Republicans are sick of losing, and we’re gonna do whatever it takes to win.
Steve Daines, incoming chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
the Right is Wrong!
Republicans are sick of losing, and we’re gonna do whatever it takes to win.
Steve Daines, incoming chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
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.”
An online dictionary defines ‘outrageous’ as:
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.
Another example of the genius of Walker (and the people who nominated him to represent them among some of the brightest minds in the country):
“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.
“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
Nominated for Jackass of The Week (JOTW) — in the first of what is likely to eventually become thousands of nominations — is Texas Senator Raphael “Ted” Cruz.
In response to the leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court revoking abortion rights, Cruz, in his role as Jr. Detective, pointed the finger of blame at a law clerk for Justice Sonia Sotomayor without any evidence, whatever.
I think it is very very likely a law clerk. And it is very likely a law clerk for one of the three liberal judges. If I were to guess the most likely justice for whom the law clerk is clerking, it’s Sonia Sotomayor, because she’s the most partisan of the justices.
Raphael Cruz, earning this nomination as Jackass of the Week
After the allegation against the clerks in Justice Sotomayor’s office, Cruz added, “I have no evidence of that. I’m just making an inference.”
I guess that was Trump’s position after suggesting Cruz’ father was somehow responsible for President Kennedy’s assassination, and clearly making the case that Mrs. Cruz was not an attractive woman.
From my viewpoint Cruz astonishingly accuses someone based solely on their likely political affiliation while citing partisanship as the reason for the accusation. A well-deserved nomination.
Give it a rest, Raphael. No matter how much of a jackass you truly are, the 2024 GOP nomination isn’t coming to you. Believe it!
In light of the shocking release of a draft opinion by Supreme Court Justice Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Senator Susan Collins said yesterday that the draft opinion was completely inconsistent with what Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh “said in their hearings and in our meetings in my office.” Of course, since 2017 lying by high government officials is no longer considered improper.
Back in 2018, during consideration of the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh, Collins spoke on several issues she confidently understood Kavanaugh’s position. On the issue of abortion and the importance of precedent, Collin’s speech included this:
There has also been considerable focus on the future of abortion rights based on the concern that Judge Kavanaugh would seek to overturn Roe v. Wade. Protecting this right is important to me. To my knowledge, Judge Kavanaugh is the first Supreme Court nominee to express the view that precedent is not merely a practice and tradition, but rooted in Article 3 of our Constitution itself. He believes that precedent is not just a judicial policy, it is constitutionally dictated to pay attention and pay heed to rules of precedent. In other words, precedent isn’t a goal or an aspiration. It is a constitutional tenet that has to be followed except in the most extraordinary circumstances.
The judge further explained that precedent provides stability, predictability, reliance and fairness. There are, of course, rare and extraordinary times where the Supreme Court would rightly overturn a precedent. The most famous example was when the Supreme Court in Brown vs. The Board of Education overruled Plessy vs. Ferguson, correcting a “grievously wrong decision” to use the judge’s term, allowing racial inequality. But someone who believes that the importance of precedent has been rooted in the Constitution would follow long-established precedent except in those rare circumstances where a decision is grievously wrong or deeply inconsistent with the law. Those are Judge Kavanaugh’s phrases.
As the judge asserted to me, a long-established precedent is not something to be trimmed, narrowed, discarded, or overlooked. Its roots in the Constitution give the concept of stare decisis greater weight simply because a judge might want to on a whim. In short, his views on honoring precedent would preclude attempts to do by stealth that which one has committed not to do overtly.
Noting that Roe v. Wade was decided 45 years ago and reaffirmed 19 years later in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, I asked Judge Kavanaugh whether the passage of times is relevant to following precedent. He said decisions become part of our legal framework with the passage of time and that honoring precedent is essential to maintaining public confidence. Our discussion then turned to the right of privacy on which the Supreme Court relied in Griswold vs. Connecticut, a case that struck down a law banning the use and sale of contraceptions. Griswold established the legal foundation that led to Roe eight years later. In describing Griswold as established law, Judge Kavanaugh observed that it was the correct application of two famous cases from the 1920’s, Meyer and Pierce that are not seriously challenged by anyone today.
Finally, in his testimony, he noted repeatedly that Roe had been upheld by Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, describing it as a precedent. When I asked him would it be sufficient to overturn a long-established precedent if five current justices believed that it was wrongly decided, he emphatically said “no.”
Senator Susan Collins speech on the Senate floor, October 5, 2018
Either Kavanaugh lied to Collins, or Collins lied to the American people. One thing becomes increasingly clear — the Supreme Court is a political entity, with the Republicans now firmly in control of America’s legal system. We are heading down a seriously dark, dangerous path.
Be vigilant!
Four days after joining the New Hampshire Republican primary, U.S. Senate hopeful and bitcoin millionaire, Bruce Fenton, compared the widespread adoration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the reaction to Osama bin Laden, warning that bin Laden was also once seen as a “hero.”
Fenton spun up the cautionary tale last week in his first televised interview as a candidate, telling WMUR’s Adam Sexton that “there’s so many parallels right now between Ukraine and the Taliban.”
“Remember, as Zelensky is a hero now, Osama bin Laden was once considered a hero,” Fenton said.
Fenton previously served as an executive director for the non-profit Bitcoin Foundation, originally founded in 2012. His early bitcoin-roots allowed Fenton to amass a small fortune preparing him for his eventual self-funded campaign driven by his $5 million injection.
After his tenure with the Bitcoin Foundation, Fenton turned his eyes to New Hampshire and the Free State Project, which is a political pro-freedom movement that calls for smaller government and lax regulatory burdens.
April 7, 2022
Earlier today the U.S. Senate voted 53-47 to confirm Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson as the 116th Supreme Court Justice. Judge Jackson’s confirmation makes history in that she will be the first Black woman elevated to the nation’s highest court.
Judge Jackson will take her seat on the high court after Justice Stephen Breyer retires this summer.
All 50 senators who caucus with Democrats voted to confirm Judge Jackson, along with three Republicans: Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.