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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

A GOP congressman said so many Republican voters now believe in QAnon it could destroy the party

(Business Insider) GOP Rep. Peter Meijer has warned that the rise of the QAnon conspiracy theory movement could destroy the Republican Party from within in remarks to CNN. Meijer is one of few Republicans who've spoken out against the rise of conspiracy-theory-driven beliefs among a swath of the GOP grassroots. He was one of only 10 Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Donald Trump for inciting the Capitol riot on January 6.

"The fact that a significant plurality, if not potentially a majority, of our voters have been deceived into this creation of an alternate reality could very well be an existential threat to the party," Meijer, a freshman congressman from Michigan, told the network.

634-5789

Vaccine is piling up in red states, as Republican anti-science threatens national health

(Daily Kos) As of Thursday, Civiqs showed 41% of Republicans saying that they would definitely not accept a COVID-19 vaccine, while another 10% remain unsure. With the remaining Republicans saying they will accept the vaccine down to just 18%, red states are starting to see a problem that the rest of the nation would love to have—a vaccine surplus. As The New York Times reports, Mississippi alone is now sitting on tens of thousands of doses that they’re having a hard time giving out.

With just 25% of adults vaccinated, Mississippi is lagging well behind most of the nation when it comes to vaccinating its citizens. But that’s not because of a lack of vaccine. The state voted 58% for Donald Trump in 2020. If that number accurately reflects those Mississippians who consider themselves Republicans, that’s 23% of the state either giving a definite “no” to the vaccine. Add in the small percentage of Democrats and independents who are shunning the vaccine, subtract the percentage already vaccinated, and all those doses in Mississippi are rolling around the state, looking for the less than half the population willing to take a jab.

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

'Yippee!' Trump Officials Gloated After They Manipulated CDC Reports And Advice

(Huff Post) Donald Trump appointees with no experience in public health celebrated when they managed to wrangle changes in warnings and reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in order to underplay the danger of COVID-19, according to emails obtained by a House subcommittee on the coronavirus crisis.

“Yippee!!!” gushed Paul Alexander, science adviser to the Department of Health and Human Services, to HHS public affairs chief Michael Caputo after he pressured the CDC to modify warnings about coronavirus risks to young people, according to one of the emails.

Alexander also plotted with Dr. Scott Atlas, the controversial White House coronavirus adviser, to help him write an opinion article dismissing a CDC report on risks to young people as “timed for the election.” Alexander added in the email that the point of the op-ed would be to “blunt the edge” of the CDC report.

More than 560,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Nevilledog

'White Lives Matter' rallies flop as hardly anyone shows up

(NBC News) In semi-private, encrypted chats, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists planned rallies in dozens of cities on Sunday to promote their racist movements and spread their ideologies to larger audiences. Hyped by organizers as events that would make “the whole world tremble,” the rallies ran into a major problem on Sunday: Hardly anyone showed up.

The poor showing underscores how the nation’s unpopular and disorganized extremist movements have been driven underground by increased scrutiny from the media, law enforcement and far left activists who infiltrate extremists’ private online spaces and disrupt their attempts to communicate and organize.

JHB

Monday TOONs

UpInArms

Mom: Minnesota Cops Killed Son After Stopping Him on an Air-Freshener Violation

(Daily Beast) Police in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center fatally shot a Black 20-year-old man during a traffic stop on Sunday afternoon, setting off a string of violent protests amid tensions over the Derek Chauvin murder trial. The victim’s mother spent much of Sunday afternoon at the scene of the fatal shooting, pleading with officers to remove the body of her son, Daunte Wright, from the pavement.

The victim’s mother said her son called her during the traffic stop she said was tied to the presence of air fresheners hanging in the car, which is an offense in Minnesota. “He called me at about 1:30. He said he was getting pulled over by the police. And I said why you getting pulled over. And he said they pulled him over because he had air fresheners hanging from his rear-view mirror. I said, ‘OK take them down,’” Wright said, adding that she could hear a scuffle break out and someone yelling, “Daunte, don’t run.” When she called back, her son was dead.

soothsayer

Officer accused of force in stop of Black Army officer fired

(WTOP) One of two police officers accused of pepper-spraying and pointing their guns at a Black Army officer during a traffic stop has since been fired, a Virginia town announced late Sunday, hours after the governor called for an independent investigation into the case.

The town of Windsor said in a statement that it joined calls from election officials, including Gov. Ralph Northam, in requesting an investigation by Virginia State Police into the December 2020 encounter in which two Windsor officers were accused of drawing their guns, pointing them at U.S. Army second lieutenant Caron Nazario and using a slang term to suggest he was facing execution.

LetMyPeopleVote

CEOs Plan New Push on Voting Legislation

(Wall Street Journal) Dozens of chief executives and other senior leaders gathered on Zoom this weekend to plot what several said big businesses should do next about new voting laws under way in Texas and other states. Kenneth Chenault, the former chief executive of American Express Co., and Kenneth Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., urged the leaders to collectively call for greater voting access, according to several people who attended. Messrs. Chenault and Frazier cautioned businesses against dropping the issue and asked CEOs to sign a statement opposing what they view as discriminatory legislation on voting, the people said.

A statement could come early this week, the people said, and would build on one that 72 Black executives signed last month in the wake of changes to Georgia’s voting laws. Mr. Chenault told executives on the call that several leaders had signaled they would sign on, including executives at PepsiCo Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc., T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and Hess Corp., among others.

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

Polls show majority of Republicans mistakenly think the 2020 election wasn't legitimate

(CNN) A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that 55% of Republicans falsely believe Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election was the result of illegal voting or rigging. Additionally, 60% of Republicans incorrectly agree that the election was stolen from Republican Donald Trump. These polls are the latest to indicate that Republicans mistakenly think that the 2020 election wasn't legitimate, when it clearly was.

Republicans have been pushing legislation at the state level to make voting at least somewhat more difficult than it was for the 2020 election. This has come in the wake of polls showing many Republicans doubt the election result. It is unclear what effect this legislation will ultimately have on future election outcomes. What is perfectly clear, however, is that Republicans' lack of faith in our current election infrastructure is a direct result of Trump's historic efforts to undermine the legitimacy of the 2020 results.

Nevilledog

The DoD leaders sent troops to defend their own houses hours before they sent troops to the Capitol

(Associated Press) At 3:19 p.m., Pelosi and Schumer were calling the Pentagon for help and were told the National Guard had been approved. But military and law enforcement leaders struggled over the next 90 minutes to execute the plan as the Army and Guard called all troops in from their checkpoints, issued them new gear, laid out a new plan for their mission and briefed them on their duties.

The Guard troops had been prepared only for traffic duties. Army leaders argued that sending them into a volatile combat situation required additional instruction to keep both them and the public safe.

By 3:37 p.m., the Pentagon sent its own security forces to guard the homes of defense leaders. No troops had yet reached the Capitol.