;)
June 23, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
** Alan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal investigators descended on the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official, on Wednesday in connection with the department's sprawling inquiry into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to people familiar with the matter.... Mr. Clark was central to ... Donald J. Trump's unsuccessful effort in late 2020 to strong-arm the nation's top prosecutors into supporting his claims of election fraud. [MB: Not coincidentally,] "The law enforcement action ... came just one day before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol was poised to hold a hearing examining Mr. Trump's efforts to pressure the Justice Department after his election defeat. The hearing was expected to explore Mr. Clark's role in helping Mr. Trump bend the department to his will...." CNN's report, by Evan Perez, is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: CNN reported on-air that an ally of Clark's complained that the officials showed up at Clark's house in the pre-dawn & sent Mr. Clark out onto the street in his pajamas. Oh, what must the neighbors have thought? ~~~
~~~ Trump's Bad Day. Neal Katyal, BTW, said on MSNBC the raid was the worst news Trump got Thursday. The fact that the feds went in with a judge's order to collect electronic info shows they were looking for evidence of a conspiracy, that Clark was a target, and the person DOJ suspects him of conspiring with is Donald Trump. In addition, Katyal thinks it's like that, because of the importance of the raid, Merrick Garland signed off on it.
The Washington Post's live updates of matters related to the January 6 committee hearing is here. Update: the New York Times' live updates are here.
Annie Karni & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday moved a step closer to approving bipartisan legislation aimed at keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people, as a small group of Republicans joined Democrats to break through their party's blockade and bring what would be the first substantial gun safety measure in decades to the brink of passage. Fifteen Republicans, including Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, joined Democrats in a crucial test vote that paved the way for the Senate to pass the measure as early as Thursday. The 65-34 vote more than cleared the 60-vote threshold needed to break a Republican filibuster, shattering a three-decade-long string of failures on gun-related legislation. One Republican Senator was absent."
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday said Americans generally have a right to carry a handgun outside the home for self-defense and that a New York law requiring special need for such a permit is too restrictive. The vote was 6 to 3, with Justice Clarence Thomas writing for the majority and the court's three liberals in dissent.... In dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote: 'Many States have tried to address some of the dangers of gun violence ... by passing laws that limit, in various ways, who may purchase, carry, or use firearms of different kinds. The Court today severely burdens States' efforts to do so.' Enacted more than a century ago, New York's law requires those who want to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense to show a specific need for doing so. Its 'proper cause' law is similar to regulations in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Hawaii and Massachusetts." MB: As contributor Ken W. once asked, "Uh, what about the 'well-regulated militia' thing?" (Paraphrase. I expect he said it better.)
Matt Richtel & Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered Juul to stop selling e-cigarettes on the U.S. market, a profoundly damaging blow to a once-popular company whose brand was blamed for the teenage vaping crisis. The order affects all of Juul's products on the U.S. market, the overwhelming source of the company's sales. Juul's sleek vaping cartridges and sweet-flavored pods helped usher in an era of alternative nicotine products among adults as well, and invited intense scrutiny from antismoking groups and regulators who feared they would do more harm to young people than good to former smokers."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Today's January 6 Select Committee hearing is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm ET. ~~~
~~~ Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Donald Trump pressured top justice department officials to falsely declare that the 2020 election was corrupt and launch investigations into discredited claims of fraud as part of an effort to return him to office, the House January 6 select committee will say on Thursday. The panel investigating the Capitol attack is expected at its fifth hearing to focus on how Trump abused the power of the presidency to twist the justice department into endorsing false election claims -- and potentially how the Republican congressman Scott Perry sought a pardon for his involvement."
Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "In the past 24 hours, there has been an uptick in the number of violent threats against lawmakers on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and all lawmakers on the committee are likely to receive a security detail, according to three people involved with the investigation.... Over the weekend, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) revealed a letter addressed to his wife that threatened to execute them and their 5-month-old baby. He warned that the political violence of Jan. 6, 2021 was not an aberration but a consequence of his party's repeated lies.... Committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has been flanked with a security detail since last year, and has been unable to hold large, publicized campaign events, in part due to security concerns, according to aides."
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader, chose last summer to withdraw all of his nominees to the [January 6 select] committee -- amid a dispute with Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her rejection of his first two choices -- a turning point that left the nine-member investigative committee without a single ally of Mr. Trump. Mostly in private, Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump have complained for months that they have no insight into the inner workings of the committee as it has issued dozens of subpoenas and conducted interviews behind closed doors with hundreds of witnesses. But the public display this month of what the panel has learned -- including damning evidence against Mr. Trump and his allies -- left some Republicans wishing more vocally that Mr. Trump had strong defenders on the panel to try to counter the evidence its investigators dig up." ~~~
~~~ Marianna Sotomayor, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump has said privately for months that [Kevin] McCarthy's decision to pull pro-Trump Republicans from sitting on the Jan. 6 select committee was a mistake, one that has become clearer as Trump watches the hearings that are working to build the case that he should be criminally charged for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. According to a close adviser..., Trump has made it clear to anyone who will listen that 'there's no one to defend me' on the days before, during or after the hearings. The blame is falling squarely on McCarthy's shoulders, according to some Republican congressional aides and advisers close to the former president."
Manu Raju & Morgan Rimmer of CNN: "Rep. Mo Brooks -- one of the Republican lawmakers facing calls from the January 6 committee to testify about his interactions with ... Donald Trump -- said Wednesday that he is willing to testify but only in public. 'My basic requirement is it be in public so the public can see it -- so they don't get bits and pieces dribbled out,' the Alabama Republican said. He also said he'd testify only about matters related to January 6, 2021, and wants to see copies of any documents beforehand that the panel may ask him about. Even though the House select committee announced subpoenas for Brooks and four other Republicans last month, he had yet to be served with one because he had been campaigning for the GOP Senate nomination in Alabama. Brooks lost in a runoff Tuesday night." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, this is ironic. Trump is complaining that there is no one at the hearing to defend him. Now it appears that Brooks, whom Trump screwed over by withdrawing his endorsement of Brooks' Senate bid, might be the one person who could appear before the committee & defend Trump.
Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: "Weeks before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) held a hearing on election fraud in an attempt to legitimize ... Donald Trump's false allegations of voting irregularities. Four days before the attack on the Capitol, Johnson signed a statement with nine other Republican senators that they intended to object to certifying Joe Biden's electors and demand 'an emergency 10-day audit of the election.' This week, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot revealed that Johnson's chief of staff tried to deliver to Vice President Mike Pence a slate of fake electors backing Trump, raising questions about the Wisconsin Republican's role in a deliberate and coordinated plan to block Biden's win and give Trump the presidency. The disclosure also underscores the extent of Johnson's role as one of Congress's most prominent election deniers and Jan. 6 apologists -- spreading conspiracy theories about rigged votes and playing down the severity of the violent assault on the Capitol as mostly 'peaceful,' while floating the idea that it might have been an inside job by the FBI. Johnson, who is up for reelection this year, has been dogged by scandals and controversial statements since aligning himself with Trump."
Benjamin Siegel & Katherine Faulders of ABC News: "After Thursday's hearing, the House Jan. 6 select committee will delay its final hearings for several weeks, a spokesperson confirmed to ABC News Wednesday.... Initially, the committee was expected to hold its sixth and seventh hearings by the end of June. But after Tuesday's session, members said they need more time to incorporate new information into their public presentations. Chairman Bennie Thompson said later 'at least two' are planned for next month starting the week of July 11, after the House returns from the Independence Day recess. But the panel has not ruled out adding even more hearings down the road."
I'll Vote for the Criminal Who Sicced Savage Terrorists on My Dying Daughter. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Rusty Bowers, the Arizona Republican House speaker who made national headlines describing his refusal to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election, has said he will vote for Trump again if he runs for president in 2024. 'If he is the nominee, if he was up against [Joe] Biden, I'd vote for him again,' Bowers told the Associated Press. 'Simply because what he did the first time, before Covid, was so good for the country. In my view it was great.'" MB: Definitely some loose screws between those ears.
Alan Feuer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Justice Department stepped up its criminal investigation of a plan by ... Donald J. Trump and his allies to create slates of so-called fake electors in a bid to keep Mr. Trump in power during the 2020 election, as federal agents delivered grand jury subpoenas on Wednesday to at least four people connected to the plan." Two of those subpoeanaed were associated with the Georgia Republican party, one with New Mexico & Arizona and one with Michigan. "This latest round of activity ... comes less than a month after an earlier round of grand jury subpoenas revealed that prosecutors were seeking information on any role that a group of pro-Trump lawyers might have played in the fake elector effort." The Hill's report is here.
Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal judge on Wednesday postponed the trial of five members of the extremist group Proud Boys after several defendants and prosecutors warned that the planned release of a public report and witness transcripts from the high-profile House investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack could upend preparations. U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly of Washington, D.C., said at a hearing he 'reluctantly' reached the decision to delay the scheduled Aug. 8 trial of former Proud Boys chairman Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio and four others on seditious conspiracy and other charges, but acknowledged strong concerns from prosecutors and defense lawyers that the House Select Committee investigating the breach may divulge key evidence that they have not seen."
Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department is asking a federal judge to probe possible financial relationships between members of the Oath Keepers accused of trying to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president and a nonprofit entity run by former Donald Trump attorney Sidney Powell that spread false election claims.... The unusual request follows media reports that Powell's nonprofit organization, Defending the Republic, has used some of the millions of dollars it has raised through spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election to pay legal fees for Oath Keepers members facing trial.... U.S. prosecutors asked the trial judge to ensure, in private if necessary, that counsel is complying with legal ethics that bar outside funding for legal defense unless the client gives informed consent.... Prosecutors expressed concern that Defending the Republic was discouraging plea deals...."
The 2024 Plot. Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, one of the nation's top political donors, gathered more than a dozen billionaires or their representatives over Zoom Friday to sound an alarm about the coming elections. 'MAGA leaders intend to use 2022 midterm wins to install Trump in 2024 regardless of the vote,' read a slide of the PowerPoint Hoffman presented to the group, which was obtained by The Washington Post. He was pitching some of the nation's wealthiest people on a doomsday idea that has become a growing obsession among the liberal donor community. Another slide ... laid out a step-by-step hypothetical scenario: Republicans win statewide offices in key battleground states in 2022 and then change state laws in 2023 to give legislatures control over presidential electors. After the next presidential election, they declare votes from urban centers 'tainted' and overrule the popular vote by sending their own slate of electors to Washington.... What's different about this new strategy is that a large portion of the 2022 efforts are actually aimed at 2024 -- attempting to block Republican 2020 election deniers from gaining power and potentially upending valid results in a presidential election year." ~~~
~~~ Marie: A conspiracy theory? Yes. Plausible? Yes.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Lydia DePillis of the New York Times: "With fuel prices near record highs, President Biden on Wednesday urged Congress to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax and give Americans 'just a little bit of breathing room,' even as the proposal faced dim prospects on Capitol Hill. In a speech from the White House, Mr. Biden asked Congress to lift the federal taxes -- about 18 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24 cents per gallon of diesel -- through the end of September, shortly before the fall midterm elections. The president also asked states to suspend their own gas taxes, hoping to alleviate the economic pain that has contributed to his diminishing popularity.... [Energy Secretary Jennifer] Granholm will also speak to oil company executives this week about lowering the price of gas. She did not specify how exactly the administration would ensure that savings from the suspension trickled down to consumers, rather than resulting in a profit for gas companies." This is an update of a story linked yesterday.
Jenny Vrentas of the New York Times: "As the N.F.L. was investigating his team for widespread workplace misconduct, the Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder directed a 'shadow investigation' to interfere with and undermine its findings, a Congressional committee found. At Snyder's behest, his legal team used private investigators to harass and intimidate witnesses, and created a 100-page dossier targeting victims, witnesses and journalists who had shared 'credible public accusations of harassment' against the team. The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a 29-page memo on Wednesday that detailed the findings of its eight-month inquiry into how the Commanders and the N.F.L. handled claims of rampant sexual harassment of the team's female employees. The report came ahead of a hearing where the league's commissioner, Roger Goodell, was expected to appear and face questioning." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ From a Washington Post liveblog: "Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, announced during a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday on the workplace of Washington's NFL team that the committee intends to issue a subpoena to compel the testimony of Commanders owner Daniel Snyder next week. Maloney's announcement came during a hearing in which NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told the committee that he did not recall the league being informed in 2009 of an allegations of sexual harassment and assault made against Snyder." Goodell testified he did not have the authority to remove Snyder. Snyder was a no-show for the hearing, what with his being on his yacht in France. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Colorado Congressional Race. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: Driven by fears of extremism and worries about what they see as an authoritarianism embodied in [Lauren] Boebert [R], thousands of Democrats in the sprawling third congressional district of Colorado have rushed to shore up her Republican challenger, State Senator Don Coram. [They are registering as independents so they can vote in the GOP primary.] Their aim is not to do what is best for Democrats but to do what they think is best for democracy.... The Colorado crossover voters are part of a broader trend of Democrats intervening to try to beat back the extremes of the G.O.P., in Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, Utah and elsewhere."
Florida. Marc Caputo of NBC News: "Andrew Gillum, the once-rising Florida Democratic star who narrowly lost the 2018 governor's race to Ron DeSantis, was hit with a 21-count federal indictment Wednesday for wire fraud, related conspiracy charges and making false statements. Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor, was charged along with his mentor, Sharo Lettman-Hicks, for fraudulently fundraising from 'various entities' between 2016 to 2019, according to a Department of Justice press release. The Justice Department said the two allegedly diverted some of the money to a company controlled by Lettman-Hicks, who fraudulently disguised the funds as payroll payments to Gillum." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times' story is here.
Georgia Senate Race. Amanda Terkel of the Huffington Post: In an interview Tuesday, Georgia's GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker said there were 52 states in the U.S. In criticizing a remark by Democrat Stacy Abrams, he said, "If you don't believe in the country, leave and go somewhere else," he said. "If it's the worst state, why are you here? Why don't you leave ― go to another? There's, what, 51 more other states that you can go to?" MB: Frankly, that makes me like Hershel better; I'll just assume he's including Puerto Rico & the District of Columbia. Always look on the bright side.
Missouri Senate Race. Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: "A senior investigative counsel on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection is leaving the committee to explore running for Missouri's U.S. Senate seat as an independent, according to four people familiar with his plans. Joh Wood, a former federal prosecutor who has worked closely with Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), started notifying committee staff this week of his plans to explore a run for office, according to these people. Wood ran the committee's 'gold team,' which examined ... Donald Trump's possible involvement in the siege on the U.S. Capitol, and appeared alongside lawmakers on the panel last week to question witnesses during the hearing focused on the pressure campaign targeting then-Vice President Mike Pence."
Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: Pete Arredondo, "the chief of the school district police force in Uvalde, Texas, was placed on administrative leave after the state's top police official faulted him for delaying the confrontation with a gunman at Robb Elementary School last month, the school district said on Wednesday.... The school district's superintendent, Hal Harrell, said in a news release that he had planned to 'wait until the investigation was complete before making personnel decisions.' But he said he ultimately made the decision to put the chief on leave because 'of the lack of clarity that remains and the unknown timing of when I will receive the results.'... A day before the school district's decision, Chief Arredondo was denied a leave of absence by the Uvalde City Council, to which he was elected shortly before the shooting. He has not appeared at public meetings since the attack and without the leave could be forced to relinquish his Council seat after three missed meetings.... As the Council signaled that it would deny Chief Arredondo's leave of absence, many in the crowd cheered and applauded."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates Thursday are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Thursday are here: "The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk -- Ukraine's two footholds in the eastern Luhansk region -- are the sites of 'hellish battles' against Russia, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said. Moscow's forces are gathering near a village south of Lysychansk that was captured this week, he said, in a possible attempt to cut off the remaining defenses there. Russian missile attacks continued to hit the rest of Ukraine, with strikes reported near Kharkiv in the north and Mykolaiv in the south.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continued his marathon of phone calls with European leaders, who are gathering on Thursday and Friday to discuss Ukraine's bid for European Union candidate status.... Ukraine will also be high on the agenda when the Group of Seven, an assembly of advanced economies, meets this weekend.... Austria, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands are resurrecting old coal plants after Russia reduced natural gas shipments to several European countries." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's summary report is here.
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Reader Comments (11)
“But the public display this month of what the panel has learned — including damning evidence against Mr. Trump and his allies — left some Republicans wishing more vocally that Mr. Trump had strong defenders on the panel to try to counter the evidence its investigators dig up.”
In other words, supporters of treason who would gum up the works, insist on lies, and harass and threaten witnesses.
Right.
One thing I’ll say for the committee, they are putting on quite a show. The hearings are brisk without being cursory, they’re long enough to cover important material, but not so drawn out as to lose the audience. The presentations are nicely planned with a dramatic ebb and flow, with well written interstitial remarks to provide context for listeners unfamiliar with the depth and breadth of Trump’s attempted government overthrow. This is nothing like Mueller’s slow reading of the Manhattan phone book.
But even for those of us who have carefully followed the tsunami of evidence, seeing and hearing this material collected and rendered in an efficient and compact manner so as to best parade the perfidy leading up to and encompassing the horrific events of January 6th, makes for a stunning display of the coordinated and unremitting lawlessness of Trump and his amoral, treasonous horde.
This style of dramatic portrayal of deceit and betrayal gives the lie to R claims that this is all old news of no interest to anyone. The Civil War is old news, but every year fifty new books on that conflict are published. And listening to clip after clip of the orange monster hectoring public officials, lying repeatedly, and tossing off threats of violence or jail time unless his schemes are supported properly amplifies the brazenness with which he and his thugs tried to blackjack the nation.
The committee members have clearly mastered the lessons of good dramatic writing: don’t bury the lede, know how to structure your presentation so the audience doesn’t get bored or lost, make your “dialogue” and “characters” compelling and memorable, include the necessary details and excise all nonessential and extraneous material. Keep it moving, build the tension, and make sure your audience gets the point of your story, in this case, Fatty and most of his co-conspirators need jail time.
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s installment. This is better than bingeing “Bosch”.
AK: Very nice rundown of these hearings––which by the way, the next one is TODAY. I, too, am most impressed and good that they are interviewing Republicans. I must mention one witness, Rusty Bowers, who did the right thing (see story above) but as M.B. mentioned, has some "loose screws between the ears." The tremble in his voice when he tells us that the Constitution was "divinely" executed and then proceeded with his story laced with obvious deeply religious convictions. The Saturday horror show in front of his house continues to this day and I wondered–––WHERE ARE THE POLICE? Finally at the end of his interview, when asked if he would vote for Trump again he tells us yes and praises the wonderful job Trump did before Covid hit. I waited–––was someone going to ask him exactly what that "wonderful" was? No––I suppose that answer was enough to make us realize that even someone like Rusty Bowers "can't quit" the man who is responsible for the agony people like Rusty have experienced.
The Rusty Bowers quote pretty much sums up what passes for serious Republican thought: The sure he's a crook, but he's my crook approach to governance.
Sums it up, following Marie's lead about his sanity, I'd say-- in a nutshell.
More seriously, you'd (as in you sane person) would think that the deep moral failings so evident (an attempt to steal a presidential election for Goodness Sake!), based as they are on absolute selfish disregard for others, would cause one to question many other things a person had done or would wish to do...
But no. Mr. Bowers and his fellow Republican moralists miss the point by stopping before they get to it. The entire Republican approach to governance and life in general is selfish. It's an I got mine; you can go hang philosophy. The Pretender was no exception. He was just more obvious about it.
In Republican world no one and no thing is safe from predation. Everything outside their gated communities where the only people who count live, is at risk, is a potential victim of Republicans who want to control them at all levels of their lives.
Their health, their finances, whom they love. And that urge to control everything extends far beyond the human world. Under such self-centered Republican aegis, the entire planet and all that lives upon it shudders.
All the evidence tell us that modern Republicanism is, simply put, selfish and autocratic.
Good thinking Rusty.
HOW WE CAME TO BELIEVE IN GUNS:
To continue with the word of God: The following essay by Peter Manseau, author of 10 books on religion and history.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/23/opinion/uvalde-evangelicals-guns.html?smid=url-share
"The problem is not guns, it's hearts without God." Gov. Greg Abbott
"We are in business, we believe, to be a supporter of the Gospels." Daniel Defence's founder.
PD and Ken,
The problem with R’s like Bowers who talk God and Jesus in one breath and praise a narcissistic crime lord in the next is trying to figure out where the sincerity lies. Are they true adherents of the religion they claim is paramount in their lives, a religion that promotes, at least nominally, love, kindness, turning the other cheek, serving the poor, the hungry, the downtrodden, or are they unquestioning supporters and enablers of a vicious monster who stuffs babies in cages, destroys families, lies, cheats, steals, and puts others lives at risk to satisfy his personal thirst for power?
You can’t be both. If you support Trump, then your claims of religious belief go out the window.
But they all do. Even after clear and present danger of such a selfish prick is made startlingly obvious.
I think the answer has to do with a willful blindness. The “he’s a vicious monster, but he’s our vicious monster” excuse is certainly in play, but so is the thirst for absolute power over everyone else. Trump puts theocrats on the Supreme Court who smite their enemies. He gasses BLM protesters to stand in front of a church for a photo op (a racist/Jesus two-fer!). He talks the talk, he confirms their belief that they are constantly under attack from the heathens who want them dead. This contrived existential threat gives them all the cover they need to side with such a beast.
But, as I say, in this equation, god and Jesus—and their loudly professed religious virtue—always take a back seat to lust for power, anger, hatred, white supremacy, and violence.
Nuff said.
Conspiracies and Theories
You can take many conspiracy theories, put ‘em to some basic tests, and almost immediately run into serious problems, the biggest being complete lack of even the tiniest sliver of evidence.
To wit: “Aieee! Biden and the Demycraps are coming to take all our guns!!”
No. Sorry. No one says anything even close to that. Background checks and restricting assault weapons do not equal “taking all the guns”. Get a brain, moran (as one winger once out it).
Now the theory laid out above concerning the R plans for grabbing control of elections by getting state officials to discount official ballots supporting a Democrat and installing a Republican, say, Trump, who lost the election, in the White House?
Not only is there evidence of such a plan, it almost happened. There is, in fact, a mountain of evidence, including witness statements proving that just such a conspiracy was actively pursued (and still being pursued) by Party of Traitor officials.
Conspiracy? Yes. Purely theoretical? No.
@Akhilleus: For the Christianists, it does look like it's Trump first, Jesus way second. Let's say an evangelical Christian truly believes this is "a Christian nation," so he thinks Trump's attempt to end Muslim immigration is what Jesus would do. Let's say an evangelical Christian truly believes this is a "white Christian nation," so he thinks Trump's efforts to end Central & South American immigration is what Jesus would do. (Ditto English as the one-and-only "American" language.)
But there's nothing in the Christian Bible to suggest that Jesus would condone Trump's lying, corruption & essential immorality, much less his dismantling our so-called democracy. Bowers testified that he believed the Constitution was "divinely inspired." Nothing divinely inspired about ripping said doc into little pieces & tossing it down the golden toilet.
I recognize that we often have to hold our noses when we vote. Lots of Republicans held their noses & voted for Richard Nixon before they knew much, if anything, about Watergate and nothing about Nixon's direct connection to it. Many of those voters probably thought Nixon was kind of shady, but they liked his policies better than his opponents'. I get that. But Trump -- in 2016 & even more so in 2020 -- was known to be a lying, immoral, corrupt monster. And the English-speaking, white Christian nation folks voted for him on Tuesday and went to church the next Sunday to reaffirm their piety. There's no excuse for voting for him in 2024, and for Bowers to commit to doing so after Trumpist thugs have repeatedly threatened and harassed his family & him (every weekend for a year-and-a-half now, according to his testimony) is unfathomable to me.
Every time I begin to feel an once of pity for a Republican who has been targetted by Donald Trump I get to the end of the story and find out that they would love to inflict the corruption and cruelty on the rest of us all over again. You are right Marie, it is unfathomable to support and promote a man that has personally caused these people so much harm. Bowers dying daugther was put in distress because of the Trumpers calling for her father's head. That was not a bridge too far, and frankly I don't think anything will be. They believed that Trump's first term was divinely inspired and they will all believe that Jesus wants them to vote for him again in 2024. And if Mr Bowers finds himself being hunted again in the future because Trump targetted for some perceived slight that will also just be the will of God.
RAS,
It's fundamental Republican irresponsibility. Whatever they do, no matter how selfish, anti-democratic or mean, it's not their fault.
Its ordained by a higher power.
"Its ordained by a higher power."
Or as they say all day, everwhere in Islamic countries - "Inshallah." (God willing).
More and more people (as DiJiT might say) are beginnig to see the similarities between Islamic states and American Nationalist X-ian Fundies. If God wills what you want to do, Just Do It!