babylonsister
babylonsister's JournalHouse Democrats Preemptively Pan GOP's 'Extreme' Policy Agenda
House Democrats Preemptively Pan GOPs Extreme Policy Agenda
Voters are rejecting the cynical reality that is the MAGA Republican movement, House Democrats campaign chief said.
Daniel Marans
Sep 22, 2022, 08:57 PM EDT
House Democrats delivered a preemptive rebuttal of their Republican peers policy rollout on Thursday, branding it as an extreme and cynical fusion of Donald Trump-inspired authoritarianism, infringements on key personal freedoms and traditional trickle-down economics.
In a conference call with reporters, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who chairs House Democrats campaign arm, cited Democratic special-election wins in vacant House seats in Alaska and New York as evidence that the Republican policy agenda is already unpopular.
The Democrats frontal assault was timed to precede House Republicans rollout of the Commitment to America, a policy framework for a potential GOP governing majority. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other top Republicans are unveiling the plan in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, an industrial town outside of Pittsburgh, on Friday. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) is due to respond to McCarthy with remarks in Pittsburgh itself.
more...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/house-democrats-pan-extreme-gop-policy-agenda_n_632cfce2e4b05db5206cd4e9
'Political hit job': Bill Barr blasts Letitia James, predicts Trump suit will backfire
William Barr
'Political hit job': Bill Barr blasts Letitia James, predicts Trump suit will backfire
by Ryan King, Breaking News Reporter
September 21, 2022 04:58 PM
Former Attorney General William Barr slammed a lawsuit against his onetime boss, former President Donald Trump, highlighting its political undertones.
Barr contended that it is hard not to conclude that the suit, announced Wednesday by New York Attorney General Letitia James, is a "political hit job" and jabbed at James for engaging in "gross overreach" by dragging Trump's children into the suit, hypothesizing that the legal tiff will backfire against her.
James unveiled a massive $250 million civil lawsuit against Trump, three of his adult children, and management at the Trump Organization, alleging they engaged in a pattern of fraudulent and deceptive business practices.
more...
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/political-hit-job-bill-barr-blasts-letitia-james
"Why Am I Speaking Out?"
FB/https://steady.substack.com/p/why-am-i-speaking-out
Why Am I Speaking Out?
The truth is what it is
Dan Rather and Elliot Kirschner
10 hr ago
snip//
With the rise of Donald Trump, I came to the conclusion early that this man could pose a danger to the fundamental nature of the United States as a constitutional republic based on the principles of democracy. I desperately hoped that I was wrong, but I saw a man who stoked division, scapegoated, lied with reckless impunity, and had no regard for the norms by which our nation has functioned.
Over the course of his run for the presidency, his time in office, and the wake of his defeat in the 2020 election, everything we have learned and witnessed further and more completely confirms his unfitness for office. It has only escalated the danger he poses to the safety and security of the nation.
We have also seen that the pestilence he embodies is not limited to him. It has spread throughout the Republican Party, as evidenced by the number of people in office and running for office who have embraced his bile, his lies, and his authoritarian instincts.
This isnt a matter of conjecture. These are the stated, public positions of the former president, his enablers, and those who pay fealty to him which at this point represents the majority of Republican officeholders.
This is the truth.
The truth is that electing governors and secretaries of state who wish to undermine free and fair elections could very well end democracy as we know it.
The truth is that a federal judiciary stocked with Trump judges eager to do his bidding could very well end democracy as we know it.
snip//
I am about to enter my 92nd year as a citizen of these United States. As long as I have my health and my voice, I am going to use it to share what I see. If it means writing about this threat over and over and over again, so be it. If it fuels some peoples misconceptions about me, so be it. If it shapes my reputation and how I am remembered, so be it. I have lived my life. I have earned my livelihood. If I am reluctant to speak, what example would that set for others who dont have my privilege?
To my fellow journalists, I know this is difficult. We are in uncharted waters. The old rules for covering politics no longer apply. In the end, false equivalence is just another way of obscuring the truth from your readers and viewers.
The truth is what it is. It is damning. It is dangerous. And it is the direct result of those who are undermining our democracy.
Not the ones calling them out on it.
The Performative Sadism of Ron DeSantis
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-performative-sadism-of-ron-desantis?ref=homeThe Performative Sadism of Ron DeSantis
SWEET CRUELTY
The Florida governor and MAGA heir is betting his political future on hurting vulnerable people to own the libs.
David R. Lurie
Published Sep. 21, 2022 4:45AM ET
snip//
Rons Way
DeSantis has shown himself to be a supremely non-creative politician. He has systematically copied whatever happens to be the extreme right-wing trolling strategy of the moment, and then amped it up. And at every point during his tenure, the governor has anxiously looked backwards to see if any rival (including Trump) had out-extremed him.
What has differentiated DeSantis from others in the GOP has not been so much his policy positions, but, rather, the extent to which cruelty and humiliation have been central to his governance and political activities.
snip//
Indeed, the one lesson GOP leaders seem to have drawn from the last several years appears to have been a profoundly incorrect one: that most voters are like participants in Trump rallies, and take the same unalloyed pleasure from harming others as Trump and DeSantis do.
Now, many in the GOP seek to move beyond Trump by replacing him with a supremely non-charismatic and thoroughly disagreeable figure, who seems only to come alive while coming up with new ways to performatively humiliate and harm the vulnerable. The GOP, therefore, appears to be on the verge of a political science experiment with very high stakes: Testing whether sadism can become the foundation for political success.
If they are wrong, the Republican Party may be heading into a political abyss. If they are right, the country is going there.
Who created the brochure?
Who created the brochure?
Published by Tom Sullivan on September 19, 2022
Migrants DeSantis flew to Marthas Vineyard were conned
Judd Legum of Popular Information this morning has documentary evidence that migrants from Venezuela were provided with false information to convince them to board flights chartered by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R). The documents suggest that the flights were not just a callous political stunt but potentially a crime.
They were provided with a phony brochure touting benefits theyd receive in Massachusetts. Their applications for asylum in progress, they were legally allowed to travel within the United States. Some were told they would get expedited work permits in Boston if they boarded the planes DeSantis sent to Texas to fetch them:
DeSantis has been adamant that the migrants were not misled. He claims that migrants were provided with a map showing the destination was Marthas Vineyard and describes the flights as all voluntary. Appearing on Fox News on Sunday Morning, Florida Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez (R) called allegations that the migrants were misled categorically false.
Popular Information, however, has obtained a brochure that was provided to the migrants who ultimately agreed to the flights. It was provided to Popular Information by Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), a Boston-based legal organization that represents 30 of the migrants. The brochure says that migrants who arrive in Massachusetts will be eligible for numerous benefits, including 8 months cash assistance, assistance with housing, food, clothing, transportation to job interviews, job training, job placement, registering children for school, assistance applying for Social Security cards, and many other benefits.
None of this, however, is true.
See above.
The migrants who boarded the planes absolutely do not have access to cash, housing, and other resettlement benefits which are provided through both federal funds and partnerships with faith-based [organizations], Cameron said.
more...
https://digbysblog.net/2022/09/19/who-created-the-brochure/
DeSantis actions on migrants is 'mini-ethnic cleansing', expert warns
DeSantis actions on migrants is mini-ethnic cleansing, expert warns
Stephanie Kirchgaessner
in Washington
Philosophy professor says treating Republicans decision to move unwitting migrants to Marthas Vineyard as a political stunt risks diminishing its moral seriousness
Mon 19 Sep 2022 02.00 EDT
Last modified on Mon 19 Sep 2022 02.50 EDT
Florida governor Ron DeSantiss decision to move unwitting migrants to Marthas Vineyard last week has been compared to a mini-ethnic cleansing with genocidal precedence by a philosopher who has closely studied dehumanization and its role in genocide and the Holocaust.
What frightens me most actually is that someone who does these sort of acts is capable of doing much worse, he said.
snip//
But Smith warned that seeing the incident as merely a political stunt by an attention-seeking Republican politician risked diminishing the moral seriousness and the possible future implications of what they are doing.
more...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/19/ron-desantis-migrants-mini-ethnic-cleansing
Majority of Latino Voters Out of GOP's Reach
https://politicalwire.com/2022/09/18/majority-of-latino-voters-out-of-gops-reach/
Majority of Latino Voters Out of GOPs Reach
September 18, 2022 at 7:16 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
The poll one of the largest nonpartisan surveys of Latino voters since the 2020 election found that Democrats had maintained a grip on the majority of Latino voters, driven in part by women and the belief that Democrats remained the party of the working class. Overall, Hispanic voters are more likely to agree with Democrats on many issues immigration, gun policy, climate. They are also more likely to see Republicans as the party of the elite and as holding extreme views.
'I can't stay silent': Roe reversal powers new generation to sign up and vote
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/18/roe-v-wade-abortion-us-politics-november-midtermsI cant stay silent: Roe reversal powers new generation to sign up and vote
Huge bloc of women expected to turn out in November midterms to protect abortion rights could it alter the election outcome?
Poppy Noor
Sun 18 Sep 2022 03.00 EDT
Last modified on Sun 18 Sep 2022 03.01 EDT
snip//
snip//
People such as Koenig threaten to be a hugely pivotal voting bloc as the midterms loom, with organizers focusing on women and young people in voter registration drives all over the country. The first hints of that blocs voting power came in early August, when women in Kansas came out overwhelmingly to protect abortion rights. That election saw huge turnout, with women representing 70% of newly registered voters. They ultimately protected abortion rights in a state where Donald Trump had a 15% lead in the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden.
snip//
Forcing a woman to have a child, it affects everything, Koenig says. Its not just an issue of abortion. Its a racial issue. Its a womens rights issue. And I feel like a lot of these politicians are so concerned with their power, they dont think about how we going to support babies that are going to be born.
If something terrible happens to me, I want to have a choice in the matter.
Is No One and Nothing Beyond the Pale Anymore? Are We Truly This Rotten?
Is No One and Nothing Beyond the Pale Anymore? Are We Truly This Rotten?
by Jaime ONeill | September 17, 2022 - 7:37am
snip//
And that brings me to Gregg Abbott and Ron deSantis, two guys whose cruelty shows plain in their faces. Governor deSantis looks like he could have been cast as a very convincing concentration camp guard at Auschwitz. He has the face of a thug and a bully, which seems to be precisely what he is. He also has the look of a third-rate gangster, a guy working as muscle for a Mafia don, willing to break any leg or put a bullet through anyone's brain at the whim of the capo di tutti capo. And, like Trump, each time he gets away with something truly outrageous, each time he uses some criminal or utterly rotten act to raise more money, he's emboldened to take it even further. Undeterred by much in the way of decency or moral scruples, he'll unleash wanton cruelty on the weakest, most vulnerable, and most beleaguered people he can find, pretty damn sure there won't be sufficient disapproval to thwart his ambition to become the guy who will replace Trump in the hearts of the American people. (Possible campaign slogan: "Trump 2.0, Younger, Hungrier, and Even Meaner.)
Take the stunt he just pulled when he sent all those immigrants from "his" state of Florida to Cape Cod. It was pure shock jockery. It's cruel, and it is the kind of chickenshit prank only an utter narcissist like Trump, Limbaugh, Hannity, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, or Gregg Abbott would have had the heartless chutzpah to do. But so what if a bunch of desperate people were loaded on a plane, then dumped out on Cape Cod just to make for a little segment on Fox "News" about how badass Governor de Santis could be when he wanted to stick it to the radical socialist Democrats? Wasn't that ballsy of him? And wasn't it cool? Just what we needed, right? A take-no-prisoners guy who would secure our borders and make the country safe for white folks.
Gregg Abbott also thought he could show his bad ass to the country and be showered with love for it.. In fact, he'd already done a similar thing, treating immigrant people as less than pawns in a ruthless display of utterly racist inhumanity, thus giving his fellow guv from Florida the notion that he too could test the degree to which prickishness could be stretched without prompting revulsion and outrage to do himself any harm. Treating poor people poorly was right as rain with the base of the Republican Party (and base it is, and base they are). Hell, a presidential campaign slogan for Abbott, Ted Cruz, or Mario Rubio might be: Vote Republican: Treating People Like Shit Since Nixon.
But guys like DeSantis and Abbott aren't just willing to be cruel to people from south of the border down Mexico way. They are willing to force young American girls to carry babies to term against their will or desires. They're willing to support tyranny and call it freedom.
more...
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/jaime-o-neill/103221/is-no-one-and-nothing-beyond-the-pale-anymore-are-we-truly-this-rotten
Democrats Launch Massive Negative Ad Campaign Against GOP On Abortion
Democrats Launch Massive Negative Ad Campaign Against GOP On Abortion
Democrats are hammering Republicans in dozens of ads across the country on their opposition to abortion access.
Paul Blumenthal
Sep 17, 2022, 05:45 AM EDT
Democrats have zeroed in on the top issue to pummel Republicans with in their quest to win the 2022 midterm elections: the end of Roe v. Wade.
In dozens of ads backed by tens of millions of dollars, Democratic candidates, party committees and affiliated groups are attacking Republicans on the issue of abortion in key battleground races that will determine control of Congress, governorships and state legislatures.
snip//
The ever-increasing ad avalanche on abortion signals that the conservative-majority Supreme Courts decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization to overturn the nearly 50-year-old right to an abortion has flipped the issue on its head, forcing Republicans to answer for their unpopular anti-abortion positions as they are now actually becoming law.
A Real-World Test Case
The decision to make the end of Roe the central negative attack line of the midterms follows from public and private polling showing that the Republican position on the issue is broadly and increasingly unpopular.
more...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/roe-abortion-2022-election_n_63235b4ee4b082746be7e326
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