dirt on Joe Biden’s family provided by President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani."

as I recall, in 2016, Hillary paid a foreign spy to make up "dirt" on Trump

and then, Obama's FBI fraudulently used the fictitious "dirt' as justification to bug Trump campiagn officials

"able to get the Justice Department to open a new, suspicious investigation into the family of the president’s political opponent during an election year."

sounds just like what Obama and Hillary did

they should have filed for a patent

maybe they could get royalties

"Colleagues saw Mr. Brady, whom Mr. Trump nominated to the post in 2017, as a deeply partisan leader."

could you share with us the names of the non-partisan members of Obama's DOJ?

we'll wait...

LOL!


January 26, 2021 12:36 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"it's information the voters should have had"

Then why didn't Comey tell voters Trump and his cronies were under investigation at the same time Hillary was?

It could have changed enough votes to sway the election -- maybe 77k in 3 states - that's all it would have taken.

January 26, 2021 12:49 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"Then why didn't Comey tell voters Trump and his cronies were under investigation at the same time Hillary was?

It could have changed enough votes to sway the election -- maybe 77k in 3 states - that's all it would have taken."

oh, I agree

you'll have to ask Comey

he may have been saving it for his book

he's almost as narcissistic as Trump

but, remember, the investigation of Trump was based on fraudulent information and the FBI knew it

nothing fraudulent about the allegations against Hunter

January 26, 2021 3:43 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

Senate Republicans voted overwhelmingly Tuesday against moving forward with Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial, making clear a conviction of the former president for “incitement of insurrection” is not going to happen.

45 members of the Grand Ol' Party voted to support an objection from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul that would have declared the impeachment proceedings unconstitutional. The House impeached him two weeks ago for inciting deadly riots in the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat.

Trump's conviction would require the support of all Democrats and 17 Republicans, or two-thirds of the Senate. W

“If more than 34 Republicans vote against the constitutionality of the proceeding, the whole thing’s dead on arrival,” Paul said shortly before the vote." Paul said Democrats “should rest their case and present no case at all.”

Many Republican senators, including Paul, have challenged the legitimacy of the trial and questioned whether Trump's repeated demands to overturn Joe Biden’s election really constitute “incitement of insurrection."

On Monday, the nine House Democrats prosecuting the case against Trump walked like lemmings and carried the sole impeachment charge of “incitement of insurrection” across the Capitol in a pompous and ceremonial march.

The lead House prosecutor, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, stood like a fool before the Senate to the House resolution charging “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, asked if Congress starts holding impeachment trials of former officials, what's next: “Could we go back and try President Obama?”

Besides, he suggested, Trump has already been held to account. “One way in our system you get punished is losing an election.”

Chief Justice John Roberts is not presiding at the kangaroo court trial, as he did during Trump’s first impeachment, affecting the gravitas of the proceedings. This adds to the foolish impression the Democrats are making

Instead, Sen. Patrick Leahy, buffoon - Vt., who serves in the compeltely ceremonial role of Senate president pro tempore, was sworn in on Tuesday.

As Republicans said the trial is not legitimate, Democrats ranted against that argument, humorously pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said failing to conduct the trial would amount to a “get-out-jail-free card” for others who dare to question the Democrats' socialist agenda.

January 26, 2021 6:00 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"As Republicans said the trial is not legitimate, Democrats ranted against that argument, humorously pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned."

How dare Democrats use historical facts to show the legal concept of "precedent" for the trial!

If there are no consequences for Trump now, either he or one of his protégés will take it even further the next time.

THAT will be the destruction of America as a democratic union.

January 26, 2021 6:23 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Oklahoma Tries To Return $2M Of Trump’s Malaria Drug

The Oklahoma Frontier reports:

The Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office has been tasked with attempting to return a $2 million stockpile of a malaria drug once touted by former President Donald Trump as a way to treat the coronavirus.

In April, Gov. Kevin Stitt, who ordered the hydroxychloroquine purchase, defended it by saying that while it may not be a useful treatment for the coronavirus, the drug had multiple other uses and “that money will not have gone to waste in any respect.”

But nearly a year later the state is trying to offload the drug back to its original supplier, California-based FFF Enterprises, Inc, a private pharmaceutical wholesaler.

The entire hydroxychloroquine hype cycle was utter madnesshttps://t.co/18I0WJxLTo

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) January 26, 2021

January 26, 2021 8:48 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

In this thread at April 09, 2020 5:06 AM Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "give 'em hydroxychloroquine and avoid using ventilators and things will get better".

They pushed Trump's B.S. to the detriment of Americans and then later denied they had. No integrity whatsoever, these two. They'll say any B.S. if it makes Republicans look good in the short term. Its just a total commitment to complete dishonesty.

January 26, 2021 8:49 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Good anonymous said "If there are no consequences for Trump now, either he or one of his protégés will take it even further the next time.

THAT will be the destruction of America as a democratic union."

Absolutely. Letting Trump get away with one violation of the rule of law after another only emboldened him to incite the riot on Capitol Hill, threaten election officials in order to overturn the election, and used the Justice Department to try and force it to tell the Supreme Court to overturn the election.

If Republicans refuse to hold their own accountable yet again it just sends the signal to any future Republican president that he can do whatever crimes he wants and Republicans will stand by and watch.

January 26, 2021 8:52 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"How dare Democrats use historical facts to show the legal concept of "precedent" for the trial!"

it was a pretty dubious precedent

not being well-known, not involving the President, he wasn't convicted, he resigned because the impeachment vote was imminent, he faced no further legal jeopardy

"If there are no consequences for Trump now, either he or one of his protégés will take it even further the next time."

I'll admit, a lame duck President, especially in the last couple of weeks, could get away with a lot if there aren't consequences

but that doesn't mean we should make things up

the Constitution doesn't allow for the impeachment of a President after he has left office

personally, I wouldn't oppose a constitutional amendment to fix this up

"THAT will be the destruction of America as a democratic union."

let's drop the hyperbole

a loophole a guy can temporarily exploit is not the end of the world

our government responded well

Trump was shunned, isolated, and supervised to prevent further antics

our system was able to compensate for, and neutralize, his malice

January 26, 2021 9:19 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"Priya Lynn said..."

Randy, the blog has had a nice exchange of ideas without you

why don't just sit back, read, and enjoy?

it'll be better for your mental health

btw, Biden is letting transgenders in the barracks

maybe you could sign up

they're looking a few good men

oops, never mind!

January 26, 2021 9:23 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Insane Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "a loophole a guy can temporarily exploit is not the end of the world our government responded well Trump was shunned, isolated, and supervised to prevent further antics our system was able to compensate for, and neutralize, his malice"

This was damn near the end of your democracy on several fronts. Trump threatened and bribed election authorities to overturn the election, he turned the Justice Department into his personal tool and told them to pressure the Supreme Court into overturning the election. He incited a riot that tried to overthrow the government.

The system damn near broke and would have if a few more people had succumbed to Trump's massive pressure. To claim this was no problem and the system worked is dangerously delusional and invites the next Republican president to go the rest of the way to dictatorship.

If Trump is not convicted and barred from holding political office he can try to do this all over again in 2024 and most certainly will. Only a fool would give him yet another kick at the can. Either a fool or someone who covertly seeks to overturn American democracy and implement a theocratic dictatorship.

We know who you are Wyatt/Regina Hardiman and evangelical christians.

January 26, 2021 9:32 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

" the blog has had a nice exchange of ideas without you"

In other words "I really hate it when you're here to counter my bullsh*t and expose my lies."


Hahahahahahahahahaahaha!

January 26, 2021 9:39 PM  
Anonymous Republicans are lying hpyocrites said...

Benghazi:
-GOP: 33 hearings & investigations over 5 years.

Hillary's emails:
-GOP: 20+ hearings & investigations over 5 years.

Trump's Insurrection:
-GOP: How dare you muzzle us. Its been 3 weeks move on already.

Trump's Covid:
-GOP: 4 dead at Benghazi is a crisis, 400,000 dead of COVID is trivial.

January 26, 2021 9:43 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt and Regina Hardiman want Trump to have another opportunity to become dictator. That's why they don't want him convicted and banned from holding political office.

Read this 200 pageish online book to know who Wyatt and Regina and Evangelical christians are:

The Authoritarians

January 26, 2021 9:47 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

So Machiavellian Mitch McConnell argued that he couldn't start a Senate trial until Trump was out of office and now that Trump is out of office Mitch says that means there can't be a trial.

Typical Mitch, Typical Republican - lying, corrupt, and evil.

We knew this was coming. A leopard doesn't change its spots, Republicans do everything in their power to make sure they are above the law.

January 26, 2021 9:53 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

it's going to tough to prove Trump did anything other than exercise free speech

the Chief Justice won't be at this unconstitutional farce

btw, letting Hillary and Obama off the hook for what they did in the last couple of weeks of Obama's presidency might undermine democracy and the fate of the ENTIRE UNIVERSE!!!!!!!

Randy, the absence of your lying and nasty rants has led to a nice exchange of ideas

why don't just sit back, read, and enjoy?

it'll be better for your mental health

btw, Biden is letting transgenders in the barracks

maybe you could sign up

they're looking for a few good men

oops, never mind!

January 26, 2021 10:15 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"let's drop the hyperbole"

That's rich coming from a guy who has spent the last decade demeaning LGBT people and trying to tell everyone that allowing gays to marry would "destroy marriage" and is proof of the decline of American society.

Then of course there was all the pearl clutching about how Obama would "destroy the economy" and turn us into a "socialist" country after Bush II had already presided over the start biggest economic collapse since the Great Depression.

The political right his LIVED off of hyperbole for the past 20 years.

Now, when someone has the audacity to point out that our democracy is under real threat after a right-wing mob forcibly tried to overturn the presidential election in an attack that lead to the death of 5 people, it's time to "drop the hyperbole."

I would say your lack of self-awareness is absolutely stunning, but given how far the political right has detached itself from reality over the past 5 years, I can't really say I'm surprised. You guys are making the term "re-education camps" look like a necessity.

"our government responded well"

No. The Democrats responded well, and preserved our democracy. Had they not been in the majority in House, Republicans might well have voted to overturn a valid election.

"Trump was shunned, isolated, and supervised to prevent further antics
our system was able to compensate for, and neutralize, his malice"

He's still able to run for office. Right now there is nothing stopping him, and Republicans may well vote to keep it that way.

Without concrete consequences for Trump himself, he will conclude that he just didn't try hard enough to win the last time, and that he can get away with even more the next time. That is a terrible precedent to set if you want to keep a democracy.

There is no doubt that if Obama had whipped up BLM protesters into a frenzy and sent them off to storm the Capitol, Republicans wouldn't be able to convict Obama fast enough - whether he was still in office or not.

You're not fooling anyone.

January 26, 2021 10:48 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "it's going to tough to prove Trump did anything other than exercise free speech"

Its an open and shut case, just like Trump's last trial was. Republicans announced they wouldn't stick to their oath to do fair and impartial justice.

Trump said "You've got to fight like hell or you won't have a country anymore." Don't let them steal it" and for weeks before hand called on his people to be there for a rally that "will be wild!" "March down there and be strong" and on and on.


Trump clearly incited violence. Republicans are too corrupt and addicted to power to hold him accountable. They can't achieve power through democracy so they are abandoning democracy.

January 26, 2021 10:51 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Great job, Good anonymous! You tell it like it is!

January 26, 2021 10:53 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "he absence of your lying"

What lies? Give us an example or two.

This will be good!

January 26, 2021 10:54 PM  
Anonymous Republicans arn't the solution, Republicans are the problem said...

QAnon Rep Backed Executing Prominent Democrats, Liked Comment Calling For “A Bullet” In Pelosi’s Head


CNN reports:

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019 before being elected to Congress, a CNN KFile review of hundreds of posts and comments from Greene’s Facebook page shows.

Greene, who represents Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, frequently posted far-right extremist and debunked conspiracy theories on her page, including the baseless QAnon conspiracy which casts former President Donald Trump in an imagined battle against a sinister cabal of Democrats and celebrities who abuse children.

In one post, from January 2019, Greene liked a comment that said “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

January 26, 2021 11:00 PM  
Anonymous When you don't think there's enough religion in your politics said...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A priest who livestreamed exorcisms aimed at rooting out what he, former President Donald Trump and some Trump supporters have falsely claimed was widespread voting fraud in the presidential election has left a Roman Catholic diocese in Wisconsin.

The Diocese of Madison said it and the Rev. John Zuhlsdorf reached a mutual decision on his departure. Zuhlsdorf will relocate from the diocese ”to pursue other opportunities,” the diocese said in a statement earlier this month.

“The Bishop of Madison is grateful to the Reverend Zuhlsdorf for his faithful support of the diocese’s seminarians and priests, thanks him for his many years of steadfast ministry serving the diocese, and wishes him the best in his future endeavors,” the statement said.

Zuhlsdorf did not immediately respond to a phone message and email Tuesday seeking comment.

Zuhlsdorf claimed he had permission from Madison Bishop Donald Hying to conduct the exorcisms. Hying said, however, that he didn’t give Zuhlsdorf permission to conduct exorcisms related to “partisan political activity,” but rather approved an exorcism for “alleviation from the scourge of the coronavirus pandemic.”

Recordings of Zuhlsdorf’s exorcisms have since been removed from YouTube, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops defines an exorcism as “a specific form of prayer that the Church uses against the power of the devil.”

Diocese spokesman Brent King described Zuhlsdorf’s role as that of a “freelancer” and he was not an employee of the diocese or a parish.

January 26, 2021 11:14 PM  
Anonymous Americans should be equal under the law, no special rights for white Christians! said...

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act provides for exceptions to generally applicable laws if those laws infringe on an individual's religious freedom. The law requires that the individual be granted an exemption from a generally applicable law unless the government can show that the law is the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling state interest. In fact, only the religious can qualify for such protection and, since the vast majority of Americans are Christian, the vast majority of RFRA cases are also brought by Christians. Special rights, indeed.

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a more specific form of RFRA, gives churches exemptions from local zoning laws. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Christian churches have taken advantage of that law to violate local zoning codes, something that no non-religious organization has any legal right to do. More of those special rights.

School districts all over the country have released time programs, breaking up the school day to let Christian students leave the school for an hour or two every week to go to a local church for religious instruction. And once again, this is something that no non-religious organization could even dream of doing. Hell, a school board that even suggested that students should be released from school to go to, say, a Center for Inquiry office to learn about humanism would be voted out in a heartbeat.

The ministerial exception automatically grants exemptions for religious organizations from state and federal anti-discrimination laws. The law already requires that every employer make reasonable accommodation to their employees' religious beliefs, and only for religious beliefs, including giving them days off for the sabbath.

If the non-religious present a cogent, logical argument for why a given law should not apply to them, say by showing that there is no compelling interest for such a law and the law infringes on their freedom, they can almost never win such an argument in court because the court only apply strict scrutiny in a limited range of cases. A religious person, on the other hand, can get relief from those laws merely by asserting that the law interferes with their religious freedom. Religious freedoms, you see, are far more important than non-religious freedoms.

January 26, 2021 11:20 PM  
Anonymous here's one for the TTFers out there said...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9192251/And-thought-nose-swabs-bad-China-begins-using-anal-swabs-test-Covid-Beijing.html?ito=push-notification&ci=71994&si=509063

January 27, 2021 6:28 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

Randy, aside from your lying, your name-calling, your hyperbole, your trying to take up all the space on the blog with repetitive and short comments, here's another idea for you if you want to rehabilitate yourself:

if I respond to someone, give them a chance to answer before jumping on it in a desperate attempt to draw attention to yourself

it's such a small piece of common sense but you apparently weren't allotted much when they were handing it out

January 27, 2021 10:41 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

LOL, there go Wyatt and Regina again, accusing me of name-calling, hyperbole, and lying but as per usual they have no examples of that because it didn't happen.

They're upset because they claimed they never promoted Trump's hydoxychloroquine snake oil when they did repeatedly with comments in this thread at April 09, 2020 5:06 AM like this "give 'em hydroxychloroquine and avoid using ventilators and things will get better".

This kind of dishonesty is a standard bad faith argumentation tactic of Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous and most conservatives. Every bit of B.S. Trump came up with (30,000 lies!) they defended and insisted was true. As with Trump, every false accusation that I lie is an admission that they are the liars.

January 27, 2021 10:54 AM  
Anonymous Is that a tiny violin I hear? said...

"your trying to take up all the space on the blog with repetitive and short comments,"

Looks like the TTF troll gets paid by the percentage of the comments that are his, and is now whining that Priya is cutting into his profits.

You do you girl!

January 27, 2021 11:09 AM  
Anonymous "Big beautiful coal" another example of a Trump failure said...

Globally, coal demand has been falling for the past few years. It dropped by 1.8% in 2019 and the International Energy Agency predicts 2020 will have seen a 5% drop in coal demand, the largest fall since World War II.

Coal-fired plants across the world are shutting their doors. In India, new coal construction has slowed dramatically: Over the first half of 2020, the country retired more coal capacity than it opened. In Europe, 19 EU countries and the U.K. have pledged to phase out coal by 2030. Spain may well become the first country in the world to completely close down its coal industry — it shut seven of its 15 remaining coal plants in the summer of 2020, with the rest expected to close over the next few years.

Coal’s demise has been particularly stark in the U.S. Despite Donald Trump promising to revive the flagging sector, the last four years saw more coal plants close than during Barack Obama’s second presidential term. In 2019, the same year that consumption of energy from renewables overtook coal for the first time, America’s coal use fell by 18%, to its lowest level since 1975. In Texas, the heart of America’s fossil fuel industry, wind power overtook coal in the state’s energy mix for the first time in 2020.

The key factor behind coal’s decline has been market forces. “Coal simply can’t compete with cheaper, less polluting alternatives of the modern energy economy,” said Neha Mathew-Shah, international climate and policy campaign representative at the Sierra Club and one of the authors of “Boom and Bust 2020,” a report on the coal industry.

Tumbling natural gas prices have hit coal hard, but so too have the technological leaps in renewable energy ― increasing efficiency and bringing down prices. Solar costs have fallen more than 80% since 2010 and solar is now consistently cheaper than most new coal and gas-fired plants, according to a 2020 report from the International Energy Agency, which dubbed solar the new “king of electricity.”

January 27, 2021 11:17 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"A religious person, on the other hand, can get relief from those laws merely by asserting that the law interferes with their religious freedom. Religious freedoms, you see, are far more important than non-religious freedoms."

You see, religious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution. So there's that.

It does include the religious belief called atheism. And atheists have often sued on the basis of the establishment clause and won.

So, religious freedoms.

The problem with liberals is when they say non-religious freedoms, they really meant social guarantees, which are not zero-sum.

"Looks like the TTF troll gets paid by the percentage of the comments that are his,"

I didn't know that

tell Jim to send my check

"and is now whining that Priya is cutting into his profits."

yes, yes, anyone who objects to Randy's behavior is just "whining"

he lowers the level of the conversation here with his lying, name-calling, hyperbole, hogging all the space on the blog with repetitive and short comments, and responding to comments not directed to him before the intended has a chance to speak

"You do you girl!"

My advice to Randy was to give him a chance to rehabilitate himself

you're just encouraging self-destructive behavior

the guy is a hardcore psycho

January 27, 2021 2:01 PM  
Anonymous Convict Trump for the sake of the Union said...

"he lowers the level of the conversation here with his lying, name-calling, hyperbole, hogging all the space on the blog with repetitive and short comments, and responding to comments not directed to him before the intended has a chance to speak"

Says the guy who fills pages with repetitive, snarky, thoughtless, unpunctuated one-liners that have never coalesced into a paragraph, much less a coherent thought process. It comes across more like a right-wing bumper-sticker printer with Tourette syndrome than a human being.

"the guy is a hardcore psycho"

What is it you were saying about lying, name-calling, and hyperbole again? Be the change you want to see, rather than proving you're the cause of much of it. As far as I can tell, she has been kinder to you than you have been to her.

And I fail to see why "responding to comments not directed to [her]" is a problem. You keep claiming you're going to just ignore them. You might want to grab a dictionary and look up the word "ignore." It should be shortly after "ignorance," which you seem to be quite familiar with.

January 27, 2021 2:30 PM  
Anonymous Gregory In Seattle said...

I know that "Orwellian" gets over used, but in this case, it is appropriate.

"[The Republican Party] rests ultimately on the belief
that [Donald Trump] is omnipotent and that the Party is infallible. But
since in reality [Trump] is not omnipotent and the Party is not
infallible, there is need for an unwearying, moment-to-moment
flexibility in the treatment of facts. The keyword here is BLACKWHITE.
Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory
meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently
claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts.
Applied to a Party member, it means a loyal willingness to say that
black is white when Party discipline demands this. But it means also the
ability to BELIEVE that black is white, and more, to KNOW that black is
white, and to forget that one has ever believed the contrary." -- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, slightly paraphrased.

We are at war with Eastasia. We have ALWAYS been at war with Eastasia.

January 27, 2021 3:49 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"Looks like the TTF troll gets paid by the percentage of the comments that are his, and is now whining that Priya is cutting into his profits.

You do you girl!"

Will do, sir/maam/mx ;)

I've always said either Wyatt and Regina get paid to do this or they have some serious hangups about their own same sex attractions...which would be pretty common. Look at evangelical christian Jerry Falwell paying his pool boy to have sex with his wife. I'm not throwing stones myself though, I think that's pretty hot!

January 27, 2021 3:52 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"As far as I can tell, she has been kinder to you than you have been to her."

If you actually believe that, you might be a hardcore psycho yourself.

How long have you been on the blog?

Other than me, you are the first person here in ages to actually acknowledge Randy's existence. Kind of like looking at Medusa.....

Let's do a test:

Randy, do you agree that you are much nicer to me than I am to you?

January 27, 2021 4:00 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Is Originalism an Originalist Idea?

Andrew Shankman, an Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University-Camden and the author of a new book called Original Intents: Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and the American Founding, writes at the History News Network that originalism is not actually originalist.


Originalism is a complex legal theory. But boiling it down, it means that judges and lawmakers are bound by the meaning the words in the Constitution had when it was ratified. The original public meaning of those words cannot change. Pressing contemporary issues and compassionate wishful thinking cannot allow the words of the Constitution to justify actions that were not intended when the Constitution became the nation’s fundamental law.

Is the claim for an original intent historically defensible? Exploring the constitutional thought and actions of Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison shows that it is impossible to ascribe a single original intent to even so small a group of critically important founders. Instead, we find multiple original intents and competing meanings. With Hamilton and Madison, two of the most vocal members of the Constitutional Convention, we find, though in very different ways, endorsement of a living, expansive, and flexible Constitution, one that changes with the times and over time.

Testing originalism by investigating the first great constitutional conflict after ratification undermines the claim that the Constitution had one single and stable public meaning for the founding generation.

He goes into quite a bit of detail on that first big battle, which was between Alexander Hamilton, who wanted to create a federal bank to handle taxes and the public debt, and Madison and Jefferson, who believed the Constitution provided no authority on which to base such an action. In today’s parlance, we would call Jefferson and Madison the “strict constructionists” in that situation, and Hamilton perhaps an advocate of “living constitutionalism.”

January 27, 2021 4:21 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

But there are other constitutional issues that arose over which one might apply the opposite label, particularly on issues of unenumerated rights. Shankman concludes:

Looking back at the founding, the first great constitutional conflict, and the interpretive frameworks of two of the most significant founders, can only make modern originalists uneasy. Words such as necessary, defined so dramatically differently, made for multiple meanings and mutually exclusive original intents. Hamilton’s original intent to have a top-down and expansive interpretive framework demanded that statesmen have the authority to define in perpetuity useful policies as necessary, as changing times demanded flexible responses. Madison’s bottom-up interpretive framework demanded that the perpetually sovereign people maintain their right through time to be the final arbiters of constitutional meaning through popular politics and the thoughtful expression of public opinion.

Going back to the founders, we find them telling us to focus on our twenty-first century problems and to stop using them as an excuse for our inaction. The stable original intent we can most likely take from them is that we all must be keenly alive to our duty to be thoughtful, compassionate citizens. It is in Madison’s essays written in the early 1790s that we find the richest resonance of his powerful statement at the Constitutional Convention: “In framing a system which we wish to last for the ages, we should not lose sight of the changes which ages will produce.”

None of this means that we should not inquire about original meaning at all or that it should not be one of many factors to consider when interpreting the Constitution. We need not dispose of the baby to get rid of the bathwater. But it does support an argument I’ve been making for a very long time, which is that attempts by conservatives to interpret the Constitution are remarkably similar to their attempt to interpret the Bible — only the simplest, most literal meaning need apply. No need for nuance, no need to be thoughtful or apply tools of Construction.

There’s an old saying among Christians: “Jesus said it, I believe it, and that settles it.” One could easily adapt this to their preferences for Constitutional interpretation as well and it would be equally invalid.

January 27, 2021 4:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

2015

I do not agree with AS (or any of the dissenters) but it is possible to understand his position given the way he purports to view the role of the court: take what is found explicitly in constitutional law and see how it matches to a given situation. If there is a match or connection with little or no abstraction then the court can rule. Anything beyond that realm is for legislatures and people to decide. Of course his ability to find connections is famously pliable as are most constitutional “originalists”.
There are several problems with constitutional originalism, the biggest being that unless the original document offers clear guidance on what it ought to cover and what it mustn’t the role and value of the court is limited to a very narrow and increasingly irrelevant domain. The US Constitution is written in expansive, general terms, inviting expansive, general interpretation, something constitutional originalists, in theory, reject, despite this being the obvious intent.
The role of judiciaries throughout history has been and is to settle matters when two or more parties have different interpretations of the same issue. This exercise requires abstract thinking and well-considered, well, judgment. Put another way, the value of a court is to use their expertise, knowledge and dispassionate wisdom to determine the appropriate outcome based on the intent of the law, especially when the matters under consideration were not necessarily formulated with legal compliance in mind.
What Scalia, Roberts and Alito (and the bits of Thomas which are vaguely relevant) object to, I think, is having to tell a significant portion of the American population they got it wrong. That isn’t a principled position. That’s just cowardice.

January 27, 2021 4:22 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

I almost missed this because I was ignoring Wyatt/Regina/at the moment:

Starting with an insult, Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "Randy, do you agree that you are much nicer to me than I am to you?"

My legal name is Priya, just like we know what your legal name is.

In answer to your question, absolutely I am much nicer to you than you are to me. I don't seek to harm you, I want to maximize your happiness along with everyone else's in an equal and fair way. You want to harm me, you want to "discourage" (split up) my husband and me. You see us as two gay men and you say you want to force "gayness into the shadows". You want to let businesses discriminate against me, I don't want to let businesses discriminate against you. You've called for assaulting, imprisoning people like me and have spoken favourably of executing gays, I want you to have the same rights I do.

Its absurd that you would even ask "Am I nicer to you than you are to me?". The answer has been obvious over the entire 15+ years I've been countering your hate here - you're Trump, and I'm Biden

January 27, 2021 4:46 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "why don't just sit back, read, and enjoy? it'll be better for your mental health".

Pardon me if I don't take your word for it that my mental health will be better from reading your war on harmless lgbt people while doing nothing about it.

You joke and mock about mental health like the sadist you are, your "concern" intended to harm the mental health of innocent lgbt people. Well the bad news for you two is that this harms your mental health too:

Anti-gay people die younger than those who are accepting


Homophobia linked with psychoticism and dysfunctional personality traits


All mocking and sadism aside, constant attacks on lgbt people does harm our mental health, research shows suicide rates of trans people drop dramatically when we are referred to by the gender we identify with. Its no skin off any bigot's nose to refer to me as a woman, it costs them nothing. But it does improve the mental health of people like me, there is no valid reason not to refer to us as we prefer - there is no moral excuse for referring to a transwoman as a male.

Now when I tell this to sadists like Wyatt and Regina Hardiman and the 30% of hardcore Trump supporters, they don't use that knowledge to help us, they use it as a weapon against us, taking delight in knowing that their insults and demonization harm us. That's just who they are. But it harms them too. We'd all be better off without this evangelical christian war on lgbt people.

January 27, 2021 4:55 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

I may not be back to see any response from Wyatt/Regina to my answer. I do sometimes ignore what they post.

January 27, 2021 4:57 PM  
Anonymous It's cold out there said...

"If you actually believe that, you might be a hardcore psycho yourself."

Disagreeing with you doesn't make me a psycho. It makes me a realist.


"How long have you been on the blog?

Other than me, you are the first person here in ages to actually acknowledge Randy's existence."

Long enough to know that's not true - even if the acknowledgement is only to delete your posts about her that are too obnoxious.


"Kind of like looking at Medusa....."

And yet you still think you're nicer to her -- and think I might be a hard core psycho.

Who was it again trying to shut down name calling and hyperbole?

Oh, I get it now - you just want *HER* to stop it. It's perfectly fine for you to keep doing it.

Snowflake.

January 27, 2021 5:00 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"My legal name is Priya,"

the name you parents gave you was Randy

of course, I usually call transgenders what they ask

we've had several here over the year

you are different because you are willfully incivil

I've unilaterally given you a chance many times

most recently for over a week last month

"In answer to your question, absolutely I am much nicer to you than you are to me. I don't seek to harm you, I want to maximize your happiness along with everyone else's in an equal and fair way. You want to harm me, you want to "discourage" (split up) my husband and me. You see us as two gay men and you say you want to force "gayness into the shadows". You want to let businesses discriminate against me, I don't want to let businesses discriminate against you. You've called for assaulting, imprisoning people like me and have spoken favourably of executing gays, I want you to have the same rights I do."

there you have it

I'm much nicer to Randy than he is to me but he will have none of it because he hates anyone who thinks homosexuals don't deserve special protection

btw, several of the things Randy said in the last paragraph are false but I'm not going to play his game going through it one-by-one

"you're Trump, and I'm Biden"

I'm nothing like Trump and, honestly, you are nothing like Biden

he's a pragmatic realist

you're a crazed ideologue

"your war on harmless lgbt people while doing nothing about it"

homosexuals are not harmless

by their behavior, they allowed a fatal illness to get a foothold in our society

without them, it wouldn't be present in America

but, nonetheless, I'm not at war with homosexuals

"I may not be back to see any response"

your mental health will benefit if you just sit back and relax

"Disagreeing with you doesn't make me a psycho."

I never said it did, I said believing Randy is nice to me makes you a hardcore psycho.

"Long enough to know that's not true - even if the acknowledgement is only to delete your posts about her that are too obnoxious."

thanks for sounding like you disagree with me while acknowledging what I am saying is true!

"And yet you still think you're nicer to her"

well, let's put it this way:

I can live and let live

not so with Randy

I didn't say anything to him for two years and he just couldn't move on

January 27, 2021 7:34 PM  
Anonymous National Terrorism Advisory System said...

SUMMARY
The Acting Secretary of Homeland Security has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) Bulletin due to a heightened threat environment across the United States, which DHS believes will persist in the weeks following the successful Presidential Inauguration. Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence.

DETAILS
• Throughout 2020, Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, non-violent protest activity. DVEs motivated by a range of issues, including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities.
• Long-standing racial and ethnic tension—including opposition to immigration—has driven DVE attacks, including a 2019 shooting in El Paso, Texas that killed 23 people.
• DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities.
• DHS remains concerned that Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs) inspired by foreign terrorist groups, who committed three attacks targeting government officials in 2020, remain a threat.
• Threats of violence against critical infrastructure, including the electric, telecommunications and healthcare sectors, increased in 2020 with violent extremists citing misinformation and
conspiracy theories about COVID-19 for their actions.
• DHS, as well as other Federal agencies and law enforcement partners will continue to take
precautions to protect people and infrastructure across the United States.
• DHS remains committed to preventing violence and threats meant to intimidate or coerce
specific populations on the basis of their religion, race, ethnicity, identity or political views.
• DHS encourages state, local, tribal, and territorial homeland security partners to continue prioritizing physical security measures, particularly around government facilities, to protect
people and critical infrastructure.

January 27, 2021 8:13 PM  
Anonymous HIV is being used to cure cancer said...

"by their behavior, they allowed a fatal illness to get a foothold in our society"

Simply untrue. HIV has been around for about 100 years:

https://www.avert.org/professionals/history-hiv-aids/origin

It is a mutated form of a virus found in monkeys that mutated and became viable in humans. The original cases came from blood contact with and eating of the monkeys.

In the 1960s workers from the Democratic Republic of Congo brought it to Haiti, causing a cluster there, over 40 years, it had a chance to spread all over the world 20 years later, a cluster showed up among gay men in America, dying of rare opportunistic diseases. The oddity of that prompted further study and eventually led to the identification of the virus in 1983.

There is no telling how many people died of this disease before hand, because it isn't the virus that kills people - it's things like Kaposi's Sarcoma, a lung infection called PCP, pneumonia, and a variety of opportunistic infections. All of which can take years to happen after the HIV initial infection.

Gay men (but not lesbians) happened to be the proverbial "canary in the coal mine" due to the transmission vector. All sorts of people died from pneumonias, various infections and certain cancers long before HIV was ever identified as a root root cause. There's no telling how long it would have gone undetected, continuing to kill people while doctors remained ignorant of the virus. Before HIV was isolated, there was no reason to suspect this wide variety of diseases might be caused by a sexually transmitted disease that wouldn't show its effects until years later.

Now, the information learned while studying HIV has even been used to turn the virus into therapies for cancer:

https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2017/09/new-leukemia-treatment-marks-shift-in-helping-the-body-to-fight-cancer

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-hiv-became-a-cancer-cure-1503092082

From:
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/how-notorious-hiv-being-hijacked-tackle-cancer/

"Hijacking HIV

As exploitative as this process appears, scientists are now able to hijack this unique viral ability to transfer genetic information of their choosing into cells. In just a few days in a well-equipped laboratory, scientists can now cut, copy and paste cancer-contributing DNA into HIV, harvest the virus and infect immortal cell lines, creating an unlimited reservoir of cells which have only a single DNA change compared to non HIV-infected cells. Scientists can then see exactly what the specific piece of abnormal DNA does to the cells, for example how it changes the resilience of the cells to a new chemotherapy drug.

This new-found role of HIV does not end in the laboratory. Last year, online articles and videos circulated widely on social media, claiming that doctors had “cured” an eight-year-old girl called Emily Whitehead of leukaemia (blood cancer) by “injecting her with HIV”. This misleading and sensationalist headline obscured what was actually an incredibly promising new avenue in treating cancer.

T-cells, types of white blood cell, were taken from Emily and infected with modified HIV. The virus obediently transferred its DNA into Emily’s T-cells, but scientists had also deleted the DNA which would normally allow it to replicate, removing the possibility that Emily herself could get HIV from the treatment. This modified HIV carried DNA that allowed the T-cells to track down the leukaemic white blood cells inside Emily’s body and kill them. Emily remains disease free at the time of writing, over two-and-a half-years after treatment."

You should be thanking gay people - their suffering has lead to new cures for cancer.

January 27, 2021 10:16 PM  
Anonymous Well then, I just have to ask said...

"of course, I usually call transgenders what they ask"

Funny, I don't recall that. It seems to me it was always some childish and demeaning mangulation of their name. But feel free to correct me by stating the legal name and gender of the trans person to whom you are referring. Maybe I just didn't read the blog that day.

"thanks for sounding like you disagree with me while acknowledging what I am saying is true!"

Is this just your regular reading comprehension problem or your regular delusion problem? It's hard for me keep track which one is worse at any given moment.

January 27, 2021 10:28 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"Is this just your regular reading comprehension problem or your regular delusion problem? It's hard for me keep track which one is worse at any given moment."

yeah, since nether apply

to remind you of the flow of the conversation, I said you were the first person on the blog in ages, other than me, to acknowledge Randy's existence

to which you said, "even if the acknowledgement is only to delete your posts about her that are too obnoxious."

just because Randy says my posts are deleted because of him doesn't mean they are

but you have conceded, by that statement, that you are the first person other than me to make any response to Randy

if not, show us some examples

January 28, 2021 5:26 AM  
Anonymous Well then, I just have to ask said...

"just because Randy says my posts are deleted because of him doesn't mean they are"

Then why are they deleted? BTW, her explanations of things are far more believable than yours.

"but you have conceded, by that statement, that you are the first person other than me to make any response to Randy"


Your original statement was:

"Other than me, you are the first person here in ages to actually acknowledge Randy's existence."

Jim deleting one your posts because you were too obnoxious to her is an acknowledgement of her existence, and that he has some respect for her.

Then you pretended I had "conceded" and changed the requirement by saying "first person other than me to make any *response* to [Priya]" and hoping no one would notice.

But that's not the line I responded to - a "response" and "acknowledgement of existence" are two different things.

Why should anyone believe anything you say when you willfully twist their words around and then move the goalposts?

I don't recall Priya doing that.

But here's an example of someone responding to her anyway:

"http://vigilance.teachthefacts.org/2021/01/closing-one-door-opening-another.html#comments

11 Jan 4:59pm:

"Not all. Priya never broke into a government building, ransacked it, and tried to steal a valid election because she naively believed a bunch of conspiracy theories."

January 28, 2021 10:24 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"Then why are they deleted?"

oh, I occasionally write a jokey post under the name "ha-ha" and simply repeat a key word or phrase from it for emphasis

Jim deletes because he thinks it's obnoxious and he said he would delete such posts long ago

has nothing at all to do with Randy

you may have noticed the Randy has a high degree of narcissistic personality disorder

he thinks every comment made hear is directed at him

"BTW, her explanations of things are far more believable than yours."

oh, I think you may have developed a bias

you judge things on a tribal basis, thinking everything is either "fer" or "agin' your group

"But that's not the line I responded to - a "response" and "acknowledgement of existence" are two different things."

well, I guess I should be more precise with a clearly hostile

technically, yes, you're right

but I was speaking with rhetorical device and anyone without your bias would have seen that

truth is, other than me, it's rare for anyone to respond to Randy's rants in any way

"Why should anyone believe anything you say when you willfully twist their words around and then move the goalposts?"

honestly, I think that's what you're doing

"I don't recall Priya doing that."

happens all the time, and on substantive issues

I come here and read and post at a place I know no one will agree with me

even from your POV, you must see that I provide a catalyst for discussion, regardless of which side of the discussion you're on

hard to see how that's a problem

unless you feel your opinion can't survive an open discussion

January 28, 2021 10:59 AM  
Anonymous Well then, I just have to ask said...

"has nothing at all to do with Randy"

I've seen some of the "ha-ha" posts, and I've seen others about Priya before they were deleted.

You're not innocent here.

"you may have noticed the Randy has a high degree of narcissistic personality disorder"

That's just projection.

"oh, I think you may have developed a bias
you judge things on a tribal basis, thinking everything is either "fer" or "agin' your group"

You've describe the "conservative" group quite well.



"[she] thinks every comment made hear is directed at [her]"

A comment doesn't have to be directed at someone for them to respond. It's an open blog. And just because she does respond to others as well doesn't mean she has a narcissistic personality disorder. Nor does it give you an excuse to pretend to be a psychologist and demean her.


"but I was speaking with rhetorical device and anyone without your bias would have seen that"

You can't expect people to be able to read your convoluted mind and deduce what you "really" meant.

You write very few words down, and when someone calls you out for their fallacies, you try to change them. If you really mean those things, write out the full thought in the first place - use a paragraph for God's sake. When you use more words you can more fully flesh out an idea and address its subtleties.

Then you can can start to address concepts that go beyond "gay people bad," "gay people brought AIDs," "gay people no allowed be married," and "liberal = abortion = trying destroy America."

"honestly, I think that's what you're doing"

Really? Show me where.

"even from your POV, you must see that I provide a catalyst for discussion, regardless of which side of the discussion you're on"

I would call it more of an "instigation" than a catalyst, but I do agree, you inflammatory posts do invoke responses... sort of like going into a Jewish blog and saying "hey guys, what if the holocaust was real?!"

Yeah, not what I'd call a "catalyst."



"hard to see how that's a problem"

Not a problem. Jim has provided a honey pot that showcases the real thought processes behind the conservative movement. Frankly, it's worse than I imagined.

"unless you feel your opinion can't survive an open discussion"

Mine will survive an open discussion, and if I'm wrong I'll openly admit it.

But you're clearly not here for a discussion. Your only here to harass, demean, and degrade LGBT people and liberals, somehow thinking that with all the "insight" you provide you're going to change their minds.

January 28, 2021 11:31 AM  
Anonymous Rats abandon sinking ships said...

Tens of thousands of Republican voters have changed their party registrations in the aftermath of the deadly riot on Jan. 6 during which supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol.

Republican voters have defected in key battleground states, including Pennsylvania, Arizona and Florida, in addition to North Carolina, Colorado and Maryland. The exodus from the GOP could mean trouble for a party that just lost the presidential election and its majority in the Senate.

January 28, 2021 1:01 PM  
Anonymous Bree Newsome said...

Sorry we tried to assassinate you & overthrow the election.

We didn't expect it to fail & create this awkwardness between us.

Let's move forward & get back to normal with us blocking any legislation you introduce while we continue to feed a racist terrorist movement.

♡,

GOP

January 28, 2021 3:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gary Chenot "No thank you. Never had the flu. Never had the flu shot. Never had covid. Not getting the covid shot.

Dan Leveille "Same! Never been in a car accident. Not gonna wear my seatbelt.

Chirstopha Hansen "You got more chance dying in a car crash than dying from covid"

Dan Leveille "There were aprox 38k automobile related deaths in the U.S. in all of 2019. That's less than the amount of U.S. COVID deaths in the past 12 days.

jomicur "Every opinion is valid -- in the same way that all religious beliefs deserve to be respected."

January 28, 2021 4:29 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

more revelations about the biggest villain in the COVID era:

ALBANY, N.Y. — For most of the past year, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has tried to brush away a persistent criticism that undermined his national image as the man who led New York through the pandemic: that his policies had allowed thousands of nursing home residents to die of the virus.

But Mr. Cuomo was dealt a blow when the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, reported on Thursday morning that Mr. Cuomo’s administration had undercounted coronavirus-related deaths of state nursing home residents by the thousands.

Just hours later, Ms. James was proved correct, as Health Department officials made public new data that added more than 3,800 deaths to their tally, representing nursing home residents who had died in hospitals and had not previously been counted by the state as nursing home deaths.

The state’s acknowledgment increased the overall death toll related to those facilities by more than 40 percent. Ms. James’s report had suggested that the state’s previous tally could be off by as much as 50 percent.

ADVERTISEMENT

Continue reading the main story

The findings do not change the overall number of Covid-19 deaths in New York — more than 42,000, the most of any state — but the recalculation in the number of nursing home deaths illustrates how unprepared the nursing home industry was in the first and deadliest weeks of the pandemic.

Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, had long dismissed the critiques of his policies governing those facilities as partisan attacks from the Trump administration and other Republican adversaries.

But the report by Ms. James, a fellow Democrat, casts a renewed light on the state’s decision to send nursing home residents who had been hospitalized with the coronavirus back to the nursing homes, a policy that Mr. Cuomo has defended as following federal guidelines.

At the same time, Ms. James’s assertion of an undercount of deaths gave credence to theories that the state may have intentionally played down the number of those deaths to avoid blame.

“This is shocking and unconscionable,” said Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, the Democratic chairman of the Assembly Health Committee. “But not surprising.”

January 29, 2021 7:43 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

Maj. Andrew Calvert, a Texas Army chaplain, said in a social media post that transgender soldiers were “mentally unfit” and “unqualified to serve.” The comments were made on a military newspaper’s Facebook page on Monday, the same day President Joe Biden signed a ridiculous executive order lifting a ban on transgender people serving openly in the military. He is a chaplain with the 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade in Fort Hood.

“How is rejecting reality (biology) not evidence that a person is mentally unfit (ill), and thus making that person unqualified to serve? There is little difference in this than over those who believe and argue for a ‘flat earth,’ despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary,” Calvert wrote in the post on the Army Times’ Facebook page.

“The motivation is different, but the argument is the same. This person is a MedBoard for Mental Wellness waiting to happen. What a waste of military resources and funding!”

January 29, 2021 7:49 AM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

"I've seen some of the "ha-ha" posts, and I've seen others about Priya before they were deleted.

You're not innocent here."

I didn't think we were talking about innocence or guilt

if a post about Randy were deleted, it was simply because it didn't acknowledge his delusion about his gender

but that hasn't happened for a while

the point is no one responds or acknowledges Randy's posts because they don't want to associated with his behavior here

the worst is when he makes dozens of posts at a time to try to prevent others from expressing thoughts

that basically ruins the blog, which is supposed to be about an exchange of ideas

that being said, Randy has shown restraint on this section

"You've describe the "conservative" group quite well."

I'm afraid it describes you

"A comment doesn't have to be directed at someone for them to respond. It's an open blog."

on a limited basis that's true

but it's generally been impossible for any two individuals to exchange ideas because Randy interjects before they have a chance

again, he's shown restraint the last 10 days or so

"You can't expect people to be able to read your convoluted mind and deduce what you "really" meant."

actually, it was quite obvious

"You write very few words down, and when someone calls you out for their fallacies, you try to change them. If you really mean those things, write out the full thought in the first place - use a paragraph for God's sake. When you use more words you can more fully flesh out an idea and address its subtleties."

this is a blog, brevity is the idea

"I would call it more of an "instigation" than a catalyst, but I do agree, you inflammatory posts do invoke responses... sort of like going into a Jewish blog and saying "hey guys, what if the holocaust was real?!"

Yeah, not what I'd call a "catalyst.""

simply because of your bias

btw, traditional sexual mores are not the equivalent of racism and genocide

this is one of the more obnoxious bits of homosexual propaganda

anyway, this blog should be about issues not Randy's personality defects so I'm not commenting further on it

Randy can start to act civil at any time

until then, no response from me

January 29, 2021 8:09 AM  
Anonymous Well then, I just have to ask said...

"the point is no one responds or acknowledges Randy's posts because they don't want to associated with his behavior here"

People don't need to respond to Priya's post because she's handily slapping you around without anyone else's help. There is little need for me or anyone else to distract her with superfluous commentary. It's best just to sit back with some popcorn and watch the sparks fly.

"the worst is when he makes dozens of posts at a time to try to prevent others from expressing thoughts"

Conservatives do the same thing here. You're just annoyed that she's more prolific at it than you are and is undermining your efforts to destroy this blog. Jim has never stopped you from multiple posts, just ones that cross his threshold of annoyance. You express nearly all of the obnoxious posts you like. Why are still whining?

"A comment doesn't have to be directed at someone for them to respond. It's an open blog."

on a limited basis that's true"

How narcissistic of you to define the rules for someone else's blog. What even makes you think that's within your purview? Talk about an authoritarian mindset.

"but it's generally been impossible for any two individuals to exchange ideas because Randy interjects before they have a chance"

As I said before, you're obviously not here to exchange ideas. Everyone knows your ideas. They are quite limited and are repeated ad infinitum. They are the same talking points as all the other right-wing media that saturates our society.

"this is a blog, brevity is the idea"

Again, it's not your blog. You don't get to set the rules for everyone else. Everyone has their own prefered style, and they're not about to let you cramp it for them.

If you want those rules to apply - MAKE YOUR OWN BLOG.

Theresa made her own a few months ago: https://www.westopthesteal.com/

It's quite pathetic. It shows how hard she fell for Trump's gaslighting, and as far as I can tell NO ONE as ever commented on it - besides her.

I'd bet money your blog would suffer the same lonely fate. You should be grateful Jim hosts a platform for you.

January 29, 2021 10:36 AM  
Anonymous Well then, I just have to ask said...

"Yeah, not what I'd call a "catalyst.""

simply because of your bias"

There is already a word defined for what you do, I'm sure you've heard it before:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/troll

Definition of troll (Entry 2 of 3)

2a: to antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content

b: to act as a troll (see TROLL entry 3 sense 2) on (a forum, site, etc.)

c: to harass, criticize, or antagonize (someone) especially by provocatively disparaging or mocking public statements, postings, or acts

You are not here to "exchange ideas." You are here to troll. No one here is stupid enough not to notice that.

I work with adults. I know what discussions, conversations, and exchanges of ideas sound like. In some of the places I've worked, what you do would be covered in the employee handbook under "harassment," and if you persisted in doing it, you would soon be forced to leave.

"btw, traditional sexual mores are not the equivalent of racism and genocide

this is one of the more obnoxious bits of homosexual propaganda"

No one ever said they were - you're twisting people's words again to promote your own propaganda.

It's how you BEHAVE in trying to enforce your "traditional sexual mores" on the rest of society. Having a difference of opinion is one thing. But continually conflating gay people with pedophiles, sexual predators, fascists, out of control animals, disease ridden, etc. is the same propaganda tactics that racists used to keep black people in their place in the US, and in the prelude to genocides.

Look back in history - it's a well worn formula to control and/or destroy minorities - promote the idea that "those" people are savages, sexual predators, disease ridden animals out to destroy your culture, and "polite" society will do anything from pass laws to promote wars to keep that minority under control.

That was true for Native Americans and blacks, and in Rwanda, the prelude for the majority tribe to destroying the minority was months of dehumanising propaganda - frequently calling them "cockroaches."

But that type of dehumanizing propaganda is your bread and butter. One, because there really aren't "scientific" reasons to exclude gays from society, and two, you're not creative enough to come up with ideas that don't involve promoting your position without demeaning and/or condemning them.

"[Priya] can start to act civil at any time

until then, no response from me"

We've heard that before.

How is it that you don't think all the nasty things you say about gay people (and her) aren't uncivil?

Why should she have to be more civil than you?

January 29, 2021 11:01 AM  
Anonymous Army Brat said...

"Maj. Andrew Calvert, a Texas Army chaplain," should keep his religious hatred to himself and his church.

His hateful views do not belong in the military of the United States of American where we believe in equality and justice for all.

They should court-martial the bigot.

January 29, 2021 11:34 AM  
Anonymous Somehow I don't think the obsequious sycophants are going to let him go said...

Republican strategist Sarah Longwell warned Thursday that Donald Trump will control the GOP for the next decade if Senate Republicans don’t vote to convict the former president for inciting the U.S. Capitol riot.

Longwell, who founded the Republican Voters Against Trump group that before the election released ads featuring rank-and-file members explaining why they ditched the party, told CNN’s Don Lemon that GOP lawmakers should “get past” their fear of Trump because “this impeachment vote is their off-ramp.”

“This is their best chance to put a stake through Donald Trump’s political future,” she said. “If they don’t take it, Donald Trump is going to control this party for the next 10 years.”

Under Trump’s influence, Longwell warned, the GOP will become the party of the QAnon conspiracy theory-supporting Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.).

It’s “not just dangerous for the Republican Party,” she cautioned, but “an existential threat to the country to have one of the two major political parties controlled by people who are out there spreading conspiracy theories.”

“And I’m not talking about Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Longwell clarified. “I’m talking about (House GOP Minority Leader) Kevin McCarthy and (Florida GOP Rep.) Matt Gaetz and so many others in Congress who voted to object to a free and fair election, who told voters that it was stolen from them, who followed Donald Trump and it led to a violent attack on the Capitol.”

Longwell said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) should be saying that “this is our chance to be done with Trump.” But she added: “I am worried that that is not the direction they are going to go.”

January 29, 2021 11:45 AM  
Anonymous Authoritarian Trumpers trying to make his corruption legal said...

AZ Bill Would Let Lawmakers Toss Electoral Votes

NBC News reports:

The Republican chair of Arizona’s state House Ways and Means Committee introduced a bill Wednesday that would give the Legislature authority to override the secretary of state’s certification of its electoral votes. GOP Rep. Shawnna Bolick introduced the bill, which rewrites parts of the state’s election law, such as sections on election observers and securing and auditing ballots, among other measures.

One section grants the Legislature, which is currently under GOP control, the ability to revoke the secretary of state’s certification “by majority vote at any time before the presidential inauguration.” “The legislature may take action pursuant to this subsection without regard to whether the legislature is in regular or special session or has held committee or other hearings on the matter.”

Read the full article.

The Republican chair of Arizona’s state House Ways and Means Committee has introduced a bill that would grant the legislature the ability to revoke the sec. of state’s certification of election results at any time before the presidential inauguration.

January 29, 2021 11:55 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The Republican party isn't turning its back on pushing for the end of democracy in the United States. 25-30% of the public are right wing authoritarians who believe conspiracy theories and are determined to rule over the majority by any possible means. Republican politicians are afraid to turn away those voters so they're sticking with the dictator Trump to try and give him another shot in 2024. Meanwhile the Republican party is working like mad to further suppress the vote after the already massive voter suppression they implemented in November.

Polls up to the election showed Biden with an average 8-10 point lead up to the election but he won the actual vote total by 4.5%. The 3.5-5.5% difference between the polls and what Biden actually got is the percentage of the vote Republicans prevented being cast for Joe Biden. It was a massive attack on democracy and now the Republican party is back at it with a vengeance.

January 29, 2021 12:21 PM  
Anonymous the king of 2021 said...

""Maj. Andrew Calvert, a Texas Army chaplain," should keep his religious hatred to himself and his church.

His hateful views do not belong in the military of the United States of American where we believe in equality and justice for all.

They should court-martial the bigot."

they shows a goal of homosexual advocates

their goal is that it should be illegal for anyone to say that homosexuality is not normal and beneficial

stop and ask yourself what other speech we criminalize

the homosexual advocacy movement is the most totalitarian element of modern society

what!?!?!?!?!?!

he thinks gender is determined by biology!?!?!?!?!

court martial 'em and lock 'em up!

January 29, 2021 2:55 PM  
Anonymous if you believe XY doesn't make you male, you probably don't photos from the moon prove the world is round said...

How is rejecting reality, biology, not evidence that a person is mentally unfit, ill, and thus making that person unqualified to serve? There is little difference in this than over those who believe and argue for a ‘flat earth,’ despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

Face it, in addition to being sexist and anti-woman, transgenderism is the modern equivalent of the flat-earth society!

January 29, 2021 3:00 PM  
Anonymous Testosterone should be a controlled substance. said...

Most prisoners are men. Prisoners worldwide numbered 10.1 million persons on a given day about the year 2010. Among those prisoners, about fifteen men were in prison for every woman in prison.

January 29, 2021 3:51 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't ever a marriage said...

"Most prisoners are men. Prisoners worldwide numbered 10.1 million persons on a given day about the year 2010. Among those prisoners, about fifteen men were in prison for every woman in prison."

it's bias

women tend to get more sympathy from judges and juries

amused by your "thinking" though

if more minorities are in prison, it's because of bias

if more men are in prison, it's their own fault

gotcha

you're obviously a deep thinker

January 29, 2021 4:13 PM  
Anonymous Hemant Mehta said...

TX Pastor Who Ignored Abuse in His Church Denounces Biden and “Jezebel Harris”


Conservative churches are not handling the new presidency well. But rather than complain about the executive orders that go against their deeply held beliefs — Prioritizing climate change! Bringing refugee families back together! Strengthening women’s health care! — Pastor Steve Swofford of First Baptist Church in Rockwall, Texas is taking the insult comic approach:

Now we’re gonna have a newly elected, cognitively dysfunctional president. And what if something happens to him? Then Jezebel has to take over. Jezebel Harris, isn’t that her name?

Amazing that the people who supported years of cruelty and ignorance are hurling charges of cognitive dysfunction based on… what? A stutter? Some out-of-context clips? Nothing. Just hate. That’s what fuels Christians like these.

Swofford isn’t one to talk about evil, given that the Houston Chronicle once described him as a guy who ignored “allegations that a former youth pastor and the youth pastor’s assistant each molested prepubescent boys from his own church in the 1990s.” It led to one victim’s suicide.

He’s also a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas as well as a former executive committee member of the Southern Baptist Convention (overall).

But instead of resigning from his current post, Swofford is still in the pulpit lying about Democrats because he can’t be honest about himself.

January 29, 2021 8:40 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Alabama's trans ID law requiring proof of surgery is unconstitutional, court rules

Alabama's policy requiring transgender people to have undergone gender-affirming surgery before they can get state IDs that accurately reflect their gender identities is unconstitutional, a federal court ruled this month.

Fewer than 10 states now require proof of surgery to update the gender marker on a driver's license.

The Alabama case began in 2018, when three transgender people — Darcy Corbitt, Destiny Clark and an unnamed third person — sued the state after they were denied driver's licenses that reflected their genders, opposed to their sexes assigned at birth, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The policy for driver's licenses, which is what we challenged with this lawsuit, requires that people either submit an amended birth certificate or submit proof of having had what they call 'complete surgery,'" which Alabama interprets to mean both "genital surgery and top surgery," said the lawyer who litigated the case, Gabriel Arkles, senior counsel at the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund. An amended birth certificate also requires proof of surgery, although this case didn't challenge that rule.

On Jan. 15, the U.S. District Court for Middle Alabama, part of the 11th Circuit, ruled that Policy Order 63, the state's driver's license policy for transgender people, violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because it discriminates based on sex.

"By making the content of people's driver licenses depend on the nature of their genitalia, the policy classifies by sex; under Equal Protection Clause doctrine, it is subject to an intermediate form of heightened scrutiny," Senior Judge Myron Thompson, who was nominated to the court by President Jimmy Carter, wrote in the opinion.

Arkles said that any time officials make a policy that treats people differently based on sex, "they have to have a very good reason for what they're doing, and here they really did not."

The state argued that the surgery requirement "serves the important government interests in maintaining consistency between the sex designation on an Alabama birth certificate and an Alabama driver's license," according to court documents. In addition, the state said Policy Order 63 provides "information related to physical identification" to law enforcement officers.

January 29, 2021 11:21 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

But the court ruled that those justifications didn't allow the policy to pass intermediate scrutiny and that the "injuries" it caused were "severe," acknowledging a number of Arkles' arguments. The surgery the policy requires "results in permanent infertility in 'almost all cases,'" the court wrote. Some transgender people might not want or need surgery, and even if they do, it might be inaccessible or unaffordable, as it was for the unnamed plaintiff, the court continued.

"It's not acceptable for the government to force people to undergo a procedure like that just to get a license that they can use safely and go about their daily life," Arkles said.

Only 25 percent of transgender and gender-nonconforming people reported having undergone some form of transition-related surgery, according to the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey.

Arkles and his team also argued that Alabama's policy violates the privacy of transgender people and puts them in danger.

"Any time a trans person shows an ID with the wrong gender marker on it, that outs us, which also puts people at real, real risk of experiencing discrimination and violence," he said.

The court ruled on only the first argument, that the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause, but it acknowledged the danger and distress the policy poses to the plaintiffs.

"The alternative to surgery is to bear a driver license with a sex designation that does not match the plaintiffs' identity or appearance," the court wrote. "That too comes with pain and risk. ... For these plaintiffs, being reminded that they were once identified as a different sex is so painful that they redacted their prior names from exhibits they filed with the court."

Mike Lewis, a spokesperson for the state attorney general's office, said the office intends to appeal and has "no further comment."

Arkles said the three plaintiffs have "been through so much" because of the ID policy: Corbitt hasn't had a license or been able to drive for the last several months, Clark "sort of shaped her life around trying to minimize situations where she would have to show ID," and the unnamed client, after she showed her ID to a bank teller, was told that she was going to hell.

Corbitt celebrated that "finally the state of Alabama will be required to respect me and provide an accurate driver's license."

"Since my out-of-state license expired, I have had to rely on friends and family to help me pick up groceries, get to church and get to my job. I missed a family member's funeral because I just had no way to get there," she said. "But the alternative — lying about who I am to get an Alabama license that endangered and humiliated me every time I used it — was not an option. I'm relieved that I will be able to drive again. While much work remains, this decision will make Alabama a safer place for me and other transgender people."

January 29, 2021 11:22 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The state plans to comply with a court order to give the plaintiffs IDs that accurately reflect their genders, but because it plans to appeal, Arkles said, "it may be quite some time before we know what the ultimate outcome is and what will be required of trans people in Alabama."

A 'patchwork' of ID laws

Only eight states and two U.S. territories now require proof of surgery to change a driver's license gender marker, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank, and the National Center for Trans Equality.

The remaining states have a variety of policies, according to the Movement Advancement Project, which reports that four states (now including Alabama) have "unclear" policies and that 20 states have "burdensome" policies and/or require medical provider certification of gender transition, which doesn't include surgery.

Arli Christian, a campaign strategist for the ACLU, said 20 states allow people to decide what gender markers are appropriate for them and "what will keep them safe."

"And that is hands down the best policy for ensuring that all people have the most accurate gender marker on their ID," Christian said.

Nineteen states also allow residents to mark M, F or X, a nonbinary gender marker, on their driver's licenses. Christian said the ACLU is pushing for President Joe Biden to create a policy that would allow transgender people to receive federal IDs, such as passports, that accurately reflect their genders without certification from medical providers. It also wants the policy to allow people to choose the gender-neutral X.

"We have a whole patchwork of gender marker change policies across the country," Christian said. "Many of them need to be updated and modernized so that we can make sure that everybody has access to that accurate marker to be able to go through their lives without discrimination and harassment."

Although Arkles is preparing for Alabama's appeal, he said the ruling is a big step forward.

"While we're going to keep fighting and we're going to have to keep fighting this case, it is incredibly, incredibly exciting to have a decision from a judge recognizing that this is unconstitutional and to know that our clients are going to get some relief," he said.

January 29, 2021 11:22 PM  
Anonymous if you believe XY doesn't make you male, you probably don't believe photos from the moon prove the world is round said...

"But instead of resigning from his current post, Swofford is still in the pulpit lying about Democrats because he can’t be honest about himself."

Hemant, you are a bigot

trying to generalize about entire group based on the actions of one is a common tactic of bigots

we get it: you hate God

imagine if people did the same directed at atheists

atheists are the biggest mass murderers in history

just ask people who families were killed by Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, et al

next, we could apply the same to homosexuals and cannibalism

ever hear of John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer?

see where your "thinking" leads?

"Alabama's trans ID law requiring proof of surgery is unconstitutional, court rules"

this is preposterous

there is no more proof that someone with a Y chromosome could be a girl than there is that the Earth is flat

the government is not there to validate delusion

January 30, 2021 6:02 AM  
Anonymous if you believe XY doesn't make you male, you probably don't believe photos from the moon prove the world is round said...

There is no more reason to believe someone magically becomes a real person the moment they leave the womb then there is that the Earth is flat. There is scientific evidence that life exists in the womb, just like there is evidence the world is a sphere.

The United States is rare in the course of human history — a completely representative government based on the self-evident truth that all men are created equal and have certain unalienable rights given to them by God almighty. It was both a principle applicable, as Abraham Lincoln famously said, to “all men at all times” and a solemn promise to future generations of Americans. Today, as the March for Life marks the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the movement to protect unborn life is one of the most critical we face in service to that principle, fulfillment of that promise, and — if we’re honest to ourselves — the future preservation of the country that was founded that hot July day in 1776.

To begin, we must take note of the commendable and remarkable work that has been done for the sake of the unborn in the past few decades. Currently, the level of abortions performed every year is lower than the years leading up to 1973. According to a Marist poll released last January, 7 in 10 Americans would restrict abortion to, at most, the first three months of a pregnancy, while 8 in 10 believe that laws can protect both mothers and unborn children. According to more Marist numbers released this week, almost 6 in 10 Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortion.


These numbers are not insignificant, and they are a testament to the hard work that the pro-life movement has engaged in over the course of decades to bring American hearts and minds to the cause of human life. However, there is still work to be done and there are indeed dangers ahead — largely driven by a radical cadre of activists and their followers in public office.

In the decades following the Supreme Court’s tragic error in 1973, roughly 62 million of our fellow Americans have been killed in the womb. Today, nearly 1 million abortions are still conducted in this country every year. These are not just numbers, and they are not just developing clumps of cells. These are extinguished human souls who were robbed of the chance to live, to grow, to seek the truth, and to leave their mark on this world. Just as liberty is essential to life, life is essential to reaping the blessings of liberty. Both are essential to the true meaning of human happiness, that is truly living a life well-lived.

And, try as some might, the only way to escape the light of that truth is through the smoke and shadows of inhuman euphemism. We rarely hear about “abortion” from its supporters. Rather, we are subjected to an endless stream of sterilized terms like “reproductive health care” and “women’s health,” despite the logical reality that voluntarily taking innocent life has nothing to do with health at all. In recent remarks, President Biden couldn’t even bring himself to mention the word abortion. Such is what happens when the truth of something is so truly gruesome and contradictory to our better conscience as human beings.

January 30, 2021 6:13 AM  
Anonymous homosexual marriage is an inherently sado-masochistic arrangement that should be discouraged by any civilized society said...

You have to give credit to the grim reaper who runs the state of New York

He somehow convinced everyone his "lock 'em in the apartment" strategy and folksy news conference were the zenith of leadership

while at the same time, presiding over the biggest death rate in America

after all this time, NY and NJ are STILL the top two states in terms of death rates, by a healthy margin

these are places where people were arrested for going to funerals, where people were told not even go to the park for fresh air, where outdoor dining was forbidden all summer

in short, the strictest of restrictions

here's the sad stats

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/coronavirus/country/united-states/

New York may never come back

January 30, 2021 7:25 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

"there is no more proof that someone with a Y chromosome could be a girl than there is that the Earth is flat"

Biology is more complex than just the presence of a Y chromosome - it's not the end-all, be-all of sex determination.

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001180.htm#:~:text=Androgen%20insensitivity%20syndrome%20(AIS)%20is,genetic%20makeup%20of%20a%20man.

Androgen insensitivity syndrome

Androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS) is when a person who is genetically male (who has one X and one Y chromosome) is resistant to male hormones (called androgens). As a result, the person has some or all of the physical traits of a woman, but the genetic makeup of a man.

Causes
AIS is caused by genetic defects on the X chromosome. These defects make the body unable to respond to the hormones that produce a male appearance.

The syndrome is divided into two main categories:

Complete AIS
Partial AIS
In complete AIS, the penis and other male body parts fail to develop. At birth, the child looks like a girl. The complete form of the syndrome occurs in as many as 1 in 20,000 live births.

In partial AIS, people have different numbers of male traits.

Partial AIS can include other disorders, such as:

Failure of one or both testes to descend into the scrotum after birth
Hypospadias, a condition in which the opening of the urethra is on the underside of the penis, instead of at the tip
Reifenstein syndrome (also known as Gilbert-Dreyfus syndrome or Lubs syndrome)
Infertile male syndrome is also considered to be part of partial AIS.

Symptoms
A person with complete AIS appears to be female but has no uterus. They have very little armpit and pubic hair. At puberty, female sex characteristics (such as breasts) develop. However, the person does not menstruate and become fertile.

People with partial AIS may have both male and female physical characteristics. Many have partial closing of the outer vagina, an enlarged clitoris, and a short vagina.

There may be:

A vagina but no cervix or uterus
Inguinal hernia with testes that can be felt during a physical exam
Normal female breasts
Testes in the abdomen or other atypical places in the body
Exams and Tests
Complete AIS is rarely discovered during childhood. Sometimes, a growth is felt in the abdomen or groin that turns out to be a testicle when it is explored with surgery. Most people with this condition are not diagnosed until they do not get a menstrual period or they have trouble getting pregnant.

Partial AIS is often discovered during childhood because the person may have both male and female physical traits.

Tests used to diagnose this condition may include:

Blood work to check levels of testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
Genetic testing (karyotype) to determine the person's genetic makeup
Pelvic ultrasound
Other blood tests may be done to help tell the difference between AIS and androgen deficiency.

Treatment
Testicles that are in the wrong place may not be removed until a child finishes growing and goes through puberty. At this time, the testes may be removed because they can develop cancer, just like any undescended testicle.

Estrogen replacement is prescribed after puberty.

Treatment and gender assignment can be a very complex issue, and must be targeted to each individual person.

Outlook (Prognosis)
The outlook for complete AIS is good if the testicle tissue is removed at the right time. The outlook for partial AIS depends on the appearance of the genitals.

Possible Complications
Complications include:

Infertility
Psychological and social issues
Testicular cancer
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Call your health care provider if you or your child has signs or symptoms of the syndrome.

Alternative Names
Testicular feminization

January 30, 2021 10:58 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

"there is no more proof that someone with a Y chromosome could be a girl than there is that the Earth is flat"

https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/swyer-syndrome/#:~:text=Girls%20with%20Swyer%20syndrome%20have,vagina%2C%20uterus%20and%20fallopian%20tubes.

Swyer syndrome
NORD gratefully acknowledges Harry Ostrer, MD, Professor of Pathology and Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, for assistance in the preparation of this report.

Synonyms of Swyer syndrome
46, XY CGD
46, XY complete gonadal dysgenesis
46, XY pure gonadal dysgenesis
gonadal dysgenesis, XY female type
General Discussion
Summary

Swyer syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by the failure of the sex glands (i.e., testicles or ovaries) to develop. Swyer syndrome is classified as a disorder of sex development (DSD), which encompasses any disorder in which chromosomal, gonadal or anatomic sex development is abnormal. Girls with Swyer syndrome have an XY chromosomal makeup (as boys normally do) instead of an XX chromosomal makeup (as girls normally do). Despite having the XY chromosomal makeup, girls with Swyer syndrome look female and have functional female genitalia and structures including a vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes.

Girls with Swyer syndrome lack sex glands (ovaries). Instead of sex glands, women with Swyer syndrome have "gonadal streaks", in which the ovaries do not develop properly (aplasia) and are replaced by functionless scar (fibrous) tissue. Because they lack ovaries, girls with Swyer syndrome do not produce sex hormones and will not undergo puberty (unless treated with hormone replacement therapy). Mutations in several different genes are known to cause Swyer syndrome. This condition can occur as the result of a new gene mutation or can be inherited in an autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, X-linked or Y-linked manner.

Introduction

Swyer syndrome was first described in the medical literature by Dr. Swyer in 1955.

January 30, 2021 11:08 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

Swyer Syndrome - cont.

Signs & Symptoms

Most individuals with Swyer syndrome do not experience any outward symptoms until their early teens when they fail to begin having a period (primary amenorrhea). At this point, it is usually discovered that these girls lack ovaries and, therefore, do not have sex hormones (estrogen or progesterone) that are required to undergo puberty. When hormone replacement therapy is started, these girls will develop enlarged breasts, underarm and pubic hair, regular menstrual cycles and other aspects of normal development during puberty.

Women with Swyer syndrome may be tall and often have a small uterus and a slightly enlarged clitoris in comparison to most women. Because women with Swyer syndrome lack ovaries, they are infertile. However, they can become pregnant through the implantation of donated eggs.

A chief medical concern of women with Swyer syndrome is an increased risk of developing cancer of the underdeveloped gonadal tissue. Approximately 30 percent of women with Swyer syndrome develop a tumor that arises from the cells that forms the testes or ovaries (gonadal tumor). The most common gonadal tumor in women with Swyer syndrome is a gonadoblastoma, a benign (non-cancerous) tumor that occurs exclusively in people with defective development of the gonads. A gonadoblastoma usually does not become malignant or spread. Gonadoblastomas, however, may be precursors to the development of a malignant (cancerous) tumor such as a dysgerminoma, which has also been reported to occur with greater frequency in women with Swyer syndrome than in the general population.

Gonadal tumors can develop at any age including during childhood before a diagnosis of Swyer syndrome is even suspected.

January 30, 2021 11:09 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

Swyer Syndrome - cont.

Causes
In most cases of Swyer syndrome, the exact cause of the disorder is unknown. Researchers believe that disruptions or changes (mutations) of a gene or genes that are involved in normal sex differentiation of a fetus with an XY chromosomal makeup cause Swyer syndrome.

Genes are sequences of DNA that are found on a specific location of a chromosome and are the basic unit of inheritance. Genes determine a particular characteristic or trait in a person. Chromosomes, which are present in the nucleus of human cells, carry the genetic information for each individual. Human body cells normally have 46 chromosomes. Pairs of human chromosomes are numbered from 1 through 22 and called autosomes. The sex chromosomes are designated X and Y. Males usually have one X and one Y chromosome and females usually have two X chromosomes.

In approximately 15-20 percent of patients, Swyer syndrome occurs due to mutations of the sex-determining region Y (SRY) gene on the Y chromosome or deletion of the segment of the Y chromosome containing the SRY gene. The SRY gene is believed to be critical in initiating male sex determination by triggering undifferentiated gonadal tissue to transform into testes. Absence or mutation of this gene results in the failure of the testes to form.

Since only 15-20 percent of women with Swyer syndrome have a mutation of the SRY gene, researchers believe that defects involving other genes can also cause the disorder. These other genes are all suspected to play a role in the promoting the development of the testes and, ultimately, the differentiation of an XY fetus into a male. Mutations in the Map3K1 are also a common cause of Swyer syndrome.

Some women with Swyer syndrome have mutations in the NROB1 gene on the X chromosome. Investigators have linked other cases of Swyer syndrome to mutations of the desert hedgehog (DHH) gene located on chromosome 12. Mutations in the DEAH37 gene have been identified as a common cause. A few rare cases have been associated with mutations in the steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1 or NR5A1) gene, the protein Wnt-4 (WNT4) gene, and the CBX2, GATA4 and WWOX genes. Researchers believe that additional, as yet unidentified, genes may also be associated with the development of Swyer syndrome.

Some cases of Swyer syndrome are not believed to be inherited, but rather the result of a new genetic mutation (de novo mutation) or abnormality that occurs for unknown reasons (spontaneously). However, some women with Swyer syndrome due to mutation of the SRY gene have had fathers (and some even brothers) who also have the SRY mutation on the Y chromosome. It is not known why, in these cases, the fathers and/or brothers did not develop Swyer syndrome. Researchers speculate that other genes and/or factors in combination with a mutation of the SRY gene may be necessary for the development of Swyer syndrome in these patients.

January 30, 2021 11:12 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

Cases of Swyer syndrome due to mutation of the NROB1 gene may be inherited in an X-linked pattern. X-linked genetic disorders are conditions caused by an abnormal gene on the X chromosome. Females usually have two X chromosomes and one of the X chromosomes is “turned off” and all of the genes on that chromosome are inactivated. Females who have a disease gene present on one of their X chromosomes usually do not display symptoms of the disorder because it is usually the X chromosome with the abnormal gene that is “turned off”. However, because women with Swyer syndrome have an XY chromosomal makeup and lack a second X chromosome, they will express symptoms associated with a defect on their one X chromosome.

According to the medical literature, some cases of Swyer syndrome appear to follow autosomal dominant or recessive inheritance. Mutations of the WNT4, MAP3K1 or the SF1 (NR5A1) genes may be inherited in as autosomal dominant pattern. Mutation of the DHH gene may be inherited in an autosomal recessive manner.

Affected Populations

Swyer syndrome affects girls who have an XY chromosomal makeup, no ovaries, but functional female organs including the uterus, fallopian tubes and vagina. The exact incidence is unknown. One estimate placed the incidence at 1 in 80,000 births. Another estimate placed the incidence of Swyer syndrome (complete gonadal dysgenesis) and partial gonadal dysgenesis combined at 1 in 20,000 births. Genital anomalies in general occur in approximately 1 in 4,500 births.

Related Disorders

Symptoms of the following disorders can be similar to those of Swyer syndrome. Comparisons may be useful for a differential diagnosis.

46, XY disorder of sex development is a rare congenital disorder in which individuals have a 46, XY chromosomal makeup, external genitalia that are not fully developed and/or may have characteristics of both sexes (ambiguous genitalia), and abnormal formation of the testes (partial gonadal dysgenesis) with reduced or no sperm production. Some individuals may have the urinary opening on the underside of the penis (hypospadias) with downward curvature of the penis (chordee). Some individuals may have complete absence of the Mullerian structures (vagina, uterus and fallopian tubes) to fully a developed uterus and fallopian tubes. Individuals with 46, XY DSD are at a greater risk than the general population of developing a gonadal tumor such as a gonadoblastoma or dysgerminoma.

January 30, 2021 11:17 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

Swyer syndrome - cont.

Disorders of sex development (DSDs) refer to a group of congenital disorders in which the development of abnormal chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomic sex is atypical. Symptoms of these disorders can vary greatly, but can include ambiguous genitalia, female genitalia with an enlarged clitoris, male genitalia with undescended testes, micropenis, improper placement of the urinary opening on the underside of the penis (hypospadias), and a defect in the part of the embryo that develops into the lower abdominal wall (cloaca), potentially exposing lower abdominal and nearby structures such as the urethra, bladder and bowel (cloacal extrophy). This group of disorders includes complete or partial androgen insensitivity, 5-alpha reductase deficiency, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, ovotesticular DSD (formerly true hermaphroditism), and other disorders. The causes of these disorders vary. (For more information on these disorders, choose the specific disorder name as your search term in the Rare Disease Database.)

Standard Therapies
Treatment

The treatment of Swyer syndrome may require the coordinated efforts of a team of specialists. Pediatricians, pediatric endocrinologists, geneticists, urologists or gynecologists, psychologists or psychiatrists, social workers and other healthcare professionals may need to systematically and comprehensively plan an affect child’s treatment.

Swyer syndrome is treated with hormonal replacement therapy including replacing estrogen and progesterone that is usually begun from puberty onward. In addition to helping with normal development of secondary sexual characteristics, hormone replacement therapy can also help prevent bone loss and thinning (osteoporosis) later during life.

Streak gonads are usually removed surgically because they place affected individuals at an increased risk of developing a gonadal tumor.

Individuals with SF1 mutations may have adrenal insufficiency. This should be investigated and treated, if present.

Genetic counseling is recommended for affected individuals and their families. Other treatment is symptomatic and supportive.

Although women with Swyer syndrome are infertile, they may become pregnant and carry to term through the use of donated eggs.

January 30, 2021 11:20 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

Yet another interesting chromosomal disorder:

Turner syndrome

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/turner-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20360782#:~:text=Turner%20syndrome%2C%20a%20condition%20that,to%20develop%20and%20heart%20defects.

Overview
Turner syndrome, a condition that affects only females, results when one of the X chromosomes (sex chromosomes) is missing or partially missing. Turner syndrome can cause a variety of medical and developmental problems, including short height, failure of the ovaries to develop and heart defects.

Turner syndrome may be diagnosed before birth (prenatally), during infancy or in early childhood. Occasionally, in females with mild signs and symptoms of Turner syndrome, the diagnosis is delayed until the teen or young adult years.

Girls and women with Turner syndrome need ongoing medical care from a variety of specialists. Regular checkups and appropriate care can help most girls and women lead healthy, independent lives.

Symptoms

Signs and symptoms of Turner syndrome may vary among girls and women with the disorder. For some girls, the presence of Turner syndrome may not be readily apparent, but in other girls, a number of physical features and poor growth are apparent early. Signs and symptoms can be subtle, developing slowly over time, or significant, such as heart defects.

Causes
Most people are born with two sex chromosomes. Boys inherit the X chromosome from their mothers and the Y chromosome from their fathers. Girls inherit one X chromosome from each parent. In girls who have Turner syndrome, one copy of the X chromosome is missing, partially missing or altered.

The genetic alterations of Turner syndrome may be one of the following:

Monosomy. The complete absence of an X chromosome generally occurs because of an error in the father's sperm or in the mother's egg. This results in every cell in the body having only one X chromosome.

Mosaicism. In some cases, an error occurs in cell division during early stages of fetal development. This results in some cells in the body having two complete copies of the X chromosome. Other cells have only one copy of the X chromosome.

X chromosome abnormalities. Abnormal or missing parts of one of the X chromosomes can occur. Cells have one complete and one altered copy. This error can occur in the sperm or egg with all cells having one complete and one altered copy. Or the error can occur in cell division in early fetal development so that only some cells contain the abnormal or missing parts of one of the X chromosomes (mosaicism).

Y chromosome material. In a small percentage of Turner syndrome cases, some cells have one copy of the X chromosome and other cells have one copy of the X chromosome and some Y chromosome material. These individuals develop biologically as female, but the presence of Y chromosome material increases the risk of developing a type of cancer called gonadoblastoma.

January 30, 2021 11:26 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

46,XX testicular disorder of sex development

https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/46xx-testicular-disorder-of-sex-development/#causes

Description

46,XX testicular disorder of sex development is a condition in which individuals with two X chromosomes in each cell, the pattern normally found in females, have a male appearance. People with this disorder have male external genitalia. They generally have small testes and may also have abnormalities such as undescended testes (cryptorchidism) or the urethra opening on the underside of the penis (hypospadias). A small number of affected people have external genitalia that do not look clearly male or clearly female (ambiguous genitalia). Affected children are typically raised as males and have a male gender identity.

At puberty, most affected individuals require treatment with the male sex hormone testosterone to induce development of male secondary sex characteristics such as facial hair and deepening of the voice (masculinization). Hormone treatment can also help prevent breast enlargement (gynecomastia). Adults with this disorder are usually shorter than average for males and are unable to have children (infertile).

Causes

People normally have 46 chromosomes in each cell. Two of the 46 chromosomes, known as X and Y, are called sex chromosomes because they help determine whether a person will develop male or female sex characteristics. Females typically have two X chromosomes (46,XX), and males usually have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (46,XY).

The SRY gene, normally located on the Y chromosome, provides instructions for making the sex-determining region Y protein. The sex-determining region Y protein causes a fetus to develop as a male.

In about 80 percent of individuals with 46,XX testicular disorder of sex development, the condition results from an abnormal exchange of genetic material between chromosomes (translocation). This exchange occurs as a random event during the formation of sperm cells in the affected person's father. The translocation causes the SRY gene to be misplaced, almost always onto an X chromosome. If a fetus is conceived from a sperm cell with an X chromosome bearing the SRY gene, it will develop as a male despite not having a Y chromosome. This form of the condition is called SRY-positive 46,XX testicular disorder of sex development.

About 20 percent of people with 46,XX testicular disorder of sex development do not have the SRY gene. This form of the condition is called SRY-negative 46,XX testicular disorder of sex development. The cause of the disorder in these individuals is often unknown, although changes affecting other genes have been identified. Individuals with SRY-negative 46,XX testicular disorder of sex development are more likely to have ambiguous genitalia than are people with the SRY-positive form.

January 30, 2021 11:33 AM  
Anonymous Reality isn't quite so simple said...

""there is no more proof that someone with a Y chromosome could be a girl than there is that the Earth is flat"

The information is out there for anyone to Google.

Medical science has advanced beyond what you learned in the 6th grade.

Maybe if you familiarize yourself with it, you won't sound so stupid and bigoted.

January 30, 2021 11:43 AM  
Anonymous if you believe XY doesn't make you male, you probably don't believe photos from the moon prove the world is round said...

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

the story of Susan Rosenberg

she tried to bomb the Capitol and advocated for the violent overthrow of the US government

she was convicted and jailed

Bill Clinton pardoned her on his last day in office

Trump did not pardon any of the mob that threw papers around Nancy Pelosi's office on January 6

January 30, 2021 11:59 AM  
Anonymous We love you said...

"Trump did not pardon any of the mob that threw papers around Nancy Pelosi's office on January 6"

The mobsters haven't been convicted yet.

And Trump hasn't even begun his second term as president.

January 30, 2021 12:29 PM  
Anonymous I wonder if there is any part of the Constitution that TTFers feel they can live with... said...

"The mobsters haven't been convicted yet."

pardons can be issued pre-emptively

it's been done before

especially since charges had been filed before Trump left

but you don't hear any liberals bothered by Clinton pardoning an insurrectionist

January 30, 2021 12:59 PM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

Well, it did happen 20 years ago, and since then she's been teaching literature and seminars and working for non-profits.

Seems like that kind of criminal behavior is pretty low on priority list given that they still haven't found all the people who left pipe bombs around DC and stormed the Capitol on the 6th.

Susan spent 16 years in prison for what normally would have been a 5 year sentence, part of that time in a prison abusive it shut down by a judge.

There's little reason to believe the GOPBP (Grand 'Ol Proud Boy Party) is going to hold the instigators at the top of the coup accountable.

January 30, 2021 1:24 PM  
Anonymous Are you pondering what I'm pondering? said...

Brain: "Observe Pinky, even after being provided links and evidence disputing the conservative's ignorant chromosome position, the conservative doubles-down on stupidity:

Troll: "if you believe XY doesn't make you male, you probably don't believe photos from the moon prove the world is round"

Pinky: "Naaaarrrrrfff."

Brain: "Indeed Pinky. It is one of their defining characteristics."


Pinky and the Brain playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwlCzYzjYls&list=PLF5-fgYC7rmTj99_tLESAGirgWbqVtIK2

January 30, 2021 2:51 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Trump WH Lobbied Against Vaccine Rollout Funding

STAT News reports:

Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall — despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn’t have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation.

The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators.

Without the extra money, states spent last October and November rationing the small pot of federal dollars they had been given. And when vaccines began shipping in December, states seemed woefully underprepared.

Read the full article.

SCOOP: Trump officials spent the fall actively lobbying Congress not to give states the money health officials insisted they need to vaccine some 300 million Americans. At that time the Trump admin had only provided states $200 million. (Thread) https://t.co/u3ZiUuoqfE

— Nicholas Florko (@NicholasFlorko) January 31, 2021

Trump officials have insisted publicly that states wouldn’t need much money for the vaccine effort, but as I show here: The Trump administration wasn’t just dismissing states’ concerns, it was actively undermining their efforts to get more money from Congress

— Nicholas Florko (@NicholasFlorko) January 31, 2021

For some context: The Trump admin was simultaneously spending billions to help drug makers develop these vaccines. They gave Moderna $1 billion alone for clinical trials. States had insisted they needed $8.4 billion for the mass vaccination effort.

— Nicholas Florko (@NicholasFlorko) January 31, 2021

I was shocked when I learned this. Turns out, the official at the center of all of this, Paul Mango, wasn’t bashful about his efforts. He insisted states couldn’t justify why they needed more money. He accused them, on the record, of wanting the $ to make up for lost tax revenue

— Nicholas Florko (@NicholasFlorko) January 31, 2021

By the way the former CDC director also said states needed roughly $6 billion. Mango told congressional staffers the money wasn’t needed. He also accused CDC of lobbying Congress behind HHS’ back and “trying to help their friends … even though they didn’t have any real plan”

— Nicholas Florko (@NicholasFlorko) January 31, 2021

As you’ll see in my story: Both Republican and Dem staffers acknowledged the lobbying and thought it was misguided. Congress eventually allocated states some $4.5 billion, which didn’t get to states until this month. Mango told me Congress “forced” HHS to give states more money.

January 31, 2021 6:43 PM  
Anonymous if you believe XY doesn't make you male, you probably don't believe photos from the moon prove the world is round said...

Democrats are always fun to watch implode. After giving a vaccine to OJ Simpson, they were planning to give one the masterminds behind 9/11 this week.

The Pentagon stopped a controversial plan to offer detainees at Guantanamo Bay access to COVID-19 vaccines.

"No Guantanamo detainees have been vaccinated. We’re pausing the plan to move forward, as we review force protection protocols. We remain committed to our obligations to keep our troops safe," Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a tweet Saturday.

The prospect of 40 Guantanamo Bay detainees, including accused 9/11 ringleader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, getting vaccinated before many people across the United States generated outrage among Republicans. Medical workers at the high-security prison complex first began vaccinating the approximately 6,000 residents on Jan. 8, and the New York Times reported that detainees woud have gained access to the vaccines next week.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California tweeted Saturday that “President Biden told us he would have a plan to defeat the virus on day 1. He just never told us that it would be to give the vaccine to terrorists before most Americans.”

"How the hell does this make sense??" Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said in a tweet.

"It is inexcusable and un-American that President Biden is choosing to prioritize vaccinations for convicted terrorists in Gitmo over vulnerable American seniors or veterans," Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York tweeted.

January 31, 2021 9:44 PM  
Anonymous why did Clinton pardon an insurrectionist? said...

the dim Dem future:

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/536225-trump-was-no-carter-and-biden-is-no-reagan

January 31, 2021 10:39 PM  
Anonymous Someone who isn't allowed a Twitter account should never be given the nuclear codes again said...

What's missing in Young's analysis is that that the Republican party is nothing like it once was. It has been taken over by white nationalists and conspiracy theorists. Back in Reagan's day, those folks were the fringe.

Today, they've got control of the ship, and it doesn't look like the Republicans that are left have enough spine to wrest back control.

It's not a good position for the Republicans, or the country. But toadies have already started heading down to Mar-a-Lago for the king's blessing.

By not condemning what Trump did on Jan 6th, they are condoning it. Unless Republicans do something soon, history will point to Jan 6th as "the practice run."

February 01, 2021 12:26 AM  
Anonymous fan of our current Supreme Court said...

what is needed is a smarter American voter

what America will learn soon is, although Trump was a national embarrassment, the Dems aren't an acceptable alternative

we need two parties to replace both Dems and Repubs

and the American voter needs to get smarter

February 01, 2021 12:56 AM  
Anonymous Republicans aren't the solution. Republicans are the problem. said...

"the Dem's aren't an acceptable alternative"

Why? The last two Democratic presidents did FAR better for the economy than the last two Republican presidents?

You don't want people to start realizing all that right-wing rhetoric about how "great" the Republicans are on the economy is just BS?

I thought you LIKED people working at jobs.

Or maybe you're afraid that once Biden and crew fix the latest Republican fiascos, voters will start to realize that if you want a government that works, you have to vote for people who actually BELIEVE in the American government - rather than the ones who keep trying to destroy it - or at least make it so small they can strangle it in a bathtub.

February 01, 2021 10:27 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't ever a marriage said...

well, Trump had an amazing economy going that trickled, and gushed down, down to low-income minorities

the only thing that messed it up was the pandemic

we don't know how Biden would have performed

but we can get hints from the Democratic governors of our two most populous state

Gavin Newsome's state is in shambles regardless of all the restrictions he created

the economy has cratered

it looks like he'll be recalled as a result

Cuomo, in NY, has made poor decisions that resulted in the highest death rate and most deaths in the country

economically, NYC as been destroyed and may never recover

his health officials have been resigning and the liberal press has even started to turn on him:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/nyregion/cuomo-health-department-officials-quit.html

but Biden would have done a great job?

sure

wanna buy a deed to the Brooklyn Bridge?

February 02, 2021 8:21 AM  
Anonymous for millennia, society has known that two genders are necessary to make a marriage said...

Yeah, those sure know how to take on a pandemic:

It turns out the reassuring story that Cuomo trusted the experts and the experts trusted Cuomo was just another part of the misleading mythology around the New York governor.

And Cuomo isn’t really hiding it anymore. Friday, he said, “When I say ‘experts’ in air quotes, it sounds like I’m saying I don’t really trust the experts. Because I don’t. Because I don’t.”

The New York Times reports that the state’s deputy commissioner for public health, director of its bureau of communicable-disease control, medical director for epidemiology, and state epidemiologist all resigned in a matter of months, along with five other high-level state health officials, as senior health officials “expressed alarm to one another over being sidelined and treated disrespectfully by the governor.”

That the governor and his administration lied and covered up nursing-home deaths is no longer in dispute. The state ordered nursing homes to readmit recovering but still-contagious elderly patients; the state’s health department removed the order from its website, and earlier this month, Cuomo insisted the order to send patients back into nursing homes “never happened.” CNN, which employs Governor Cuomo’s brother Chris as a primetime anchor, concluded in its fact check that Cuomo’s assertion that “it never happened” is false.

And apparently everyone has decided to forget the time in October when Cuomo said he didn’t have confidence in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the coronavirus vaccines.

(You may recall similar stories about New York City mayor Bill de Blasio having similar disregard for experts: “arguments and shouting matches between the mayor and some of his advisers; some top health officials had even threatened to resign if he refused to accept the need to close schools and businesses, according to several people familiar with the internal discussions.” De Blasio spent much of February and March of 2020 insisting that New Yorkers could and should go about their lives normally, despite growing worries about the contagious virus.)

All the while, Cuomo’s been joking about his “Cuomosexual” fan base with Jimmy Fallon, doing wacky prop comedy with his brother on CNN, winning an Emmy, and writing a book taking a victory lap.

Apparently now that Donald Trump is out of office, it is safe to take a clear-eyed look at the performance of prominent Democratic officeholders and speak honestly about it. Some of us have been speaking honestly about Cuomo since the pandemic began. But all of us would have been better off if this honesty and criticism were far more widespread months ago

February 02, 2021 8:27 AM  
Anonymous ha-ha said...

that's right!

his “Cuomosexual” fan base

February 02, 2021 8:28 AM  
Anonymous hi, it's Gray Davis. soon, I won't be the only California governor terminated early said...

California generally previews what's coming to the rest of America

Gavin Newsome is a Biden review

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s job approval rating among California voters has plummeted, driven largely by dissatisfaction over the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and adding fuel to a recall campaign, according to a new poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies.

The decline in Newsom’s standing endangers his policy agenda as he guides the state through the pandemic and as his political allies begin to question the actions he has taken. It also provides a sobering sign for the 53-year-old Democrat that his once bright political future, for years the subject of whispers about a potential White House run, has lost some of its shine.

February 02, 2021 3:10 PM  
Anonymous Sweet!! said...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pete Buttigieg won Senate approval Tuesday as transportation secretary, the first openly gay person to be confirmed to a Cabinet post. He’ll be tasked with advancing President Joe Biden’s ambitious agenda of rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and fighting climate change.

Buttigieg, a 39-year-old former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and Biden’s one-time rival during the Democratic presidential primaries, was approved on a 86-13 vote.

“I’m honored and humbled by today’s vote in the Senate—and ready to get to work,” Buttigieg tweeted shortly after he was confirmed.

February 02, 2021 7:56 PM  
Anonymous Has he who smelt it, dealt it? said...

A pro-Trump attorney who pushed conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, including allegations of voter fraud, is reportedly under investigation for illegal voting. CBS Atlanta affiliate WGCL-TV cites a high-level source in the Georgia Secretary of State's office as saying that office is investigating whether Wood voted "out of state" — in Georgia even though he was actually a resident of South Carolina at the time of the November election.

It's unclear if Wood was eligible to vote in Georgia and if he was considered a resident when he cast his ballot.

In a statement sent to CBS News, Wood said he has "been a resident of the State of Georgia since 1955. I changed my residency to South Carolina yesterday [February 1, 2021]."

He added, "This is pure harassment by the Georgia Secretary of State because I have revealed credible evidence of election fraud on the part of Brad Raffensperger" — the Georgia secretary of state.

Wood told NPR he "was domiciled in Atlanta in October of 2020 and was a resident of Georgia at that time. ... I own properties in Georgia and South Carolina."

The prominent pro-Trump figure sued Raffensperger in one of a series of unsuccessful lawsuits alleging election fraud in the 2020 election. Wood, along with Sidney Powell, filed the suits in battleground states to try to overturn election results.

Wood spoke at far-right rallies about his claims, including a December 2 "Stop The Steal" event in Georgia.

A "Stop The Steal" rally in Washington, D.C. preceded the January 6 assault on the Capitol.

The 68-year-old was permanently suspended by Twitter for pushing conspiracy theories and promoting the Capitol attack. He was temporarily suspended, then banned for saying he'd use a second account to get around the suspension, according to Buzzfeed News.

Recently, the State Bar of Georgia opened an investigation into Wood's competence. According to The Associated Press, the inquiry falls "under the bar rule that has to do with mental incapacity or substance abuse."


The far-white conspiracy theorist may have voted illegally?!?!

February 03, 2021 10:32 AM  
Anonymous Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar said...

Ashley Vanderbilt says her four-year-old daughter Emmerson knew "something was wrong with her mom."

"I wasn't one hundred percent there like I should have been," she recalls.
After November's election she spent days on TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube becoming indoctrinated into the world of QAnon. By inauguration day, she was convinced that if then President-elect Joe Biden took office the United States would literally turn into a communist country. She was terrified that she would have to go into hiding with her daughter.

Many QAnon believers have clear political motives, but Vanderbilt says she is a passive participant in politics.

"I've always been someone that you just tell me what to do and I do it. I grew up being told we were Republicans, so I've always been that straight red ticket," she explained in an interview near her home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, last Saturday.

She doesn't watch the news. "What have we heard the last four or five years? Don't watch the news. 'Fake news.' 'Fake news.'"

Vanderbilt worked in the office of a construction company. But, like millions of Americans in 2020, she says she lost her job at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. Feeling depressed and with more time on her hands, she began spending a lot of time online.
The 27-year-old mom is an avid user of the video app TikTok. It's there, she says, that she was first introduced to QAnon.

She mostly followed entertainment accounts on the platform, but as the election neared she began interacting with pro-Trump and anti-Biden TikTok videos. Soon, she says, TikTok's "For You" page, an algorithmically determined feed in the app that suggests videos a user might like, was showing her video after video of conspiracy theories.

A spokesperson for TikTok told CNN the company is "committed to countering misinformation and advancing media literacy in our community. Content and accounts promoting QAnon aren't allowed on our platform and are removed as identified."

Clearly the company's safeguards failed Vanderbilt.

February 03, 2021 10:41 AM  
Anonymous Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar said...

What began on TikTok, continued on Facebook, YouTube, and Telegram, where by January Vanderbilt says she was spending hours every night learning more about the supposed cabal of pedophiles in the Democratic Party that had stolen the election.
But all was not lost.
She believed that even though Biden was declared the winner of the election, his inauguration would be thwarted.

First, Trump would declare martial law, then the Democrats (and some Republicans) and the Hollywood celebrities in Washington, DC for the inauguration would be rounded up and arrested. Trump had "opened back up Guantanamo Bay" (it never closed) and "increased the capacity to 200,000."

That was the conspiracy theory being pushed by QAnon followers on the eve of the inauguration, and it is what Vanderbilt believed.

But on the morning of January 20th, 2021, Trump flew out of Washington to his new home in Florida and Biden became the 46th President of the United States.

"I was devastated," Vanderbilt recalls. "Instantly, I went into panic mode."

She called her mom who was at work. "I just told her it's like we're all going to die. We're going to be owned by China. And I was like, I might have to pull my daughter out of school because they're going to take her."

Her mom tried to calm her down. "Obviously God's will was to have President Biden come in for this country, so it's going to be fine," Vanderbilt says her mom told her. "This happens all the time. It's an election. Parties switch, no big deal."

After their call she said her mom texted her a warning to not take her daughter out of school.

A key tenet of QAnon is that there is a master plan at work and Trump is in charge. "The plan" said he would round-up the so-called deep state and bring them to justice. "The plan" said he would win the 2020 election in a landslide. When this didn't happen, QAnon supporters began spinning absurd predictions that Trump would somehow halt Biden's inauguration in the days or hours leading up to it.

February 03, 2021 10:43 AM  
Anonymous Cheeto Christ Stupid-Czar said...

None of that happened. But like in many cults, the lore and predictions in QAnon are ever-changing. Each time a prophecy fails to come to fruition, a new theory crops up to fill the void.

And so some QAnon adherents concocted a new conspiracy theory in the hours after inauguration. President Joe Biden's inauguration itself was a key part of the plan, the new theory held, and Trump would return as President in the coming few weeks. Then, certainly, all the deep-state arrests would happen.

That was a step too far for Vanderbilt. She began to realize that she had bought into a lie with an almost religious fervor. Over the past two weeks she has been posting on TikTok, the platform that dragged her into the conspiracy theory, sharing her story in the hope that it might help or inspire others to see the light.

Some followers of QAnon cite specific posts from the anonymous person or people behind the conspiracy theory as if they were scripture.

Vanderbilt credits her faith in God for helping her out of QAnon. While she was deep in the conspiracy theory, she said that Trump was becoming an almost messianic figure for her who could do no wrong. She recalls once asking herself, "Am I putting even Trump above God?"
Vanderbilt reflects that she could perhaps have been pulled out of QAnon before inauguration day if Trump himself condemned it. Instead, he flirted with it and tacitly embraced it by retweeting prominent QAnon accounts and saying positive things about QAnon followers.

Instead, she had a revelation of her own.

She was able to do something that many people, including some elected representatives and a few members of the Republican Party, are not. She has admitted she was wrong and has condemned QAnon as a dangerous political movement.

On the national stage, Vanderbilt hopes her story will help others.

February 03, 2021 10:45 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home