tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27615828410024816432024-03-13T06:47:25.820-04:00The Midnight ReviewModerate commentary on politics, business, and current events.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-40570539917514674092024-03-12T15:03:00.006-04:002024-03-12T15:05:36.092-04:00Biden Can’t Divert Appropriated Funds When Trump Can <p>In another example of the consequences of conservative court packing and the appointment of hyper-partisan or inexperienced judges, a Trump-appointed federal judge had recently ruled against the Biden administration for diverting funds, which is interesting because when Donald Trump, President Biden’s insurrectionist predecessor, also diverted funds the conservative majority on the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of the Trump administration raiding appropriated money.</p>The Constitution says, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in Consequence of Appropriations made by law.”<div><br /></div><div>The Supreme Court used a provision allowing the Trump diversion because after Democrat-controlled congress voted for funding, and Trump signed that bill into law, a day later Trump then declared an emergency to start taking essential military funding to pay for his pet projects on the border. </div><div><br /></div><div>The lower courts in that case had ruled against Trump, pointing to the law in question stating that Trump could not take already appropriated funds because the only allowable circumstances would be “based on unforeseen military requirements ... and in no case where the item for which funds are requested has been denied by the Congress.”</div><div><br /></div><div>So one would think that Biden was okay to also divert funds, right?</div><div><br /></div><div>Wrong!</div><div><br /></div><div>Trump Judge Drew Tipton claimed the suing states, Texas and Missouri (which is not a southern border state) has proven they have suffered damages from Biden’s diversion because they have given out drivers licenses or provided education or healthcare to undocumented migrants. </div><div><br /></div><div>So to be clear, it is okay when Trump takes money from the military to protect the whole of America but if an undocumented immigrant wants to drive then that is not allowed.</div><div><br /></div><div>Just another instance of blatant conservative partisan hypocrisy.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-71103187026664132642023-12-20T09:12:00.004-05:002023-12-20T09:12:27.492-05:00One of DeSantis’ Hypocrisies<p>Ron DeSantis , Florida right wing governor and presidential candidate had recently commented on the Colorado Supreme Court’s removal of twice-impeached former president Donald Trump from the Republican primary ballot. </p><p> “The Left invokes ‘democracy’ to justify its use of power, even if it means abusing judicial power to remove a candidate from the ballot based on spurious legal grounds. SCOTUS should reverse,” he wrote on a post on X.</p><p>Interesting considering DeSantis prides himself and actively boasts on his removal of duly elected officials across his own state, some which have already been deemed unconstitutional from the courts. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-67711851278574279802023-12-19T06:09:00.004-05:002023-12-19T06:09:32.460-05:00Trump: Immigrants “Poison the Blood”<p>Donald Trump did his best Adolph Hitler impersonation recently and as CNN’s Abby Phillips noted, GOP Representative Nicole Malliotakis tried to spin Trump’s statements saying that immigrants were “poisoning the blood of our country” by insisting that’s not what he really meant and that Trump was implying they really poison America with their “democratic policies.”</p><p>While that is definitely not what Trump was saying, and keep in mind reports that Trump’s ex-wife Ivana Trump claimed in 1990 that he kept speeches of Hitler beside his bed, there is also some other subtext here - Republicans believe immigrants are Democrats. </p><p>This is nothing new but it explains renewed pushes against immigration policy at a time when elections are determined by a handful of votes. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-81051908662620279062023-10-28T12:22:00.001-04:002023-10-28T12:23:10.683-04:00Speaker Johnson : Biden Heaven Sent<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNimnhvH1BOQwYVF4M1q-i0HjzZPv2UIX1QdhxKA9cq9td5KBOt4MhJESwpe8Y8jtUQ8jkfq1-AEE-IxUTUuE3TgxYB13wO0lIatfJC3wUw4kXLkv1vtb9FaaQW2_dgbW7zuGn09dy07FocMhveSFQqD3_f81WZ4Vmz2F8ZBoy45y63SobQ_kNodtRtlTX/s1669/IMG_2766.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1669" data-original-width="1264" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNimnhvH1BOQwYVF4M1q-i0HjzZPv2UIX1QdhxKA9cq9td5KBOt4MhJESwpe8Y8jtUQ8jkfq1-AEE-IxUTUuE3TgxYB13wO0lIatfJC3wUw4kXLkv1vtb9FaaQW2_dgbW7zuGn09dy07FocMhveSFQqD3_f81WZ4Vmz2F8ZBoy45y63SobQ_kNodtRtlTX/s320/IMG_2766.jpeg" width="242" /></a></div><br />According to the newly elected Christian Nationalist House Speaker Mike Johnson, “Hod is the one that raises up those in authority.”<p></p><p>He had then added “All of us.”</p><p>That would seemingly include the duly elected American President Joe Biden - Johnson would either be agreeing that God had delivered Biden to be president OR he believes the infallible god of his faith to be wrong. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-9741026928242079802023-09-24T06:02:00.002-04:002023-09-24T06:02:39.239-04:00Lauren Boebert Caught Lying About Public Indecency <p>Conservative darling Lauren Boebert has recently made the news for getting kicked out of a performance of “Beetlejuice” for disorderly conduct. </p><p>As the story goes, Boebert was on a date at the musical being very loud and animated while vaping. A pregnant woman had asked the congresswoman to please stop and Boebert had refused. The venue’s staff had to intervene and escort the couple out where Boebert could be seen giving the middle finger to security while using profanity as she left the building. </p><p>When the news of this situation broke, Boebert denied any and all wrongdoings and claimed she didn’t do anything wrong. That is when high definition video of the theater was released showing the congresswoman ignore the health of pregnant woman (and unborn child), Boebert also could be seen on camera violating all of the theater’s <a href="https://www.artscomplex.com/plan-your-visit/permitted-prohibited-items">policies</a>.</p><p>There was video of Boebert vaping and using flash photography as she caused a ruckus. The video also showed the right wing conservative groping her date (who also owns gay nightclubs) in public. While this may not be as big of a deal as the other things mentioned, it is quite hypocritical being that the congresswoman has made it part of her mission to fight against the rights of women, transgender, and gay Americans.</p><p>So did Boebert apologize for her actions?</p><p>Not really.</p><p>Remember. She only fessed up to her actions once camera footage was released. And even then she just said she was being animated and lively at a good performance ignoring that a pregnant woman kindly asked her to stop doing only one thing in her presence. And more recently she gave yet another non-apology.</p><p>“<span style="font-family: ProximaNova;"> It’s been 20 years since I was in the dating scene, and back then, there were not </span><a class=" js-entry-link cet-internal-link" data-vars-item-name="infrared" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-position-in-subunit="8" data-vars-subunit-name="article_body" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-target-content-id="https://www.huffpost.com/topic/infrared" data-vars-target-content-type="feed" data-vars-type="web_internal_link" data-vars-unit-name="650eef21e4b018d0253a0cd7" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" href="https://www.huffpost.com/topic/infrared" role="link" style="box-shadow: rgb(0, 90, 255) 0px -1px 0px inset; color: #005aff; font-family: ProximaNova; text-decoration: none; transition: background-color 0.3s;" target="_blank">infrared</a><span style="font-family: ProximaNova;"> cameras I’m watching my every move” Boebert said in an interview.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: ProximaNova;">And as it was pointed out, she only admitted to doing what she initially lied about <i>after </i>video was released, meaning she would have continued to lie without that ever coming to light.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-88317426994942816742023-09-01T20:41:00.006-04:002023-09-01T20:46:56.707-04:00Ron DeSantis Flip Flops On Biden Disaster Tour<p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">A couple of weeks ago disaster struck Hawaii with a massive wildfire that destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina. At that time President Biden was on a weekend getaway with his family at Lake Tahoe. That didn’t stop Ron DeSantis from trying to score political points with the Republican base during the heated primary season. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">'”You know, just a thought experiment: If we had a </span>Republican <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">president, who in the midst of these fires and their aftermath, decided not to go engage to help the victims, but to go sit on the beach, what would the media say if they tried to do that?' DeSantis said. </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">It did not matter that Biden was actually visiting Maui and touring the site at that exact moment DeSantis commented. He wanted to prove that during a disaster, as president he would do better. </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Fast forward a couple weeks and DeSantis is facing a disaster of his own with a historic hurricane barreling through his own state of Florida. President Biden has offered full support of the federal government for Florida, much like he did for Hawaii. But did DeSantis clamor to have Biden visit his home state?</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">No. </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">DeSantis had his spokesperson claim a presidential visit would be too disruptive. </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(105, 109, 112);"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">“The security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts,” said a spokesperson for the governor.</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(105, 109, 112);"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">So to be clear, when it didn’t impact DeSantis he was perfectly fine attacking the president for not immediately visiting a disaster site… but when it comes to his own state facing a problem now he is concerned with security precautions bogging down recovery efforts. </span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(105, 109, 112);"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">DeSantis was surely putting politics first since on the stage of the first Republican debate political neophyte Vivek Ramaswamy attacked fellow candidate Chris Christie for greeting then-President Obama after the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. At the time, being seen with the president, even during a disaster, was political fodder for Republicans and apparently it still is.</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(105, 109, 112);"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Sad.</span></span></p><p><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(105, 109, 112);"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-79143511826397591122023-07-27T14:18:00.002-04:002023-07-27T14:18:18.920-04:00Mitch McConnell Medical Episode at Press Conference<p>On July 26th, 2023 Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had a medical episode while delivering a press conference. McConnell stopped speaking and stood motionless as he stared into the distance, not even blinking. Those around the senator looked worried as they led him off to the side while he looked confused. This unknown medical emergency follows reports of numerous falls by the 81-year-old and while the senator’s team claimed everything was alright and McConnell was as sharp as ever. </p><p>While McConnell’s condition remains unknown there have been talks about the senator resigning early - his term does not end for another few years. </p><p>But what happens if he steps down? How does he get replaced? </p><p>Well the governor of Kentucky is Democrat Andy Beshear. The state legislature is overwhelmingly Republican. Originally the governor had the power to fill any vacancies but state republicans, in an effort to curb the governor’s authority and prevent any opposing political party from gaining power, they passed a veto-proof bill, bill 228, that forces the governor to appoint a member of the party of the vacating senator. In this case it would be a republican. </p><p>Governor Beshear should opt to let the voters decide and refuse to appoint any replacement for McConnell, should he resign or die, just like what McConnell did to President Obama in refusing to even consider Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-68053877837437097462023-03-30T12:13:00.001-04:002023-03-30T12:13:13.667-04:00Disney Makes Itself HOA Of Reedy Creek. Republicans Miffed. <p> If you haven’t been aware or have been living under a rock for the last year, there had been a huge conflict brewing in Florida between the state government (primarily Republicans in the legislature and Republican Governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis) and Disney, the entertainment giant and one of the largest employers of the state and draws for the local economy. </p><p> While Republicans are the self-proclaimed party of pro-business and free speech, they got a little upset when Disney responded unfavorably towards a new law Republicans passed that was dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law due to its restrictions on speech in the classroom regarding such topics that deal with LGBTQ matters. Republicans responded by launching a special session of the legislature and rushing a bill to law that stripped Disney (and only Disney) of their special governing status. Other like districts that majority share with the state government did not see their status revoked, like the massive retirement community The Villages.</p><p> Upon their hastily put together attack on Disney it was discovered that Republicans did not consider the consequences of their actions punishing Disney and their law would instead saddle Central Florida residents with a huge tax burden. So republicans went back to work and made a new plan, fleshing out their first law renaming the district and with the governor making political appointments to the oversight board under the guise of managing a runaway company.</p><p>But Republicans missed something.</p><p> While they were quickly drafting legislation to punish the entertainment industry giant they were unaware that Disney made a deal with the previous governing body of Reedy Creek that essentially gave Disney discretion over how the properties can operate within the area.</p><p>They essentially neutered the new governing board. The State was upset because as their board put it, they can only really be responsible for infrastructure maintenance. Anything else would require Disney’s approval. </p><p>Essentially Republicans are mad because Disney made themselves the homeowners’ association (HOA) of Reedy Creek and now Republicans are upset that a private entity can become a quasi government and operate without interference from the state. Property owners in Florida are well to aware of how HOAs operate. Now Republicans are facing reality and it sounds like there is nothing they can do - their official position is that the contract made under Florida law is null and void because… because they say it is.</p><p>The governing board and state Republicans have no legal response to the move because they had been out maneuvered. The lawyers contracted by the board seem to admit that to fight this would require much more legal representation because they are outgunned and from all appearances it seems Disney used existing law to make a legal (if not frustratingly unfair) deal with the government of that time and Republicans in their rush and diminished debate failed to realize all possible outcomes.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-50610025144651018502023-02-24T21:08:00.003-05:002023-02-24T21:08:38.198-05:00Trump Staff Uploaded Classified Documents to Cloud<p> Last year the Department of Justice took unprecedented measures to retrieve classified documents from former President Donald Trump after months of back and forth negotiations and delays from the reluctant disgraced politician. </p><p>As the story unfolded there had been various developments, from Trump requesting and receiving a Special Master to the case after judge shopping for one of his friendly appointees to having that Special Master dismissed on appeal by the DoJ. But in December it was revealed that more documents were found in Trump’s residence even after the DoJ searched during the summer. </p><p>How did they get there?</p><p>Many stories point to a variety of factors but one that stood out was that amateur staffers of the president were uploading documents to the cloud and that it was only discovered later that there were classified documents among the mixed up box of presidential records. Trump’s attorneys tried to minimize the discovery and dismiss it as an easily made mistake, being that the classified markings were “little” but all media agencies seemed to overlook the bigger story here - Trump’s staff was scanning and uploading classified documents to the cloud. </p><p>What purpose were they doing this for and who has access to the cloud storage where they uploaded these classified documents to?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-25788902871568970932022-10-03T12:09:00.002-04:002022-10-03T12:09:57.960-04:00Why Republicans Support Electoral Count Reform Act<p>Ever wonder why the bipartisan Electoral Count Reform act is, well, bipartisan?</p><p>Why is it backed by the cunning Mitch McConnell? Republicans in general?</p><p>If you think it is because Republicans care about electoral reform then you are wrong. If you think it is Republicans being Republicans and are playing Democrats for the fools they are then you may be correct. </p><p>While Republicans have torpedoed policies they have traditionally supported all in the name of politics, like most recently with Joe Manchin’s permitting reform bill, republicans inexplicably support a law that supposedly clears up some of the ambiguities of the original nineteenth century law. But if you look closely you may see why they are supporting this law - it really changes nothing. </p><p>While it does clarify the role of the Vice President, which was a central piece of one of the insurrection plot to keep a President Trump in power, it also makes some other notable changes that on the surface seem to fix some of the problems with the law. </p><p>For one it requires electors to follow state laws. Considering how Republicans are manipulating state elections, either through gerrymandering during the redistricting process or making it more difficult for Democratic voters to cast their ballot, pretty much ensuring their retention of power and thus the power to change those electoral laws electors must follow. </p><p>The big change to the law is not with the Vice President or state legislatures but with the ability for congress to make an objection. While previously a single congressman or senator could have raised objections to a states’ election results, now it would require 20 percent of the chamber to do the same. </p><p>Great, right?</p><p>Well considering that over 100 house Republicans objected to the election results, which would total to roughly half the republican caucus and more than the required amount under the new law, and this was all before Donald Trump solidified his power over the party, then it is pretty obvious that Republicans signed off on this law knowing they already meet the threshold for challenge. </p><p>So considering that they can probably get the twenty percent needed to challenge results, republicans also gained the benefit of clarification. Part of the original issue with the law was that there was ambiguity. Now republicans could theoretically challenge an election and claim that they are in the right because they fixed the law, and with help from the Democrats to boot! </p><p>Now you see why Republicans supported something Democrats wanted?</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-78560589699868953052022-08-15T08:19:00.000-04:002022-08-15T08:19:02.839-04:00Trump Uses Same Failed Excuse In Attempt To Get Documents Back<p>If you had not been living under a rock these last two weeks then you would know that twice-impeached former President Donald Trump had his Florida golf resort and home raided by the FBI in an attempt to retrieve over a dozen boxes of classified documents Trump took with him when he left office. </p><p>This unprecedented move by the FBI shouldn’t have come as a surprise. In February the National Archives picked up fifteen boxes of documents from Trump’s home. The Department of Justice was also seeking more documents and communicating with Trump’s lawyers to ensure there were none left. While Donald Trump insists that this raid was totally unfair because he was “cooperating,” keep in mind that his own legal team signed off saying there were no more classified documents, reportedly an informant tipped off the FBI that there were more documents that Trump and his team did not give back to the government. Trump may claim that he was cooperating because the department requested he get a lock and Trump complied, but that seemed more like the government having a suspicion there were classified and top secret documents in an unsecured facility and they wanted to make sure they were protected while they continued the legal process of getting them back, which they had been doing with a subpoena that Trump ignored. </p><p>This led to the raid. Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to not make the raid a spectacle. They waited for Trump to be out of town, operated quickly and professionally, and did not create a media presence, like when former FBI director James Comey made a press release prior to an election that he was reopening an investigation into former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. That leads to another complaint from Republicans- that a raid against a former president (who is not running for any political office at the moment) was too close to an election. The FBI followed current guidelines and waited before their self-imposed restrictions. </p><p>Trump and his allies have had a rotating barrage of attacks and excuses, ranging from he didn’t know what he took, he gave a blanket declassification to anything he touched, to now the tried and failed attorney-client privileged documents and executive privileged documents. </p><p>Considering he had been shot down on the executive privilege front numerous times, as a previous judge stated he was no longer president nor king, one could assume he and his legal team is prepping some kind of delay tactic by throwing everything and the kitchen sink at the courts. Compared to how the justice department spent months of negotiations, a subpoena, and a raid, one would suspect Trump would make an equally formal and official attempt, right?</p><p>Wrong.</p><p>Trump made a post on his knock off Facebook software where he was requesting his privileged documents back. Meanwhile Republicans still seek a narrative that sticks and while they do they continue to fan the flames of violence with their rhetoric. The party of “back the blue” is now calling to defund the FBI or repeal the Espionage Act because their leader got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and doesn’t want to let go of the cookie.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-373660639102310742022-04-22T17:14:00.007-04:002022-04-22T17:14:49.613-04:00DeSantis Screws Central Floridian TaxpayersThere was a recent headline in Florida (and the nation) when the Republican party of Florida and the governor retaliated against the state's largest employer for commenting against a recent bill dubbed by opponents as the "Don't Say Gay" bill. The Republican attack on the company, Disney, resulted in rewriting complex law in just 72 hours with no debate in which they essentially eliminated special districts such as the one that Disney kind of operates, Reedy Creek.<div><br /></div><div>By eliminating the district with no plan DeSantis and Republicans have essentially saddled taxpayer's in Orange and Osceola county with billions in debt and millions more in more tax liabilities and obligations with zero increased revenue. All this in the name of conservative cancel culture and their insistence that all of their political opponents are sexual predators and deviants grooming children.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there is probably another reason why Republicans don't care and a simple look at the electoral map would probably paint a better picture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKr9xLOxvebU1tCwyF_U2aCUB28jIeKvoQTaDNo6pC1bcI1JWOxhJxjznAqa8vGIyQZxPyx1BiwExLmUxMjqEBApl1Z7DISBzIlCgaRATbETbJuzaPgL_SFKllC75sIE9iuB-ZoFNHLiJ1-gnZ2CCRn-I6xrOGrqoC0QJ5a1-RjXVTdhSaaUPGTG_xtw/s720/Screenshot_20220422-170144.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="720" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKr9xLOxvebU1tCwyF_U2aCUB28jIeKvoQTaDNo6pC1bcI1JWOxhJxjznAqa8vGIyQZxPyx1BiwExLmUxMjqEBApl1Z7DISBzIlCgaRATbETbJuzaPgL_SFKllC75sIE9iuB-ZoFNHLiJ1-gnZ2CCRn-I6xrOGrqoC0QJ5a1-RjXVTdhSaaUPGTG_xtw/s320/Screenshot_20220422-170144.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>If you notice those blue sections in the middle (near Orlando), those are the affected counties from this deal. Politically speaking, if Republicans screw these voters and taxpayers they will suffer no political blowback. </div><div><br /></div><div>And speaking of temper tantrums, Governor DeSantis has also inserted the state of Florida into the hostile takeover of Twitter by worlds richest man Elon Musk, looking to sue Twitter for breaching their fiduciary duties simply because Florida state pensions held Twitter shares. This only begs the question - does the state pensions hold Disney shares?</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-78657161929364040952022-02-25T17:34:00.006-05:002022-02-25T17:34:51.101-05:00Expected Response To Biden SCOTUS Pick<p> It is no surprise that certain articles on Fox News allow various levels of interactivity. Some permit commenting while others do not. A recent article detailing the latest Supreme Court Justice selection of President Joe Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson, resulted in the usual attacks from the right but what was most surprising was the openness in which commenters peddled their racist insults.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinaQ-ro6m2JrldefCDH_XeUr_JqNpUEBDDt3gRlrFIQ0_L2r567t_BE6yGuMpR9jB6BRbgEZD5JASvFNfTraCPwaeutEzV6Gc0Nf5c7UtuFlsfY9hNdJNL7vUuTyuvlN8HPhCQsZkoaVjxQKiTmAqVxLHw2GQFz8QWHWqBX75h78TCidWcjTuxniFLUA=s1440" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinaQ-ro6m2JrldefCDH_XeUr_JqNpUEBDDt3gRlrFIQ0_L2r567t_BE6yGuMpR9jB6BRbgEZD5JASvFNfTraCPwaeutEzV6Gc0Nf5c7UtuFlsfY9hNdJNL7vUuTyuvlN8HPhCQsZkoaVjxQKiTmAqVxLHw2GQFz8QWHWqBX75h78TCidWcjTuxniFLUA=s320" width="160" /></a></div><p>Commenters felt comfortable commenting on ethnic-sounding names or that she only represents a small minority of the population but will rule on the entire nation. </p><p><br /></p><p>Oh the outrage!</p><p><br /></p><p>They were not outraged over Reagan promising to nominate a female so...</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-8314164585417598422021-12-26T10:52:00.002-05:002021-12-26T10:52:07.029-05:00Project Veritas Flip Flop On Press Freedoms<p><span> </span>Project Veritas has been in the news recently. A judge had recently ruled <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/24/opinion/project-veritas-new-york-times.html">against</a> the New York Times in a suit in which the New York Times had acquired information legally from a source that Project Veritas contested was privy to attorney-client privilege and release of such information should be restricted. The judge had ruled that the New York Times should hand over all data and destroy any copies. Project Veritas' lawyers had argued that not only did the memos in question fit a narrow exception in the law that would apply to the prior restraint doctrine but that the New York Times' journalists had an ethical obligation to turn over the information in the first place.</p><p><span> </span>This position by Project Veritas is very interesting since just a little over a month ago Project Veritas was in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-theft-c67b92e81eb295013ae42b5d4444b5dc">court</a> over an federal raid on Project Veritas' founder James O'Keefe's home as part of a criminal investigation into how the organization had gotten a hold of the stolen diary of President Biden's youngest daughter. In that case the group argued that First Amendment protected journalists' free speech rights in regards to the stolen diary and had wanted an independent monitor to review the seized material to see that it did not violate confidential communications with their lawyers. </p><p><span> </span>Kind of interesting that when the shoe is on the other foot and that in the New York Times case Project Veritas does not like the idea of others having their information. What makes this especially interesting is that the New York Times had claimed to have obtained their information legally, whereas Project Veritas seemed to inexplicably possess a stolen diary of the current American president. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-54088826823301935022021-09-14T14:37:00.001-04:002021-09-14T15:00:46.151-04:00Trump, Conservatives Reaching For Afghanistan Narrative<p>Ever since Joe Biden had been elected president by huge margins and by flipping a couple "red" states Republicans have been hard at work to find a line of attack. </p><p>Last month they think they found their opening - Afghanistan.</p><p>Despite attacking President Biden just weeks and months before the final withdrawal from the war torn country on the brink of collapse for delaying the withdrawal, as in not leaving quick enough, Republicans took the chaotic imagery of planes being swarmed by desperate Afghans as a optics gift from God. They had their new narrative - Biden bungled the end of the war.</p><p>They of course heaped tons of praise on Biden's predecessor, the disgraced Donald Trump, ignoring that the former president negotiated with the Afghan rebels (initially planning the deal around the anniversary of September 11th) where he legitimized our opponents, paved the way for a power sharing agreement with the Afghan government (our allies), and released 5000 prisoners back into the Taliban custody, many who returned back to the battlefield.</p><p>Oh yeah. Trump also removed all American troops, leaving just 2500 soldiers in the country by the time Biden took office.</p><p>Instead they claimed the Taliban were frightened under Trump, they attacked former president Barack Obama who engaged in a prisoner exchange with a few Taliban prisoners for one of our own American soldiers, blamed Biden for leaving Americans behind, complained about abandoning our Afghan allies in a bureaucratic immigration mess (that they designed), and that we just handed over billions of dollars of weapons to our enemies. </p><p>They failed to mention many other things, such as how the Afghan government collapsed overnight or the logistical nightmare of withdrawal when lacking any troop presence in a country increasingly surrounded by opposition forces. </p><p>Sure there could be some criticisms to be made and there should be some healthy analysis of the withdrawal process but it appears Republicans have taken armchair quarterbacking to a new level with their levels of dishonesty.</p><p>Take this post by Donald Trump touting a poll that shows a "plurality" of people blame Biden, not Trump for the problems overseas. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzxM4H7JJ4ui4AE320PO1FvZNUVKs-ozIC4yxemQOhlvgVwf4ewJNM57D9BBeZ-ZhRXCwS3dtRFRunF6vyrStaacv4ZSeDpJwSH1N401wMxdkT2BSzQWHLl6bM7fgvIjLY2TR_G9ERs5W/s891/Screenshot_20210913-202708.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWzxM4H7JJ4ui4AE320PO1FvZNUVKs-ozIC4yxemQOhlvgVwf4ewJNM57D9BBeZ-ZhRXCwS3dtRFRunF6vyrStaacv4ZSeDpJwSH1N401wMxdkT2BSzQWHLl6bM7fgvIjLY2TR_G9ERs5W/s320/Screenshot_20210913-202708.png" width="259" /></a></div><br /><p>Unlike many of the followers who chimed in attacking this administration's incompetence I followed the link to a poorly phrased Breitbart article.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3-lyZwOvYbj-AHO0mmSXXYbwiD_NXXERw-3MBrokNWglLz2gkrQFy2xU4b69eUYHlk82QpC2E1_jXcnJlEBvWMcoIoWnmh2sRq6xDd3d6PTce0Tout5Nqr0A3GF4FXyc_U6GZB7CTsAT/s1440/Screenshot_20210913-202545.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-3-lyZwOvYbj-AHO0mmSXXYbwiD_NXXERw-3MBrokNWglLz2gkrQFy2xU4b69eUYHlk82QpC2E1_jXcnJlEBvWMcoIoWnmh2sRq6xDd3d6PTce0Tout5Nqr0A3GF4FXyc_U6GZB7CTsAT/s320/Screenshot_20210913-202545.png" width="160" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Just check out how they conflate a whole bunch of information so it sounds bad for Biden:</p><p>"A plurality, or 43 percent, of all voters blame Biden for the situation from a domestic standpoint. A majority of Republicans, 64 percent, agree with that, as do 40 percent of independents and 28 percent of Democrats.</p><p>Across the board, 27 percent blame former President George W. Bush, 27 percent blame Congress, 25 percent blame former President Donald Trump, 24 percent blame former President Barack Obama, and 10 percent blame U.S. citizens. Notably, a plurality of Democrats, 38 percent, blame Trump.A plurality, or 43 percent, of all voters blame Biden for the situation from a domestic standpoint. A majority of Republicans, 64 percent, agree with that, as do 40 percent of independents and 28 percent of Democrats.
Across the board, 27 percent blame former President George W. Bush, 27 percent blame Congress, 25 percent blame former President Donald Trump, 24 percent blame former President Barack Obama, and 10 percent blame U.S. citizens. Notably, a plurality of Democrats, 38 percent, blame Trump."</p><p><br /></p><p>So what does the actual polling information say?</p><p>Here is what the actual source says:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGO0YTjxRQi_1ISqzsXnVjhq_WKJQHtyOXH6bzMo7l3Ax6y9ng94O1ieU_b7ieDxa0akVnhPnfzDa4pD6mkoW7LJJPUts6324gLfft3pW9zveMud2Zoqoc9ImuKSk3A9JjQtXZHhqNXKyW/s1440/Screenshot_20210913-202518.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGO0YTjxRQi_1ISqzsXnVjhq_WKJQHtyOXH6bzMo7l3Ax6y9ng94O1ieU_b7ieDxa0akVnhPnfzDa4pD6mkoW7LJJPUts6324gLfft3pW9zveMud2Zoqoc9ImuKSk3A9JjQtXZHhqNXKyW/s320/Screenshot_20210913-202518.png" width="160" /></a></div><br /><p>What?!</p><p>I thought Biden was to blame!</p><p>Should we delve more into what the primary source says about this?</p><p>You see this is why Breitbart bum rushed the reader with a whole bunch of numbers. 43 percent say Biden is bad? They don't even include Trump in that comparison until the end of the second paragraph and the figures are confusing. They make it sound like it is all part of the same question and so you mentally compare Biden's 43 percent to Trump's 25 percent! And how is it that second run of numbers don't even mention Biden.</p><p>Here is the content of that poll:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8MvKVIIkzFgGZpk7m7-8tNQ80WCHJMK7T1EwTC6m5PO8RzzWL-KO1PYIyaKP3yIVtvhTsl5-dFjlpvv9wcAtk4iRBUvEVOmoJaBEYsPJqFuuP4qPZXKGU8Um6WSY9ajxYx9UAfqE4QGq/s1440/Screenshot_20210914-142552.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE8MvKVIIkzFgGZpk7m7-8tNQ80WCHJMK7T1EwTC6m5PO8RzzWL-KO1PYIyaKP3yIVtvhTsl5-dFjlpvv9wcAtk4iRBUvEVOmoJaBEYsPJqFuuP4qPZXKGU8Um6WSY9ajxYx9UAfqE4QGq/s320/Screenshot_20210914-142552.png" width="160" /></a></div><br /><p>"A plurality of voters think President George W. Bush holds the most responsibility" for Afghanistan... </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFPAU07ondWbval7S0Mavkx_lxaAt6AyL9Do0SPrnMFgsiw3p2wUgZ4mHKofvSu8g1TJR4QbsFKmB9r3uCeEagfhMzLPtJCZXdCAmIJsVLz1U_0bf0xmpuRWCb4B35EKvXysV723EYUW-/s720/Screenshot_20210914-142552%257E2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="720" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFPAU07ondWbval7S0Mavkx_lxaAt6AyL9Do0SPrnMFgsiw3p2wUgZ4mHKofvSu8g1TJR4QbsFKmB9r3uCeEagfhMzLPtJCZXdCAmIJsVLz1U_0bf0xmpuRWCb4B35EKvXysV723EYUW-/s320/Screenshot_20210914-142552%257E2.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>But Trump said a plural of voters blamed <i>Biden</i> for the happenings overseas. </p><p>Obviously they are on to some messaging wins here, as less Americans do blame Trump less so obviously they will run with anything to try and drive those numbers more in their favor.</p><p>This is nothing new with propagandists like Breitbart, who only a couple of weeks ago had a similar "plurality" post, in which they cited a survey that blamed Biden. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqn8CYZ87oKjLj0U1VI0UAE6sW1cx9ALbgvbhBlUhAYppG4K0AtcFDcyJxe8C9iy5ggYBRvTBOmCVDaqe6gGduhRwHHzgpMcHH0n2kWarovhTyE7ZUpuyBh3E8C-jRxY_ukC9pAi6ASzp/s1440/Screenshot_20210914-142359.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqn8CYZ87oKjLj0U1VI0UAE6sW1cx9ALbgvbhBlUhAYppG4K0AtcFDcyJxe8C9iy5ggYBRvTBOmCVDaqe6gGduhRwHHzgpMcHH0n2kWarovhTyE7ZUpuyBh3E8C-jRxY_ukC9pAi6ASzp/s320/Screenshot_20210914-142359.png" width="160" /></a></div><p>That <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2021/08/19/afghanistan-withdrawal-blame-polling/">survey</a> of course stated that while Biden was responsible, a majority of Americans agreed with the decision. </p><p>So again, we are a progression of this narrative that Biden is somehow worse then Trump and these lies only feed into this. Trump and company lie about this only helps drive the wedge, which is indicated by the gap in opinions based on political affiliation.</p><p>So basically, Republicans have taken to the saying that if you repeat a lie enough times people will start to believe it as fact.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-38747954961811898502021-07-17T07:22:00.002-04:002021-07-17T07:22:31.190-04:00Daniel Webster Doesn't Understand Capitalism<p> Central Florida representative Daniel Webster recently posted on Facebook some startling statistics but provided zero context for them leaving it up to his supporters to figure out what he was implying.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbM_cps-JUWWIT14JHYgdZ-C7zVraywm7wPxhyphenhyphencYdRoB_n6G33te2OFTZ6agjbzQFmK_DXie2VsqcKlxmlLd6gNI2129kslFE8h7DrIvz6jiuB0MxKGDE-uIQO0vmTKf8j2JzlFGR94kW/s704/Screenshot_20210717-070339%257E2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="704" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbM_cps-JUWWIT14JHYgdZ-C7zVraywm7wPxhyphenhyphencYdRoB_n6G33te2OFTZ6agjbzQFmK_DXie2VsqcKlxmlLd6gNI2129kslFE8h7DrIvz6jiuB0MxKGDE-uIQO0vmTKf8j2JzlFGR94kW/s320/Screenshot_20210717-070339%257E2.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>If you couldn't figure it out, Webster was trying to imply that these recent price increases are some result of the Biden administration's policies. </p><p><br /></p><p>Seems like a simple connection to make but it is incredibly wrong. Correlation does not mean causation but Webster's conservative fans did not disappoint. There were a string of posts blaming Biden, blessing former twice-impeached president Trump, and even some that seemed to support the Big Lie and hope for a reinstatement of the former administration.</p><p><br /></p><p>What these posts (and Webster) ignore are the simple facts of capitalism.</p><p><br /></p><p>You see, last year during the mismanagement of the pandemic, as the tourism industry tanked car rental companies resorted to selling their fleets to stay afloat. There had also been impacts on car production due to decreased demand from a slowing economy as well as a semiconductor shortage.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fast forward a year and businesses are starting to open back up and people are beginning to travel again. But what about those car rental companies that sold all their cars? They need to get cars from somewhere so they have resorted to purchasing cars from the used market.</p><p><br /></p><p>So what does this mean?</p><p><br /></p><p>If there is a new car shortage and you have a bunch of companies buying up used cars, that would apply upward pressure to the price of new cars. That would explain the 45% increase Webster referenced. And the 88% increase in rental prices? How else are these companies going to afford their acquisitions to stay in business?</p><p><br /></p><p>And as for the gas prices?</p><p><br /></p><p>For one, Webster provides zero reference as to what this increase is from. Last week? Last month? Last year?</p><p><br /></p><p>Again, all fingers can point to the pandemic. Remember when oil prices crashed last year as the world wide economy shut down? You can imagine the impact that had on the price of gasoline. Now that economies are opening up and people are beginning to travel it is only natural prices would increase. And let us not forget that this is also the summer month where people traditionally vacation.</p><p><br /></p><p>But Webster would rather fuel partisan hatred for the benefit of his own party and himself. Or perhaps Webster really does not understand simple economics.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-20805966860882015002021-04-02T10:47:00.002-04:002021-04-02T10:47:29.108-04:00Matt Gaetz In Serious Trouble<p>As the Matt Gaetz scandal starts to grow, initially starting as a federal sex trafficking case started under the Trump administration's Attorney General William Barr, the story seems to get even more involved. Gaetz initially defended his actions by claiming to be a generous friend and implicating Tucker Carlson on Carlson's own show by stating they went to dinner together but now more information is coming out, where Gaetz has been accused of palling around with a convicted sex trafficker paying for prostitutes with a variety of payment apps and sharing nude photos of his sexual encounters with members of Congress. </p><p>Now it makes you ask even more questions. </p><p>Did the dinner with Tucker Carlson involve a prostitute? An underage prostitute? Did Carlson know?</p><p>Did he share photos of underage girls in Congress?</p><p>How involved was he with other sex traffickers?</p><p>The list of questions goes on.</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-14363129133229790652021-03-30T20:18:00.001-04:002021-03-30T20:18:12.130-04:00Trump's Hypocritical New Website<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">During President Trump's term in office, he had constantly whined about social media (or media in general) being unfair to him And had demanded on numerous occasions that companies like Facebook be held responsible for the content posted on their platforms.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Oddly enough, when those companies did that very thing and started banning conservative conspiracy theorists and eventually the Trump himself, the president and his allies then cried that there was bias directed against Republicans, even when criticisms originated from conservative sources. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Fast forward a couple months from the end of his presidency and attempted coup and Donald Trump has decided to create his own website in an attempt to build his own social media platform. So imagine the surprise when reading Trump's <a href="https://www.45office.com/terms-of-service">Terms of Service</a> where the website states they are not responsible for the contents posted by others on their platform.</span></p><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRQbN6K1mRvIM5HK4F6NzNIjt0DxOnOGJ0Yem_Ls2Uon67W8reMjoysqX6sathG9_PnM7fkL3TNFmtYEbZZ0IhvvyBnsvmCkjlfjHtBtJNAJHIrWGTSa2UUv4Eq-WoPOz9sfq8L8E6yvI/s1440/Screenshot_20210330-201118.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRQbN6K1mRvIM5HK4F6NzNIjt0DxOnOGJ0Yem_Ls2Uon67W8reMjoysqX6sathG9_PnM7fkL3TNFmtYEbZZ0IhvvyBnsvmCkjlfjHtBtJNAJHIrWGTSa2UUv4Eq-WoPOz9sfq8L8E6yvI/s320/Screenshot_20210330-201118.png" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless OFP, its independent contractors, service providers and consultants, and their respective directors, employees and agents, from and against any claims, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to any User Content you post.</span></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It is as if the former president doesn't want to be held responsible for the content his followers post or do.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Interesting... </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-73285110537979576902020-10-26T18:53:00.000-04:002020-10-26T18:53:10.443-04:00Fox News Lies About Biden Campaign EventsDonald Trump branded opposition candidate Joe Biden as "sleepy" and his allies in conservative media have been quick to follow. Folks like Sean Hannity push real hard to popularize the term "lid" - a word used by campaigns to indicate no more scheduled events - to outlets like Rush Limbaugh or Fox News that outright lie.<div><br /></div><div>Today, Fox News made the claim that Joe Biden was holding no events in Monday.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuQas1yVDkzrWEq64wz9H0h9mMsOenDRem6rxdQOPuaz3_6IHeHO-NV6XFyN0Dg2s_a8BN0bKJXBIPePTT-9Mv5MK67E_6aazKNc0zHgbDEuw3j-5twBeUvjdYdfH6AHLti27MWnUnZRD/s1440/Screenshot_20201026-183918.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiuQas1yVDkzrWEq64wz9H0h9mMsOenDRem6rxdQOPuaz3_6IHeHO-NV6XFyN0Dg2s_a8BN0bKJXBIPePTT-9Mv5MK67E_6aazKNc0zHgbDEuw3j-5twBeUvjdYdfH6AHLti27MWnUnZRD/s320/Screenshot_20201026-183918.png" /></a></div><br /><div>The odd thing is that in the article directly above where Fox News declares Biden is in hiding they have another article about Biden taking questions at an event... on Monday.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7W1lRz736h22KgTJjwt721Bf3U33d3tWcLeKMjMYUpiHuqMKwjhrmaw4GX3pO3CLXLBlM-O_WPZNinRkCtTsaNgx46enusmNxpAexrSR5ZaLu3XdGO1hxXvKSIGN77idaREwzd73z4Fv/s1440/Screenshot_20201026-184419.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7W1lRz736h22KgTJjwt721Bf3U33d3tWcLeKMjMYUpiHuqMKwjhrmaw4GX3pO3CLXLBlM-O_WPZNinRkCtTsaNgx46enusmNxpAexrSR5ZaLu3XdGO1hxXvKSIGN77idaREwzd73z4Fv/s320/Screenshot_20201026-184419.png" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Hmm.</div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-58839635190644560482020-10-02T09:07:00.010-04:002020-10-03T12:47:37.440-04:00Did Trump and Melania have Covid-19 at the Debates?<p>News had broke that the President Trump and the First Lady had tested positive for Coronavirus.</p><p>During the debate, it was heavily reported that the first family abstained from the mandatory mask mandate condition established by both campaigns for the debate... except for Melania.</p><p>While the First Family took masked selfies prior to the debate...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxB1KDSecqoc-ihgb21TJft8EpLCA1skKAWLlzLW3x4oA830uMAm9USZl4JqGLd83VsGZzyC4VYci06c-JonBuXseTUCGNm1Q-b0LsywvJbCZiioj2fnz6tEDNeaOsiGqln537JuH7uJJf/s1858/33813672-0-image-a-219_1601472576074.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxB1KDSecqoc-ihgb21TJft8EpLCA1skKAWLlzLW3x4oA830uMAm9USZl4JqGLd83VsGZzyC4VYci06c-JonBuXseTUCGNm1Q-b0LsywvJbCZiioj2fnz6tEDNeaOsiGqln537JuH7uJJf/s320/33813672-0-image-a-219_1601472576074.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Melania was oddly seated in the middle during the debate <i>with</i> a mask on.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-NdXnOvar_WOb40Q-TIg3CXFaQJ73xj3_1ldIUfj0X1S18lnS-IPYflNppEj4MYRCpkQ1LsJySwFi9jOkzL4SnSYLsKRYMKSeMcYstYr0E6EcCIJLf6LH3RbAjIFg27YzBKaas16UuJC/s600/trump-family-no-masks.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-NdXnOvar_WOb40Q-TIg3CXFaQJ73xj3_1ldIUfj0X1S18lnS-IPYflNppEj4MYRCpkQ1LsJySwFi9jOkzL4SnSYLsKRYMKSeMcYstYr0E6EcCIJLf6LH3RbAjIFg27YzBKaas16UuJC/s320/trump-family-no-masks.webp" width="320" /></a></div><p>Did the first family know something more?</p><p>We had also learned recently that Hope Hicks had tested positive prior to the disclosure that the Trump's tested positive - that Hicks was symptomatic and had previously been around the president for a few days. Is this timeline correct? Was Hick's a cover for the president? </p><p>While these questions are conspiratorial, these behaviors are... suspicious, especially with revelations that since the Trump family arrived late to the debates they did not have their temperature checks, instead there was trust that each campaign had taken the necessary precautions.</p><p>Think about that - the Trump campaign was held to the honor system...</p><p>And as we have also just <a href="https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5f788957c5b649e564b366c4">learned</a> from the doctors treating Trump, he was actually diagnosed on Wednesday - not Friday. As a reminder, the debate was Tuesday. This would not only demonstrate that the president continued with activities while knowing he was positive with Coronavirus, the lack of delay in public disclosure may point to the president and his team either not being totally forthcoming in regards to when the president was officially diagnosed or that the president and his wife were feeling the symptoms on Tuesday and knowingly participated in the debate while potentially sick.</p><p>News has also revealed that one of the people responsible for debate preparations with the president, Chris Christie, had also tested positive.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-17546719384021256912020-08-26T09:26:00.002-04:002020-08-26T09:26:09.857-04:00Republicans Attack DNC Speaker while RNC Celebrates Felon!<p>Last week the Democratic National Convention was under criticism from Republicans for featuring a criminal reform activist, Donna Hylton. She was trafficked as a child and was later involved in the torture and murder of a man as a young adult but after serving 27 years she has been freed and working on criminal justice reform. </p><p>So imagine to my surprise when the Republican National Convention featured an ex-felon, Jon Ponder, who robbed a bank while fueled by drugs and alcohol. He has also been reformed after serving 5 years and set up a program to help re-integrate former prisoners into society.</p><p>From Fox News:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwD1glbXllMxIBt25jtBweCwZBqM64LcvmfGU3_LbvCG1dOp1pTjvRzOOTduoRpbomdTrPtSsFfhMqXOO2g-kSttmZUvWe7341AStDv1HXtzN1IeLzJmo5Mthi71ECENkan88BzuDqLu8-/s979/FOX+NEWS+DNC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="979" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwD1glbXllMxIBt25jtBweCwZBqM64LcvmfGU3_LbvCG1dOp1pTjvRzOOTduoRpbomdTrPtSsFfhMqXOO2g-kSttmZUvWe7341AStDv1HXtzN1IeLzJmo5Mthi71ECENkan88BzuDqLu8-/s640/FOX+NEWS+DNC.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>And from the Daily Caller:<p></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeYaKJg-J_6FHtWH5dC891tKgbMjXbnl0u9_gN1C-v_yyzp03GWmxkoqwwZ4PdIZnGySVZ3nHTjXbpdcGMMAnHWMIgJwjMkoSuSE5CiPGTxe0R3K-HDLfTWh5VGzAWfiKO-UF0UmJEGOj/s806/DAILY+CALLER+DNC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="806" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqeYaKJg-J_6FHtWH5dC891tKgbMjXbnl0u9_gN1C-v_yyzp03GWmxkoqwwZ4PdIZnGySVZ3nHTjXbpdcGMMAnHWMIgJwjMkoSuSE5CiPGTxe0R3K-HDLfTWh5VGzAWfiKO-UF0UmJEGOj/s640/DAILY+CALLER+DNC.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p>Trump decided to pardon Ponder for political gamesmanship during a video clip at the convention. Republicans celebrated this act. </p><p>Also from Fox News:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCk9RYSNVq222HUMMMjLVXYcQkMbSCD6e18Nb6O0l-CappdyGvViJZ5z8Ts1ILAvrmlfOMGjqPySo5piDX-CEwGs_PVbCI_VNmpsogwtPmDF3ag73U2kLf1LbSyV8Q559woFQ70GIob0u-/s1147/FOX+NEWS+DNC+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="1147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCk9RYSNVq222HUMMMjLVXYcQkMbSCD6e18Nb6O0l-CappdyGvViJZ5z8Ts1ILAvrmlfOMGjqPySo5piDX-CEwGs_PVbCI_VNmpsogwtPmDF3ag73U2kLf1LbSyV8Q559woFQ70GIob0u-/s640/FOX+NEWS+DNC+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I guess the "law and order" party only cares about who they deem worthy of their approval...</p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-48173810123896231392020-07-15T12:54:00.002-04:002020-07-15T13:16:31.831-04:00Find Something New<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Just when you thought things couldn't sink much lower, the First Family has done it again. While the Trumps have been skimming off the top enriching themselves with government jobs and taxpayer-funded vacations, during record unemployment tone-deaf Ivanka released a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/07/14/ivanka-trump-jobs-find-something-new/">campaign</a> that was supposed to be inspiring titled "Find Something New."<br />
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In the ad Ivanka encourages the unemployed to simply change careers and reinvent themselves during these trying times.<br />
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Yeah...<br />
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Remember when Trump and his industry-aligned supporters <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/hillary-clinton-aid-coal-communities-215789">attacked</a> Clinton for proposing the retraining of coal miners <i>before</i> we even had an economic downturn?<br />
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“We do not want federal money to fund training for new jobs that pay half of our current salaries,” John Stilley, the president of Amerikohl Mining, said at the time.<br />
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Well now that Trump had crashed the economy with his plan to just sit on his hands and wait for an upswing, Trump wants the unemployed masses to just do something else because as we all know, it is never Trump's fault.<br />
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Well Ivanka also provided a double whammy of deafness this week after the president of Goya Foods CEO <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/trump-goya-boycott/a-54164966">praised</a> the president, calling Trump a "builder," praying for continued prosperity and growth. Ivanka decided to use her offical capacity as a government employee to pitch the product, posting an image of her holding a Goya can while using their slogan in both Spanish and English.<br />
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There is no doubt that Goya has been sitting high on the hog these last few months. Since the start of the pandemic and the economic shut downs, retail food sales have skyrocketed, so when CEO Robert Unanue says all is good, he is probably referring to Goya's coffers... which are privately owned by the Unanue family.<br />
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And as we learned from when Kellyann Conway violated ethics rules to promote Ivanka's businesses and faced no disciplinary actions, Ivanka is free to reward those who lay praise on her father.<br />
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So here is a better fit for her Find Something New Campaign and Goya...<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-85005040779556738292020-06-14T09:06:00.003-04:002020-06-14T19:35:29.842-04:00Malheur Autonomous Zone?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_ULXG_OTUwatkZvPi-BziAagTfS6thKlVbdQN6zJTLsrwWc1VaQDFJmQOGaSfajSyp4r74188MeKjAtM-OOJeAPhetDjcO-W_74AC1I2B0aUQkHRarUoOkAEgFqeI8vSeVVwGs4-RKBj/s1600/4537jr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="666" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW_ULXG_OTUwatkZvPi-BziAagTfS6thKlVbdQN6zJTLsrwWc1VaQDFJmQOGaSfajSyp4r74188MeKjAtM-OOJeAPhetDjcO-W_74AC1I2B0aUQkHRarUoOkAEgFqeI8vSeVVwGs4-RKBj/s400/4537jr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A couple years ago the infamous and traitorous Bundys led an armed occupation of a federal park in Oregon. They were inspired to occupy the property managed by the Bureau of Land Management (not to be confused with a different BLM), United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the United States Forest Service over the conviction of Dwight and Steven Hammond for federal land arson, who were recently pardoned by President Trump for some unknown reason.<br />
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Conservative media promoted the group of anti-government militias as fighting an injustice and and defended them as protectors of the constitution and federal overreach.<br />
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What is interesting is in recent news, protesters in Seattle recently occupied a couple blocks, naming it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ. Conservative media, as can be expected, jumped on the story painting the Black Lives Matter protesters and others as a criminal anarchist movement.<br />
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Fox News even went to the extent of poorly <a href="https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-combined-photos-together-for-stories-about-seattle-protests-2020-6%3famp">editing</a> two images together to give the appearance of a violent occupation much like the Bundy gang.<br />
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Why not the same outrage?</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-89809710220392630442020-06-08T09:05:00.001-04:002020-06-08T09:08:14.929-04:00Bill Barr's Lafayette Lie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4weFbSE3wa18RWAJywtqgCcl4Z-52v510zW4nO7dUJkbv1i4leBpB6JNgjdxYp-nj1TWSErYdna7atg3IpDipex_V6m4UDDgVSJ3FqsTvFPwF4z7zIRheGHdgHeQQP6llZZcTefSrSyse/s1600/TRUMP+BIBLE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4weFbSE3wa18RWAJywtqgCcl4Z-52v510zW4nO7dUJkbv1i4leBpB6JNgjdxYp-nj1TWSErYdna7atg3IpDipex_V6m4UDDgVSJ3FqsTvFPwF4z7zIRheGHdgHeQQP6llZZcTefSrSyse/s320/TRUMP+BIBLE.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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On June 1st, President Trump gave a short speech in the Rose Garden and then inexplicably walked to a church down the street to hold up a bible, take a picture, and then walk away. All of this occurred while peaceful protesters were violently cleared. The administration had claimed that the protesters were removed because they were not peaceful, throwing water bottles and rumors they were building a supply of rocks to also use against police but none of those claims had been verified by any reputable news source.<br />
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When questioned about the removal on Friday, June 5th, Attorney General Bill Barr had <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/07/politics/barr-law-enforcement-force-dc-protests/index.html">this</a> to <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/06/06/bill-barr-says-he-didnt-give-order-to-disperse-protesters/">say</a>:<br />
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“I’m not involved in giving tactical commands like that. I was frustrated and I was also worried that as the crowd grew, it was going to be harder and harder to do. So my attitude was get it done, but I didn’t say, ‘Go do it.’ ”
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“They had the Park Police mounted unit ready, so it was just a matter of execution. So, I didn’t just say to them, ‘Go.'”<br />
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This is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/barr-seeks-to-dissociate-himself-from-move-on-demonstrators-outside-lafayette-park/2020/06/05/47cb96b6-a78e-11ea-bb20-ebf0921f3bbd_story.html">contrary</a> to what one justice department official said, recounting that Barr essentially said ‘This needs to be done. Get it done.’ ”<br />
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This was also confirmed by White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany insisting that Barr said "that we needed to get going with moving that perimeter. He told the officers that out there."<br />
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As Bloomberg also <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-02/tear-gas-clears-way-for-trump-moment-at-church-damaged-in-unrest">reported</a>, Trump was angry about the unrest and the damage caused and so aides set forth to help facilitate his walk.<br />
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So according to Barr on Friday, he did not give the command for officers to attack protesters but if you were to ask Barr two days later, on Sunday, you might have gotten a different response.<br />
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"When I came in Monday, it was clear to me that we did have to increase the perimeter on that side of Lafayette Park and push it out one block. <b><i>That decision was made by me</i></b> in the morning. It was communicated to all the police agencies, including the Metropolitan Police at 2:00 p.m. that day. The effort was to move the perimeter one block, and it had to be done when we had enough people in place to achieve that. And that decision, as I say, was communicated to the police at 2:00 p.m.."<br />
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So in a couple days Barr went from "I didn't say, "Go do it" to "that decision was made by me."<br />
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So now you can see why there is question about other accounts by Barr, such as the volatility of the crowd or even the relationship between the clearing and the president's walk, but when has the president ever walked to somewhere from the White House? And it just happened to be at the same time the Attorney General ordered police to clear protesters? <br />
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I guess Barr got his denial for the 24-hour news cycle hoping the story would change come Monday.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2761582841002481643.post-88411457176564169642020-06-05T07:47:00.002-04:002020-06-05T07:47:44.518-04:00Government Seizes Protesters' Mail. Ballots Next?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A recent <a href="https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ed9a69bc5b68bc1a40159b9">story</a> had shown that the government had used the post office to seize the mail of protesters, which contained branded face masks for the prevention of Covid-19. In light of the president's letter calling peaceful protesters "terrorists," what will stop the government from escalating their actions?<br />
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If the government can seize masks in the mail, just imagine what Trump could do with mail-in ballots.
They will seize them in the name of fraud and try to steal this election.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0