Wednesday, December 6, 2023

CNN: Anderson Cooper 360: Liz Cheney: 'This is Speaker Johnson's Vulnerability'

Source:CNN- former U.S. Representative (Republican, Wyoming) and now author Liz Cheney, talking about Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (Republican, Louisiana) 

"CNN's Anderson Cooper speaks with former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, who explains her suspicions about why Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) wants to blur footage of the January 6 riot to protect rioters' identities." 

From CNN

As my colleague Kire Schneider said on The New Democrat yesterday: 

"Before you look at Liz Cheney's opposition to Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, you have to look at where she's from politically, her family, especially her father Dick Cheney represents and what that wing of the party represents, first. 

Even after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, you still had old school, center-right Republicans in Congress (House & Senate) who still believed in the rule of law and that America was more important than anything, including their own political careers. A lot of those folks are now out of Congress like former Representative Adam Kinzinger and former Representative Liz Cheney who lost her primary, but Senator Mitt Romney is still there. 

Liz Cheney and her father represent the old school wing of the Republican Party, the party when it was the Grand Ole Party. They come from neoconservative wing of that party that emerged in the 1960s and 70s, but these are old school Republicans that believe in the rule of law, checks and balances, American democracy, and I could go on. 

Liz Cheney and her father Dick also represent the Grand Ole Party... 

And being the wannabe, right-wing authoritarian that Donald Trump wants to be, he obviously doesn't believe in American democracy and accountability, at least as it applies to him. So it's obvious why someone like a Liz Cheney would be in complete opposition to him." 

As Liz Cheney said about Speaker Mike Johnson and the House videotapes on Jan. 6, 2021: "The Department of Justice already has the tapes of that day." What I would add is that people have already been arrested, prosecuted, and even testified in court, in exchange for lighter prison sentences, about their role in this attempted insurrection of 2021. 

And as Liz Cheney would go onto say: "Speaker Johnson seems to be suggesting that there's something in these tapes that could change what has already happened." 

So the Speaker is just lying about this since he knows that DOJ already has all of this evidence. But apparently Speaker Johnson thinks these MAGA members are too dumb to find their own hands, perhaps even spell their own names, and don't already know this and that the Speaker can use this to try to keep their support. 

But apparently Speaker Johnson is simply worried about keeping the support of the MAGA base of the Republican Party, and will claim that he's with holding evidence that DOJ already has, in order to keep more of these people from having to go to prison, for their role in Jan 6. 2021. Even though several of the members are in prison today, or have just been released from prison, for their role in Jan 6. 2021. 

Which tells me that the so-called establishment leaders of the Republican Party, like the freakin Speaker of the House of Representatives, (just to use as an example) doesn't have a lot of respect for the intelligence of these right-wing, MAGA militants. 

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Tuesday, December 5, 2023

NPR News: 'Liz Cheney Warns Democracy Is At Stake If Donald Trump Is Reelected'

Source:NPR News anchor Leila Fadel interviewing former U.S. Representative & now author Liz Cheney (Republican, Wyoming)

"Republican Liz Cheney has made no secret of her criticism of former President Donald Trump. It's what made her an outcast in her own party and cost her her job in Congress last year. Now, with Trump leading the polls in the 2024 Republican primary, Cheney is ramping up her efforts to keep him out of the Oval Office. She tells NPR's Morning Edition she hasn't ruled out her own presidential run in 2024 for that reason. In her new book, "Oath and Honor: A Memoir and a Warning," she gives a no-holds-barred account from inside the Republican party of the days before and after Jan. 6., Trump's efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election and her often-lonely role in trying to thwart them." 

From NPR News 

"National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American non-profit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California.[2] It serves as a national syndicator to a network of over 1,000 public radio stations in the United States.[3] It differs from other non-profit membership media organizations, such as the Associated Press, in that it was established by an act of Congress.[4]

Funding for NPR comes from dues and fees paid by member stations, underwriting from corporate sponsors and annual grants from the publicly funded Corporation for Public Broadcasting.[5] Most of its member stations are owned by non-profit organizations, including public school districts, colleges, and universities. NPR operates independently of any government or corporation, and has full control of its content.[6]

NPR produces and distributes both news and cultural programming. The organization's flagship shows are two drive-time news broadcasts: Morning Edition and the afternoon All Things Considered, both carried by most NPR member stations, and among the most popular radio programs in the country.[7][8] As of March 2018, the drive-time programs attract an audience of 14.9 million and 14.7 million per week, respectively.[9]

NPR manages the Public Radio Satellite System, which distributes its programs and other programming from independent producers and networks such as American Public Media and Public Radio Exchange, and which also acts as a primary entry point for the Emergency Alert System. Its content is also available on-demand online, on mobile networks, and in many cases, as podcasts.[10] Several NPR stations also carry programs from British public broadcaster BBC World Service." 

From Wikipedia

Before you look at Liz Cheney's opposition to Donald Trump and his MAGA movement, you have to look at where she's from politically, her family, especially her father Dick Cheney represents and what that wing of the party represents, first. 

Even after Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, you still had old school, center-right Republicans in Congress (House & Senate) who still believed in the rule of law and that America was more important than anything, including their own political careers. A lot of those folks are now out of Congress like former Representative Adam Kinzinger and former Representative Liz Cheney who lost her primary, but Senator Mitt Romney is still there. 

Liz Cheney and her father represent the old school wing of the Republican Party, the party when it was the Grand Ole Party. They come from neoconservative wing of that party that emerged in the 1960s and 70s, but these are old school Republicans that believe in the rule of law, checks and balances, American democracy, and I could go on. 

Here's a good look at Liz Cheney's wing of the Republican Party: 

"Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1960s during the Vietnam War among foreign policy hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and counterculture of the 1960s, particularly the Vietnam protests. Neoconservatives typically advocate the unilateral promotion of democracy and interventionism in international affairs, grounded in a militaristic and realist philosophy of "peace through strength." They are known for espousing disdain for communism and political radicalism.[1][2]

Many adherents of neoconservatism became politically influential during the Republican presidential administrations of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, peaking in influence during the administration of George W. Bush, when they played a major role in promoting and planning the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Prominent neoconservatives in the George W. Bush administration included Paul Wolfowitz, Elliott Abrams, Richard Perle and Paul Bremer.

Although U.S Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had not self-identified as neoconservatives, they worked closely alongside neoconservative officials in designing key aspects of George W. Bush's foreign policy; especially in their support of Israel, promotion of American influence in the Arab World and launching the "War on Terror".[3] Bush administration's domestic and foreign policies were heavily influenced by major ideologues affiliated with neo-conservatism, such as Bernard Lewis, Lulu Schwartz, Daniel Pipes, David Horowitz, Robert Kagan, etc.[4]

Critics of neoconservatism have used the term to describe foreign policy and war hawks who support aggressive militarism or neo-imperialism. Historically speaking, the term neoconservative refers to those who made the ideological journey from the anti-Stalinist left to the camp of American conservatism during the 1960s and 1970s.[5] The movement had its intellectual roots in the magazine Commentary, edited by Norman Podhoretz.[6] They spoke out against the New Left, and in that way helped define the movement." 

From Wikipedia

Liz Cheney and her father Dick also represent the Grand Ole Party: 

"The initials synonymous with the Republican Party—“GOP”—stand for “grand old party.” As early as the 1870s, politicians and newspapers began to refer to the Republican Party as both the “grand old party” and the “gallant old party” to emphasize its role in preserving the Union during the Civil War. The Republican Party of Minnesota, for instance, adopted a platform in 1874 that it said “guarantees that the grand old party that saved the country is still true to the principles that gave it birth.” 

In spite of its nickname, though, the “grand old party” was only a mere teenager in the early 1870s since the Republican Party had been formed in 1854 by former Whig Party members to oppose the expansion of slavery into western territories." 

From History

Donald Trump represents what's called the "Make America Great Again Movement". Which really means make America Anglo-Saxon and Northern European again, as well as male dominant: 

"MAGA movement, nativist political movement that emerged in the United States during the 2016 presidential campaign of its putative leader, Donald Trump. Its name is derived from Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” which became a rallying cry for many Trump supporters during his candidacy, presidency (2017–21), and beyond.

The MAGA movement (often referred to simply as MAGA, or Make America Great Again), was founded on the belief that the United States was once a “great” country but has lost this status owing to foreign influence, both within its borders (via immigration and multiculturalism) and without (via globalization, or the increased integration of multiple national economies). MAGA members think that this fall from grace can be reversed through “America first” policies that would provide a greater degree of economic protectionism, greatly reduce immigration, particularly from developing countries, and encourage or enforce what MAGA members consider to be traditional American values. Some MAGA-supported policies, such as Trump’s call in 2015 for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” would involve egregious racial or religious discrimination. (Some of the policies eventually adopted by the Trump administration did entail such discriminatory treatment of nonwhite immigrants; see below.)

In addition to its political stances, the MAGA movement is known for its particularly combative character, which exemplifies the extreme partisanship of contemporary American politics. In keeping with that stance, controversial rhetoric has flourished within the movement, including messages that critics see as homophobic, sexist, or racist or as inciting violence."


And being the wannabe, right-wing authoritarian that Donald Trump wants to be, he obviously doesn't believe in American democracy and accountability, at least as it applies to him. So it's obvious why someone like a Liz Cheney would be in complete opposition to him.

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Harry Litman: 'Donald Trump Lawyer Makes PREPOSTEROUS CLAIM in Hearing in Front of GA Judge'

Source:Harry Litman- left to right: (flor all you blind, insane, drunk, and high people out there, just waking up from a coma) Fulton County, Georgia Judge Scott McAfee & Defendant Don Trump.

"Judge Scott McAfee heard arguments from Trump's lawyer Steven Sadow on Friday. Sadow argued the Georgia trial should be delayed — if Trump wins the election, he says, it should be delayed until after Trump leaves the White House." 


I think we now need to get into what Donald Trump is actually doing here and why he's even running for President, because it's not the job that he wants again, just the power, and the added power that he would try to give himself, if there are enough Americans on Election Day 2024, who are too drunk and blind, to make the right decision 11 months from now and Donald Trump becomes President again. 

Donald Trump's 2024 election campaign and theme is essentially this: 

"You have to reelect me, so I can stay out of prison. If I get reelected President, I could then end all the Federal trials and investigations against me and my allies and we can then go about our business and back to business as usual, with no one around to hold me and and my people accountable. But, if I don't get back to The White House, I'm going to prison for at least the rest of my political career and I'll be 78 in 2024." 

That's what al these bogus (to be too kind) political motions that his lawyers are making in Washington and Atlanta, for their client Donald Trump. They're essentially telling a very competent, responsible, and sober U.S. Federal Judge Tanya Chutkan and a very competent, responsible, and sober Fulton County, Georgia Judge Scott McAfee, that their client is immune from prosecution and trial, simply because he's running for President again. 

Forget about all the evidence against DJT in Washington and Atlanta, Donald Trump (according to his lawyers) is immune from prosecution and trial, simply because he's running for President again. 

Forget about the fact that DJT is running for President again. DJT's lawyers might as well just say that Donald Trump can't be prosecuted, because he's Donald Trump and he's the King of the United States (not reality TV) and therefor has the right to live and operate above the law. Because that argument makes as much sense as what they're saying now. 

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Monday, December 4, 2023

Michael Popok: 'STUNNED Donald Trump Makes DESPERATE Filing After GAG Reinstatement'

Source:Meidas Touch- in case it's not obvious enough (perhaps you just happen to be drunk, insane, or blind) left to right: NY State Judge Arthur Engeron & the one and thank God only, Donald J. Trump.

"Trump’s lawyers, cutting and pasting from their DC appeal filing, have filed an emergency petition to have NY’s highest appellate court remove the gag order to allow his lawyers and him to bash the judge’s imperiled law clerk some more. Michael Popok of Legal AF explains what goes wrong with the new filing and why it is likely to lose." 

From the Meidas Touch

If this New York State courtroom that's run by Judge Arthur Engeron, was one of Donald Trump's so-called reality TV shows, Mr. Trump would have freedom to say whatever the hell he wanted too. Not just about the Judge, but the Judge's law clerk as well. Mr. Trump could call the Judge a whore and his wife a whore, his clerk a crazy bitch and threaten to kick their asses when after the court session is over, etc, while court is in session. Wouldn't even have to wait for a press conference after court.

But Donald Trump no longer lives in reality TV world. At least physically, whether that's ever occurred to him mentally or not, only DJT could know that. And in the United States of America, more pacifically in Manhattan, New York, in New York State Court, in the real world, every individual right that we have in America, including the First Amendment, (my personal favorite individual right) is not absolute. 

Imagine if free speech was unlimited in America: 

How would people who hire killers to murder their spouse or someone else, be charged for conspiracy to commit murder? The defendant could just say: "I didn't personally murder my spouse. I just hired someone to do that for me. I have a First Amendment right to say whatever I want." 

Perjurers could never be charged for perjury because perjurers would have a 1st Amendment right to lie under oath. 

Inciting violence would then become legal in America because now we have a constitutional right to incite violence. Someone could give a speech and say: "You should go beat the hell out of Joe Wilson (or whoever the person is) because that would make me happy." And then someone would get go beat the hell out of Joe Wilson and say that Tom Davis (or whoever the person is) said that would make them happy. And then Tom Davis could just say: "Well, I didn't beat the hell out of Joe Wilson. I just said someone should go do that." 

Forget about truth in advertising with an unlimited First Amendment in America because now con people fraudsters, crooks, would no longer be required to have to back up what they claim their products can do. A car dealer could then claim that their cars are the most reliable and durable around. Even though they break down 5 minutes after their customers pull their new car out of the lot. The car dealership could just say: "We didn't force these people to buy our cars or even take us seriously."

If Donald Trump’s lawyers were honest, (and if rats flew over the moon) they would simply just argue: “Donald Trump has the constitutional right to say and do whatever he wants to do.” That would still be a garbage defense, but at least it would be honest.

As Michael Popok, who is a New York lawyer, said in his video, once you enter the courtroom as a defendant, your free speech rights become limited to the case and the evidence in that case. (Close paraphrase) You don't have the right to attack the Judge and the Judge's staff.

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Real Time With Bill Maher: Overtime: James Carville & Dave Rubin

Source:Real Time With Bill Maher- left to right: The Rajun Cajun James Carville& The Liberal Jew David Rubin. (Not to get too ethnic)

"Bill and his guests continue their conversation about anti-Semitism, the U.S. economy, Christian nationalism and more." 


As far as the Far-Right in America, (I'm tired of calling people who aren't religious Christian Nationalists) we can joke about them as much as we want and make fun of them all we want. Like the fact that they're from the 1800s culturally and as far as their mindset and got caught in some political, cultural, and national time machine and found themselves in the 21st Century, where it suddenly occurred to them that not all Americans are even Anglo-Saxon-Protestants, and they have some problem with that, along with all the other races, cultures, religions, and other ethnicities that make up America. 

But, when political jokes get elected to high office in America and you have a party of political jokes not only getting elected to Congress, but The White House as well, but in such big numbers that now they're in charge of the national government, no decent, intelligent, sane, and sober American would still be laughing. 

The old joke: "The problem with political jokes, is that they get elected." Once they're elected and in office and now have power to rule over people who are no longer laughing at them and now are thinking: "If only I had voted during that last election, I could've been laughing at this asshole on election night" it's no longer funny, because now you have all these mentally out of this world people, who not only have the power to govern, but to rule over other people.

MAGA, even the militant wing of the movement, is no real threat to America, as long as they're just getting elected in West Virginia and the rest of Redneckistan. (To keep it real) But once they start getting elected in places where not just mainstream Democrats should win, but win going away, like in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, etc, and in places where center-right Republicans should be getting elected, like in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, New York State, etc, that's when MAGA becomes a threat to the rest of the country. 

Outside of Redneckistan, (to keep it real) MAGA is just a small part of a much larger Republican Party. But once they start winning in the rest of America, where the rest of the country lives, like in cities, and metros, that's how they become a problem for the rest of the country. Because now they have the numbers to at least be in charge of the House of Representatives, but perhaps win back the Senate, and even The White House.

My point here is for every intelligent, responsible, sober, and sane American, who really loves America and our great liberal democracy and republic, make fun of MAGA all you want. But on election day make sure you are at least serious and sober enough to get out and vote and vote for the pro-American, anti-MAGA candidates, even if they're not from your political party. Because that's how we really "save America" and our republic and keep our great country from going back to the 1950s where MAGA wants to take us back. 

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Friday, December 1, 2023

Michael Cohen: 'Donald Trump Gets SHUT UP by Court & Caught RED-HANDED'

Source:Meidas Touch- yes, I can believe that Michael Cohen used to work for Donald J. Trump. But then he goes to prison for him, because he tried to cover up one of DJT's crimes. Sometimes prison rehabilitation actually works. 

"Michael Cohen reacts to Trump’s Gag order being reinstated in New York as a court appointed monitor in the same trial, informed the court of $40 million in undisclosed cash transfer by the Trump Org." 

From the Meidas Touch

"Embezzlement is a term commonly used for a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking advantage of their position to steal funds or assets, most commonly over a period of time." 

From Wikipedia

“Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions with varying definitions. It is usually a key operation of organized crime.”

From Wikipedia 

Michael Cohen Said: "For the first time in his life, Donald Trump is learning about accountability and what it's like to be held accountable under law." (That's a close paraphrase) 

As my colleague Fred Schneider wrote on The New Democrat back in September: 

"I said back in 2017 (and I just wish I had written this down and made it public) that Donald Trump picked the wrong country to run for President and be its head of state. Why? Because our governmental system that's built around checks and balances, accountability, the rule of law, is not suited for someone of Donald Trump's mindset and personality. He believes he can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants to, that rules and laws that apply to everyone else, don't apply to him." 

I post the links about embezzlement and money laundering for excellent reasons. I think it's fairly obvious now that Donald Trump personally, (perhaps not his company) is strapped for cash. Even when you move money from a company that you personally own, like Trump Organization, (in Donald Trump's case) into your own personal account, it's still embezzlement. When you illegally try to hide money and in Donald Trump's case, to avoid paying taxes on it, that's money laundering. And as Mr. Cohen already said, Donald Trump was caught redhanded in both cases. 

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Harry Litman: 'Donald Trump’s Main Defense REJECTED by Court, OPEN THE FLOODGATES'

Source:Harry Litman talking about no Jan 6. 2021 immunity for then President Donald J. Trump.

"Breaking news this morning: a D.C. court unanimously ruled that Trump cannot use presidential immunity as a defense to his involvement in January 6th. The court said the former president can be held civilly liable for the actions that occurred during the insurrection. This provides some insight on how the court may view Trump's presidential immunity argument with regards to the criminal charge." 


"At a rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, former President Trump repeated his unsubstantiated claims of fraud in both the November election and the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff, saying "We will never give up. We will never concede."  


"Rep. Mo Brooks has denied that the speech he gave at the Ellipse on January 6 helped incite the attack on the Capitol, and that his "kicking ass" remarks were taken out of context.

Speaking to MSNBC's Chris Hayes on the eve of the January 6 Committee's first televised hearings about the events which led up to riot, the Alabama congressman dismissed suggestions that his remarks in Washington, D.C. that day were calling for actual violence.

Brooks, who has been subpoenaed by the January 6 panel but is refusing to cooperate, along with four other GOP lawmakers, gave a speech in front of the crowd of Donald Trump supporters on the morning of January 6 wearing a bulletproof vest." 

From Newsweek

"Former President Donald Trump's remarks on the Ellipse on Jan. 6, urging his supporters to march on the Capitol as Congress was certifying the results of November's presidential election, are a key part of the case against Trump being made by House impeachment managers and are also being used by the lawyers who are defending him.

The House managers in Trump's Senate impeachment trial have already shown clips from the speech, in which Trump outlined a long list of grievances against the news media and against Republicans he deemed were insufficiently supportive, as well as a litany of false claims about how the election had been stolen from him." 

From NPR News

"The Jan. 6 select committee has heard testimony indicating that then-President Donald Trump — after rioters who swarmed the Capitol began chanting “hang Mike Pence” — expressed support for hanging his vice president, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The White House chief of staff at the time, Mark Meadows, was in the dining room off the Oval Office with Trump at one point during last year’s Capitol attack, the committee has been told. Meadows then left the dining room and informed other people nearby that Trump had signaled a positive view of the prospect of hanging the vice president, the panel heard." 

From Politico 

If you were to look at the January 6, 2021 case like it was a murder cases involving multiple defendants, with the person or people who actually physically committed the murder or murders, and the person who organized the murder or murders, the person who hired the people to murder the person or people that they wanted killed and told them when to do it, perhaps even provided the plan, the access, the financing for the murder or murders: 

Of course Donald Trump didn't actually walk down to Capitol Hill on that horrible day in January, 2021, with a team of thugs to physically take over the Congress, to stop the House and Senate from certifying the 2020 presidential election. But he knew who was in his crowd as far as the type of people that he was dealing with, which were his hardcore, militant supporters, some of those folks who are now in Federal prison for the role in this attempted insurrection. And he probably knew what they were willing to do for him as well. 

As Harry Litman said himself, what U.S. President's do on the job, on the clock (so to speak) and what they do as politicians, as political candidates, are two different things. (That's a paraphrase) Donald Trump is not being personally sued for his policy on China or Russia, his stance on the Affordable Care Act, etc. He's being sued for his role in the January 6, 2021, attempted insurrection, of the U.S. Government and attempt to violently throw out the 2020 presidential election results. And the decision by the Federal Court in Washington was correct.

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John F. Kennedy Liberal Democrat

John F. Kennedy Liberal Democrat
Source: U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy in 1960