Category Archives: Politics

All about politics, crazy and deadly both

Your Friend The Handgun

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Number 409 of a Series

Hey, Governor Abbott. What we could use right now is some more of them thoughts and prayers. What have you got for us?

Governor Abbott Statement On Shootings In Austin, Bexar County

December 6, 2023 | Austin, Texas Press Release

Governor Greg Abbott today issued a statement following additional shootings in Austin and Bexar County yesterday that killed six Texans and injured three, including an Austin Police Department Officer:

“Texans grieve for the loved ones of the six Texans who were murdered by a hardened criminal who must never see the light of day again. The murderer also shot two law enforcement officers in the line of duty. Texas is a law-and-order state, and violence will never be tolerated. We thank all state and local law enforcement and first responders who apprehended this criminal and protected their communities. The State of Texas will provide all resources necessary to impose the full weight of law on this criminal for his despicable crimes. Cecilia and I ask our fellow Texans to join us in lifting up in prayer the families and loved ones of those who were killed, as well as the Texans who are recovering from injuries, including an Austin Police Officer and an Austin Independent School District police officer.”

Got it, Governor. That seems to solve the problem. Or possibly we could get a new governor.

The Sycophant

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Gospel from Mark Meadows – 2

Former presidential Chief of Staff Mark Meadow wrote a book, The Chief’s Chief about Trump’s tenure. In the first installment of this series I pointed to content in the book that demonstrates Meadows’ near slavish loyalty to Donald Trump. It is the very definition of “sycophant.” There are other terms that can be used in place of that one, but I will bypass them. “Sycophant” will do for now. What is shown in the book is not only is Mark Meadows a sycophant, he is a bald-faced liar.

This fact is borne out by Meadows’ own testimony under penalty of perjury. When questioned under oath, he contradicted a number of the claims he made in the book. One consequence of this is that Meadows’ publisher, All Seasons Press, is suing him. His contract with his publisher included his assurance that all the facts presented in the book were true. Now the published wants their advance back, and they want $1 million. What does all this amount to? Some examples.

When we brought these credible accusations of voter fraud to court, however, they were dismissed quickly, before anyone even reviewed the evidence. For the most part, the cases were dismissed because the judges believed that states had no “standing” to bring the cases. The facts of fraud were not looked at by the judges and courts. In the middle of December, the Supreme Court dealt us the final blow, ruling that they would not hear any of President Trump’s many challenges to the election results. In the court’s opinion, the president of the United States had no standing to bring a challenge to an election that he was running in—one that was unfairly decided against him. If he didn’t have standing, I wondered, who did? Would they have made the decision if things had gone the other way, and Joe Biden was the one bringing the challenge?

Meadows, Mark Frank. The Chief’s Chief (p. 247). All Seasons Press. Kindle Edition.

That diverges considerably from what Meadows told investigators.

The lawsuit comes after ABC News reported on October 24 that Meadows reportedly told investigators that he has never seen “any evidence of fraud that would have kept now-president Joe Biden from the White House,” and that neither he nor Trump truly believed the election was stolen. Such statements, if accurate, would “squarely contradict” statements Meadows made in his book, the complaint states, “a central theme of which is that that President Trump was the true winner of the 2020 presidential election,” in “clear and direct breach” of contract provisions in which Meadows warranted that all statements in the book were true and accurate.

Transcripts of Meadows’ testimony are not available publicly, but what we are have are reports from people knowledgeable about the deposition.

The suit is notable as up until now Meadows’ reported cooperation has not been publicly confirmed. A spokesperson previously referred Insider to Meadows’ lawyer, George Terwilliger’s, statement to CBS News: “I told ABC that their story was largely inaccurate. People will have to judge for themselves the decision to run it anyway.” At the time both ABC News and Bloomberg reported that Smith granted Meadows immunity. According to ABC News, Meadows told investigators that he did not believe some of the claims that are in the book.

Meadows devoted significant length in “The Chief’s Chief” to the unfounded and widely debunked theories that widespread election fraud cost Trump the White House. At the time, Meadows’ claims made sense because later evidence and testimony would reveal that few, if any, figures inside the White House pushed harder to overturn the election than Trump’s chief of staff. All Seasons claims that now something is amiss. 

Meadows is not the only person who has been burned due to unwarranted loyalty to Donald Trump. He is, however, one of those suffering from intense buyer’s remorse.

The Quintessence of Dumb

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Number 18 in a continuing thread

Above see Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. What is he doing? Watch the video. Apparently he is regaling his audience at an event of some sort. He is giving his take on President Joe Biden. He is telling people “He carries an extra pair of pants when he travels.” Why, you may ask.

“In case he has poopy pants.”

I don’t want to belabor the point, but that is a United States Senator up there. It is not a grade schooler or even a junior high drop out. Here is a person who carries the weight of several million Texas constituents on his words and action. And this is what he has to offer.

I am not saying how we as Texas voters should respond to this, but I recommend we not clone him.

The Sycophant

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Gospel from Mark Meadows

Donald Trump was elected President of the United States in 2016. His first Chief of Staff was Reince Priebus, He was followed by John Kelley, Mick Mulvaney, and Mark Meadows. Mark Meadows “served as the U.S. representative for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district from 2013 to 2020.” “A Tea Party Republican, Meadows was a founding member of the Freedom Caucus.” One gets from reading his biography that Meadows is a hardline, true believer in the farthest right-wing ideals.

After leaving government service at the end of the Trump presidency Meadows wrote about about his term as Chief of Staff. The title is The Chief’s Chief, and the book contains some scathing remarks aimed at liberal politics and the 2020 election, which Trump lost.

Trump’s loss brought down a cascade of illegal maneuvering on the part of Republican politicians and activists. This maneuvering culminated in an attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, a blatant attempt to thwart the election process. As a result, many who participated in illegal activities have been prosecuted for crimes, and one of those is Mark Meadows. His book was published by All Seasons Press, whose interest is publishing the works of politically conservative authors. Now All Seasons is suing Meadows, saying that his sworn grand jury testimony contradicts many statements he made in the book. All Seasons is claiming these disparities violate the contract they signed with Meadows, and they diminish the value of the work. All Seasons says they have sold 60,000 copies out of a printing of 200,000. Concerned that the publisher would pull the book—this has happened before—I purchased a copy. See the image above.

An overview of the book is revealing. The first thing that strikes the reader is here is somebody who has sold his soul to an ideal and has lost touch with reality. A few examples will illustrate, and I will dribble these out over a series of postings. Here is an introduction. Mark Meadow obviously became enamored with Donald Trump even before Trump’s term in office, and it shows in a number of his fawning remarks.

For a moment, I’m sure the sound of President Trump speaking those words was comforting. It allowed all those present to recall, if only for a moment, what it had been like to have a president who was willing to stand up for us, fight on our behalf, and keep us safe from all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Meadows, Mark Frank. The Chief’s Chief (p. 278). All Seasons Press. Kindle Edition.

Passages such as this are what got this series its title. “Sycophant” is inherently pejorative, and this is the word that Mark Meadows tags onto himself throughout the book. Referring to a rally speech Donald Trump gave prior to announcing his decision to run in the 2024 election, Meadows gives his own evaluation.

The American people needed a leader, and there was only one man in the country who had proven he could do the job.

Meadows, Mark Frank. The Chief’s Chief (p. 279). All Seasons Press. Kindle Edition.

To be sure, Mark Meadows holds far-right views, and to many Donald Trump is the embodiment of those ideals. We would not expect to see objectivity coming from this author. He has a notion to sell to readers, and he goes about it earnestly. Those on the far right will read this and nod (cheer?) in agreement. At issue with this is Mark Meadows is so committed he continually goes overboard in his praise of Donald Trump and also in his defense.

In the book Meadows makes a number of extreme assertions that, if true, would be seriously damaging. The problem is he backs few if any of these statements with verifiable quotes or references. When he was ultimately required to defend his words under penalty of perjury, it became obviously that many of these statements were not only over the top—they were fabrications. Hence his law-suit with his publisher.

For all his boasting about honor and righteousness, he turned out in the end to be nothing more than a blow-hard and a liar. Further dives into this book will highlight the wrongheadedness of Meadows and others in the Trump cult. Keep reading.

Houston, we have a problem.

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Number 54 of a series

Above see Texas Senator Ted Cruz being interviewed by Kate Santaliz with NBC News. But first some words about Senator Cruz.

Cruz is strongly anti-abortion, but “would allow the procedure…when a pregnancy endangers the mother’s life”. He is in favor of cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood.[406]

Cruz opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In 2013, he said he wanted marriage to be legally defined as only “between one man and one woman”, but also said that the legality of same-sex marriage should be left to each state to decide. In 2015, after the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell ruled same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional, he called the decision “the very definition of tyranny”, accused the court of judicial activism, and said it was “among the darkest hours of our nation.” In 2017, the same day that an audio clip resurfaced of Alabama Judge Roy Moore calling Obergefell “worse” than the 1857 ruling that upheld slavery, Cruz endorsed Moore for U.S. Senate. He reaffirmed his position in 2022 after comments by Justice Clarence Thomas. While speaking to students at a summit for Turning Point USA, an American nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college and university campuses, Cruz joked that his favored personal pronoun is “kiss my ass”.

And that was that. Since then he has commented on the case of Kate Cox, a Texas woman whose pregnancy was diagnosed with triploidy 18, an extra (third) copy of chromosome 18. Doctors consider the condition nonviable, resulting in miscarriage, still birth, or a child with a fatal prognosis. After some wrangling with Texas’ extreme anti-abortion law, Mrs. Cox was forced to journey to another state to obtain an abortion. Here is the interchange between Senator Cruz and Kate Santaliz. See the above.

Santaliz: Senator, I wanted to get your thoughts on what the Texas Attorney General is doing in the case against Kate Cox and blocking her from receiving an abortion. Do you have any comment on that?

Senator Cruz: Just call our press office.

Oops! That went nowhere. How about another try.

Santaliz: Do you agree with Attorney General Paxton’s actions and what he did?

Senator Cruz: Just call our press office.

Santaliz: I have. I haven’t actually received an answer. So is there anything you would say right now on this?

Senator Cruz: Call our press office.

Right! Houston, we really do have a problem.

Senator Cruz, do you have a spine?

Call our press office.

The Quintessence of Dumb

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Number 17 in a continuing thread

Flash news: Donald Trump loves the poorly educated.

Trump overwhelmingly leads rivals in support from less educated Americans

Politics Apr 3, 2016 6:52 PM EST

WASHINGTON — It was in Nevada, just about month ago, when Donald Trump proclaimed his affection for the uneducated.

“We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated,” the Republican presidential front-runner boasted after coasting to a decisive victory in the state’s caucuses.

He should love them.

Trump overwhelmingly leads his rivals for support among the less educated, and draws more modest backing from college graduates and those with postgraduate study, according to exit polls conducted for the Associated Press and television networks by Edison Research.

Well, all right. Everybody has their base. Apparently Donald Trump is mining a rich vein. Doubt me? See the above.

Somebody with The Young Turks is interviewing two Trump supporters. The TYT guy is setting these two up. Watch the YouTube video. He asks, “Do you think there should be rules about what is taught in schools?”

They fall for it. “Critical Race Theory. As soon as I heard about that I’m like…”

What is Critical Race Theory?

Gotcha!

Yes, they do not know.

Keep in mind people like this are allowed to drive automobiles, operate heavy machinery, and possess sharp objects.

They are out there, readers. Y’all be careful.

Houston, we have a problem.

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Number 53 of a series

Yes, Houston, we do have a problem.

This one has some age, but I am revisiting it while reading Brian Stelter’s book, Network Of Lies. Here is an excerpt of interest.

On Thursday, in concert with the fact-check emails, he began calling and messaging the folks he knew at Fox. To Baier, he wrote, “These attacks by the president and Rudy are bonkers, and untrue. I wanted you to have the facts attached below.” To Cavuto, he forwarded a clip of Giuliani lying about Dominion on Dobbs’s show and wrote, “You know I respect you and I have a lot of friends over there, but this is some of the most embarrassing and malicious TV I’ve ever been forced to watch.”

Dobbs’s show was even worse the following night. He mentioned the company’s denial, indicating that he was aware of the “Setting the Record Straight” emails, but then gave Powell a platform to claim Dominion was “created to produce altered voting results in Venezuela for Hugo Chavez and then shipped internationally to manipulate votes for purchase in other countries, including this one.” Dobbs’s only pushback was to tell her to release the evidence “quick.” He actually believed the election was being stolen from Trump, but he was worried Trump’s flunkies were not competent enough to prove it in time.

Stelter, Brian. Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy (p. 134). Atria/One Signal Publishers. Kindle Edition.

What is going on here is in the days following the 2020 election the people at Fox were scrambling to cover Donald Trump’s loss. It appeared every time they reported bad news, they lost viewers. Hint: viewers are what make money for a TV enterprise. Some saw a glimmer of hope. Trump’s loss was due to the mechanizations of evil forces. Maria Bartiromo was eager to have former federal prosecutor Sidney Powell on to lay out her claims of malfeasance.

“Sidney,” Bartiromo said, “I want to ask you about these algorithms and the Dominion software. I understand Nancy Pelosi has an interest in this company.”

Stelter, Brian. Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy (p. 114). Atria/One Signal Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Now Dominion is sending a heads up to Fox. Quit defaming our company. Cutting to the chase, Fox did not let up, and Dominion sued. Fox settled for $787 million.

Where does Texas Governor Greg Abbott come into all this? Here is where.

Abbott knocks Dominion over Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News

BY STEPHEN NEUKAM – 05/14/23 8:00 AM ET

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) bashed Dominion Voting Systems over the departure of Tucker Carlson from Fox News, following a report that the popular conservative prime-time host was fired from the network as part of its settlement with the voting software company.

Carlson was told by a member of the network’s board of directors that he was taken off the air as part of the Fox News settlement with Dominion, according to Axios, which cited unidentified sources briefed on the conversations. Abbott said if the reporting was true, then he is “happy that Dominion does not operate in Texas.”

“We may disagree with other’s positions, but we should never try to improperly silence views contrary to our own,” Abbott said on Twitter on Saturday. “If Dominion wants to do business with Texas in the future, they should first answer questions about what role, if any, they played in silencing a prominent conservative journalist.”

A Fox News spokesperson in a statement to Axios said that the idea that Carlson was let go of as part of the settlement was “categorically false.” An attorney for Dominion also told the news outlet that it did not insist on Carlson being fired.

There are not many more ways than this to say “out of touch”. The matter is worse. Greg Abbott is the Republican governor of Texas. Many pardons if I conclude the governor would have been silent if this were not a right wing news outlet involved. And that is only part of the problem.

The Twitter Follies

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Number 9 Of A Series

Twitter followers are often verbose, profane, and dumb. I get that impression, because I tend to follow those who are verbose, profane, and dumb—such as Roger Blood. He posted the above on Twitter, and I added the caption. Yes, “dumb” will always be spelled “dumb.”

Tom Selleck Wrongly Linked to Jon Voight Quote About Trump

Dec 13, 2023 at 5:14 AM EST

Claims that Tom Selleck is a Trump supporter are trending on social media, after quotes by actor Jon Voight were misattributed to the Magnum P.I. star.

Originating from a Breitbart interview with Voight in 2016, the phony excerpts have been making the rounds on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.

“I pray all Americans who have seen and felt the meltdown of America with the Obama years, to please fight for Donald Trump,” the quote reads. “He will not let us down. I pray for all good people to see clearly what faces us now. The right vote will save our nation.”

According to independent fact-checking organization PolitiFact, a conservative blog fabricated the story in 2019, using quotes from Voight’s 2016 interview with far-right news network Breitbart.

Yes, Roger Blood has been reading Breitbart. Need I repeat? Breitbart. I will get back to Breitbart in the near future. That is one thing you can count on.

Houston, we have a problem.

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Number 52 of a series

Yes, Houston, we do have a problem, and it is one of our own making. Here is a recent email.

United States Senatewww.senate.gov 
Calling out political weaponization

Office of Senator Ted Cruz www.senate.gov
From:newsletter@cruz.senate.gov
To:jf_blanton@yahoo.com

Good Evening,
Under Joe Biden’s watch, the Department of Justice has become the most partisan we’ve ever seen, acting as the political strong-arm of the DNC. I am appalled by the actions of this administration to weaponize the DOJ and strip the power away from the American people. As a result, the FBI has become the Democrat’s vigilant attack dog, promoting their political ambitions and silencing dissenters. I am regularly approached by FBI agents, honorable men and women who stand up for the rule of law, who are frustrated about the weakening of the integrity of this institution because it’s being used as a political weapon. This week, I confronted FBI Director Christopher Wray on his negligent and partisan decisions to cover up the Biden family’s ongoing corruption allegations from the American people. This is a disgusting abuse of power that must be thoroughly checked by Congress.

Yeow! Where did that come from? “Under Joe Biden’s watch, the Department of Justice has become the most partisan we’ve ever seen, acting as the political strong-arm of the DNC.” You think? Senator, you need to look around. Who is it weaponizing the Department of Justice. Without elaboration, I show a few headlines above. Who is it abusing power?

Trump pardoned them. No they’re helping him return to power.

What kind of people did your cult leader pardon?

Here Are Some of the People Trump Pardoned

Steve Bannon, Anthony Levandowski and Lil Wayne were among those granted clemency in the final hours of the Trump administration. The former president did not announce pardons for himself or his children.

Senator, if that does not burn, then it could be you are the one lighting the fire. Closing, here is a reminder.

The Twitter Follies

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Number 6 Of A Series

I am telling you Twitter (X) is one crazy place. I get alerts about some Twitter postings, and they are a riot. Here is something recent.

Collin Rugg @CollinRugg

JUST IN: Biden leaves press conference after reporter confronts him over all his interactions with Hunter Biden’s foreign business associates. Before leaving, Biden falsely said the claims the reporter was making were “LIES.” Joe Biden: The biggest liar in politics. “I’m not gonna comment on that. I did not, and it’s just a bunch of lies.” “I did not… lies!”

And there is a video, but I could not follow the link.

What is really bizarre is, “The biggest liar in politics.” All right, Collin. Do want to think about that? You know the biggest liar in politics is competitive. If you want to look for the winner, you do not have to go very far. Let’s get the ball rolling.

I need to draw this to a close. Collin Rugg needs to re-examine his wording, or it could be he just needs to get some help.

Doubtful Heritage

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Number 11 of a Series

I signed up for email from these people. They are fun to follow. Here is an overview.

The Daily Signal is a conservative American political media news website founded in June 2014. The publication focuses on politics, policy, and culture and offers political commentary from a conservative perspective. It is published by conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation.

Today’s email pointed to this.

4 Big Moments From Trump-Hannity Town Hall Event

Fred Lucas /  / 

I’m skipping down to their Item 4.

4. Biden Corruption Allegations

Hannity asked about the allegations of Biden family influence peddling. The House Oversight and Accountability Committee released bank records showing direct payments to Joe Biden before he was president linked to family business ventures. 

The committee released bank records that showed at least $20 million went from foreign individual and entities to shell companies owned by Biden family members.

Three House committees are conducting an impeachmhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/17/how-republicans-overhype-findings-their-hunter-biden-probe/ent inquiry into the Biden. 

I advise readers to follow the link and read the entire piece. I have no insight into what is going on in Washington, so I entered the “$20 million” part into Google and came to this from The Washington Post.

For instance, the second staff memo never says that Hunter Biden used “shell” companies — a term often associated with shady or illegal activity, even though a shell company is a legitimate entity. Comer once described such an entity as “a fake company … they don’t make anything. They don’t produce anything. They don’t provide a good or service.” He is not wrong about many shell companies, but the memo lists real companies, with active websites and real business functions. (The third staff memo refers to just one “shell” company, which we will describe later.)

As for the $20 million in payments, Comer and other Republicans invoke this figure often. A close reading of the memos, however, finds that only about $7 million can be directly attributed to Biden family members, mostly Hunter, while the rest went to “associates,” according to the memos. Yet Comer and other lawmakers misleadingly suggest all of the money went to the Biden family or, as some label it, “the Biden crime family.” No evidence has emerged that any of these funds can be traced to Joe Biden himself.

Let’s detail the difference between the memos and the rhetoric.

‘Shell’ companies

Comer often suggests that the Biden family used these so-called shell companies to launder money; in his telling, such companies served no legitimate function. But that claim is undercut by the list of 21 companies that appear in the second staff memo.

And I have to say, I understand. Currently the Republican Party and its fans have their backs to the wall. They have come under the influence of Donald Trump, a person apparently without a dose of morality, and they are hard put to defend him, and thus, themselves. Their best response appears to be to throw a bunch of stuff against the wall and see what sticks. Their target is presumptive Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden. It is an arduous task, and they have been at it for months, years, with nothing real to show.

Full disclosure: it is well demonstrated Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, has been a bad boy. He did not pay taxes when they were due, and he falsified a government document. I, for one, think he needs to go to jail.

And all the rest of this stuff is bull shit.