Another RINO bites the congressional dust, or is something more sinister going on?

 Andrea Widburg - American Thinker

. . ."As of January 2023, Republicans had a very narrow majority in the House. After the rebellion against Kevin McCarthy, the latter, in a fit of pique, withdrew on October 3, 2023, long before finishing his term, diminishing the Republican majority. Then, the Republicans, proving that they truly are the stupid party, decided to show their “moral superiority” by kicking out Rep. George Santos." . . . 

. . ."Then, the Republicans, proving that they truly are the stupid party, decided to show their “moral superiority” by kicking out Rep. George Santos. Yes, Santos is an odd bird, but he wasn’t so bad that he needed to be tossed. Doing so shrank that slender majority still more.

"Last week, Rep. Ken Buck, a RINO’s RINO from Colorado, withdrew from the House, announcing that he was leaving effective yesterday. That means that there’ll be a special election for his replacement at the end of June. In Colorado, that’s not a good thing and could well mean a Democrat goes to Congress in his place.

"And then, just today, Charlie Kirk notified people via Twitter that Rep. Gallagher is heading out of Congress almost immediately, in the most damaging way possible for Republicans."

"With Gallagher’s departure and a possible Democrat victory in Colorado, there’s a real likelihood that Democrats will soon control the House. That means that, between now and January (when I devoutly hope there really is a red wave), Democrats will control Congress. Packing the Supreme Court and Puerto Rican statehood will suddenly be back on the agenda while Biden’s trembling hand can still sign those two bills into law. Once again, Joe Manchin is the only thing between us and a majority hard-left Supreme Court.

. . ."So, what are the four reasons you might suddenly have this new phenomenon of people leaving the House early when the party with which they’re affiliated has a razor-thin majority?

One: An emergency. If the House member or someone in his family becomes ill or has another crisis, that’s a good reason to pull out.

Two: Personal pique. That’s why McCarthy pulled out. It was a lousy, selfish reason because it diminished the majority, but it’s still a reason.

Three: A desire to help the opposing party. At this point, given the huge chasm between left and right, it’s weird to believe that someone who calls himself a “moderate” Republican would want to help the Democrats. And if the person isn’t a moderate anymore, why not announce that he’s a Democrat and help create an instant Democrat majority? So, Buck and Gallagher might be protesting MAGA Republicans, but throwing the House to Democrats is a strange way to do it.

Four: The person is being pressured to leave immediately.. . .

 

Tucker: Joe Biden has put hundreds of his political opponents in jail. Here’s the latest

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Former Trump Defense Sec Says Liz Cheney, J6 Committee Threatened to 'Make My Life Hell' If He Contradicted Their Preferred Narrative

  The Gateway Pundit | by Ben Kew  

It is far from the first time that the J6 Committee has proven to be a witchhunt against Donald Trump. In January, an explosive report from Fox News revealed how the panel had secretly deleted over 100 potentially critical pieces of evidence right before the GOP took over the House of Representatives in 2022.

 "Donald Trump’s former acting Secretary of Defense, Chris Miller, has revealed that he felt “threatened” by former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and other members of the January 6th Committee after he refused to endorse their version of events.

"In an interview with Daily Mail, Miller said that he became “fearful” of the panel’s tactics after they tried to stop him making claims that ran contrary to their preferred narrative.

"According to Miller, the panel were particularly upset by a Fox News interview he gave with Trump national security official Kash Patel in which he pointed out that the former president authorized the National Guard to step in quell the protests taking place in and around the Capitol.

“ 'The two of us were on [the Fox News show] and the next day my lawyer got a call from the Jan. 6 staff director – I forgot exactly who it was – but basically saying, very legalistic: ‘Well, if your client has additional information he wants to share, we’d be happy to have him re-interviewed,'” Miller explained.

“ 'It was more that latent threat of: ‘If you want to keep going on TV, we’re gonna drag you in here again for additional hours of hearing testimony.’ So that was the nature of that whole thing,'” he continued.

"He also outlined his view that the Committee’s Vice Chair Liz Cheney was the person “running the show” and that she was concerned about the “optics” of his claims that Trump attempted to restore order.

"Miller, who was appointed as acting Secretary of Defense in October after his predecessor refused to act on evidence of widespread election fraud, added that he had not wanted to publicly discuss his concerns until now.

" 'I didn’t talk about it with anybody else because of the fear or the concern,” he said. “I wasn’t communicating with anybody, because I knew any interactions I had on it would result in me having to… acknowledge that I’d been in communications with other people. And then that just sort of opens up a whole can of worms with the investigators that I just didn’t want to do.’ . . .

Former Obama Fundraiser: Letitia James’s Trump Vendetta a ‘Very Slippery Slope’

Headline USA

"(Headline USA) A former fundraiser for President Barack Obama admitted this week that New York Attorney General Letitia James’s case against former President Donald Trump was “so wrong.”

"Trump was ordered last month to pay a massive $400 million fine by New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over James’s civil lawsuit against the former president and his business empire. Trump now has to remit a $464 million bond if he wants to appeal Engoron’s decision.

"Don Peebles, a millionaire who helped fundraise for Obama’s first campaign, said the case could have a serious chilling effect on business in New York and that James never should have pursued it.

" 'I have expressed concern that I think that this is a very slippery slope to selectively enforce an archaic law that has got no victim,” he told Fox News host Neil Cavuto.

"Peebles added that the hefty remittance bond being forced on Trump was an effort by James and the state to do as much damage to the former president while it could.

“I think they are confident—or think it’s likely—that this will get reversed, and then there will be no punishment,” he said. “So they’re rushing to inflict as much pain on him as they can right now because once the appeals court puts an end to this, then there will be no repercussions.”his, then there will be no repercussions...'

Grid-Draining Electron Guzzlers And The End Of Driving

 Issues & Insights (issuesinsights.com)

"In their way of thinking, only the elites should have the freedom that automobiles deliver. Everyone else must be sardined into mass transit. The EV fetish is nothing but a navigation point on the left’s route to a world in which a car is a luxury item that only few will have." I&I

"In perfect Democratic Party form, the Biden administration has dropped another government burden on the private sector. Two days ago, the White House rolled out “the toughest-ever” automobile emissions standards. The objective, of course, is to force Americans to buy the cars that the ruling class wants them to drive. There’s a big problem here, though – the grid won’t be up to the task of keeping tens of millions of electric vehicles charged.

"The headline from a Bloomberg story last week summed up the plan: “​​Biden Set to Crack Down on Auto Emissions to Accelerate EV Sales.”

"Rules decreed by the Environmental Protection Agency are intended to “propel electric vehicle sales well beyond current levels,” says Bloomberg. “The EPA has projected that to meet proposed mandates, electric models would need to make up roughly two-thirds of car and light truck sales in 2032 — up from less than a tenth last year.”

"This is no noble effort to prevent a climate catastrophe. Democrats, eco-activists and the thoroughly compromised media continually argue that we have to move to EVs to save the sky, but the federal rules and state mandates they propose and issue are part of a larger plan to drive Americans out of cars and into public transit, which is failing across the country.

"There are a number of problems with the march to EV-topia. They’re not zero-emission vehicles, they’re an extravagant purchase, costly to repair, expensive to insure, hazardous to own, and they create a new class of hazmat problems.

"On top of all that, charging them is a hassle, which is only going to become worse. America, in 2024, is already running out of power." . . .

Blinken Completely Beclowns Himself in Israel, Netanyahu Tells Him to Jump in a Lake

 I'm so ashamed of the American leaders and the public that supports them. TD

Bonchie – RedState  

"In the end, I think Blinken knows the Israelis aren't going to listen to his dollar store foreign policy demands. He's just playing for the cameras, trying to make Iran and the pro-Hamas contingent in the United States feel better. It's gross but predictable." 

"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up a trip to Israel on Friday, having failed to convince Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and the rest of the leadership there to essentially surrender to Hamas. 

"Members of the Biden administration suffered embarrassment earlier in the morning after their "ceasefire" resolution went down in the flames at the UN. They are such amateurs that they can't even throw Israel under the bus without screwing it up. 

"Blinken continued to try, though, meeting with Netanyahu and lecturing him on the finer points of combating Hamas. You know, because if anyone knows about defeating terrorists, it's the guy who helped lead the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and has more recently overseen the resurgence of the Islamic State. 

"Here's a bit of what transpired behind closed doors.

Behind the scenes: Blinken told Netanyahu and the war cabinet that he came to Israel as a friend who spent the past five months defending Israel around the world.

• But he warned that on the current trajectory, without a clear plan for the day after the war, Israel will be left with a major insurgency it can't handle.
• "You need a coherent plan, or either you're going to be stuck in Gaza," Blinken said, according to the source. 

"This is like a high-school drop-out telling a post-grad how to study. Blinken's record is one of abject failure. Everything he has touched has turned to rubble, and his only "achievement" has been to empower Iran as a major force in the Middle East. To mouth off to Israel about having a "coherent plan" is laughable. They have a coherent plan. It's called defeating Hamas in the physical battlespace that exists, which means going into Rafah.

"What happens after that? That's not Israel's problem, is it? Hamas, which is supported by the vast majority of Palestinians, chose to attack on October 7th. They brought this on themselves, and Israel is not going to stop its mission simply because there's uncertainty on the horizon. Perhaps the "international community" I'm always hearing about can handle the relief work.

"Besides, the idea that Hamas should be left in place lest there be a "major insurgency" is nonsensical. Was what was in Gaza before the war somehow safer? Less violent? Less prone to carry out murderous rampages? Sometimes there is no perfect answer to every concern, and victory is the only path to pursue. If there's an insurgency, then there's an insurgency. That's preferable to having an openly hostile terrorist government operating next door with impunity.

"No matter, though. Blinken wants everyone to know that he believes Hamas should be defeated but that defeating Hamas isn't the right way to do it. Wait, what?" . . .

Young people are identifying as LGBTQ even when they’re not.

 The LGBTQ Conquest of America - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

"The mind boggles, reels, and whirs at the speed with which the LGBTQ agenda has swept across America.

"We saw it flex its muscles in the rapidity with which same-sex marriage became legalized. But Obergefell v. Hodges was only the start. Less than a decade since that historic ruling, society has flipped from where certain sexual behavior was stigmatized to where it is now celebrated and endorsed, even by the government.

"Did anyone really think the number of avowed homosexuals would not burgeon once gay and lesbian relationships became ubiquitous on television and in movies and were taught in public schools as just another equally valid family unit?

"Which is what is happening.

"Gays and lesbians have become so commonplace in movies, television shows, and commercials that we’re surprised to see a new release, series, or spot that does not contain them. LGBTQ has come light-years from Ellen DeGeneres’s eponymous character coming out on her show Ellen in 1997 and the normalizing of gay relationships in Will & Grace in 1998.

"Trans, as the new gay, is approaching the same ubiquity. There have been transgender superheroes since 2018. An article from 2020 features five cartoon shows in which transgender characters are prominent. Pronouns have become a flashpoint in the trans revolution, as “misgendering” is criminal enough to get one expelled from school.

"Religion has played a prominent role in the LGBTQ advance, as mainline Protestant denominations sanctify queerness with drag shows and other outrages that 50 years ago would have literally emptied the pews of their churches. An anti-Catholic group called Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence mocks the Christian faith right to its face with only minimal, and measured, rebuttal from the public.

"The corporate world has jumped with both feet into Pride Month, sometimes, albeit not often enough, to their own economic detriment. The Bud Light, Target, and Kohl’s boycotts were exceptions to what is generally a noncontroversial corporate capitulation to zeitgeist sexual otherness.

"Even sports, usually the great American retreat from the day’s troubles, offer no retreat from the LGBTQ World. The big pro leagues in America have almost all woven a pride flag into their logos for Pride Month, and teams themselves have almost universally succumbed to the pressure of holding Pride Nights. If you don’t want to see guys kissing guys, you might want to stay away from Major League Baseball parks this coming June — or become a fan of the Texas Rangers, the only franchise not to have a Pride Night in 2023 (they also won the World Series)." . . .  "It Gets Worse" . . .

Destroying the American system of justice

 Ed Brodow - American Thinker

"If the Democrats can get away with this partisan assault on someone like Donald Trump, imagine what they will do to you and me in pursuit of their leftist policies. The American public is no longer protected by due process and the rule of law. The rule has just changed to, “Whatever the Democrats want.' ” . . .

"Some days I think I must be dreaming. Two deranged “public servants” -- the vindictive New York State attorney general and a leftist judge with a bad haircut -- are being given free rein to subvert our justice system by placing titanic barriers against the Republican nominee’s ability to run for president. What is happening to our country and who will stop it?

"How is it possible that someone with Trump’s extraordinary accomplishments can be brought down by two vile and inconsequential persons such as Letitia James and Arthur Engoron? Their lawsuit has the support of, and is the consequence of, the Democratic Party’s efforts to interfere with the 2024 presidential election.

"To begin with, James’ fraud case against Trump is a farce. There is no crime and no victim. No one has been harmed. It is purely a weaponization of the legal system for political ends. As Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary has observed, what Trump is alleged to have done -- overvalue his real estate properties when applying for a bank loan -- is normal business practice all over the globe. The bank made money and is anxious to do business with him again.

"Thanks to a publicity-hungry, overtly anti-Trump judge, James’ phony indictment has been backed up with an unheard-of $460-million judgment. And they want it now. No one has that kind of cash floating around. Unless he comes up with an impossible-to-obtain bond, Trump is precluded from his right to appeal.

"Without waiting for the outcome of an appeal, James wants to seize Trump’s real estate holdings. Adding insult to injury, Judge Engoron has ordered a court to oversee the Trump organization for a minimum of three years. This is the Soviet-style textbook for “How to Take Down a Billionaire.” . . .

Attorney General Garland promises election lawfare - American Thinker

How is it possible the chief law enforcement officer in America doesn’t know drop boxes, refusing to enforce ID laws and mail-in ballots are among the best methods of cheating?  Or perhaps he does…

And this is the man Obama selected for the Supreme Court! TD 

Is Chuck Schumer Motivated by Honor or Power? -

  The American Spectator | USA News and Politics

. . ."But of Chamberlain’s predecessor, Stanley Baldwin, a Conservative, who refused to respond to Germany’s rearming and thereby made sure that the Nazis would nearly run the table in 1940 and 1941— of Baldwin, Churchill said “it would have been much better” had he never been born." . . .

RealityBites by Broc Smith

"Last week, Chuck Schumer called for regime change in Israel. Using language reserved for petty despots around the world, he called for the removal from office not of the bloody, orgiastic Hamas thugocracy, not of Prime Minister Barbecue, not the blood-soaked mullahs of Iran, whose coffers he collaborated in filling, but of a constitutionally chosen prime minister who leads a wartime coalition whose policies enjoy supermajority support of a country united by the hellish atrocities of Oct. 7. 

"Schumer is responding to the looming disaster of Biden’s incoherent Israel policy. Both Schumer’s and Biden’s first instincts were to throw their full support behind Israel, heeding the better angels of their souls. 

"But even before they spoke, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was chumming up with Turkey’s would-be sultan, accomplished despot and kleptocrat, Recip Erdogan. Before one Israeli set foot in Gaza, before the blood of the raped and dismembered women had dried, the two issued a call for a ceasefire.

"A ceasefire? Israel hadn’t begun cleaning out the 400 miles of top-grade military tunnels under the hospitals, schools, and mosques of Gaza, tunnels which Hamas denied the citizens for whom it was responsible use for shelter, so what Blinken meant was that Israel had to pound sand. The atrocities were condign punishment for having the gall to refuse to offer endless concessions to those who seek its total elimination. Or in the words of an inexcusably honest member of this administration, a “final solution.”

"The Democrats are instigators of the disastrous Obama turn to Iran, by which, slice by slice, the Israel alliance is being severed. Obama guaranteed economic relief for the mullahs, enabling them to fully fund their violent clients, from Gaza to Yemen to Syria. Only a few Democrats were brave enough to buck Obama, Alan Dershowitz, being the most eloquent. (Look out for your back, Dr. D.) Schumer hung tight. Giving cover, he kept a reputation as a friend of Israel, helped in no small part by the loyalty of so many American Jews to a party that used to share their concerns before it went full woke.

"As the betrayal of Israel gathers steam, propelled by Biden’s fear of losing the River to the Sea vote, Jews are being trotted out to try to make this all seem kosher. That man of unparalleled integrity, Adam Schiff, oozed gravitas before the cameras as he declared that Schumer’s will affect Israel like an earthquake. A suitably violent image, indeed, for a verbally violent assault on America’s bona fides as an ally and on respect for the choices of a working democracy." . . .

Payton McNabb Destroys Pramila Jayapal for Claiming That 'Trans Women' in Sports Do No Harm –

  Twitchy

"Yesterday, in the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Pramila Jayapal gave a crocodile tear-filled speech in defense of men in women's sports, as the committee was considering a bill that would ban transgender athletes in the Olympics. We're not going to transcribe the entire speech here (you can watch it on YouTube if you like, along with Rep. Harriett Hageman's response), but there was a particularly interesting segment near the end of Jayapal's plea where she said something remarkable: 

Why are you doing this? It is a tiny portion of people across the country that identify as trans and not a single one of them is doing anything to harm you or your family.'

"Oh, really? Is that so? 

"We beg to differ. Thankfully, Florida representative Greg Steube -- who is a sponsor of the bill -- wasn't going to sit still for that claim. In responding to Jayapal, he introduced Twitter to a woman many people may not know: Payton McNabb." . . . 

Oh, really? Is that so? We beg to differ. Thankfully, Florida representative Greg Steube -- who is a sponsor of the bill -- wasn't going to sit still for that claim. In responding to Jayapal, he introduced Twitter to a woman many people may not know: Payton McNabb.

Men in women's sports haven’t harmed anyone??
I imagine @paytonmcnabb_ would disagree!
This bill is about safety and fairness. How many more female athletes will be injured by men before the anti-women Democrats wake up? pic.twitter.com/uTZFYNzaOz

— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) March 21, 2024

It seems not to bother Jayapal one bit to know what was and is being done to the captives Hamas has taken away to Gaza nor those Israelis who were burned alive on Oct 7th. TD

 Hamas photos: (saturday-october-seven.com)

'Destroyed his credibility': Joe Scarborough trolled as he slams defense of Trump's 'bloodbath' remarks

 Tamkeenat Rose; (msn.com) 

The word bloodbath is only an issue when President Trump says it..🤡 https://t.co/HUM9uZ3897

— Keith Oehlerking 🇺🇸 (@0ehlerking) March 18, 2024

 "Joe Scarborough, co-host of MSNBC's 'Morning Joe', didn't hold back in criticizing former President Donald Trump's recent controversial remarks, particularly his use of the term "bloodbath" during a rally in Dayton, Ohio.

"During the 6:15 am segment, Scarborough openly expressed his skepticism towards attempts by Trump's supporters to explain away the comments. He used strong language, dropping the word "," to convey his disbelief at their explanations. 

Trump's 'bloodbath' remark

"Following Trump's comments, there was widespread debate over whether he was hinting at violence or issuing an economic warning. Trump's campaign quickly moved to clarify that he was solely discussing the economy or the auto industry, the specific topic of his speech.

"However, Scarborough found this defense unconvincing. He questioned the logic of discussing macroeconomics in terms of "bloodbaths" and pointed out the repetition of the phrase "that's going to be the least of it," suggesting broader implications." . . .

. . ."However, that didn't prepare many for his Tuesday rant, one which had people on social media to question just how sane Scarborough is at this point.". . .

OPERATORS MAR. 21, 2024 It’s Hard to Imagine Who’d Want to Buy Trump’s Seized Properties

 Risks May Make Trump’s Seized Properties Cheap (curbed.com)

Someone who buys a former Trump office tower faces the risk of Trump besmirching their reputation, or even rallying supporters to boycott them. And those interested in the smattering of units he still owns at his branded buildings could face a sort of inverse problem — having to face Trump protesters.

"Time is running out for Donald Trump to come up with nearly a half a billion dollars before the Monday deadline in his fraud case. If he can’t find the cash or secure a bond, which his lawyers say he can’t, the state may make good on its threat to seize some of his properties. That kind of fire sale would mean “textbook irreparable injury” for the former president, his lawyers say, from the “massive, irrecoverable losses.”

"Which is probably true. A flash sale tends to mean bargain basement prices. When the government seized luxury property after a verdict over the 1MDB scandal — wherein a Malaysian government fund was pilfered to pay for bribes, shopping trips, and even to produce Wolf of Wall Street — a study found that two hotels and six homes flipped for 41 percent less than defendants had paid. That’s because the Feds “don’t care about the market” and are “not here to set comps,” Ryan Serhant said at the time. (His client got a bargain on a seized apartment.) Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, a professor of real estate at Columbia University, agreed: A fire sale “is never a good option” for a property owner, or even for a government seller, if it wants to make the most money with the least paperwork. And these properties — tied to the reputation of a volatile, public persona and caught up in the middle of a legal appeal — are a kind of wasp’s nest that any buyer may not be willing to deal with, except for a bargain, bargain basement price." . . .