Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Voting for a CEO, Versus a Drinking Buddy

I remember when George W Bush was elected and the "political analysis" was that he was the candidate most people would like to have a beer with.

He wasn't my type of drinking buddy, but I don't mind having a beer with someone now and then. We might sit and shoot the bull about things, politics, the crazy things going on in the world. He'll have his opinions, I'll have mine, we might laugh and we might argue. That's fine, it's a good time, people have been drinking beer and solving the world's problems since ancient Egypt.

But that doesn't mean I think my new best friend at the bar should run the country, you know what I'm saying?

When Trump first came out with that crazy stuff about "they're not sending their best people," early in his campaign, he was like a guy at the bar. He was charming in his own way, he has a kind of personal rhythm that is grammatically awkward but likeable in a kitchen-table sort of way. He interrupts a sentence to throw in an unrelated thought, and then gets off-topic, and that is kind of what we do when we have a personal conversation. I tell you what happened to me, you tell me what happened to you, we joke about it and move on to another story.

But that doesn't mean that you and I are qualified to run a country.

The federal government, last I heard, has a million employees. That's a big company. It's got a lot of departments with a lot of complex problems in every department, changing every day. The country has a vision and a mission, and every big decision must be weighed against those, and sometimes hundreds of advisors are consulted before an important policy is implemented. The government has customers from all regions, all income categories, all traditions, and you can't make them all happy but with good leadership you can manage your compromises so everyone gets what they need.

It has nothing to do with having a beer. It has nothing to do with kitchen-table talk.

Journalists love to talk about "Dems in disarray" and "Biden in trouble," by which they always mean his popularity ratings are low, not that he has done a bad job. They yearn for a colorful, kitchen-table kind of leader who will say outrageous things, the awkward uncle who is so rude that you can't ignore him, and you just have to tell your friends later about the obnoxious comments he made at dinner. They don't sell papers when the government is run in an efficient and fair way, which is actually what the Chief Executive job is all about.

I just happened to see a sort of random comment on Twitter and I thought I'd share it.

He is doing a great job as President. No scandals, no crimes. He isn't stirring stuff up, he isn't going onto social media and TV and saying outrageous things. He wears a dark-blue suit and goes to church a lot, has surrounded himself with well-informed but not inflammatory advisors. He respects everyone, including his political opponents, and tries to work out bills that address our actual problems -- not to get even with somebody who said something critical of him, but to pass legislation that solves real social issues. It makes sense to elect this kind of leader.

206 Comments:

Anonymous guess what? guns are banned in Japan... said...


"I remember when George W Bush was elected and the "political analysis" was that he was the candidate most people would like to have a beer with."

personally, I wasn't crazy about Bush when he ran for President

I thought he had a lot of lowest common denominator comments

kind of like someone you might see sitting at a bar, looking for someone to argue with

but he turned out to be a solid President

we were fortunate he was President on 9-11 rather than Gore

"When Trump first came out with that crazy stuff about "they're not sending their best people,""

remember that?

the Dems tried to characterize those words as racist

funny how the Hispanic vote is increasingly moving to the GOP

frankly, most Hispanics agreed with Trump about the border

in the Green Acres sitcom that is TTF, maybe that's not "the crazy stuff"

"early in his campaign, he was like a guy at the bar. He was charming in his own way,"

yes, before he ran for President, he was the favorite rich guy pet of liberals and the media

I remember seeing on the Today Show on New Year's Day, 2000

the hosts thought everything he said about making America great again was so delightful

"But that doesn't mean that you and I are qualified to run a country."

perhaps not, but there are tons of people with no government experience who are

right now, the inexperienced person I see as a perfect President is Glen Youngkin

"The federal government, last I heard, has a million employees. That's a big company. It's got a lot of departments with a lot of complex problems in every department, changing every day."

the President doesn't manage them all

Trump's problem is not inability to set overarching policy and even delegate

it's that most of his people are chosen to feed his narcissism and don't remain long because no can

when he began his term, I wondered why he appointed so many military types

it's now clear he wanted them to assist him in a coup, if need be

July 12, 2022 10:45 AM  
Anonymous Tune in at 1PM and hear the testimony said...

"it's now clear he wanted them to assist him in a coup, if need be"

And hopefully today, we will find out who else Trump requested assistance from for his coup.

July 12, 2022 11:24 AM  
Anonymous guess what? guns are banned in Japan... said...


"Journalists love to talk about "Dems in disarray" and "Biden in trouble," by which they always mean his popularity ratings are low, not that he has done a bad job."

a big part of is job is leadership and rallying the country

he has done a bad job

"They don't sell papers when the government is run in an efficient and fair way,"

yes, the media has lost it's way because of commercial concerns

no doubt about it

"which is actually what the Chief Executive job is all about."

actually, the job is multi-faceted

and the facets of the Biden gem are too shiny

"He is doing a great job as President."

most Americans don't agree with that

"No scandals, no crimes."

except for lying about his involvement in his son's influence peddling schemes

"He isn't stirring stuff up,".

true, nothing stirring about his speeches

"he isn't going onto social media"

his advisors can't allow that

any time he speaks without a filter, his whole foot goes in his mouth

truth is, for a competent and responsible individual, social allows them to speak directly to their constituents without media's biased editing

July 12, 2022 11:27 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"And hopefully today, we will find out who else Trump requested assistance from for his coup"

hopefully, it won't turn out he did that

let's not wish for it

July 12, 2022 11:29 AM  
Anonymous brace for the gay monkeypox plague..... said...


"Anon, the "crazy stuff" was 1."they're sending" and 2."their best people." Nobody was sending anybody."

I think your last sentence is probably true

still, that's the crazy stuff?

truth is, the Mexican government wasn't trying to hard to stop them

and, yes, a lot of undesirables, who Mexico would just as well get rid of, were among them

not all, or even most, but the problem existed

July 12, 2022 11:36 AM  
Anonymous How soon they forget said...

"a big part of is job is leadership and rallying the country

he has done a bad job"

And Trump managed to rally The Women's March[13][14][15][a] was a worldwide protest on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president. It was prompted by several of Trump's statements being considered by many as anti-women or otherwise offensive to women.[13][19] It was the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.[20]

July 12, 2022 12:02 PM  
Anonymous Not looking like a GOP pick-up in Georgia said...

Herschel Walker is the most consistently incoherent candidate on the trail in modern memory.

Walker's latest triumph was dumbing down the climate change debate by 'splaining how America is cleaning up China's air quality.

"Since we don’t control the air, our good air decide to float over to China bad air. So when China get our good air, their bad air gotta move. So, it moves over to our good air space. And now, we gotta clean that back up," Walker clarified. Got that?

It doesn't help that Walker's staff was reportedly blindsided by the discovery that the candidate fathered three children he had never publicly acknowledged. But Walker's biggest deficit appears to be that his campaign doesn’t trust him to ... well ... talk.

When Georgia conservative radio host Erick Erickson invited Walker on his show for a one-on-one, hour-long chat, the campaign declined because aides didn't want him going "free form" for an entire hour, per the Post.

“I don’t know anyone who has confidence in the campaign including people on the campaign. He doesn’t have standard candidate discipline,” Erickson said. “He just doesn’t have a deep grasp of the issues nor really the desire to learn those issues."

July 12, 2022 12:23 PM  
Anonymous guess what? the latest inflation numbers come out tomorrow... said...

"Herschel Walker is the most consistently incoherent candidate on the trail in modern memory."

yes, he appears to be a hypocrite and a moron

Repubs may actually blow the Georgia Senate race like they did in 2020

still have the House though

July 12, 2022 12:42 PM  
Anonymous Jill is a hardshell racist... said...


First lady Jill Biden will eventually apologize after saying Latinos are as "unique" as "breakfast tacos" at an event in San Antonio, Texas, her spokesperson Michael LaRosa said.

During the annual UnidosUS conference on Monday, Biden was praising the work of Raul Yzaguirre, who led the civil rights and advocacy organization for 30 years, and the diversity of Latinos across the U.S. when she made the remarks.

"Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength," Biden said.

Her comments drew criticism, with many taking issue with her comparing Latinos to tacos — a long-held stereotype. The National Association of Hispanic Journalists called out Biden for her remarks in a statement, saying it "demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity to the diversity of Latinos in the region."

"NAHJ encourages Dr. Biden and her speech writing team to take the time in the future to better understand the complexities of our people and communities. We are not tacos. Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions, and should not be reduced to a stereotype."

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, whose parents came to the U.S. from Cuba, also poked fun at Biden's remarks by uploading a photo of a taco on Twitter.

The UnidosUS conference is the "largest gathering of Latinos and allies committed social change," according to its website.

Biden, who teaches at Northern Virginia Community College, will make further ignorant comments at the American Federation of Teachers Convention in Boston on Friday. It's the event's first in-person gathering since 2018

July 12, 2022 12:51 PM  
Anonymous Lying by omission said...

""Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength," Biden said."

Actually, Dr. Biden said:

"Raul helped build this organization with the understanding that the diversity of this community, as distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio, is your strength."



July 12, 2022 4:16 PM  
Anonymous Jennifer Rubin said...

Talk about burying the lede.

One has to read 15 paragraphs (plus navigate some snazzy charts) into a New York Times piece headlined “Most Democrats Don’t Want Biden in 2024, New Poll Shows” before learning that the poll finds President Biden has the edge against defeated former president Donald Trump 44 to 41 percent in a hypothetical matchup. How foolish would the GOP be to stick with Trump if he might be one of the few Republicans who could lose to an incumbent president polling worse than Trump did during his presidency?

What’s more, the Times reports, “The poll showed that Democratic misgivings about Mr. Biden seemed to mostly melt away when presented with a choice between him and Mr. Trump: 92 percent of Democrats said they would stick with Mr. Biden.” Imagine that. Makes the preceding 15 or so paragraphs almost irrelevant.

Such data might prompt people to realize that an incumbent president’s rotten polling numbers — and even voters’ beliefs about whether the country is heading it the “right" or “wrong” direction — have precious little to do with Biden’s reelection prospects more than two years from now. It might serve to put Biden’s polling in context with other Western leaders such as France’s Emmanuel Macron, whose own rotten polling did not stop him from what would be a landslide victory in the United States (winning 59 percent in the second round of France’s election).

The media obsession with Biden’s low poll numbers and unproven assumptions about what they mean (e.g., Democrats will all suffer from his ratings in the midterms; Trump is coming back to power) repeats three mistakes endemic in political coverage.

First, in our highly tribal political scheme where tens of millions of people cannot bear to admit their own candidate lost in 2020, any president will automatically lose about half of the country’s support. We see this at the policy level, as well. Describe, for example, the steps Biden is taking to defend Ukraine against Russian aggression, and poll respondents register overwhelming approval. But introduce Biden’s name, and an overwhelming percentage of Republicans disapprove of his handling of the war.

By definition, tribalism means the other side can do no right and one’s own side can never be blamed for anything. Given that phenomenon, the days of 60 percent or even 55 percent presidential approval ratings are likely a thing of the past. That makes polling in the 40s look fairly solid.

Second, the party with the biggest problem is arguably not the Democrats, despite the framing of the Times’s story; rather, it is the Republican Party, which cannot separate itself from the instigator of a violent insurrection who would stand to lose against arguably the weakest incumbent president since, well, Trump. The party is so paralyzed by disinformation and bamboozled by cynical politicians that it is unable to rally around another Republican with national name recognition over someone who stands a good chance of being indicted in federal or state court.

Third, the assumption that the Democratic Party is doomed to fail misconstrues the party’s strength. Despite Biden’s polling, the generic congressional ballot, which measures which party voters would prefer to run Congress, has narrowed in recent weeks. Democratic enthusiasm is up, and Democratic Senate candidates are running strong even in red states such as Ohio. Maybe the positions that Democrats have taken are resonating. Or maybe their opponents are turning off even disenchanted voters.

The focus on Biden’s droopy poll numbers might serve the media’s effort to appear just as critical of this president as the last. But the more insightful analysis would be to probe how the GOP has become so tethered to a candidate who might not even be able to beat Biden and how Republicans might fail to fully capitalize on the Democrats’ midterm curse.

July 12, 2022 5:05 PM  
Anonymous Police: Man targeted Rep. Jayapal with racially-charged threats of violence said...

SEATTLE - A man has been arrested for allegedly yelling racially-charged threats to Washington Representative Pramila Jayapal while standing outside her home, according to probable cause documents.

According to police, a 49-year-old Seattle man stood outside Jayapal's home, yelling threats and using obscene language just before midnight on July 9. Her husband told 911 dispatchers that he believed the man may have shot a pellet gun, but he was unsure, according to court documents.

When officers arrived, they say they saw the suspect in the middle of the street with his hands in the air. He had a handgun holstered on his waist.

The suspect told investigators that he knew the house he was at was Jayapal's, and that he wanted to pitch a tent on her property, according to court documents. Neighbors told police they heard the man yell something to the effect of "go back to India, I'm going to kill you."

He was arrested and booked on a malicious harassment charge.

The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office (KCPAO) argued that the suspect is a danger to the community "and that he should be held on $500,000 bail. KCPAO said that amount lines up with other cases involving armed threats to kill and a hate crime.

A judge agreed to the $500,000 bail at his first appearance but declined to issue a criminal harassment order of protection.

He could also be charged with a hate crime, according to KCPAO.

In a statement, Jayapal's office told FOX 13:

"Congresswoman Jayapal confirms that incidents occurred at her Seattle home on Saturday night when she was present. The Congresswoman and her family are safe and appreciate the many calls and good wishes she is receiving from constituents. She is very grateful for the swift and professional response from the Seattle Police Department, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the FBI investigators who are working together diligently on the investigation and ensuring that she and her family stay safe. Because this is an ongoing investigation, she will not be commenting further at this time."





And unlike the kook at Kavanaugh's house, this kook did not call to report himself to the police.

July 12, 2022 5:19 PM  
Anonymous guess what? inflation isn't slidin' Biden's fault - he can't help it, he's a moron... said...


"And unlike the kook at Kavanaugh's house, this kook did not call to report himself to the police."

no, he stood outside doing nothing but yelling until the police came

not a sound strategy if the actual incident was to kill someone

clearly, he just wanted to get attention

July 12, 2022 11:21 PM  
Anonymous I blame you. You voted for Sloppy Joe... said...


"Exactly your reasoning for coming here day after day posting your hateful and lying rightwing crap"

actually, I share with you things you probably haven't heard because you only read sources that confirm your predetermined opinions

I, on the other hand, read multiple sources with different perspectives

hey, did you hear the latest about the "temporary" inflation we've been having since Slidin' Biden pushed through an unnecessary stimulus package in early 2021?

one of you morons keeps saying "what does that have to do with the mid-terms when Biden isn't running in 2022?"

the Congressmen were his accomplices and he couldn't have doe it without them

they're the universal legislators

and they really are to blame

for, without them, Slidin' woulda stood alone

they're the ones who give their vote

as a weapon for economic ruin

and without them, all this suffering can't go on

U.S. consumer prices in June accelerated at the fastest annual pace since November 1981.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index (CPI) reflected a year-over-year increase of 9.1% last month, up from the prior 40-year high of 8.6% in May. Economists were expecting June's reading to show an 8.8% increase, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg, but it turns out worse than their biggest nightmare.

On a monthly basis, the broadest measure of inflation rose at a pace of 1.3%, way up from 1% in May and climbing at an even faster tempo than the disastrous 1.1% climb economists had projected. This marked the largest monthly increase since 2005.

U.S. stocks were slammed early Wednesday following the hotter-than-expected print. S&P 500 futures fell over 1.5%, Nasdaq futures tumbled as much as 2.1%, and futures tied to the Dow declined more than 1% immediately after the release.

The continued surge in inflation across the U.S. economy was elevated by broad-based increases, including high food costs and record gasoline prices, which topped more than $5 per gallon at the pump last month

July 13, 2022 9:59 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL!!!!!!!!!!! said...


Descending further into liberal madness, the Church of England just announced it has “no official definition” of a woman.

It’s not much of a surprise, since the church has continually made headlines for its gender activism in recent years. In 2018, it produced guidance on how clergy could use the rite of Affirmation of Baptismal Faith to celebrate a person’s new transgender identity and publicly use the individual’s new name. Other liturgical rituals were approved later for “recognizing and celebrating” transgender identity. In April, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams signed a letter written by an LGBT activist informing Prime Minister Boris Johnson that being transgender is “a sacred journey of becoming whole.” The church invites transgender people to pursue ordination.

The woman issue came up at the General Synod, the Church of England’s legislative body, when lay member and Royal Navy representative Adam Kendry posed a question: “What is the Church of England’s definition of a woman?”

"There is no official definition, which reflects the fact that until fairly recently definitions of this kind were thought to be self-evident, as reflected in the marriage liturgy,” said the Rt. Rev. Robert Innes, Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe, in a written response.

The definition has indeed been self-evident ever since “male and female he created them.” Innes, instead of stating this, continued to cede ground.

“The Living in Love and Faith project however has begun to explore the marriage complexities associated with gender identity and points to the need for additional care and thought to be given in understanding our commonalities and differences as people made in the image of God,” he said.

Sex Matters campaign group executive director Maya Forstater told the Telegraph that the church’s readiness to give up the definition was “shocking.”

“When the Government redefined women through the Gender Recognition Act, the Church of England could have stuck with its long-established understanding, which makes sense whether your starting point is biology or the Bible,” Forstater said.

In the United States, denominations that take liberal theological stances in an attempt to appeal to a broader population have lost the most members. Meanwhile, theologically conservative churches see continued health, and even growth, despite the fact that they are more frequently blamed for the decline.

Adopting the world’s attitudes does not attract people on Sunday when they can hear the same thing anywhere else. Rather, it destroys the church’s grasp on reality. If you reject Genesis 1, why not the rest? If you deny biology, what else? The loss of the ability to define gender is a loss of grounding in truth.

July 13, 2022 10:38 AM  
Anonymous Slidin' Biden said last year he would treat Saudi Arabia as "pariah nation". Now, he's traveling there to beg them for oil. Pathetic!...... said...


US president Joe Biden misrepresented a recent poll that showed most Democrats don’t want him to run for office again, arguing that the party does in fact support him in contesting the 2024 election.

A recent poll conducted by The New York Times found that at least 64 per cent of Democrats want a new candidate for the next presidential election.

When Mr Biden was asked if he had anything to say to those Democrats who want him to hang up his boots after a single term, he replied: “They want me to run.

“Read the poll. Read the polls, Jack. You guys are all the same,” the president said at the White House Congressional Picnic on Tuesday.

“That poll showed that 92 per cent of Democrats, if I ran, would vote for me,” he claimed.

When a reporter corrected him saying that a majority of Democrats don’t want him to run again in 2024, Mr Biden continued: “Ninety-two per cent said, if I did, they would vote for me.”

According to the poll, released on Monday, 92 per cent of Democrats said they would stick with Mr Biden if the only alternative is former president Donald Trump.

But, of course, most would prefer a different alternative to Trump than Biden.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had also used the same figures on Monday to exaggerate support for Mr Biden.

When CNN’s Kaitlin Collins asked Ms Jean-Pierre about the new poll, the press secretary said: “And I would also say from that very same poll, there were 92 per cent of Democrats who support this president as well.”

The president is currently on a trip to the Middle East, with a three-day stop in Israel, where officials say Iran’s quickly-evolving nuclear program is at the top of their agenda.

July 13, 2022 10:43 AM  
Anonymous I wonder if TTFers agree with any part of the Constitution.... said...


The record shows Justice Brett Kavanaugh, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, and Chief Justice John Roberts, appointed by former President George W. Bush, have joined every one of the court's majority opinions in all but three of the court's nearly 60 cases argued this term.

The pair of conservative-leaning justices was also responsible for more than half of the cases in which the court's liberal justices were victorious. In all, the court had 10 cases with 5-4 decisions, with seven of those decided in the liberals' favor.

Kavanaugh and Roberts joined the Democratic-appointed justices, for example, on granting President Joe Biden's bid to do away with a Trump-era immigration policy last month and defending COVID-19 vaccine requirements for healthcare workers in January.

July 13, 2022 11:00 AM  
Anonymous Slidin' Biden needs someone who can pirourette - and his press secretary ain't no ballet dancer.... said...


Just 18% of Americans say President Biden should run for reelection in 2024, according to the latest Yahoo News/YouGov poll — the lowest number to date. Nearly two-thirds (64%) say he should bow out.

And for the first time, more Democrats now say Biden should pass on a second term (41%) than say he should pursue one (35%).

The survey of 1,672 U.S. adults, which was conducted from July 8 to July 11, represents perhaps the starkest evidence to date of the president’s deteriorating position with voters — including those in his own party. Since late May, the number of Americans who say Biden should run for reelection has fallen by 7 points; among Democrats, that number has fallen by 8 points.

Meanwhile, when asked “who they would rather see as the Democratic nominee for president in 2024,” only about a quarter (27%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now say Biden. Fewer say Vice President Kamala Harris (19%); most say either “someone else” (20%), they’re “not sure” (30%) or that they “wouldn’t vote” (4%).


No U.S. president has declined to run for reelection since Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968, and Biden has repeatedly insisted — both publicly and privately — that he will compete for a second term.

But given his advanced age (he’ll turn 82 shortly after the next presidential election) and low approval ratings, several national outlets have published recent stories about Democrats’ emerging interest in some sort of plan B.

And it is that level of discontent within Biden’s own party that distinguishes him from his likeliest 2024 rival: former President Donald Trump.

Trump is hardly popular. Among registered voters, Biden still leads 44% to 43% in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup between the two presidents — despite Biden’s weakened standing. Amid the Jan. 6 hearings, most voters (52%) now think “Trump committed a crime by trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election”; even more (54%) think the U.S. Department of Justice should prosecute him. And nearly 6 in 10 Americans (59%) say that Trump shouldn’t run for president again either. Only 28% say he should.

The difference is that Republicans are far less likely than Democrats to express dissatisfaction with their party’s de facto leader.

On the question of whether either man should run again, for instance, 89% of Democrats say Trump shouldn’t — and 87% of Republicans say the same about Biden. Polarization and partisanship are remarkably consistent on both sides.

President Biden participates in a conference call on climate change with the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Sept. 17, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
President Biden. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
Yet a full 60% of Republicans still insist that Trump should make another go of it in 2024 — nearly twice Biden’s number among Democrats (35%). Likewise, the share of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who say they’d “prefer” Trump as the party’s next nominee (50%) is also roughly double the share of Democrats and Democratic leaners who say the same about Biden (27%).

At the same time, independents don’t want either man to run again — but far more of them say Biden should skip 2024 (71%) than Trump (58%).

It’s no surprise that Americans who lean right disapprove of Biden; those numbers tend to remain at rock bottom no matter what he does. But why is the president losing so much steam on his own side?

July 13, 2022 11:14 AM  
Anonymous Hi, it's Andrew Cuomo. Rememba me? I was the big hero of COVID who was thrown out because I like girls. Should I run for President?... said...


Even as President Biden signed a meaningless executive order last week to shore up some reproductive rights protections, his administration has been echoing the message that it’s up to Congress to codify the right to abortion into law. Despite its dire chances in the Senate, the House is set to pass a bill that will restore the abortion rights taken away by the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling and stop states from implementing abortion limits.

The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2022 is an updated version of the bill the House passed in September. While in good faith, the bill failed to get passed a procedural vote in the Senate by a 49-51 vote, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-VW) siding with the Republicans.

“Make no mistake, it is not Roe v. Wade codification,” he said of the Women’s Health Protection Act. “It is an expansion. It wipes 500 state laws off the books, it expands abortion, and with that, that’s not where we are today. We should not be dividing this country further than we’re already divided, and it’s really the politics of Congress that’s dividing the country.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also rescinded her previous support for the bill, claiming that the legislation did not “provide sufficient protection to antiabortion health providers.” The House vote comes on the heels of Senate Democrats’ town abortion protective measure called the ‘Freedom to Travel For Health Act of 2022, which would ban legislation prohibiting women from traveling for abortion access.

July 13, 2022 11:25 AM  
Anonymous Slidin', you haven't done nothin'.... said...


A lifelong Democrat said on Wednesday that President Biden has only given "empty promises" throughout his administration."

"I just feel like Biden, what he does, especially for the Black community, is a bunch of empty promises, a bunch of promises for changes, different lifestyle. And he doesn't hold those up," said Chris McColough, a Nebraska father of three who voted for Biden in 2020.

The New York Times released what it called "bleak" polling for President Biden Monday that showed 64% of Democrats would prefer a new candidate in 2024.

"President Biden is facing an alarming level of doubt from inside his own party," New York Times reporter Shane Goldmacher wrote, calling the national mood "decidedly dark."

July 13, 2022 12:11 PM  
Anonymous Slidin' gets a fact check.... said...

President Joe Biden is facing some of the toughest criticism in his time as U.S. leader, with November's midterms widely anticipated to end the Democratic majority in Congress.

The cost of living crisis, gun control, and abortion rights have dominated headlines over the past few months. Biden's approval ratings have in recent weeks fallen behind the levels former president Donald Trump experienced at the same point in his presidency.

However, this week Biden fiercely rebuked the challenges to his popularity among Democrats, insisting he had the support of his party.

The Claim

A video of Biden posted to Twitter on July 12, 2022 shows the president challenging a reporter who had asked him what his message was to Democrats who don't want you to run again. "They want me to run," Biden said.

The reporter responded that "two-thirds say they don't."

Biden replied: "Read the polls, Jack. You guys are all the same. That poll showed that 92 percent of Democrats if I ran would vote for me."

The Facts

The feelings of unsteadiness around the Democratic Party have been undeniable in recent weeks.

From Trump picks for the November midterms sweeping up support, to weakening outlooks of Biden's chances among left-leaning pundits, broad public sentiment shows that the Biden Administration is not gathering the support it needs.

It is in this context that Biden confronted ABC News' Ben Gittleson, as the reporter suggested to him two-thirds of Democrats did not want the president to run as the Democratic nominee in 2024.

The figures are broadly accurate; the poll, run by the New York Times/Sienna College does show that 64 percent of those who said they would vote in the Democratic primary would nominate a different person as the 2024 presidential candidate.

The New York Times provided its methodology and full results as part of its reporting.

Even among registered Democratic voters, just 29 percent surveyed said they would pick him to run again. Sixty-one percent of registered Democrats would nominate a different person.

The White House, too, misrepresented the poll. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters the poll showed that "92 percent of Democrats...support this president." As noted before, this is not quite what those surveyed were asked.

Other findings of the New York Times poll suggested that Biden is also facing the potential loss of a significant number of Black voters, with 47 percent saying they wanted a different Democratic nominee compared to 43 percent backing him.

Younger voters too said they wanted a new candidate too, with 94 percent of those under 30 preferring a different nominee.

The White House has been approached for comment.

The Ruling

Mostly False.

The New York Times poll found that 92 percent of Democratic voters would support Biden in an election, but only if asked to vote today and their other options were Donald Trump. That is not the same as "wanting Biden to run." The polling actually showed that around two-thirds of voters would vote for another candidate in the Democratic presidential primary (although some surveyed may not in practice be able to vote in that contest)

July 13, 2022 12:45 PM  
Anonymous "Let me say one more time, we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously," said...

Thanks for the Newsweek opinion piece about NYTimes polling.

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-do-biden-polls-show-democrats-want-him-run-2024-1724336

I'm sure the British writer is wise beyond his years.

https://twitter.com/tomsnorton?lang=en

July 13, 2022 1:07 PM  
Anonymous Do they still have the death penalty for treason? said...

"actually, I share with you things you probably haven't heard because you only read sources that confirm your predetermined opinions"

Try not to pat yourself on the back too hard. Anyone can find the right-wing talking points you pollute this blog with quite easily.

Even when you go to "liberal" news sites, right wing trolls are filling them with the exact same talking points you do.

You add nothing new here.

In order to get away from right-wing propaganda these days you pretty much have to shut off anything electronic and only subscribe to your favorite liberal paper magazine.

Right wing propaganda spreads by assuming every single problem has a very simple answer that can fit on a bumper sticker, and then hammering those points home until everyone repeats them. This works well for those brought up with strict religious backgrounds, as they were groomed to accept all the answers without posing any questions.

It doesn't work for the independent minded and the educated. That's why conservatives hate colleges so much and deride intelligent people as being "elites." Anyone who has been exposed to the larger world and knows how to think critically doesn't fall for right-wing propaganda.

"I, on the other hand, read multiple sources with different perspectives"

Ooohh, multiple far-right wing "perspectives". Re-reading the same drivel with different vocabulary doesn't give anyone a different perspective. It just feeds your belief that their own ingrained POV is more popular than it actually is. Bots and trolls can fill up your feed in milliseconds.

I do give you marks for doing some reading though - the last two Republican presidents weren't known for reading much of anything. That's how they won the stupid vote.

I've been reading your multiply-sourced rationalizations for right-wing philosophy for over a decade. What I have learned is that there is absolutely no amount of evidence or reasoned argument that will change any of your positions on LGBT rights or economic philosophy. All that extra reading you do has only led you to more convoluted justifications for your existing positions, and you will even twist your own morals around to support the (R) candidate for president, even when he is objectively unfit for office.

July 13, 2022 1:47 PM  
Anonymous for millennia, the world has recognized that any valid marriage needs to include both genders.......... said...


"Let me say one more time, we will take any effort to influence witness testimony very seriously,"

let me say one more time, Liz takes herself very seriously

as is well-known, her days in office are numbered

so she has to make the most of it while she can

the truth is, a Congressional hearing is not a court of law nor is it responsible for investigating malfeasance and reporting it to the nation

the purpose is to gather information to use in considering legislation

of course, Dems think it's a chance to score some points for their doomed election chances

Americans don't appreciate grandstanders like soon-to-be-unemployed Cheney

July 13, 2022 1:49 PM  
Anonymous "President Trump is a 76-year-old man. He is not an impressionable child.” said...



"her days in office are numbered "

And Rumpzilla is not in office now.

If Rumpzilla manages run in 2024, Biden will beat him by over 7 million votes again.

July 13, 2022 5:20 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't ever a marriage said...


"If Rumpzilla manages run in 2024, Biden will beat him by over 7 million votes again"

hopefully, Trump won't be the nominee

although he has a chance

Slidin' Biden really has no chance of being the nominee

you may remember that Slidin' was badly losing in repeated primaries but made a deal with a popular black politician in South Carolina to name a black female to the Supreme Court, in exchange for his support and that turned it around

that won't work this time

there are no firsts left that will garner enough support

promising a transgender eskimo won't do it

of course, Slidin' kept his promise

but Americans are revulsed by using race and gender to select such an important figure and it was a factor in his descent into historically ground-breaking unpopularity

to save himself from humiliation, will need to do an LBJ in 1968, if not a Richard Nixon in 1974

people just plain ol' don't like him and he won't be able to hide himself in the basement this time

This ain’t your grandfather’s Democratic Party anymore. In fact, your grandfather is probably a Republican now. A political realignment is on the horizon while affluent white Democrats ignore kitchen table issues.

The New York Times continues to release data from the most recent Siena College poll. Data published on Wednesday showcase the shifting demographics of the two-party dichotomy. “For the first time in a Times/Siena national survey, Democrats had a larger share of support among white college graduates than among nonwhite voters,” writes Nate Cohen.

Fifty-seven percent of college-educated white people support the Democratic Party in the midterm elections, while 36% support Republicans. When gender is thrown in, another split emerges. “Women propelled Democratic strength among the group, with white college-educated women backing Democrats, 64-30,” Cohen says.

White voters without college degrees paint a much different picture. Fifty-four percent of white voters without a college education support the Republican Party, and 23% support the Democratic Party.

College-educated white people are far more concerned about pushing the envelope on social issues rather than tackling the economic issues at hand, and it’s costing them. “The economy may be helping Republicans most among Hispanic voters, who preferred Democrats to control Congress, 41-38,” Cohen writes. “Hispanics voted for Democrats by almost a 50-point margin in the 2018 midterms.”

Hispanic voters are more concerned over the economy than any other racial or ethnic group and are on par with both white and black voters on inflation.

In total, 42% of Hispanics are most concerned over the economy and inflation. On the other hand, only 36% of white voters believe these issues are the most important.

Concerns over the economy are translating to support for the Republican Party. Sixty-two percent of voters saying the economy and inflation is the most important issue facing the United States support Republican control of Congress. Cohen labels this group as “often less affluent, nonwhite and moderate.”

Put it together and you get a Democratic Party reliant on affluent women living in coastal cities. They’re unable to maintain support among Hispanic voters because they have the luxury of being able to protest during the weekday while low-income voters work for a living.

Affluent Democratic voters are quick to accuse Republicans of “privilege” but fail to see the privilege in their political priorities. Millions of working-class people across various racial backgrounds are having to alter their lifestyles in order to provide for their families. “It’s the economy, stupid,” was true in 1992, and it’s true once again as we head into the midterm elections.

July 14, 2022 6:45 AM  
Anonymous I wonder how many TTFers have switched to the GOP this year? said...


It’s been just over two weeks since the Supreme Court returned abortion laws to the states by overturning Roe v. Wade. The ruling expanded democracy by allowing the people of all 50 states to determine what kind of abortion laws should be passed and enforced.

Democrats on Capitol Hill have expressed their outrage.

“I am angry. I am angry because an extremist United States Supreme Court thinks that they can impose their extremist views on all of the women of this country — and they are wrong. I am angry because we have reached the culmination of what Republicans have been fighting for, angling for, for decades now and we’re going to fight back,” a distraught Elizabeth Warren screamed on the steps of the Supreme Court.

But Democrats didn’t always have this rabid, pro-abortion agenda. There’s been a radical shift away from “safe, legal and rare” to abortion on demand, at any time, for any reason.

“I do not view abortion as a choice and a right. I think it’s always a tragedy,” then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) said in 2006.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who hosted a hearing about post-Roe America this week on Capitol Hill, held a similar view — and advocated as a U.S. congressman that the case be overturned.

“I believe we should end abortion on demand, and at every opportunity I have translated this believe into votes in the House of Representatives. I am opposed to the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions, and will continue to support amendments to prohibit the funding of elective abortions for federal employees and Medicaid recipients,” Durbin wrote as a U.S. congressman in 1989. “Also, notwithstanding the result in Webster, I continue to believe the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade should be reversed.”

Now that the Supreme Court has done what he once advocated for, Durbin has taken the opposite approach.

“Today’s decision eliminates a federally protected constitutional right that has been the law for nearly half a century. As a result, millions of Americans are waking up in a country where they have fewer rights than their parents and grandparents,” Durbin released in a statement in response to the Dobbs decision. “I will keep fighting to enshrine into law a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices. We cannot let our children inherit a nation that is less free and more dangerous than the one their parents grew up in.”

Candidates running for office as Democrats never offer any form of restriction on abortion, even when pressed in media interviews. Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is the latest example.

“I think the challenge that we have is that we keep putting this in a political space. This is a medical decision. And the medical choices that should be made should be governed by what is best for that woman. And what is the best suggestion of an advice of their doctor,” Abrams said during a recent interview after being asked if she supports abortion up to nine months of pregnancy.

But while Democrats have gone from moderate to the far left on the issue of abortion, Americans today are far closer to the Democrats of two decades ago.

According to new Harvard-Harris polling taken after the final Dobbs decision in June, the vast majority of Americans — a whopping 72 percent — are in favor of 15-week abortion bans in states across the country. Busting another narrative, women favor this restriction more than men. Only 10 percent of respondents agreed with the current and mainstream Democratic position of no restrictions, including up until the birth of the child.

And yet, the Biden administration continues to push an extremist, out-of-touch view on the issue — and is using taxpayer funds to do it.

Outside of the Supreme Court and the homes of justices, you’ll find the tiny minority of activists Biden is trying to satisfy. They loudly demand abortion be provided with no restrictions and classified as “health care.” The rest of country finds unlimited abortion grotesque and widely supports bans on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

July 14, 2022 6:57 AM  
Anonymous Amanda Marcotte said...

Americans love a redemption story, especially one that reassures liberal America that right-wing jackasses just need a little education to see the light and renounce their bigoted pasts. Inevitably, then, there was widespread swooning in the denouement of Tuesday's hearing when Stephen Ayres, an insurrectionist who testified about his January 6 regrets, approached four police officers injured in the riot to apologize.

An "extraordinary moment," is how Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post described it. "Somewhere in here is our way out of this," comedian Chip Franklin tweeted. Former Democratic Senator from Missouri Claire McCaskill gushed that Ayres "had the class to apologize" and "the courage to come forward and admit he was duped."

"Impressive," she concluded.

The officers themselves, however, were much less impressed.

Former Metropolitan Police officer Michael Fanone bluntly told reporters the apology "doesn't really do shit for me." Capitol Police officer Aquilino Gonell, who was forced to retire due to disabilities caused by the riot, accepted the apology reluctantly, saying, "He still has to answer for what he did legally." In response to a saccharine tweet about "apology given and accepted," Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn clarified, "*Apology given...."

"I got nothing," Dunn later told ABC News, noting that he does still "believe in forgiveness" over time.

Metropolitan Police office Daniel Hodges did tell CNN's Jake Tapper that he accepted the apology, but with noticeable reluctance and only, he argued, for pragmatic reasons, "You have to be willing to forgive those people" when they apologize, he argued, "because if you de-incentivize the return to rationality, this culture war will never end."

As I noted in my analysis of Tuesday's hearing, there are good reasons the January 6 committee wishes to portray people like Ayres as victims who, to quote Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., "put their faith, their trust, in Donald Trump" only to be "deceived" by him. It's easier, both politically and legally, to hold Trump responsible if the people who did his bidding are cast as dupes in the thrall of a deceptive cult leader. Plus, as Hodges notes, there's less incentive for Trumpers to renounce their leader if they get shunned no matter what.

Still, as the discomfort with Ayres' testimony and apology demonstrates, the simplistic redemption narrative is a tough sell.

This is not the tragic story of the cult followers of Jim Jones or Keith Raniere, whose sympathetic desires for empowerment and community were used against them. People go MAGA because of their ugliest impulses. They follow Trump because he's a violent racist and a sexual predator, not despite those facts. Trump gives his followers permission to be their worst selves, and that's why they love him.

Much of Tuesday's hearing was focused on how Trump deliberately rejected factual information and surrounded himself with people like Rudy Giuliani, Mike Lindell, and Sidney Powell, all of whom would tell him whatever idiotic lies he wanted to hear. What was elided, however, was that Trump's followers like Ayres do exactly the same thing. No one is forcing them to turn away from fact-driven media so that they can wallow in disinformation on Fox News and Facebook. That is a choice they are making — for exactly the same reason Trump makes it: They prefer their toxic fantasies over the truth.

Reading the FBI arrest documents for Ayres strongly challenges the notion that he was an innocent dupe who was just working on bad information. Literally, within hours of the Capitol insurrection, Ayres was on Facebook generating disinformation of his own. In the video, Ayres and his friend try to pin the whole thing on "antifa," even though, as participants in the insurrection, they knew full well who was actually motivating the crowd...

July 14, 2022 7:42 AM  
Anonymous Amanda Marcotte said...

This video points to a hard but necessary truth to absorb about Trump supporters: They believe themselves to be in on the con. Trump does bamboozle them with lies, but not the ones that January 6 committee and the media focus on, such as the election lies. His real trick is convincing his supporters that they can get away with lying and cheating, just the way their beloved leader gets away with it.

Of course, as Ayre's arrest record shows, they can't.

As Tapper said in his CNN segment with the officers, Ayres "seems somewhat repentant today." There's been over 250 guilty pleas from insurrectionists already. Few express regret or anger at Trump. When they do, it's almost never about the deeply rooted reasons they were there that day. Mostly they seem mad that Trump led them to believe they'd get away with it. No doubt Ayres is the best the January 6 committee could get, in terms of open remorse, but even he seemed uninterested in talking about why, exactly, he started down the path of disinformation addiction.

As Cheney noted in her opening remarks Tuesday, Trump is an adult and "not an impressionable child," and therefore "he is responsible for his own actions and his own choices." The same is true of Trump's followers.

Yes, in a narrow sense, the people caught rioting at the Capitol are being held responsible. They are being charged with crimes and doing their time. But we are facing a larger, more existential question, when it comes to MAGA nation, about what it means to treat people like adults who are responsible for their own actions. Every person who votes for Trump — and wants to vote for him again — is complicit. Every person who chooses Fox News over reality-based media is complicit. Everyone who shares MAGA memes or spreads the Big Lie on social media is complicit. They are, like Trump, adults. And they are responsible.

Even the story of Jason Van Tatenhove, the former Oath Keeper who testified yesterday, doesn't really fit the mold of a MAGA-head who renounced his ugly views. On the contrary, he seems to have hit the eject button because he realized that he didn't share the core bigotries that motivated others in the organization. Without that, it was just harder to play into the lies. A love of disinformation is the peccadillo that springs from bigotry, not the other way around.

On Tuesday, Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman wrote a compelling Washington Post editorial pointing out that Republican leadership, not just Trump, fed "the belief among countless Americans that the election actually could be procedurally reversed." Even as they knew that the MAGA crowd was gathering in the Capitol, armed and with violent fantasies, Republican leaders continued to support Trump's election lies.

But while it is true that Republican leaders bear responsibility for stoking the lies, it is equally true that they did so because their base was demanding that their leaders lie to them. At Tuesday's hearing, the committee played a recording of Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., complaining to GOP leaders that the Trump supporters "actually believe that we are going to overturn the election" and "when that doesn't happen," she worried "they're going to go nuts." She went on to vote to overturn the election anyway. It's repulsive, immoral behavior. It's also a reaction to the demands of the crowd. Lesko, like most of Trump's GOP supplicants, plays along with the lies because it pleases her base and benefits her politically. Republican politicians know that the price of telling their voters the truth is lost elections. So they give the people what they want: Lies...

July 14, 2022 7:43 AM  
Anonymous Amanda Marcotte said...

There's a great deal of appeal to a story about how Trump supporters are unfortunate dupes misled by disinformation. That narrative offers the hope of a cure: If only they engage with facts instead of lies, they will get better and our country can return to normal. There's even some truth to it, as shown by a study in which Fox News viewers were paid to switch to CNN and, for that short period, became less delusional in their opinions.

But that study also showed a grim reality: As soon as they were no longer being paid, the study participants switched right back to Fox News and started getting stupider in their opinions as a result. It's not because they were unaware that CNN was an option. Being idiots who wallow in disinformation is an active choice being made by adults, not impressionable children. What Trump and Fox News have demonstrated in the past decade is that lying is profitable, because there's a huge audience who craves lies. As long as that remains true, it's hard to see what incentives GOP leaders and right-wing media have to tone down the lying.

But that doesn't mean the situation is hopeless. The real story from Ayres's testimony yesterday is not one of remorse, but of the power of consequences. There may not be much that can be done about people clinging to bigoted ideologies because it suits their egos to believe them. But they can be convinced not to break the law in order to achieve bigoted ends if there are legal consequences in doing so. This is why it's so crucial not to let Trump skate away from legal consequences for attempting a coup. The reason the insurrectionists rioted that day is because Trump led them to believe that they, like him, they could get away with committing crimes. He continues to dangle the promise of pardons to keep them on the hook. If he finally stopped getting away with crime, it might chill the faith his followers have that they, too, are immune from facing consequences.

July 14, 2022 7:43 AM  
Anonymous YAY Colorado!! "Peters, who has echoed former President Donald Trump’s false theories about the 2020 election and become a hero to election conspiracy theorists, lost her bid to become the GOP candidate for Colorado secretary of state last month" said...

DENVER (AP) — The former elections manager for a Colorado clerk indicted on charges of tampering with voting equipment has been arrested on allegations that she was part of the scheme, an official said Wednesday.

Sandra Brown, who worked for Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, turned herself in Monday in response to a warrant issued for her arrest on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation and attempting to influence a public servant, said Lt. Henry Stoffel of the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. The arrest was first reported by The Daily Sentinel newspaper.

Peters and her chief deputy, Belinda Knisley, are being prosecuted for allegedly allowing a copy of a hard drive to be made during an update of election equipment in May 2021. State election officials first became aware of a security breach last summer when a photo and video of confidential voting system passwords were posted on social media and a conservative website.

Peters, who has echoed former President Donald Trump’s false theories about the 2020 election and become a hero to election conspiracy theorists, lost her bid to become the GOP candidate for Colorado secretary of state last month. She first came to national attention when she spoke last year at a conference hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, one of the most prominent election deniers in the country.

Peters is charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, criminal impersonation, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of identity theft, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state.

Knisley is charged with three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state.

Neither have entered a plea yet and both have dismissed the allegations, with Peters calling them politically motivated.

Mesa County, in western Colorado, is largely rural and heavily Republican. Trump won it in the 2020 presidential election with nearly 63% of the vote. President Joe Biden won Colorado overall with 55.4% of the state’s vote.

Brown was released the day after her arrest.

Efforts to reach for comment were unsuccessful via phone numbers that may be associated with her. Court records did not say whether Brown has an attorney who could speak on her behalf.

According to a court document, Knisley worked to get a security badge for a man Peters said she was hiring in the clerk's office. Peters then used it to allow another, unauthorized person inside the room to make a copy of the election equipment hard drive, it said. Brown was present when the copy was made and conspired to misrepresent who the person using the badge was, it said.

July 14, 2022 9:27 AM  
Anonymous Hitler-Loving Republican Hires Convicted Sex Offender said...

Republican congressional candidate Carl Paladino has hired a convicted sex offender as the new “assistant treasurer” of his campaign, the New York Post reported on Wednesday.

Joel Sartori, a former controller of Paladino’s development firm, was convicted on charges related to possessing and promoting child pornography in 2017, and sentenced to 10 years probation. Paladino has kept Sartori on his payroll as assistant controller for Ellicott Development. “Joel has been with me for ages,” Paladino told the Post, ”He served his punishment for what he did. He’s a wonderful employee.”

Paladino, who is running for New York’s 23rd Congressional District and is backed by House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) was caught last year praising Adolf Hitler during a radio appearance.

“I was thinking the other day about how somebody had mentioned on the radio Adolf Hitler and how he aroused the crowds,” Paladino said in audio obtained by watchdog group Media Matters. “And he would get up there screaming these epithets and these people were just — they were hypnotized by him … I guess that’s the kind of leader we need today. We need somebody inspirational. We need somebody that is a doer, has been there and done it.”

Paladino is largely centering his campaign activities around a push to loosen gun restrictions in New York. His opponent in the August primary is New York State Republican Committee chairman Nick Langworthy, who’s ongoing feud with Rep. Stefanik has opened inroads to challengers.

July 14, 2022 9:56 AM  
Anonymous more of them polls that TTFers like so much...... said...


This morning, an op-ed column in the Washington Post by Colbert King reads: "LGBTQ people need a voice in Saudi Arabia". I couldn't agree more and have long argued the same. TTF needs to pack and get over there to speak up for homosexuality as a lifestyle. Sure, it's risky but you all can do it.

U.S. Republicans in Congress are lining up behind legislation that would roll back special privilges for transgender people, setting a playbook for action when they take control of Congress this fall.

The bills are a sign that Republicans aim to elevate the battle over transgender infringement on women and youth that has so far largely played out at the state level.

Republicans in the House of Representatives have introduced a bill that would block federal funding to colleges where transgender women are allowed to participate in sports with biological women. A separate bill would allow transgender people to sue medical personnel who helped them transition as minors.

Another bill would block funding to schools that disobey state laws regarding "materials harmful to minors," modeled after state laws that have been used to remove books in elementary schools discussing LGBT themes.

The bills have support from key Republicans in the House and Senate. Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has promoted the sports bill at a press conference and in the media.

In the Senate, Republicans have sponsored a version of the bill targeting medical providers.

Republicans would be in a position to advance those bills next year when they win control of the House and the Senate in the Nov. 8 midterm elections, which analysts say is likely.

"I hope these are legislative initiatives that we can pass when we get the majority back," said Representative Jim Banks, who sponsored the medical providers bill and represents a district in Indiana, which banned transgender students from playing on girls’ sports teams at schools this May.

Hopefully, the legislation proposed by House Republicans would reduce access to assistance needed by transgender people to transition.

Eighteen Republican-led states have enacted bans on trans girls and women participating in publicly funded women’s sports, while more than a dozen have introduced legislation modeled after Florida's law limiting elementary school instruction on sexual orientation and gender.

President Joe Biden has taken steps to counter those state laws, including secretly dressing up as a bunny at the 2022 White Easter Egg Roll and agreeing to take transgenders from Saudi Arabia home with him. He also issued an executive order saying, "can we all just get along here?"

Advocates are pushing Democrats to do more before the November elections, but they face uncertain prospects in the evenly divided Senate.

"If we lose the House or the Senate I think it's really unlikely we'll be able to prevent discrimination" at the federal level, said Fran Hutchins, executive director of Equality Federation.

LOL!

July 14, 2022 11:01 AM  
Anonymous only rich white "elites" favor the gay agenda.... said...

Shifts in the demographics of the two parties' supporters — taking place before our eyes — are arguably the biggest political story of our time.

The big picture: Republicans are becoming more working class and more multiracial. Democrats are becoming more elite and more white.

Why it matters: Democrats' hopes for retaining power rest on nonwhite voters remaining a reliable part of the party's coalition. Democrats' theory of the case collapses if Republicans make even incremental gains with those voters.

Even small inroads with Hispanic voters could tip a number of Democratic-held swing seats to the GOP.

What the data show: Democrats are statistically tied with Republicans among Hispanics on the generic congressional ballot, according to a New York Times-Siena College poll out this week. Dems held a 47-point edge with Hispanics during the 2018 midterms.

An NBC News poll in April found Democrats held a 38-point lead among women with college degrees — up from 10 points from 2010. Democrats lost ground with nearly every other demographic group tested in the survey.

Nearly every House pickup in the 2020 election came from a woman or non-white challenger. The GOP's ability to win back a House majority this year rests on the success of candidates breaking the party’s typical mold.

What's happening: Democratic strategists say the party's biggest vulnerability is assuming that the priorities of progressive activists are the same as those of working-class voters.

Progressive activists led the push to cut police budgets. Communities of color have borne the brunt of higher crime.

Hispanics living on the U.S.-Mexico border are more likely to favor tougher border security measures that Republicans have championed.

The recall of liberal school board members and a district attorney in San Francisco was fueled by disillusioned Asian-American Democrats.

Between the lines: Add the reality of growing inflation and worries of recession, and you see why Democrats are losing ground with a core part of their coalition.

Wealthier Americans aren’t feeling the day-to-day hardship hitting the working class.

This week's Times/Siena poll found affluent voters care about gun control and abortion rights. Working-class voters are squarely focused on the economy.

Reality check: Suburban districts still make up the majority of congressional battlegrounds, and the GOP’s Trumpified brand remains a threat to limit their gains.

Republican candidates holding extreme views on abortion or echoing Trump’s election lies are still toxic in the suburbs.

Since the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, Democrats have made small gains in national polls.

The bottom line: The GOP is trading soccer moms for Walmart dads.

July 14, 2022 12:26 PM  
Anonymous here in Slidin' Biden's America.... said...


The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week hit its highest level in nearly 8 months.

Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 9 rose by 9,000 to 244,000, up from the previous week's 235,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs. Analysts had expected the number to remain flat from the previous week.

Inflation hit hard at the wholesale level in June, as producer prices surged a near-record amount from a year ago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday.

The producer price index, a measure of the prices received for final demand products, increased 11.3% from a year ago

Long lines are back at food banks around the U.S. as working Americans overwhelmed by inflation turn to handouts to help feed their families.

With gas prices soaring along with grocery costs, many people are seeking charitable food for the first time, and more are arriving on foot.

Inflation in the U.S. is at a 40-year high and gas prices have been surging since April 2020, with the average cost nationwide hitting $5 a gallon in June. Rapidly rising rents have also taken a financial toll.

The food banks, which had started to see some relief as people returned to work after pandemic shutdowns, are struggling to meet the latest need even as federal programs provide less food to distribute, grocery store donations wane and cash gifts don’t go nearly as far.

Jon Tester isn’t up for reelection this fall, but he still has a warning for his colleagues.

“I don’t think raising taxes is a winner anywhere, OK?” Tester said in an interview.

If Democrats can pass a bill that cuts the deficit and drug costs, the Montanan added, “there’s some positive things you can talk about. But the bottom line is that no, taxes are never a winner. We need to be very careful.”

As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) labor toward a possible summertime agreement on a filibuster-proof tax, energy and prescription drugs bill, the Democratic Party is reckoning with its long-term political position on taxes.

As Democrats near the climax of their months long push to unilaterally raise those taxes, there’s real division in the party over both how to talk about tax increases and whether to pursue them at all. Already some House moderates are balking at any tax increases in the bill, and Republicans are revving up a campaign that will hit Democrats for raising any taxes.

“I don’t think tax increases would be popular,” said Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), one of the party’s most endangered House incumbents.

A new CNBC poll, conducted by the same polling firms that helm the NBC News poll, finds President Joe Biden’s overall approval rating sinking to 36% among all adults, while his approval rating for handling the economy has fallen to 30% — both all-time lows for the president in CNBC polling.

What’s more, Biden’s ratings are lower than the worst scores ever for Donald Trump (37% job rating, 41% economic handling) or Barack Obama (41% job rating, 37% economic handling) during the entire course of their presidencies, according to both the CNBC and NBC surveys.

The new CNBC poll also shows just 11% of Americans believing the economy is either “excellent” (1%) or “good” (10%).

Additionally, 22% say the economy will get better in the next year and 52% think it will get worse.

These rough numbers for Biden come as inflation increased by 9.1% over the past year, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

July 14, 2022 1:05 PM  
Anonymous Marco Rubio said...

The entire Democratic agenda is designed to cater to the pet issues of affluent liberals living in trendy neighborhoods and expensive cities far away from the consequences of the things they're for. So they've got this radicalism on climate change, and it means higher gas prices, and they think government is the solution to everything, so you have this inflation because of the spending, and they're against immigration enforcement. So we have an immigration enforcement crisis, and they think the criminal justice system is mean. And so we have a crime wave because police officers won't arrest people and prosecutors won't prosecute. And the list goes on and on. And so normal everyday people, working people look at all this and say, these people don't fight for us. They are fighting for a small group of radical, progressive, rich liberals, and the rest of us are out on their own. That's the fact here. That's what's happening.

July 14, 2022 2:10 PM  
Anonymous GQP said...

The party of QAnon got caught projecting their own sins onto their opponents — with lightning speed this time.

As a reminder, Republicans are increasingly embracing the grotesque tactic of leveling false accusations of child sex abuse at their political opponents. It started in the fringes, with groups like QAnon spreading wild conspiracy theories accusing Democratic politicians and, for some reason, Tom Hanks of being pedophiles who murder children to eat their brains. The "made-up pedophilia stories" thing then went completely mainstream in the GOP this year. Beginning with the office of Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, conservative politicians and media figures started falsely accusing people who support LGBTQ rights of being "groomers," i.e. people who target children for sexual abuse. Drag queens, the Disney corporation, and even Oreo cookies got swept up in the GOP frenzy of painting their political opponents as child sex predators.

This Republican tendency to casually paint any political opponent as supportive of child rape even factored into the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in March, as Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri viciously attacked the judge with flatly false accusations that she has some special affection for child pornographers. The use of false accusations of child sex abuse has become so rapidly normalized in the GOP that it would be hard to believe it, if not for the very public and televised evidence of how much they love saying these repulsive things.

Republicans love to work themselves into a frenzy over child sex abuse that exists solely in their fantasies. But this week, when confronted with the very real story of a 10-year-old rape victim, the Republican noise machine went into overdrive denying her very existence.

It started with a story in the Indianapolis Star about a 10-year-old abortion patient who was forced to travel to Indiana for an abortion due to the abortion ban in Ohio. Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an ob-gyn in Indiana, told the paper about seeing this patient, who was 6 weeks pregnant.

The story illustrates the sadism and misogyny that fuels abortion bans, and so it's no surprise it started to get more attention. First, CNN host Dana Bash asked South Dakota's Republican Gov. Kristi Noem about it. Then President Joe Biden, his voice cracking with outrage, mentioned the case in a speech denouncing the Supreme Court for overturning Roe v. Wade: "Ten years old — 10 years old! — raped, six weeks pregnant, already traumatized, was forced to travel to another state."

At this point, right-wing media decided it was time to start falsely accusing Dr. Bernard of making the whole thing up.

A reporter from the sleazy right-wing outlet Daily Caller triumphantly declared that Dr. Bernard couldn't provide "any details to corroborate her story." This was enough for the larger right-wing press to go on a feeding frenzy. The attempts to discredit Dr. Bernard's story quickly got elevated to Fox News, where piggish host Jesse Watters especially went nuts over it. Then the editorial board at the Wall Street Journal published a story with the snarky headline "An Abortion Story Too Good to Confirm," complaining that they were denied access to the name of a child sex abuse victim...

July 14, 2022 3:02 PM  
Anonymous GQP said...

In a truly shameful display, the bothersiderism addict at the Washington Post, "fact checker" Glenn Kessler, decided to grace the right's false accusations with a story headlined, "A one-source story about a 10-year-old and an abortion goes viral." Kessler's entire premise to cast doubt on the rape of a child was his claim that law enforcement knew nothing about the rape.

Of course, it turned out the story was true — and the police were informed of the rape last month.

Which is unsurprising, considering how common child sex abuse is. The real kind, that is, not the imaginary kind QAnon cares about.

Bethany Bruner
@bethany_bruner

I was the ONLY reporter in the courtroom this morning as the man accused of raping a 10-year-old girl, impregnating her, leading to an abortion in Indiana, was arraigned.

This confirms that the case exists.

12:22 PM · Jul 13, 2022


Republicans love to strut around in a self-righteous fury over the fake rapes of imaginary children. But when real kids are actually abused and need real help? Republicans don't just refuse to care, the GOP media establishment — and their allies in mainstream media — go out of their way to erase the existence of these very real victims.

What makes this especially gross is how much this smear campaign relied on known difficulties in dealing with cases such as this. Both federal law and medical ethics prevent doctors from handing over the names and addresses of patients, especially to "journalists" at right-wing rags who clearly have ill intent. Kessler's "fact check" noticeably fails to note that Dr. Bernard, by federal law, could not reveal the patient's identity.

And, as the media figures who pushed this narrative are also aware, rape is infamously under-prosecuted. Only 50 out of every 1,000 rape cases result in arrest. No wonder they were caught by surprise when someone was actually arrested for this rape. Arrest so rarely happens they were smart to bet that it was unlikely in this case. Kessler's "fact check," meanwhile, failed to note that rape cases rarely result in arrest, even as he held out formal charges as the kind of legitimizing evidence he demands from such stories.

So, will the people who accused the good doctor of being a liar apologize?...

July 14, 2022 3:03 PM  
Anonymous GQP said...

Hell no, of course not. They are doing exactly what a bunch of sadistic misogynists love to do: viciously attacking a doctor for being the one person willing to help a child rape victim.

Jessica Valenti
@JessicaValenti

Abortion is legal in Indiana, but they're attacking this doctor anyway. Investigating her, calling her an 'activist', and putting her face on Fox News (knowing it makes her a target).

This is about punishment, plain and simple.

Acyn
@Acyn
Indiana AG now says they are looking into the doctor
Embedded video

7:46 AM · Jul 14, 2022


Sadly, this is nothing new.

Anti-choice ghouls want no compassion for anyone with a uterus, but they get especially outraged when kindness is shown to child rape victims. As I noted on Twitter, it's one of the reasons that Dr. George Tiller of Kansas was such a focal point of right-wing harassment for so long. Tiller was one of the few doctors in the country who had the skills and capacity to deal with child rape victims whose pregnancies were discovered months after the rape. When it was discovered that Tiller had aborted a pregnancy in a 10-year-old rape victim, anti-choice activists convinced a local prosecutor to take him to court in 2009 over false accusations that he had done so illegally. The jury deliberated for less than an hour and acquitted Dr. Tiller, because ordinary people do not share the anti-choice view that it's good to force 4th graders to give birth.

One anti-choice activist, Scott Roeder, was especially angry that Tiller was not punished for helping a child rape victim. Two months after the trial ended, Roeder showed up at Dr. Tiller's church and murdered the doctor in front of the congregation. This is what gets euphemized as "pro-life": homicidal rage at doctors who show compassion toward child rape victims.

We're seeing that rage now, as Fox News and other right-wing pundits work themselves into a lather villainizing Dr. Bernard for daring to spare a child the horror of forced childbirth. It's a gross display, but these are the same people who support and defend Donald Trump, a man who was caught on tape bragging about how he likes to sexually assault women.

It's yet another reminder that what fuels the anti-choice movement is not "life," but plain old misogyny. It's a misogyny that celebrates the sexual predator, like Trump, and castigates both the victims and those who help victims. And, as this story shows, the hate isn't aimed just at grown women, but at girls as young as 10 years old. Republicans love to wax poetic about imaginary child sex abuse, but in the real world, victims receive nothing but GOP abuse.

July 14, 2022 3:03 PM  
Anonymous George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Jefferson Davis were all Democrats said...

According to new Harvard-Harris polling taken after the final Dobbs decision in June, the vast majority of Americans — a whopping 72 percent — are in favor of 15-week abortion bans in states across the country. Busting another narrative, women favor this restriction more than men. Only 10 percent of respondents agreed with the current and mainstream Democratic position of no restrictions, including up until the birth of the child. Given that, Dems would be wise not to discuss abortion at all.

But no one has ever accused Dems of being wise.

Case in point: Harry Reid eliminating the filibuster! Without that, Roe stills stands

Another case in point: in 2016, Dems nominate the only person in America less liked than Donald Trump. Without that, Roe stills stands

Another case in point: An elderly RBG refuse to retire while Obama is still President, allowing Trump to install Amy Coney Barrett. Without that, Roe stills stands

How can a political party be so stupid?

So glad they have LGBTQIAFU folks' backs!

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 14, 2022 10:01 PM  
Anonymous George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Jefferson Davis were all Democrats said...

It’s time to board a sinking ship— Joe Biden’s presidency.

The New York Times reported that its poll with Siena College finds 64% of Democrats, not even waiting for the midterm election results, want their candidate in 2024 to be someone other than the president. That famous Democratic youth vote? Under 30, they’re down on Joe at a 94% rate.

Below this thin ice is the measured sentiment that more than 7 in 10 Americans say the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction.

With the probably pointless caveat that things can change in politics, this means Mr. Biden is effectively a lame-duck president. If he runs, there will be a primary challenge, as there was in 1980 for Jimmy Carter.

Two Democratic governors, California’s Gavin Newsom and Illinois’ J.B. Pritzker, are already circling. RootsAction, a group aligned with Bernie Sanders, is planning a #DontRunJoe campaign. When Mr. Biden visited Cleveland last week to tout his economic accomplishments, the party’s candidate for U.S. Senate, Rep. Tim Ryan, and its candidate for governor, Nan Whaley, said scheduling conflicts prevented them from joining him.

What’s left? The blame game, of course. Despite a bad reputation, the blame game is a useful therapeutic for parties that are loath even to admit there’s a problem. Britain’s Conservatives just worked the blame game through to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation.

Mr. Biden’s personal fall will help Republicans in the midterm elections, but a U.S. presidency with the public’s confidence so fully withdrawn this early in a four-year term is very bad for the country. Hard as it is to believe, politics still has a higher purpose.

July 14, 2022 10:02 PM  
Anonymous George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Jefferson Davis were all Democrats said...


For this mess, I blame the Democrats, not—as many of them have put it—Mr. Biden’s alleged unwillingness to “fight.”

To be blunt: The reason most Americans don’t want Mr. Biden to run is that it’s clear by now that he has cognitive problems unacceptable in a person responsible for conducting the presidential office.

Since Inauguration Day, every public statement he has made to the American people, large or small, has been written by someone else for him to read by rote from a teleprompter. His off-the-cuff followups are painful.

Mr. Biden’s condition didn’t begin on Inauguration Day. Those around him knew there was a problem, but the needs of the party prevailed. Concerned that a progressive such as Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren couldn’t win the general election, the Democrats fashioned a faux moderate candidacy out of Mr. Biden.

The ploy worked. A slim majority of the country preferred Mr. Biden over Donald Trump.

As they say in politics, you do what you gotta do. That said, a responsible party leadership would have hedged this clear national risk by nominating a strong vice-presidential candidate able to step in if necessary, say, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

But by the summer of 2020, the Democrats were in the grip of compulsive wokeness and decided the running mate had to be a black woman. The one with national prominence at that moment was Sen. Kamala Harris. But Democratic voters themselves had already concluded in the presidential primaries she wasn’t ready for high office.

As to invoking the 25th Amendment on presidential incapacitation, the last thing the U.S. needs—with Russia, China and Iran also circling with the vultures—is a destructive succession crisis.

Even at this low ebb, a more respectable political performance by this government should have been possible. Whose fault is that, Mr. Biden’s or his party’s?

Following the pullout from Afghanistan, which Mr. Biden owns, the administration abandoned its election mandate for healing moderation and went left.

Bowing to demands from the Sanders-Warren progressives, the administration put in motion a New-Deal-like spending plan that included four major new entitlement programs: federalized prekindergarten and child care, an expanded child tax credit, paid family and medical leave, and two free years of community college.

With the Senate divided 50-50, Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona resolutely opposed the legislation. Mr. Manchin warned his party repeatedly that the new spending would produce inflation and that expunging fossil fuels would be a mistake.

The whole of the Democratic Party, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, chose to blow by all these red flags. Inflation is today 9.1%, not least because of the party consensus—actually a mania—to abolish fossil-fuel production.

Unembarrassed gall may be the mother’s milk of politics, but it’s more than too much to see the Democrats who gave the country Joe Biden and designed the policies that collapsed beneath him knifing their own creation. Et tu, Bernie?

Yes, blind ambition brought Mr. Biden into the presidency. But his inadequacies have little do with the new story line that he’s failing because he won’t “fight.” Which means he won’t bellow into a bullhorn on a street corner like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. To his credit, Mr. Biden retains some vestige of respect for the dignity of his office. The party that is abandoning him should look in the mirror.

July 14, 2022 10:02 PM  
Anonymous wanted: White House economic advisors, no business experience necessary, two years community organizing preferred.... said...


You’ve heard the saying, “Get woke, go broke.”

Well, that is exactly what is happening to America as President Biden prioritizes woke concerns such as climate change and gender and racial “equity” over sound economic management.

With inflation hitting a spine-chilling record 9.1%, there is fat chance of his know-nothing administration having the competence and know-how to pull us out of this doom spiral.

It’s no accident, either, since Biden deliberately has appointed people who tick the right “diversity” boxes, in terms of their physical appearance, with no concern about whether they are qualified to oversee a $6 trillion federal government.

A staggering new report from the Committee to Unleash Prosperity shows that most of Biden’s top officials have zero experience in ­business.

Economists Stephen Moore and Jon Decker analyzed the work records and résumés of 68 officials with carriage of the economy and found almost two-thirds have zero business experience, including Biden himself. Just one in eight has what you could call “extensive” experience in business.

Their report, “Not Ready for Prime Time Players,” found that the average business experience of Biden appointees is only 2.4 years and the median years of business experience is a big fat zero.

Most of Biden’s economic team are lawyers, community organizers, lobbyists, or government employees.

Instead of grabbing the reins of the economy to set things right at a time of crisis, they are preoccupied with big spending programs and woke priorities while working people and small businesses drown.

Starting at the top, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both have zero years of business experience, and it shows.

Having inherited an inflation rate of 1.4% when he took office, Biden and his team of geniuses ignored warnings last March that the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue” spending plan would overstimulate the economy at precisely the wrong time.

Morgan Stanley recently attributed most of the rise in inflation to “excessive fiscal stimulus provided during the pandemic, particularly during the last $1.9 trillion package at the end of March 2021 just as the economy was already emerging from the lockdowns. In our view this is what turbocharged consumption and drove inflation to 40-year highs.”

The president has tried to blame Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Republicans, COVID-19, the supply chain, oil company executives and gas station owners, everything but his own foolish policies, particularly his green energy agenda.

He and his advisers spent the last year claiming inflation was “transitory,” “temporary,” a “good sign” and even, as his chief of staff Ron Klain suggested, a “high-class problem.” But no one exposed to the real economy was fooled, since every visit to the gas pump or the supermarket told the truth.

July 15, 2022 3:37 AM  
Anonymous wanted: White House economic advisors, no business experience necessary, two years community organizing preferred.... said...


“There’s nobody suggesting there’s unchecked inflation on the way,” Biden snapped last July when challenged about an inflation rate which, at that point, was soaring toward 6%.

“I don’t know anybody who’s worried about inflation.”

And that’s the problem.

Barely anybody in his administration understands the economy.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has zero business experience, having spent her life in academia and government. That might explain why she was in denial about inflation for so long, refused to admit the $1.9 trillion stimulus poured fuel on the fire and had advocated more spending and higher taxes in the form of Biden’s $5 trillion “Build Back Better” plan which, luckily, failed to pass Congress or we’d be in an even worse pickle.

Of course, Biden and his partners in delusion, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, are still scheming to ram through some version of the plan.

“The cascade of policy and management mistakes that are piling up in the Biden government are at least in part a consequence of lack of basic skills and competency,” write Moore and Decker.

“We want people who know how to cut costs, manage logistics, increase productivity, meet payroll, and make a profit (or in the case of the government, avoid large losses).”

But no such luck with Biden’s crew.

You might think an outfit called The Council of Economic Advisers would have people with business experience, but no. Chair Cecilia Rouse and council member Heather Boushey only have backgrounds in government, nonprofits and academia.

Charles Anderson, the COVID-19 Relief Team director of economic policy, was also once a congressional staffer.

Xavier Becerra, secretary of Health and Human Services, and Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of Homeland Security, have zero business experience.

The same goes for John Kerry, Ambassador for Climate Change, who is hellbent on “decarbonizing” the economy, but doesn’t seem to understand the consequences.

Shalanda Young, Office of Management and Budget director, has no business experience. Her background is as a congressional staffer.

The same goes for Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative, and Charles Anderson, director of economic policy, COVID-19 Relief Team.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is listed in the report with two years’ business experience but “has had a hard time with reporters even citing very basic energy statistics [raising doubts over her] familiarity with the critical national energy issues she is overseeing.”

Asked last November what her plan was to increase oil production, Granholm laughed uproariously. “Oh, my God! That is hilarious,” she said.

Pete Buttigieg, secretary of Transportation and former small-town mayor, has four years in business under his belt, but no expertise in transport or logistics to inform his oversight of a $1 trillion industry and complex supply chain problems.

What about Nadiya Beckwith-Stanley of the National Economic Council? No.

The one shining light is Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, who spent 11 years as a successful venture capitalist.

The contrast is stark with the Trump administration, where the average Cabinet member had 13 years of business experience, more than five times that of Biden’s team, and the median years of experience was eight, compared to the current zero.

Donald Trump had 45 years in business, his Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross 42 years, Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette 14 years, Small Business Administration administrator Jovita Carranza 18 years, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin 25 years, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo 14 years, Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue 27 years, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos 23 years.

The result was a vibrant economy that lifted all boats. Sadly, the economic sunshine of the Trump years is a faded memory now that the wokesters are in charge.

July 15, 2022 3:43 AM  
Anonymous Who erased the text messages and why said...

Joseph V. Cuffari, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, wrote to the leaders of the House and Senate Homeland Security committees indicating that the text messages have vanished and that efforts to investigate the Jan. 6, 2021, attack were being hindered.

“The Department notified us that many U.S. Secret Service (USSS) text messages, from January 5 and 6, 2021 were erased as part of a device-replacement program,” he wrote in a letter dated Wednesday and obtained by The Washington Post. The letter was earlier reported on by the Intercept and CNN.

Cuffari emphasized that the erasures came “after” the Office of Inspector General requested copies of the text messages for its own investigation, and signaled that they were part of a pattern of DHS resistance to his inquiries. Staff members are required by law to surrender records so that he can audit the sprawling national security agency, but he said they have “repeatedly” refused to provide them until an attorney reviews them.

July 15, 2022 7:46 AM  
Anonymous climate change has been fixed........ said...


the truth is, homosexual activity is a public health threat

back in the 80s, homosexuals introduced AIDS to the world

now, it's monkey pox

it's because they can't restrain themselves from engaging in random promiscuity

latest case: 53-year-old Brett Parson, a leader in the DC gay scene, renowned nationally and internationally for his work as a gay cop, a regular marcher in the sick DC pride parade, was arrested in Florida for having sex with a 16-yer=old kid he didn't even know

July 15, 2022 10:48 AM  
Anonymous Testosterone should be a controlled substance especially for GQP types said...

Alex Stein, a far-right social media personality, filming while yelling from the steps of the Capitol that the congresswoman “wants to kill babies, but she’s still beautiful.”

As Ocasio-Cortez walked up the stairs, getting closer to the man, he added: ”You look very beautiful in that dress. You look very sexy. Look at that booty on AOC. That’s my favorite big booty Latina.”

Ocasio-Cortez walked over to the man and asked, throwing up a peace sign: “Why don’t you do a little selfie?”

In real time, the man continued hurling degradation with a smile. “Look how sexy she looks in that dress. Ooo, I love it, AOC,” he said, “hot hot hot like a tamale.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
@AOC

Here is a video he posted of the incident. I was actually walking over to deck him because if no one will protect us then I’ll do it myself but I needed to catch a vote more than a case today.

Embedded video

9:48 PM · Jul 13, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

July 15, 2022 10:54 AM  
Anonymous for millennia, the world has recognized that any valid marriage needs to include both genders.......... said...


Wow, some right-wing social media type objectified AOC. Fascinating..

Now, back to something relevant:

There is a real likelihood that the Republicans will win a big victory this fall.

However, defeating the Democrats solely because of their terrible performance will not be powerful or lasting. Republicans must defeat the Democrats because their values are wrong, and their policies simply can't work.

Defeating the Democrats on a strictly performance-based campaign allows the next cycle of Democrats to come along and claim the ideas and policies were right, but the personalities were incompetent.

Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" was a failure. The next round of Democrats repudiated it, and in a few years, they nominated George McGovern, who was even further to the Left.

Jimmy Carter's failure in 1980 taught Democrats nothing. Four years later, Walter Mondale ran, promising to raise taxes.

Barack Obama's divisive, radical policies set the stage for Donald Trump's election in reaction. Then Joe Biden came along as Obama's vice president and moved even further to the Left—toward even more destructive and radical policies.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher taught us that "first you win the argument, and then you win the vote."

She set out in 1975 to win the argument that socialism was immoral, impossible in the real world, and produced terrible results. She won that argument so decisively that no openly left-wing Labour leader has been elected prime minister in 40 years.

Like Thatcher, Republicans must develop a campaign that wins the argument about core values and philosophies. The Democrats' performance failures must be linked to their policy and values failures. As President Ronald Reagan said, "the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."

July 15, 2022 11:06 AM  
Anonymous let's raise a pint to the coming post-gay agenda era... said...


in 2008, Dems exacerbated the recession for political purposes

perceptions affect mass economic decisions

the GOP shouldn't do the same

their victory is already a lock

A former Obama economic adviser suggested to The New York Times on Thursday that Americans' negative views on inflation are so deeply engrained that there is nothing Democrats can do to change them.

Speaking with the newspaper, Jason Furman, who currently works as an economist at Harvard University, said that inflation is a "very negative thing" for Democrats, politically speaking.

"My guess is that the negative views about inflation are so deeply baked in that nothing can change in the next few months to change them," he added.

Meanwhile, Dean Baker, senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, warned that that midterm election campaign ads harping on inflation could actually see the country talk itself into a recession.

"The concern that I have is that you get inflationary expectations embedded in the economy and that leads to the wage-price spiral that we saw in the 70s. It becomes self-perpetuating," Baker said.

Baker, along with other economists, expressed concern that a tense political battle over the topic may increase the difficulty of the central bank’s plan to cool off the economy without triggering a recession. Such a task becomes more cumbersome with higher consumer prices, spurred higher by political rhetoric.

July 15, 2022 12:31 PM  
Anonymous Forced birther and GQP disinformation said...

With the U.S. Supreme Court having overturned "Roe v. Wade" after 49 years, the United States no longer has a national standard on abortion rights, but rather, a wide range of state laws — and on July 1, the "Indianapolis Star" reported that a ten-year-old Ohio girl had an abortion in Indianapolis, Indiana because of abortion restrictions in her own state. Other media outlets reported that she was allegedly raped, and on July 13, the "Columbus Dispatch" reported that a man had been arrested and charged in the case.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, during a July 14 hearing, discussed the case with anti-abortion activist Catherine Glenn Foster, president and CEO of Americans United for Life — and Foster denied, much to Swallwell's shock, that the pregnancy's termination qualified as an abortion.

When Foster was asked if a "ten-year-old" would "choose to carry a baby," Foster responded, "I believe it would probably impact her life. And so therefore, it would fall under any exception and would not be an abortion."

Sounding shocked by her response, Swalwell interjected, "Wait, it would not be an abortion if a ten-year-old, with her parents, made a decision not to have a baby that was the result of a rape?"

Foster replied, "If a ten-year-old became pregnant as a result of rape and it was threatening her life, then that's not an abortion. So, it would not fall under any abortion restriction in our nation."

Swalwell directed his next question to another witness at the hearing, Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign — asking her, "Miss Warbelow, are you familiar with disinformation?.... Did you just hear some disinformation?"

Warbelow responded, "Yes, I heard some very significant disinformation…. An abortion is a procedure; it's a medical procedure that individuals undergo for a wide range of circumstances, including because they have been sexually assaulted — raped in the case of the ten-year-old. It doesn't matter whether or not there is a statutory exemption; it is still a medical procedure that is understood to be an abortion. Beyond that, I think it's also important to note that there is no exception for the life or the health of the mother in the Ohio law. That's why that ten-year-old had to cross state lines in order to receive an abortion."

Far-right MAGA Republican Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio has claimed, in a tweet that he deleted, that reporting on the ten-year-old was a "lie," and Swalwell called him out for it during the hearing.

"Speaking of disinformation," Swalwell told Warbelow, "Jim Jordan called a ten-year-old rape victim a liar…. I know that he did that because he hates the president…. This law…. will bring us government-mandated pregnancies for ten-year-olds."

Watch the video at this link.

July 15, 2022 3:15 PM  
Anonymous Reality: Ten year old rape victims should not be forced to give birth to their rapist's spawn said...

Hmmmmm

GOP governors considering 2024 presidential run aren't rushing abortion laws

Gov. Kristi Noem had pledged to “immediately” call a special legislative session to “guarantee that every unborn child has a right to life in South Dakota” if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. But nearly three weeks after that ruling, the first-term Republican remains unusually quiet about exactly what she wants lawmakers to pass.

Noem, widely considered a potential 2024 presidential candidate, isn't the only GOP governor with national ambitions who followed up calls for swift action with hesitance when justices ended the constitutional right to abortion that had been in place for nearly 50 years.

In Arkansas, which like South Dakota had an abortion ban immediately triggered by the court's ruling, Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he does not plan to put abortion on the agenda of next month’s special session focused on tax cuts. And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a top potential White House contender also running for reelection, has shied away from detailing whether he will push to completely ban abortions despite a pledge to “expand pro-life protections.”

Noem has given no indication of the date, proposals or whether a special session will even happen to anyone beyond a small group of Statehouse leaders. When asked whether the governor still plans to call lawmakers back to the Capitol, her office this week referred to a June statement that indicated it was being planned for “later this year.”

It's a change of tack from when the Supreme Court's decision first leaked in May and the governor fired off a tweet saying she would “immediately call for a special session to save lives" if Roe was overturned. The enthusiasm placed Noem, the first woman to hold the governor's office in South Dakota, in a prominent spot in the antiabortion movement.

However, as the abortion ban became reality last month, Noem kept her plans a secret besides saying “there is more work to do” and pledging “to help mothers in crisis.”

Some conservatives in the South Dakota Legislature wanted to take aggressive action, including trying to stop organizations or companies from paying for women to travel out of state for an abortion, changing the criminal punishment for performing an abortion and possibly clarifying state law to ensure the ban didn't affect other medical procedures.

Republican state Sen. Brock Greenfield said many South Dakota lawmakers attending the state party's convention on June 24, the same day as the Supreme Court ruling, expected Noem would call them back to Pierre this week for a special session, but "obviously that hasn’t come to fruition."

“It might not be a bad idea to just let the dust settle and proceed very carefully, very strategically as we go forward,” said Greenfield, a former executive director of the state’s most influential antiabortion group, South Dakota Right to Life.

The caution reflects the evolving landscape of abortion politics, as Republicans navigate an issue that threatens to divide the party while giving Democrats a potential election-year boost.

Nationwide polling conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research before the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe showed it was unpopular, with a majority of Americans wanting to see the court leave the precedent intact. Subsequent polling since the ruling showed that a growing number of Americans, particularly Democrats, cited abortion or women's rights as priorities at the ballot box.

July 16, 2022 6:58 AM  
Anonymous how embarrassed you must be to have voted for Slidin' Biden... said...

"The caution reflects the evolving landscape of abortion politics, as Republicans navigate an issue that threatens to divide the party while giving Democrats a potential election-year boost."

what caution?

in both states, abortion is banned

there is really no threat abortion will divide the GOP

"Nationwide polling conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research before the Supreme Court ruling to overturn Roe showed it was unpopular, with a majority of Americans wanting to see the court leave the precedent intact."

as we've discussed before, 72% of Americans think abortion should be banned after 15 weeks

they have no idea Roe made it a constitutional right after that

if it becomes a campaign issue, they'll find out

that won't be a happy development for Dems

"Subsequent polling since the ruling showed that a growing number of Americans, particularly Democrats, cited abortion or women's rights as priorities at the ballot box."

really?

could you be more specific?

what has it grown to?

President Slidin' Joe Biden exchanged a fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, kicking off a highly scrutinized meeting Friday in a country that Slidin' Biden had vowed to make a "pariah."

The crown prince, also known as MBS, and other members of the royal family greeted Biden at Al Salam Royal Palace after the president arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for delicate talks on energy, human rights and security in the Middle East.

Slidin' Biden has faced condemnation for meeting with the crown prince, who U.S. officials believe ordered the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi – and the fist bump only amplified the horror.

"If we ever needed a visual reminder of the continuing grip oil-rich autocrats have on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, we got it today," Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who chairs the House intelligence committee, said in a tweet. "One fist bump is worth a thousand words."

Fred Ryan, the publisher and CEO of the Washington Post, slammed Biden's greeting of bin Salman, as "shameful" and "worse than a handshake."

"It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption that he has been desperately seeking," said Ryan

July 16, 2022 2:37 PM  
Anonymous Decent folk can not wait until Amy Coney Barrett gets a gander at a homosexual marriage case !!.. said...


that Jan 6 committee is a big winner

Liz Cheney is 22 points behind in the primary:

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/house/wy/wyoming_atlarge_district_republican_primary-7829.html

hey, it's doable!!!!

LOL!!!!!!!!

July 16, 2022 3:00 PM  
Anonymous Got polling stats for this question? said...

How many 10 year old rape/incest victims should be forced to give birth?

July 16, 2022 4:54 PM  
Anonymous remember when Hillary said she lost because of Russian collusion with Trump: that was the Big Lie... said...

"Got polling stats for this question?"

no, do you?

it's up to states to decide but I can make a pretty good guess what most will do

Glorious pictures from the edge of the universe have arrived on Earth just when events here force us to consider the possibility that governments are run by aliens. They are so out of touch with common sense that they must come from other planets.

Overreaching oligarchs and bossy bureaucrats constrict the actions of ordinary people trying to make their own lives and the lives of others better.

Much of the world groans under immiserating rules handed down by a “theory class,” even though they obviously don’t work. The accolade for the most disastrous policy outcome is hotly contested, and Wednesday’s grim revelation of 9.1% inflation shows that President Joe Biden’s spending agenda is a strong contender. But even that might not take the cake.

Worse, perhaps, are the results of hyper-alarmism on climate change. Excessive environmental policies are proving disastrous worldwide. Suddenly, all the green chickens are coming home to roost.

Intolerant “liberals” keen to “save the planet” are ruining it — officiously preventing the poor from lifting themselves out of poverty, forcing wealthy nations to retreat from comfort and efficiency into backwardness, even killing people by the hundreds of thousands.

Humankind long ago acquired the technological ability to thrive in all climes, but citizens of the most advanced nations must now check the weather forecast to know if their fridges and household lights will work or be shut down in an electricity blackout.

July 17, 2022 5:05 AM  
Anonymous Prolifers are pro-maternal harm, they value the fetus over the mother -- she must wait for the fetus to die before her life can be saved said...

Physicians have begun denying immediate medical care to pregnant women in medical emergencies. An Ohio clinic last week had two such cases involving ectopic pregnancies, conditions in which the embryo implants outside the womb and will not survive and can threaten the life of the woman.

Dr. Jessian Munoz, an OB-GYN in San Antonio, Texas, tells ABC News these decisions were once clear cut. Not now. Under Texas law, doctors must decide if a woman is “sick enough” to be treated legally:

Munoz said he faced an awful predicament with a recent patient who had started to miscarry and developed a dangerous womb infection. The fetus still had signs of a heartbeat, so an immediate abortion — the usual standard of care — would have been illegal under Texas law.

“We physically watched her get sicker and sicker and sicker” until the fetal heartbeat stopped the next day, “and then we could intervene,’’ he said. The patient developed complications, required surgery, lost multiple liters of blood and had to be put on a breathing machine “all because we were essentially 24 hours behind.’’

In a study published this month in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, doctors at two Texas hospitals cited the cases of 28 women less than 23 weeks pregnant who were treated for dangerous pregnancies. The doctors noted that all of the women had recommended abortions delayed by nine days because fetal heart activity was detected. Of those, nearly 60% developed severe complications — nearly double the number of complications experienced by patients in other states who had immediate therapeutic abortions. Of eight live births among the Texas cases, seven died within hours. The eighth, born at 24 weeks, had severe complications including brain bleeding, a heart defect, lung disease and intestinal and liver problems.

July 17, 2022 10:46 AM  
Anonymous guess what? the Dems are going to lose in November... said...


"Prolifers are pro-maternal harm, they value the fetus over the mother"

it may be hard for you to comprehend but pro-lifers have a range of views

most agree that a balance must be found when two lives are at stake, rather than the one that is at stake in most abortion

the anti-life demagoguery in using this case is despicable

The legacy media has taken a hostile turn against President Slidin' in recent months between questioning his fitness and casting doubt on a reelection bid, but independent journalist Glenn Greenwald believes news organizations don't necessarily want to take him down ahead of 2024 but rather Democrats themselves.

"The concerns about his cognitive decline emanated not from supporters of Bernie Sanders nor from supporters of Donald Trump, they came from these kinds of inside DC strategists and operatives who in 2019 were petrified that Slidin' would win the Democratic nomination basically by inertia—through name recognition, from having been Obama's vice president. And they were deeply worried that he was not capable of sustaining the rigors of a campaign. And they were the ones sounding the alarm in 2019 that he's not the same Joe Slidin'," Greenwald said in an interview last week. "And he ended up winning despite that and never had to test himself with the rigors of the campaign things to the COVID pandemic where he got to basically just speak from his basement and speak to a few friendly interviewers. So we'll never have known whether that they were right. They're the ones who are concerned about it."

"And you know, we're now three or four years later and the decline is palpable. I mean, you know, everyone who has a grandparent recognizes what's going on with Joe Slidin', on top of which they're likely to get destroyed in the 2022 midterm election because he's become the single most unpopular president in post-World War Two history for a first-term midterm president. So obviously, Democrats are petrified that he's going to try and run again and clear the field," Greenwald continued.

Greenwald, who spoke last week at the libertarian FreedomFest conference in Las Vegas, accused Democrats of trying to "sabotage" Slidin's ability to run again through an "endless stream of leaks" and reviving the Hunter Biden scandal that they previously dismissed during the 2020 presidential election.

"There's clearly a concerted effort not from Republicans but from Democrats to undermine Joe Slidin'. And obviously, it's because they fear that he is going to try and run again," Greenwald said

July 18, 2022 8:13 AM  
Anonymous more of them polls that TTFers like so much...... said...

President Joe Biden's overall and economic approval numbers have reached the lowest levels of his presidency and fallen further than that of either of his two predecessors, according to the latest CNBC All-America Economic Survey.

With Americans feeling crushed beneath the weight of rising prices, Biden's economic approval dropped 5 points from the prior survey in April to just 30%. The president's economic record is supported by just 6% of Republicans, 25% of independents and 58% of Democrats, a very low number for his own party.

In comparison, President Donald Trump's economic approval bottomed out at 41%, and President Barack Obama's at 37%.

Biden's approval on his overall handling of the presidency came in at 36%, 1 point lower than Trump's worst rating. Among survey participants, 57% disapprove of Biden's handling of the presidency.

The poll of 800 people across the nation found that 51% believe the president's efforts to combat inflation are making no difference, and 30% think they are actually hurting. Just 12% say they are helping. The poll, which took place from July 7 to July 10, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%.

July 18, 2022 8:25 AM  
Anonymous guess what? gay "marriage isn't a constitutional right.... said...


Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has claimed the Supreme Court was “clearly wrong” and “overreaching” when it legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015.

The remarks from Cruz, who has been open about his interest in another presidential run, came just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas argued in his concurring Roe opinion that the court “should reconsider” past rulings, including Obergefell, as well as opinions that protected the right to same-sex intimacy and contraception.

Cruz, a longtime opponent of same-sex marriage argued that both abortion and same-sex marriage should be left to the states.

“Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation’s history,” Cruz said on his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz. “Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states. We saw states before Obergefell — some states were moving to allow gay marriage, other states were moving to allow civil partnerships. There were different standards that the states were adopting.”

“The way the Constitution set up for you to advance that position is convince your fellow citizens that if you succeeded in convincing your fellow citizens, then your state would change the laws to reflect those views. In Obergefell, the court said, 'No, we know better than you guys do, and now every state must, must sanction and permit gay marriage,'” Cruz continued.

“I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided. It was the court overreaching.

July 18, 2022 8:29 AM  
Anonymous Confusion post-Roe spurs delays, denials for some lifesaving pregnancy care said...

A woman with a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy sought emergency care at the University of Michigan Hospital after a doctor in her home state worried that the presence of a fetal heartbeat meant treating her might run afoul of new restrictions on abortion.

At one Kansas City, Mo., hospital, administrators temporarily required "pharmacist approval" before dispensing medications used to stop postpartum hemorrhages, because they can also be also used for abortions.

And in Wisconsin, a woman bled for more than 10 days from an incomplete miscarriage after emergency room staff would not remove the fetal tissue amid a confusing legal landscape that has roiled obstetric care.

In the three weeks of turmoil since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, many physicians and patients have been navigating a new reality in which the standard of care for incomplete miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and other common complications is being scrutinized, delayed - even denied - jeopardizing maternal health, according to the accounts of doctors in multiple states where new laws have gone into effect.

While state abortion bans typically carve out exceptions when a woman's life is endangered, the laws can be murky, prompting some obstetricians to consult lawyers and hospital ethics committees on decisions around routine care.

"People are running scared," said Mae Winchester, a specialist in maternal-fetal medicine in Ohio who, days after the state's new restrictions went into effect, sought legal advice before she performed an abortion on a pregnant woman with a uterine infection. "There's a lot of unknowns still left out there."

The need to intervene in a pregnancy with the same medication or surgical procedure used in elective abortions is not unusual.

As many as 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, the spontaneous demise of a fetus, commonly because of chromosomal abnormalities. The methods of managing a miscarriage are the same as for abortion, using a combination of drugs - mifepristone and misoprostol - or a brief surgery known as dilation and curettage, or D&C, to dilate the cervix and scrape tissue from the uterus. Left untreated, some miscarriages resolve naturally; others lead to complications such as infection or profuse bleeding.

"It's important for people to realize early pregnancy failure is common," said Rashmi Kudesia, a fertility specialist in Houston.

Doctors in Texas - where since last September abortion has been illegal after the detection of fetal cardiac activity, around six weeks of pregnancy - report that pharmacists have begun questioning patients about miscarriage medications, suspecting they may be used instead for abortions.

"It is traumatizing to stand in a pharmacy and have to tell them publicly that you are having a miscarriage, that there is not a heartbeat," Kudesia said.

Carley Zeal, an OB/GYN in southern Wisconsin and a fellow with Physicians for Reproductive Health, said she recently treated a woman at risk of infection after a miscarriage. Zeal said providers at another hospital had wrestled with what services they could perform - with an 1849 law banning almost all abortions back in effect - and ultimately refused to remove the fetal tissue from the patient's uterus.

"It really delayed her care," Zeal said. "I saw her a week and a half later with an ongoing miscarriage and bleeding, increasing the risk of severe bleeding as well as infections."

Zeal gave the patient abortion medication to expel the fetal tissue.

Some doctors are feeling pressure to seek second opinions in their treatment of ectopic pregnancies, which account for between 1% and 2% of pregnancies and are never viable...

July 18, 2022 9:16 AM  
Anonymous guess what? because Dems have lost the monolithic minority vote, they probably won't win another election in our lifetimes... said...


As prominent Democrats are making high-profile and untimely gaffes alienating segments of the Hispanic-American community, potential rising Republican stars of Hispanic descent are claiming the political spotlight heading into the midterm elections.

This juxtaposition of Democratic flubs and Republican gains comes as polling indicates Hispanic voters disapprove of Democrat leadership and could be shifting toward the GOP in a major way.

Perhaps the strongest embodiment of this dynamic has been newly minted Republican Rep. Mayra Flores, who made history last month by becoming the first Mexican-born woman elected to Congress. She defeated her Democratic opponent in the special election for Texas' 34th Congressional District.

Until Flores, a Republican hadn't represented the heavily Hispanic area along the nation's southern border in the Rio Grande Valley since 1870.

Flores on Thursday took a shot at First Lady Jill Biden, tweeting a meme showing how "taco inflation" during the Biden administration was hitting the American people's wallets.

"Tacos inflation — tacos are unique. Ingredients may vary," said the image, which included facts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing by how much the prices of taco ingredients have increased.

The meme came after Biden made offensive comments during a speech in front of Hispanic advocacy groups.

Biden received widespread backlash for the gaffe, which critics described as a failed attempt at pandering and another example of Democrats being "out of touch" with Hispanics.

A more recent example came on Wednesday, when Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego accused Tanya Contreras Wheeless, a Hispanic woman running for Congress in Arizona's Fourth District as a Republican, of not being authentically Latina because she took her husband's last name.

"In the years I have known of you in Arizona it wasn't until you ran for office that you added Contreras," tweeted Gallego. "Glad you are proud Latina now hope it will stay after you lose. FYI... google Tanya Wheelers see how often Contreras comes up prior to her running."

Gallego then suggested Wheeless intentionally "hid" her Hispanic identity before running for office to avoid discrimination.

"If you were Latino in Arizona around 2010 people were telling us to go back to Mexico," he wrote. "You would hear I am not voting for a 'spic' ... We took the arrows for her."

"Tanya is Latina, cuando le conviene" (meaning "when it suits her"), Gallego added.

Wheeless responded in a statement, lamenting how common such attacks have become and describing them as "sexist and racist." She also noted "many women change their name when they get married, but that doesn't change who they are or where they came from."

Beyond Wheeless, other Latina candidates are making headlines for speaking out and being Republican.

Two — Monica De La Cruz and Cassy Garcia — are, like Flores, in districts along the southern border. The other, Yesli Vega, is the Republican nominee in Virginia's Seventh District.

A sign of their success is the number of attacks they've received from Democrats and journalists from mainstream outlets. CNN, for example, published an op-ed by an attorney and a member of the USA Today board of contributors saying the conservative Hispanic women running for Congress were "not the 'real deal.'" The New York Times, meanwhile, ran a story referring to the "rise of the far-right Latina."

However, polling has indicated conservative and Republican views aren't considered extreme by many Hispanics.

Indeed, only 41% of Hispanics said they intended to vote for Democrats in November's midterm elections, while 38% said they preferred GOP candidates, according to a New York Times/Siena College survey released this week.

July 18, 2022 9:32 AM  
Anonymous guess what? because Dems have lost the monolithic minority vote, they probably won't win another election in our lifetimes... said...


In April, a Marist poll showed 52% support for the GOP among Hispanics, and just 39% support for Democrats.

The National Republican Congressional Committee's Battleground Survey Project found that Republicans have made substantial gains among Hispanic voters since the 2020 elections, narrowing the gap by almost 20 percentage points.

Other polling has shown Hispanics evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, a seismic shift from what was once a lopsided balance in favor of Democrats.

Even polling finding a less dramatic shift still shows Hispanics are now migrating across party lines to the GOP.

One reason for this shift seems to be President Joe Biden.

A poll released by Quinnipiac University last month found that just 24% of Hispanic voters approved of Biden's job performance. That followed another Quinnipiac survey from the prior month that found only 26% of Hispanics approved of Biden's performance, while 60% disapproved and 13% said they didn't know or had no opinion.

Biden's approval rating among Hispanics has been below the mid-30s for several months now, according to polling, which has shown they view Biden's handling of immigration and the economy unfavorably.

Jill Biden's speech was meant to combat this shift. So too is an effort by a liberal group bankrolled by Democratic megadonor George Soros to buy 18 Spanish language radio stations across 10 different markets.

This may not help, however, because a key driving factor of this shift toward the GOP is an aversion to the Democratic Party's embrace of far-left ideology, according to Heritage Foundation Senior Fellow Mike Gonzalez.

"A reason progressives dismiss what is taking place is probably that they know that their extreme and irrational ideology is the force driving a political realignment that may rival that which took place in the 1850s, which gave us the Republican and Democratic parties," wrote Gonzalez.

One example where a clash of values has been evident is with the term "Latinx," an attempt by left-wing progressives to refer to Latinos with gender-neutral terminology. Polling shows most Hispanics and Latinos don't like to be called Latinx and a significant number are "offended" by the term.

"It couldn't be a starker contrast between Republicans and Democrats as we engage and do outreach to minority voters, and specifically the Hispanic community," GOP Communications Director Danielle Alvarez told the Hill.

Hispanic Democrats in Congress outnumber Republicans four to one, but the National Republican Congressional Committee says it has recruited a total of 102 Hispanic candidates in this cycle.

The GOP is hoping a decent number of those recruits will join Flores on Capitol Hill following the midterm elections in November — especially if Democrats continue to have highly publicized gaffes and attack Hispanic Republican women.

July 18, 2022 9:33 AM  
Anonymous Idaho's GrandQanonPox passes laws saying women are expendable said...

Idaho Republicans Reject Amendment Allowing Abortion to Save Woman's Life

July 18, 2022 9:50 AM  
Anonymous innocent bystander.. said...


"because Dems have lost the monolithic minority vote, they probably won't win another election in our lifetimes"

YIKES!

does that mean the gay agenda is history?

July 18, 2022 9:53 AM  
Anonymous almost heaven, West Virginia said...


Congressional Democratic leaders are planning on moving forward with a drastically reduced domestic spending bill proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

Manchin last week declared that he would not back any climate change spending or tax provisions in a proposed bill that he has been negotiating for weeks with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The announcement effectively ended already faint Democratic hopes that they would be able to pass some much reduced form of President Joe Slidin's Build Back Better bill, which was originally priced at $3.5 trillion and contains sweeping plans for climate change and social care.

July 18, 2022 10:07 AM  
Anonymous June 2022 was Earth’s 6th-warmest on record said...

June 2022 was Earth’s 6th-warmest on record
Antarctic sea ice shrank to a record low for the month

June’s average global temperature continued 2022’s remarkably warm trend, as both the month and the year so far ranked sixth warmest on record.

In addition, global sea ice reached near-record lows last month, with Antarctica seeing its lowest June ice coverage on record, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Here’s a closer look into NOAA’s latest monthly global climate report:

Climate by the numbers

June 2022

The average global surface (land and ocean) temperature in June was 1.57 degrees F (0.87 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average of 59.9 degrees F (15.5 degrees C), making June the sixth warmest in the 143-year record.

June 2022 marked the 46th consecutive June and the 450th consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average. The ten-warmest Junes on record have all occurred since 2010.

Looking at just land temperature, June 2022 was the Northern Hemisphere’s second-warmest June on record — 2.81 degrees F (1.56 degrees C) above average — behind June 2021’s record high land temperature. Europe and Asia also had their second-warmest June land temperature on record.

The year to date | January through June

The first half of 2022 ranked sixth warmest on record, with a global temperature of 1.53 degrees F (0.85 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average of 56.3 degrees F (13.5 degrees C).

According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Outlook, there is a greater than 99% chance that 2022 will rank among the 10-warmest years on record, but only an 11% chance that it will rank among the top five warmest.

Other notable climate events for June

Polar ice coverage hit near-record low: Globally, June 2022 saw the second-lowest June sea ice coverage (extent) on record. Only June 2019 had a smaller sea ice extent. Antarctic sea ice extent for June was a record low at 4.68 million square miles, or about 471,000 square miles below average. Arctic sea ice extent last month was 347,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average — roughly the size of Sweden, Norway and Denmark combined — and the 10th-smallest June extent in the 44-year record.

Tropical cyclone activity was about average: June 2022 produced five named storms across the globe, which is near-normal activity for June. Only one of those, Hurricane Blas in the Eastern Pacific, reached tropical cyclone strength (74 mph). Although June’s Tropical Storm Alex was only a tropical storm for approximately 30 hours, it was the Atlantic’s first named storm of the season.

July 18, 2022 10:25 AM  
Anonymous guess what? NOAA is having a Christmas in July sale........ said...


"Looking at just land temperature, June 2022 was the Northern Hemisphere’s second-warmest June on record — 2.81 degrees F (1.56 degrees C) above average — behind June 2021’s record high land temperature."

WOW!

temperatures have dropped since last year!

which means global warming is going down

Whew!

what a relief!

July 18, 2022 10:35 AM  
Anonymous guess what? Ted Cruz says the gay agenda is unconstitutional - and he's a SENATOR!.... said...


It's harder to focus on what you've done as a party so long as attention falls on what you aren't able to do.

As for what might still get done, that's more difficult to know as well in the context of uncommon division over who's to blame about a Democratic Party agenda that's stalled ahead of the midterms.

Climate change, gun violence, inflation, basic affordability, democracy itself -- all leave Democrats blaming fellow Democrats for the lack of policy solutions ahead of an election they agree figures to be brutal.

The move by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to torpedo Democrats' climate-change efforts, citing fears of runaway inflation, brought a total rebuke on Sunday from perhaps the highest-profile progressive in Congress.

"He has sabotaged the president's agenda," Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., told Martha Raddatz on ABC's "This Week." "The problem was that we continue to talk to Manchin like he was serious. He was not."

LOL!

Democrats, of course, still need Manchin's vote on key health care measures he might yet support, including Affordable Care Act subsidies and drug-pricing reform.

July 18, 2022 10:43 AM  
Anonymous when will Dems apologize to America for the violence they have let happen in the cities they have run for years?..... said...


Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz placed blame on woke elected officials in Democrat-run cities for the abrupt closure of 16 stores located primarily on the West Coast.

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal was the first to report that six locations each will shut down in Seattle and Los Angeles, in addition to two in Portland, Ore., one in Philadelphia, and one in Washington, D.C., by August. The company cited repeated safety incidents behind its decision.

Leaked footage of Schultz at an internal meeting, published by The Post Millennial’s Ari Hoffman on Thursday, revealed the coffee-chain executive blaming elected officials for an environment in which it’s too hostile to operate.

“In my view at the local, state, and federal level, these governments across the country and leaders, mayors, and governors and city councils have abdicated their responsibility in fighting crime and addressing mental illness,” said Schultz, who returned to the company as chief executive in April. “We are going to have to refine and transform and modernize many of the things we do to meet the needs of our customers in a very changing operating environment in which customer behavior is changing.”

July 18, 2022 10:47 AM  
Anonymous Still expecting a hiatus? said...

"which means global warming is going down"

Maybe if you studied arithmetic at TrumpU you'd be that stupid and miss this:

June 2022 marked the 46th consecutive June and the 450th consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average. The ten-warmest Junes on record have all occurred since 2010.

No, the temperature is not going down.

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

July 18, 2022 11:04 AM  
Anonymous guess what? Dems face a reckoning at the polls over the damage their inane COVID policies did to the education of children in America... said...


Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) predicts a difficult midterm season for the Democratic Party, arguing rising inflation will sink the party's prospects of retaining unilateral control of the federal government.

The Florida senator blamed the Biden administration and its "horrible" agenda for increasing prices for many goods across the country, which he believes will lead to a "bloodbath" for Democrats in the November elections. To combat inflation, the government needs to balance its budget and to "stop spending money," Scott said in a Sunday interview.

"We have to balance the budget," Scott said. "This is caused by reckless spending. Every proposal Democrats have is, 'Spend your money. Spend more money.' We’ve got to reduce taxes, reduce fees, reduce the size of government. We’ve got to become energy independent. Don’t go over to Saudi Arabia and beg them for fuel. Go to Texas and ask them to get more fuel. Fix the supply chain. The Biden administration is a bunch of do-nothing people, that all they do is blame."

HERE'S HOW MUCH THE AVERAGE WORKER HAS LOST IN WAGES FROM INFLATION UNDER BIDEN

The GOP's midterm elections focus will not be on the 2024 presidential contest, Scott said, arguing the party must remain focused on problems affecting voters, such as education and community safety, which the Democrats "are on the wrong side of."

July 18, 2022 11:05 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL!!!!!!!!!!! said...


"No, the temperature is not going down."

sorry, but if last year was the highest and this year is the second highest, temperatures have gone down

down worry, when you get to high school, they'll teach you how to think

July 18, 2022 11:08 AM  
Anonymous love me some electoral college.......... said...

President Joe Biden’s net approval rating is now underwater in all but six states, according to new polling from Morning Consult – spelling trouble for Democrats with mere months left until the midterm elections.

The 44 states with voters more likely to disapprove than approve of the president’s job performance.

Biden’s numbers are particularly troubling in some key midterm battleground states, including Arizona (-20 net approval rating), Georgia (-13), Pennsylvania (-19), Ohio (-23) and Wisconsin (-18). Excluding Ohio, the president won all of those states in the 2020 election, charting his path to the White House

July 18, 2022 1:04 PM  
Anonymous No forced births for 10 year old rape victims said...

Your insults only mar you.

"which means global warming is going down"

"sorry, but if last year was the highest and this year is the second highest, temperatures have gone down"

And yet the "June 2022 marked the 46th consecutive June and the 450th consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average. The ten-warmest Junes on record have all occurred since 2010."

Temperatures are above the 20-century average temperatures.

So do tell, what did "global warming" get "down to"?

Since this June's temperatures are also above the 20-century average temperatures, global temperatures certainly have not gotten down to anything safe.

But go ahead and pretend all's well and throw out some more insults like a monkey flinging banana peels.

July 18, 2022 1:33 PM  
Anonymous “I think I speak for everyone when I say f*** what Ted Cruz has to say about anything, especially gay marriage.” said...

Democrat and former Ohio state senator Nina Turner definitely won the award for best tweeted responses to the Texas Republican in tweeting: “I think I speak for everyone when I say f*** what Ted Cruz has to say about anything, especially gay marriage.”

Fighting the temptation to leave it at that, another constituency of social media users reminded the public of just how serious a threat Cruz and the like are to our democracy. Those activists and commenters urged Democrats to vote Republicans out of office.

Majid Padellan, a blogger and influencer who goes by "Brooklyn Dad" on social media, tweeted: “Roe was just the beginning. Time to pick a side, folks.”

Comedian Noel Casler tweeted: “What happens in life to make someone into a Ted Cruz, universally loathed even within his own party & family. Gay Marriage is one of the few bright spots in a pretty dreadful SCOTUS reign during my lifetime. Anyone attacking it is not only an enemy of progress but of love itself.”

The Supreme Court wrote in its original decision on same-sex marriage:

From their beginning to their most recent page, the annals of human history reveal the transcendent importance of marriage. The lifelong union of a man and a woman always has promised nobility and dignity to all persons, without regard to their station in life. Marriage is sacred to those who live by their religions and offers unique fulfillment to those who find meaning in the secular realm. Its dynamic allows two people to find a life that could not be found alone, for a marriage becomes greater than just the two persons. Rising from the most basic human needs, marriage is essential to our most profound hopes and aspirations.The centrality of marriage to the human condition makes it unsurprising that the institution has existed for millennia and across civilizations. Since the dawn of history, marriage has transformed strangers into relatives, binding families and societies together. (...)

It is fair and necessary to say these references were based on the understanding that marriage is a union between two persons of the opposite sex. That history is the beginning of these cases. The respondents say it should be the end as well. To them, it would demean a timeless institution if the concept and lawful status of marriage were extended to two persons of the same sex. Marriage, in their view, is by its nature a gender-differentiated union of man and woman. This view long has been held—and continues to be held—in good faith by reasonable and sincere people here and throughout the world.The petitioners acknowledge this history but contend that these cases cannot end there. Were their intent to demean the revered idea and reality of marriage, the petitioners’ claims would be of a different order. But that is neither their purpose nor their submission. To the contrary, it is the enduring importance of marriage that underlies the petitioners’ contentions. This, they say, is their whole point. Far from seeking to devalue marriage, the petitioners seek it for themselves because of their respect—and need—for its privileges and responsibilities. And their immutable nature dictates that same-sex marriage is their only real path to this profound commitment.

July 18, 2022 1:57 PM  
Anonymous marring meself again.... said...

"No forced births for 10 year old rape victims"

it's a brave position but I'm afraid there are few who disagree so not sure why this is such an obsession

oh, that's right

it's because you are looking for a way to restore the now-discredited and evil idea that killing unborn children is a constitutional right

hope that doesn't seem too insulting

I know how sensitive you are

"Your insults only mar you"

frankly, I don't think they do

but your puerile insults like "a monkey flinging banana peels" reveal a lack of intelligence that discredits anything else you may say

"The ten-warmest Junes on record have all occurred since 2010."

but several were higher than 2022 so, be definition, the temperature has since gone down

"Temperatures are above the 20-century average temperatures."

LOL!

they were many years in the 20th century that were above the 20-century average temperatures

so what?

2022 is less than 2021, so the trend is down

"So do tell, what did "global warming" get "down to"?"

less than the peak

"Since this June's temperatures are also above the 20-century average temperatures, global temperatures certainly have not gotten down to anything safe."

nobody was discussing "safe"

I said it was down this year

still, alarmists usually try to scare people with projections not present danger

you morons need to get your stories synched up

oops, there I go again

only marrin' meself

of course, if you believe that, why are you trying to stop me?

LOL!

July 18, 2022 2:16 PM  
Anonymous Stay tuned, if you can said...

"I said it was down this year"

No you didn't. You said "which means global warming is going down"

June 2022's average temperature was slightly lower than the average temperature in June 2021, which only means the average temperature went down, but 2022 and 2021 average temperatures are both higher than the 20-century averages ever were.

One years lower temperature during one month of the year does not mean "global warming is going down."

When every months' global average temperature goes down for the next 450th consecutive months, then you can say "which means global warming is going down."

July 18, 2022 2:47 PM  
Anonymous Dems are donkeys because they are as sad as Eeyore.... said...


"No you didn't. You said "which means global warming is going down""

you are probably confused because your idol, predator Bill Clinton, said there are many definitions of "is"

that's only true in sexual scandals

for everyone else, "is" is the present tense

"June 2022's average temperature was slightly lower than the average temperature in June 2021, which only means the average temperature went down, but 2022 and 2021 average temperatures are both higher than the 20-century averages ever were."

ah, now you are throwing in "slightly" to cover up your error

before you added "average"

but no one is fooled

2022 is less than 2021

it IS going down

"One years lower temperature during one month of the year does not mean "global warming is going down.""

it does for that month, which is what we're discussing

"When every months' global average temperature goes down for the next 450th consecutive months, then you can say "which means global warming is going down.""

Predator Bill would be very impressed by our creative new definition of "is"

July 18, 2022 2:58 PM  
Anonymous And there it is, cherry picking misses the big picture said...

"before you added "average""

What temperatures did you think we were discussing, the temperature at one place on Earth on one day in June in 2021 and 2022?

That would be totally meaningless so that's probably what you thought.

A one year decrease in one month's global average temperature does not mean "global warming is going down" when 450 consecutive months' global average temperatures, including June 2022, all remain above the 20-century's monthly average temperatures.

But go ahead and keep showing your utter lack of understanding.

July 18, 2022 3:16 PM  
Anonymous just think: without the lousy 2016 Hillary campaign, there'd be no Trump, no Goresuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett..thanks a bunch, Hill..you're OK... said...


"Looking at just land temperature, June 2022 was the Northern Hemisphere’s second-warmest June on record — 2.81 degrees F (1.56 degrees C) above average — behind June 2021’s record high land temperature."

here's the original statement I brought up

it's comparing two points in time, June 2022 and June 2021

global warming went down

instead of arguing with a simple, obviously, true statement, why didn't you just say what you mean

say, are you a moron?

July 18, 2022 3:49 PM  
Anonymous let's put a stop to biological males competing against real girls in sports... said...


Joe Slidin's presidency has foundered as gasoline prices have soared, with readings in numerous polls showing record or near-record low favorability. Biden's climate change policies, which many blame for the sudden surge in fuel costs, are now highly unpopular among average Americans, a new I&I/TIPP Poll shows.

The July I&I/TIPP Poll, taken from July 6-9, we asked 1,643 adults across America to consider the following statement: "President Slidin' has said that record-high gasoline and electricity prices are necessary for meeting his goal of eliminating fossil fuels in the U.S. to fight climate change."

Respondents were then asked to respond to a question with five choices: "Would you say you:

-Agree with Slidin's climate change policy, even if it means higher energy prices.
-Disagree with Slidin's policy, and want more energy produced to decrease prices.
-Don't think global climate change should be a U.S. policy priority.
-I don't believe in climate change.
-Not sure.

The answer that came back loud and clear will not be comforting to either President Slidin' or his Democratic Party advisers: Just 32% of those answering the poll, which has a margin of error of +/-2.5 percentage points, said they support Slidin's climate change policy even if it means higher energy prices.

But a far larger majority of 57% answered in the negative. They either said they disagreed with his policies and want more and cheaper energy (41%), or don't think climate change should be a U.S. policy priority (10%), or don't even believe that the climate is changing (6%).

This is a significant repudiation of the Slidin' administration's "Green Agenda," which is now being blamed by many for the recent surge in energy prices and inflation, not to mention a growing sense of insecurity in global food and oil markets.

July 18, 2022 3:57 PM  
Anonymous the despicable day of anti-family forces is nearing nightfall said...


Abortion advocates have long relied on verbal sleight of hand to mask the reality that abortion is a violent act that kills an unborn child. That has included rebranding abortion as “health care” and renaming babies “products of conception.” For nearly 50 years, those arguments were cast in the shadow of Roe v. Wade, “an exercise of raw judicial power” that stripped states of the power to protect life.

Now that the Supreme Court – in an opinion remarkable for its judicial modesty – has corrected its half-century detour into freewheeling abortion policymaking and empowered states to enact pro-life laws, abortion advocates must finally persuade their fellow citizens, and lawmakers, of their positions.

Instead of engaging in honest debate, however, they are doubling down on demagoguery.

Their current target: pregnancy resource centers. Several thousand strong, these centers form the backbone of the pro-life response to the abortion-industrial-complex. These centers collectively provide more than $250 million per year in critical support and material aid to women facing unplanned pregnancies, including everything from free car seats, formula and diapers to critical counseling, community-building resources and much more. Reports indicate that most women who seek abortion would prefer a different path if it were available. Pregnancy resource centers provide that different path.

Stripped of the uneven playing field Roe imposed, the abortion industry must finally answer the message of hope these centers pose. But instead of competing, abortion advocates are seeking to shut down the debate.

Speaking with the press recently, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) charged that pregnancy resource centers in her home state exist to “fool people” who are searching for “pregnancy termination help.” Her suggestion: “We need to shut them down here in Massachusetts. And we need to shut them down all around the country.”

How? By charging them with the left’s newest sobriquet of choice: conveying “misinformation.” Sen. Warren recently introduced the aptly named “SAD Act,” purportedly designed to “stop abortion disinformation.” The bill targets pro-life pregnancy centers, which it claims disseminate “inaccurate” and “stigmatizing” information about the risks of abortion and contraception and fail to provide referrals for abortion and birth control.

Unwilling to abide the vagaries of the legislative process, President Biden recently issued an executive order calling on Congress to crack down on “fraudulent and deceptive practices.” And predictably, there have even been calls for technology companies to “proactively monitor and remove” allegedly false claims made by pregnancy resource centers.

July 18, 2022 5:38 PM  
Anonymous the despicable day of anti-family forces is nearing nightfall said...


These urgent calls for the exercise of federal and even corporate power to stamp out pregnancy resource centers are targeted not at “disinformation,” however, but pure disagreements on policy and philosophy. In other words, the stuff of democratic debate.

For instance, NARAL Pro-Choice America has accused pro-life pregnancy centers of “falsely claiming banning abortion is ‘pro-woman,’” and that calling an unborn child at six weeks of development a “fetus” is an “inflammatory term to erase pregnant people from conversations about abortion care and conflate an embryo with a child.” But how is giving the vast majority of women what they want – an alternative to abortion – anything but “pro-woman”? And how is identifying an unborn child as a child tantamount to “erasing” a pregnant woman?

Still others accuse pregnancy resource centers of inaccurately telling women that abortion has links to negative health outcomes, such as decreased mental health. But that point is hotly contested, and credible research has found that women can face an 81 percent increase in risk of mental health disorders after receiving an abortion, including increased risk of anxiety, depression and even suicide. How would throttling this important debate advance women’s health?

The sad truth is that abortion advocates have long peddled factually dubious claims of their own. Such as claiming, as Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has, that abortion is essential to facilitate women’s participation in the workforce. Or by asserting, as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has, that pro-life laws will have “damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades.” Or by declaring, as Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has, that abortion “is a basic and essential part of health care.”

These statements, which ignore the contributions of millions of working mothers and the nature of abortion as a uniquely deadly procedure, doubly qualify as “misinformation” under the abortion advocates’ capacious standard.

Instead of shutting down debate, the abortion industry should engage pro-life advocates in answering questions that, until Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, were off the table. Such as: Can we come together to provide every new mother with the material resources she needs to thrive? Can we provide life-affirming options, like adoption and quality foster care, for those women who are unable to assume the burdens of motherhood? Will corporations commit to providing expectant mothers with meaningful support like increased pay and more generous maternity leave instead of paying for abortions? And do pregnancy resource centers deserve our support and thanks for the aid they provide to needy women, instead of verbal and even physical attacks?

Those critical questions will not be answered if they are never asked. And if the illiberal left has its way, that’s exactly what will happen.

July 18, 2022 5:39 PM  
Anonymous Maryland codified the Roe v. Wade ruling in our state in 1992, and in 2022 expanded reproductive health services for people seeking abortion care here. said...

""Looking at just land temperature, June 2022 was the Northern Hemisphere’s second-warmest June on record — 2.81 degrees F (1.56 degrees C) above average — behind June 2021’s record high land temperature."

here's the original statement I brought up"

Yep, your first cherry-pick on climate facts today.

You selected that line out of the article I posted, entitled "June 2022 was Earth’s 6th-warmest on record."

I don't know why I bother with you.

You are hopelessly lost.

July 18, 2022 5:47 PM  
Anonymous enough climate cherries to make a pie... said...

"Yep, your first cherry-pick on climate facts today."

well, temperature is a key indicator of global warming

it seemed to be your main point

and it's down from last year

meaning global warming is going down

is that "cherry picking"?

I could have made the same point with other aspects of your post

sea ice, for example, is greater than 2019

indicating that global warming is going down

hurricane activity is normal

indicating that global warming is going down

let's face it: unless someone reinforces your hyperbolized alarmism, you think they're cherry picking

"I don't know why I bother with you."

I think it's because you know I'm right about you being a moron and you are desperately throwing out anything to obscure that reality

"You are hopelessly lost."

really?

seems like those who support the Green New Deal have lost

the originalist Supreme Court, that took years to construct, has ruled Slidin' Biden can't unilaterally impose regulations to combat "climate change"

Slidin' Biden, who tries to cater to the climate alarmists except when elections are coming soon, has begged the bloodthirsty Saudis to pump out more fossil fuels

Joe Manchin, the most powerful Dem in Washington, has ruled that reducing inflation is more important than indulging Dems' meaningless climate change proposals

polls show Americans share his views

you are the one who has lost and are lost

but I guess citing that FACT just mars me, huh?

LOL!

July 19, 2022 5:52 AM  
Anonymous more if them polls that TTFers like so much... said...


Slidin' Biden's climate change policies, which many blame for the sudden surge in fuel costs, are now highly unpopular among average Americans, a new I&I/TIPP Poll shows.

The July I&I/TIPP Poll, taken from July 6-9, asked adults across America to consider the following statement: "President Slidin' has said that record-high gasoline and electricity prices are necessary for meeting his goal of eliminating fossil fuels in the U.S. to fight climate change."

Respondents were then asked to respond to a question with five choices: "Would you say you:

-Agree with Slidin's climate change policy, even if it means higher energy prices.
-Disagree with Slidin's policy, and want more energy produced to decrease prices.
-Don't think global climate change should be a U.S. policy priority.
-I don't believe in climate change.
-Not sure.

The answer that came back loud and clear will not be comforting to either President Slidin' or his Democrap Party advisers: Just 32% of those answering the poll said they support Slidin's climate change policy even if it means higher energy prices.

But a far larger majority of 57% answered in the negative. They either said they disagreed with his policies and want more and cheaper energy (41%), or don't think climate change should be a U.S. policy priority (10%), or don't even believe that the climate is changing (6%).

This is a significant repudiation of the Slidin' administration's "Green Agenda," which is now being blamed by many for the recent surge in energy prices and inflation, not to mention a growing sense of insecurity in global food and oil markets.

July 19, 2022 5:58 AM  
Anonymous well, at least Democraps like her and MSNBC will hire her... said...


A new poll in the Casper Star-Tribune shows Republican and Jan. 6 committee star Rep. Liz Cheney losing big to challenger Harriet Hageman in the Wyoming House GOP primary. The survey has Hageman's support at 52% and Cheney's at 30%.

A 22-point lead is pretty hard to overcome with less than a month to go before the Aug. 16 primary. And remember, the Wyoming primary is a winner-take-all affair. Whoever gets the most votes wins the Republican nomination. There won't be a runoff or any other second act. The Republican winner then goes on to certain victory in November's general election in heavily Republican Wyoming.

Hageman's lead in the poll is roughly consistent with other surveys of the race. "Polling from Wyoming is limited, but what does exist paints an ominous picture [for Cheney]," CNN's Harry Enten wrote recently in an article headlined "Why Liz Cheney is in a lot of trouble in Wyoming." The poll is just the latest confirmation of warning signs for Cheney.

Why is Cheney so far behind? Most coverage of her predicament has focused on her starring role with the Jan. 6 committee, and especially on her vow to make sure that, one way or another, former President Donald Trump will not be the Republican nominee for president in 2024. Trump, of course, is popular in Wyoming. In 2020, Trump won with 69.9% to Joe Biden's 26.6%.

So, it is no surprise that Cheney's Ahab-like fixation on getting Trump is unpopular in a state where so many voters have a favorable view of the former president. The Casper Star-Tribune poll fleshed that out with three questions related to Cheney's work on the Jan. 6 committee.

"Do you approve of Liz Cheney's decision to serve on the January 6 committee?"

Sixty-three percent of voters likely to participate in the primary said no.

"Has Liz Cheney's opposition to Trump affected her ability to deal with the important Wyoming issues?"

Sixty-one percent said yes.

"Has Liz Cheney's performance on the January 6 committee made you more or less likely to vote for her?"

Fifty-four percent said less likely.

July 19, 2022 6:10 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't ever a marriage said...


if you want to win an election in America, figure out what TTF thinks

and support the opposite point of view

easy-peasey

July 19, 2022 6:13 AM  
Anonymous Earth is crying out loud for a green agenda said...

Europe is facing what some have called the "heat apocalypse": the United Kingdom is experiencing all-time record heat, wildfires are burning in France and Spain, northern Italy is suffering one its worst droughts in decades, and over a thousand people have died from excessive heat in Portugal and Spain.

As we know all too well, these extreme heat conditions are not isolated to Europe. Just this month, the famed giant sequoias which have been standing for millennia in Yosemite National Park were threatened by wildfire. In Texas, state energy officials warned of power blackouts and brownouts due a strained power grid amid record breaking temperatures. Meanwhile, 35 million Americans were under excessive heat warnings.

July 19, 2022 6:48 AM  
Anonymous Republicans shocked a 10-year-old can get pregnant after Ohio rape victim abortion story proves true said...

WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans who oppose abortion rights are struggling to talk about the horrific case of a 10-year-old rape victim who had to travel across state lines to Indiana to get an abortion because of strict laws in her home state, Ohio.

The case made international headlines after President Joe Biden decried Republican policies that forced the "already traumatized" child to have to travel out of state to terminate the pregnancy. Republicans and right-wing media criticized Biden, suggesting the case had been fabricated, only for a suspect to be arrested days later.

Confronted with the reality of the case, GOP lawmakers interviewed Thursday appeared to be grappling with how to respond — from confusion to blaming the media.

Many expressed shock that it was even biologically possible for the 10-year-old child to become pregnant. Some said they were torn “morally” about whether abortions should be allowed in cases of incest or rape, as in the Ohio case. And others tried to turn the conversation to the undocumented immigrant who prosecutors allege raped the girl.

“I’m amazed a 10-year-old got pregnant. … You really wrestle with that. That’s a tough one,” Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, said Thursday.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., said, “I can’t imagine being 10 years old” and pregnant, adding: “I don’t think I was even able to have children when I was 10 years old. … It’s just awful. It’s awful all the way around.”

Said Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas: “I’m a pro-life guy, OK? And God’s in charge on this. ... We're all God's children. This is a tough call, and I don’t know if I know that answer right now, because now you’ve got another baby involved: She’s pregnant. … She’s a baby.”

Just days earlier, several high-profile Republicans said the story was fake, using it to accuse Democrats of overreach in their response to the Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, said the story was likely to be a “fabrication.” Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, tweeted “Another lie. Anyone surprised?” in response to a Washington Examiner story about Yost’s saying he had found no evidence of the young rape victim.

Jordan quietly deleted the tweet Wednesday after prosecutors charged Gershon Fuentes, 27, who court documents say confessed to the rape.

Asked whether he regretted calling the story a lie, Jordan blamed Fuentes, an undocumented immigrant, and the news media.

“We didn’t know that an illegal alien did this heinous act. We never doubted the child,” Jordan said. The lie was “the news headline … the headline from your profession. We doubted Joe Biden, which is usually a smart thing to do, but we didn’t know that this illegal immigrant had done this terrible thing. He should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Williams, who represents the border state of Texas, said: “Where’s the conversation about an illegal person doing this? How do you defend this? How do you defend this guy who came over illegally, and we’ve got 5 million of them over here?”

Biden and White House officials had read about the case in The Indianapolis Star, which first reported the girl's story on July 1. That story quoted Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis OB-GYN, who said she got a call from an Ohio doctor specializing in child abuse who had a 10-year-old patient who was six weeks pregnant. Because Ohio made abortions after six weeks illegal in the wake of the Roe decision, the girl had to travel.

Biden said in his speech about protecting abortion access last week: “She was forced to have to travel out of the state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life. Ten years old — 10 years old — raped, six weeks pregnant, already traumatized, was forced to travel to another state.”

July 19, 2022 7:11 AM  
Anonymous Republicans shocked a 10-year-old can get pregnant after Ohio rape victim abortion story proves true said...

The case touches on several hot-button issues being debated by policymakers in Washington and in state capitals around the country: abortion rights, immigration and interstate travel.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican former member of Congress, said he is investigating the Indianapolis doctor who performed the abortion.

Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., one of the leading voices in Congress in favor of abortion rights, said: “This is a case that will have to be challenged in court by those who support abortion rights. I am looking out for the welfare of this child. No 10-year-old should have to even undergo such a procedure, but then to have to go out of state to do it is cruel beyond belief.”

The House will vote Friday on Chu’s bill that would restore the right to an abortion, as well as another bill to protect Americans who travel to receive reproductive health care. Neither has enough support in the Senate.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., who opposes abortion rights, said the 10-year-old’s situation represents “a high-profile kind of case describing why something might need to be done” about the issue of abortion statewide in Indiana.

“I’m going to wait to see what my state actually puts into legislation, probably, before I comment on any of that,” he said. “I’m just glad it’s going back to the states.”

Lesko, a former state legislator who is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, said she backs an exception for abortion when the mother’s life is at risk. But she said she is undecided about whether exceptions should be granted in cases of rape or incest.

“This is obviously a very difficult moral question. And so I struggle with it, quite frankly,” Lesko said of the Ohio case. “I have a close friend who was raped and had the baby and has told me that she is thankful every day that — she was a minor, and she decided to have the child, because it’s a blessing. …

“Obviously, I feel awful for the 10-year-old. … I am more in favor of definitely the life of the mother, and I’m still morally struggling over the other ones.”

Gibbs, the House member from Ohio, argued that technological advances since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision show that “a fetus is a human being.”

But Gibbs also wondered whether the Ohio girl’s life could have been endangered had she carried out the pregnancy. Like Lesko, he backs exceptions for abortions when mothers’ lives are at risk.

“First you have to ask the question, since she’s 10 years old and be able to go full term with the pregnancy, would her life be in danger? I don’t know. There are medical questions there because of her age — I’m just raising it as a thought,” Gibbs said in an interview.

“In this case, if there was going to be an abortion, there would have to be a medical need on behalf of the 10-year-old mother," he added.

Moderate GOP Rep. David Joyce of Ohio said the case of the 10-year-old girl is tragic but straightforward: She had a right to get an abortion given the horrible circumstances.

“It’s always been my position that, as a former prosecutor, in instances of rape, incest or mother’s health that there should be exceptions to the rule,” Joyce said. “While I’m pro-life, I understand that I couldn’t fathom having to carry a baby to term in which we were the victim of rape.”

July 19, 2022 7:12 AM  
Anonymous Lyin' GQPers running for office in MD said...

Maryland GOP Senate candidate arrested for allegedly filing false child trafficking report

A Republican running for U.S. Senate in Maryland was arrested Friday for allegedly filing a false report about a girl being trafficked at an adult book store, police said.

Ryan Dark White, also known as. Dr. Jon McGreevey, has been charged with making false statements to police after he told a law enforcement official in April that a man was forcing a young girl between the ages of 10 and 12 to participate in sexual acts with male customers, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.

White reported his claim as an employee of the bookstore, Fox 45 Baltimore reported.

Detectives launched an investigation into White's allegations. No reports of the incident were filed by witnesses at the store. Officials conducted interviews, gathered evidence and identified the adult and child allegedly involved.

Police interviewed White on July 7 before later concluding that his initial statement was false.

​"It is shameful that a candidate for public office would make up such a story and use it to further his own political agenda," Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler said in the press release.

"It is even more appalling, that another individual, who is running for a law enforcement position, would embrace such an obviously false narrative in an effort to gain political traction – nothing more," Gahler continued, appearing to make a reference to Baltimore County sheriff candidate Andy Kuhl, who is running as a Republican. Kuhl has reportedly made public appearances with White.

White is being held at the Harford County Detention Center and will appear before a District Court Commissioner.

"I am beyond grateful this young girl is safe, but extremely disappointed someone would attempt to discredit and disparage the work of the dedicated men and women of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and Child Advocacy Center." Gahler said. "Fearmongering and antagonism caused wasted time and energy by our personnel, whose time would have been better served protecting the citizens of Harford County, instead of investigating lies."

White is one of 10 Republicans running in Maryland's GOP Senate primary election, which takes place on Tuesday.

July 19, 2022 7:27 AM  
Anonymous Republicans embraced a solution to school violence. Now some are denouncing it as 'woke.' said...

ARLINGTON, Texas — In October, after a student opened fire at Timberview High School in North Texas, wounding two classmates and a teacher, parents in the Mansfield Independent School District initially rallied together, praying publicly for the victims and praising officials for reacting quickly to prevent a worse tragedy.

But six months later, a different narrative began to spread through this suburban Dallas school district, one that put the blame for the shooting on a new district approach to disciplining students. It started with political mailers sent to thousands of homes.

“MISD put ‘woke’ politics over the safety of our children,” the flyers read in all caps, above a news clipping about the Timberview shooting, which reportedly resulted from a fight between two Black students. The flyers, paid for by a conservative political action committee, warned that the Mansfield school district had “stopped disciplining students” based on “Critical Race Theory principles.” As a result, it said, “kids were nearly killed.”

But the Mansfield mailer omitted a key detail: Some of the local school policies that it was attacking were initially implemented three years ago, not as part of a liberal takeover of the suburban school system, but at the urging of Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Trump administration.

The mailers reflected a growing belief among some conservative parents, both in Mansfield and nationally, that school programs meant to address students’ emotional well-being have become vehicles for indoctrinating children with progressive ideas about race, gender and sexuality. The flyers, sent in mid-April ahead of a school board election, also previewed how some prominent Republicans would respond one month later after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — making a visceral connection between anti-racism initiatives in schools and parental fears about the physical safety of their children.

The fight in Mansfield reveals how quickly conservative messaging has evolved when it comes to hot-button debates over education, racism and school violence.

In the wake of school shootings in Texas and Florida in 2018, many Republican leaders, including Abbott, enthusiastically endorsed efforts to expand school-based social emotional learning programs, which they viewed as a way to prevent mass shootings without taking action on gun reform. Pointing to reams of academic studies, advocates say these teaching and disciplinary approaches help students cope with adversity while steering them away from violence.

Since last year, however, those educational concepts have been swept up in a movement to rid schools of initiatives meant to address racism and inequity — a conservative backlash that experts say is now threatening the very programs that Republicans once presented as a solution to school violence.

Far-right groups and grassroots parents have attacked social emotional learning — and related practices such as restorative discipline, which focuses on character development rather than punishment alone — as a “Trojan horse” for critical race theory, an academic study of racism that some on the right have used to label lessons on racism and gender that they find objectionable.

Conservative activists have seized on the fact that some social emotional learning programs encourage children to celebrate diversity, sometimes introducing students to conversations about race, gender and sexuality. And opponents take issue with one of the underlying goals of such initiatives: to reduce racial disparities in school disciplinary outcomes.

As a result, some Republican lawmakers who previously supported social emotional learning have soured on the concept. Several GOP-controlled state legislatures have considered bills to ban social emotional learning from schools. And many of the Republican proposals for stopping mass shootings following the massacre in Uvalde have instead focused on empowering schools and police to crack down harder on students who show signs of violence...

July 19, 2022 7:51 AM  
Anonymous I wonder if TTFers agree with any part of the Constitution.... said...


"Earth is crying out loud for a green agenda"

I've got news for you

the Green New Deal is filled with goals for decades hence and might have some effect then except that China, India, and most of the third world won't halt the progress of living standards required to meet green goals

governments need to focus on how to adapt to climate change now, not 30-80 years from now

"Many expressed shock that it was even biologically possible for the 10-year-old child to become pregnant. Some said they were torn “morally” about whether abortions should be allowed in cases of incest or rape, as in the Ohio case."

that's the way most Americans feel

however this case that the lunatic fringe is so rapturous about turns out, most Americans will continue to oppose killing unborn after the 15th week of pregnancy

"And others tried to turn the conversation to the undocumented immigrant who prosecutors allege raped the girl."

the scandal of Slidin' Biden's effectively opening the border to mass immigration waves without filtering out anti-social elements

"to have to go out of state to do it is cruel beyond belief.”

really?

why?

talk about extreme hype

"The House will vote Friday on Chu’s bill that would restore the right to an abortion, as well as another bill to protect Americans who travel to receive reproductive health care. Neither has enough support in the Senate."

so, why do it?

Roe will never be nationalized

focus your effort on your state

"Lyin' GQPers running for office in MD"

it's amazing any Dem could complain about anyone in the GOP lying

have you heard the lies Biden has told about inflation?

it's only temporary

Build Back Better will end inflation

it's Putin's fault

it's only a problem for rich people

how about Hunter's business affairs?

July 19, 2022 11:54 AM  
Anonymous I wonder if Jill is looking for an assisted living facility for Joe... said...


A 2024 rematch between President Joe Slidin' and former President Donald Trump seems almost certain as both men have indicated their intention to run again in two years. But recent polling suggests there will be a different result.

While neither Slidin' nor Trump has made any official announcement about a presidential campaign, Trump has all but confirmed that he will seek another term in the Oval Office.

The White House has repeatedly said it's Slidin's intention to seek another term.

Ted Kaufman, a longtime confidante of Slidin', told The Washington Post in an article published on Tuesday that "he does feel like he's the best option" against Trump.

LOL!

Recent polls show Slidin' will probably lose in a 2024 contest against Trump.

Slidin' won 51.3 percent of the popular vote in 2020, while Trump won 46.9 percent.

Recent polls show a much closer race.

A Trafalgar Group poll conducted from July 11 to 14 showed Trump would defeat Slidin' in 2024, with the former president enjoying 47.9 percent support to Slidin's 42.6 percent. That poll surveyed 1,085 likely general election voters.

A YouGov poll from July 8 to 11 among 1,261 registered voters showed Slidin' with a slight lead of 44 percent to Trump's 43 percent. But among 1,672 adults surveyed, Trump beat Slidin' with 40 percent to the president's 39 percent.

A Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll conducted on July 9 showed a similar result. Among the 1,078 likely voters surveyed, Trump enjoyed 43 percent support and Slidin' 41 percent.

Among 1,500 registered voters in the same poll, Trump had 36 percent and Slidin' enjoyed 33 percent support.

A Siena College/The New York Times Upshot poll from July 5 to 7 was better news for Slidin' as he led Trump with 43 percent to the Republican's 42 percent. That poll surveyed 849 registered voters.

The most recent polling, therefore, paints a mixed picture. But the figures seem concerning for Slidin', especially considering his stubbornly low-approval rating.

Poll tracker FiveThirtyEight's analysis gave Slidin' an approval rating of just 38.6 percent as of Tuesday, while disapproval of the president was at 55.7 percent.

More significantly, even with slight wins in the popular vote, Slidin' will likely lose because Democraps tend to pile up large majorities in New York and California and lose most of the rest of the country.

Recent polls show Trump leading in 44 states.

America elects by electoral college, not popular vote, so you don't get any more credit for getting 80% of NY and CA than you do for getting 51%.

July 19, 2022 12:47 PM  
Anonymous guess what? the Green New Deal is just as dead as the gay agenda.... said...


President Joe Biden and the White House are reportedly "steaming mad" at Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., after the senator said he wouldn't consider the administration's climate and tax provisions in a sweeping Democratic bill.

"The president has told confidants that he can’t fathom why he keeps torpedoing the party’s best-laid plans," Politico reported on Tuesday.

LOL!

A Democrap operative told the outlet that Manchin is "ridiculous" and said that he plays games and is a "bad actor."

The last time the Democraps took a whack at Manchin, it backfired spectacularly, causing a months-long break in negotiations around a pared down plan," Politico reporters Adam Cancryn and Jonathan Lemire wrote.

Manchin derailed the passage of Biden's Build Back Better bill in 2021 after months of negotiations.

LOL!

July 19, 2022 12:57 PM  
Anonymous Supreme Liar Alito said...

A 1792 case reveals that key Founders saw abortion as a private matter
Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall and Patrick Henry didn’t advocate for prosecution of a woman who probably had an abortion

A basic premise of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was that the Constitution can protect the right to abortion only if it is “deeply rooted in our history and traditions.” This statement complements Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s concept of originalism, or the idea that the court should interpret the Constitution by trying to infer “the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it.”

Alito’s evidence that abortion was always considered a criminal act, and thus something the Constitution should not protect, consisted of a single criminal case that was prosecuted in 1652 in the (Catholic) colony of Maryland. He then jumped ahead to laws that states enacted, mostly in the mid-to-late-19th century, to criminalize abortion. This cursory survey of abortion in early America was hardly complete, especially because it ignored the history of abortion in the years in which the Constitution was drafted and ratified.

In that era, abortion was governed by Anglo-American common law. Under this framework, the procedure was legal before “quickening,” or the moment the pregnant person first felt fetal movement — a highly subjective milestone that usually occurred around 16 to 22 weeks of gestation. Yet even after quickening, few people were prosecuted for abortion, let alone convicted — Alito’s opinion certainly did not offer contradictory evidence. The reason is simple: In the early republic, abortion was largely a private matter. It was not a cause for public concern, nor was abortion considered a criminal act.

In fact, contrary to Alito’s assertions in Dobbs, three Founders from Virginia — Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry and John Marshall — did not seek charges in a sensational court case from that era in which evidence of an abortion was discovered.

In 1792, 18-year-old unwed Nancy Randolph was impregnated by her 22-year-old brother-in-law and cousin, Richard Randolph. Nancy lived with Richard and his wife, her sister Judith, at their Cumberland County plantation in Virginia, aptly named “Bizarre.”

In September, Nancy and Judith’s cousin and sister-in-law, Jefferson’s daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph, visited and found Nancy unwell and unwilling to undress in front of her. Martha, who believed Nancy was pregnant, recommended gum of guaiacum, an herb known to treat “menstrual obstruction,” a euphemism for pregnancy. On her return home, she sent Nancy the herb, which she warned could “produce an abortion.”

Two weeks later, Richard, Judith and Nancy visited the home of their cousins, Randolph and Mary Randolph Harrison. Nancy appeared ill and retired early to bed, awakening with a scream in the middle of the night. The next morning, Nancy’s bedclothes were bloody. Randolph Harrison saw blood on the stairs and noted “[Nancy’s] considerable paleness and a disagreeable odor.”

When an enslaved man found what appeared to be a White fetus on a woodpile, rumors spread through the community of enslaved people to Whites of all classes quickly, reaching Philadelphia, where Jefferson expressed sympathy for Nancy in a letter to daughter Martha, declaring: “I see guilt but in one person, and not in her.” Jefferson’s response was typical of that era, a time when upper class White women like Nancy were viewed as morally pure and sexually chaste by nature.

July 19, 2022 2:25 PM  
Anonymous Supreme Liar Alito said...

Many among the general public believed that Richard impregnated his sister-in-law — which was incest under Virginia law — and that he also murdered a living infant. His honor and life were at risk. Richard vehemently asserted his innocence in a newspaper. His public statement had little effect, and, facing mounting pressure, he surrendered to the county sheriff. Richard was charged with “feloniously murdering a child delivered of the body of Nancy Randolph or being accessory to the same.”

Medically, five pieces of evidence suggest that what happened was not murder of a living child, but rather a deliberate second-trimester abortion. First, Nancy had an abortifacient. Second, witnesses reported her enlarged abdomen, though not a full-term pregnancy. Third, Nancy’s brief cries were more consistent with latent labor than active labor. In latent labor, the cervix dilates to four-to-six centimeters, sufficient for passage of a one-to-two-pound fetus. Uncomfortable but not unbearable, and sometimes lasting days, latent labor in the second trimester ends abruptly with the expulsion of the fetus. (At full term, hours of painful active labor follow to achieve 10-centimeter dilation and pushing efforts.)

Fourth, no one reported a baby’s cry, suggesting pre-viability outside the womb. Finally, Nancy later delivered a son at term, indicating she had no risk factors for second-trimester miscarriage such as uterine or cervical anomalies. Altogether, the evidence supports the conclusion that Nancy ingested herbs to induce a second-trimester abortion and that her effort was successful.

In April 1793, Richard appeared before a tribunal of county judges who weighed the merits of serious criminal charges to decide whether they should be adjudicated in a higher court. Few defendants in the 1790s had legal counsel, but Richard and his stepfather assembled a good team: Henry, a charismatic litigator and former governor famous for his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech; Marshall, a rising star and the future U.S. Supreme Court chief justice; and William Campbell, the U.S. attorney for Virginia.

The circumstantial obstetric evidence overwhelmingly demonstrated that Nancy’s pregnancy ended that night at the Harrisons’ home. Marshall recorded Martha Randolph’s testimony that Nancy was pregnant and that she delivered the herb, noting that the gum of guaiacum was “designed” for producing an abortion. But he did not describe this as a crime.

No effort seems to have been made to determine whether the pregnancy had reached the stage of quickening. If it was post-quickening, the state could have prosecuted Nancy and Martha. Instead Henry skillfully undermined the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, and Marshall successfully took the untenable position that there was never a pregnancy and, thus, Richard could not be guilty of murder.

While the release of Richard — a wealthy White man with great lawyers — was not surprising, what was remarkable and relevant to today’s debates is that evidence of an intended abortion was discovered in an unwed, unpropertied woman and not fully investigated or acted upon. Nancy would later admit she had been pregnant, yet neither she nor her accomplice were ever charged.

Abortion was later criminalized in Virginia and across other states in the 19th century. But these laws reflected the development of modern gynecology more than a change in morality. The curette, introduced in 1843, was widely adopted when dilators were developed in 1871, resulting in the “D and C” procedure, in which the cervix is dilated to allow for passage of a curette, which removes tissue from the uterus. Abortion transformed from a private, female matter to the purview of male medical professionals, who excluded other providers by influencing lawmakers.

July 19, 2022 2:26 PM  
Anonymous Supreme Liar Alito said...

Therefore, the more historically accurate conclusion is Justice Harry A. Blackmun’s majority opinion in Roe v. Wade (1973), that “at the time of the adoption of our Constitution, and throughout the majority of the 19th century, abortion was viewed with less disfavor than under most American statutes currently in effect. Phrasing it another way, a woman enjoyed a substantially broader right to terminate a pregnancy than she does in most States today. ”

Though Marshall’s notes on Commonwealth v. Randolph are extensive, this episode is poorly documented in the county court records, and, thus, no formal case law was generated. Regardless, the episode begs examination as it involved key Founders who occupied vastly different positions on the political spectrum, both nationally and in Virginia. The Federalist Marshall believed in a strong national government. Jefferson mostly supported a decentralized system. Henry was a populist. Yet all three tacitly agreed that abortion in this case was a private matter, not a criminal act worthy of further investigation and prosecution. In a remarkable coda, Nancy went on to marry Gouverneur Morris of New York, an influential signer of the Constitution, who was well aware of her backstory.

If anything, the saga demonstrates that the concept of abortion as a private matter was “deeply rooted” in the minds of our nation’s Founders. As Americans consider their next move on the abortion issue at the state level, they should be mindful of the precedents followed by these early giants of our republic.

July 19, 2022 2:26 PM  
Anonymous Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s concept of originalism, or the idea that the court should interpret the Constitution by trying to infer “the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it." said...

Sigh.

All right, Amy muskets are legal but abortion is legal too -- at least until quickening around 16-22 weeks.

July 19, 2022 3:30 PM  
Anonymous every time you drive down the street every gas station, price sign is a de facto ad for the GOP...s to elect Slidin' Joe Biden... said...


"A 1792 case reveals that key Founders saw abortion as a private matter
Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall and Patrick Henry didn’t advocate for prosecution of a woman who probably had an abortion"

and yet, despite their personal opinion, they didn't make it a right under the Bill of Rights

the Supreme Court has freed all Americans to advocate for their view and work to elect leaders who will advance their view of abortion

July 19, 2022 10:36 PM  
Anonymous TTF, teaching tomfoolery! said...


Ruy Teixeira is one of Washington’s most prominent left-leaning think-tank scholars, a fixture at the Center for American Progress since the liberal organization’s founding in 2003. But as of August 1, he’ll have a new professional home: The American Enterprise Institute, the longtime conservative redoubt that over the years has employed the likes of Newt Gingrich, Dinesh D’Souza, and Robert Bork.

Teixeira, whose role in the Beltway scrum often involved arguing against calls to move right on economic issues, insists his own policy views haven’t changed — but says the current cultural milieu of progressive organizations “sends me running screaming from the left.”

“My perspective is, the single most important thing to focus on in the social system is the economic system,” he tells me. “It’s class.” We’re sitting in AEI’s elegantly furnished library. Down the hall, there’s a boisterous event celebrating the conservative intellectual Harvey Mansfield. William Kristol, clad in a suit, has just left the room. Teixeira’s untucked shirt and sneakers aren’t the only thing that seems out of place. “I’m just a social democrat, man. Trying to make the world a better place.”

How Teixeira came to be talking about the essentiality of class politics while sitting a few feet from a stack of books by Lynne Cheney says a great deal about the state of the American left, where the 70-year-old researcher felt alienated — and about the American right, where a once-dominant think tank that fell afoul of Trump die-hards has brought him aboard.

To hear Teixeira tell it, CAP, and the rest of Washington’s institution-based left, stopped being a place where he could do the work he wanted. The reason, he says, is that the relentless focus on race, gender, and identity in historically liberal foundations and think tanks has made it hard to do work that looks at society through other prisms. It also makes people nervous about projects that could be accused of giving short shrift to anti-racism efforts.

“I would say that anybody who has a fundamentally class-oriented perspective, who thinks that’s a more important lens and doesn’t assume that any disparity is automatically a lens of racism or sexism or what have you … I think that perspective is not congenial in most left institutions,” he says.

Teixeira’s bill of complaints will be a familiar one for many who have followed the internal battles of the left over the past half-decade, or spent an afternoon on left-wing Twitter. Politically, as a strategist, he thinks the Democrats need to win culturally moderate voters if they’re going to ever create the kind of coalition that can get their policies enacted.

“I’d say they have been affected by the nature and inclination and preferences of their junior staff,” he says. “It’s just the case that at CAP, like almost any other left think tank you can think of, it’s become very hard to have a conversation about race and gender and trans issues, even crime and immigration. You know, ‘How should the left handle these?’ There’s a default assumption about how you’re supposed to talk about these things, even the language. There’s a real chilling effect on all of these organizations, and I think it’s had an effect on CAP as well.”

Like a lot of older veterans of liberal think-tanks and foundations, he also says he’s exhausted by the internal agita. “It’s just cloud cuckoo land,” he says. “The fact that nobody is willing to call bullshit, it just freaks me out.”

July 20, 2022 5:40 AM  
Anonymous guess what? the House of Representatives has too much time on their hands.... said...


Frustrated that they have no idea what to do about our real problems. the House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to codify the right to same-sex marriage.

The final vote was 267-157, with 47 Republicans joining every Democrat in the majority. The chamber erupted in applause as the final tally came in.

Sad...

Notable among those who voted for the bill was Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming -- in a break from her past stance on the issue, which publicly put her at odds with her parents and sister, who is gay. In 2021, Cheney reversed her opinion and said, "I was wrong."

That's alright, Liz. The voters will put you out of your misery soon

July 20, 2022 5:49 AM  
Anonymous it's all fun and games until the GOP takes over Congress and investigates the Big Guy.... said...


When Michelle Obama declared “When they go low, we go high” about Republicans in 2016, Democraps generally agreed with the sentiment.

But nearly six years later, the party that pledged to play nice is fed up.

Democraps are tired of being stomped on by the opposition. They hate the common public perception of President Slidin' as a crotchety old president in peril. And the conservative Supreme Court’s decisions to reject the killing of unborn children as a right, defend the right to carry weapons, and require environmental regulations to pass Congress are pushing them past their limits.

LOL!

Going low suddenly seems more appealing, most Democraps now say.

“This is a time to say ‘We’ve had enough. ” said one Democrap strategist. “This isn’t the time to say we’re the honorable party, because that clearly isn’t working.”

With roughly three months until the midterm elections, Democraps now are encouraging a more forceful approach from Biden on down.

“Democraps should be savaging Republicans for destroying people’s lives,” said Bill Neidhardt, a progressive operative who worked on the messed-up messaging strategy for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

LOL!

In an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, Lis Smith, a Democrap strategist who served as a communications adviser to homosexual Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg during his failed presidential campaign, said Democraps have to disingenuously present the midterms as a choice between their party “trying to bring relief to the American people” and a GOP “trying to take away freedoms.”

She pointed to key states like Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, where the race for the Senate will be decided. Falsely casting the GOP as a party of election deniers and those in favor of a complete ban on abortion with no exception can help Democraps in the midterms.

“That is what Democraps need to be screaming from the rooftops about every single day of the week,” she shamelessly said.

July 20, 2022 9:43 AM  
Anonymous Buttagieg needs to disclose if he has contracted monkey pox... said...


Homosexual Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg became frantic when a GOP lawmaker during a House hearing after the Republican asked whether the Cabinet has considered removing President Joe Slidin' via the 25th Amendment due to questions about his cognitive health.

The House Transportation Committee met for hours on Tuesday to discuss infrastructure, electric vehicles, and rising energy costs amid the war in Ukraine. However, the hearing took a turn after Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) began to press Buttigieg with suggestions that Slidin' is not mentally fit for office.

“We now see the mainstream media questioning President Slidin's mental state, and for good reason. Sadly, he shakes hands with ghosts and imaginary people, and he falls off bicycles,” Nehls said, referring to an incident last month when the president fell off his bike while greeting a crowd in Delaware.

Nehls also presented the committee with photos of Slidin' and captions mocking a speech the president gave last month in which he stuttered through parts of his delivery. Others standing around the Texas Republican presented photos of Slidin' standing with the White House Easter Bunny.

“Have you spoken to Cabinet members about implementing the 25th Amendment on President Slidin'?” Nehls asked.

“First of all, I’m glad to have a president who can ride a bicycle,” he whined “Of course not,” he grumbled as Nehls repeated the question.

“ — is as vigorous a colleague or boss as I have ever had the pleasure of working with,” Buttigieg then lied.

Slidin', almost 80, has been subjected to questions about his cognitive ability due to common slip-ups, stutters, and verbal gaffes. While some argue the mistakes indicate cognitive decline, the Democrap has often made stupid verbal blunders throughout his career.

The 25th Amendment would allow the president to be removed from office if the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members or a group established by Congress declare him or her unfit.

Republicans have considered invoking this power, with Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) calling for its use in August 2021 after the fallout from the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan left 13 U.S. military members dead and hundreds of bystanders wounded.

July 20, 2022 11:15 AM  
Anonymous GrandQAnonPoxer wins MD GOP nomination for MD Governor said...

State Del. Dan Cox (rhymes with pox), who had the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, has won the GOP nomination for governor of Maryland.

The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday night. Cox will face the winner of the Democratic primary in November and will be a substantial underdog.

Author and executive Wes Moore was leading the Democratic primary on Tuesday night, pulling 37% of the vote to former Labor Secretary Tom Perez’s 27%. The race was unlikely to be called on Tuesday night, since Maryland counties will not begin counting mail ballots until Thursday morning.

The victory for Cox, who has wholeheartedly embraced Trump’s lies about the 2020 presidential election and espouses hard-line conservative views on most major issues, is also a stinging defeat for Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, the popular moderate who has repeatedly clashed with the former president and is eyeing a presidential bid in 2024.

Hogan endorsed, fundraised and campaigned for Kelly Schulz, a former member of his Cabinet and Cox’s main competition for the nomination.

Cox’s victory, in the eyes of most Democrats and national Republicans, means the GOP has little to no chance of winning the governorship in November.

July 20, 2022 11:37 AM  
Anonymous When Conservatives tell you who they are, believe them said...

Michael Peroutka, a neo-Confederate activist who’s refused to disavow a racist group to which he once belonged, has won the Republican nomination to be Maryland’s next attorney general.

Peroutka, a former Anne Arundel County Council member, beat his opponent Jim Shalleck, a former state and federal prosecutor, on Tuesday. He’ll face Democrat Anthony Brown in November.

Even among the various far-right candidates the Republican Party has nominated across the country, Peroutka stands out for his extremism, holding views that would be alarming for anyone seeking public office ― let alone someone vying to be a state’s top law enforcement official.

As documented in a recent, extensive Vice News profile, Peroutka is part of a growing Christian nationalist coalition that’s tightening its grip on the GOP. He believes lawmakers should “take a biblical worldview and apply it to civil law and government.”

In practice, this means Peroutka would refuse to accept Maryland’s law protecting the right to an abortion. He has also said he’d refuse to accept a Supreme Court ruling that protects same-sex marriage. “That’s not law. It can’t be law, because it violates God’s law,” he said at an event this month.

In a 2014 blog post, Peroutka described the separation of church and state as the “great lie.” That same year he argued for dismantling public education, which he denounced as “the 10th plank in the Communist Manifesto.”

And in 2002, according to Vice, Peroutka gave a speech to a racist organization called the League of the South, in which he said he was “still angry” that Maryland did not secede from the Union during the Civil War.

Peroutka served on the board of the League of the South — which believes that today’s Southern states should secede from the U.S. — from 2012 to 2014.

Once, at a group conference in 2012, Peroutka sang “Dixie,” a song with origins in minstrel performances that was the anthem of the Confederacy during the Civil War. That same year, Michael Hill, president of the League of the South, wrote that “the cold facts of history tell us that blacks have never created anything approximating a civilization in the Western sense of the term.”

Hill had previously written that the League of the South supported “a return to a political and social system based on kith and kin rather than an impersonal state wedded to the idea of the universal rights of man. At its core is a European population.”

Peroutka left the organization in 2014 when he ran for his county council seat, citing disagreements with Hill over his views against interracial marriage.

Still, as Vice notes, Peroutaka has refused to disavow the League of the South ― even after Hill pledged in 2016 to be a “white supremacist, a racist, an anti-Semite, a homophobe, a xenophobe, an Islamophobe, and any other sort of ’phobe that benefits my people, so help me God,” and even after the group’s involvement in the deadly 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Indeed, Peroutka wouldn’t even denounce the group during his latest bid for Maryland attorney general.

July 20, 2022 12:00 PM  
Anonymous Trump-backed Dan Cox wins Maryland GOP nomination for governor said...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Dan Cox, a far-right state legislator endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary for Maryland governor on Tuesday, defeating a moderate rival backed by outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan.

Despite being a win for Trump, Cox's victory over former Hogan Cabinet member Kelly Schulz could be a blow to Republican chances to hold on to the seat in November. Hogan, who was prohibited from running for a third consecutive term, was a rare two-term Republican governor in a heavily Democratic state, and he had endorsed Schulz as the successor to his bipartisan style of leadership.

Cox will face the winner of the Democratic primary in the November general election. Wes Moore, a bestselling author backed by Oprah Winfrey, had an early lead Tuesday night, with the focus starting to turn to mail ballots that won’t be counted until later in the week.

The Republican primary was viewed as a proxy battle between Trump and Hogan, who offered vastly different visions of the party’s future as they consider 2024 campaigns for the White House. Hogan, one of Trump’s most prominent GOP critics, urged the party to move on from his divisive brand of politics, while Trump spent much of his post-presidency lifting candidates who embrace his election lies.

One of those candidates was Cox, who organized busloads of protesters to Washington for the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Cox has also said President Joe Biden’s victory shouldn’t have been certified, called former Vice President Mike Pence a “traitor” and sought unsuccessfully to impeach Hogan for his pandemic policies.

Democrats were likely giddy over Cox's win in the Republican primary. The Democratic National Committee plowed more than $1 million behind an ad intended to boost Cox, seeing him as an easier opponent in November.

It could potentially take days, or even longer, to determine the winners in the most closely contested races, including the Democratic primary for governor. Maryland law prohibits counties from opening mail ballots until the Thursday after election day.

In another top race Tuesday, Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen beat back a primary challenge just months after suffering a minor stroke. He is favored in November to win a second term...

July 20, 2022 12:11 PM  
Anonymous Conservatives love Cox said...

On Wednesday, writing for The Bulwark, conservative writer Jim Swift slammed the Maryland GOP for choosing an extreme-right nominee for governor — and all but ensuring they will slide into irrelevancy in the state by "elevating a crank."

This comes after Maryland Republicans chose Dan Cox, an election denier, over Kelly Schulz, the choice of sitting Republican Gov. Larry Hogan — an outcome the Democratic Governors' Association had been hoping for.

"There has been a lot of unserious whining about Democrats trying to pick their opponents this election cycle. In this case, some commentators suggested that the DGA poll was bunk — that the Democrats were inflating the numbers for Cox to help build support for him, since he’d be an easier Republican to defeat. But the polling outfit is a reputable one and the poll looked solid," wrote Swift. "Well, the results are conclusively in, and as of 2 a.m. Cox is beating Schulz by 16 points, double the gap in the DGA poll. That margin will shrink as mail-in ballots are counted, but the race is over: The AP called the election for Cox around 11 p.m."

"So Maryland Republicans now have Dan Cox as their nominee for governor and the similarly nuts Gordana Schifanelli as their nominee for lieutenant governor," wrote Swift. "Don’t be surprised if you hear unhappy conservative commentators kvetching about how the Dems’ strategy of spending small change on Cox caused his lead to double. But the reality is that the base wants what the base wants, and Maryland Republicans wanted them some Dan Cox."

Cox is likely to face off against author and charity CEO Wes Moore, who as of press time has a strong lead in counted ballots but has not been called the winner.

"Aside from a win for Larry Hogan’s own daughter yesterday — she clinched the Republican nomination for state’s attorney in St. Mary’s County — it seems that Larry Hogan Republicanism is all but over," concluded Swift. "The Maryland GOP will likely have one lonely Trumpy congressman, Andy Harris, whom the Baltimore Sun called an 'unrepentant Jan. 6 co-conspirator.' They used to have Roscoe Bartlett, a fascinating, honorable man who now lives off the grid. A few Maryland Republicans might want to go join him in the wilderness."

July 20, 2022 12:26 PM  
Anonymous No Trump, you did not win the 2020 presidential election, you lost by 7 million votes said...

Former President Donald Trump is still waging his campaign to reverse his 2020 election loss more than 20 months later, issuing a thinly veiled threat to a top Wisconsin Republican who rebuffed his request to decertify the state's results.

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told WISN-TV that Trump pressured him on a call last week to somehow decertify the state's results after the state Supreme Court restricted the use of ballot drop boxes. The court ruling banned the future use of most drop boxes but the case had nothing to do with the last election and left open the door for lawmakers to pass legislation codifying the use of drop boxes.

Trump falsely claimed on his Twitter knockoff Truth Social that the ruling "means I won the very closely contested (not actually!) Wisconsin Presidential race because they used these corrupt and scandal-ridden Scam Boxes." There has been no evidence of any wrongdoing or irregularities related to drop boxes and the court did not rule on the merits of their use.

Trump then called Vos after the ruling to demand he use the ruling as a pretense to decertify the state's 2020 election results — even though there is no legal mechanism to do so.

"It's very consistent," Vos told WISN. "He makes his case, which I respect. He would like us to do something different in Wisconsin. I explained it's not allowed under the constitution. He has a different opinion, and then he put out the tweet. So that's it."

Trump after the call lashed out at Vos on Truth Social.

"Looks like Speaker Robin Vos, a long time professional RINO always looking to guard his flank, will be doing nothing about the amazing Wisconsin Supreme Court decision," he wrote. "What a waste of brilliant and courageous decision by Wisconsin's Highest Court. The Democrats would like to sincerely thank Robin, and all of his fellow RINOs, for letting them get away with 'murder.'"

Vos explained that the ruling had nothing to do with Trump's election loss.

"The court case as you read it does not go back and say what happened in 2020 was illegal. It just says going forward it can't happen," he told the outlet. "I think we all know Donald Trump is Donald Trump. There's very little we can do to control or predict what he will do," he added.

Trump on Tuesday went further, seemingly threatening to back Vos' Republican primary challenger Adam Steen unless he cedes to his demands...

July 20, 2022 12:35 PM  
Anonymous Republican Senate candidate arrested for concocting false child sex trafficking accusations said...

Republican candidate in the state of Maryland has been apprehended for concocting an erroneous report riddled with false child trafficking accusations.

On Friday, July 15, Ryan Dark White was taken into custody at the Harford County Detention Center after being arrested, according to a statement released by the sheriff's office.

Per HuffPost: "The Harford County Sherriff's Office said White, an employee at an adult bookstore in Edgewood, Maryland, falsely reported in April that a girl aged 10 to 12 was being trafficked by a man at the bookstore and forced to perform sex acts on male customers. The sheriff's office identified both the male and the young girl, and said investigators found no evidence supporting White's allegations."

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey R. Gahler weighed in with a response to White's false report saying, "It is shameful that a candidate for public office would make up such a story and use it to further his own political agenda."

Gahler also criticized an unnamed candidate who isn't facing criminal charges as part of the investigation. "It is even more appalling that another individual, who is running for a law enforcement position, would embrace such an obviously false narrative in an effort to gain political traction — nothing more," Gahler said.

White's arrest follows multiple appearances he reportedly made with Andy Kuhl, who is a Baltimore Count Republican candidate for sheriff. Kuhl's campaign website issued warnings about a so-called "multistate child trafficking operation," per HuffPost.

The website says, "Jon McGreevey and I go undercover to expose these sick and heinous crimes against children. We must bring these criminals to Justice."

White also went on record saying he took a job at a bookstore in hopes of uncovering an alleged drug distribution operation as he insisted drugs were being sold out of the location.

"They started exploiting children," White said in a clip uploaded to Kuhl's campaign website in June. "There's a child trafficking ring being run through there as well."

Gahler applauded his office and the resources exhausted to for the false reporting investigation.

"I am beyond grateful this young girl is safe, but extremely disappointed someone would attempt to discredit and disparage the work of the dedicated men and women of the Harford County Sheriff's Office and Child Advocacy Center," Gahler said. "Fearmongering and antagonism caused wasted time and energy by our personnel, whose time would have been better served protecting the citizens of Harford County, instead of investigating lies."

July 20, 2022 12:39 PM  
Anonymous the gay agenda is totalitarian said...


Presidential voters are showing an eagerness to junk old slates of candidates and entertain a new cast of hopefuls, opening the door to fresh faces eyeing the 2024 race including Govs. Ron DeSantis and Glenn Youngkin and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Missing in new polling is a desire for past nominees, such as 2016 Democratic pick Hillary Rodham Clinton, or 2012 GOP candidate Sen. Mitt Romney.

The latest Rasmussen Reports survey out today shows that even those who almost won their party’s nomination are getting the cold shoulder, including Sens. Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders.

Rasmussen asked if Clinton, Romney, Cruz or Sanders should run again. The results:

Clinton: No 69% to 20% yes. Some 53% of Democrats and 59% of liberals said no.

Romney: No 66% to 19% yes. Some 71% of Republicans said no.

Sanders: No 67% to 21% yes, with 59% of Democrats rejecting another run.

Cruz: No 63% to 20% yes, with 48% of Republicans rejecting another run.

The new survey comes on the heels of others showing that many voters would also like for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to exit the national stage. Rasmussen, for example, said that just 29% want Biden to run for reelection and 37% want another chance to vote for Trump.

The surveys are a signal that voters are ready for a new cast of candidates.

July 21, 2022 1:16 PM  
Anonymous Ex-cop Lane gets 2 1/2 years on Floyd killing federal charge said...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former Minneapolis police Officer Thomas Lane has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on a federal civil rights charge for his role in the killing of George Floyd.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Lane on Thursday for his February conviction of depriving Floyd of medical care as he lay dying under Officer Derek Chauvin’s knee in May 2020.

"Mr. Lane this is a very serious offense, in which a life was lost,” Magnuson said. “The fact that you did not get up and remove Mr. Chauvin when Mr. Floyd became unconscious is a violation of the law.”

But Magnuson also held up 145 letters of support for Lane — he said he had never received so many on behalf of a defendant — and faulted the Minneapolis Police Department for sending him out with another rookie on the call that ended with Floyd’s killing.

Lane, who has been free on bond, didn't speak at the hearing. He declined to comment as he left the court.

Magnuson ordered him to surrender to U.S. Marshals on Oct. 4.

The killing of Floyd, who was Black, sparked protests in Minneapolis and around the world over racial injustice in policing, and launched a national reckoning on race.

Lane, who is white, held Floyd’s legs as Chauvin pinned Floyd for nearly 9 1/2 minutes. Two other officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, were also convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights and will be sentenced later.

Federal prosecutors had asked for a sentence of up to 6 1/2 years, in line with federal guidelines. Lane’s attorney asked for a little over two years, arguing that Lane was the least culpable of the officers in part because he had asked his colleagues twice whether Floyd should be turned on his side.

July 21, 2022 2:08 PM  
Anonymous Try living on $197/month: Texas officials who celebrate end of abortion rights also slashed postpartum Medicaid by half said...

While celebrating last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion, Gov. Greg Abbott pointed to the millions of dollars in spending that state lawmakers approved during the 2021 legislative session to help pregnant women and new mothers.

Among the measures he touted was a law that extended Medicaid health care coverage for pregnant women until six months after they give birth or miscarry, exceeding the federal government's requirement that states provide at least two months of the benefit.

"Texas is a pro-life state, and we have taken significant action to protect the sanctity of life," the Republican governor said in a June 24 statement. "Texas has also prioritized supporting women's healthcare and expectant mothers in need to give them the necessary resources so that they can choose life for their child."

Abbott's statement neglected to mention that Texas lags behind at least 33 states, including 11 led by Republican governors, as well as the District of Columbia, all of which have already expanded or are working with the federal government to extend postpartum Medicaid benefits for a full year after giving birth. In 2021, the Texas House passed a measure that would have lengthened that coverage to 12 months, but during the waning days of the legislative session one of the senators who co-authored the state's restrictive abortion law halved the time period.

Texas is among a dozen states that have also declined to expand broader Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act to additional people with low incomes, leaving it with some of the strictest eligibility requirements in the country. For example, single parents with one child must earn $196 or less a month to qualify.

"It is such hypocrisy," Adrienne Lloyd, a senior health policy associate for the Children's Defense Fund Texas, said about the contrast between state legislators' battle against abortion access and the services they provide to pregnant people. "If you really care about that health and safety, then the pregnant person and baby will have so much better outcomes if they're covered long before and after giving birth."

July 21, 2022 2:24 PM  
Anonymous 109 days until the election. whatcha gonna do?........ said...

New applications for jobless benefits rose to the highest weekly level since November last week, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department.

In the week ending Saturday, initial claims for unemployment insurance rose to 251,000 after seasonal adjustments, up by 7,000 from the previous week’s total of 244,000. The average weekly number of claims over the past four weeks rose by 4,500 to 240,500.

July 21, 2022 11:24 PM  
Anonymous Hawl-ing ass: Sen. Josh Hawley booking through Capitol on Jan. 6 is a big hit on Twitter said...

During Thursday's primetime hearing of the House select committee on Jan. 6, new video evidence was introduced to shed further light on the events of the Capitol siege. Among that footage, nothing made a bigger impression than a clip of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., making a rapid exit from out of the Capitol as Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other supporters of Donald Trump roamed through the building.

As Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., pointed out during her hearing remarks, earlier on Jan. 6 Hawley had raised his fist outside the Capitol, in apparent tribute to the protesters who would shortly storm the complex and seriously injure numerous law enforcement officers. Cutting to the footage of Hawley running through the hallway, Luria said, "Later that day, Sen. Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol. See for yourself."

CSPAN
@cspan
·
.@RepElaineLuria shows photo of Sen. Hawley raising his first in solidarity with the protesters earlier on January 6th: "Later that day Senator Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol. See for yourself."

#January6thHearing

9:18 PM · Jul 21, 2022


"As you can see . . . he raised his fist in solidarity with the protesters already amassing at the security gates," Luria added. "We spoke with a Capitol Police officer who was out there at that time. She told us that Sen. Hawley's gesture riled up the crowd, and it bothered her greatly because he was doing it in a safe space, protected by the officers and the barriers."


Dan Przygoda
@dprzygoda

Immediate reaction to the vid:

Watch on Twitter
9:10 PM · Jul 21, 2022

July 22, 2022 8:53 AM  
Anonymous remember when Hillary said she lost because of Russian collusion with Trump: that was the Big Lie... said...


"During Thursday's primetime hearing of the House select committee on Jan. 6, new video evidence was introduced to shed further light on the events of the Capitol siege. Among that footage, nothing made a bigger impression than a clip of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., making a rapid exit from out of the Capitol as Proud Boys, Oath Keepers and other supporters of Donald Trump roamed through the building.

As Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., pointed out during her hearing remarks, earlier on Jan. 6 Hawley had raised his fist outside the Capitol, in apparent tribute to the protesters who would shortly storm the complex and seriously injure numerous law enforcement officers. Cutting to the footage of Hawley running through the hallway, Luria said, "Later that day, Sen. Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol. See for yourself.""

well, this would tend to support the idea that Hawley supported a protest but had no idea it would turn violent

if he was part of it, why would he run?

the whole hearing has made no revelations beyond what we knew in the days that followed Jan 6

the committee is basically presenting a documentary

we already knew that Trump wanted to march to the Capitol, that he did nothing for hours to try to discourage the mob, that Ivanka and his advisors beseeched him to make a statement urging demonstrators to stop the vandalism and trespassing

anything else?

July 22, 2022 10:48 AM  
Anonymous Army Brat said...

Patience and fortitude.

More is coming.

Many witnesses to events leading up to and occurring on Jan. 6, 2021, have refused to testify and/or taken the fifth rather than tell what they know.

But since Ms. Hutchinson so capably has shown big men how it's done, many other witnesses are now coming forward.

Vice Chair Liz Cheney pointed out last night, "the damn has burst" and there will more more investigation and interviews in August.

Chairman Bennie Thomson in his closing remarks also clearly told us "We continue to receive new information every day. We are pursuing many additional witnesses for testimony."

July 22, 2022 12:09 PM  
Anonymous Bannon said...

Guilty on both counts.

July 22, 2022 2:52 PM  
Anonymous fan of our current Supreme Court said...


"More is coming"

thanks for sharing what the center of the crystal ball looks like to you

maybe you could share some more far-fetched speculation for everyone's amusement and merriment!

July 22, 2022 4:29 PM  
Anonymous could it be, yes it could, something's coming, something good... said...

"Patience and fortitude.

More is coming."

thus, always with Trump derangement syndrome

we all remember well that Robert Mueller, LOL, was always on the verge of some big breakthrough

gut found nothing

similarly. al the investigations into Trump's taxes and business dealing

zip, nada

now, the pompous Jan 6 commission has uncovered nothing we didn't know a year and a half ago

but the TTFer says:

any day now

LOL!

July 23, 2022 4:25 AM  
Anonymous Haters gotta hate: Far right Republicans openly campaign on bigotry. said...

Republicans are returning to an anti-LGBTQ platform after the Supreme Court's decision ending Roe vs. Wade opened the door to rolling back other human rights in America.

On Friday, the far-right House Freedom Caucus came out against the Respect for Marriage Act, which seeks to codify in law the Supreme Court decisions that legalized gay and interracial marriage.

"The radical left has launched an all-out campaign on America's traditional values and sacred institutions," the House Freedom Caucus claimed in a statement.

"It has weakened the nuclear family, attacked the norms of masculinity and femininity, and now it wants to further erode the sacred institutions of marriage," the statement said, even though gay and interracial marriages have long been allowed.

The attacks on marriage equality are part of a trend as far-right Republicans openly campaign on bigotry.

"Since the Supreme Court decision last month overturning Roe v. Wade, anti-gay rhetoric and calls to roll back established L.G.B.T.Q. protections have grown bolder," The New York Times reported Friday. "And while Republicans in Congress appear deeply divided about same-sex marriage — nearly 50 House Republicans on Tuesday joined Democrats in supporting a bill that would recognize same-sex marriages at the federal level — many Republican officials and candidates across the country have made attacking gay and transgender rights a party norm this midterm season."

Attorney General Dana Nessel, the first openly gay politician elected statewide in Michigan, warned "the dominoes have started to fall, and they won't just stop at one."

"People should see the connection between reproductive rights, L.G.B.T.Q. rights, women's rights, interracial marriage — these things are all connected legally," Nessel explained.

The Human Rights Campaign has tracked over 300 anti-LGBTQ bills in 23 states.

"In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton said after the Roe reversal that he would be 'willing and able' to defend at the Supreme Court any law criminalizing sodomy enacted by the Legislature," The Times reported. "Before that, the Republican Party of Texas adopted a platform that calls homosexuality 'an abnormal lifestyle choice.' In Utah, the Republican president of the State Senate, Stuart Adams, said he would support his state's joining with others to press the Supreme Court to reverse the right of same-sex couples to wed. In Arizona, Kari Lake, a candidate for governor endorsed by Donald J. Trump, affirmed in a June 29 debate her support for a bill barring children from drag shows — the latest target of supercharged rhetoric on the right."

July 23, 2022 7:56 AM  
Anonymous Haters gotta hate. said...

A small Mississippi city has a new police chief after its last was secretly recorded bragging about shooting and killing people in the line of duty — including a Black man who he claimed to have shot more than 100 times — in a racist and homophobic rant.

Former Lexington Police Department Chief Sam Dobbins was fired Wednesday after the city's board of aldermen voted to oust him in a session that lasted more than an hour, WLBT reported.

The vote came after a former officer leaked a recording of a conversation he had with the chief in April. The officer, Robert Lee Hooker, gave the secretly recorded audio to JULIAN, a civil rights and international human rights organization, which released it to the media — riling up the small city of 1,600 about 60 miles north of Jackson. About 80% of the city, nearly 1,300 people, are Black, census data shows.

The newly appointed interim police chief, Charles Henderson, who is Black, told USA TODAY in an interview Friday that the language used by his predecessor in the recording "is something typically that I wouldn't use and that I wouldn't want anybody employed with under my administration to use."

In the audio, Dobbins can be heard bragging he shot and killed 13 people in the line of duty, including a Black man who he says he shot 119 times, according to a copy of the 16-minute recording obtained by USA TODAY.

During the conversation, which was first reported by the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, Dobbins can be heard saying he would smash suspects through a window if they "got out of line."

Dobbins, who is white, can be heard using multiple racist and homophobic slurs as he claims he would defend Hooker on the job. When contacted by the news outlet, Dobbins denied using slurs and talking about the number of people he'd shot or killed.

“I don’t talk like that,” he told the outlet.

Hooker, who is Black, started with the department this year but resigned days after having a verbal fight with Dobbins, Cardell Wright, a paralegal for JULIAN told USA TODAY. He rejoined the department but was frustrated with its leadership. Before resigning for a second time, Hooker secretly recorded a conversation with the chief, Wright said.

“I just got to the point where you’re not doing the people right, you’re not doing right, so therefore let me expose you for what you are, who you are,” Hooker told WLBT.

Jill Collen Jefferson, the founder and president of JULIAN, said the recording is a "really significant and serious breach of trust with the community" and likely "indicative of a culture and attitude that that entire force has."

Wright said they are calling for the department to be dissolved and said they were investigating any potential constitutional violations by the department.

July 23, 2022 8:13 AM  
Anonymous for millennia, society has said: no loonies in the ladies loo !... said...


"Republicans are returning to an anti-LGBTQ platform after the Supreme Court's decision ending Roe vs. Wade opened the door to rolling back other human rights in America"

if the government doesn't endorse homosexuality, and give special protection and privileges to homosexuals, that doesn't take away any rights

"On Friday, the far-right House Freedom Caucus came out against the Respect for Marriage Act, which seeks to codify in law the Supreme Court decisions that legalized gay and interracial marriage."

this is completely unnecessary as right now they are both protected by the Supreme Court and passing unnecessary laws is something that should always be avoided

btw, it is despicable of homosexual advocates to equate perversion with racial identity

""The radical left has launched an all-out campaign on America's traditional values and sacred institutions," the House Freedom Caucus claimed in a statement.

"It has weakened the nuclear family, attacked the norms of masculinity and femininity, and now it wants to further erode the sacred institutions of marriage," the statement said,"

sounds about right

"even though gay and interracial marriages have long been allowed"

there is no significant opposition among Republicans, or anyone else, to interracial marriage

at the time of Loving, the most vicious racists in America were Democraps, such as George Wallace

as for gay marriage, it has only recently been allowed

most current Democrap politicians were opposed to it before Oberfg-whatever

indeed, it wasn't long ago it was rejected by voters in California

so, no, gay "marriages" have not "long been allowed"

"The attacks on marriage equality are part of a trend as far-right Republicans openly campaign on bigotry."

no, it isn't

stop trying to create fake allies

"Attorney General Dana Nessel, the first openly gay politician elected statewide in Michigan, warned "the dominoes have started to fall, and they won't just stop at one.""

actually, the protection of unborn children is no different than laws against killing born children

""People should see the connection between reproductive rights, L.G.B.T.Q. rights, women's rights, interracial marriage — these things are all connected legally," Nessel explained."

that's no explanation at all

just a list of issues with no plausible connection

"In Arizona, Kari Lake, a candidate for governor endorsed by Donald J. Trump, affirmed in a June 29 debate her support for a bill barring children from drag shows — the latest target of supercharged rhetoric on the right."

sorry, but this movement to bring kids to drag shows is one of the drivers of the backlash against the gay agenda

no sane parent supports these twisted programs and you guys did Ron Desantis a big favor by attacking him for ending them in Florida

July 23, 2022 8:27 AM  
Anonymous oh yeah, homosexuality is perfectly safe... said...


The World Health Organization said the expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that now qualifies as a global emergency. Monkeypox is a once-rare disease that appears to have been spread recently through large gatherings in Europe of homosexuals engaging in random promoscuity.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus personally made the decision to issue the declaration . It was the first time the chief of the U.N. health agency has taken such an action.

“In short, we have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission about which we understand too little and which meets the criteria in the international health regulations,” Tedros said.

Although monkeypox has been established in parts of central and west Africa for decades, it was not known to spark large outbreaks beyond the continent or to spread widely among people until May, when authorities detected dozens of epidemics in Europe, North America and elsewhere, connected with homosexuals who had traveled to massive gay event in Europe.

July 23, 2022 1:55 PM  
Anonymous Fist pumper to fleeing coward: Jan. 6 video shows Missouri who Josh Hawley really is said...

Josh Hawley is a laughingstock. During Thursday night’s televised hearings of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Elaine Luria showed video of Missouri’s junior senator that will surely follow him the rest of his life. In the clip, Hawley sprints across a hallway as he and his fellow senators are evacuated after insurrectionists had breached the Capitol building. When it played on the screen, the audience in the room with the committee erupted in laughter.

Of course, Twitter immediately dogpiled. Hawley’s name was the No. 1 trending topic in politics that evening as users shared the hashtag #HawlinAss along with GIFs of a galloping Forrest Gump. “From now on, if political reporters ask Josh Hawley if he’s planning to run, he’s going to have to ask them to clarify,” quipped one.

Hawley has become one of the defining figures of that day. A famous photo captured by Francis Chung shows him raising a fist in solidarity with the crowds that would soon break through doors, loot offices and assault law enforcement. Luria quoted a Capitol Police officer who was there and told the committee that Hawley’s gesture “riled up the crowd, and it bothered her greatly because he was doing it in a safe space protected by the officers and the barriers.” And later, when the Senate reconvened after the halls of the Capitol had been cleared and secured, Hawley took to the floor as the very first voice calling to throw out millions of Americans’ votes cast fairly and legally for the rightful winner in a presidential election. And never forget: He was joined in his campaign to discard ballots by Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall. A signature Hawley issue is masculinity — as in, how little of it American men seem to have these days. It’s a frequent topic in his speeches and on his podcast, where “the left-wing attack on manhood” is a dire threat to our society. Regnery Publishing is set to release his book “Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs” next year. Twitter didn’t see much virile bravado as he ran from the mob.

But funny as the visual of the self-proclaimed manly senator’s immediate retreat was, there’s absolutely nothing amusing about Jan. 6, 2021. A bipartisan Senate report concluded seven people died as a result of the attack. Two more Metropolitan Police officers took their own lives shortly after. About 150 members of law enforcement were injured, and it’s impossible to know how many others caught up in the horrific event will carry scars for life, of body and mind. We said that day Hawley has blood on his hands for his role in perpetuating the lies that drove thousands of people to violence. That remains true. Beyond the physical toll, though, is the damage Jan. 6 continues to inflict on our democracy and our shared sense of truth. The House committee is systematically demonstrating how too many Republicans in Donald Trump’s orbit allowed him to incite the riot, which he had promised in advance “will be wild,” and were then unable to get him to call his fans off until unimaginable damage had already been done.

July 23, 2022 3:41 PM  
Anonymous Fist pumper to fleeing coward: Jan. 6 video shows Missouri who Josh Hawley really is said...

SHAMELESS SENATOR STOLE COPYRIGHTED PHOTOGRAPH

Chung’s photo of Hawley and his salute has become iconic. Taking a page from the Trump playbook, Hawley has co-opted the famous image, flagrantly violating copyright laws by slapping it on T-shirts and camouflage beer koozies for sale on his political campaign’s fundraising website. Politico, owner of the image, sent a cease-and-desist demanding the merchandise be removed from sale. And duh, Hawley refused — a defiance shameful and shameless in equal measure.

Shame, clearly, is not a motivating factor for any number of Republicans still caught up in Trumpworld. Hawley has never apologized for attempting to reinstall a man who everyone around him knew had lost the election, as witness testimony continues to confirm. Surely the Yale and Stanford grad isn’t gullible enough to believe the craven lies about tampering with voting machines and dead people casting ballots that ooze through social media.

And that’s the reason watching Hawley racing away from the Capitol invaders struck so many people as blackly hilarious. Saluting the Trump posse was politically expeditious for him before the siege began. Yet once he realized his own safety was in real danger from the angry revolutionists swarming the building, he hotfooted it away from “his” people to the protection of the security forces charged with protecting him. Where’s that fist in the air now?

We realize Hawley’s conscience won’t make him suddenly do the right thing and tell the Jan. 6 committee what he knew and when he knew it. But as GOP Rep. Liz Cheney said Thursday while announcing more public hearings to come: “Doors have opened, new subpoenas have been issued, and the dam has begun to break. … We have considerably more to do.” The committee has delivered on its promises so far.

Since Trump left office, many insiders have revealed in interviews and tell-alls that his administration really was as unethical and chaotic as its worst detractors claimed all along. (Gee, thanks guys, but why couldn’t you have come clean back before the damage was done?) History will not look kindly upon the dead-enders who continued to defend Trump long after it became apparent his conduct was indefensible. When Cheney is saying even more birds are singing, believe her.

Sen. Josh Hawley might not fear a little mockery of his hasty flight from Capitol marauders. But he might be justified if he’s afraid of what emails or text messages some previously-loyal staffer might be considering turning over to the House committee. Stay tuned to the hearings.

July 23, 2022 3:45 PM  
Anonymous The Wall Street Journal FINALLY figures it out said...

'Incitement by silence': Rupert Murdoch's newspapers blister Trump after J6 hearings

Donald Trump has lost the confidence of both of the major newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

Under the headline, "The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6," The Wall Street Journal editorial board harshly criticized the former president.

"No matter your views of the Jan. 6 special committee, the facts it is laying out in hearings are sobering. [What took you guys so long to get sober?] The most horrifying to date came Thursday in a hearing on President Trump’s conduct as the riot raged and he sat watching TV, posting inflammatory tweets and refusing to send help," the editorial board wrote.

"The committee’s critics are right that it lacks political balance," the newspaper wrote.
"Still, the brute facts remain: Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused. He didn’t call the military to send help. He didn’t call Mr. Pence to check on the safety of his loyal VP. Instead he fed the mob’s anger and let the riot play out."

The editorial concluded, "Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his." [Well, if the only bar is not participating in Trump's lying coup attempt is the measure, I guess so.]

Trump was also criticized by the NY Post editorial board under the headline, "Trump's silence on Jan. 6 is damning."

"As his followers stormed the Capitol, calling on his vice president to be hanged, President Donald Trump sat in his private dining room, watching TV, doing nothing. For three hours, seven minutes," the editorial board wrote.

"There has been much debate over whether Trump’s rally speech on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted “incitement.” That’s somewhat of a red herring. What matters more — and has become crystal clear in recent days — is that Trump didn’t lift a finger to stop the violence that followed," the NY Post wrote. "And he was the only person who could stop what was happening. He was the only one the crowd was listening to. It was incitement by silence."

[No, it was NOT incitement by silence. Trump was revving them up for months before the election, convincing them that the ONLY way he could lose was if the Democrats STOLE it from him. Low and behold, he loses the election, and what to all those below average IQ voters believe? That is was STOLEN by the Democrats! Trump can be blamed for a lot of incompetence, but failing to plan for this coup was not one of them.]

July 23, 2022 3:59 PM  
Anonymous Dem monopoly control of inner cities has led to poverty and racism said...


"The Wall Street Journal FINALLY figures it out?"

you obviously don't read WSJ

I do, so I know that there position on Jan 6 has been consistent over the last year and a half

July 23, 2022 11:31 PM  
Anonymous November: Dems lose Congress..January: the Hunter Biden congressional hearings begin..July: the Big Guy is impeached... said...

Here we go again. Yet another anonymously sourced report claims the long-running federal probe into Hunter Biden has reached a “critical stage” as prosecutors decide whether to charge the president’s son.

This time the breathless story came from CNN. In March, it was The New York Times and The Washington Post insisting the probe over taxes, lobbying and other potential crimes was approaching the finish line.

Sooner or later, somebody’s scoop will be true and the case actually will conclude. But count me skeptical that the ending will be worth the wait.

That’s because I don’t believe there is a snowball’s chance in hell that Hunter Biden will face serious criminal charges. You’ve heard of too big to fail? The president’s son is too big to indict.

Although the probe, said to have started in 2018, is being conducted by the United States attorney in Delaware, Justice Department policies require approval from headquarters before charges can be filed in politically sensitive cases.

That puts the ball in Merrick Garland’s lap and I don’t think the attorney general has the stomach to approve an indictment of the son of the man who appointed him, especially when the Biden administration already is drowning and Democrats face a midterm shellacking.

Remember that Garland proved he is the consummate team player by siccing the FBI on parents who complained at school-board meetings. If he was willing to weaponize the feds to please teachers unions, he’s not likely to treat the president’s son as if he were an ordinary suspect or — gasp — a Republican.

July 24, 2022 8:17 AM  
Anonymous November: Dems lose Congress..January: the Hunter Biden congressional hearings begin..July: the Big Guy is impeached... said...


We got a hint that the fix was in last week when the grand jury apparently finished its work without indictments.

“None of this adds up,” former US Attorney for Utah Brett Tolman said. “None of it makes sense. Indictments should have been brought when you first started calling witnesses and close thereto, that’s standard.”

But protecting Hunter Biden is not the only reason Garland won’t follow the money or standard procedure. The AG knows that, ultimately, all roads lead to the father and that an honest, thorough probe of whether Hunter broke any laws beyond taxes and lobbying rules inevitably raises the same question about the president.

We know this to be true because Hunter’s foreign paymasters — government officials, cronies and oligarchs in China, Russia, Ukraine, Colombia, Romania and other countries — weren’t paying him for the pleasure of his company or his expertise on energy, of which he had none.

The only possible explanation is that Hunter and Joe’s brother, Jim Biden, sold access to Joe Biden. Their last name is the reason they got paid tens of millions of dollars.
That pattern leaves three other hurdles Garland would have to consider before digging for the whole truth.

First, what benefits did Hunter and Jim Biden’s clients get in return for their enormous piles of cash?

Second, what role did Joe Biden play in helping those foreign clients?

Third, did any of the foreign money find its way to Joe’s bank accounts? Was the “big guy” getting a secret cut all along?

July 24, 2022 8:20 AM  
Anonymous November: Dems lose Congress..January: the Hunter Biden congressional hearings begin..July: the Big Guy is impeached... said...


The president’s conduct reinforces the importance of the questions. He has lied repeatedly by saying he never — Never! — discussed Hunter’s foreign businesses with him. The White House says he still stands by that answer.

The lie is so patently ridiculous that you have to wonder why he continues to tell it. For example, Tony Bobulinski, briefly the CEO of a joint venture involving Hunter and Jim Biden and a Chinese energy tycoon, says he met with Joe Biden in May 2017 and discussed the company’s prospects.

Just months after leaving office as the vice president, Joe knew all about the plan that had been developed during 2015 and 2016, said Bobulinski, who told this to the FBI in 2020.
Not incidentally, the Chinese partners in that venture paid the Bidens $11 million for work they did while Joe was vice president. You can bet Chinese President Xi Jinping knows exactly what the Bidens did in exchange for that pile of cash, which raises suspicions that Joe Biden is compromised.

Thanks to the treasure trove of emails and photos found on the laptop, we also know Joe often met with his son’s other foreign partners.

And just last week, The Post reported that Hunter Biden “met with his father at least 30 times at the White House or the vice president’s residence, often just days after he returned home from overseas business jaunts.”

The meetings suggest Hunter was relaying messages from the foreigners to his father and/or seeking help and advice on completing deals. The Post also reported that laptop calendars show Eric Schwerin, the president of Hunter Biden’s investment company Rosemont Seneca Partners, attended 21 of the 30 meetings.

Other laptop emails show Schwerin had access to both Joe and Hunter’s checking accounts and moved money between them.

It is an obvious conclusion, then, that Joe Biden participated in and benefited from Hunter and Jim’s businesses. He lies about never having conversations because he can’t honestly answer any follow-up questions.

All of which is why Hunter will not face serious charges. The can of worms implicating the president must remain closed.

My bet is that a plea agreement will be struck, with Hunter admitting guilt to reduced charges. The Times reported he already paid $1 million in back taxes, with the aim of forestalling evasion charges. Other outlets say it was $2 million.

An even more lenient civil settlement is also possible, with the Times reporting that idea was under consideration.

While there are obvious differences between a criminal plea agreement and a civil settlement, the result could be similar in that the books would be closed and evidence sealed by a complicit Justice Department.

So don’t be surprised to learn one day soon the Hunter Biden case has been settled. Just don’t expect to learn anything about the most important detail — the role of the father. That’s the Holy Grail of the Biden family business.

July 24, 2022 8:23 AM  
Anonymous GQPer said: "I do, so I know that there [sic] position on Jan 6 has been consistent over the last year and a half" said...

Sometimes people review new evidence and reassess their opinions.

You might want to try that sometime.

New York Post, Wall Street Journal Editorial Boards Condemn Trump

Both publications, owned by Rupert Murdoch, slammed Trump's inaction during the Capitol riot.

Editorial boards at both the New York Post and Wall Street Journal slammed former President Donald Trump in Friday editorials, with the former calling him “unworthy” to hold office again following his “damning” silence surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

“As his followers stormed the Capitol, calling on his vice president to be hanged, President Donald Trump sat in his private dining room, watching TV, doing nothing,” the editorial begins. “For three hours, seven minutes.”

The editorial by the right-wing tabloid, controlled by longtime Trump supporter Rupert Murdoch, follows the Jan. 6 House select committee’s investigation into Trump’s inaction, which on Thursday laid out Trump’s unwillingness to call off the violence.

“Trump only wanted one thing during that infamous afternoon: to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to decertify the election of Joe Biden,” the editorial board said. “He thought the violence of his loyal followers would make Pence crack, or delay the vote altogether.”

On the same day, the Wall Street Journal ran a piece from their editorial board titled “The President Who Stood Still on Jan. 6.”
The Wall Street Journal is also owned by Murdoch.

“Mr. Trump took an oath to defend the Constitution, and he had a duty as Commander in Chief to protect the Capitol from a mob attacking it in his name. He refused,” the article read.

“In the 18 months since, Mr. Trump has shown not an iota of regret,” the editorial continued. “On Thursday he claimed to be vindicated by a bill to clarify the Electoral Count Act...Character is revealed in a crisis, and Mr. Pence passed his Jan. 6 trial. Mr. Trump utterly failed his.”

Last month, the Post’s editorial board called Trump a “prisoner of his own ego” for his inability to admit the 2020 presidential election was not stolen from him. The board added that the GOP should leave Trump behind.
Friday’s editorial was even more to the point.

“It’s up to the Justice Department to decide if this is a crime,” it concluded. “But as a matter of principle, as a matter of character, Trump has proven himself unworthy to be this country’s chief executive again

July 24, 2022 12:32 PM  
Anonymous Well, at least we know what kind of women are safe from Matt Gaetz said...

Unattractive women who “look like a thumb” shouldn’t complain about losing abortion rights because they’re the “least” likely to get pregnant, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said in a jaw-dropping speech to college students at a conservative conference in Florida on Saturday.

“Have you watched these pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies?” Gaetz asked the crowd at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa. “The people are just disgusting. Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions?”

Video of the speech has received at least one million views on Twitter.

“Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb. These people are odious from the inside out,” the congressman continued. “They’re like 5′2″, 350 pounds, and they’re like, ‘Give me my abortions or I’ll get up and march and protest.’”

“A few of them need to get up and march — they need to get up and march for like an hour a day. Swing those arms, get the blood pumpin’, maybe mix in a salad.”

Critics were stunned.

Jezebel ripped the comments as “cartoonishly misogynist.”

Texas Democratic state Rep. Erin Zwiener was one of many to lambast the congressman on Twitter: “Gaetz, we don’t care if you think we’re hot. Either way, we deserve to make our own decisions about our futures.”

Gaetz’s remarks were made at the same summit where Sen. Ted Cruz, just a day earlier, took a crude jab at gender pronouns.

Gaetz is currently under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking and statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl.

This guy really knows how to get the votes from the ladies.

July 24, 2022 2:51 PM  
Anonymous what are TTfers so afraid of facts? said...


"Sometimes people review new evidence and reassess their opinions.

You might want to try that sometime."

well, that's not what happened here

it's been readily understood what happened

the committee has produced no evidence of anything that wasn't already common knowledge

the Wall Street Journal has always condemned the incident, contrary to your earlier suggestion tat they'd been convinced of something new

July 24, 2022 10:52 PM  
Anonymous 109 days until the election. whatcha gonna do?........ said...


"Gaetz’s remarks were made at the same summit where Sen. Ted Cruz, just a day earlier, took a crude jab at gender pronouns."

well, let's hear this alleged "crude jab at gender pronouns"

July 25, 2022 6:38 AM  
Anonymous GOP Primary Winners Like Maryland's 'QAnon Whack Job' Will Hurt Party: Gov. Larry Hogan said...

The Republican Party is being hurt by far-right candidates, including the “QAnon whack job” who won Maryland’s gubernatorial primary but doesn’t have a chance of beating his Democratic opponent, the state’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan warned Sunday.

Donald Trump-backed conspiracy theorist Dan Cox — who still baselessly insists the 2020 election was rigged — won the state’s GOP primary last week with the help of Democrats who aim to crush him come November, Hogan said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“I would not support the guy. I wouldn’t let him in the governor’s office, let alone vote for him for the governor’s office,” Hogan told host Jonathan Karl.

Hogan is convinced Cox has no chance of winning. And he fears the scenario is being repeated across the nation with similar fringe Republican candidates winning party primaries.

“It’s a big loss for the Republican Party,” Hogan said. “We have no chance of saving that governor’s seat.”

He sees what’s happening now as a protracted battle for the “heart and soul” of the Republican Party amid the prospect of a significant loss of power.

It’s only going to get worse if Trump declares before the midterms that he’s running for the presidency again, Hogan warned.

A Trump reelection bid In “competitive places and purple battlefields is going to cost us” seats, as voters fearful of the extremist former president and the candidates he supports will abandon the Republican Party, he said.

Hogan said the situation “makes me more determined than ever to continue the battle to win over the Republican Party, and take us back to a bigger tent, more Reagan-esque, party.”

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” he admitted.

Governor Hogan Appears on ABC's "This Week"

July 25, 2022 11:29 AM  
Anonymous more of them polls that TTFers like so much...... said...


"The Republican Party is being hurt by far-right candidates, including the “QAnon whack job” who won Maryland’s gubernatorial primary but doesn’t have a chance of beating his Democratic opponent, the state’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan warned Sunday."

actually, Hogan has a column in the Wall Street Journal today, saying the same

considering the astronomical sums Dems dedicated to helping Cox win the nomination, Schulz should run a write-in campaign with the Dems cynical ploy and her involvement in the wildly popular Hogan administration as key talking points

Maryland needs an alternative to an Oprah self-help author and a Q-Anon whack job

President Joe Biden's approval ratings keep reaching new lows to the detriment of his administration and the Democratic Party.

With 100-odd days until November's midterm cycle, Biden is notching just over 30% approval in some polls. Biden's record is complicating competitive House and Senate races that will decide Congress's balance of power and what the president can realistically achieve during the second half of his term.

Quinnipiac University released a poll this week that found only 31% of respondents approve of Biden's job as president, an all-time low for the national survey and down from his February 2021 high of 50%. Biden's July rating represents a 2-percentage-point drop from the 33% he received in two surveys one month earlier.

July 25, 2022 1:13 PM  
Anonymous AP-NORC poll: 2 in 3 in US favor term limits for justices said...

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 2 in 3 Americans say they favor term limits or a mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court justices, according to a new poll that finds a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans saying they have “hardly any” confidence in the court.

The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 67% of Americans support a proposal to set a specific number of years that justices serve instead of life terms, including 82% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans. Views are similar about a requirement that justices retire by a specific age.

The poll was conducted just weeks after the high court issued high-profile rulings including stripping away women’s constitutional protections for abortion and expanding gun rights. The poll also shows more Americans disapprove than approve of the court’s abortion decision, with just over half saying the decision made them “angry” or “sad.”

The court, which is now taking a summer break, will return to hearing cases in October with diminished confidence among Americans. Now 43% say they have hardly any confidence in the court, up from 27% three months ago...

The poll also found increased dissatisfaction with the court since three months ago, before the court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a right to abortion.

In the April poll, conducted before a draft of the court’s decision was leaked, 18% said they had a great deal of confidence, 54% said they had only some and 27% said they had hardly any. Now, 17% say they have a great deal of confidence, 39% only some and 43% hardly any...

The poll shows the drop in confidence is concentrated among Democrats, adding to evidence that the court’s decision on abortion worsened and polarized already tenuous opinions of the court. A large partisan gap in views of the court that did not exist before the decision emerged; 64% of Democrats say they have hardly any confidence, up from 27% in April. Another 31% have only some and just 4% have a great deal of confidence — down from 17%.

Among Republicans, however, views of the court have improved. Now, 34% say they have a great deal of confidence, up from 21% in the earlier poll. An additional 47% have only some confidence and 18% hardly any.

Overall, more Americans disapprove than approve of the decision to overturn Roe, 53% to 30%; an additional 16% say they hold neither opinion. On that decision, too, there’s a large divide along party lines — 63% of Republicans approve, while 80% of Democrats disapprove.

July 25, 2022 2:38 PM  
Anonymous Hi, it's Andrew Cuomo. Rememba me? I was the big hero of COVID who was thrown out because I like girls. Should I run for President?... said...

"About 2 in 3 Americans say they favor term limits or a mandatory retirement age for











Supreme Court justices, according to a new poll that finds a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans saying they have “hardly any” confidence in the court"

Constitutional amendments require 2/3 of states

the anti-SCOTUS hysteria is concentrated in a handful of states, which skew national numbers

Congressional Republicans are eagerly floating investigations into Anthony Fauci and the Biden administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic if they win back control of the House or Senate in the midterm elections.

“One way or another, if we are in the majority, we will subpoena his records and he will testify in the Senate under oath,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is in line to become the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee if Republicans win the majority with the panel’s current ranking member, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), retiring.

Republicans have not been shy about launching probes into the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on the origins of the virus and whether the federal government — and by extension, Fauci — helped fund controversial research that might have played a role in its creation.

While Republicans have been in the minority, those investigations have not gained much momentum. But with the majority, the GOP would have the authority to lob subpoenas at the administration to force it to hand over documents.

“If we win in November, if I’m chairman of a committee, if I have subpoena power, we’ll go after every one of [Fauci’s] records,” Paul said earlier this year.

Public health experts said a hard look needs to be taken at the totality of the U.S. response to the pandemic across both the Trump and Biden administrations, with Fauci being the common thread.

Health advocates are pushing for an independent commission modeled on the 9/11 Commission to examine the pandemic response.

Fauci is a career government official who has become a political lightning rod and a villain in the eyes of many.

July 25, 2022 2:55 PM  
Anonymous tech billionaires paid gazillions to elect a new leader in 2020 and all they got was slidin' Biden.... said...


CNN’s Brian Stelter touted the popularity of the January 6 Committee TV show, which ended its “summertime series,” as he called it, with boffo ratings. Considering the hearings were shown on most broadcast networks, that’s hardly a grand feat.

However, one of the more ridiculous observations about this series of one-sided hearings was made by a media “expert” who was a guest on Stelter’s “Reliable Sources” program.

David Zurawik, a former Baltimore Sun media critic turned professor, said the one-sided made-for-TV show “starring” lawmakers awkwardly reading pre-written speeches on teleprompters was a “civics lesson” for young Americans.

To quote Joe Biden, “Come on, maaaan.”

The January 6 Committee hearings were hardly a civics lesson unless your notion of civics is from Orwell or Kafka.

The J6 Committee hearings were a presentation of hand-picked Donald Trump-hating witnesses presenting cherry-picked evidence and one-sided testimony. The real purpose of the hearings was to destroy efforts by Trump to stage a 2024 political comeback. The hearings were also timed to stanch the expected November mid-term election bleeding for Democrats. The committee leaders promise more hearings in the fall. Coincidence? Nope.

The hearings featured no exculpatory information, no cross-examination, and no say in the way evidence was presented and introduced. There was no pushback because the novel, small committee was selected personally by Nancy Pelosi, who refused to build out the membership of the committee to its agreed-upon 13 members and who rejected her Republican counterpart’s committee choices because of their effectiveness. Pelosi even chose the two nominally GOP Trump-hating members, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, to give the effort to destroy Trump a tissue-thin veneer of bipartisanship.

Even the farcical Politifact said Pelosi broke her agreements with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about what was supposed to have been a 9/11-style investigative commission.

July 25, 2022 9:45 PM  
Anonymous Physical health among those denied abortions was far worse; two in the study died. said...

During oral arguments, Julie Rikelman, counsel for Jackson’s Women Health, had the temerity to spell out the ramifications that bans would have on the health and future of women denied an abortion. Roberts cut her off and plunged ahead in his search for justification for a 15-week limit on the procedure....

The definitive examination of abortion denial, Diana Greene Foster’s 2020 “The Turnaway Study,” looked at the lives of about 1,100 women over five years. Foster and a slew of researchers compared women denied abortion services because they were past the gestational limit with women at the same stage of pregnancy who got an abortion.

Especially with state legislators now deciding how much latitude to give women in controlling their own lives, you would think some of them might be interested in the results of the study, including the myths it obliterates and the suffering and maternal deaths it documents:

-Less than 10 percent of women consider adoption, blowing a hole in antiabortion advocates’ notion of that option as an obvious, simple solution.
-Time limits on abortion are not effective in preventing already rare “late term” abortions; the primary cause for delaying until the second trimester is late discovery of pregnancy (usually in young women with no pregnancy symptoms and irregular periods). How can women seek an early abortion if they don’t know they’re pregnant? Difficulty finding a provider also pushes abortions later — and bans and restrictions often add to delays by forcing women to plan travel out of state.
-Forced-birth activists’ insistence that abortions are dangerous and/or harmful to women is utterly false. Much greater harm to women’s physical health, family situation, economic condition and life trajectory comes from being denied an abortion. Also, some 95 percent of women who had abortions are glad they did.
-Waiting periods mostly create only later-term abortions. The study documents that the vast majority of women have already considered their decision.
-Since poverty or lack of resources for existing children motivate a large share of abortions, the best “prevention” would be robust economic, social and educational assistance for pregnant women. Unfortunately, the forced-birth crowd largely isn’t interested.
-Roughly 60 percent of women who get abortions have one or more children already, and many women plan to have children later, once they are ready. Abortion bans mean more unwanted pregnancies and fewer later, wanted pregnancies when the woman is confident she can parent.
-Women rarely regret their abortions. After their abortion, 90 percent of women in the study felt “relief.” In the short run, women denied abortions experienced the greater emotional stress, and women who had abortions had long-term mental health outcomes no different than those of women who were denied. Physical health among those denied abortions was far worse; two in the study died.

The best available evidence tells us that forcing women to give birth against their will isn’t just monstrous on its face but will have horrific practical consequences. More women (especially poor women and women of color) will die, have serious health problems, wind up in poverty and on public assistance, have longer exposure to abusive partners, and see their education and life goals short-circuited. The bans will inflict hardship on existing children, too, who could become orphaned, lose sufficient care or fall into poverty. No wonder forced-birth hard-liners don’t want to listen to the facts — and the chief justice of the United States wants to gloss right over them.

The most definitive data unmistakably refute the claim that abortion bans are “good” for women. Few things could be more barbaric than robbing women of control over a critical life decision and forcing them to endure the bleak outcomes we know will follow.

July 26, 2022 9:13 AM  
Anonymous no more drag queens in elementary schools... said...

abortion is a type of killing

you don't have any concern for the victim of that killing

A shadow primary is developing among Democratic politicians concerned about President Joe Biden’s prospects for winning a second term and interested in running for the top job themselves. This shadow primary is fueled by a wave of articles in the legacy media questioning Biden’s leadership, age, and cognitive abilities. Recent stories in CNN and the Washington Post have blistered Biden on these fronts. And a recent poll revealed that a majority of people do not want Biden to run again.

But that wasn’t the news. What was surprising was that a majority of Democrats do not want him to do so either, including a staggering 94% of Democratic respondents under the age of 30.

All of it bodes ill for Biden, the Democratic Party, and likely the pretenders to the throne taking aim at the king.

Each one of the emerging contenders is taking a slightly different approach to getting ready for a 2024 run. Vice President Kamala Harris has been quietly feeling out wealthy donors, while Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois has been seen in important political states such as Florida and New Hampshire. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is blanketing the country and the airwaves, selling the Biden infrastructure law and pushing back against Republicans — and getting transparently more attention than a transportation secretary generally does in the process. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has perhaps garnered the most publicity of the bunch, releasing an ad mocking Florida Gov. and likely GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, while claiming that it has nothing to do with his interest in the presidency.

Despite Biden’s vulnerabilities, the history of modern intraparty challenges shows why these politicians are treading somewhat lightly. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been six major single-candidate intraparty challenges to incumbent presidents. None of the challengers succeeded in winning the party nomination or the presidency. But, importantly, all of the incumbent presidents who were challenged failed to win reelection. Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson did not run again after their challengers damaged them in primaries, and the other four lost their reelection campaigns. In each case, the challenger weakened the president, or perhaps revealed the existing weakness of the incumbent.

The six cases are as follows: In 1912, ex-President Teddy Roosevelt challenged his hand-picked successor, William Howard Taft. In 1952, Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver beat a Korea-weakened Harry Truman in the New Hampshire primary. In 1968, war critic Eugene McCarthy forced the Vietnam-burdened Lyndon Johnson out of the race. In 1976, Ronald Reagan challenged the unelected Gerald Ford from the right. While Reagan lost that race, he is the only one of the six to become president later. (Roosevelt had been president previously but did not ever regain the office.) In 1980, Ted Kennedy revealed Jimmy Carter’s weakness in a furious assault. And most recently, in 1992, Pat Buchanan launched a quixotic proto-Trumpian campaign against George H.W. Bush after Bush broke his pledge not to raise taxes.

Many of these challenges were extremely bitter. In 1968, for example, McCarthy described the difference between Richard Nixon, one of the Democrats’ most hated Republicans, and Johnson as like “choosing between vulgarity and obscenity.” Sometimes, a challenge tore apart friendships: Roosevelt and Taft had once been such close friends that they would walk to work together. After the 1912 race, they became hated enemies.

July 27, 2022 6:17 AM  
Anonymous no more drag queens in elementary schools... said...

Things were particularly intense in 1976 between Reagan and Ford. Ford had been winning steadily until North Carolina, where Reagan won a last-stand victory and gained momentum from there. The outcome was in doubt headed into the GOP convention, and the Ford team played serious hardball in its quest for delegates. Ford loyalists got choice hotel assignments and prime seats at the convention. Reagan delegates got second-rate motel rooms as far as 70 miles away from Kansas City’s Kemper Arena and awful seats inside the hall. One Reagan aide recalled Ford supporters dumping trash on Reagan delegates in the arena. Ford ally Nelson Rockefeller tore a Reagan sign out of the hands of one Reagan backer from North Carolina, but then was outraged when another Reagan supporter tore out the telephone servicing Rockefeller’s New York delegation. Rockefeller later held the detached phone above his head for the TV cameras to see. When Ford aides raised the prospect of a Ford-Reagan ticket to Ford, the usually nice Ford said, “Absolutely not! I don’t want anything to do with that son of a b****!”

The 1980 race between Kennedy and Carter may have been even nastier. Carter had clinched the nomination early in the convention, but the Kennedy forces kept up the fight over the platform, determined to embarrass Carter. Carter aide Jody Powell later wrote of Kennedy’s maintaining the struggle after the contest was over: “We neglected to take into account one of the most obvious facets of Kennedy’s character, an almost childlike self-centeredness.”

Kennedy aide Harold Ickes, who would later work in the Clinton White House, used a procedural maneuver to upset the carefully planned convention schedule. The move shocked the Carter team, including a Carter lawyer named Tim Smith, who got into a physical altercation with Ickes. Another Carter aide, Tom Donilon, who would work in the Clinton and Obama administrations, confronted Ickes, saying, “What the f*** are you doing? You can’t do this!”

Ickes, always up for a fight, responded, “Go f*** yourself. I’m shutting this convention down, Tom.”

Kennedy himself had to intervene to get the convention restarted. But Kennedy enacted his own revenge against Carter. When Carter sought out Kennedy after his victory speech for the traditional hands-in-the-air unity gesture, Kennedy actively snubbed the sitting president. Kennedy’s rebuke was so obvious, and Carter’s active begging for the gesture so pathetic, that newsman David Brinkley said on live TV, “Well, this is slightly awkward.”

July 27, 2022 6:20 AM  
Anonymous no more drag queens in elementary schools... said...

It is hard to top 1980 for nastiness, but the 1992 combatants tried. Buchanan ran an ad that said, “In the last three years, the Bush administration has invested our tax dollars in pornographic and blasphemous art too shocking to show.” He also regularly hammered Bush for Bush’s famous broken pledge, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” On Bush’s side, he had told reporters asking whether he would go after Buchanan, “No, going to be nice.” Even so, Bush ran a hard-hitting ad in Michigan attacking Buchanan for driving a Mercedes-Benz, which was both a hit on the purchase of a foreign car as well as a subtle allusion to unfair whispers that the conservative Buchanan was some kind of Nazi. (Recall Democrat Ann Richards’s legendary line that Buchanan’s Republican National Convention speech that year was “better in the original German.”) One former Bush aide told me that by the end of the Mercedes ad, viewers could swear that the Mercedes logo looked like some kind of swastika.

There are multiple reasons for this recurring bitterness in intraparty fights. The people doing the fighting are friends and colleagues, or often ex-friends and ex-colleagues. The campaign staffs of a Republican and Democrat rarely interact personally over the course of a campaign, whereas a challenger to a party incumbent will see the opponent and staff at party events and especially at the conventions, where much of the nastiness has surfaced. Another reason for the ugliness is that the challenged incumbent is like a wounded lion, fighting for his or her political life. Similarly, the challenger often feels aggrieved, which has prompted the challenge to begin with.

Perhaps as a result of this history of failures, no incumbent has faced a serious intraparty challenge in three decades, since the Buchanan challenge to Bush in 1992. Related to this is the fact that most of the challenges in question took place in the relatively short span between 1968 and 1992, much of which was a period of great tumult and contentiousness in American politics. Given the extent of our current political divisions, it is possible to imagine that we could be entering a new era of semiregular intraparty challenges. The 1968 to 1992 period also coincided with a lot of resentment against Washington, over Vietnam, Watergate, and a general sense of government overreach. Today, we are also facing a similar sense of anti-Washington sentiment, albeit for different reasons.

One reason for the absence of intraparty challenges these last three decades is the absorption of the lesson that an incumbent who is seriously challenged in the primary typically foreshadows that party losing the next race for the White House. In recent years, potential challengers have been reluctant to take on the risk of being blamed for an election loss. But the incumbents of the last three decades have also taken steps to shore up their support so as not to be vulnerable to an attack from their flank. Bill Clinton, for example, suffered a tough midterm election loss in 1992, but he righted the ship by moving toward the center after the Republicans took over Congress. Donald Trump, for his part, never had high approval ratings in the national polls but scored very high in support within his party, as did George W. Bush, which is a key reason that neither of them faced a serious intraparty challenge. Perhaps as a result, the challenges that might have come from within the party have come from external candidates: Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996, Ralph Nader in 2000, and to an extent Trump himself, who was an outsider but ran within the party system.

July 27, 2022 6:21 AM  
Anonymous no more drag queens in elementary schools... said...


Another pattern is that most of the challenged incumbents came to the presidency in unusual ways. Truman, LBJ, and Ford stepped in directly from the vice presidential role, without ever initially being elected as president. Taft was hand-picked by Roosevelt to succeed him, and Bush ran as vice president, benefiting by succeeding the popular Reagan. Of the six, Jimmy Carter took the most traditional path to the presidency, but he was a dark horse who managed to beat a weak, unelected incumbent in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. Joe Biden appears to fit this historical pattern in that he was vice president before becoming president, but he did not go directly from the vice presidency to the presidency as four of the six challenged incumbents did.

What does all of this mean for Biden politically? The Biden team would be wise to highlight to the media and potential challengers that things usually do not end up well for the challenger, and that the party also often suffers as a result. Biden also needs to shore up his own support. In this, he faces a dilemma in that the things he needs to do to improve in the national polls might alienate his standing within his own party, while shoring up his support within the party could contribute to continued erosion of his overall support within the country.

As for the challengers themselves, it’s unlikely that the historical record will deter them if they see a real opportunity to emerge nationally. Biden’s weakness makes it difficult for the Democrats to retain the White House with him in 2024, so the best shot may be to bring in a fresh face. Concerns over his age — at 79, Biden is already the oldest president in American history — also add to this possibility. If this narrative takes hold, and the recent articles criticizing Biden suggest that party operatives are whispering this theme into reporters’ ears, then Biden could be in a situation facing more than one intraparty challenger going into the 2024 race. Such a case would not only be unusual, but it would also be bad news for Biden’s political prospects and, likely, those of the Democratic Party.

July 27, 2022 6:21 AM  
Anonymous News you won't hear from conservatives because it doesn't fit their narrative about Biden trying to destroy the fossil fuel industry said...

EIA: US became the world’s largest LNG exporter in the first half of 2022

The United States became the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter during the first half of 2022, according to data from CEDIGAZ. reported by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Compared with the second half of 2021, US LNG exports increased by 12% in the first half of 2022, averaging 11.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d).

US LNG exports continued to grow for three reasons: increased LNG export capacity, increased international natural gas and LNG prices, and increased global demand, particularly in Europe.

According to EIA estimates, installed US LNG export capacity has expanded by 1.9 Bcf/d nominal (2.1 Bcf/d peak) since November 2021. The capacity additions included a sixth train at the Sabine Pass LNG, 18 new mid-scale liquefaction trains at the Calcasieu Pass LNG, and increased LNG production capacity at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi LNG facilities.

As of July 2022, EIA estimates that US LNG liquefaction capacity averaged 11.4 Bcf/d, with a shorter-term peak capacity of 13.9 Bcf/d.

International natural gas and LNG prices hit record highs in the last quarter of 2021 and first half of 2022. Prices at the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) in the Netherlands have been trading at record highs since October 2021. TTF averaged $30.94 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) during the first half of 2022. LNG spot prices in Asia have also been high, averaging $29.50/MMBtu during the same period.

Since the end of last year, countries in Europe have increasingly imported more LNG to compensate for lower pipeline imports from Russia and to fill historically low natural gas storage inventories. LNG imports in the EU and UK increased by 63% during the first half of 2022 to average 14.8 Bcf/d.

Most US LNG exports went to the EU and the UK during the first five months of this year, accounting for 71%, or 8.2 Bcf/d, of the total US LNG exports. Similar to 2021, the United States sent the most LNG to the EU and UK during the first half of the year, providing 47% of the 14.8 Bcf/d of Europe’s total LNG imports, followed by Qatar at 15%, Russia at 14%, and four African countries combined at 17%.

In June, the United States exported 11% less LNG than the 11.4 Bcf/d average exports during the first five months of 2022, mainly as a result of an unplanned outage at the Freeport LNG export facility. Freeport LNG is expected to resume partial liquefaction operations in early October 2022.

Utilization of the peak capacity at the seven US LNG export facilities averaged 87% during the first half of 2022, mainly before the Freeport LNG outage, which is similar to the utilization on average during 2021.

July 27, 2022 11:21 AM  
Anonymous any time Dems lose, they want to change the Constitution and the English language... said...


Some liberal media outlets are beginning to fall in line with the Biden administration's spin on redefining what a recession is ahead of the release of potentially devastating economic stats.

Economic data to be revealed on Thursday may show two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product (GDP) growth, which has long been the measure that determines whether the U.S. is in a recession.

However, there's been a major push by the White House to preemptively declare that even if the U.S. economy has shrunk in two consecutive quarters, that doesn't necessarily mean the economy is in a recession.

Anyone know what the definition of "is", is?

July 27, 2022 2:36 PM  
Anonymous when will Dems apologize to blacks for failing inner city economies, failing inner city schools, and racist inner city police departments that they have overseen for decades? said...


A record number of homebuyers are looking to relocate to a different city. The most common destinations will shock no one — except maybe California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

New data from Redfin, a real estate brokerage company, suggest Newsom’s constituents are continuing to exit their state in record numbers, despite the governor’s pleas for Florida residents to reject DeSantis’s “anti-freedom” policies. San Francisco and Los Angeles remain the top two cities homebuyers are looking to leave, while the top two destinations are Miami and Tampa. Homebuyers seem to view the ability to pay their electric bill in Florida as a worthwhile trade-off for losing the freedom to teach kindergartners about gender.

Across the country, prospective homebuyers are fleeing expensive Democrat-run cities in favor of more affordable conservative areas. In the second quarter of 2022, 32.6% of Redfin users were searching for properties in a different metro area, compared to 25.2% at the same time in 2019. Rising home prices and mortgage rates are simply pricing many out of the market. At $863,390, California’s median home price is nearly double the national average of $416,000.

“The typical home in San Francisco or San Jose now costs more than $1.5 million. Add in today’s 5%-plus mortgage rates and you have a sky-high monthly payment,” said Redfin Deputy Chief Economist Taylor Marr.

Rounding out the 10 most frequently abandoned cities are New York City, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Boston, Detroit, Denver, Chicago, and Minneapolis — all areas run by Democratic mayors. Residents there enjoy not only exorbitant living costs but also amenities such as high crime rates, homelessness, and excessive taxes. The cost of living in San Francisco, for example, is 91% higher than the national average. Statewide, California residents pay 29% more than the national average on utilities, 12% more for food, and 37% more on transportation.

One immigrant who came to Los Angeles from Peru told the Los Angeles Times that the increasing homeless population was a big factor in his decision to leave the state.

“It was starting to remind me of where I left many years before,” he said.

Along with Miami and Tampa, frequent destinations for homebuyers who leave their cities are Phoenix, Arizona; Sacramento, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Cape Coral, Florida; San Diego, California; North Port, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; and Dallas, Texas. Florida and Texas cities dominate the list.

Redfin’s analysis notes that remote work is enabling people who want to leave. No longer tied down by physically needing to show up to work, people are moving to cheaper cities and retaining their jobs.

Numbers released by Redfin during quarter one of this year reflect a similar pattern. They also reflect hard data of those who have already left. In 2021 alone, over 360,000 California residents moved out of state. These cities can’t afford to lose any more residents, though they undoubtedly will if nothing changes.

July 27, 2022 8:34 PM  
Anonymous remember: Slidin' Biden's Afghan fiasco was the biggest transfer of arms to a terrorist group in history - and that was just beginning of Bumblin' Joe's annus horriblus... said...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently responded to questions about California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ads airing in Florida, "It’s almost hard to drive people out of a place like California given all their natural advantages, and yet they are finding a way to do it.” He noted that California is hemorrhaging its population because of bad progressive economic policies so that they could be more free

Florida ranks third in the nation for economic freedom, according to the Fraser Institute. And California ranks second to last.

Our own study supports the position of DeSantis.

Freer states that were more reluctant to shut down their economies due to COVID-19 are doing much better economically than states with severe shutdowns. Even a state like California is suffering — which was considered an American paradise for nearly a century, with its perfect weather and natural beauty.

This month’s U.S. jobs report showed an increase of 372,000 net nonfarm jobs in June, yet it’s still under the pre-shutdown number by 524,000. The Biden administration trumpeted the good news of job growth, yet the real story is in the details. Labor participation is lagging and inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings are declining, and the bulk of the new jobs added are decisively in lower-tax, pro-growth-oriented states.

Residents are fleeing California, New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania for places like Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, and Texas. DeSantis noted that it was once unusual to see California license plates in Florida, but it’s now a growing trend.

Of the 14 states that have recovered all their jobs lost due to the shutdowns, 12 are in states with legislatures and governors, championing a better fiscal and regulatory climate. This supports lower costs of living that offer new residents greater purchasing power and better opportunities to weather a looming recession.

Perhaps the most important statistic is how Americans are voting with their feet.

Forty-six million Americans changed zip codes in a 12-month period ending in February 2022. That’s the most moves since 2010. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2021, California, New York, and Illinois had the highest domestic migration losses, and Florida, Texas, and Arizona gained the most.

Pods, a moving and storage company, offers up their own data on where Americans are increasingly headed. Virtually every destination benefitting now is in the Southeast, Texas, or Arizona. Pods continually cites that people say the lower cost of living as a primary reason for relocation.

U-Haul released a report showing essentially the same results. And there are private research organizations as well with more corroborating evidence, such as How Money Walks that uses IRS data.

And it’s not just people that are moving but businesses, too.

In June, Caterpillar Inc., a Fortune 500 company, announced they are moving their headquarters from Deerfield, Illinois, where they have been since the early 1900s, to Irving, Texas. This makes Texas now the headquarters of 54 of the Fortune 500 companies in the world. Remington Firearms, America’s oldest firearms manufacturer, recently announced its relocation from New York to LaGrange, Georgia.

The list goes on and on.

Competition amongst states for residents and businesses is a booming trend that doesn’t look like it will abate soon. Undoubtedly, ad campaigns and recycled political rhetoric will ratchet up the fight on both political sides for new residents and commercial enterprises. Yet the policies of lower spending and taxes, deregulation, and stronger property rights resulting in more freedom are winning.

Prolonged COVID-19-related shutdowns and excessive government mandates proved to be a formula for economic destruction. The evidence in favor of economic opportunity and robust markets is overwhelming.

Fortunately, Americans are now seeing and acting on not only mounting evidence but also their own real-life experiences — which is the true test of which approach is more viable.

July 27, 2022 8:48 PM  
Anonymous guess what:? America is blacklashing the gay agenda.... said...


Democrats, ironically, don't believe in democracy

a couple of examples:

1. despite ranting high and low about the mortal danger pro-Trump MAGA conspiracists are to our country, they are financially supporting them across America

2. the January 6 committee, from which they excluded Republican leadership, has as its goal that Trump be impeached and never able to run for President again - taking away the choice of the America people can hardly be called democracy

July 27, 2022 9:03 PM  
Anonymous Fuhgeddaboudit, MAQAnon said...

JFK Jr. is still dead.

July 28, 2022 7:58 AM  
Anonymous GQPers pay Trump's legal bills said...

Republican leaders who worry that Donald Trump could hurt their midterm chances by announcing a presidential run too soon are hoping he'll be dissuaded from doing so by the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal payments, according to an RNC official.

Since October 2021, the Republican National Committee has paid nearly $2 million to law firms representing Trump as part of his defense against personal litigation and government investigations.

But an RNC official told ABC News that as soon as Trump would announce he is running for president, the payments would stop because the party has a "neutrality policy" that prohibits it from taking sides in the presidential primary.

In January, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said, "The party has to stay neutral."

"I'm not telling anybody to run or not to run in 2024," she added. However she has since reaffirmed that Trump "still leads the party."

RNC officials would not comment on the record for this story. Representatives for Trump also declined to comment.

This isn't the first time that legal bills have been seen as possible leverage over Trump.

According to the book "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show," by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, in the final days of Trump's presidency, Trump told McDaniel he was leaving the GOP and creating his own political party — only to back down after McDaniel made it clear to Trump that the party would stop paying his legal bills for his post-election challenges and take other steps that would cost him financially.

Both Trump and McDaniel have denied the story.

According to the RNC's most recent financial disclosure to the Federal Elections Commission, from October 2021 through June of this year, the RNC paid at least $1.73 million to three law firms representing Trump, including firms that are defending him in investigations into his personal family business in New York. Last month alone, the RNC paid $50,000 to a law firm representing Trump in June...

The RNC reported payments to law firms representing Trump as recently as mid-June, indicating the party leadership's unfettered support for the former president and heightening critics' concerns about the party's neutrality ahead of the 2024 presidential primary season.

"I don't think there's been any effort" by the RNC to remain neutral, longtime Republican donor and Canary LLC CEO Dan Eberhart told ABC News. "This is a symbiotic relationship."

"The RNC needs Trump or Trump surrogates or Trump's likeness to raise money, and Trump wants them to continue paying his bills and be as pro-Trump as possible," Eberhart said. "So neither is in a hurry to cut the umbilical cord."

The RNC has continued to fundraise off of Trump's name in its emails to supporters, touting a so-called "Trump Life Membership," boosting his social media platform, and, most recently, promoting Trump's first visit to Washington, D.C., since January of last year. Other potential 2024 presidential candidates and key party figures like former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have not received the same spotlight as Trump, experts say.

Eberhart said the current relationship between Trump and the RNC is putting other potential 2024 presidential candidates at an "absolute disadvantage."..

July 28, 2022 2:37 PM  
Anonymous I wonder if TTFers agree with any part of the Constitution.... said...


Isn't life strange?

The GOP is trying to stop Trump from running even though polls show he has the best chance to win. And Democrats are trying to help him because they know they have no chance to beat any other likely candidate

The Biden administration will complete a portion of border wall construction in an area of Arizona that has become one of the most popular spots for illegal immigration at the southern border.

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) announced Thursday that the Department of Homeland Security had agreed to fill in a gap that was left between Trump-era border wall projects in Arizona.

“For too long, the Morelos Dam area has been an operational challenge for Border Patrol agents to properly secure the border and keep our communities safe,” Kelly said in a statement. “I’m glad that the Department of Homeland Security has listened to Arizona and is going to close these gaps. This is a step forward and I’ll keep working to ensure that Arizona has the tools needed for a secure and orderly process at the border including fencing and barriers.”

The move is significant for Kelly, a first-term senator who faces a contentious reelection bid this November. He touted the win as having followed through on an immigration promise to his constituents.

July 29, 2022 10:17 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL!!!!!!!!!!! said...


Democrats may be one step closer to an economic bill in the Senate, but one Republican lawmaker is warning that their closed-door dealings could have bipartisan consequences.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine suggested the surprise climate deal struck by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin this week on a skinnier version of the president's economic agenda could tank bipartisan efforts to pass a bill protecting same-sex marriage.

"I just think the timing could not have been worse and it came totally out of the blue," Collins told HuffPost.

The economic legislation would be passed through the budget reconciliation process, requiring only 50 Democratic votes and essentially curtailing any path of GOP resistance.

"After we just had worked together successfully on gun safety legislation, on the CHIPs bill, it was a very unfortunate move that destroys the many bipartisan efforts that are under way," Collins told the outlet.

The Maine Republican is currently trying to shore up support for the Respect for Marriage Act after the House passed the legislation last week with support from all 220 Democrats, and an additional 47 Republicans. Five Senate Republicans have signaled support for the bill, opening the gate for the necessary 10 Republican votes needed on top of all 50 Democrats in order for the legislation to pass.

If the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, it would formally repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a women. The courts later struck that definition down, but the original law remained on the books. The Respect for Marriage Act would also prohibit any state actor from "failing to give full effect to an out-of-state marriage" on the basis of sex, race, gender, or national origin.

Democrats quickly began calling to codify same-sex marriage protections after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month in a decision that reversed federal abortion rights. While Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion said the case should not affect any other rights, conservative Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion suggesting that the court "reconsider" certain landmark decisions, including the right to same-sex marriage.

But after Democrats' Wednesday surprise, Collins says support for the gay-marriage bill, as well as a slew of other bipartisan efforts, is in trouble.

Time is running out before lawmakers' August recess.

July 29, 2022 11:51 AM  
Anonymous Of Course Samuel Alito Is Bragging About It: He's always been an asshole. Cruel jokes about overturning Roe are the latest evidence. said...

"The GOP is trying to stop Trump from running even though polls show he has the best chance to win. "

The best chance when 55% of GQPers don't want him to run?

Fox & Friends' Tries To Comfort Trump After Reporting Very Bad Poll Numbers

The hosts of “Fox & Friends” took some desperate measures to appease former President Donald Trump after reporting that most Republicans don’t want him to run again in 2024.

Co-host Steve Doocy on Thursday repeated a CNN poll’s findings that 55% of Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters do not want Trump to be their party’s presidential nominee in 2024.

Although it’s unlikely the news would get the conservative network’s audience in a tizzy, Doocy’s colleague Brian Kilmeade seemed very concerned about the reaction from one viewer in particular: Trump himself.

“If the former president is watching, you should know those are just the numbers you are relaying,” Kilmeade said, emphasizing that Doocy “didn’t come up with those numbers.”

Doocy then remarked that he thought the poll was “fascinating,” prompting Kilmeade to snark that CNN is “right as often as Halley’s Comet comes by.”

Doocy’s response: “So, you are saying all we talked about for the last four minutes is not accurate?”

Trump, who has repeatedly teased that he’ll run again, famously throws fits when he sees something on TV he doesn’t like. On Monday, for example, after “Fox & Friends” reported another poll, Trump ripped “the show as “terrible” and “gone to the dark side” on his social media site, and accused it of botching his poll numbers “on purpose.”

Kilmeade reminded Doocy that the embattled ex-president might not be happy with the latest poll news, either.

“I’m just saying, Donald Trump is watching,” Kilmeade continued. “If Donald Trump is watching, just let him know we didn’t come up with that number. That’s what the poll said.”

July 29, 2022 3:35 PM  
Anonymous Slidin' Biden rebounds COVID but it daily finding new ways to prevent rebounding with voters!......... said...


Of all the uncertainties that college freshmen must face, none is more sensitive than the issue of roommates. You might become best friends. You might go to war over who ate the leftover pizza in the fridge. There’s nothing to be taken for granted when it comes to living with a virtual stranger, except that men room with men and women room with women.

At least, for now. If the Biden administration gets its way, schools could force biological female students to live with biological men who identify as women and vice versa.

The Department of Education has proposed a new Title IX rule that demands that colleges treat students in line with their gender identity, not their biological sex. That means that people who identify as women would live with people who identify as women, and people who identify as men would live with people who identify as men.

A biological man who began identifying as a woman at age 13 could be treated the same as a biological man who began identifying as a woman an hour ago. Both could be allowed to room with a woman who has no say in the matter, nor could the school be obligated to alert her in any way that her roommate is not, in fact, biologically female.

Any school that dared put facts over feelings would be vulnerable to Title IX investigations, and even potentially losing its federal funding. Any student who dared object to living with someone of the opposite sex could be slapped with a Title IX complaint as well.

The Department of Education claims that Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity. The proposed rule claims to respect existing law that allows colleges to maintain sex-segregated housing facilities, but there’s a catch: The proposed rule redefines "sex" to include gender identity. If the word "sex" is robbed of its meaning, so is the word "sex-segregated." In short, colleges could have nominally male and female dorms, but the definition of male and female would be identity-based, not biology-based.

The cruel irony here is that schools are obligated under Title IX to address threats of sexual harassment and assault. For 50 years, the law has stood to protect all students from discrimination on the basis of sex. Now, the Biden administration’s proposed rule, which was announced on June 23rd, would turn Title IX into a political cudgel rather than a civil rights milestone.

It would be hard to conceive of a more efficient way to make college women less safe than by potentially forcing some of them to sleep just a few feet away from biological men, behind closed doors, without their knowledge or consent. Every feminist should be up in arms to stop this insanity from happening.

All students deserve equal access to education. In an ideal world, college roommate matching systems could give students the option to check a box if they are comfortable living with a transgender-identified classmate. This would help ensure that students end up in roommate pairs with which they feel comfortable.

There are ways to prevent an 18-year-old woman from having to live with an 18-year-old man without ever being consulted on the matter. But, it appears that the Biden administration would rather skip right past common-sense ideas and go all-in on transgender ideology, even if it could mean forcing women to sleep in the same room as men and punishing them if they complain.

At the core of this problem is a fundamental disagreement about the relationship between men and women. In the leftist worldview, any woman who would prefer not to dorm with a biological man is a bigot. Any woman who dares to ask the question about who she’s living with is a transphobe.

It is a farce that the people who think this way dare to call themselves progressives.

July 31, 2022 7:57 AM  
Anonymous Why come up with detailed policies when you can just smear your enemies as "groomers?" said...

Here we go again...

Back in 2008, conservatives here in Maryland were frothing at the mouth because Bill 23-07 in Montgomery County added gender identity to the non-discrimination clauses of existing laws - outlawing discrimination in things like housing, taxi / limousine service, and importantly, employment.

Very shortly, pearl-clutching conservative dubbed this the "Bathroom Bill" running around the county telling everyone they could that this would mean "men dressed as women" would soon be assaulting women in bathrooms and gym locker rooms all over the county, and they tried to get as many signatures as possible to put it on a referendum to get the county - primed by their sexual predator "men pretending to be women" scare propaganda.

It didn't work.

They didn't gather enough valid signatures.

But more importantly, none of their "sky is falling" predictions came true.

"Men dressed as women" never rushed to bathrooms in MoCo to assault unsuspecting women and girls - or leer at them in gyms across the county.

Trans people however, were able to use the law to avoid summary termination when they came out at work.

What conservatives lack in imagination, empathy and learning ability, they make up for in sheer dogged persistence.

Once again, they are dragging out the trans person as sexual predator meme to demonize them, make trans people 2nd or 3rd class citizens, smear them with unsubstantiated sexual predator accusations, and generally make T-lives miserable.

They will never of course acknowledge that trans women 18 or older are eligible for surgery, and have typically trying to get it for years before then. They are also on hormones, dramatically diminishing the desire and even ability for for sexual relations even if they still have their "original equipment." After surgery, any sexual desires they might have had drops to a level slightly above that of a dead cat.

Conservatives have also never stopped to consider that given all the harassment they go through just living life - especially from men - trans women are far more likely to protect their female suite-mates from men than they are to try and harm them.

But the fact the there has never been a wide-spread problem with trans women assaulting women or children, that's not going to stop them from slandering the entire minority with suspicions of sexual predation. And why not? It's a consequence-free distraction from all the sexual predation that goes on in their churches. They get to demonize people different from them, call them "evil" and blame society's downfall on them - all the while convincing themselves of their own "moral" superiority. Something that is difficult to do given how they treat their non-"saved" fellow citizens.

July 31, 2022 5:49 PM  
Anonymous remember Brett Kavanaugh? he was the final nail in the gay agenda's coffin said...


"Back in 2008, conservatives here in Maryland were frothing at the mouth because Bill 23-07 in Montgomery County added gender identity to the non-discrimination clauses of existing laws - outlawing discrimination in things like housing, taxi / limousine service, and importantly, employment."

frothing at the mouth, uh?

quite a daring bit of revisionism

actually, conservatives were peacefully working to gather enough signatures for a referendum to vote on the issue

lunatic fringe homosexual advocates, who are terrified of democracy, did everything they could to harass the signature collectors and prevent a vote

aides to authors of the bill bullied and threatened signature takers with arrest and pressured stores into kicking signature takers off their sidewalks

leading to an overwhelming conclusion: they thought they would lose if a vote was taken

"Very shortly, pearl-clutching conservative dubbed this the "Bathroom Bill" running around the county telling everyone they could that this would mean "men dressed as women" would soon be assaulting women in bathrooms and gym locker rooms all over the county, and they tried to get as many signatures as possible to put it on a referendum to get the county - primed by their sexual predator "men pretending to be women" scare propaganda."

actually, women have a right to privacy and if they don't want biological men in their restrooms and locker rooms, they don't owe lunatic fringe homosexual advocates an explanation

"Trans people however, were able to use the law to avoid summary termination when they came out at work."

how suits have been filed?

"Once again, they are dragging out the trans person as sexual predator meme to demonize them, make trans people 2nd or 3rd class citizens, smear them with unsubstantiated sexual predator accusations, and generally make T-lives miserable."

if women would prefer with another women in college, that should be their prerogative

they don't owe anyone an explanation

"They will never of course acknowledge that trans women 18 or older are eligible for surgery,"

could you provide either an example of someone refusing to acknowledge this or an apology for lying?

"Conservatives have also never stopped to consider that given all the harassment they go through just living life - especially from men - trans women are far more likely to protect their female suite-mates from men than they are to try and harm them."

as we've discussed, they have a right to room with another female

they don't need an excuse for that preference

July 31, 2022 9:35 PM  
Anonymous Hateful twisting is the troll's forte said...

"aides to authors of the bill bullied and threatened signature takers with arrest and pressured stores into kicking signature takers off their sidewalks"

Yet no successful charges were filed against any "aides to authors of the bill" who you claim "threatened" people.

You'd think if your claims were true, someone would have had to suffer consequences for such threatening behavior.

Nobody has had to claim the fifth and certainly nothing as threatening as Jan 6 happened here in MoCo, ever.

August 01, 2022 7:39 AM  
Anonymous more of them polls that TTFers like so much...... said...


"Yet no successful charges were filed against any "aides to authors of the bill" who you claim "threatened" people.

You'd think if your claims were true, someone would have had to suffer consequences for such threatening behavior."

it may come as a surprise to you, but in our society, people don't always suffer consequences of their actions

it's actually not illegal to threaten people with arrest

in fact, there was an ethics investigation of the aide which found them not guilty because they didn't identify themselves as a county employee

but this person was vocal and well-known as such

regardless, it is rare for a group to expend so much energy trying to prevent a vote on something they claim everyone agrees with them on

my point stands: lunatic fringe gay advocates oppose democracy

just like they oppose the Constitution

Joe Biden approval ratings have sunk to an all-time low in the most recent Gallup Poll, with just 38 percent of people happy with the job the president is doing.

The July survey is the first time that Biden's approval rating has fallen below 40 percent in Gallup's monthly polls since he took office in January 2021.

A follow up question found that 45 percent of Americans "strongly" disapprove of Biden's performance, compared to just 13 percent who strongly approve.

Biden's sixth quarter approval rating of 40 percent—covering April 20 through July 19—is also the lowest of any president in modern history dating back to Dwight Eisenhower.

By comparison, Donald Trump's sixth quarter approval rating was 42 percent, the same as the equal previous lowest score that Jimmy Carter had in 1978.

Biden's sixth quarter approval rating is the first time that it has been lower than Trump's score during the same quarter

August 01, 2022 8:29 AM  
Anonymous Hey, It's MTG - several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law said...

"my point stands: lunatic fringe gay advocates oppose democracy"

No it doesn't.

LGBT people simply don't oppose democracy - we're grateful for living in that system - no matter how many times you try to revise history.

LGBT people DO oppose Christian Dominionists scaring people by smearing innocent people with unfounded accusations of pedophilia, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.

It is a tactic that the Christian right has used for decades - accusing gay teachers of being sexual predators back when Ronald Reagan was governor of California. You whip up enough anger and fear like that and some right-winger goes off the edge and murders someone like Harvey Milk.

You know this happens and yet you keep on doing it.

It proves you are just fine with LGBT people getting murdered. Preachers are still shouting it from pulpits.

Not liking LGBT people is one thing, but continuing to lie about them so they are at a higher risk of being murdered is evidence of serious psychopathy.

As for "opposing democracy," it is the Republican party - its always Trumpers and their enablers that are the biggest threat to our democracy. They were ready to overthrow it for a lie - a lie which many of them still believe, despite all of the evidence that has come out since the insurrection.

Many Republican voters won't even watch the Jan 6 hearings because they're convinced it's a "witch hunt," preferring to live in a made of world of propaganda rather than a stark reality. These are gullible voters Republican politicians take advantage of to advance their own power-hungry interests, while blaming all the problems their constituents suffer from on Democrats, commies, and fags - distracting them from the fact that 40 years of their disastrous supply side economic policies have left them scraping for wage-slave jobs.

Republican voters are blissfully unaware that the unholy alliance Christian churches are building with strong-man politicians and powerful corporations here in the US is looking more and more like that of Spain in the 1930s, where the Catholic church, rich industrialists, and right-wing politicians brought Francisco Franco to power before WWII, where he then began his decades-long murderous dictatorship.

August 01, 2022 10:30 AM  
Anonymous TTF opposes facts just like Democrats oppose democracy... said...


"LGBT people simply don't oppose democracy - we're grateful for living in that system - no matter how many times you try to revise history"

we've just discussed how LGBT advocates tried to stop a vote on repealing Bill 23-07 in 2008

if you believed in democracy and you believed MC voters supported Bill 23-07, why did you oppose the vote?

clearly, you don't believe in democracy

"LGBT people DO oppose Christian Dominionists scaring people by smearing innocent people with unfounded accusations of pedophilia, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.

It is a tactic that the Christian right has used for decades - accusing gay teachers of being sexual predators back when Ronald Reagan was governor of California. You whip up enough anger and fear like that and some right-winger goes off the edge and murders someone like Harvey Milk."

I don't recall ever accusing homosexuals of pedophilia or sexual assault

"You know this happens and yet you keep on doing it."

you are making assumptions about Dan White's motives

it's more likely he was motivated by resentment over some political maneuvers

"Preachers are still shouting it from pulpits."

there are many preachers in America, including ones who push agnosticism

you can find someone that says just about anything

"As for "opposing democracy," it is the Republican party - its always Trumpers and their enablers that are the biggest threat to our democracy. They were ready to overthrow it for a lie - a lie which many of them still believe,"

well, Trump will clearly play any card he thinks will give him a win

but if people actually believe there was fraud, they may be mistaken but that doesn't mean they don't believe in democracy

and, honestly, Dems cause this problem by loosening voter integrity rules, using the pandemic as an excuse, and making the "lie" plausible

"despite all of the evidence that has come out since the insurrection"

noting has been uncovered that wasn't well-known in the immediate aftermath of Jan 6

btw, I've often noted that AIDS was caused by widespread random promiscuity by homosexuals

TTFers howled that most homosexuals are as monogamous as most heterosexuals

now, the WHO is recommending homosexuals reduce their number of sexual partners "for the moment"

LOL!

The World Health Organization on Wednesday recommended that gay and bisexual men limit their number of sexual partners to protect themselves from monkeypox and help slow transmission of the rapidly spreading virus.

The WHO’s monkeypox expert, Rosamund Lewis, said men who have sex with men are the group at the highest risk of infection right now. About 99% of cases are among men, and at least 95% of those patients are men who have sex with men, Lewis said.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it is crucial for public health authorities to engage communities of men who have sex with men to reduce transmission of the virus and take care of those infected.

“For men who have sex with men, this includes for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners, reconsidering considering sex with new partners, and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow up if needed,” Tedros said.

August 01, 2022 11:41 AM  
Anonymous Hey it's Donald - Has anyone seen my pillow guy? He was supposed to get me back in the Oval Office by now. said...

"if you believed in democracy and you believed MC voters supported Bill 23-07, why did you oppose the vote?"

As I explained before, we didn't oppose the vote. We opposed the radical Christian right fear-mongering and spreading disinformation about the bill.

"clearly, you don't believe in democracy"

If LGBT people started canvasing MoCo to remove Christians from the non-discrimination clauses because of various churches' history of harboring pedophiles and hiding them from police, using scare tactics and conflating all of them with sex offenders, Christians would be out in the streets confronting anyone spreading that propaganda and keep them from fear mongering against Christians.

In this country we have rights to protest and counter-protest.

"you are making assumptions about Dan White's motives

it's more likely he was motivated by resentment over some political maneuvers"

Right... because politicians getting murdered for their "political maneuvers" is SUCH a common thing here in the US.

The last time that happened, Lincoln was watching a play.

"well, Trump will clearly play any card he thinks will give him a win

but if people actually believe there was fraud, they may be mistaken but that doesn't mean they don't believe in democracy

and, honestly, Dems cause this problem by loosening voter integrity rules, using the pandemic as an excuse, and making the "lie" plausible"

I bet you blame women for the clothes they wear when they get raped - it's the same kind of logic.

A number of states have had mail-in voting for years, and adding more drop boxes so people can vote safely during an airborne pandemic that has killed over 1 million US citizens is a reasonable accommodation.

Your justification for a known pathological liar's full-blown attempt to take advantage of that situation spotlights just how sick and twisted conservative thinking is.

"despite all of the evidence that has come out since the insurrection"

noting has been uncovered that wasn't well-known in the immediate aftermath of Jan 6"

You'll have to forgive the rest of us, we're not omnipotent like you are. I must be a terrible burden to be so God-like.

The information that has come out since the 6th has shown the even people within Trump's cabinet believed his lie, but they kept quiet about it, allowing Trump to whip his base up into a dangerous frenzy, despite warnings from some of those same people.

Trump was deranged, and for the good of the country, they should have gone ahead with their plans to invoke the 25th amendment; but they didn't even have the balls to warn the country about what he was doing. Now in some states, Republicans are stacking election boards with people who believed and promoted his big lie. Why? One can only conclude that they no longer believe in democracy - because the facts are out there now, and they willfully choose to ignore them.

"btw, I've often noted that AIDS was caused by widespread random promiscuity by homosexuals"

Yes, you seem to obsess over it. But AIDS is caused by a VIRUS. It can be SPREAD by contact with blood, saliva, or other fluids between persons.

It's also spread by random promiscuity among heterosexuals and by needle sharing among intravenous drug users.

In fact, the largest populations of AIDS-infected people are heterosexual adults in Africa.

At this point it is a treatable and manageable illness, if one has access to the right medication.

August 01, 2022 12:55 PM  
Anonymous A fertilized egg is legally more valuable than a woman in many states now. said...

""LGBT people simply don't oppose democracy - we're grateful for living in that system - no matter how many times you try to revise history"

we've just discussed how LGBT advocates tried to stop a vote on repealing Bill 23-07 in 2008

if you believed in democracy and you believed MC voters supported Bill 23-07, why did you oppose the vote?"

Because it would have been a waste of Montgomery County taxpayer money.

When was the last time any GOPer or GOPer idea won any election in Montgomery County Maryland?

August 01, 2022 1:38 PM  
Anonymous Gov. Larry Hogan said...

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Sunday criticized his state’s Republican nominee for attorney general for spreading “disgusting lies” about the 9/11 attacks.

Michael Peroutka floated conspiracy theories about the 2001 terror attacks while co-hosting five radio shows in 2006, according to CNN’s KFile investigations team.

Hogan, a moderate Republican and potential 2024 presidential candidate, ripped into Peroutka following the disclosure.

“We know who was responsible for 9/11,” Hogan wrote on Twitter. “Blaming our country for Al-Qaeda’s atrocities is an insult to the memory of the thousands of innocent Americans and brave first responders who died that day.”

Peroutka said the 9/11 attacks were the work of an “elite bureaucrat” who set demolition charges in New York City buildings.

“I said that if the buildings in New York City, the World Trade Center buildings, came down by demolition charges — that is to say — if there was this evidence that there was that something was preset there, then the implications of that are massive,” Peroutka said, according to CNN.

“I’ve been doing some reading and doing some studying, and I believe that to be very, very true,” Peroutka added.
Peroutka seemed to endorse a conspiracy theory that the Twin Towers and a smaller building nearby were destroyed in a series of controlled demolitions, CNN reported.

Hogan also has said he will not support Maryland’s Republican nominee for governor, Dan Cox, calling him a “QAnon whack job.” Cox has embraced Donald Trump’s 2020 election lies and has secured the endorsement of the former president.

Hogan called Cox’s primary election victory “a win for the Democrats.”

“It’s a big loss for the Republican Party, and we have no chance of saving that governor seat,” Hogan told ABC’s “This Week” last month.

“These disgusting lies don’t belong in our party,” he added.

August 01, 2022 2:43 PM  
Anonymous Dem monopoly control of inner cities has led to poverty and racism said...


"As I explained before, we didn't oppose the vote"

you didn't explain anything

you made an assertion that clearly is false

you tried to hinder a petition to hold the vote

by definition, you opposed the vote

"We opposed the radical Christian right fear-mongering and spreading disinformation about the bill"

you'd have had ample opportunity to present your characterization during the public debate if the vote had been held

but you opposed that vote

"If LGBT people started canvasing MoCo to remove Christians from the non-discrimination clauses because of various churches' history of harboring pedophiles and hiding them from police, using scare tactics and conflating all of them with sex offenders, Christians would be out in the streets confronting anyone spreading that propaganda and keep them from fear mongering against Christians."

people discriminate against Christians all the time

none of them is trying to stop democracy over it

"In this country we have rights to protest and counter-protest."

yes, you do

but interfering with the rights of others tp present their views and petition is not a right you have

"Right... because politicians getting murdered for their "political maneuvers" is SUCH a common thing here in the US."

there was plenty of coverage of the circumstances at the time

read up on it

"I bet you blame women for the clothes they wear when they get raped - it's the same kind of logic"

it's actually nothing like it

expressing yourself in your manner of dress has nothing to do with protecting the integrity of an election

"You'll have to forgive the rest of us, we're not omnipotent like you are. I must be a terrible burden to be so God-like."

nothing that has been revealed at the hearings was not already reported on soon after Jan 6

"Yes, you seem to obsess over it. But AIDS is caused by a VIRUS. It can be SPREAD by contact with blood, saliva, or other fluids between persons."

it gained a foothold in America by random promiscuity among the homosexual population

it's a fact, TTF should stop fighting facts

and now the same thing is happening with monkey pox

"Because it would have been a waste of Montgomery County taxpayer money"

thanks for the laugh!

yeah, you were foaming at the mouth because it was such a waste of money

LOL!

democracy will prevail

you should stop trying to fight it and simply argue your point like a civilized human being

August 01, 2022 11:14 PM  
Anonymous 96 days til the election...whatcha gonna do?... said...


The nonpartisan, free-market group Job Creators Network is putting up a billboard Friday in Times Square poking fun at attempts by the Biden administration to redefine "recession."

The move follows the federal government announcing a day earlier that the country's gross domestic product – or the value of all goods and services produced over a year – declined for a second-straight quarter.

The consecutive declines and other economic conditions meet a commonly used definition of a recession.

The billboard, in the heart of New York City, is headlined, "READ MY LIPS: NO NEW RECESSION" – referring to the famous line delivered by George H.W. Bush regarding taxes.

Bush said, "Read my lips, no new taxes."

The billboard also reads, "IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID!" and features a picture of President Biden.

"This week’s GDP report confirms what Americans already knew – the economy is in a recession," said Job Creator Network President and CEO Alfredo Ortiz. "Working families and small businesses are already feeling the squeeze as the economy slows and prices rise at the quickest pace in four decades. Unfortunately, the Biden administration is in denial and continues to do everything it can to message the recession out of existence.”

August 02, 2022 5:34 AM  
Anonymous Dems support candidates they say oppose democracy..a tacit admission that they don't either... said...

You regularly hear Dems rant that the GOP has been taken over by nutjobs. They try to ensure that by financially supporting them.

U.S. Representative Peter Meijer, a Michigan Republican targeted by Donald Trump for voting to impeach the former president in 2021, accused Democrats on Monday of subsidizing the "entire campaign" of his Trump-endorsed challenger in Tuesday's primary election.

Meijer, who has been censured by two county Republican parties for opposing Trump and repudiated by a third, is locked in a close race for renomination against John Gibbs, a far-right Republican and former Trump administration official who questions Democratic President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.

"You would think that the Democrats would look at John Gibbs and see the embodiment of what they say they most fear," Meijer wrote in an opinion article that appeared on Monday in the online newsletter, Common Sense. "Instead they are funding Gibbs."

Democrats are promoting Gibbs and other far-right candidates in the hopes of bettering their odds in the November midterm elections, when Republicans are widely favored to win back control of the House of Representatives.

August 02, 2022 5:45 AM  
Anonymous Gibbs banking on Trump support, grassroots energy in race against DeVos-backed Meijer said...

HOLLAND, MI — Inside Lighthouse Baptist Church, where Ottawa County residents gathered recently for a Republican candidate forum, congressional hopeful John Gibbs made his pitch to voters still angry over temporary COVID-19 restrictions and former President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

He found a receptive audience.

Gibbs, a former software engineer and political commentator who wants to defeat U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer in the Aug. 2 Republican primary for Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District, drew cheers as he touted his endorsement by Trump and called out the first-term congressman for voting to impeach the former president following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“What I want to do, two weeks from now, is win by a large enough margin that we beat the cheating,” said Gibbs, who has supported Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. “And God willing, I believe we are on track to do that.”

With less than two weeks before the election, Gibbs is hopeful Trump’s endorsement and support from grassroots activists will carry him to victory. Although he has raised significantly less money than Meijer, has lived in the district for less than a year, and has little advertising presence on television, radio and social media, two political observers say Gibbs poses a threat to the congressman.

“I think John Gibbs has gained real ground,” said Jase Bolger, former speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and a longtime Republican who lives in Norton Shores. “That is because the primary voter is very attune to elections, primary elections in particular, to the candidates, and to the stances that their elected officials take.”

Meijer, who cast his vote to impeach Trump just 10 days after being sworn into office, has defended his decision to hold the former president accountable for his role in inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection.

He has acknowledged the vote was “probably an act of political suicide,” but says his duty is to uphold the Constitution and that he voted accordingly.

Gibbs, 43, grew up outside Lansing, and has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Stanford University and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University. He has worked as an engineer in Silicon Valley, a Christian missionary in Japan, a political commentator, and served in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Trump administration.

He was appointed in 2020 by Trump to serve as director of the Office of Personnel Management, but the Senate did not confirm him, according to reporting by The Detroit News.

He was scrutinized because of inflammatory tweets, reported by CNN, that called Democrats the party of “Islam” and “gender-bending.” He also tweeted a false conspiracy theory claiming that “Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign chairman took part in a satanic ritual,” CNN reported.

During the candidate forum, which was hosted by the group Ottawa County Patriots and featured lengthy presentations questioning the efficacy of vaccines and the 2020 election results, Gibbs took aim at Meijer for more than his impeachment vote.

He called out the congressman, who did not receive an invitation to attend the forum, for supporting a $40 billion humanitarian and military package for Ukraine. He also criticized Meijer for voting for a bipartisan gun safety package following the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 students and two teachers.

But it was Meijer’s impeachment vote that seemed to upset attendees the most.

“He does not support Donald Trump, and so that’s my main issue,” said Cal Peters, 68, of Grandville.

Meijer has been endorsed by the DeVos family, the Grand Rapids Chamber, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, and has received financial support from U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, and various Grand Rapids business leaders.

August 02, 2022 9:30 AM  
Anonymous I wonder if TTFers agree with any part of the Constitution.... said...


In the United States there have been just two great political realignments, both of them occasioned by immense and catastrophic events that reached into every corner of the republic and fundamentally changed how people thought about politics and the very character of the Great American Democracy.

The first was the Civil War (1861-1865) the result of which was the overthrow of the Democratic Party ascendency begun by Thomas Jefferson in 1800 that had endured for 60 years but eventually would be undone by its persistent toleration of slavery. The further result was the 70-year ascendency of the Republican Party begun by Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

The second great catastrophe leading to political realignment was the Great Depression, beginning in 1929, which inflicted more material misery on the American people than anything in our history — and even more ominously, seriously called into question the institution of capitalism that heretofore had been seen as the indispensable element in American growth and prosperity. As a result of this shattering event, millions of Americans who were adherents of the Republican Party ever since the Civil War changed their allegiance to the Democratic Party and its New Deal, led by Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. Most would generally maintain that allegiance for nearly 90 years.

It is evident that there is a great deal of party-switching going on today, mainly benefitting Republicans since the most striking group switching their allegiance are Hispanics and, to a much lesser but significant extent, African Americans who have been historically the most reliable part of the long-ruling Democratic coalition. Many Democrats comfort themselves by viewing these shifts as temporary and thinking of them in the context of the well-known pattern of voters less bonded to their usual party affiliation, who routinely punish the party of the White House incumbent whose policies they find disappointing.

This midterm retribution, however, in no way precluded these critical swing voting blocs — e.g., independents, suburban women — from bouncing back to their usual party affiliation in the presidential election two years later, as both Presidents Clinton and Obama, hugely punished in their first midterms but subsequently re-elected, can testify. In the eyes of these Democrats, thus reassured by history, all that is needed for their party to rebound is a fresh new face as their presidential standard-bearer in 2024.

I would suggest that this viewpoint profoundly misreads what is happening in our country today, and that a series of unprecedented events, ideological obsessions, mistaken policies, and economic and cultural impacts is irreversibly changing how longtime, devoted Democrats — notably from within minority communities but also from an alienated working-class generally — view today’s political parties.

This present trend in party-switching is not just about this one election; it represents a more permanent, new affiliation because the Democratic Party for which their parents and grandparents signed up long ago has ceased to exist, replaced by an affluent elite that openly mocks their values and wages war against their economic well-being. The best historical template for today’s switchers is African Americans during the Depression, who decisively and permanently switched from the party of Lincoln to the party of Roosevelt simply because Democrats spoke directly to their needs and beliefs and Republicans, who long took them for granted, did not.

Similarly, those voters now abandoning the Democratic Party won’t be coming home any time soon.

August 02, 2022 12:50 PM  
Anonymous Inflation: Climate is ‘the No. 1 reason why food prices go up,’ CEO says said...

Extreme weather events, from droughts to floods, have inflated global food prices beyond the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war — and climate change will only continue to stress crop yields.

"The climate is the No. 1 reason why food prices go up," Sal Gilbertie, president and CEO of Teucrium Funds (CORN), told Yahoo Finance Live (video above). "It happens all the time. If you look at the last six or seven times that global grains have risen, all but one — and that would be the Ukraine war — are caused by weather, and it's usually a drought. It's usually not enough rain. That's associated with heat. And we've seen that around the world."

World food prices in June were 23% higher than the previous year, according to a UN agency report, though they did see a decline that month as farmers in the northern hemisphere brought in new harvests.

The recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, higher fertilizer costs, and higher energy prices stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine have all been contributing factors in 2022. At the same time, worsening climate events could be the final straw that leads to higher prices for some and famine for others.

"We face an unprecedented global hunger crisis," UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in late June. "This year’s food access issues could become next year’s global food shortage. No country will be immune to the social and economic repercussions of such a catastrophe."

Intense heat waves and droughts linked to climate change have spanned continents in recent months, challenging the global supply of raw ingredients.

"We saw a tremendous heat wave in India, which is often the world's top producer of wheat," Gilbertie said. "No one knows that because they use it all themselves."

In Europe, the record-breaking heat waves missed the winter wheat crop but will affect summer crops, he added. At the same time, he said, "the Western corn belt and the extreme American West are facing droughts that are just unbelievable and intensifying."

Crop production in South America has also been disrupted by the ongoing La Niña weather pattern, a complex phenomenon in Pacific Ocean sea temperatures that tends to lead to more rainfall in Eastern Asia, floods in Australia, and drier conditions in parts of South America.

"We saw soybean production fall dramatically in Brazil," Gilbertie said. "We're seeing estimates out of Argentina [Tuesday] morning that their corn and wheat crops are a little bit smaller than anticipated. That's keeping support on prices."

And in Asia, rice production and fisheries may be threatened by extreme heat, the South China Morning Post reported.

According to Gilbertie, weather variability is increasing and storms are becoming more intense.

"Our weather people, the long-term people who've been quite uncannily accurate, they actually are forecasting that next year or two should be the better years of the next 10," Gilbertie said. "And so... the next decade will probably be dependent on weather. Crop production is always dependent on weather, and you've got to keep an eye on that."

August 02, 2022 1:11 PM  
Anonymous Hey, It's MTG - several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law said...

""In this country we have rights to protest and counter-protest."

yes, you do

but interfering with the rights of others tp present their views and petition is not a right you have"

We have the right to free speech, and we exercised it. None of your rights were ever violated although you keep whining that it was. There was never any violence or threats of violence, much less a "normal tourist day" like Republicans like to euphemize Jan 6th.

There were rules some businesses put into place about when and if petitioners could collect signatures on their parking lots, Dana happened to know which ones allowed you and which ones didn't, and reminded those that didn't what their policy was. If you had just followed the rules in the first place, you wouldn't have been kicked off of those lots. Go figure.

Once some of the people had heard the facts about 23-07 and your fear-mongering was exposed, some people decided not to sign the petition. Other people still did. People who didn't sign were profusely thanked. Those that did sign walked back to wherever they came from with no consequences.

August 02, 2022 1:14 PM  
Anonymous why do you "Democrats" hate democracy?... said...


"We have the right to free speech, and we exercised it. None of your rights were ever violated although you keep whining that it was. There was never any violence or threats of violence, much less a "normal tourist day" like Republicans like to euphemize Jan 6th.

There were rules some businesses put into place about when and if petitioners could collect signatures on their parking lots, Dana happened to know which ones allowed you and which ones didn't, and reminded those that didn't what their policy was. If you had just followed the rules in the first place, you wouldn't have been kicked off of those lots. Go figure.

Once some of the people had heard the facts about 23-07 and your fear-mongering was exposed, some people decided not to sign the petition. Other people still did. People who didn't sign were profusely thanked. Those that did sign walked back to wherever they came from with no consequences."

what we were discussing is whether or not you opposed a vote

you claimed you didn't but the facts say otherwise

trying to interfere with petitioners collecting signatures is highly unusual and inflammatory

if a vote had been taken, you could have revealed how wrong the other side was, since you act like it's a given how wrong they were

that's the normal democratic process for settling disagreements

but you were opposed to that process

and you were opposed to the vote

August 02, 2022 1:55 PM  
Anonymous Haters keep trying to sell their hate, MoCo ain't buying said...

"if a vote had been taken, you could have revealed how wrong the other side was, since you act like it's a given how wrong they were"

In Montgomery County we hold. elections for local elective office every four years.

You haven't told us yet, "When was the last time any GOPer or GOPer idea won any election in Montgomery County Maryland?"

And we all know why you don't want to answer that question.

The fact is most citizens of MoCoMD abhor the idea of discrimination against minorities of any sort. We see all people as having equal rights regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, etc.

GOPers think protesters carrying torches chanting while JEWS WILL NOT REPLACE US, and/or ransacking the capitol and its police force is done by "good people."

No, it's done by haters like you.

Sad!

August 02, 2022 3:14 PM  
Anonymous the gay agenda is totalitarian said...


"In Montgomery County we hold. elections for local elective office every four years."

OK, why is that relevant to what we're discussing?

"You haven't told us yet, "When was the last time any GOPer or GOPer idea won any election in Montgomery County Maryland?"

And we all know why you don't want to answer that question."

I assumed it's a rhetorical question. For the most part, Republicans don't even bother to campaign at county community events like parades and fairs

if one-party rule is something you think is wonderful, try vacationing in North Korea

like you, they don't like free and open discussion

"The fact is most citizens of MoCoMD abhor the idea of discrimination against minorities of any sort. We see all people as having equal rights regardless of race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, etc."

actually, most citizens of MoCoMD are hypocrites

they work to keep their kids segregated in public schools

let me know if you'd like an example

they are the liberal elites most of the rest of the country is rejecting

"GOPers think protesters carrying torches chanting while JEWS WILL NOT REPLACE US, and/or ransacking the capitol and its police force is done by "good people.""

that's actually a lie

if you're serious, let me know if you need details

August 02, 2022 3:51 PM  
Anonymous History lesson time: Putting 23-07 on the ballot would not have changed its outcome said...

It *might* have done as well as popular Larry Hogan did here against Ben Jealous in 2018.

Hogan/Rutherford -- 45,210
Jealous/Turnbull -- 67,582

See for yourself: https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2018/results/general/gen_results_2018_2_by_county_16-1.html

23-07 is the type of bill we support here, as evidenced by the recent primary reelection run win for Evan Glass, who helped expand 23-07's protections so we now have a LGBTQ Bill of Rights:

Montgomery County Council Passes LGBTQ Bill Of Rights Spearheaded by Councilmember Evan Glass

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 6, 2020

ROCKVILLE, MD—Today, the Council unanimously enacted the LGBTQ Bill of Rights, led by At-Large Councilmember Evan Glass. This law will strengthen Montgomery County’s legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer residents by expanding Montgomery County’s anti-discrimination code to include gender expression and HIV status. The LGBTQ Bill of Rights explicitly bans LGBTQ+ discrimination in healthcare facilities, nursing homes and personal care facilities...


And that came 13 years after we already passed 23-07 into law.

Montgomery County Maryland prohibits transgender discrimination

November 30, 2007

Montgomery County has added gender identity to the list of prohibited bases of discrimination. The law, which takes effect February 20, 2008, makes it unlawful to discriminate against transgender individuals in Montgomery County, Maryland, in employment and other economic relationships and services

The Law

Bill 23-07, which supporters argued is needed to combat the discrimination suffered by transgender individuals, was passed by a unanimous Montgomery County Council on November 13, 2007, and signed into law by County Executive Isiah Leggett on November 21. The ordinance will prohibit gender identity discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, public accommodations, cable television service, and taxicab service. It defines gender identity as “an individual’s actual or perceived gender, including a person’s gender-related appearance, expression, image, identity, or behavior, whether or not those gender-related characteristics differ from the characteristics customarily associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”

The ordinance includes a provision which requires employers to allow transgender people to appear, dress, and groom in accordance with their gender identity. However, employers are permitted to enforce reasonable and non-discriminatory workplace standards regarding appearance, grooming, and dress.

Opponents of Bill 23-07 fear that its language regarding public accommodations will be used to allow indecent exposure or voyeurism in restrooms and locker rooms. However, the bill excepts from its coverage accommodations which are distinctly private or personal. The Health and Human Services Committee and the County Attorney’s Office reported to the Council that they considered this to mean that an operator of a bathroom or locker room may continue to designate who is eligible to use such facilities, whether such a designation is made by gender identity or by birth sex."...

August 02, 2022 4:41 PM  
Anonymous More history said...

MONTGOMERY COUNTY ETHICS COMMISSION DISMISSES COMPLAINT AGAINST DANA BEYER

"...On October 7, 2008, the Commission received a sworn complaint (with attached affidavits) from Dr. Ruth Jacobs, President of Maryland Citizens for a Responsible Government (MCRG), alleging the following facts: On November 13, 2007, the County Council enacted Bill 23-07. That bill prohibited discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations cable television service, and taxicab service on the basis of “gender identity.” Then-Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg was a lead proponent of the bill. At the time, Dr. Beyer, herself transgendered, worked as an aide for Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg.

Opponents of the bill formed MCRG in order to petition the Bill to referendum. The petition process required MCRG to gather signatures from at least 5% of County registered voters-half those signature were due within 75 days of the bill’s enactment (February 4, 2008) and the remaining half was due within 90 days of the Bill’s enactment (February 19, 2008). Montgomery County Charter § 115. Absent a successful petition drive, the Bill would become effective on February 20, 2008.2

MCRG received permission from Giant Food to solicit signatures for the petition outside some of their stores. The Complaint alleged that Dr. Beyer and other Bill proponents interfered with MCRG’s signature-gathering activities at various Giant Food stores by, among other things, yelling and screaming at MCRG volunteers and potential petition signers that they were “bigots;” that by signing the petition they were “for discrimination;” and that the names of those who signed the petition would be “all over the internet.” In one particular incident, at the Arliss/Piney Branch Giant on February 17, 2008, Dr. Beyer allegedly told the Giant manager that she worked for Councilmember Trachtenberg and that the manager would “have problems with the County Council” if he allowed MCRG to stay and gather signatures. The Complaint also alleged that Dr. Beyer intimidated signature gatherers and/or MCRG volunteers by purposefully bumping into them and physically getting between MCRG volunteers and potential petition signers.

The Complaint alleged further that Dr. Beyer used the prestige of her office for personal gain in violation of § 19A-14(a) because, as a transgendered woman, she stood to personally gain from Bill 23-10. MCRG maintained that Dr. Beyer also violated § 19A-14(c) when she used her County position and facilities (e.g., her office computer) in her campaign to thwart MCRG’s petition drive and uphold Bill 23-10. Finally, the Complaint alleged that Dr. Beyer’s conduct at the Giant Food stores violated § 19A-14(e)’s proscription against intimidating, threatening, coercing or discriminating against any person for the purpose of interfering with that person’s freedom to engage in political activity.

The report spells out some horrid behavior by the people who testified against her, such as Verlon Mason. He was an assistant manager at the Arliss/Piney Branch Giant Food store where the alleged unethical behavior took place, and he referred to Dana Beyer as a “shim.” For those who don’t know, “shim” is a pejorative on the same order as “she-male,” which would be equivalent in offence to the anti-African-American n-word pejorative, the anti-female c-word pejorative, or the antigay f-word pejorative.

The complaint was resolved in Dana Beyer’s favor — the behavior that Dr. Ruth Jacobs, President of Maryland Citizens for a Responsible Government alleged was…Well, from the repot’s conclusion:

[I]t was not proved that Dr. Beyer violated § 19A-14(e) by intimidating, threatening, coercing or discriminating against any person’s freedom to engage in political activity as a function of being on the job, self-identifying as a public employee, or entailing the prestige of office...."

August 02, 2022 5:10 PM  
Anonymous Hey, It's MTG - several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law said...

"you claimed you didn't but the facts say otherwise"

The fact is that I never interfered with anyone in their attempts to do any single vote. That's a simple fact. It wasn't even a time when votes were being taken.

"trying to interfere with petitioners collecting signatures is highly unusual and inflammatory"

I never interfered with anyone getting signatures either. A few people still signed the petition even after they heard the facts or saw the printout of the bill that I brought with me. Folks heard your propaganda as well. If they still wanted to sign your petition based on the inflammatory accusations you were making about innocent people, that was their prerogative and I did absolutely NOTHING to stop that.

Showing people the actual text of 23-07 and explaining it isn't interfering with voting - it was interfering with your belligerent anti-trans propaganda campaign.

You may THINK you have some hidden constitutional right to smear innocent LGBT people all over the county without anyone confronting you, but that is simply not the case. People are entitled to defend themselves against scurrilous accusations.

"if a vote had been taken, you could have revealed how wrong the other side was, since you act like it's a given how wrong they were"

If a vote had been taken, it would have been a measure of how successful you were at demonizing innocent people by stoking up fear and anger by misrepresenting the law, not a carefully considered examination of the available facts.


"but you were opposed to that process
and you were opposed to the vote"

People opposed to voting shut down voting locations, remove voting days, make it illegal to drive other voters to the poles, and criminalize providing water to voters who have been standing in line for hours because their polling stations were shut down - you know, what Republicans have been doing all over the county since Biden won the last election and they couldn't convince enough people to commit crimes to get Rumpie back in office.

Maybe if conservatives weren't so much closet fascists, they'd be able to recognize that.

August 02, 2022 6:37 PM  
Anonymous keep on pushing masks, Joe. it's just a brilliant idea. LOL!! said...


"History lesson time: Putting 23-07 on the ballot would not have changed its outcome"

you may well be right but I don't think you thought so at the time

you were afraid what might happen if there was an open and fair discussion

why else would you oppose a vote?

if you thought 23-07 would triumph so magnificently at the polls, it would have been a perfect chance to put those family advocates in their place

"23-07 is the type of bill we support here, as evidenced by the recent primary reelection run win for Evan Glass, who helped expand 23-07's protections so we now have a LGBTQ Bill of Rights"

why then did you oppose a chance to have it validated by the voters?

why did you oppose the vote?

clearly, you oppose democracy

"It was not proved that Dr. Beyer violated § 19A-14(e) by intimidating, threatening, coercing or discriminating against any person’s freedom to engage in political activity as a function of being on the job, self-identifying as a public employee, or entailing the prestige of office...."

this is exactly how I related this finding

please note that they didn't find that Dana did not intimidate, threaten, coerce or discriminate against any person’s freedom to engage in political activity

only that Dana did not use the office of Dana's boss to do so

we weren't discussing legality but whether you and Dana and the rest of the TTF miscreants opposed the vote

"Hey, It's MTG"

hey

I'm sure I should know but who is this MTG you keep referring to?

"several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law"

I'm sure you're only joking but you do know how to spell "martial law," right?

"The fact is that I never interfered with anyone in their attempts to do any single vote. That's a simple fact. It wasn't even a time when votes were being taken."

you opposed a vote being taken

you opposed democracy

because it scares you

"I never interfered with anyone getting signatures either. A few people still signed the petition even after they heard the facts or saw the printout of the bill that I brought with me. Folks heard your propaganda as well. If they still wanted to sign your petition based on the inflammatory accusations you were making about innocent people, that was their prerogative and I did absolutely NOTHING to stop that."

is this Dana?

"If a vote had been taken, it would have been a measure of how successful you were at demonizing innocent people by stoking up fear and anger by misrepresenting the law, not a carefully considered examination of the available facts."

you could say that about any vote

you were free to promote a carefully considered examination of the available facts

"People opposed to voting shut down voting locations, remove voting days, make it illegal to drive other voters to the poles, and criminalize providing water to voters who have been standing in line for hours because their polling stations were shut down"

none of those things prevent anyone from voting

preventing a petitioner from collecting signatures could

August 02, 2022 9:42 PM  
Anonymous LET'S HEAR IT FOR THE CONSERVATIVE STATE OF KANSAS WHO SENT A DECISIVE MESSAGE TO ALL said...

"why else would you oppose a vote?"

As I already said, it would have been a waste of taxpayer money, and I will add, I pay Montgomery County taxes.

Far from opposing Democracy, I oppose hate for minorities, which you regularly post on this blog and have for years.

August 03, 2022 6:53 AM  
Anonymous Thank you for motivating voters to vote, SCOTUS said...

With 90 percent of the vote counted, 60 percent of voters wanted to maintain those abortion protections compared with 40 percent who wanted to remove them from the state constitution. Turnout for Tuesday’s primary election far exceeded other contests in recent years, with around 900,000 Kansans voting, according to an Associated Press estimate. That is nearly twice as many as the 473,438 who turned out in the 2018 primary election.

Abortion rights advocates pointed to their resounding win here as evidence that Americans are angry about the efforts to roll back women’s rights.

“At a time when reproductive freedom is under unprecedented threat across the country, Kansans said loud and clear at the ballot box: ‘We’ve had enough’,” NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju said in a statement. “In the heartland of the United States, protecting abortion access is galvanizing voters like never before.”

“We did it, we did it, I can’t believe it,” said Cassie Woolworth, 57, an Olathe resident, business analyst and volunteer, moving through a crowded hotel ballroom in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park where abortion rights supporters were gathered to watch the results late Tuesday.

Rachel Sweet, the campaign director for the Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, told the crowd that the vote was “truly an historic day for Kansas and an historic day for America” to cheers.

“Kansans have spoken loud and clear: We will not tolerate extreme bans on abortion in our state,” Sweet said.

August 03, 2022 7:00 AM  
Anonymous DOD ‘wiped’ phones of Trump-era leaders, erasing Jan. 6 texts said...

The Department of Defense (DOD) failed to retain text messages from a number of its top officials relating to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot because it wiped their phones during the transition, a watchdog group that sued for the records disclosed Tuesday.

American Oversight filed a public records request for the communications of former acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller and former Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy in the days after the attack on the Capitol.

But they were informed during litigation that the records were not preserved.

DOD and Army conveyed to Plaintiff that when an employee separates from DOD or Army he or she turns in the government-issued phone, and the phone is wiped. For those custodians no longer with the agency, the text messages were not preserved and therefore could not be searched,” the agencies wrote in a March court filing.

The disclosure follows news that numerous officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also had their messages erased during the transition, including former acting Secretary Chad Wolf and his deputy Ken Cuccinelli. Both had their phones reset following the inauguration, losing any texts from Jan. 6 in the process.

The inspector general at DHS also notified Congress last month that text messages from Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 were “erased” as part of a device replacement program.

The Secret Service contends any text messages that might be missing were lost through a software transition.

The effort to obtain Pentagon texts could have shed light on why the National Guard faced delays in getting approval to go to the Capitol as it was under siege.

The suit sought the military leaders’ communications with former President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows. The request also asked for communications from Kash Patel, Miller’s chief of staff; Paul Ney, the Defense Department general counsel; and James E. McPherson, the Army’s general counsel.

Patel was also subpoenaed by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

American Oversight sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate, noting that each official’s phone appears to have been wiped after their records request was filed.

“DOD has apparently deleted messages from top DOD and Army officials responsive to pending FOIA requests that could have shed light on the actions of top Trump administration officials on the day of the failed insurrection,” Heather Sawyer, the groups executive director, wrote in the letter, referring to the Freedom of Information Act.

“American Oversight accordingly urges you to investigate DOD’s actions in allowing the destruction of records potentially relevant to this significant matter of national attention and historical importance.”

Both DOD and the Justice Department declined to comment.

August 03, 2022 7:59 AM  
Anonymous Hey, It's MTG - several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law said...

"I'm sure I should know but who is this MTG you keep referring to?

"several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law"

I'm sure you're only joking but you do know how to spell "martial law," right?"

That's funny coming from someone who claimed:

"noting [sic] has been uncovered that wasn't well-known in the immediate aftermath of Jan 6"

Let me educate you:

CNN has reportedly secured 2,319 text messages that were sent to and from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows between Election Day 2020 and Joe Biden’s inauguration. Much of this trove consists of frantic messages on January 6, 2021, fruitlessly seeking some intervention by Donald Trump to stop the Capitol riot. A few of these missives came from Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who appeared to agree with the objectives — if not the tactics — of the insurrectionists.

But a far more interesting text message to Meadows from MTG came quite a bit later, on January 17 — 11 days after Biden’s presidential election was finally certified by Congress and just three days before the 46th president’s inauguration. Per CNN:

By January 17, Greene was suggesting ways to keep Trump in office, telling Meadows there were several Republicans in Congress who still wanted the then-President to declare martial law, which had been raised in a heated Oval Office meeting a month earlier.


Greene texted: “In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall [sic] law. I don’t know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!”

Again, Meadows does not appear to respond.

It’s tempting to compare Greene’s reference to “Marshall law” to her notorious comments about Nancy Pelosi’s “gazpacho police” in February. But since this is a text message, perhaps she was a victim of voice transcription or an errant autocorrect rather than some belief that John Marshall, the first chief justice of the U.S., smiled on the presidential deployment of the military in extreme circumstances (you know, like the opposing party taking office after a duly certified election).

But assuming it’s “martial law” she is talking about, it’s rather concerning that some of Greene’s colleagues were talking with her about Trump invoking it to “save our Republic” by stopping Biden from taking office. Greene’s word-salad approach to verbal utterances makes it less clear if she was endorsing a military coup to reverse the election results. But it is perhaps even more alarming to imagine there are members of the U.S. House of Representatives who are even more extreme than the freshman representative of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.

What the text clearly suggests is that January 6 wasn’t the last moment of peril for democracy during Trump’s presidency. Unlike a congressional decision to decertify Biden’s election under the provisions of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, a desperate effort by Trump to call in the troops to stop the transition of power would not have formally required the assent of Republican elected officials. All Trump would have needed were troops willing to follow his orders — and a belief that he could get away with it without alienating his MAGA base. Fortunately, that did not happen. But Greene’s text should be remembered in case Trump or his minions bring us to the brink of a successful insurrection in the future.

August 03, 2022 8:28 AM  
Anonymous fan of the Supreme Court said...


thanks for the "education"

I don't know much about Marjorie Taylor-Greene except she's an obvious moron

of course, TTFers obsess on fringe characters and positions because you have no other argument for their views

Samuel Alito last week gave a surprise speech in Rome. The justice, who authored the majority opinion that overturned Roe, gave an address to a summit on religious liberty hosted by the University of Notre Dame’s law school in the Italian capital. He said that religious freedom still faced serious challenges in Europe and the United States. His understanding of the problem also shows why he thinks it persists.

What are those challenges, you might ask? In Alito’s eyes, the answer is a growing tide of secularism. “The problem that looms is not just indifference to religion, it’s not just ignorance about religion, there’s also growing hostility to religion, or at least the traditional religious beliefs that are contrary to the new moral code that is ascendant in some sectors,” the justice said. “The challenge for those who want to protect religious liberty in the United States, Europe, and other similar places is to convince people who are not religious that religious liberty is worth special protection.”

Alito is far from the only leading conservative to voice similar concerns. A few years ago, for example, Attorney General Bill Barr had denounced “secularists” for trying to suppress the rights of Christians (and Catholics in particular) to “live according to their faith.” Alito’s speeches shared a conclusion with Barr: Religious Americans—and especially Christians—are being persecuted in this country, and secular and non-Christian Americans are their persecutors.

That persecution, Alito, Barr, and others have argued, is unmooring the U.S. from its cultural roots. Alito is right that fewer Americans participate in organized religion today than their parents or grandparents did. “Polls show a significant increase in the percentage of the population that rejects religion, or thinks it’s just not all that important,” he claimed. “And this has a very important impact on religious liberty because it is hard to convince people that religious liberty is worth defending if they don’t think that religion is a good thing that deserves protection.”

August 03, 2022 10:15 AM  
Anonymous How many 10 year old rape victims does Alito want to force to give birth? said...

"“The challenge for those who want to protect religious liberty in the United States, Europe, and other similar places is to convince people who are not religious that religious liberty is worth special protection.”"

Alito should dry reading the First Amendment to the Constitution some time.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances."

Religion is protected, but he should note "Christianity" is not mentioned.

August 03, 2022 10:53 AM  
Anonymous Different religions have different views, which our Constitution allows said...

(Reuters) -Clergy members of five religions sued the state of Florida on Monday over a new law criminalizing most abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy, saying the ban violates their religious freedom rights.

The five separate lawsuits https://tmsnrt.rs/3BBEdIr, filed in Miami-Dade County, claim the state's ban curtails the clergy members' ability to counsel congregants about abortion in accordance with their faiths, since Florida law prohibits counseling or encouraging a crime.

The plaintiffs are three rabbis, a United Church of Christ reverend, a Unitarian Universalist minister, an Episcopal Church priest and a Buddhist lama. They asked the court to declare that the state's abortion law violates Florida and U.S. constitutional protections for freedom of speech and religion.

They also claim the abortion ban violates a Florida religious freedom law that prohibits the government from “substantially burdening” the exercise of religion, unless there is a compelling state interest that cannot be met with fewer restrictions.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said in a statement that her office will continue to defend the statute. Marci Hamilton, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania representing the plaintiffs, said the cases are "absolutely essential" to address the tension between abortion restrictions and religious freedom.

A Florida synagogue has also filed a lawsuit challenging the abortion law. That case is pending in a different state court.

The Florida law, which bans abortions after 15 weeks with few exceptions, went into effect on July 1. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the law in April, before the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling overturning the constitutional right to abortion nationwide.

An appeal is now pending over a judge's ruling last month that the state ban violates the Florida constitution’s privacy rights guarantees. The state’s high court previously said those guarantees protect the right to abortion.

August 03, 2022 12:00 PM  
Anonymous Hey, It's MTG - several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law said...

"thanks for the "education"

You're welcome.


"I don't know much about Marjorie Taylor-Greene except she's an obvious moron"

She's not the only Republican moron in Congress; that's the kind of "leader" their base approves of. Word salad isn't a disqualifier for them, it's on the a la carte menu.


"of course, TTFers obsess on fringe characters and positions because you have no other argument for their views"

No, we bring them up because they are dangerous. Several years ago when a woman was run over by right-wing nationalist, you minimized their significance by relegating them to the "fringe" and minimizing their size and influence in the Republican party.

Yet, in 2021 we saw some of these same right-wing nationalists conspiring with Roger Stone and were the first ones to break into congress. If I remember correctly, some of them were even charged with "seditious conspiracy."

Your attempts to dismiss them through the "no true Scotsman" fallacy is undermined by how much the Republican party (and Trump acolytes in particular) appeal to them and keep them around to do their dirty work.

August 03, 2022 1:05 PM  
Anonymous when will TTF thank Trump for the vaccine? said...


"How many 10 year old rape victims does Alito want to force to give birth?"

Alito simply ruled that that question is a matter for legislatures to decide. He says the Constitution doesn't mention it. He's right, of course

"Alito should dry reading the First Amendment to the Constitution some time.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances."

Religion is protected, but he should note "Christianity" is not mentioned."

well, the Alito speech cited spoke about protecting "religious liberty"

that being said, "Christianity" is a religion and its adherents are protected by the Constitution

Alito has a law degree, has studied the establishment clause, heard cases with arguments on every view of the establishment clause for decades, and understands the Constitution perfectly well

what do you mistakenly think he has wrong about it?

"Different religions have different views, which our Constitution allows"

yes, it does

"Clergy members of five religions sued the state of Florida on Monday over a new law criminalizing most abortions in the state after 15 weeks of pregnancy, saying the ban violates their religious freedom rights.

The five separate lawsuits https://tmsnrt.rs/3BBEdIr, filed in Miami-Dade County, claim the state's ban curtails the clergy members' ability to counsel congregants about abortion in accordance with their faiths, since Florida law prohibits counseling or encouraging a crime."

by their way of thinking, it would be a constitutional right to counsel Islamic terrorists to bomb buildings as part of a jihad

abortion is the taking of human life

the state is charged with protecting human life

"They also claim the abortion ban violates a Florida religious freedom law that prohibits the government from “substantially burdening” the exercise of religion, unless there is a compelling state interest that cannot be met with fewer restrictions."

see above

"You're welcome."

I guess a guy like you thinks being well-informed about a fringe representative's views constitutes real education

"She's not the only Republican moron in Congress;"

actually, their are more Dem morons than GOP ones

"Word salad isn't a disqualifier for them, it's on the a la carte menu."

TTFers have never seen a word they won't redefine if doing so will further the gay agenda

"No, we bring them up because they are dangerous. Several years ago when a woman was run over by right-wing nationalist, you minimized their significance by relegating them to the "fringe" and minimizing their size and influence in the Republican party."

there are several instances of lunatic fringe liberals engaging in violence

August 04, 2022 5:36 AM  
Anonymous How many 10 year old rape victims does Alito want to force to give birth? said...

"the state is charged with protecting human life"

So do tell, how does forcing a 10 year old rape victim to deliver her rapist's spawn protect that 10 year olds girl's life?

This ought to be interesting.

August 04, 2022 8:12 AM  
Anonymous TTFers are so educated they have even read all of MTG's statements....LOL!..... said...


"So do tell, how does forcing a 10 year old rape victim to deliver her rapist's spawn protect that 10 year olds girl's life?"

I'm not sure about what the medical ramifications are, although, without medical expertise, I assume it's not good for a girl that young.

Very few people are arguing that the law shouldn't allow abortion in such a case. You are trying to argue from the extremes to advance the legalization of unborn child killing without limit. It's a common tactic among amoral liberal fringe scum.

Polls show most Americans favor legalized abortion up to 15 weeks, regardless of surrounding circumstance, which means, whether they realize it or not, most Americans favored overturning Roe. 15 weeks, btw, is also the average age for legalized abortion worldwide. It's also the threshold of the Mississippi law that the Supreme Court upheld whe overturning Roe.

In any case, Alito and the Supreme Court didn't rule on whether abortion should be legal, or in what situations. They only ruled that it isn't a constitutional right.

Which even most liberal legal scholars will concede.

Interesting enough for you?

LOL!

August 04, 2022 9:32 AM  
Anonymous c'mon, man, for millennia, the world has recognized that any valid marriage needs to include both genders.......... said...

Remember how Dems said the spread of COVID was all Trump's fault?

Slidin' Biden, in his fifth day of his second round of COVID, has made all the same mistakes with monkey pox.

The story of monkeypox feels to experts frustratingly like a replay of the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Testing took too long to get launched. Data hasn't revealed the full extent of the outbreak. The spread wasn't stopped quickly enough.

Monkeypox was supposed to be different, because it is much harder to transmit, treatments and vaccines were already available, much was known about a virus first described in 1958 and so many lessons were supposedly learned from COVID-19.

Yet the United States now has the world's biggest outbreak of monkeypox with more than 6,600 Americans diagnosed since mid-May. Rarely seen outside of Africa before the spring, the virus, a less deadly cousin of smallpox, has now triggered a 26,000-person global emergency, reaching 83 countries, 76 of which had not historically seen the disease.

And that's just the known cases. No one knows the full extent of America's outbreak.

August 04, 2022 10:00 AM  
Anonymous The more voters are reminded that Republicans would literally let women get sick and die, rather than let doctors hasten the end of an already failed pregnancy, the better.  said...

"You are....trying to argue from the extremes to advance the legalization of unborn child killing without limit."

And when did I argue for abortion "without limit?"

Keep YOUR lying words out of MY truth telling mouth.

Your lying words are as useless as the conspiracy theories you GOPers spout continuously

No 10 year old should ever be raped and certainly not forced to deliver her rapist's spawn.

NO one should have to "assume it's not good for a girl that young."

That is a fact full term pregnancy and delivery is bad for girls that young.

Ten year old rape victims should be given "therapeutic abortions" so they can try to finish being a kid.

August 04, 2022 11:07 AM  
Anonymous MAGA: Mothers Against Greg Abbott said...

It’s been almost exactly one year since Texas mom Nancy Thompson launched the MAGA State PAC, also known as Mothers Against Greg Abbott. Since then, the group has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in addition to supporting pro-public school board candidates and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Beto O’Rourke, MAGA State PAC has every intention on kicking Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to the curb in November.

Thompson tells Daily Kos that Abbott “is not a governor who is out there making friends. Every single day, he's at war with a different group of Texans. And every time he opens up his mouth, our group gains more followers. He's even at war with his own political party.”

MAGA comprises regular Texas folks—moms and dads, Democrats and Republicans—who essentially agree on one thing: getting Abbott and the Texas GOP out of office.

The group has had huge success due to their clever, politically incendiary ads about everything from book bans, attacks on LGBTQ folks, especially transgender youth, education, gun control, and personal health care choices.

MAGA’s most recent ad, entitled “Whose Choice,” takes a direct hit at Abbott and the state’s archaic abortion policies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faTNMTVsgAA

But Thompson says what really bothers her about the governor is that he’s “a bully.”

“[Abbott] talks that Texas Southern nice and sweet and stuff, but he really is just such a bully. I mean, why are you picking on LGBTQ kids? Leave them alone. … These are kids that come from some of the best families. And I say that they’re some of the best families because the families that help kids get their gender-affirming health care are families that accept the kids the way they are—and we know that it's not happening in every family who has a transgender child.”

Thompson says Abbott is simply on “the wrong side of history,” and “he is actively seeking to hurt Texans. He’s the villain in this story.”

MAGA’s next ad will be one that endorses O’Rourke for governor, an admitted long shot in a state that has not had a Democrat governor since Ann W. Richards, who served from 1991 to 1995.

But, Thompson says, when it comes to whether or not O’Rourke can beat Abbott, it’s all about messaging.

“All of the complaints that regular, everyday Texans have—the grid, for example—the Republicans are responsible for.”

She cites the Texas power grid; Abbott’s most recent stunt to bus asylum-seekers to Washington, D.C.; his pathetic COVID-19 response; and a Texan’s right to safe and legal abortion.

“We owe all of that to Abbott. The attacks on women's reproductive rights—it's also an issue with Greg Abbott. He created that. And what does he think? Republican women don't like reproductive rights? They don't like their freedom?

“I'm sorry, but I know so many Republican women who've had abortions. And to have laws in which the rapist has more rights than your daughter's body is a problem,” Thompson says.

August 04, 2022 12:26 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality can't produce life, why would we call that a marriage? said...


"The more voters are reminded that Republicans would literally let women get sick and die, rather than let doctors hasten the end of an already failed pregnancy, the better."

shocking that you would sat the more lying, the better

most Republicans believe abortion should be permissible if the pregnant woman's life is threatened

"And when did I argue for abortion "without limit?""

sorry, with all your apologetics for Dems, I assumed you shared their views

go ahead and tell us: what limits do you think should apply to abortion and why do you think there should be limits?

"No 10 year old should ever be raped"

what a bold and brave statement

can you give us an example of someone saying 10 year olds should be raped?

"That is a fact full term pregnancy and delivery is bad for girls that young."

right...you would have trouble finding anyone who doesn't think that

what imaginary straw men do you think you're fighting with?

August 04, 2022 12:37 PM  
Anonymous Like the vast majority of my fellow Americans said...

I think the decision to abort or go full term is between the woman, the father (as long as he didn't rape her), her doctor and anyone else she wants to consult about her condition.

Elected officials and judges should not be involved in any way.

August 04, 2022 1:03 PM  
Anonymous If Alito is curious why a growing number of Americans are skeptical of religious freedom claims, he might consider whether telling those same Americans over and over that religious freedom means treating others like second-class citizens has contributed to the problem. said...

Texas man who identified himself as a preacher, armed with a semiautomatic assault rifle and pistol, confronted gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke during a Saturday campaign event and demanded that the Democrat answer whether he "believed in a woman's right to choose," claiming that there are "great" men who are the "product of rape."

The man, a self-proclaimed "minister of the gospel," approached O'Rourke in the middle of a town hall in Hemphill, where the preacher berated the candidate with a barrage of questions about abortion and religion.

"How do we deal with the murder of the unborn for anything other than to save a woman's life?" the man asked, adding that there are "great men of god who are the product of rape."

O'Rourke responded by thanking the man for making the inquiry "in good faith" and argued that they weren't "going to change each other's minds on some of these very basic definitions."

"This decision is best made by the woman, who understands better than anyone else the nature of her pregnancy, the complications it might endure, any other issue that is unique and personal and private as her," O'Rourke said, noting that "more rapes committed in this state than any other state of the union."

At one point, the armed preacher also asked O'Rourke if he's been "born again" and whether he accepts Jesus as his "lord and savior."

After the incident, Sharon Watts, founder of gun reform group Moms Demand Action, posted a video of the confrontation, and tweeted that a "'preacher' armed with a semiautomatic rifle showed up at Beto O'Rourke's town hall in Hemphill, Texas, to challenge O'Rourke's position on … abortion, calling it murder."

"While armed to the teeth, he gets laughs for saying he's not there to talk about guns, but abortion," she added. "This is the radical right wing's ideology: use guns to intimidate and control conversations and curtail women's rights."

The exchange comes just a month after an 18-year-old shooter armed with a semi-automatic assault rifle stormed the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, where he gunned down nineteen children and two teachers.

RELATED: Greg Abbott's lead over Beto O'Rourke shrinks in new poll as unfavorability rating hits record high

August 04, 2022 2:04 PM  
Anonymous 'We Are Not Doing Fear': Ron DeSantis Blasts States Declaring Monkeypox Emergencies said...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday criticized lawmakers in other states for treating monkeypox as an emergency, saying his state will not bow to fear in response to the outbreak.

DeSantis, who gained notoriety for aggressively resisting COVID public safety measures, including mask and vaccine mandates, accused officials of using monkeypox to scare people.

“I’m so sick of politicians — and we saw this with COVID — trying to sow fear into the population,” DeSantis, said at a news conference.

He continued: “We are not doing fear.”

DeSantis is seen as a potential 2024 GOP presidential hopeful who could challenge former President Donald Trump. He’s up for reelection as governor in November. Though he has bragged about his no-rules pandemic policies, Florida’s COVID infection and death rates far exceeded the national average, according to FactCheck.org.

“You see some of these states declaring states of emergency, they’re gonna abuse those powers to restrict your freedom,” DeSantis warned about monkeypox orders. “I guarantee to you that’s what will happen.”

California and Illinois on Monday became the latest states to declare monkeypox a public health emergency, joining the state of New York. The orders typically free up funding and other resources for local health authorities.

Florida has recorded 525 cases of monkeypox, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday, the fifth-highest number in the U.S. That’s up from roughly 350 infections late last week, according to Politico.

Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), one of the candidates vying to unseat DeSantis in November, called for a stronger response to the virus.

“While Governor DeSantis dismisses monkeypox, at-risk Floridians still need better information, better testing, and access to vaccines for prevention. Get it done!” Crist wrote on Twitter.

The White House has yet to declare a monkeypox emergency. Earlier this week, President Joe Biden appointed Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Robert Fenton as the White House monkeypox response coordinator and Dr. Demetre Daskalakis as Fenton’s deputy. Their responsibilities include working with local and state officials to “equitably” increase the availability of testing, treatment and vaccination.

Still, a new New York Times report on Wednesday revealed the U.S. was late in ordering vaccines from the Danish manufacturer at the start of the outbreak. As a result, millions of vaccine doses will not be delivered until 2023.

Last month, the World Health Organization said the outbreak classifies as an “extraordinary” event and declared it a global emergency.

August 04, 2022 2:43 PM  
Anonymous TTFers are so educated, they ead every word from MTG... said...


"And when did I argue for abortion "without limit?"

Keep YOUR lying words out of MY truth telling mouth."

here you confirm that you believe in abortion without any limit:

"I think the decision to abort or go full term is between the woman, the father (as long as he didn't rape her), her doctor and anyone else she wants to consult about her condition.

Elected officials and judges should not be involved in any way."

we all have different views on government's role

but we should all agree, at a minimum, that it should protect the weak from being killed by the strong

"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday criticized lawmakers in other states for treating monkeypox as an emergency, saying his state will not bow to fear in response to the outbreak."

unless you engage in random promiscuity, having sex with multiple people you don't know well, like most homosexuals do, you are at little risk

indeed, both the WHO and the CDC, have urged homosexuals to temporarily limit the number of other homosexuals they have sex with

and, to think, TTF has long said it was hateful bigotry to assert that random promiscuity is common among homosexuals

now, the Biden administration has confirmed this FACT

ideas based on FACTS are, by definition, not bigotry

"DeSantis, who gained notoriety for aggressively resisting COVID public safety measures"

he's only notorious among the lunatic fringe and mainstream media

Florida's health outcome during the pandemic was average, despite a large elderly population

and their economy has greatly exceeded the average


August 05, 2022 5:22 AM  
Anonymous and with 200, that's a wrap - everyone join in solidarity with Congress and leave town... said...

There’s no hidin’ slidin’ Joe Biden ahead of 2024
By Miranda Devine

In their Manhattan congressional debate Tuesday night, veteran Democrats Carolyn Maloney and Jerry Nadler both refused to support Joe Biden for a second term in 2024.

“I don’t believe he’s running for re-election,” said Maloney.

“It’s too early to say,” said Nadler.

There was shock on a few faces, but it’s true.

No one honestly believes that a shuffling, mumbling geriatric whose opinion polls are in the toilet, who would be 86 at the end of any second term, and whose cognitive decline already was on full display in Iowa in February 2020, is seriously going to be permitted to run again.

Biden 2024 is a charade, designed to avoid premature lame-duck status and allow time for replacements to jockey behind the scenes.

The real question is will Biden make it to the end of this term — and how will the succession be managed if he doesn’t?

Ronny Jackson is one who thinks the president won’t last. The former White House medico to Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and Navy rear admiral-turned-Texas congressman, has been vocal about the medical drama he sees unfolding in the Oval Office as a threat to national security.

He sent a third letter, signed by 54 Congressmen, to the president and his physician Kevin O’Connor last week, calling on Biden to “immediately undergo a cognitive test and share the results with the American people.”

“Something isn’t right with Joe Biden’s cognitive state,” says Jackson.

He stresses that he is not making a diagnosis as he has never examined Biden, but “everyone in America knows someone who is in cognitive decline and the symptoms are clear.”

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits edged higher last week, hovering near the highest level of the year — the latest sign that the historically tight labor market is starting to cool off.

Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show that applications for the week ended July 30 rose to 260,000 from the downwardly revised 254,000 recorded a week earlier. That is above the 2019 pre-pandemic average of 218,000 claims and just narrowly missed topping the eight-month high of 261,000 recorded in mid-July.

Continuing claims, or the number of Americans who are consecutively receiving unemployment aid, rose to 1.416 million for the week ended July 23, up by 48,000 from the previous week's revised level.

Small business confidence has hit an all-time low as the majority of Main Street expects runaway inflation and a Federal Reserve that is incapable of engineering a soft landing for the economy, leading to revenue declines and staffing cuts across sectors.

The majority of small business owners (57%) taking part in the CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey for Q3 2022 think the recession has already begun, while another 14% predict recession before the end of the year.

August 05, 2022 5:37 AM  

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