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GOP’s Embrace Of Trump And “The Big Lie” Makes Perfect Sense

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Politics can be a dirty business. For many officials, the number one priority once elected is to be re-elected, not policy or doing what’s best for the people who voted them in.  This especially holds true for today’s Republicans.

Following the January 6 insurrection, both Republican leaders, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy, harshly condemned Donald Trump for his role in fomenting the violent attack on the Capitol. McConnell said Trump is “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day, no question about it.” McCarthy joined in the condemnation by saying “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.”

What both McConnell and McCarthy soon discovered after their very honest assessment of the situation was that such candor did not sit well with a very important group… their voting base!

So they did what any politician would do whose number one goal is to remain in power … they pulled a huey.

The calculus for today’s Republicans is very simple … do you embrace the truth and loss the support of your base, thereby surely being kicked out of office or do you embrace Trump and “The Big Lie” and have a chance at remaining in power? If your goal is to remain in office, a chance beats no chance every day.

So enough of this Republicans are too cowardly to stand up to Trump nonsense. They’ve made a political choice that makes the most sense at the moment … the country, the Constitution and our democracy be damned.

With a riled-up base and voter suppression tactics on steroids, along with electoral history being on their side, Republicans believe they have a good chance of retaking the House in 2022, making Kevin McCarthy Speaker of the House.

It is pathetic, and sad, that today’s Republicans believe hitching their fortunes to a twice impeached, pathological liar gives them their best chance of remaining in power rather than repudiating him and trying to deprogram their cultish base… but that is the dirty business of politics.

In a way, Republicans have simply chosen the “the lesser of two evils” when it comes to their best chance of remaining in power.

Personally, I think they are going to be losers no matter what. Republicans are really in an impossible situation. Yet we know the truth eventually wins out. So, putting all political calculations aside, for my money, it is better to go down as a patriot rather than as a traitor. But that’s just me!

Photo | politico.com

After Cheney Ouster, House Reps Propose New Oath Of Office

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Reprint from moronmajority.com

During colonial times, when the United States were colonies of Great Britain, officials swore allegiance to the king. Following the Revolution, the founders decided to require an oath for all federal and state officials … to the Constitution.

Since Liz Cheney’s ouster from her House leadership position due to her refusal to swear allegiance to the king of her party, a few House Republicans have proposed a new oath to be taken by all new members on the opening day of a new Congress.

A bill soon to be introduced by Texas Representative Louie Gohmert, co-sponsored by fellow Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz and Jim Jordan, contains the following oath:

“I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend Donald J. Trump against all political enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to same; that I take this obligation without any mental hesitancy or self-reflection, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter as directed by Our Leader. So help me Trump.” 

As Republican House members are in the minority, it is unlikely such a bill will pass. But it is interesting to note how American conservatives have gone full circle in just under 250 years!

Photo | Forbes.com

*moronmajority.com is a satirical site … seriously!

“The Great Trumpini” Dodges Another Bullet!

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Just when you think he can’t possibly get out of this one … he does! He’s the world’s greatest escape artist, “The Great Trumpini!” You can wrap him in chains, stuff him in a trunk and throw it into the deepest lake and, voila, the master performs his death-defying escape act once again.

Today we learned the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has dropped its inquiry into Donald Trump’s hush-money payment to porn star, Stormy Daniels, made just days before the 2020 presidential election.

The bipartisan commission was evenly split with the two Democrats voting to continue the investigation into Trump’s payment to Daniels made through his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, while the two Republicans voted to drop the case.

Cohen can’t understand why he paid the price for being the bagman in the obvious illegal scheme, having served jail time, while his boss escapes without any consequences.

“The hush money payment was done at the direction of and for the benefit of Donald J. Trump,” Cohen said in a statement after the decision. “Like me, Trump should have been found guilty. How the FEC committee could rule any other way is confounding.”

Michael, we’re talking about “The Great Trumpini.” After escaping two impeachment trials, where he was guilty as sin, did you think he would not get out of the FEC jam?

Won’t it be fun and exciting to see how your old boss gets out of all the other legal troubles he’s still enmeshed in?

Photo | politico.com

Related story, Donald Trump Is The Real “Teflon Don”

What I Would Like To Hear From Joe During His First Address To Congress

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Next Wednesday, April 28, Joe Biden will give, for all intents and purposes, his first State of the Union address. It is not officially called that since a president’s first address to a joint session of Congress is not considered a “State Of The Union.” The reasoning?  During a president’s first few months in office, he hasn’t been around long enough to get the lay of the land!

Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, has given us a preview of what the President will discuss:

“Certainly, you can expect that he will talk about all of the priorities and his commitment to building the economy back better, getting the pandemic under control, addressing the challenges we face around the world.” 

That’s great, but I hope Biden addresses the 800-pound gorilla in the room as he speaks to Congress and the nation. Perhaps something like this:

On January 20th, I was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. I know some of you did not vote for me. But as I have said, I plan on being the president for all Americans. Look, folks, I know a good many of you do not believe the 2020 election was fair. That it was somehow rigged. That the other guy won. I understand why you think that way. But it is simply not true. There are some members in this very chamber who have fed you that lie and continue to do so. Many conservative news outlets have fed you that lie and continue to do so. Things have gotten so bad that many are referring to this whole situation as “The Big Lie.”

Folks, the 2020 election has been scrutinized six ways from Sunday and, for all that have looked into it, it’s the same conclusion … the election was fair and secure. Government officials, judges and elected leaders, mostly Republicans, have publicly acknowledged confidence in the election. In fact, William Barr, who many have said acted more like the former president’s personal lawyer instead of the lawyer for the United States, said he had “not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.” Chris Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said, “There was no indication or evidence that there was any evidence of hacking or compromise of election systems on, before, or after November 3.” He, like Barr, was appointed by the former president.

It is now six months after the election. We have seen what all the lying about election fraud has cost us … a violent attack on our nation’s Capitol. A country more divided than ever. This has got to stop and it has to stop now. There are just too many important things we need to do, right now, to help get us out of this pandemic and economic crisis.

I beg every Republican member of Congress to join me in moving forward with policies that will help the country thrive like never before. Put the political maneuvering and divisive politicking aside … put country over party … and let’s bring this country back, and together, again.

Yes, something along those lines would be great, don’t you think?

Photo | politico.com

When The Going Gets Tough, Gaetz Gets Going!

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Taking a page from his idol’s playbook on crisis management, Matt Gaetz has threatened to sue any journalist who has the audacity to report on his sex scandal.

The Florida representative, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest defenders, has hired a Villanova law school graduate, and former contestant on “The Apprentice,” to do damage control as his political and legal troubles heat up.

Politico reports, “A boutique conservative consultancy group working on behalf of Rep. Matt Gaetz is threatening to sue journalists for their coverage of the embattled congressman. The entity, Logan Circle Group, is run by Harlan Hill, a former Democrat who became a top Trump surrogate during the 2016 presidential election. The official behind the recent legal threats is Erin Elmore, a colleague of Hill’s at the Washington-based consulting firm and a Season 3 contestant on ‘The Apprentice.'”

Another tactic Gaetz has borrowed from the “man-who-once-occupied-the-White-House” is to deny, deny and then deny some more. No doubt this defiant stance will appeal to the Trump base Gaetz so desperately courts. But, in the end, courts tend to have the final say!

Following reports that Gaetz was under investigation by the Department of Justice for a sexual relationship with a minor, the Trump brownnoser denied the allegations, saying he would not “be intimidated by a lying media … The truth will prevail.”

Perhaps without seeing the irony of his statement, Gaetz’s bold prediction just might come true … the truth will prevail.

The investigation into Gaetz, according to sources, began during the Trump administration, with approval from former Atty. Gen. William Barr. It is linked to the sex-trafficking indictment of former Seminole County, Fla., tax collector Joel Greenberg, who is accused of meeting women through websites that connected them with men willing to provide gifts, fine dining and travel in exchange for sex. Among those whom Greenberg is accused of trafficking is a 17-year-old girl, according to the indictment.

If Greenberg turns on Gaetz in order to save his skin, Gaetz’s bluster will be seen as pathetic as that of a former president who denied his own sex scandal.

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky” said an audacious Bill Clinton before being impeached.

As we found out with Clinton, and most likely will find out with the many lawsuits against Trump, in the end, the truth, more often than not, prevails. Oh, in case any journalist feels threatened by possible legal action from Gaetz’s hired guns, the truth is an absolute defense to any libel claim. Report away!

Photo |aljazeera.com/Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP

Trump Asks … “Do You Miss Me Yet?”

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At both the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and a wedding party at Mar-A-Lago, Trump asked, “Do you miss me yet?”

That Trump thinks so highly of himself is no surprise. The man is a textbook narcissist … a walking, talking, full embodiment of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

To his loyal base, Trump is nothing short of the second coming. But to most Americans, Trump is:

  1. The most incompetent president ever.
  2. The most corrupt president ever.
  3. The most willfully ignorant, incurious, president ever.
  4. The most self-centered president ever.
  5. The most vengeful president ever.
  6. The most dishonest president ever. 
  7. The most lecherous president ever.
  8. The most uncaring president ever.
  9. The most unreflective president ever
  10. The only president to be impeached twice.

Of course, the above list is not meant to be exhaustive. There, no doubt, are other unsavory categories where Trump finds himself at the top of the charts.

Question … can you really miss someone if they are still ever-present? 

Now that he has lost his platforms on Twitter and Facebook, and is basically holed up at his Florida resort, Trump is threatening to start his own media network. Many doubt this will ever happen due to the man’s sheer incompetence and the ineptitude of the people he surrounds himself with. As one headline in the Washington Post put it, “Trump considers adding a social media network to his list of failures.”

So, no, man-who once-occupied-the-White-House, we cannot miss you if you’re still around.

But if your question is, “Do you miss me now that I am no longer your president,” the answer is an unequivocal, indisputable, categorical, without-a-doubt … “Hell no!”

Photo | latimes.com

Agreed … Not Every Citizen Should Be Allowed To Vote

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A few weeks ago, John Kavanagh, a Republican legislator who chairs Arizona’s Government and Elections Committee, made waves when he said voting really shouldn’t be for everyone.

“There’s a fundamental difference between Democrats and Republicans,” he told CNN. “Democrats value as many people as possible voting, and they’re willing to risk fraud. Republicans are more concerned about fraud, so we don’t mind putting security measures in that won’t let everybody vote — but everybody shouldn’t be voting … Not everybody wants to vote, and if somebody is uninterested in voting, that probably means that they’re totally uninformed on the issues. Quantity is important, but we have to look at the quality of votes, as well.”

Kavanagh may be onto something …“everybody shouldn’t be voting.” He’s right, but for the wrong reason.

We should want fewer people voting not because that would reduce fraud, but we should want to reduce the number of uninformed citizens from voting!

I have long been in favor of some type of national civics test before allowing someone to exercise his or her right to vote.  Just like potential drivers first have to demonstrate they know the rules of the road by passing a written test, so should citizens show their knowledge of American history and our political system before being allowed to vote.

As David Harsanyi wrote in the Washington Post a few years back, “By weeding out millions of irresponsible voters who can’t be bothered to learn the rudimentary workings of the Constitution, or their preferred candidate’s proposals or even their history, we may be able to mitigate the recklessness of the electorate.” He added, “If you have no clue what the hell is going on, you also have a civic duty to avoid subjecting the rest of us to your ignorance.”

Of course, this will never happen!

A test to weed out ignorant voters would, no doubt, run up against calls of governmental bias in setting up such a test in the first place. And, anyway, too many politicians depend on clueless voters to wield and secure their power. 

Perhaps the best we can hope for is that the uninformed, the misinformed and the disinformed will someday want to brush up on their civics or just voluntarily abstain from voting.

Unfortunately, that’s highly unlikely.

We may forever be stuck with bad governance and an American populace where only 40% can pass a basic multiple choice U.S. citizenship exam.

Photo | abcnews.go.com

Where’s Jared?

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Reprint from moronmajority.com

Since leaving his position, in January, as White House senior advisor, Jared Kushner seems to be missing in action.

During Donald Trump’s appearance at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Jared Kushner was noticeably absent from his side.

A source close to Kushner has said, “Right now, he’s just checked out of politics.”

And who could blame him!

While serving as his father-in-law’s right-hand man, Kushner was tasked with an inordinate level of responsibility. He was responsible for negotiating peace in the Middle East; he was responsible for solving America’s opioid crisis; he was responsible for diplomacy with Mexico; he was responsible for reforming care for veterans; he was responsible for reforming the criminal justice system; he was responsible for reinventing the entire government and making it work like a business; and he was responsible for leading a coronavirus task force!

Is it any wonder the man needs a break?

A close family friend has revealed the Boy Wonder, as some have called Kushner, is chilling out by spending time on his one true passion … creating art.

Much like George W. Bush after he left the White House, Kushner spends his days painting and drawing. But unlike Bush, who liked to paint portraits of important world leaders, Kushner passes the time mostly on drawings of his family.

Photo | npr.org/W. Roger Mills-Koonce

*moronmajority.com is a satirical site … seriously!

It’s Time For This Simple “Sense Of The Congress” Resolution

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Nearly two months since Joe Biden’s inauguration, some Republican members of Congress still have trouble saying his November election was valid and that he won fair and square.

And it’s easy to see why.

In a recent poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, about two-thirds of Republicans say Joe Biden was not legitimately elected president.

This is why you had Rep. Steve Scalise, second in command of the House Republicans, waffling when ABC host Jonathan Karl asked him a simple, straightforward question.

“Joe Biden won the election,” Karl asked. “He is the legitimate president of the United States. The election was not stolen, correct?”

 “Look, Joe Biden’s the president,” said Scalise. “There were a few states that did not follow their state laws. That’s really the dispute that you’ve seen continue on.”

Karl persisted.

“Congressman, I know Joe Biden’s the president,” Karl said. “He lives at the White House. I asked you, is he the legitimate president of the United States, and do you concede that this election was not stolen? Very simple question. Please just answer it.”

“Look, once the electors are counted, yes, he’s the legitimate president,” Scalise said. “But if you’re going to ignore the fact that there were states that did not follow their own state legislatively set laws, that’s the issue at heart, that millions of people still are not happy with and don’t want to see happen again.”

This nonsense has got to end.

Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer need to introduce, to their respective chambers, this simple resolution: “Joe Biden is the duly-elected 46th president of the United States.”

“Sense of the Congress” resolutions do not create law, do not require the signature of the President and are not enforceable. What they do is force individual members of Congress to go on the record as supporting or opposing a particular policy or concept.

Putting Congressional Republicans on the spot serves at least two important purposes. It officially forces their hands, putting them on record over the Biden “legitimacy” question, hopefully cutting off any more of this “Biden is president … but” foolishness. It will also, I’m guessing, show Biden and the rest of the Democrats exactly what they are dealing with. It may finally convince some moderate Democrats that reaching across the aisle is futile.

How can you have bipartisanship when X amount of Republican lawmakers don’t believe the president of the United States legitimately holds office? This resolution might convince all Democrats (looking at you Manchin and Sinema) that ending the filibuster is the only way Biden’s agenda can go forward.

And while a “no vote” will not get a representative or senator expelled (need 2/3 vote) it most likely will get him or her censured as only a majority vote is needed.

So what is your vote, Mr. “I-have-no-sense-of-shame-or-dignity” Cruz. Is that a yea or a nay?

Photo | Official White House photo/Lawrence Jackson

Trump Vows To Appeal Supreme Court Decision On Taxes

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Reprint from moronmajority.com

The United States Supreme Court issued a devasting decision yesterday when it refused to block the release of Trump’s tax returns to the Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance.

In what has become a reflex action whenever Trump is on the losing end of a court case, he vowed to appeal the ruling, saying it allows for the “greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our country” to continue.

In a lengthy written response to the decision, Trump attacked the Court for letting “this ‘fishing expedition’ happen” in the first place.

No one around the former-occupant-of-the-White-House had the nerve to inform him that the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land; that it is known as the court of last resort for a reason.

It is quite possible Donald Trump believes the World Court, headquartered in the Hague, has jurisdiction over the U.S. Supreme Court but, if he had paid attention in his high school history class, he’d know the court, also known as the International Court of Justice, settles disputes involving sovereign states in accordance with international law.

Or is it possible Trump has fallen into a Louis XIV mindset … “L’etat, c’est moi”?

Photo | abc.net.au

*moronmajority.com is a satirical site … seriously!

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