;)
Wednesday
Jan182023
January 18, 2023
Late Morning Update:
Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is concerned that a former prosecutor who wrote a book about his time investigating Donald Trump may jeopardize the office's continuing probe, potentially violating laws and ethics rules in the process, according to a letter to the publisher and author sent Wednesday. The former investigator, Mark Pomerantz, was put on a special assignment to work the Trump case by Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and helped lead the effort until his abrupt resignation in February 2022, weeks into Bragg's term. Pomerantz and another veteran lawyer, Carey Dunne, quit together in disagreement over how to proceed with the case. Since then, Pomerantz has criticized Bragg, saying he wrongly stopped a move to quickly indict Trump, while Bragg sought more time to evaluate the evidence. Bragg now says a new book by Pomerantz to be published next month by Simon & Schuster could interfere with that effort."
Karen Weise of the New York Times: "Microsoft plans to lay off 10,000 workers, the company said Wednesday, as it looks to trim costs amid economic uncertainty and to refocus on strategic priorities, such as artificial intelligence. The company employed about 221,000 workers as of the end of June, and the cuts amount to less than 5 percent of its global work force. With the cuts, Microsoft becomes the latest tech giant to pull back after a frenzied few years of hiring, when the pandemic-fueled surge in online services and the expansion of cloud computing created fierce competition for tech talent."
Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: "The coldest and highest parts of the Greenland ice sheet, nearly 2 miles above sea level in many locations, are warming rapidly and showing changes that are unprecedented in at least a millennium, scientists reported Wednesday.... 'We find the 2001-2011 decade the warmest of the whole period of 1,000 years,' said Maria Hörhold, the study's lead author and a scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany." MB: Now I'm even more irritated that the selfish Danes refused to sell Greenland to Trump. We coulda had another island paradise!
~~~~~~~~~~
Maegan Vazquez & Nikki Carvajal of CNN: "President Joe Biden welcomed the Golden State Warriors to the White House on Tuesday to celebrate their 2022 NBA championship, marking their return to the building for the first time since a high-profile clash with ... Donald Trump.... The Warriors' invitation to visit the White House to celebrate their 2017 championship was rescinded by Trump after Steph Curry criticized him over his attacks on Black athletes protesting during the national anthem. Instead of visiting the White House, the Warriors toured the National Museum of African-American History and Culture with local Washington students. In 2019, they opted to meet with former President Barack Obama instead of making the traditional White House stop.... Noting the team's activism, Biden said they were, 'speaking out against racism, standing up for equality. I mean speaking out loudly against racism standing up for encouraging people to vote, empowering children and their families to eat healthy, learn and play and safe places, rallying the country against gun violence.' Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff were also in attendance. Harris -- who hails from California -- said she had been a Warriors fan her 'entire life.'"
Luke Barr, et al., of ABC News: "The Justice Department considered but decided against sending FBI agents to President Joe Biden's Delaware home to monitor his attorneys' search for classified documents, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.... It was something both sides agreed to, sources said, in part because Biden and his attorneys were cooperating with the Justice Department.... But legal experts, including former federal prosecutors reached by ABC News, say at least so far, that for Biden there doesn't appear to be evidence that would justify the dramatic and unprecedented step of the FBI seeking a search warrant on the current president's private residence.... But in the Justice Department, the decision to search [Donald] Trump's residence was seen as a true last-resort move after months and months of a complete breakdown in trust that continues to this day. Indeed, sources have told ABC News the government has been fighting in closed-court proceedings in recent weeks to have Trump verify he still doesn't possess classified records."
Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Two far-right members of Congress whose threatening behavior prompted their removal from committees when Democrats controlled the US House were given assignments on Tuesday by the new Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia will sit on the House homeland security committee and the oversight committee. Paul Gosar of Arizona was named to oversight and natural resources.... [Greene, a] congresswoman who recently said the January 6 attack on the US Capitol would have succeeded had she organised it will now sit on the homeland security committee."
Michael Gold & Jonathan Swan of the New York Times: "... House Republican leadership on Tuesday gave ... George Santos seats on the Small Business and the Science, Space and Technology Committees.... Neither of Mr. Santos's two committees are seen as plum seats for lawmakers hoping to boost their profile on Capitol Hill, and they are not as highly regarded as the committees he had initially sought: either the House Financial Services or Foreign Affairs Committees.... 'I came to D.C. without really any preconceived notions of what committees to serve,' Mr. Santos [told Steve Bannon on Bannon's podcast last week]. Mr. Santos will take his seat on the Small Business Committee as he faces questions about his own firm, the Devolder Organization, which he said on financial disclosures paid him $700,000 and dividends between $1 million and $5 million....
"On Monday, [Speaker Kevin] McCarthy told CNN that he 'always had a few questions' about Mr. Santos's background. He also said he had spoken to Mr. Santos about an incident in which a Santos aide was caught impersonating Mr. McCarthy's chief of staff while soliciting campaign donations. Yet Mr. McCarthy has defended putting Mr. Santos on committees, noting that his constituents elected him." An NBC News story is here.
~~~ Marie. So we know George Anthony has told nothing but lies about his small business experience, and that got him the post on the Small Business Committee. Did he also tell Kevin he was a nuclear physicist or an astronomer to garner a seat on the Science & Technology Committee. And not surprising to see he's still lying: if you ask for particular committee assignments, as George reportedly did, then you do have "preconceived notions" about committee assignments. ~~~
~~~ Ed Mazza of the Huffington Post: "Scott Kelly, retired NASA astronaut and twin to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), offered some sarcastic congratulations [link fixed] to embattled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who was just named to the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Kelly wrote [on Twitter], 'Awesome to have former NASA astronaut and moon walker, Representative George Santos @Santos4Congress on the House Science Space and Technology Committee. To infinity and beyond!'" The article includes tweets from several other wags mocking Santos. MB: In fairness to Santos, he has "slipped the surly bonds of Earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings." ~~~
~~~ Jacqueline Sweet of Patch relates how George Santos, who identified in 2016 as Anthony Devolder, set up a GoFundMe page for a disabled homeless veteran named Richard Osthoff whose service dog Sapphire needed a $3,000 operation to remove an aggressive stomach tumor. "Osthoff and another New Jersey veteran, retired police Sgt. Michael Boll, who tried to intervene to help Osthoff in 2016, told Patch that Santos closed the GoFundMe he set up for Sapphire after it raised $3,000 on social media and disappeared." Sapphire had to be euthanized. Includes screengrabs of George Anthony's cruel texts. MB: It isn't just voters George scammed. It was a disabled vet and his deathly-ill service dog. This isn't funny anymore, is it?
Rumble in the Ladies! Conover Kennard of Crooks & Liars: "You would think that controversial Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert would be friends since they're both ridiculously stupid conspiracy theorists. However, that's not the case.... The two sparred online over whether to support Kevin McCarthy in his bid for House speaker, but things got worse when Greene and BoBo ran into each other in the bathroom, and a shouting match ensued over multiple issues. The two lawmakers clashed about Kevin McCarthy. Donald Trump. and Ukraine aid. Via The Daily Beast: '... According to multiple sources, the two women were nearly in a screaming match in the Speaker's lobby ladies' room just off the House floor.'"
Abigail Weinberg of Mother Jones: At Davos, before an audience of the richest people in the world, Senators Kyrsten Sinema & Joe Manchin literally high-fived their successful effort to maintain the anti-democratic Senate filibuster.
Shawna Chen of Axios: "A federal judge said Tuesday that a California woman [Danean MacAndrew] who breached the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection 'followed then-President Trump's instructions' in breaking the law.... District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in the 18-page opinion[,] '... Every step of the way, from the western boundary of Capitol grounds, to the West Lawn, to the Upper West Terrace, to the interior of the Capitol itself, [MacAndrew] saw sign after sign that her presence was unlawful.... Nevertheless, heeding the call of former President Trump, she continued onwards to 'stop the steal.' Having followed then-President Trump's instructions, which were in line with her stated desires, the Court therefore finds that Defendant intended her presence to be disruptive to Congressional business.'"
It's About Time. Ben Protess & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office on Tuesday took a significant step forward in its investigation of Donald J. Trump, meeting with his former personal lawyer [Michael Cohen] about hush money paid to a porn star who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump.... Mr. Cohen has said publicly that Mr. Trump directed him, in the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign, to buy the silence of Stephanie Clifford, the actress known as Stormy Daniels.... Keith Davidson, the lawyer who represented Ms. Clifford and helped arrange the deal, was also contacted by the Manhattan prosecutors in recent weeks, but has not been interviewed, a person with knowledge of the matter said. And Mr. Cohen is expected to return for additional meetings in the coming weeks."
Presidential Election 2024. Evangelicals Abandon the Orange Jesus. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Some of these prominent evangelical leaders who backed you last time, they're not yet willing to commit, David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network told [Donald] Trump in an interview... '... What is your message to them?. 'Well, I don't really care,' Trump replied -- then quickly undercut that insouciance. 'That's a sign of disloyalty.... The 'disloyalty' here, in Trump's telling, was that 'nobody has ever done more for right-to-life than Donald Trump.'... His message to Brody centered on evangelical leaders, but it could be applied equally to other Republicans. Republicans, too, backed Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 and 2020 but are now sending mixed messages...."
Michael Bender of the New York Times: "Matt Schlapp, the head of one of the nation's largest conservative advocacy groups and an adviser to ... Donald J. Trump, was accused in a lawsuit on Tuesday of groping an employee on Herschel Walker's Senate campaign in October. A lawyer for Mr. Schlapp, Charlie Spies, denied the allegations.... The lawsuit, filed in the Virginia Circuit Court in Alexandria, accuses Mr. Schlapp of 'aggressively fondling' the man's 'genital area in a sustained fashion' while the two were alone in a car. The staff member filed the suit anonymously, citing privacy concerns and a fear of retaliation given Mr. Schlapp's influential position as chairman of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the Conservative Political Action Conference.... The lawsuit also accuses Mr. Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, who served as Mr. Trump's White House director of strategic communications, of defamation and conspiracy, claiming that they coordinated a campaign to discredit the Walker aide and his allegations." The AP's report is here.
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd.
David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: In "the final days of FTX..., the company's top executives started to panic. In November, a run on deposits sent the exchange into meltdown, exposing a gaping hole in the firm's accounts and forcing it to file for bankruptcy.... Documents [the New York Times obtained] offer a detailed account of the discussions among FTX and Alameda executives about the exchange's use of customer funds.... Gary Wang and Nishad Singh..., FTX executives who worked on the exchange's code..., [Mr. Wang has] pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors." ~~~
~~~ Matthew Goldstein & David Yaffe-Bellany of the New York Times: "Two months after FTX filed for bankruptcy, lawyers for the once high-flying cryptocurrency exchange have begun to identify and put a value on its assets, as they determine how much they will be able to recover to repay lenders and customers who lost billions of dollars. In a court filing on Tuesday, lawyers from the New York firm of Sullivan & Cromwell -- which is facing a controversy of its own tied to work it did for FTX before the bankruptcy -- said that they had located $5.5 billion in assets held in customer accounts or tucked away in other parts of the company.... In just three years, FTX, founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, had swiftly put money into a hodgepodge of assets.... Aside from the $5.5 billion, FTX also holds sizable positions in 20 digital assets that the lawyers described as 'illiquid tokens' that are difficult to convert into cash."
Science Fiction, by Elon Musk. Irina Ivanova of CBS News: "A Tesla video purporting to demonstrate the automaker's self-driving capabilities was actually staged, according to claims from a senior engineer at the company reported by Reuters. The video was shared in a 2016 blog post titled 'Full Self-Driving Hardware on All Teslas,' that is still available. Before the nearly 4-minute video begins, the screen flashes text reading, 'The person in the driver's seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.' The video then shows a Tesla pulling out of a driveway, stopping at intersections and red lights, traveling on a highway, delivering a person to an office complex and then parallel-parking itself.... CEO Elon Musk promoted the demonstration on Twitter, writing, 'Tesla drives itself (no human input at all).'... But ... [Reuters] cited a deposition from Ashok Elluswamy, the company's director of Autopilot software, that was taken as part of a lawsuit over a driver's 2018 death in a Tesla. 'The intent of the video was not to accurately portray what was available for customers in 2016. It was to portray what was possible to build into the system,' Elluswamy said.... Elluswamy said the car was driving a predetermined route in the video and that drivers intervened to take control during trial runs.... He also testified that, during attempts to show the Model X could park itself without a driver, a test car crashed into a fence in Tesla's parking lot, Reuters reported." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Next thing you know, Elon will be hiring moonwalker Congressman George Santos to run Twitter's verification and moderation department.
Beyond the Beltway
Illinois. Livia Albeck-Ripka of the New York Times: "The authorities in Peoria, Ill., are investigating a reported firebombing that they said caused extensive damage to a Planned Parenthood clinic on Sunday, just days after sweeping abortion protections were signed into law in Illinois. The fire at the Peoria Health Center was reported to the police by a bystander, who noticed an 'unknown suspect throwing a flammable item into a public building,' said Semone Roth, a spokeswoman for the Peoria Police Department.... A truck used by the person who had set the fire was identified in footage obtained by the police, the department said, but they had been unable to locate it."
Minnesota. Vimal Patel of the New York Times: "Hamline University officials made an about-face on Tuesday in its treatment of a lecturer who showed an image of the Prophet Muhammad in an art history class, walking back one of their most controversial statements -- that showing the image was Islamophobic. They also said that respect for Muslim students should not have superseded academic freedom. University officials changed their stance after the lecturer, who lost her teaching job, sued the small Minnesota school for religious discrimination and defamation.... The controversy began in October, when Erika López Prater, an adjunct professor, warned students multiple times before showing a reverential image of the holy figure created in the 14th-century.... Historians of Islamic art said that images of the Prophet Muhammad are regularly shown in art history classrooms without incident.... An email to students and faculty from David Everett, a senior administrator, said the instructor's actions were clearly Islamophobic. The university's president co-signed a statement saying that respect for the Muslim students in the online class 'should have superseded academic freedom.'"
New Mexico. The Party of Extreme Violence. Simon Romero & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "After seeking a state legislative seat, Solomon Peña, 39, a supporter of Donald J. Trump who attended the pro-Trump rally in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, refused to concede, despite losing by 48 percentage points to an incumbent in a district that has long voted for Democrats. He was arrested on Monday in connection with the shootings at the homes of four Democratic officials.... The police filed a rash of charges against Mr. Peña, including criminal solicitation, attempted aggravated battery, shooting at an occupied dwelling, shooting from a moving vehicle and conspiracy. Mr. Peña, who previously served time in prison for burglary and other crimes, took part in at least one of the attacks himself, according to the criminal complaint in the case, trying to fire an AR-15 rifle at the home of Linda Lopez, a state senator.... Though there have been some notable attacks and threats of violence from people on the left, scholars who study political violence say that most violent episodes with a political bent in recent years have been committed by right-wing extremists or people with conservative-leaning views." ~~~
There's been this narrative for a long time: If you don't get your way, it's okay to be violent. The message came from the top. It came from Trump. -- former Bernalillo commissioner Debbie O'Malley, whose home was shot at Dec. 11
I absolutely blame election denialism and Trump. -- Linda Lopez
[It is] appalling that some people would use this tragedy to try to score cheap political points. President Trump had nothing to do with this and any assertion otherwise is totally reprehensible. -- Steven Cheung, spokesman for Donald Trump
There are elected officials in this room today whose homes were shot at in despicable acts of political violence. -- Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), calling for a ban on assault weapons in an address to the state legislature on the first day of its 2023 session ~~~
~~~ Amy Gardner & Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff of the Washington Post: "... new details emerged Tuesday about the alleged conspiracy, including how close a spray of bullets came to the sleeping 10-year-old daughter of a state senator.... The [conspirators] allegedly stole at least two cars used in the incidents, police said.... The documents also allege that [Solomon] Peña personally participated in the [Linda] Lopez shooting because he was displeased that prior shootings had aimed 'so high up on the walls.'... In an interview, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina said he has no doubt that Peña was motivated by [Donald] Trump's false claims of election fraud following the former president's 2020 defeat. Medina said federal law enforcement is also investigating potential federal firearms violations related to the shootings, as well as whether Peña participated in the Jan. 6 riots.... Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller (D) said Peña visited all four targets' homes in the days leading up to the attacks, seeking to persuade them that the result of his election had been rigged."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Wednesday is here: "At least 15 people, including Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, died in a helicopter crash near a kindergarten in Brovary, a city next to Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Three children, other ministry officials and helicopter crew members were also among those killed in the Wednesday morning crash, he said.... Police identified the helicopter as a State Emergency Service aircraft but provided no details about the cause of the crash. At least 25 other people, including 10 children, were injured, Zelensky said.... Ukraine's prime minister [Denys Shmyhal] ... ordered an immediate investigation into [the crash].... NATO chiefs of defense are gathering in Brussels for a two-day meeting focused on the war in Ukraine and Euro-Atlantic security." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's story on the helicopter crash, by Isobel Koshiw & Peter Beaumont, is here.
Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: "The Pentagon is tapping into a vast but little-known stockpile of American ammunition in Israel to help meet Ukraine's dire need for artillery shells in the war with Russia, American and Israeli officials say.... The United States has also allowed Israel to access the supplies in emergencies.... Israel has consistently refused to supply weapons to Ukraine out of fear of damaging relations with Moscow and initially expressed concerns about appearing complicit in arming Ukraine if the Pentagon drew its munitions from the stockpile." MB: Yes, because it would be a shame to "damage relations" with perhaps the world's most notorious war criminal.
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Reader Comments (21)
I think Santos wanted on the Hunter Biden Laptop committee, but
it was full, so he should try for the Gas Stove committee.
Actually, I think Republicans love the fact that they have a Santos.
They can do their dirty work in broad daylight while changing the
subject to "lookie what Santos is doing, or did you hear what Santos
just said?"
Forrest,
Normally, I’d agree with you but “normally” got on that train with Robert Johnson’s girlfriend: “When the train left the station, it had two lights on behind. The green light was my baby, the red light was my mind”. “Normally” and her brother “Normalcy” are in witness protection. R’s done shot up their house and they’re on the run.
The traitors don’t care about distractions and cover under which to persecute democracy, humanity, and ethics. They do whatever the hell they want now.
Case in point re: the defenestration of normal:
The House Oversight Committee, the organ that is being weaponized to attack government, due process, and anyone daring to investigate Republican perfidies, has been filled by My Kevin.
Its main members are Boebert, Gosar, and Greene. Sounds like a lawless firm.
Let’s see now…both CrazyTown natives Boebert and Greene were stripped of their committee assignments in the last real congress for violent rhetoric (see: shootings in NM for results if that sort of shit). Gosar is his own special brand of psychosis, being an election denier of the first water and a BFF to white supremacists.
Here he is coming to the defense of racist Holocaust denier and Trump pal, Nick Fuentes:
“The phony January 6th Committee’s partisan witch-hunt continues as they have now set their sights on young conservative Christians like Nick Fuentes. This is pure political persecution and it has to stop.”
Nice, huh?
Oh yeah, also on the newly sickened Oversight Committee is PA traitor Scott Perry, a co-conspirator in the plan to make Jeffrey Clark acting AG as part of Trump’s plot to cancel the election and declare himself king.
The blind, the crazy, and the violent. All on this committee. No normal here.
Will be wild, as the saying goes.
The Pretender will never face or admit it, but he's a victim of his own vaunted "style."
I remember musing some years ago on his so-called "transactional" leadership, which seemed to be a dignified way to say vacillating and unprincipled. If one is always reacting, he or she has no clear set of goals beyond self-preservation or aggrandizement. The transactional and the narcissistic go hand in hand.
When I wondered what type of person would find that style attractive, I concluded it was likely a case of like liking like. Who else would not reject the constant display of ignorance, pettishness, meanness and greed the Pretender offered?
My greatest disappointment during those long years was that there were so many Americans who did not.
But the base on which the Pretender built this political empire was always shaky because it was comprised of like reactive types like himself. Not on thought, not on theory or guiding principle; on the more fleeting and flimsy bases of emotion and feeling instead.
So the fickle. (another word for "transactional?") man who demands the constancy of loyalty from everyone else is finding his supporters were no less fickle than he.
The Pretender was their Flavor (the Savior) of the Month. They're now in the process of going on to something, someone else to pique their inconstant interest.
One more thought: By their very nature, because they are too tied to the emerging and fleeting interests of the moment, the transactionally inclined cannot govern successfully. Another synonym for transactional could be "chaos." Vide: The Republican House.
@Akhilleus: I just checked the "Full Committee" page of the House Oversight Committee, and it appears to have been intentionally left (mostly) blank. It lists only the committee chair, James Comer, whom I have now seen on the teevee, which allows me to speculate that he is a graduate in good standing of the Gym Jordan School of Etiquette & Fair Play. He likely would have been class valedictorian, but he wears a suit jacket when participating in official House binness, so he probably got a "C" in "Dressing for Success." The ranking member is Jamie Raskin. I feel so sorry for him. It's a shame the committee won't stay as blank at its page.
@Forrest Morris: Gosh, I forgot about the Subcommittee to Investigate the Biden Democrat Plot to Steal Patriotic Americans' Gas Stoves. Maybe My Kevin will put Boebert in charge, in which case I urge the teams breaking into houses in the middle of the night to cart away patriotic gas burners to wear bulletproof vests. (I do think My Kevin planned to put George Anthony on the subcommittee, but when he heard about George's plan to sell the stoves for scrap metal & pocket the proceeds, Kevin decided it would not be a good look if the radical-left East Coast media ratted on George.)
Attempted murder of political opponent by Party of Traitors gunman!
Oh, but wait…MSM sez BOTH SIDES!
Here’s Garrett Haake, Senior Capitol Hill reporter for NBC, talking on MSNBC…for a good part of the clip, there’s acknowledgment of the dangerous situation. Nicole Wallace of MSNBC begins with “…it’s not a whodunit. Donald Trump did it. Donald Trump did it. And Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, by letting him try it out after November, made all those people human targets for political violence.”
Okay so far, but then here’s Haake:
“The combination of that kind of political apocalyptic viewpoint and an attitude towards firearms that says we’re going to have them, we’re going to have a bunch. We’re going to carry them with us everywhere we go creates the environment where anybody you know, there are unstable people ALL ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM.”
No. No! NO!
This is just another attempt to give the traitors a break and say “Well, Democrats are just as bad.”
Okay, the Steve Scalise shooting. But that was years ago, by one guy. The NM shootings were by an official representative of the Republican Party—a candidate for office. The attack on the Capitol was triggered by the leader of the Republican Party. Republicans are sole owners of hysterical and violent rhetoric right now.
Doing the Both Sides tarantella is just what they want. Even in a report that points a finger directly at these criminals, there has to be an out for them so the reporter can say “Jeez…don’t blame me for attacking those nice Republicans. I said ‘both sides’, di’n I?”
So fucking tired of this.
Marie,
Ah yes, James Comer. A model of probity and decency, now chair of the Committee to Investigate All Things Democratic.
Here’s a little snippet of a longer piece on Comer’s astounding assholism in the Louisville Courier-Journal from 2018:
“U.S. Rep. Jamie Comer, who lost the 2015 GOP primary for governor by just 83 votes after a former girlfriend said he had hit her when they dated in college, is a bully.
Want proof?
In October — as rumors were swirling and just before a legislative staffer complained that she had been sexually harassed by Comer’s good buddy, House Speaker Jeff Hoover — a bizarre, vulgar, threatening, grammatically incorrect Twitter message was sent, targeting the chief clerk of the state House of Representatives.
‘Hey Brad, when the House finally fires your dumbass, (which will be very soon) for being a lazy dumb sh--, David Williams can help you find a job cleaning sh-- stains off the commodes in the Corner Pool Room in Burkesville. But I’m sure you won’t last long there because everyone hates you and you are dumb and lazy.’”
Don’t get what you want? Threaten people. You’re outed as a domestic abuser? Threaten people.
Just the guy to run this committee.
And Jamie Raskin? Christ. I feel for that guy. A good man surrounded by violent bullies and ignoramuses.
AK: I agree. What we have here is a complete breakdown of what, I suppose, we could call normal operations. These Congress critters were voted in by those who are aliened with their messages even though the signs of "off the charts bonkers" were front and center. When your own family makes videos pleading with voters not to vote for their father/brother because he's off his chump and dangerous, but wins anyway, then.... when others make videos depicting shootings/killings of democrats––-when a lout like Santos is parading around congressional floors pretending to be someone he isn't –-even his eye glasses might be fake––-then....
Marie's comment re: Santos and the scam he pulled on the dog story––
" It isn't just voters George scammed. It was a disabled vet and his deathly-ill service dog. This isn't funny anymore, is it?"
NO––-these are the people who will be responsible for fucking up our systems just like they have fucked up their own lives. Revenge is mine saith the crew that lords over the many.
The other difference is that Democrats condemned the Scalise shooting in no uncertain terms. Republicans may say the right things for a day or two or eventually, but they and their footsoldiers usually start hedging and playing to the conspiracists soon enough. Paul Pelosi's attack is a prime example of how they play to the crazies. Some condemned the attack, some promoted the lover conspiracy, some downplayed it because it was only a hammer or that the 82 year old man survived, or he wasn't truly one of their loonies. Muddy the water. And it was Pelosi's fault (just like the Capitol attack was) anyway for not having better security after all the violent rhetoric that the Right has lobbed her way over the years. But no one here condones the violence because that would be uncivilized.
@RAS: Right you are. The few GOP condemnations I've seen of the New Mexico shooters-for-hire conspiracy run along the lines of (if not word-for-word), "We condemn all violence." And even these mealy-mouthed condemnations of "violence" are often only in response to questions from reporters: that is, the Republicans didn't get out in front of the story; they reacted when backed up against a wall. And OF COURSE none of them said anything to condemn Donald Trump or any of the other prominent Republicans whose violent rhetoric inspired the actual violence, much less all the rest of them for claiming Democrats are "taking away out country. And your beautiful gas stove."
The reason Denmark wouldn't sell Greenland to Trump is the fact
that it is sitting on trillions of dollars worth or rare earth metals.
I'm surprised that China or Russia hasn't tried to take it over.
"worth of rare earth metals".
In other news, Texas Republican Senator Bob Hall wants food
containing material from aborted human fetuses "clearly and
conspicuously labeled" even though such products do not exist.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-republican-wants-food-made-
000321815.html
But what about food made from live-born babies? I need more
details since I have allergies and am on a diet.
Forrest,
I’m not sure a thank you is order, but…
Whackos braying about chopped up baby parts in food products made me think of something I’ve forgotten about since 8th grade:
Dead baby jokes. (Ghastly, I know, but pretty funny, at least the ones I vaguely remember.)
C’mon, I know you guys have heard them. Even back then though, no 12 or 13 year old kid was stupid enough to think stuff like that was real. It takes a Republican senator in 2023 to be that stupid.
Nope, we didn't have dead baby jokes when I was growing up.
Only had 'little moron' and 'knock knock' and a few raunchy
priest jokes, with my apologies to any Catholics here.
Forrest,
I’m a Catholic and I bet we had way more priest jokes than you guys growing up. The funniest were the confessional jokes.
Also had a lot of elephant jokes…not nearly as ghastly, or raunchy. But they probably piqued my interest in weak humor.
How can you tell an elephant has been in your fridge?
Footprints in the cream cheese.
What goes down but not up?
Elephant in an elevator.
Why do elephants have trunks?
They’d look funny carrying suitcases.
Ba-dum-bum. A lot less horrific than dead baby jokes.
Food labels. Several years ago, I was in the cheese section of the grocery store. There was an older woman, staring at a package of ordinary cheddar with a big GLUTEN FREE label in one hand, another without such a label in the other hand. She asked if I thought the unlabeled one was also gluten free. I told her that plain cheese has always been gluten free, and they could just as truthfully label it OCTOPUS FREE. She thanked me, though she seemed even more bewildered than before.
@Akhilleus & @NiskyGuy: Akhilleus' elephant jokes were amusing but the bewildered lady in NiskyGuy's grocery store made me laugh out loud.
However, I'll have to give NiskyGuy a "Mostly True" rating. Since gluten is a grain-based protein, it's true that natural cheese (with the exception of some bleu cheeses -- probably the ones made in the U.S.) -- which the lady may not have realized comes mainly from cows, goats & sheep, does not contain gluten. However, cheese products like fake American cheese, cheese spreads & of course vegan cheeses may contain wheat starch or wheat flour.
But wait…no octopus cheese? I’m thinking an inky sort of, disarming cheesy comestible. Or should that be re-arming? Multi-arming? I suppose octopus-less cheese, in certain neighborhoods of London might be considered ‘armless additions to the cheese and cracker party plate.
Sorry.
There's always Fromunda fromage and Schmegma schmears...
Sorrier.
Fromunda fromage? Head cheese? Jesus. As we used to say in college, “Only the smegma nose”.