NYT’s Michael Bender and J. David Goodman had quite the lede summing all this up: “In the last 28 months … Trump has been voted out of the White House, impeached for his role in the Capitol riot and criticized for marching many of his fellow Republicans off an electoral cliff in the 2022 midterms with his drumbeat of election-fraud lies. He dined at home with a white supremacist … called for the termination of the Constitution … embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, described President VLADIMIR V. PUTIN of Russia as a genius and used a gay joke to mock a fellow Republican … has become the target of four criminal investigations. … Still, Mr. Trump remains a strong front-runner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.”
Shortly after a threat to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the Democratic-led Senate unanimously approved and House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to provide 24-hour security protections for Justices and their families. In June, President Biden signed the legislation into law.
Four months later, the spouse of the Speaker of the House of Representatives was viciously attacked while sleeping in his bed in his San Francisco home. The Speaker was in Washington, D.C. at the time of the attack. Paul Pelosi, 82, was attacked and hit on top of his head causing a skull fracture. The alleged assailant, David DePape told members of the San Francisco police department that he planned to talk to Speaker Pelosi if she had been home, and if she lied to him he was going to break her kneecaps, resulting in an injury that would serve as notice to other members of Congress.
So, how did Republicans react to the tragedy of an 82 year old man being attacked in his sleep in his own home? They had fun with it!
Virginia’s Governor, Glenn Youngkin joked that on Election Day, voters were going to send the Speaker home to be with her husband. At the time of the comment, the Speaker’s husband was undergoing surgery in a California hospital.
Kari Lake, the GOP candidate for governor in Arizona, while campaigning and lying about violent crime in the state, joked that the Speaker has security when she’s in D.C., but apparently her house doesn’t have much protection.
Of course, the Republicans in attendance at Lake’s campaign event howled in laughter. Yes, these people are deplorable — and vile.
And, of course, no instance of vile and deplorable behavior is complete without the inclusion of one of the Trump idiots. #2 idiot, Donald Trump, Jr., tweeted a picture of a hammer and a pair of men’s underwear with the caption, “Got My Paul Pelosi Halloween Costume Ready.”
I was happy to see in a recent article by Ryan Lizza and Eugene Daniels, (writing for Politico Playbook), credit given for the tremendous successes of President Biden during the first two years of his first term. I don’t find many political writers giving the president credit he deserves. It was nice to see that while it may be easy to nitpick the President when his poll numbers are low, in fairness he’s been very successful considering the recalcitrance he’s had to overcome.
The following is a quote from the Politico article:
Passage of the Inflation Reduction Act will make Biden one of the most legislatively successful presidents of the modern era. We once noted that the mismatch between the size of Biden’s ambitions and his margins in Congress made it seem like he was trying to pass a Rhinoceros through a garden hose. It ended up being more like a pony, but it’s still pretty impressive.
To wit:
—American Recovery Act: $1.9 trillion
—Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: $550 billion
—Chips and Science Act: $280 billion
—Inflation Reduction Act: $700 billion
That’s a nearly $3.5 trillion agenda. The scope of the issues addressed is notable: the pandemic and it’s economic fallout, highways, bridges, broadband, rail, manufacturing, science, prescription drug prices, health insurance, climate change, deficit reduction and tax equity.
He also expanded NATO, passed a new gun safety law and passed a bill to address the effects of vets exposed to toxic burn pits. Five out of seven of these laws — all but the two biggies, the ARP and IRA — received significant Republican support.
There’s not much debate anymore over whether Biden has been a consequential president. In the long run, his first two years may be remembered as akin to LBJ when it comes to moving his agenda through Congress.
The current political question is how much it will matter in the short term.
shockingly bad or excessive ”an outrageous act of bribery’‘
very bold, unusual, or startling “her outrageous leotards and sexy routines”
In recent years more and more acts seem outrageous, at least compared to behavior of say, 10 years ago. We seem to be less civil, less engaged, less friendly. Much of that behavior stems from the actions of politicos and their followers, but it also reaches deeper into our neighborhoods and casual interactions with others we encounter during the exercise of our daily lives.
I thought it would be interesting to catalog some of these interactions, and hopefully cause some to consider their own contribution to the weakening of the fabric that was once considered essential in American life.
My hope is to keep the list updated with the latest instances of outrageous behavior that come to my attention. Of course, if you have other examples, I’d love to share them with other visitors. Feel free to leave examples in the comment section.
Outrage #1: Republicans in Georgia nominate Herschel Walker for the United States Senate.
The members of the Republican Party of Georgia nominated former University of Georgia football star, Herschel Walker to represent them in the “world’s greatest deliberative body.” Walker, with no legislative or political experience, was endorsed by former president Donald John Trump, and apparently the people of Georgia are okay with whatever Trump wants.
During a recent campaign event in Georgia, speaking on the topic of climate change, Walker said:
Since we don’t control air, our good air decided to float over to China’s bad air. So when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So, it moves over to our good air space. Then — now we got we to clean that back up.
Herschel Walker, Republican U.S. Senate nominee, Georgia
Of course, as we’re reported before, this isn’t Walker’s first brain freeze. Actually, his brain seems to be frozen much more often than it is operates normally. Of course it’s entirely possible his version of normal is different from the rest of us.
“If you don’t believe in the country, leave and go somewhere else. If it’s the worst state, why are you here? Why don’t you leave? Go to another — there’s, what, 51 more other states that you can go to?
Herschel Walker, apparently one of the smartest Republicans in Georgia
It’s possible that Walker wins this election against the incumbent, Reverend Raphael Warnock. If he does, we should consider eliminating the Senate. It will have become a haven for idiots. (See: Marsha Blackburn). And maybe this is the method Republicans have agreed upon as the quickest way to destroy democracy in the United States — elect enough unqualified people to important positions in the government that it implodes.
On Friday, the Supreme Court, a division of the Republican Party, issued their expected decision eliminating a woman’s choice on whether to maintain an unplanned pregnancy to term. Republican justices Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Coney Barrett voted to end the constitutional protection provided by the Roe v. Wade decision for 60 years.
In a dissenting opinion written by Justices Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan, the dissenters wrote:
“With sorrow — for this court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have lost a fundamental constitutional protection — we dissent.”
Justices Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan.
But know this — this Court, full of extremist conservatives is just getting started. What Republicans have unleashed on this country is going to be devastating for the rights of people who don’t think, look, or live like they do.
Just think, if Hillary Clinton hadn’t mishandled those emails, our personal rights and freedoms wouldn’t be under attack. American voters have to do better, but it’ll likely have to be up to white voters to make that change. Minorities are likely to have their right to vote severely restricted in the coming years.
Maybe President Biden should seriously consider demands to ‘pack the court.’
“If you don’t believe in the country, leave and go somewhere else. If it’s the worst state, why are you here? Why don’t you leave? Go to another — there’s, what, 51 more other states that you can go to?
Herschel Walker, Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate from Georgia
After the 3rd hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, the simple question that seems to come more clearly into focus is — did he or didn’t he fulfill the oath of his office as outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution:
Article II, Section 1, 8 of the Constitution of the United States
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation: — “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Some 44% of Republicans say mass shootings are “something we have to accept as part of a free society,” the poll found.
The poll found that a majority of Democrats and Independents said shootings are preventable “if we really tried.”
The survey results come on the heels of a string of mass shootings across the country that have prompted Congress to once again consider legislation on gun control.
