Republicans at it again

 Republicans Call Abortion Rights Protest a Capitol 'Insurrection'

Protests outside the Arizona Capitol that ended after troopers deployed tear gas were described as a thwarted insurrection by the state's Senate Republicans, while their Democrat counterparts maintained that the majority of protesters were peaceful.

It's like they're having trouble justifying their own behavior so they're trying to find an example of someone else doing it. Even if they have to lie about it.

Par for the course because what don't they lie about these days. They've become a crowd of complete assholes and they're aware of it. 

It’s important people be aware of these tactics. They’ve been unscrupulous liars for decades now. They can’t be trusted with anything.

Most of their Supreme Court justices are bald faced liars on the most important issues.

GOP privately worrying overturning Roe v. Wade could impact midterms: 'This is a losing issue for Republicans,' report says

While Republicans are publicly celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, some are privately worrying that the timing could negatively impact the November midterms. 

Some Republicans fear the abortion ruling could give Democrats ammunition to attack them and mobilize voters, Politico reported, based on interviews with more than a dozen GOP strategists and officials.

"This is not a conversation we want to have," Republican strategist John Thomas told Politico. "We want to have a conversation about the economy. We want to have a conversation about Joe Biden, about pretty much anything else besides Roe. This is a losing issue for Republicans."

If you wanted to galvanize the youth & progressive voters this is certainly one of the quickest ways to do it. Funny, all those "freedom or death" groups sure are quiet this week. 

This was supposed to be a political football they tossed around to help energize their own voters. They likely never actually wanted this to pass, guess we'll see.

They move onto the next wedge issue. And if there aren’t any wedge issues left, they manufacture new ones out of whole cloth.

State and local Dems. That's what this November is all about.

Already, every state with full Dem control has protected abortion access. Local Dems in states with abortion bans are stepping up, too - 81 County Prosecutors have said they won't enforce abortion bans in their jurisdictions.

And there's more to fight for:

In Michigan, the Supreme Court is refusing to uphold a law banning abortion, and Attorney General Dana Nessel is refusing to prosecute anyone charged under that law. If Republicans win control, millions more women lose their rights. If Dems win the State House and Senate, they codify choice for millions.

In Kansas, there's a referendum on August 2nd that'll decide if the Legislature can ban abortion or not. Currently, they can't. That vote will decide if women get their rights or not, because that veto-proof supermajority in KS is drooling at the chance.

In Pennsylvania, Republicans want to flip the Governor's office so they can use the majorities in the State House and Senate to ban abortion. But with fair maps, Dems could actually flip the Legislature blue and codify choice.

In Arizona, Republicans have full control, and have passed abortion restrictions. But if Dems flip the Governor's office, two State House seats, and two State Senate seats, they can repeal those restrictions and codify choice.

I could go on. But the point is: State and local Democrats are doing lots to protect choice, and they're where you need to focus.

And then there is this:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Vows A 'Kid' In The Womb Will Be As Safe As Those In Classrooms

Like in Uvalde? Parkland? Sandy Hook? Columbine? There have been 27 school shootings so far this year.

Arkansas gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders vowed in a recent speech that she would “make sure” that a “kid” in the womb is as safe as those in a classroom.

She made the jaw-dropping comment in her victory address last month when she won the GOP primary, the same day 19 children and two teachers were shot dead by a gunman — in a classroom — at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

May 25, 2022 Sarah Huckabee Sanders jumps on Texas shooting to justify ban on abortions, not guns 

 

Truth about Trump the Con man

 Trump Scammed Supporters Out of $250 Million for Nonexistent Fraud Fund

“Not only was there the Big Lie, there was the Big Ripoff,” said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) near the end of the Jan. 6 committee’s second hearing in laying out how the Trump campaign scammed money from supporters over false claims of election fraud.

The Trump campaign sent “millions” of emails to Trump supporters about how they needed to “step up” to protect election integrity, according to the Jan. 6 committee. The money would go to the so-called the “Official Election Defense Fund” — which doesn’t appear to have actually existed, according to testimony.

And his supporters will still double down. Because otherwise they have to admit that they got conned by that fuck wad, and we were right the whole time.

Which is exactly the case. They'll just never admit it. 

Jan. 6 Committee Confirms 'Big Lie' Was Also a 'Big Ripoff' of Trump Donors

The House Select Committee investigating the January 6 insurrection on Monday detailed how the Trump campaign blatantly deceived the former president's supporters by using the "Big Lie" of a stolen election to bilk hundreds of millions out of them in massive fundraising blitz.

"Not only was there that big lie, there was the big rip-off."

Amanda Wick, senior investigative counsel for the committee, said in a video presented on the second day of hearings that the campaign sent millions of fundraising emails to supporters in the weeks after the election, "sometimes as many as 25 a day."

Charge him :

Fraud involves using a lie, deception, falsehood, or dishonesty in an attempt to gain a benefit.

unlawfully obtaining or attempting to obtain a benefit through the use of deceit, lies, or false representations, and with the intent of cheating or deceiving the victim.

https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/federal/Fraud.htm

Federal charges can lead to 10 years or more in federal prison. 

As sad as it sounds, if one ever wondered what it was like to be a fanatic worshiping a supremacist dictator, that is, (eg Hitler, Mussolini, etc.), you just need to check Trump supporters. They are a good case for anthropological study. In another time and another place (eg Germany 1934), those same people would have been the same ones extending their right arm. Such a mentality can arise in any country if the conditions align.

It's not about being a Republican or a Democrat, it's just that some people, regardless of their political views, are more predisposed than others to be easily influenced and brainwashed, and there are currently no laws prohibiting the use of simple brainwashing tactics such as hate speech, which is the number one tactic used by all dictators throughout history.

More than half the money given to Trump’s PAC was from retirees

Shortly after he lost the 2020 presidential election, President Donald Trump embarked on a new, wildly lucrative political effort. The Save America political action committee (PAC) was formed two days after the race was called for Joe Biden and has since become a gathering spot for tens of millions of dollars from Trump supporters.

This isn’t a normal campaign PAC, allowing Trump to pay for certain expenses or contribute to other politicians. It’s a leadership PAC, letting him spend money however he wishes. Like, say, hosting a big rally outside the White House in an effort to retain power. Or paying his future daughter-in-law $60,000 to give a short speech at that rally.

And they'll happily give him more if he asks at the same time they're complaining that they can't afford gas because of Biden.

Yes, Trump supporters are victims of the Big Lie scam. No, you don't have to feel sorry for them 

One of the bigger revelations during the Monday House hearing about the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is that the scope of the House committee's investigation had grown beyond Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election. We learned on Monday that they also have evidence that Trump used his coup as a means for financial fraud.

During the entire two and a half months between Election Day and Jan. 6, Trump was shaking down his gullible supporters for cash that he claimed would help fight "election fraud." Those funds, however, largely appeared to go into the pockets of Trump and his allies. 

It's the Steve Banon deal that gets me chuckling.

Trump gives this man a white house advisor job, then has his supporters donating to a border wall that Mexico was supposed to pay for.

Steve Banon stole millions from this wall fund and him and his buddies used it to buy a yacht.

Steve Banon is tried and found guilty of frauding the wall fund and goes to jail for it.

Then gets Pardoned by Trump and his supporters cheered about it. Lol cheered about the pardon for the man that stole their money. 

‘It’s a Grift’: Kimberly Guilfoyle Made $60,000 Introducing Don Jr. at Coup Rally

Kimberly Guilfoyle was paid $60,000 to introduce Donald Trump Jr. at the rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol last Jan. 6.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) broke the news to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday after the Jan. 6 committee’s second hearing, during which Lofgren presented evidence detailing how the Trump campaign used the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen to con supporters to the tune of $250 million. Tapper asked Lofgren about a comment she made after the hearing about Trump and his family benefitting from donations meant to fund election integrity, and if they did so to the extent that it was criminal. “I don’t know. We’re a legislative committee, so that’s for somebody else to decide,” Lofgren replied. “But, for example, we know that [Kimberly] Guilfoyle was paid for the introduction she gave at the speech on January 6th. She received compensation for that.”

It's absolutely insane to me to realize that the "stolen election" nonsense that tore the country in half and nearly destroyed the Republic was driven by a quarter-billion-dollar grift of American voters.

He didn't even believe it himself, he just needed conspiracies and narratives to keep it alive long enough to suck up $250m from people who earnestly believed all of it.

Imagine giving your social security check to a billionaire to fund lawyers who are trying to sort out the election in your guys' favor only to find out he used it to pay his son's future wife $400-a-second to get up on stage and encourage people to commit crimes.

Just How Long Will Trump World Fall for This Long, Long Con?

As I've said before in this space, it's my opinion that you folks who support Donald Trump are, by definition, incapable of that function, so it's foolish to even try. You may think that's harsh. I think it's time-saving.

But I do have a question for you: Don't you feel kind of stupid right now? Doesn't the revelation that it was all a con leave you feeling like a sucker? Doesn't simple human pride have you smarting, at least a little bit?

 

DeSantis the ultimate Florida man

 Ron DeSantis Bullied the Special Olympics Into Dropping Its Vaccine Requirement

Florida Gov. Ron Desantis and his administration have used their authority to essentially punish organizations he deems to be insufficiently conservative. One of their latest targets is the Special Olympics. Jay O’Brien of ABC News reported on Friday that the governor threatened to levy an eight-figure fine against the Special Olympics if it didn’t drop its Covid-19 vaccine requirement for its games in Orlando this weekend.

The Special Olympics backed off its vaccine requirement hours later, saying in a statement, “We don’t want to fight. We want to play.”

A letter from the Florida Department of Health dated June 2 threatened to assess the Special Olympics a $27.5 million fine due to “5,500 violations” of state law prohibiting business entities (including charitable organizations) from requiring individuals to show proof of vaccination. The applicable fine per person under this law is $5,000.

Threatening a $27.5 M fine against a non profit organization, yes that qualifies as bullying.

This is just a taste of what he'd do if elected president. He's acting like he was elected dictator of Florida.

He is the face of MAGa America now , and more dangerous than trump since he isn’t an imbecile.

DeSantis vetoes $35M earmarked for Rays facility after team postures on gun violence

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) vetoed $3.1 billion in spending as he signed a $109.9 billion budget Thursday, slashing funds that would have, in part, gone toward a youth sports complex earmarked as a possible spring training facility for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Republican cited the need to protect the state "against what very well may be a Biden-induced recession" at the signing ceremony. The facility in question, in Pasco County, would have cost $35 million. The veto comes after the Rays published a call to end gun violence in the aftermath of the Texas and New York mass shootings, and a report from OutKick said it learned that the decision was indeed in response to the team "politicizing" the massacres.

DeSantis has been making a habit of "retribution" politics for some time, it is a very grim trend for this nation. Literally the antithesis of a publicly elected official. 

 Using the power of government to punish private businesses for free speech is not even one of those murky~ Constitutional issues where we feel we have to decode the language of the Forefathers to understand their true intent. Yet, the Republican party just quadruples down on doing it.

Seems to me if the state withholds government funds based on people’s beliefs that’s a direct indisputable violation of the first amendment.

"Disturbing" GOP blitz: DeSantis orders trans care ban, Ohio GOP wants genital inspectors in school

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration on Thursday moved to ban transition-related care for transgender minors, according to a letter obtained by NBC News.

The Florida Health Department directed the state Board of Medicine, which regulates doctors, to effectively ban certain "pharmaceutical, non-pharmaceutical, and surgical treatments for gender dysphoria" for children and adolescents. The state Agency for Health Care Administrators also issued a 46-page report hours earlier justifying banning Medicaid coverage for transgender youth and adults for puberty blockers, hormone therapies or gender-reassignment surgery.

The moves signaled the latest push in the Republican assault on trans health care and allow DeSantis, a rumored 2024 Republican presidential contender, to ramp up his state's crackdown without having to go through the legislature.

This is so absurd. They want to keep trans people out of the bathrooms of their choice to prevent sexual assault, so in response, they're basically guaranteeing that kids will get sexually assaulted. Good game everyone.

It keeps the focus off Ginni Thomas' treason. 

DeSantis press secretary registers as a foreign agent following DOJ letter

Christina Pushaw, the press secretary for Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who's known for bashing reporters on Twitter, voluntarily registered as a foreign agent this week after being contacted by the Department of Justice.

This is the shitstain who ignited the recent craze of the right repeatedly regurgitating the term "groomer."

She shat out that little nugget at the beginning of the Disney fiasco, and it was widely mocked. Over the next 3-4 weeks, however, the intended audience for that idiocy slowly picked it up and ran with it.

Now look into those right wing youth leader camps she’s involved in in Arizona. Their website is full of broken English and weird turns of phrases.

https://projectarizona.us/

Wonder if she ever had contact with the FSB in all that time she spent in the former Soviet Union before one day deciding Ron DeSantis in podunk Tallahassee was her big bright future. Her shit stinks to high heaven. 

White nationalist training for future fascists, I believe.

The entire website seems written in broken English by a non-native speaker.

I am quite surprised how authoritarian one party rule by the minority is being rationalized and accepted

That is a scary rabbithole of "libertarianism".

"Project Arizona" is basically set up by "Liberty International" and "Freedom and Entrepeneurship Foundation". Who both mostly operate in former Soviet states. And talk about wanting to make Poland and Europe "free".

Here are some of their affiliates and partners:

Promethus Foundation - Founded to promote the philosophy of Ayn Rand. They have a venture fund you can apply to.

Goldwater Institute - To quote their website: "The Goldwater Institute is the nation’s preeminent liberty organization scoring real wins for freedom from coast to coast."

Atlas Network - Website seems to be down. But looks like be another "liberty" organization that gives out money.

Foundation for Economic Education - Another "freedom and liberty" foundation

Fun fact: A lot of the partners, affiliates, projects, etc. have eerily similar layouts. Not to mention that the websites for PA, LI and FEF looks to be made by the same person, as it has the same framework in all three and reuses code.

GOP people going at it as normal day job

 Colorado to Examine Lauren Boebert’s Mileage Claims and Tax Liens

Colorado officials are examining allegations that Representative Lauren Boebert, a Republican representing the state’s western half, inflated the mileage she logged on the campaign trail in 2020 and then used more than $20,000 in reimbursements from donors to pay off years of tax liens on her restaurant.

Be nice to know why her pedo husband has a 600k a year consulting gig too. I’m sure nothing corrupt could be going on there.

You mean his energy consulting gig while she's a sitting member on the House Committee on Natural Resources?? Yeah, I'm sure that's all above board and nothing shady is going on there at all...

https://twitter.com/Marina4Colorado/status/1531813680295333888?s=20&t=6q8Sj8eVc4tmg-WZn51jnA

38k miles in 2020 on the campaign trail. Thats nearly a full month inside a car moving at 60+mph without stopping or slowing down. I understand she probably has to take the long route being married to a sex offender, but this is obvious fraud..

Colorado to Investigate Lauren Boebert for Alleged Misuse of Campaign Funds

Boebert allegedly used campaign funds to reimburse herself for $22,259 in mileage—a sum strikingly similar to the $20,000 she paid in tax liens for her previous failure to pay unemployment premiums on her restaurant, Shooters Grill. The allegations were brought to the Colorado attorney general’s office by the American Muckrakers PAC, which recently tanked Madison Cawthorn’s congressional run.

“Had Representative Boebert paid her restaurant staff properly and also paid the unemployment premiums to the State of Colorado, an investigation never would have been necessary,” David B. Wheeler, one of the PAC’s founders, told the Times.

As I reported last month, five former Shooters employees told me that Boebert did not pay them on time. Several said that they were paid in cash without taxes deducted. 

Pro-tip: failing to withhold payroll taxes and unemployment can often be handled by a former employee with a quick call to the Department of Labor and IRS. If she doesn’t have a tax preparing service, she might also be violating other labor laws. (I once did this and witnessed the glorious results first hand. OSHA, too. Apparently fume hoods are a big deal.) 

GQP will throw out Boehert and MTG and still continue on with their regularly schedule coup attempts. There just deposable idiots that are taking heat off everyone else.

GOP Lawmaker: Critics of Christian nationalism are ‘domestic terrorists’

In a bizarre straight-to-camera speech, conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia said we should effectively embrace Christian nationalism because it would solve all of America’s problems… and anyone who disagrees with her is a traitor. Somehow.

This rhetoric is past the point of dangerous.

White Evangelical Christian Nationalists are always at the heart of every problem currently facing this nation. It is remarkably consistent.

Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn failed to properly disclose up to $950,000 in cryptocurrency trades, including 'Let's Go Brandon' coin, bitcoin, and ethereum 

Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina appears to have again violated a federal conflict-of-interest law by failing to properly report purchases and sales of six types of cryptocurrencies, according to a new congressional financial disclosure.

The reported value of Cawthorn's newly disclosed crypto trades is between $290,000 and $950,000, according to his disclosure, which he filed with the US House of Representatives on Wednesday morning.

Cawthorn reported his trades took place between January and March. By federal law, he had no more than 45 days to publicly disclose them in a certified document submitted to Congress.

You get the uneasy feeling that no punishment or investigation would have occurred had he not spoken out about GOP cocaine fueled orgies, which leads me to think that this is just about the only honest thing Madison Cawthorn has ever said while in office.

 The problem(s) with Cruz blaming Biden for Texas’ energy troubles

Texas isn’t just facing questions about the state of its power grid, it’s also struggling with rising energy prices. Sen. Ted Cruz, however, has a message for his constituents: Blame the White House. The Republican senator tweeted over the weekend:

“The impact of President Biden being beholden to the Green New Deal radicals in his party has electricity costs through the roof in Texas.”

The same tweet referred readers to this Dallas Morning News report on rising energy prices in the Lone Star State.

Because Ted Cruz is a liar. Because Ted Cruz will blame Democrats for everything. He blamed doors for the Uvalde mass shooting. Republicans blamed Obama for 9/11. Why do media outlets ask these questions as if Republicans are capable of operating in good faith?

Ted Cruz and the GOP have become the party of blatant Soviet style misinformation because they simply have no other choice if they wish to stay relevant. They know that their policies adversely effect the self interests of a vast majority of Americans. They know they cannot win elections if they’re honest. Their strategy is misinformation and voter suppression. College graduates overwhelmingly reject the GOP because it’s difficult to bamboozle an educated person. The GOP understands that the yokels in the rural states will consistently vote on emotion rather than logic, therefore they need to keep their based constantly outraged with lies, half-truths and one manufactured crisis after another.

Two Weeks After Uvalde School Massacre, Texas GOP Vows Ban on... Taking Kids to Drag Shows

Two weeks after a gunman armed with a semiautomatic rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition massacred 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a Republican state lawmaker announced that he is taking action—against drag shows.

State Rep. Bryan Slaton said Monday he intends to file legislation "protecting kids from drag shows and other inappropriate displays" when the next legislative session begins.

GOP on gun reform legislation: “lEgiSLatiOn dOesN’t wOrK. PaSsIng lAwS woN’t fiX tHiS! tHoUgHts aNd PraYeRs!”

GOP on literally anything else: “Ram through that legislation. There needs to be laws on the books NOW and we need to start arresting children and women for thinking they know their own bodies and minds!”

Christians keep preaching that their way of life is what made people safe. Their "family values & moral value of life" bull. That if we all just gave into their narrow way of thinking, that all issues would magically solve themselves.

It's as if the crusades, inquisition, Salem witch trials, and religious imperialism for the last 2000 years were perpetrated by people other than them. What could be the common denominator within a nationwide network of liars?

 

 

Trump calls January 6 attempted overthrow the goverment as a hoax

 Trump calls Capitol attack an ‘insurrection hoax’ as public hearings set to begin

As the House committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Donald Trump prepares to start public hearings next week, the former president called the insurrection on January 6, 2021, a hoax.

Trump is an insurrectionist, he said it himself. He instigated it, he encouraged it, he fucking ran the whole damn thing.

Mitch McConnell also said he was responsible. Right before endorsing him. Because that’s how conservatism works, I guess.

Yeah, we all watched it live on TV. The MAGA stormed, looted, and trashed the Capitol to stop the certification of the vote and install Trump as president despite being a loser. All while on live TV and on their own live streams.

Addressing the sub-capacity crowd at a rally in Casper for Republican candidate Harriet Hageman, Trump slammed Cheney, saying: “As one of the nation’s leading proponents of the insurrection hoax, Liz Cheney has pushed a grotesquely false, fabricated, hysterical partisan narrative.” 

Marjorie Taylor Greene Goes Completely Off The Rails With Her Latest Beef 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is warning supporters that the government is planning to monitor their eating habits and “zap” them until they eat fake meat grown in a “peach tree dish.”

And the lawmaker who once warned the world of “gazpacho police” now claims the feds are planning to track bowel movements, too.

“You have to accept the fact that the government totally wants to provide surveillance on every part of your life,” Greene said in a rant from her podcast clipped and posted online by Patriot Takes, a right-wing watchdog group.

“They want to know when you’re eating,” the conspiracy theorist added. “They want to know if you’re eating a cheeseburger, which is very bad because Bill Gates wants you to eat his fake meat that grows in a peach tree dish.”

And if you’re not eating “peach tree dish” meat, the government ― of which she is a part ― will find a way to “zap” you into compliance.

“You’ll probably get a little zap inside your body and that’s saying ‘No, no. Don’t eat a real cheeseburger, you need to eat the fake burger, the fake meat, from Bill Gates,’” Greene said.

Along with tracking the food going on, she believes they will be tracking the food as it comes back out, too.

“They probably also want to know when you go to the bathroom and if your bowel movements are on time or consistent,” she said. “I mean what else do these people want to know?”

You know what the most terrifying thing about this is?

She can happily continue spouting these ludicrous claims without consequences, whereas Liz Cheney was ousted by the Republicans for refusing to push the bogus election fraud claims.

The Republican Party has drawn a very strange line in sand of what's acceptable.