Stay classy.

https://crooksandliars.com/2021/07/new-jersey-fck-biden-signs

7/17/21 8:57am
New Jersey Woman Faces $250-Per-Day Fine For Her 'F*ck Biden' Signs
Judge Gary Bundy ordered the Willow Avenue homeowner to remove the signs with profanity within a week or face a $250-per-day fine.
By Ed Scarce


Judge Gary Bundy ordered a Willow Avenue homeowner to remove her profanity-laden signs within a week, or face a $250-a-day fine.

This being the "Land of the Free"™ and all, there's a good chance that the judge's ruling will be overturned and this sociopath and her anti-social behavior will ultimately be rewarded. Seems almost certain she'll never pay any fine. It shouldn't surprise anyone that this person has also put up the Confederate Flag in the past and other offensive content. And did we mention that there is an elementary school just down her block where kids see her signage every day they walk to school?

Her lawyer seems like a piece of work too, saying:



Be a Nazi so we don't become Nazis. Got it.

Source: NJ.com

https://politicalwire.com/2021/07/16/gop-governor-says-misinformation-is-killing-people/

GOP Governor Says Misinformation Is Killing People
July 16, 2021 at 10:30 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/7/16/2040296/-The-Fury-of-the-Vaccinated

The Fury of the Vaccinated
Dan K
Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)
Friday July 16, 2021 · 5:21 PM EDT


There’s an article on Taggan Goddard’s Political Wire (behind a paywall) about how the pandemic could affect the 2022 midterms. One part particularly caught my eye:



We spend a lot of time on this forum worrying about the political power of the unvaccinated in this country. But maybe we’re overlooking the impact they’re having on the other half of the country — the half that believes in science, that understands we’re all in this together, and that personal responsibility means having some consideration for those around us.

These are the people rapidly getting pissed off at the other part of the country: the ones that think Covid is a hoax (including some who continue to say that even as they’re dying from Covid), the ones that swallow the right-wing malarkey about vaccines injecting microchips and making you magnetic. The ones — especially the ones — who say it’s their body and no one has the right to tell them what to do with it (pregnant women excepted). The ones who want Trump to get all the credit for a vaccine they refuse to take.

GQP politicians have gone to great and well-documented lengths to get people not to get vaccinated. Whether it’s to make Biden look bad or to pander to the Trump craziness of the moment, whether they're caught in a vicious cycle of pandering to their base, whether they think they can diminish the Democrats’ votes by killing off more minority voters — the point is that they’re keeping the vaccinations down and the number of Covid cases up. Unvaccinated individuals now account for the vast majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S., according to available data.

That is political energy waiting to be tapped in this election cycle: the fury of the vaccinated. Get them riled up and get them out to vote.

Seems the White House is starting to do at least part of this now: ‘Potentially a death sentence’: White House goes off on vaccine fearmongers:



That’s only part of it, though. The other part is for Dems (maybe not Biden himself) to get the vaccinated mad as hell and not willing to take it any more.

On getting out the vote: Republican voter suppression efforts are nefarious, unscrupulous, and very worrisome. But voter suppression has a history of sometimes backfiring in two ways. First, it can cut off voters that the suppressors want to be voting; they cast too wide a net. Second, attempts to take away our vote, when widely publicized, can motivate those who would be suppressed to get out there and vote in even greater numbers. We saw that the Georgia Senate runoffs.

So, worry. But also get to work.

Judge orders end to DACA, current enrollees safe for now
AOL Associated Press
July 16, 2021, 6:08 PM


HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge in Texas on Friday ordered an end to an Obama-era program that prevented the deportations of some immigrants brought into the United States as children, putting new pressure for action on President Joe Biden and Democrats who now control Congress.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled in favor of Texas and eight other conservative states that had sued to halt the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides limited protections to about 650,000 people. People who are already enrolled won't lose protections, but Hanen is barring the processing of new applications.

Hanen's decision limits the immediate ability of Biden, who pledged during his campaign to protect DACA, to keep the program or something similar in place. His ruling is the second by a federal judge in Texas stopping Biden's immigration plans, after a court barred enforcement of Biden's 100-day stay on most deportations.

Biden has already proposed legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without authorization. He also ordered agencies to make efforts to preserve the program.

more...

https://www.aol.com/news/judge-orders-end-daca-current-214753708-220846330.html

7/15/21 7:05pm
On 1/6, Pence Refused To Get In Secret Service Car Because He Didn't Trust Them
When they tried to evacuate him on 1/6, he worried they might be part of a Trump conspiracy.
By Susie Madrak


Here's a little tidbit that flew past yesterday on Deadline White House with Nicolle Wallace.



"Nicolle, this is typical of a dictatorship of an authoritarian anti-democratic regime," Jeremy Bash said.

"This is not typical of the greatest democracy ever on the face of the planet. And I think what you're seeing here is a dynamic that the former president advanced and wished for, which is to somehow enlist the security services to include law enforcement, to include maybe the Secret Service, the United States military and maybe the intelligence community, which are and must remain apolitical organizations.

more...

https://crooksandliars.com/2021/07/16-pence-refused-get-secret-service-car

July 13, 2021
Chicago Banker Convicted of Paying Paul Manafort Bribes to Influence Trump
Russ Choma


A federal jury in Manhattan convicted Chicago banker Stephen Calk of bribing Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort by approving risky loans for Manafort in exchange for his assistance in getting Calk an administration job.

Manafort oversaw Trump’s campaign from June to August 2016, stepping down after it was revealed he may have received off-the-books payments from a deposed Ukrainian president with close ties to Russia. But after being bounced from that position, Manafort remained on friendly terms with many Trump campaign officials—and maintained influence within Trump circles. Throughout the campaign, Manafort was struggling financially, but despite being arguably a bad risk, he was able to secure $16 million in loans from The Federal Savings Bank, which Calk ran. Prosecutors showed there was a quid pro quo: Manafort got those loans and lobbied Trump transition officials, including Anthony Scaramucci, to find Calk a job in the Trump administration.

Calk’s attorneys argued that he had done nothing wrong and that it was the wheeling-and-dealing Manafort who had committed the crimes by lying to Calk’s bank about his finances. But Calk was convicted on one count of bribery and a related conspiracy charge. He faces up to 35 years in federal prison. Manafort himself was convicted on a number of money laundering and tax fraud charges in 2018. A jury hung on the question of whether he had committed bank fraud during his interactions with The Federal Savings Bank. Trump pardoned Manafort shortly before leaving office.

more...

https://www.motherjones.com/mojo-wire/2021/07/paul-manafort-stephen-calk-bribes-donald-trump/

https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2021/07/republicans-loved-covid-vaccine-before.html


The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
7/15/2021
Republicans Loved the Covid Vaccine Before They Hated It


I have seen a lot of cynical shit when it comes to the way that conservative politicians and media whores manipulate their fucking ignorant followers, from the Cadillac-driving welfare queens to drug hysteria to birtherism and so very much more. But I cannot wrap my head around the exploitation of fear and the selfish hyping of ideological division behind the right-wing campaign against the Covid vaccine. It's nonsensical on a health level and on a basic reality level, and for the majority of us who think that the only way to finally be out of the coronavirus despair is with herd immunity from the vaccine, it's unforgivable.


snip//

What I don't get is that the right, especially the evangelical right (which is wildly anti-vax), talks all the time about "miracles." Well, you know what? The Covid vaccines are a goddamn miracle, a scientific miracle. And I don't use that word lightly. When the vaccines were being developed, the researchers were hoping for a 50-60% effectiveness against Covid, which would still have been a game-changer. Instead, the Moderna and Pfizer double shot is over 90% effective, which shocked everyone. Yeah, it's a fucking miracle, and it's a tribute to the amazing things that humanity can do, across administrations, across parties. It's this generation's motherfucking moon shot and everyone involved should be gleeful. This one thing wasn't fucked up by the Trump administration. They should be out there braying like just-fucked teenagers about how incredible it is instead of hiding in the shadows from the irrational forces that they helped unleash. It's a miracle. You wanna bring the invisible sky wizard into it? Fine. Say that God inspired everyone who made it and gave them the abilities to do it. There. God make the vaccine. Fucking happy?

We know what this is about, and this gets back to that incredible cynicism I started with. Obviously, it's about the right denying the Biden administration a win with Covid herd immunity. Obviously, it's a craven ploy to keep the nutzoid evangelicals and the conspiracy fucked-heads on edge and pouring money into the coffers of whoever exploits them. And if a couple percent of them die, well, shit, that's just the price of lying about freedom.

If we had a sane ex-president, this could all be solved. He would be out there talking nonstop about his amazing triumph in getting the vaccine done so quickly and how everyone should get it instead of whining about the election. But Trump is not sane. And, truthfully, neither is half the nation anymore.

(Note: Yeah, I know. "Not all Republicans." But, you know, it ain't Democrats scaring people away from the vaccine.)

These ladies, along with activists and in Thompson's case, a whole lot of Dems from Texas, made a clarion call for voting rights. We should listen.

https://pressrun.media/p/complete-failure-the-medias-critical

Complete failure — the media's critical race theory debacle gets worse
Regurgitating the GOP
Eric Boehlert
2 hr ago


Did you know the entire “country” is now “panicked” about critical race theory? That absurd claim was laundered in a New York Times headline this week, as the newspaper tried to unpack the current, manufactured outrage being fueled by conservatives in their never-ending bid to wage cultural wars.

The ginned-up moral crisis continues to rage because news outlets like the Times are doing a monumentally awful job framing the story and making nonsense claims like the “country” is “panicked” about an obscure, insightful academic pursuit, usually only taught in colleges and graduate schools. (Spoiler: Most of the country has no idea what critical race theory is, let alone “panicked” by it.)

Last month, I noted how the media were helping to fuel the critical race theory hysteria. Since then, the problem has become exacerbated as news outlets defy common sense and simple journalism standards by refusing to be clear about what the controversy is really about. It’s about deep-pocketed players on the right once again hijacking the national debate by pushing manufactured outrages, and watching the mainstream media relentlessly echo their claims. (The conservative Washington Examiner has published more than 40 critical race theory pieces — this month.)

Instead of forcefully debunking, journalists remain overly impressed with how the GOP has been able to turn critical race theory into a big news story — while journalists themselves help turn critical race theory into a big news story. The press has become part of the problem. When the right-wing freaks out over a narrative, the press instinctively asks how high should they jump.

Today the answer is, quite high as the media attention continues unabated. The nonstop reportage and commentary represent a red flag because the American media, and particularly the political press, typically couldn’t care less about what’s being taught in U.S. schools. But with Republicans and the entire right-wing media infrastructure obsessing over the made-up classroom dispute, suddenly the media are laser-focused on the academic issue.

snip//

Education writer Alexander Russo recently offered up some timely advice for how to cover the critical race theory story: “Think carefully about how you frame the story, make sure to assess the extent of the problem, and give context to readers. Address the heated emotions without necessarily taking them at face value —or making them your central focus.”

Unfortunately, most of the wise counsel has been ignored as the media dutifully pumps up the hollow GOP smear campaign.

It’s Time for George W. Bush to Stand Down and Shut Up
‘UNBELIEVABLY BAD’
opinion
REUTERS
It’s outrageous that the president responsible for the disastrous war in Iraq that helped turned the one in Afghanistan into a quagmire is objecting to Biden’s troop withdrawal.
David Rothkopf
Published Jul. 14, 2021 5:59PM ET


George W. Bush, who chose to remain quiet as a churchmouse in the face of almost all of Donald Trump’s crimes and abuses as president, has chosen this moment to offer a critique of a decision of Joe Biden’s.

George W. Bush, who is responsible for the biggest foreign policy catastrophe in U.S. history with the disastrous invasion of Iraq, has chosen this moment to give Joe Biden foreign policy advice.

George W. Bush, who has been at times complicit and at times silent in the face of his own political party’s serial assaults on the rights and dignity of women in America, has chosen this moment to lament what Joe Biden’s decision to at long last pull our troops out of Afghanistan to express his concern for the rights of the women of that country.

Yes, the George W. Bush who launched what has become the longest war in American history, a trillion-dollar plus fiasco that cost the lives of over 2300 American military personnel and of between 35,000 and 40,000 civilians in Afghanistan, has violated his self-imposed policy of not commenting on the policies of his Oval Office successors to condemn Biden’s decision to finally end that war.

He told a German broadcaster, “I think the consequences are going to be unbelievably bad.” He added, “Afghan women and girls are going to suffer unspeakable harm. This is a mistake. They’re just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people and it breaks my heart.”

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/its-time-for-george-w-bush-to-stand-down-and-shut-up-about-joe-bidens-decision-to-exit-afghanistan?ref=home