If you watched any of the censorship hearings yesterday you saw that Dems were unprepared with no actual arguments, and vicious to the witnesses who dared spill the govts dirty laundry. Typical.
Chairman Jordan called before us two witnesses who pose a direct threat to anyone who opposes them.
— Rep. Stacey Plaskett (@StaceyPlaskett) March 9, 2023
You are a legitimately ridiculous person and the fact that you are in ANY WAY a paid representative of the United States is an absolute blight on this country.
Cry more.
— Chicks On The Right (@chicksonright) March 9, 2023
DWS seems shocked that folks would want to subscribe to reporters who are truthful with their audience. It’s a strange new concept to her.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) accuses Matt Taibbi of profiting from authoring the GOP’s "Twitter Files":
"After the 'Twitter Files,' your followers doubled … I imagine your Substack readership … increased significantly because of the work that you did for Elon Musk." pic.twitter.com/8S01sqt1g8
This is like if a politician dismissed all reporting from the NYT, saying that it isn't real journalism b/c they are only doing it to sell newspapers https://t.co/UglWlSYzQm
Imagine thinking you've made a valuable point by outlining that a journalist's following doubled after running stories the masses found illuminating and/or pertinent.
Poor Dems. They hate it when Greenwald shows up with receipts.
"Oh, so because you spent years as Rolling Stone's star investigative reporter, won the most prestigious journalism awards, and wrote 10 books on politics, now you're a journalist?
The ironic part of @StaceyPlaskett's violent, dangerous assault on 2 journalists – snidely demeaning them as "so-called journalists" and "direct threats" to incite violence against them – is she's just a "so-called Congresswoman."
Also: what does @DWStweets think she's proving? Yes, breaking huge stories often advances a journalist's career. Bob Woodward became the world's richest journalist from Watergate; does that impugn his reporting?
Democrats are smart when they keep DWS out of sight and mind as they've been doing for years, ever since Wikileaks exposed her corruption as the DNC Chair, cheating for Hillary (a major reason Biden keeps Assange rotting in prison). She's viscerally repulsive and corrupt. pic.twitter.com/UmP9p5EuRI
Seems the cartels don’t like all that talk about sending the military down to deal with them.
Lastnight 5 handcuffed men were adandoned in the streets of Matamoros with them a message in which the Gulf Cartel accuses them of having participated in the kidnapping of Americans and apologizes for the death of three people, including a Mexican per source pic.twitter.com/37doSnJ2cP
— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) March 9, 2023
“The attack killed two of the kidnapped Americans:
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press through a Tamaulipas state law enforcement source, the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel apologized to the residents of Matamoros where the Americans were kidnapped, the Mexican woman who died in the cartel shootout, and the four Americans and their families.
“We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the letter reads, adding that those individuals had gone against the cartel’s rules, which include “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.””
—-
Well, except for all those innocents their drugs are killing. But that’s just business.
Get rid of this corrupt clown already. Wray is useless, except to Democrats.
I just secured FBI Director Wray’s commitment to stop stonewalling @HouseGOP's investigation into the politicization and weaponization of the FBI, by agreeing to provide a witness for the upcoming @Weaponization hearing.
Plenty of other falsehoods and misrepresentations animate the fable of January 6. But for those honestly seeking the truth, consider this a cheat sheet for future use.”
“In another example of Washington’s inexorable slide into banana republic territory, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to call for the removal of an American journalist.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anchor treat the American people, and American democracy, with such disdain,” Schumer said during his seven-minute authoritarian tirade. “And he’s going to come back tonight with another segment. Fox News should tell him not to. Fox News, Rupert Murdoch—tell Mr. Carlson not to run a second segment of lies. You know it’s a lie.”
Schumer later reiterated his demand to a group of journalists who, rather than denounce one of the most powerful government officials in the country attempting to silence an influential member of the media, dutifully reported Schumer’s bleating without question.
Republican senators including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) joined the fray, echoing Schumer’s faux concerns over “national security.”
Clearly, it’s panic time. The White House, Congress, and the Democratic Party propaganda arm that is the corporate media realize their carefully engineered narrative about January 6 is imploding in real time. Which is why they’re accusing Carlson of “whitewashing” and “rewriting” the events of January 6. Anything less than total fealty to regime-approved talking points about what happened before and after that day now is considered a “threat to democracy.”
But facts are facts. And no amount of pearl-clutching by the hags on “The View” or threats made by U.S. senators can alter the reality of January 6. Between video recordings, witness testimony, court filings, and news reporting, the undeniable truth about January 6 cannot be willfully wished away even by the most skilled spinmeisters.
Here’s what we know:
Some people acted badly. A handful came ready for a fight while others admit they were caught up in a mob mentality that unfolded over the course of the afternoon.
The overwhelming majority of protesters did not act badly or violently. Not only do security footage and other video sources demonstrate that is indeed true, the Justice Department’s own data supports it. “Parading” in the Capitol, a class B misdemeanor, is by far the most common charge in the Justice Department’s sweeping investigation. According to an update published this week, 919 out of 1,000 defendants face trespassing charges. Of the 518 who accepted plea agreements, 385 pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and 133 pleaded guilty to a felony.
The most common felony is not “insurrection” but rather obstruction of an official proceeding. Fewer than 20 people face seditious conspiracy charges.
Roughly 100 defendants are accused of attacking police officers with a dangerous weapon. No one is charged with carrying or using a firearm inside the building.
Speaking of police, body-worn camera and independent video show outrageous misconduct by law enforcement. D.C. Metropolitan Police launched an aggressive and unnecessary offensive against the crowd assembled on the west lawn. Even though protesters were respecting police lines at the time, footage shows officers throwing stun grenades into and other devices containing rubber bullets into the crowd beginning shortly after 1:00 p.m.
Video and testimony by Capitol police officers at trial confirmed how that activity enraged the crowd. Other officers shoved women down stairs and shoved one man off the upper terrace balcony.
This conduct continued inside the building. Some officers shoved and hit individuals inside the Rotunda and other areas. A brutal scene in the lower west terrace tunnel unfolded as police used their batons to beat at least two women on the head resulting in bleeding and injuries.
Excessive force caused the deaths of four Trump supporters: Ashli Babbitt, Rosanne Boyland, Kevin Greeson, and Benjamin Phillips.
On the flip side, despite persistent claims even by Attorney General Merrick Garland and White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre as recently as this week, no police officers died as a result of injuries sustained on January 6. Officer Brian Sicknick is on video walking around after he suffered a pepper spray attack; he died of a stroke the next day. There’s no evidence the reported suicides of other officers after January 6 were related to the protest.
Further, the responsibility of sufficiently protecting the Capitol with enough officers fell to the Capitol Police board—staffed by the sergeant-at-arms for then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund repeatedly testified that he requested additional help including National Guardsmen days before January 6. Even as the chaos unfolded that day, House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger delayed pursuing the proper authorization of the National Guard.
Irving told House Republicans that his staff as well as members of the House Administration committee began planning for January 6 weeks before the protest. Jamie Fleet, a security staffer for both Pelosi and the committee overseeing Capitol functions, told the January 6 select committee that he started preparations for January 6 in the summer of 2020.
When the building was breached at around 2:15 p.m., Congress was not voting to certify the electoral college results at the time, a common misperception. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) were in the process of disputing the election outcome in Gosar’s home state, a process permitted under the Electoral Count Act. The joint session of Congress technically had been adjourned an hour earlier so debate could begin.
For all the wasted energy spent over the past two years that democracy almost died on January 6, the chaotic protest only delayed the certification ceremony for seven hours. Joe Biden officially was declared president at 3:00 a.m. the next day.
The surveillance video viewed by Carlson’s team has not been made available to defense attorneys, arguably in violation of defendants’ constitutional rights.
A separate trove of tapes that captured activity from the hours between noon and 8:00 p.m. was turned over to the FBI in early 2021 to use in its investigation. With few exceptions, all footage remains under protective orders. Defense attorneys consistently have complained that access to the full archive is constrained by the protective orders.”
“In politics, as in life, there is a tendency to overcomplicate things. And the simple truth about the 2024 campaign is that, like the two Presidential elections that preceded it, the race is all about Donald Trump.
On the Republican side, no potential candidate has registered in the national polls as anything close to a Trump-toppler, and that includes, so far, the much touted governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. I was reminded of this while listening to the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt interview the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie the other day. Christie is considering running again for President as a former Trump friend who’s seen the light, but it’s hardly clear whether there is a path for him in the field. Hewitt summed up the state of the Republican electorate as being divided into four categories: Never Trump, Sometimes Trump, Always Trump, and Only Trump. The Only Trump category constitutes a more or less immovable twenty-five to thirty per cent of the Party, Hewitt said—which is also the estimate he gave for the percentage of Republicans who will never again vote for Trump. The Party, in other words, is stuck in a Trump doom loop, and the primary will come down to a referendum one way or the other on the former President.
Among Democrats, who are united at least in their loathing of the ex-potus, the Trump factor hangs over the race in a different way. Without him running again, it’s at least conceivable that Joe Biden might choose, at age eighty, not to seek reëlection. But with Trump as the Republican front-runner, Biden has positioned himself as an indispensable opponent: the one proven Trump-beater. Their fates are intertwined. Once again, it’s all about Trump, Trump, Trump.
That is why I urge you to disregard the conventional wisdom about the former President being a spent force in Republican politics and pay much closer attention to what Trump is actually doing and saying in his campaign—a doomsday-laden frontal attack on American democracy far darker and more threatening to the constitutional order than even his previous two bids. Last weekend, in a speech to cpac that failed to make many front-page headlines but should have, Trump framed his effort to return to the White House as an outright war and vowed that, once reinstalled in power, his mission would be nothing less than “retribution” for all the wrongs that he and his grievance-fuelled followers have suffered. Speaking for more than an hour and a half in front of a crowd that repeatedly cheered his definition of the Presidency as a platform for personalized vengeance, he spoke ominously of “enemies,” and promised to “totally obliterate the ‘deep state,’ ” among other demons, once victory was attained.
His call to arms was not merely the stuff of political symbolism. Echoing the inflammatory language with which he summoned his supporters to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump urged them to fight once again in explicitly end-time terms. “We have no choice,” he said. “If we don’t do this, our country will be lost forever.” In case the comparison was lost on anybody, he explicitly extolled the “great, great patriots” unfairly sitting in jail, recasting the rioters who breached America’s own Capitol building as maga martyrs. “This is the final battle,” he insisted. “They know it. I know it. You know it. Everybody knows it. This is it. Either they win, or we win, and if they win we no longer have a country.”
This chilling peroration by Trump followed his December call, in a post on his Truth Social platform, for “termination” of the Constitution, if that is what it would take to return him to power. The two statements, taken together, sum up his campaign like no other. Termination and retribution are the reckless pillars on which Trump is running. Why not, finally, take him at his word?
The fact that you most likely did not watch Trump’s rant does not make it any less dangerous. If anything, it might make it more so. The former President—in narrowcasting to his passionate audience of Always Trump and Only Trump Republican voters—is already a changed political figure from a couple of years ago.”
Are you still buying the govts lies on this breach of ethics and some folks’ constitutional rights?
…So the DOJ played videotapes for the court to secure the heavy sentence against Chansley while the government allegedly withheld videotapes contradicting that account.
Colin @Kaepernick7 accuses his parents of "problematic" behavior raising him, saying they were "perpetuating racism," such as when his mother didn't want him getting cornrows pic.twitter.com/NFXnLeLGXX
— kanekoa.substack.com (@KanekoaTheGreat) March 8, 2023
We honor our 13 fallen servicemembers who perished in #Kabul, #Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. The suicide bomber terror attack (near the gates of the Hamid Karzai International Airport) killed 11 #Marines, one #Navy sailor and one #Army soldier. God bless their memory. #heroes🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/7oc7JVedPp
Judge in July 2021: “This does not feel what the Constitution [and] the Speedy Trial Act envisions.”
DOJ had asked for another trial delay because full discovery wouldn’t be available until early 2022—a year after this particular defendant was arrested.https://t.co/i2Epc0WJwN
DOJ didn’t even finalize a contract to create a digital evidence database until July 2021—500 people had already been arrested and charged.https://t.co/JuHFTgMG0Y
Neutral/spectator/opinion-free post, file this one under the strict news slug of “the horserace”
2024 has launched, it won’t be dull, but to be continued.
_________________
WSJ:
Ron DeSantis Arrives in Iowa, Where Some Republicans Hunger for Trump Alternative
Visit by Florida governor is latest sign he is considering 2024 GOP presidential bid
DAVENPORT, Iowa—Gov. Ron DeSantis made his debut Friday in the state that starts the 2024 Republican nomination process, offering Iowans a vision of Florida as a booming economic engine and himself as a cultural warrior, while sounding like an all-but-certain presidential candidate.
His appearance, technically to promote his new book, comes three days before former President Donald Trump visits Iowa for the first time since announcing his own campaign. About 750 people filled a casino ballroom to see Mr. DeSantis, who emphasized his rejection of Covid-19 restrictions, battles over education policy and a hard-line immigration stance. …
… Mr. Trump, on his social media platform, pitched his efforts on behalf of American farmers and called for his supporters to send a message to Mr. DeSantis.
“No other President was as PRO FARMER as me,” he wrote. “Tell that to Ron DeSanctimonious when he shows up to your door, hat in hand. Tell him to go home!” …
… Interviews with Iowa GOP voters this year have signaled an openness to candidates other than Mr. Trump, with some suggesting they worry he carries too much political baggage to win a general election.
“We always talk about Iowa being a state where you have to finish first, second or third to move on,” Mr. Woolson said of the state’s traditional role of winnowing the field. “But I don’t think [Trump] can afford to finish second here. He has to win Iowa, and if he doesn’t, I think that would suggest that he’s going to have a difficult time winning the nomination again.”
Mr. Trump finished second in Iowa’s 2016 caucuses, when the last competitive GOP primary was held, behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. He was then an insurgent candidate, not a front-runner.
Mr. Woolson said Iowans will want to test Mr. DeSantis before supporting him—especially after witnessing other high-profile GOP governors flame out in recent presidential election cycles. “There is a lot of interest, but at the same time there are always people looking to trip up the front-runner, or the second-place person,” he said. …
_____________________
Thought I would research who that arrogant woman was as she was calling the actual real journalists “so called” journalists. So I found this on Wikipedia: ( note she is referred to as a “non voting so called delegate! 😂)
Stacey Elizabeth Plaskett
born May 13, 1966 is an American politician, attorney, and commentator. She is a non-voting so-called delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands’ (USVI) at-large congressional district, since 2015. Plaskett has practiced law in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands
AJ – re: your 1:32 post. That was a clip from a comedy bit. The guy mentioned in this:
“Both I and @PeterScattini went to Capitol Hill on January 6th to make comedy videos. We did not expect to be documenting a dark day for our democracy.
And yes I also interviewed Jacob Chansley aka Jake Angeli aka “That Viking Guy”
The original video was removed by a certain news network but I have blurred out their logo and re-uploaded the video.”
Between DeSantis and Trump, I don’t know that I much care who wins the Republican nomination because I’d probably vote for either one. But I do NOT look forward to the process, and I had hoped they would wait a few more months before it all starts. :–(
Kizzie, True. Only this time, it feels like it’s never really stopped, but is a continuation of the 2016 election. I suspect we are experiencing a new normal and will just have to get used to it.
First primary is in 5 months? I think this is normally when the race begins to get going, now is when fund-raising has to begin in earnest and gathering the big supporters and donors, much of it behind the scenes. I think they anticipate DeSantis to announce this summer?
An attorney who lies publicly should be disbarred. But that would leave gaping vacancies in our courts and government. So truth and righteousness are common casualties in our public life .
Wandering Views 
Send in the clowns…..
LikeLiked by 3 people
If you watched any of the censorship hearings yesterday you saw that Dems were unprepared with no actual arguments, and vicious to the witnesses who dared spill the govts dirty laundry. Typical.
DWS seems shocked that folks would want to subscribe to reporters who are truthful with their audience. It’s a strange new concept to her.
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Jim Jordan on the other hand, was prepared.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yep, although that seems a little unfair to buffoons.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Poor Dems. They hate it when Greenwald shows up with receipts.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Like I said, unprepared.
Maybe have your vast staff do a little research first next time, unless looking stupid is your goal. If that’s the case, she nailed it.
Dems are clearly not sending their best.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Seems the cartels don’t like all that talk about sending the military down to deal with them.
——-
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/03/mexican-gulf-cartel-apologizes-for-killing-americans-turns-in-those-responsible/
“The attack killed two of the kidnapped Americans:
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press through a Tamaulipas state law enforcement source, the Scorpions faction of the Gulf cartel apologized to the residents of Matamoros where the Americans were kidnapped, the Mexican woman who died in the cartel shootout, and the four Americans and their families.
“We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the letter reads, adding that those individuals had gone against the cartel’s rules, which include “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.””
—-
Well, except for all those innocents their drugs are killing. But that’s just business.
LikeLiked by 2 people
As HotAir said….
“Get ready for seven minutes of brain-warping idiocy …..”
LikeLiked by 3 people
Get rid of this corrupt clown already. Wray is useless, except to Democrats.
He’s lying and continues to cover for Biden family crimes.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/spencerbrown/2023/03/09/the-fbi-director-really-doesnt-want-to-answer-elise-stefaniks-questions-n2620422
It was a raid clown, and even the media called it that. But lying is always his go to.
LikeLiked by 3 people
For your consideration….
“A Handy January 6 Fact Sheet
Plenty of other falsehoods and misrepresentations animate the fable of January 6. But for those honestly seeking the truth, consider this a cheat sheet for future use.”
https://amgreatness.com/2023/03/09/a-handy-january-6-fact-sheet/
“In another example of Washington’s inexorable slide into banana republic territory, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to call for the removal of an American journalist.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an anchor treat the American people, and American democracy, with such disdain,” Schumer said during his seven-minute authoritarian tirade. “And he’s going to come back tonight with another segment. Fox News should tell him not to. Fox News, Rupert Murdoch—tell Mr. Carlson not to run a second segment of lies. You know it’s a lie.”
Schumer later reiterated his demand to a group of journalists who, rather than denounce one of the most powerful government officials in the country attempting to silence an influential member of the media, dutifully reported Schumer’s bleating without question.
Republican senators including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) joined the fray, echoing Schumer’s faux concerns over “national security.”
Clearly, it’s panic time. The White House, Congress, and the Democratic Party propaganda arm that is the corporate media realize their carefully engineered narrative about January 6 is imploding in real time. Which is why they’re accusing Carlson of “whitewashing” and “rewriting” the events of January 6. Anything less than total fealty to regime-approved talking points about what happened before and after that day now is considered a “threat to democracy.”
But facts are facts. And no amount of pearl-clutching by the hags on “The View” or threats made by U.S. senators can alter the reality of January 6. Between video recordings, witness testimony, court filings, and news reporting, the undeniable truth about January 6 cannot be willfully wished away even by the most skilled spinmeisters.
Here’s what we know:
Some people acted badly. A handful came ready for a fight while others admit they were caught up in a mob mentality that unfolded over the course of the afternoon.
The overwhelming majority of protesters did not act badly or violently. Not only do security footage and other video sources demonstrate that is indeed true, the Justice Department’s own data supports it. “Parading” in the Capitol, a class B misdemeanor, is by far the most common charge in the Justice Department’s sweeping investigation. According to an update published this week, 919 out of 1,000 defendants face trespassing charges. Of the 518 who accepted plea agreements, 385 pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and 133 pleaded guilty to a felony.
The most common felony is not “insurrection” but rather obstruction of an official proceeding. Fewer than 20 people face seditious conspiracy charges.
Roughly 100 defendants are accused of attacking police officers with a dangerous weapon. No one is charged with carrying or using a firearm inside the building.
Speaking of police, body-worn camera and independent video show outrageous misconduct by law enforcement. D.C. Metropolitan Police launched an aggressive and unnecessary offensive against the crowd assembled on the west lawn. Even though protesters were respecting police lines at the time, footage shows officers throwing stun grenades into and other devices containing rubber bullets into the crowd beginning shortly after 1:00 p.m.
Video and testimony by Capitol police officers at trial confirmed how that activity enraged the crowd. Other officers shoved women down stairs and shoved one man off the upper terrace balcony.
This conduct continued inside the building. Some officers shoved and hit individuals inside the Rotunda and other areas. A brutal scene in the lower west terrace tunnel unfolded as police used their batons to beat at least two women on the head resulting in bleeding and injuries.
Excessive force caused the deaths of four Trump supporters: Ashli Babbitt, Rosanne Boyland, Kevin Greeson, and Benjamin Phillips.
On the flip side, despite persistent claims even by Attorney General Merrick Garland and White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre as recently as this week, no police officers died as a result of injuries sustained on January 6. Officer Brian Sicknick is on video walking around after he suffered a pepper spray attack; he died of a stroke the next day. There’s no evidence the reported suicides of other officers after January 6 were related to the protest.
Further, the responsibility of sufficiently protecting the Capitol with enough officers fell to the Capitol Police board—staffed by the sergeant-at-arms for then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund repeatedly testified that he requested additional help including National Guardsmen days before January 6. Even as the chaos unfolded that day, House Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Stenger delayed pursuing the proper authorization of the National Guard.
Irving told House Republicans that his staff as well as members of the House Administration committee began planning for January 6 weeks before the protest. Jamie Fleet, a security staffer for both Pelosi and the committee overseeing Capitol functions, told the January 6 select committee that he started preparations for January 6 in the summer of 2020.
When the building was breached at around 2:15 p.m., Congress was not voting to certify the electoral college results at the time, a common misperception. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) were in the process of disputing the election outcome in Gosar’s home state, a process permitted under the Electoral Count Act. The joint session of Congress technically had been adjourned an hour earlier so debate could begin.
For all the wasted energy spent over the past two years that democracy almost died on January 6, the chaotic protest only delayed the certification ceremony for seven hours. Joe Biden officially was declared president at 3:00 a.m. the next day.
The surveillance video viewed by Carlson’s team has not been made available to defense attorneys, arguably in violation of defendants’ constitutional rights.
A separate trove of tapes that captured activity from the hours between noon and 8:00 p.m. was turned over to the FBI in early 2021 to use in its investigation. With few exceptions, all footage remains under protective orders. Defense attorneys consistently have complained that access to the full archive is constrained by the protective orders.”
LikeLiked by 3 people
Be afraid!
Again!
“2024 Trump Is Even Scarier Than 2020 Trump”
https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/2024-trump-is-even-scarier-than-2020-trump
“In politics, as in life, there is a tendency to overcomplicate things. And the simple truth about the 2024 campaign is that, like the two Presidential elections that preceded it, the race is all about Donald Trump.
On the Republican side, no potential candidate has registered in the national polls as anything close to a Trump-toppler, and that includes, so far, the much touted governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. I was reminded of this while listening to the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt interview the former New Jersey governor Chris Christie the other day. Christie is considering running again for President as a former Trump friend who’s seen the light, but it’s hardly clear whether there is a path for him in the field. Hewitt summed up the state of the Republican electorate as being divided into four categories: Never Trump, Sometimes Trump, Always Trump, and Only Trump. The Only Trump category constitutes a more or less immovable twenty-five to thirty per cent of the Party, Hewitt said—which is also the estimate he gave for the percentage of Republicans who will never again vote for Trump. The Party, in other words, is stuck in a Trump doom loop, and the primary will come down to a referendum one way or the other on the former President.
Among Democrats, who are united at least in their loathing of the ex-potus, the Trump factor hangs over the race in a different way. Without him running again, it’s at least conceivable that Joe Biden might choose, at age eighty, not to seek reëlection. But with Trump as the Republican front-runner, Biden has positioned himself as an indispensable opponent: the one proven Trump-beater. Their fates are intertwined. Once again, it’s all about Trump, Trump, Trump.
That is why I urge you to disregard the conventional wisdom about the former President being a spent force in Republican politics and pay much closer attention to what Trump is actually doing and saying in his campaign—a doomsday-laden frontal attack on American democracy far darker and more threatening to the constitutional order than even his previous two bids. Last weekend, in a speech to cpac that failed to make many front-page headlines but should have, Trump framed his effort to return to the White House as an outright war and vowed that, once reinstalled in power, his mission would be nothing less than “retribution” for all the wrongs that he and his grievance-fuelled followers have suffered. Speaking for more than an hour and a half in front of a crowd that repeatedly cheered his definition of the Presidency as a platform for personalized vengeance, he spoke ominously of “enemies,” and promised to “totally obliterate the ‘deep state,’ ” among other demons, once victory was attained.
His call to arms was not merely the stuff of political symbolism. Echoing the inflammatory language with which he summoned his supporters to the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Trump urged them to fight once again in explicitly end-time terms. “We have no choice,” he said. “If we don’t do this, our country will be lost forever.” In case the comparison was lost on anybody, he explicitly extolled the “great, great patriots” unfairly sitting in jail, recasting the rioters who breached America’s own Capitol building as maga martyrs. “This is the final battle,” he insisted. “They know it. I know it. You know it. Everybody knows it. This is it. Either they win, or we win, and if they win we no longer have a country.”
This chilling peroration by Trump followed his December call, in a post on his Truth Social platform, for “termination” of the Constitution, if that is what it would take to return him to power. The two statements, taken together, sum up his campaign like no other. Termination and retribution are the reckless pillars on which Trump is running. Why not, finally, take him at his word?
The fact that you most likely did not watch Trump’s rant does not make it any less dangerous. If anything, it might make it more so. The former President—in narrowcasting to his passionate audience of Always Trump and Only Trump Republican voters—is already a changed political figure from a couple of years ago.”
—–
Oh noooooos…..
Clown.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Are you still buying the govts lies on this breach of ethics and some folks’ constitutional rights?
That’s what’s commonly called “Un-American”…..
LikeLiked by 2 people
He’s an ungrateful whelp.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Biden built that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just a corrupt judge being corrupt….
He knows where this is going on appeal, yet sticks his thumb on the scale of justice anyway. More time was in order, yet denied.
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Denied their rights by corrupt judges.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Antifa you say?
But I’ve been assured this didn’t happen….
Language Warning!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another leftist narrative dies….
Some ringleader.
Another piece of footage that Twitter leftists banned.
LikeLiked by 2 people
The enemy is in our camp.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Nothing to see….
LikeLiked by 3 people
Neutral/spectator/opinion-free post, file this one under the strict news slug of “the horserace”
2024 has launched, it won’t be dull, but to be continued.
_________________
WSJ:
Ron DeSantis Arrives in Iowa, Where Some Republicans Hunger for Trump Alternative
Visit by Florida governor is latest sign he is considering 2024 GOP presidential bid
DAVENPORT, Iowa—Gov. Ron DeSantis made his debut Friday in the state that starts the 2024 Republican nomination process, offering Iowans a vision of Florida as a booming economic engine and himself as a cultural warrior, while sounding like an all-but-certain presidential candidate.
His appearance, technically to promote his new book, comes three days before former President Donald Trump visits Iowa for the first time since announcing his own campaign. About 750 people filled a casino ballroom to see Mr. DeSantis, who emphasized his rejection of Covid-19 restrictions, battles over education policy and a hard-line immigration stance. …
… Mr. Trump, on his social media platform, pitched his efforts on behalf of American farmers and called for his supporters to send a message to Mr. DeSantis.
“No other President was as PRO FARMER as me,” he wrote. “Tell that to Ron DeSanctimonious when he shows up to your door, hat in hand. Tell him to go home!” …
… Interviews with Iowa GOP voters this year have signaled an openness to candidates other than Mr. Trump, with some suggesting they worry he carries too much political baggage to win a general election.
“We always talk about Iowa being a state where you have to finish first, second or third to move on,” Mr. Woolson said of the state’s traditional role of winnowing the field. “But I don’t think [Trump] can afford to finish second here. He has to win Iowa, and if he doesn’t, I think that would suggest that he’s going to have a difficult time winning the nomination again.”
Mr. Trump finished second in Iowa’s 2016 caucuses, when the last competitive GOP primary was held, behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. He was then an insurgent candidate, not a front-runner.
Mr. Woolson said Iowans will want to test Mr. DeSantis before supporting him—especially after witnessing other high-profile GOP governors flame out in recent presidential election cycles. “There is a lot of interest, but at the same time there are always people looking to trip up the front-runner, or the second-place person,” he said. …
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Thought I would research who that arrogant woman was as she was calling the actual real journalists “so called” journalists. So I found this on Wikipedia: ( note she is referred to as a “non voting so called delegate! 😂)
Stacey Elizabeth Plaskett
born May 13, 1966 is an American politician, attorney, and commentator. She is a non-voting so-called delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the United States Virgin Islands’ (USVI) at-large congressional district, since 2015. Plaskett has practiced law in New York City, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands
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AJ – re: your 1:32 post. That was a clip from a comedy bit. The guy mentioned in this:
“Both I and @PeterScattini went to Capitol Hill on January 6th to make comedy videos. We did not expect to be documenting a dark day for our democracy.
And yes I also interviewed Jacob Chansley aka Jake Angeli aka “That Viking Guy”
The original video was removed by a certain news network but I have blurred out their logo and re-uploaded the video.”
The fuller video. . .
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Between DeSantis and Trump, I don’t know that I much care who wins the Republican nomination because I’d probably vote for either one. But I do NOT look forward to the process, and I had hoped they would wait a few more months before it all starts. :–(
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Debra – It seems to start earlier each time, doesn’t it? And the talking about it starts even earlier. 😦
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Kizzie, True. Only this time, it feels like it’s never really stopped, but is a continuation of the 2016 election. I suspect we are experiencing a new normal and will just have to get used to it.
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First primary is in 5 months? I think this is normally when the race begins to get going, now is when fund-raising has to begin in earnest and gathering the big supporters and donors, much of it behind the scenes. I think they anticipate DeSantis to announce this summer?
This election won’t be pretty, I’m afraid.
Not that the last one was …
https://ministrywatch.com/jenna-ellis-attorney-working-with-evangelical-groups-censured-for-lying-about-2020-election/
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An attorney who lies publicly should be disbarred. But that would leave gaping vacancies in our courts and government. So truth and righteousness are common casualties in our public life .
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