US Politics

[bustamente]

He is the worst business man in the world and there is no doubt about it, all he knows how to do now is fleece his rubes, John Bannon will be making the rounds again soon

 

[JCon]

Only another shooting, I thought maybe a child was forced to wear a mask.

 

[HardCoreBlue]

2 hours ago, JCon said:

Only another shooting, I thought maybe a child was forced to wear a mask.

 

While 'Governor' Abbott and his 'teams' are out there making sure they get every rapist off the streets but ensuring the control what women do with their bodies, maybe he with his ability to mandate/regulate/enforce etc can help keep children safe from mental health patients with guns.

FFS children and their parents shoot NOT have to feel that they need to wear bullet proof backbacks to help keep them safe. 

Sorry but FFS 

 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

While the Gov is away the Lt. Gov plays.

As Gov. Little visits the border, Lt. Gov. McGeachin signs executive order banning Idaho schools, universities from requiring COVID-19 vaccines, tests

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, HardCoreBlue said:

While 'Governor' Abbott and his 'teams' are out there making sure they get every rapist off the streets but ensuring the control what women do with their bodies, maybe he with his ability to mandate/regulate/enforce etc can help keep children safe from mental health patients with guns.

FFS children and their parents shoot NOT have to feel that they need to wear bullet proof backbacks to help keep them safe. 

Sorry but FFS 

 

But bullet proof backpacks for kids are so cheap these days....

[iHeart]

https://deadline.com/2021/10/texas-abortion-law-on-hold-1234851343/

[Tracker]

New Report Details Trump's Dramatic Efforts To Undercut 2020 Election In Waning Days
 

Top Justice Department officials and White House attorneys threatened to resign en masse if then-President Donald Trump followed through on plans to aggressively pursue unfounded claims of election fraud in his final days in office, according to an upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee report examining his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The New York Times first published details of the document late Wednesday, which includes the most detailed information yet about a meeting on Jan. 3 in which Trump fought with top officials in hopes of installing a loyalist as his acting attorney general. The plan was part of his final attempt to retain power after his loss to Joe Biden by more than 6 million votes and came amid his ongoing, and false, claims that widespread voter fraud had cost him the race.

According to the report cited by the Times, White House counsel Pat Cipollone likened Trump’s effort to a “murder-suicide pact” and threatened to resign alongside his deputy. Trump later relented and didn’t follow through with the plan.

New Report Details Trump's Dramatic Efforts To Undercut 2020 Election In Waning Days | HuffPost Latest News

[the watcher]

Much of this has been covered in Trackers posts but I thought it was a pretty good synopsis. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/08/department-of-justice-report-key-takeaways-trump

The guy is a petulant child who had his toy taken away for bad behavior. Worse is those that supported his behavior. 

[Tracker]

'This is American fascism': A disturbing event will bring together gun nuts, Trumpians and 'End Times' Moonies
   
Freedom Festival is a far-right event held in Greenley, Pennsylvania and organized by a combination of Moonies and gun manufacturers. The speakers at this year's event will include former National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, and according to Daily Beast reporter Jose Pagliery, their presence at Freedom Festival underscores the ever-increasing radicalization of the Republican Party.

"Few Americans are even aware that the gun company Kahr and a rural Pennsylvania doomsday church — both run by the same ultra-rich Korean family — hold an annual 'Freedom Festival' that attracts gun enthusiasts and the type of people who attach 'Don't Tread on Me' flags to the back of their trucks," Pagliery explains in an article published on October 8. "But in the wake of the failed January 6 insurrection, the event's amalgamation of sovereign citizens and alt-truthers has taken on a new meaning. And now, it's even got an all-star lineup."

Ryan Busse, a former gun industry executive, warns that the presence of a former NRA spokesperson at Freedom Festival is "legitimizing" extremism.

Busse told the Beast, "It's going to send a message across the country that this is normal, that this is OK. This is American fascism being developed right before our eyes. This is like 1936 Germany in a symposium."

Busse went on to say, "The one that concerns me the most is Dana Loesch. She's treated by gun consumers like royalty, and here she is legitimizing this insanity. That scares me."

Pagliery notes that Kahr Firearms Group, which manufactures semi-automatic weapons, is run by a family of Moonies. Founded by the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon during the 1950s, the Moonies are a Christianist cult known for conspiracy theories, End Times themes and a far-right ideology.

"While Sun Myung Moon became a prominent figure in the American conservative movement — founding the Washington Times newspaper — one of his sons, Justin Moon, founded the Kahr gun company in 1995," Pagliery explains. "And another son, Hyung Jin Sean Moon, inherited an offshoot of the church that goes by the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary and warns about 'the End of Times.' With the patriarch now deceased, his sons have largely merged their worlds."

Pagliery continues, "The reverend son now refers to his church with a more militant name — Rod of Iron Ministries — an allusion to his unification of disparate ideas: faith and guns. And churchgoers wear metal crowns on their heads, signifying individuals' ultimate sovereign authority over themselves. They also carry semi-automatic rifles like AR-15s and AK-47s, fashioning their guns like pious medieval knights would a sword."

The Moonies are not white supremacists; Rev. Sun Myung Moon was Korean. But according to J.J. MacNab of George Washington University's Program on Extremism, that doesn't make them any less dangerous.

MacNab told the Beast, "They've never really gotten the attention I think they should, because they're not a White supremacy group. Anybody that's pushing such a hearty mix of guns and religion are problematic to me. And the doomsday element is there. It's effectively talking about death."

Busse finds Freedom Festival's combination of religious extremism, guns, conspiracy theories and Trumpism to be incredibly toxic.

The former NRA member told the Beast, "It's what I fear: anything that will gin up people to buy more guns, hate people more, and vote for people like Trump. It's all of that on steroids. Doesn't the Klan meet in the dark out back behind uncle's barn? This is right out in the open."

'This is American fascism': A disturbing event will bring together gun nuts, Trumpians and 'End Times' Moonies - Alternet.org

[bustamente]

Trump and his cronies and enablers know what they did, there only course of action is to take it to the courts and delay and delay until the Republicans take over and at the snails pace that the committee's are going it's a smart move on their part

[Tracker]

6 minutes ago, bustamente said:

Trump and his cronies and enablers know what they did, there only course of action is to take it to the courts and delay and delay until the Republicans take over and at the snails pace that the committee's are going it's a smart move on their part

They've been been honing their skills for 50 years and after a couple of dry runs, they are nearly ready to take over the American government by guile and force.

[JCon]

Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.

Judge Donna Scott Davenport oversees a juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee, with a staggering history of jailing children. She said kids must face consequences, which rarely seem to apply to her or the other adults in charge.

https://www.propublica.org/article/black-children-were-jailed-for-a-crime-that-doesnt-exist

 

What a messed up system. For profit judges. Murica. 

[Mark F]

14 minutes ago, JCon said:

What a messed up system. For profit judges. Murica. 

that is horrific.

[Mark F]

16 hours ago, JCon said:

Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist.

"CNN)A Black father, his son, and their Black real estate agent have filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Wyoming, Michigan, the Wyoming police chief and six police officers after they were ordered by police officers out of the home they were touring and handcuffed.

The real estate agent, Eric Brown, was showing a home to his client, Roy Thorne, and his 15-year-old son, Samuel, on August 1, when police, responding to a neighbor's call, showed up at the house, ordered those inside to leave with their hands in the air and handcuffed them. 

They were all released soon after."

 

make the racist neighbour pay for the damage suit, which is a slam dunk.

racist neighbour: "hello 911...there are black people in the house across the street. "

911 : " well be right over"

lol what a facked country.

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by Mark F

[Tracker]

A New Confederacy: Trump and the Republicans have already seceded. 
Now they’re preparing to fight a new civil war. In fact, they're already doing it in all but name

You know which ones they are: Nineteen states have enacted 33 laws that make it harder for people to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Fifteen states made it harder to apply for a mail-in ballot. Four states limited mail-in ballot drop boxes. Four states imposed stricter mail-in ballot signature requirements. Eight states imposed harder voter ID requirements. Seven states made it easier to purge voters from the rolls. Three states reduced the number of polling places and voting hours. Three more states reduced the number of days or hours of early voting. Five states made it harder to vote for people with disabilities and two states made it a crime to hand out water or snacks to voters waiting in long lines to vote.

Nineteen states have enacted a total of 106 new laws restricting a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Twelve states enacted outright abortion bans, and Texas enacted a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, which is effectively a ban on abortion since most women don't even know they are pregnant at six weeks. Twenty-five states require a waiting period, usually 24 hours, before an abortion can be performed. Twelve of those states effectively mandate that women must return to a clinic twice over a two-day period before obtaining an abortion. Eighteen states require "counseling" before abortions, including notices of a purported link between abortion and breast cancer, the alleged ability of a fetus to feel pain, and the unproven long-term mental health consequences of abortion.

One of those countries-within-a-country, in the words of the esteemed lawyer and Harvard professor Laurence Tribe, "has no set of constraints, no belief in the norms, no commitment to the Constitution or the rule of law, while the other side is trying to observe the rules." He said this on Wednesday night on "All in With Chris Hayes" on MSNBC, while discussing the challenges we face going into the 2022 and 2024 elections.

Even the subject of that show seems quaint at this point, because I don't think we are able to hold what we have always thought of as "elections" in this country anymore. If politics in the United States were a basketball game, the rules of the game along with fouls and penalties would apply to one team, the Democrats, and not to the other, the Republicans. The game, in the immortal words of Donald Trump, has been "rigged." It's not possible for the Democratic Party to win elections, because the Republican Party has decided it won't recognize Democratic victories. The only "wins" that are "legitimate" are Republican wins.

A New Confederacy: Trump and the Republicans have already seceded | Salon.com

Edited October 9, 2021 by Tracker

[johnzo]

18 hours ago, JCon said:

Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge.

Judge Donna Scott Davenport oversees a juvenile justice system in Rutherford County, Tennessee, with a staggering history of jailing children. She said kids must face consequences, which rarely seem to apply to her or the other adults in charge.

https://www.propublica.org/article/black-children-were-jailed-for-a-crime-that-doesnt-exist

 

What a messed up system. For profit judges. Murica. 

time to send propublica some more money.  they do such good work reporting on ****** up **** that would otherwise be ignored,

[Tracker]

Whistleblower: Capitol Police Leaders Acted ‘With Intent and Malice’ on Jan. 6‘

-Reuters
A former senior member of the Capitol Police has written a blistering whistleblower letter to members of Congress accusing the force’s leadership of knowingly failing to help their own officers during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and then obfuscating the fact for personal gain. The former officer spent several hours with Yogananda Pittman, then the Capitol Police’s head of intelligence, and Sean Gallagher, its head of uniformed operations, the day of the attempted insurrection. The whistleblower wrote, “What I observed was them mostly sitting there, blankly looking at the TV screens showing real time footage of officers and officials fighting for the Congress and their lives… It is my allegation that these two with intent and malice opted to not try and assist the officers and officials, blame others for the failures, and chose to try and use this event for their own personal promotions.”

The letter also alleges Pittman lied to Congress about an intelligence report delivered just a day before the riot. Pittman served as acting chief of the force after the former chief resigned, but she returned to her role as head of intelligence in August following a vote of no confidence from rank-and-file officers. Gallagher handled Pittman’s job during her tenure as acting chief but returned to his former job when she did the same. The whistleblower left the Capitol Police six months after the Capitol riot.

[Tracker]

Megachurch With Ferrari-Driving Pastor Gives Back $4.4M Pandemic Loan

A Houston megachurch, whose celebrity pastor is reportedly worth $50 million, has repaid the federal government $4.4 million in pandemic loans after going viral for the outrageous handout.

Lakewood Church, which is tax-exempt like most religious institutions, took $4.4 million in taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program loans at the height of the COVID pandemic last year—all while senior pastor Joel Osteen flaunted his insane wealth. It caused “Osteen” and “Ferrari” to trend on social media as observers questioned the institution’s need for such a huge payout.

Osteen reportedly owns a $300,000 Ferrari and a $10.5 million mansion, and has been photographed traveling in style on a luxury jet. Meanwhile, he has made appearances on the Today Show, urging people to not “focus on what [they] have or don’t have.”

Lakewood, believed to be the biggest church in the U.S. with an average weekly attendance of 45,000, shut down in-person services last year and told the Houston Business Journal they had to go months without the “ability to collect substantial donations.”

They insisted none of the PPP money went to Osteen or his wife, both of whom allegedly do not receive a salary from the church, and called the loan crucial “during such a time of need.” The money provided the church with “short-term financial assistance” to ensure their 368 employees would “continue to receive a paycheck and full health care benefits,” a church spokesperson said.

Thousands of other religious institutions received up to $7.8 billion in PPP loans, according to some tallies.

Houston Celebrity Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church Repays $4.4M in COVID Pandemic Loans (thedailybeast.com)

 

[the watcher]

15 hours ago, Tracker said:

Megachurch With Ferrari-Driving Pastor Gives Back $4.4M Pandemic Loan

A Houston megachurch, whose celebrity pastor is reportedly worth $50 million, has repaid the federal government $4.4 million in pandemic loans after going viral for the outrageous handout.

Lakewood Church, which is tax-exempt like most religious institutions, took $4.4 million in taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program loans at the height of the COVID pandemic last year—all while senior pastor Joel Osteen flaunted his insane wealth. It caused “Osteen” and “Ferrari” to trend on social media as observers questioned the institution’s need for such a huge payout.

Osteen reportedly owns a $300,000 Ferrari and a $10.5 million mansion, and has been photographed traveling in style on a luxury jet. Meanwhile, he has made appearances on the Today Show, urging people to not “focus on what [they] have or don’t have.”

Lakewood, believed to be the biggest church in the U.S. with an average weekly attendance of 45,000, shut down in-person services last year and told the Houston Business Journal they had to go months without the “ability to collect substantial donations.”

They insisted none of the PPP money went to Osteen or his wife, both of whom allegedly do not receive a salary from the church, and called the loan crucial “during such a time of need.” The money provided the church with “short-term financial assistance” to ensure their 368 employees would “continue to receive a paycheck and full health care benefits,” a church spokesperson said.

Thousands of other religious institutions received up to $7.8 billion in PPP loans, according to some tallies.

Houston Celebrity Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church Repays $4.4M in COVID Pandemic Loans (thedailybeast.com)

 

The entire time I read that I kept thinking back to the anti-masker who told me "Jesus didn't wear a mask".  But apparently the donkey he rode on was named Ferrari 

[Mark F]

23 minutes ago, the watcher said:

The entire time I read that I kept thinking back to the anti-masker who told me "Jesus didn't wear a mask".  

yeah, and look what happened to him!

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Mark F

[bustamente]

He continues to spread lies at his rallies and is now trying to make this terrorist a saint and of course the obligatory garbage to pump up his ego

 

[the watcher]

3 minutes ago, bustamente said:

He continues to spread lies at his rallies and is now trying to make this terrorist a saint and of course the obligatory garbage to pump up his ego

 

What a POS !

[bustamente]

1 minute ago, the watcher said:

What a POS !

He and others, it's all the rage right now in America who can be the worst human being possible and it's being actively cheered.

[the watcher]

1 hour ago, bustamente said:

He and others, it's all the rage right now in America who can be the worst human being possible and it's being actively cheered.

F-ing disgusting . Where is the sympathy for the officers that were wounded, suffered PTSD  and died defending their nations democratic institutions  ?  She was killed while commiting a violent, treasonous  crime. I have no sympathy for her.  Its a sick and dieing nation. 

Edited October 11, 2021 by the watcher

[Tracker]

11 hours ago, the watcher said:

What a POS !

The only hope America has of surviving as a nation is if their Department of Justice starts aggressively prosecuting Trump and every one of the GOP and all those involved in the attempted coup. The January 6th incident was a trial run and those involved in organizing are still free. They are organizing subversion at the school board, civic and state levels to challenge any elections result they lose and to disqualify as many Democratic voters as possible.