US Politics

[JCon]

1 minute ago, FrostyWinnipeg said:

https://www.ajc.com/politics/ga-bills-would-end-no-excuse-absentee-voting-automatic-registration/OBTWL3M6MJH25MI56XGNNUODPY/

They really hate when people vote because when people are allowed to vote, they vote them out. 

The GOP is racist organization. 

[Tracker]

11 minutes ago, JCon said:

They really hate when people vote because when people are allowed to vote, they vote them out. 

The GOP is racist organization. 

Trump in an interview said that outright- he said that if gerrymandering and voter suppression ended, they (the GOP) would never get back into power again. This terrifies the GOP, so they are now focusing on state governments. The thinking is that if they control the state governments, they can then use those to disqualify correctly appointed electors and nominate pliable electors in defiance of the voters' will. With enough GOP judges in place, this is a real possibility.

[itchy]

18 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Trump in an interview said that outright- he said that if gerrymandering and voter suppression ended, they (the GOP) would never get back into power again. This terrifies the GOP, so they are now focusing on state governments. The thinking is that if they control the state governments, they can then use those to disqualify correctly appointed electors and nominate pliable electors in defiance of the voters' will. With enough GOP judges in place, this is a real possibility.

That's such a huge flaw in the system. How individual states get to determine who votes, where their vote counts and how they vote in a federal election boggles my mind.

[JCon]

3 minutes ago, itchy said:

That's such a huge flaw in the system. How individual states get to determine who votes, where their vote counts and how they vote in a federal election boggles my mind.

It all goes back to how the country is formed. It's a series of smaller states that work together as a larger state. The states send the representatives. 

[17to85]

Why change your policies to appeal to more people when you can simply prevent people from voting?

[bustamente]

Admirably 🤣

 

[Mark F]

I get upcoming country music performers names from a ...music site based in Texas, many comments. 

now and again there is some story that has political side.

While the owner is nt even slightly racist, not all, , but many  of the posters seem to be.

the other day a person posted that the civil war was a hostile invasion of the South by a foreign power.

there are american people alive now, that want to bring back the pre civil war south.

 

this ismamazing. trump lawyers meeting whitehouse. 

https://digbysblog.net/

Edited February 2, 2021 by Mark F

[Tracker]

On 2021-01-31 at 1:18 PM, iHeart said:

Those are reasons you shouldn't work for Trump period

Trump’s lawyers quit after he refused to pay $3M in legal fees despite raising $170M: report

Former President Donald Trump's legal team for his upcoming impeachment trial quit following a dispute about the cost of his defense, according to Axios.

Five of Trump's impeachment attorneys abruptly quit just over a week before his Senate trial is set to kick off on Feb. 8. CNN and other outlets have reported that lead attorney Butch Bowers and four other lawyers he assembled for the team walked out over a disagreement about the ex-president's defense strategy but Axios reports that the team split following a blow-up with the "notoriously stingy" onetime reality TV host over legal fees. Trump, who is charged with inciting the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, was "livid" after Bowers told him that the legal effort would cost $3 million, according to the report, even though Trump has raised over $170 million from supporters, ostensibly to fund his post-election legal efforts.

[Tracker]

Matt Gaetz staffer cheered on rioters from Capitol rooftop: report
Joel Valdez captured a five-second video with his phone and posted it to Parler, Gizmodo reports

More information continues to come out about the fatal January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol — one week before the start of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.

"As police struggled futilely to fend off a wave of rioters outside the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, Joel Valdez, an aide to Congressman Matt Gaetz, made his way to the rooftop of his boss's office building across the street on Independence Ave. Surveying the mob as it surrounded the complex, he captured a five-second video with his phone and posted it to Parler—the now-defunct social network where some supporters of President Trump are reported to have openly planned an insurrection for weeks," Gizmodo reportedMonday.

In his post, Valdez used the hashtag #StopTheSteal to refer to the conspiracy theory that Trump actually won the election. Trump was impeached for inciting insurrection by pushing the same lie.

"From the top of the Capitol office buildings, WE HEAR YOU LOUD AND CLEAR!" Valdez posted on Parler.

Gizmodo reported on where the video fit in the timeline of events.

"Metadata from Valdez's video, which Pro Publica published last week but did not connect to Gaetz's press assistant, reveals it was taken at roughly 1:14 p.m. ET that day," Gizmodo reported. "The rioters had by that time already breached at least three police barricades and forced officers back onto the Capitol steps where they violently engaged, according to a timeline of events reported by the New York Times."

Matt Gaetz staffer cheered on rioters from Capitol rooftop: report | Salon.com

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

Oh wow... this is what happens when the company they been slandering AF gets serious with litigation and your legal department steps in and has a blanket statement written up- just in case.

****'s too funny.

And @ the very end, the news guy just gets on up and walks off... this clip is brilliant.

 

 

Edited February 2, 2021 by wanna-b-fanboy

[tacklewasher]

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

Trump’s lawyers quit after he refused to pay $3M in legal fees despite raising $170M: report

Former President Donald Trump's legal team for his upcoming impeachment trial quit following a dispute about the cost of his defense, according to Axios.

Five of Trump's impeachment attorneys abruptly quit just over a week before his Senate trial is set to kick off on Feb. 8. CNN and other outlets have reported that lead attorney Butch Bowers and four other lawyers he assembled for the team walked out over a disagreement about the ex-president's defense strategy but Axios reports that the team split following a blow-up with the "notoriously stingy" onetime reality TV host over legal fees. Trump, who is charged with inciting the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, was "livid" after Bowers told him that the legal effort would cost $3 million, according to the report, even though Trump has raised over $170 million from supporters, ostensibly to fund his post-election legal efforts.

Pretty sure this is what I said a page or two back.

6 hours ago, bustamente said:

It's funny that the Republicans still think they are in control, they wont convict Trump but every Republican that votes not to convict Trump will have their name associated with an attempt to overthrow the government that will be stamped onto their forehead for the rest of their political career and beyond.

I do think you are underestimating the Republican side of things. The Dems do not control the senate at this point. They could, but don't seem to have the balls to do so.

[Tracker]

'Yelling and cursing' broke out in the Oval Office in a last gasp of the Trump presidency: report
   
President Donald Trump, weeks after losing the November 2020 election by more than 7 million votes and more than 70 electoral votes, discussed declaring national security emergency powers his White House attorneys told him he did not have.

That's according to a stunning report that details a December 18 meeting in the Oval Office and the White House Residence from Axios, "Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency."

The meeting included White House senior adviser Eric Herschmann, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and White House staff secretary Derek Lyons, on the one side, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, former Trump administration official Emily Newman, and attorney Sidney Powell, who is now being sued for $1.3 billion by Dominion voting machines.

Powell "proposed declaring a national security emergency, granting her and her cabal top-secret security clearances and using the U.S. government to seize Dominion's voting machines."

At one point Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani joined by phone, and was forced to tell everyone in the "heated" meeting to calm down. Axios reports at one point the "meeting had come entirely off the rails," and says "people were yelling and cursing" inside the Oval Office.

'Yelling and cursing' broke out in the Oval Office in a last gasp of the Trump presidency: report - Alternet.org

[TrueBlue4ever]

3 hours ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

Oh wow... this is what happens when the company they been slandering AF gets serious with litigation and your legal department steps in and has a blanket statement written up- just in case.

****'s too funny.

And @ the very end, the news guy just gets on up and walks off... this clip is brilliant.

 

 

[do or die]

2 hours ago, Tracker said:

'Yelling and cursing' broke out in the Oval Office in a last gasp of the Trump presidency: report
   
President Donald Trump, weeks after losing the November 2020 election by more than 7 million votes and more than 70 electoral votes, discussed declaring national security emergency powers his White House attorneys told him he did not have.

That's according to a stunning report that details a December 18 meeting in the Oval Office and the White House Residence from Axios, "Inside the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency."

The meeting included White House senior adviser Eric Herschmann, White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and White House staff secretary Derek Lyons, on the one side, and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, former Trump administration official Emily Newman, and attorney Sidney Powell, who is now being sued for $1.3 billion by Dominion voting machines.

Powell "proposed declaring a national security emergency, granting her and her cabal top-secret security clearances and using the U.S. government to seize Dominion's voting machines."

At one point Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani joined by phone, and was forced to tell everyone in the "heated" meeting to calm down. Axios reports at one point the "meeting had come entirely off the rails," and says "people were yelling and cursing" inside the Oval Office.

'Yelling and cursing' broke out in the Oval Office in a last gasp of the Trump presidency: report - Alternet.org

They can't talk like that around the President of the United States!

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

100% on brand.

 

Seriously... WTF is wrong with Fox? 

[bustamente]

Fox and all the alt right media don't want to relive what their God did, that's why most of the Republican Senators don't want any witnesses and the lawyers don't want any video.

[TrueBlue4ever]

9 hours ago, wanna-b-fanboy said:

100% on brand.

 

Seriously... WTF is wrong with Fox? 

Blue lives matter, FOX? 

[Mark F]

its amazing how easy it is to pervert an entire system of government.

WASHINGTON — Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall — despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn’t have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation.

The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators.

https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/31/trump-officials-lobbied-to-deny-states-money-for-vaccine-rollout/

[bustamente]

Noted bootlicker Blanche needs to be replaced as chairman of the judiciary committee today and investigated.

 

[HardCoreBlue]

1 hour ago, Mark F said:

its amazing how easy it is to pervert an entire system of government.

WASHINGTON — Top Trump officials actively lobbied Congress to deny state governments any extra funding for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout last fall — despite frantic warnings from state officials that they didn’t have the money they needed to ramp up a massive vaccination operation.

The push, described to STAT by congressional aides in both parties and openly acknowledged by one of the Trump officials, came from multiple high-ranking Trump health officials in repeated meetings with legislators.

https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/31/trump-officials-lobbied-to-deny-states-money-for-vaccine-rollout/

All in plain site since day one of Trump's tenure. It's suffocating and maddening to watch.

Edited February 3, 2021 by HardCoreBlue
one

[Mark F]

Washington, DC -- United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) will join the United States Senate Committee on Finance in the 117th Congress. She also announced plans to introduce legislation implementing a wealth tax on fortunes over $50 million. The Finance Committee's jurisdiction covers taxation and revenue policy, including oversight of the Internal Revenue Service. The senator's legislation reflects her 2020 campaign proposal to impose a two cent tax on every dollar of individual wealth over $50 million, with an additional surtax on every dollar of wealth over $1 billion. Warren will remain on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Senate Armed Services Committee, and the Senate Special Committee on Aging. 

https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-to-join-senate-finance-committee-will-introduce-wealth-tax

 

[Tracker]

5 hilarious details from "the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency"
Axios has published a massive 3,000-word-plus report detailing what it describes as "the craziest meeting of the Trump presidency."

The meeting revolves around conspiracy-spewing attorney Sidney Powell, along with former national security adviser Mike Flynn and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, storming into the Oval Office and trying to convince former President Donald Trump to command federal law enforcement officials to seize Dominion voting machines.  The report is filled with moments of slapstick comedy that highlight the ineptitude of the former president's allies. Here are the five funniest parts.

1. Sidney Powell got called out for claiming Dominion flipped a county that Trump won.

During the meeting, Powell told Trump that she could prove that Dominion voting machines flipped votes to President Joe Biden in a Georgia county.  White House senior adviser Eric Herschmann, however, immediately spotted a flaw in Powell's claims: Namely, Trump had actually won the county in question.

"So your theory is that Dominion intentionally flipped the votes so we could win that county?" he asked her incredulously.

2. Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne gets utterly humiliated after trash talking Trump's staff members.

Byrne, who had never before met the president in person, nonetheless didn't hesitate to throw his weight around and accuse his staff members of being disloyal for not doing enough to help him overturn the results of the 2020 election.

"You're a quitter," Byrne told Herschmann.

"Do you even know who the f*ck I am, you idiot?" Herschmann asked him.

"Yeah, you're Patrick Cipollone," Byrne said.

"Wrong!" Herschmann shouted. "Wrong, you idiot!"

3. Sidney Powell gets lambasted for making embarrassing spelling mistakes in her legal filings.

White House staff secretary Derek Lyons quickly ran out of patience with Powell, whose "kraken" lawsuits infamously crashed and burned when brought before courts.

"You've brought 60 cases," Lyons told Powell. "And you've lost every case you've had!"

Lyons not only ripped into Powell's legal arguments, but her sloppy spelling and grammar.

"You somehow managed to misspell the word 'District' three different ways in your suits," he told her.

4. Patrick Byrne claims that he gave Hillary Clinton an $18 million bribe as part of an FBI sting.

In one of the more nonsensical portions of the meeting, Byrne repeatedly claimed that he knew the FBI to be corrupt because they used him to catch Hillary Clinton taking bribes but somehow never arrested her.

"I know how this works," he said. "I bribed Hillary Clinton $18 million on behalf of the FBI for a sting operation."

Herschmann was incredulous and demanded to know what Byrne was talking about. The former Overstock CEO never elaborated, and yet still stood by his claim that he had successfully bribed the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.

5. Mark Meadows and other staffers scrambled to stop Trump from appointing Powell as special counsel to investigate voter fraud.

Powell tried to convince Trump that he needed to appoint her as special counsel to probe voter fraud allegations, which is something Trump did not have the authority to do.

Former chief of staff Mark Meadows could not believe that such a proposal was being contemplated and quickly tried to throw cold water on it to dissuade the president from trying to make it happen.

"Meadows indicated that he was trying to wrap his mind around what exactly Powell's role would entail," reports Axios. "He told Powell she would have to fill out the SF-86 questionnaire before starting as special counsel. This was seen as a delaying tactic. The sense in the room was that Trump might actually greenlight this extraordinary proposal.

[Super Duper Negatron]

As much as I hate Lindsey Graham, this whole trend of "look at this picture of person X with person Y!" needs to stop. Something as simple as a selfie at a book signing can get taken completely out of context.

Edit: I am not suggesting that is what happened here but pictures on their own are not enough...they need to be provided with context is all I am saying.

Edited February 3, 2021 by Super Duper Negatron

[Mark F]

46 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Do you even know who the f*ck I am, you idiot?" Herschmann asked him.

some of these people, like this one, are probably heavyweight brilliant, wall street lawyers.

They were probably his only hope.  but he chose to go with the dopey crooked ones.

trump instincts that he is so proud of, are spectacularly bad.

we are amazingly lucky to avoided a nuclear attack.

Edited February 3, 2021 by Mark F

[Tracker]

33 minutes ago, Mark F said:

some of these people, like this one, are probably heavyweight brilliant, wall street lawyers. They were probably his only hope.  but he chose to go with the dopey crooked ones. Trump's instincts that he is so proud of, are spectacularly bad. we are amazingly lucky to avoided a nuclear attack.

Trump's ego and self-image are so fragile that he cannot admit having made any mistakes whatsoever, nor can he conceive that anyone else could have a better or even alternative viewpoint. He sees himself as so brilliant that if there is any resistance to what he wills, it is egregiously illegal and unconscionable. His father has done a helluva job in creating a Hitler clone.