Monday Reading

 

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

Michaelangelo Signorile writes about the "Biden boom, GOP bust", how the Republican- wired media continues to be caught wrong- footed, and how Democrats must campaign:

The economy is booming. There is no denying it. The media has had a chokehold on this story, pushing a narrative that was untrue and driven by the GOP. With the news today, the president and Democrats should smash through the media’s narrative once and for all — and condemn the coverage if need be.

Republicans are hellbent on attacking the economy and those attacks just can’t stand. They run from talking about anything regarding January 6th. Democrats have to throw it in their faces, and focus on the complete and total crack up of their party, which has allowed extremists to take control.

Hitting on those two issues — Biden boom and GOP bust — will help Democrats keep the House and Senate this November, hopefully expanding the Senate and getting past obstructionists. That will ensure continued progress for the American people. And it will push back the authoritarian assault on democracy. 

Ex-evangelical Chrissy Stroop has a thoughtful read on secularism in the U.S., it's diversity, and how the media (yes, they keep popping up) gets the causes of asymmetric social and political polarization wrong:

... Nonreligious Americans are generally a pro-social bunch, and overwhelmingly in favor of the very rights the anti-social, anti-democratic Christian Right is actively working to take away, like voting rights, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ rights. Yet, according to the legacy media’s punditocracy, America’s rapid secularization is something we should all be terrified of. 

Starting from the demonstrably false assumption that religion is essentially the only source of social cohesion, philanthropy, and pro-social behavior, prominent pundits and religion journalists (who should know much better) continually insinuate that secularization is somehow destroying the fabric of American civil society, and that the nonreligious are somehow to blame for American polarization. How, exactly, is unclear, and it could hardly be otherwise, given that both of these premises are entirely without factual basis.

Think pieces—and often even supposedly “straight” reporting—tend to ignore the empirically demonstrated fact that the social and political polarization that pervades these not-so-United States is asymmetric and significantly worse on the political Right. Not coincidentally, that side of the proverbial aisle consists largely of the conservative, mostly white Christians from whom the newly nonreligious are fleeing. These same conservative Christians, directly encouraged by their defeated president and a host of powerful Republican leaders, attempted to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by means that included a violent Christian nationalist insurrection in which people were injured and killed, very nearly destroying what was left of American democracy, such as it is. But, you know, there are problems with liberals and progressives too, so…

An example of how the radical "Christian" right is extending its disruptive political reach comes via the anti- vax truckers protest in Canada (where 90% of truckers are vaccinated):

After being denied several million dollars raised on GoFundMe, organizers of a trucker-led protest disrupting life in Canada’s capital have found a new platform: a Christian crowdfunding site where they raised more than $3.5 million in two days to demonstrate against the country’s vaccine mandate.

The new fundraiser hosted by GiveSendGo, which describes itself as the “#1 free Christian crowdfunding site,” reported Sunday that the “Freedom Convoy” campaign had raised several million dollars two days after GoFundMe announced that it was freezing more than $8 million in donations to the cause, a move that led Republican officials in the United States to announce investigations.

The rapid influxes of donations have prompted questions about the origin of the funds and sparked concerns among analysts about the use of the online platforms for financing fringe organizations that could allow the interference of foreign entities.

The convoy began as a protest to U.S. and Canadian rules requiring that cross-border truckers be fully vaccinated to enter either country, and it turned into a movement against many public health measures. The demonstrations have drawn praise from Republican leaders in the United States and left residents on edge — with police saying some have been subject to racist vitriol.

"Freedom convoy" my ass.  They're a bunch of loudmouthed, far- right, violent knuckle- draggers.

It's hard to exaggerate just how big a mistake Virginia voters made in electing Trumpist weasel Glenn Youngkin governor.  In office less than a month, he's tried to eliminate mask mandates in schools, vaccine mandates for Virginia colleges, wants to limit abortion access,  promoted laws banning teaching of certain subjects that (white) children might find "disturbing," and set up a snitch line for people to turn in teachers.  His "Team Youngkin" campaign staff prefers going after children rather than protecting them, however:

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign lashed out at a high school student as well as Democrat Ralph Northam on Twitter this weekend, tweeting out the teen’s name and photo after the boy shared a news story about part of the Executive Mansion where enslaved workers once lived.

On Saturday afternoon, Ethan Lynne, 17, retweeted a report from the Richmond public radio station VPM suggesting that Youngkin (R) might be scrapping efforts pursued under two previous governors, Northam and Democrat Terry McAuliffe, to highlight the history of enslaved people at the mansion. The report contained an error, which Lynne noted on Twitter hours later, when VPM issued a correction.

But by then, “Team Youngkin” — the official Twitter account for Youngkin’s campaign — had attacked Lynne, posting a photo of the teen with Northam taken at a Democratic fundraiser in October.

“Here’s a picture of Ethan with a man that had a Blackface/KKK photo in his yearbook,” Team Youngkin tweeted a little before 5 p.m., pairing the October photo with a racist picture from Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook that surfaced in 2019.

No matter how bad a campaign the Democrats ran, or the issues they ran on or ignored, you only had to scratch Youngkin's surface to see a typical hypocritical, ambitious, base- pandering Republican who was going to do everything he promised to do once in office. Only a state senate controlled by Democrats stands in his way.

The Washington Post editorial board addresses the seditious, off- the- rails censure resolution by the rotted- out Republican National Committee:

The Republican Party on Friday took an official stand — against truth and democracy. At the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting in Salt Lake City, party leaders censured Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and moved to aid her primary opponent, Harriet Hageman, who is former president Donald Trump’s preferred candidate for Wyoming’s lone congressional seat.

The Orwellian censure resolution accuses Ms. Cheney and fellow GOP dissident Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) of engaging in behavior “destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic.” Her transgression? Co-leading the House committee investigating the Capitol invasion, an act of political violence Mr. Trump inspired when he was a sitting president charged with protecting the nation from enemies foreign and domestic. The investigation, the censure resolution claimed, is “a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.”  [snip]

Republicans have started their election year by revealing what they really stand for. Voters must remember this moment in November.

Will they?  See also Signorile, above.

As usual, Infidel 753 has assembled a kaleidoscopic link round-up covering all manner of topics.  We recommend a visit, and also check out his essays while you're in his neighborhood.

Will Tea Party 2.0 Elect Glenn Youngkin?

As the polls in the Virginia gubernatorial race continue to tighten (ed.: WTF, Virginia?!), it bears repeating what the Republican strategy is and who is funding it and carrying it out.  Trumpist weasel Glenn Youngkin has made how schools are run and what is taught the closing argument in his demagogic campaign (we won't link to any of his race- baiting/ transphobic/ divisive videos).  The strategy follows the successful approach taken by far- right organizations and plutocrats (e.g., the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity) after Barack Obama's election to create "astroturf" protests against his health care reform ("Obamacare"):

Here are some of the groups providing resources and support to school board protesters around the country. None have endorsed violence, threats or incitement. Nor are they all formally connected. What they do is offer help to parents who have questions or objections about what their children are learning in school or how schools are run. They issue press releases, sell T-shirts and lawn signs, produce flyers and publicize events on social media, supply information and legal advice, offer template letters, scripts for public testimony, and model legislation. They put out webinars and trainings to give practical assistance to those who want to target or disrupt school boards.

--The Manhattan Institute, one of the most established conservative think tanks, published "Woke Schooling: A Toolkit For Concerned Parents" in June.

-- Citizens Renewing America, founded by President Trump's former budget director Russell Vought, published a 34-page guide for activists also in June, dedicated to "combating critical race theory in your community." The toolkit states the following: "CRT holds that racism is not just a belief held by individuals; rather, it is a system of oppression that has been built into the very structure of our society."

Of course, CRT (or transphobia, etc.) is just a buzz phrase intended as a stand-in for another agenda:

The toolkit further says activists don't need any evidence that "critical race theory" is currently being taught in their local schools in order to mount a campaign against it: "It's important to note that whether CRT is currently in your school system is mostly irrelevant to the purpose of this document." 

What is relevant to these far- right provocateurs is that, especially in the lead- up to an election, they manufacture issues that produce an angry reaction (and threats of violence), which produces a frenzy of uncritical wall- to- wall media coverage, which promotes turnout at the polls for the candidate (in this case, the weasel), which produces a far- right, reactionary Trumpist government.  

In Virginia, purple exurb Loudoun County has become ground zero for weasel Youngkin's campaign to drive his voters to the polls and convince low- information voters that all hell is breaking loose thanks to Democrats, and particularly Terry McAuliffe (who hasn't been governor since 2018).  All hell is breaking loose, but it's the Youngkin supporters and their astroturfing organizers who are responsible. Will Virginians get it?

BONUS:  The Lincoln Project shows how it's done --

(Photo:  AP/Patrick Semansky)

Questions For Glenn Youngkin

 

During his monologue in last night's "The Late Show," Stephen Colbert showed a clip of President Biden campaigning in Virginia Tuesday with Democrat Terry McAuliffe, wherein the President wondered why the Malignant Loser wasn't invited to campaign for his endorsed candidate, weasel Glenn Youngkin:

“What’s he trying to hide? Is there a problem with Trump being here?” Biden asked. “Is he embarrassed?

Colbert replied: “Yes, is he embarrassed by the Tang-faced, troop-insulting fascist with raccoon hair whose signature scent is burger fart?” 

Youngkin is apparently too busy looking into ways to keep Pulitzer Prize- winning books by distinguished Black authors out of schools to respond to Biden's and Colbert's questions. 

QOTD -- Youngkin And Critical Race Theory

 

 

"In fact, the entire hue and cry against CRT is not about ending division; it is about preserving it. It is not about racial reconciliation; it is about inspiring racial panic, of the kind that swept the South in the 1830s, the 1890s, and the 1950s. That this phony scare is active in states outside the South is a sign of the success the conservative movement has achieved in exporting the religious, political, and racial values of the South to states in the heartland. It is no longer only in the old Confederacy that questioning of the racial order is seen as next to treason.

"Glenn Youngkin is simply the latest in a line of mountebanks willing to stir race hatred and fear to gain power.

"He knows how it is done; like me, he learned it in school." -- Garrett Epps in Washington Monthly, concluding a must- read article for anyone wishing to know how Trump Republican "mountebanks" like Glenn Youngkin are using critical race theory as a racist wedge issue.  Epps draws on his own background, raised in Virginia at a similar time as Youngkin, in demonstrating how the education system was fraught with "state- imposed racial racial ideology" full of myths bolstering white supremacy.  Good read.

Virginians, please get out and vote for Terry McAuliffe and the entire Democratic slate. Don't let this Trumpist Republican mountebank win.

 

Monday Reading

 

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

Reporting in Rolling Stone is apparently confirming what was already in the wind about January 6 insurrectionists' prior coordination with Republican Members of Congress (paywall at link):

As the House investigation into the Jan. 6 attack heats up, some of the planners of the pro-Trump rallies that took place in Washington, D.C., have begun communicating with congressional investigators and sharing new information about what happened when the former president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Two of these people have spoken to Rolling Stone extensively in recent weeks and detailed explosive allegations that multiple members of Congress were intimately involved in planning both Trump’s efforts to overturn his election loss and the Jan. 6 events that turned violent.

Rolling Stone separately confirmed a third person involved in the main Jan. 6 rally in D.C. has communicated with the committee. This is the first report that the committee is hearing major new allegations from potential cooperating witnesses. While there have been prior indications that members of Congress were involved, this is also the first account detailing their purported role and its scope. The two sources also claim they interacted with members of Trump’s team, including former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who they describe as having had an opportunity to prevent the violence. (our emphasis)

Now that the January 6 select committee has this information about the seditious Republicans (doubtless most members of the "Freedom Caucus", including Arizona madman Rep. Paul Gosar), getting them under oath in front of the cameras is imperative. This nest of traitors to our democracy needs to be cleaned out.

Meanwhile, wannabe Trump usurper and Florida man Gov. Ron "One Glove" DeSantis is putting out the welcome mat for Trumpist police thugs who lost their jobs because they refused to get vaccinated to protect their community:

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has invited law enforcement officers around the country to come to Florida if they lose their jobs because they refuse to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

During an interview on Fox News, DeSantis explained that he had "scientific" reasons for hiring unvaccinated police officers.

"On a scientific basis, most of those first responders have had Covid and have recovered," DeSantis claimed without evidence. "So they have strong protection and so I think that influences their decision on a lot of this that they have already had it and recovered."

"In Florida, not only are we going to want to protect the law enforcement and all the jobs," he continued, "we're actually actively working to recruit out-of-state law enforcement because we do have needs in our police and our sheriff's departments. So the next legislative session, I'm going to hopefully sign legislation that gives a $5000 bonus to any out-of-state law enforcement that relocates in Florida."

Our hearts go out to the good citizens of Florida.

The so-called "Facebook Papers" show a company under siege as more is known about its harmful effects on the world:

Facebook the company is losing control of Facebook the product — not to mention the last shreds of its carefully crafted, decade-old image as a benevolent company just wanting to connect the world.

Thousands of pages of internal documents provided to Congress by a former employee depict an internally conflicted company where data on the harms it causes is abundant, but solutions, much less the will to act on them, are halting at best.

The crisis exposed by the documents shows how Facebook, despite its regularly avowed good intentions, appears to have slow-walked or sidelined efforts to address real harms the social network has magnified and sometimes created. They reveal numerous instances where researchers and rank-and-file workers uncovered deep-seated problems that the company then overlooked or ignored.

Final responsibility for this state of affairs rests with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who holds what one former employee described as dictatorial power over a corporation that collects data on and provides free services to roughly 3 billion people around the world.

More here from the Washington Post. The "profits- before- people" business model will continue, certainly as long as Zuckerberg is holding all the cards. Meanwhile the best advice remains to disengage from it.

Dana Milbank writes that Republican weasel Glenn Youngkin's campaign for governor in Virginia is  both running away from and with Trump.  This long excerpt gives you the flavor of this slippery demagogue:

[W]hile Youngkin banished Trump, he could not wash away the stench of Trumpism.

At his rally here Saturday night in Richmond’s suburbs, Youngkin debuted his closing argument. It was a Trumpian blend of conspiracy theories, race-baiting and fabrications.

Conspiracy theory:

“Terry McAuliffe wants government to stand between parents and their children,” Youngkin said of his Democratic opponent. “And when parents across this great commonwealth said, ‘No, Terry, you’re wrong,’ he called his friend Joe Biden and asked the FBI to come silence us.”

PolitiFact already identified this baseless claim (that McAuliffe got U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to order the Justice Department to help combat growing threats against school-board members and educators) as a “pants on fire” lie. But Youngkin keeps repeating it.

Race-baiting:

“What we won’t do is teach our children to view everything through the lens of race,” Youngkin vowed, adding that “on Day 1, I will ban critical race theory.” It was perhaps the biggest applause line of the night.

Preceding Youngkin onstage, the Republican attorney general candidate, Jason Miyares, argued that “you cannot survive as a nation if you’re raising an entire generation of children to hate their country, and that is exactly what critical race theory is.”

Critical race theory isn’t taught in Virginia schools. It’s a phantom menace, whipped up by Fox News to fill White people with racial terror. Youngkin urged his supporters to fear a “20-year high murder rate,” even though overall violent crime decreased in 2020 in Virginia, among the safest states in the country.

Fabrication:

Youngkin complained that “Virginia ranks 50th in the nation in standards for kids to progress in math, reading,” but Virginia kids’ actual proficiency exceeds the national average.

He suggested that Virginia “children cannot pass an 8th-grade math equivalency test” because of pandemic school closures — “so we will proclaim that Virginia’s schools will never be closed again to five-day-a-week, in-person education.” In reality, Virginia’s 38 percent proficiency in 8th grade math topped the national 33 percent. And the test results to which Youngkin referred were from before the pandemic-related closures.

Youngkin claimed that McAuliffe “said there’s no place for parents in their kids’ education” (a line that prompted boos and shouts of “communist”). But McAuliffe didn’t say there’s “no place” for parents. He spoke out against vigilantism in which “parents come into schools and actually take books out and make their own decisions. I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach” and “running down teachers.”

This is a race Democrats need to win.  They need to make sure their winning coalition from 2020 isn't asleep at the switch and gets out to vote (early voting continues through October 30).  

Finally, a reminder to check out Infidel 753's link round- up for the best, most comprehensive collection of links to posts of varied topics from around the Internet.  Always an excellent selection.

Youngkin's Anti-Semitic Bullhorn

 

At a campaign appearance in Northern Virginia this week, the slippery Trumpist candidate for Virginia's governor, Glenn Youngkin, invoked Jewish philanthropist George Soros' name in a speech about right-wing attacks on local school boards. According to the Washington Post:

"GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin is facing allegations of antisemitism after accusing allies of Jewish philanthropist George Soros of a shadowy campaign to place secret political operatives onto Virginia school board. [snip] 

....Youngkin tried to link Soros, his Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe, and cultural debates roiling some suburban Northern Virginia public school systems. In particular, some parents are protesting equity initiatives they associate with critical race theory, an academic framework that examines how systemic racism is ingrained in the country’s history.

'The present chaos in our schools lays squarely at the feet of 40-year politician Terry McAuliffe. It just does,' Youngkin said at an appearance Tuesday night. 'But also at George Soros-backed allies, these allies that are in the left, liberal progressive movement. They’ve inserted political operatives into our school system disguised as school boards.'” (our emphasis)

The mention of George Soros is a perennial anti-Semitic trope for extreme right wingers, who want to evoke the image of powerful Jews manipulating politics with their wealth. In a bigoted twofer, Youngkin had brought up the "critical race theory" canard which is not being taught in Virginia, but is a popular racist straw man to rile up the base who are angrily descending on school boards nationwide.

Shape-shifting Youngkin's ads depict him as a moderate suburban dad, a far cry from his radical anti-womens' choice, anti-gun safety and anti-mask and vaccine mandates positions. He was caught on hidden camera earlier this year telling someone he thought was a supporter that he needed to stay away from the choice issue in order to gain independent votes, but saying once he's elected he won't go "squishy" on banning abortion. 

The Virginia gubernatorial race is being closely watched by both parties as a bellwether for 2022 and 2024. It's imperative that Dem candidate McAulliffe overcome Youngkin's attempt to turn Virginia into a petri dish for Trumpist policies.

Ad Ties Youngkin To Trump Endorsement

 

New ad from the Terry McAuliffe campaign targeting the recent Virginia rally where the malignant loser again happily endorsed Republican weasel Glenn Youngkin (who didn't show up because ... weasel):

Poll: Shape- Shifter Youngkin Trailing In Virginia

 

The latest A- rated (by fivethirtyeight.com) Fox "News" poll on the gubernatorial race in Virginia is out with some good news for Democrat Terry McAuliffe:

Beyond the top- line numbers, the poll shows McAuliffe leading the Trump- endorsed Republican weasel Glenn Youngkin among the key groups necessary for him to win: 

Youngkin  has traditional Republican support among White evangelicals, rural voters, White men, and Whites without a college degree (heavy on the "White" there).

On the popularity question ("who would you rather have a beer with?"), McAuliffe beats everyone:

Youngkin's campaign has struggled to keep his Trump ties quiet in the parts of Virginia that have trended blue over the past decade, while at the same time trying to energize Trump's White racist base by trotting out the "Critical Race Theory" dog whistle (CRT is not taught in Virginia K-12 or in any other state, BTW). 

Tying Trump around Youngkin's neck has been a Democratic strategy that needs to be amplified, given Trump's toxicity in Virginia.  The recent pro- insurrectionist rally in support of Youngkin and the rest of his far- right ticket (which Youngkin stayed away from) turned out to be a major embarrassment, with Youngkin belatedly disavowing the rally's pledge of allegiance to a flag that the insurrectionists had at the Capitol on January 6.  That could be the next ad for McAuliffe ("Glenn Youngkin wants your vote, Trumpers, he just doesn't want to be seen with you."), especially since there appears to be a lack of enthusiasm among Republican voters for the shape- shifting weasel. This line in the Fox poll analysis stood out:

McAuliffe receives stronger support among voters who approve of Democrats (91 percent) than Youngkin receives from those who approve of Republicans (80 percent).

It's the Democrats' race to lose.  Hit Youngkin hard, and get out the damn vote!

Youngkin's Hypocrisy

 

The folks across the river from us have an off-year election coming up in a few weeks (early voting is well underway). Trump- endorsed lying weasel Glenn Youngkin is in a tighter- than- it- should- be race against former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe.  Mask and vaccine mandates have become wedge turnout issues for Youngkin (as well as the racially- charged topic of "Critical Race Theory," which is not taught in K-12), with Youngkin trying to have it both ways by opposing mandates while saying he got the vaccine.  This ad exposes his hypocrisy:

The Company Glenn Youngkin Keeps

 

An important off-year gubernatorial race is one coming up in Virginia, where former Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) is being opposed by a slick, deceptive Trumpist Republican, Glenn "Trumpkin" Youngkin.  Youngkin is a mega-millionaire, the former CEO of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, yet from his carefully produced ads, you would think he's a middle class dad you'd meet in the grocery store (like in one of his smarmy ads). Watching those ads, you might also think he's a "moderate" Republican in the Sen. Mitt "Mittens" Romney mold. That's what he'd like you to think, especially in the more moderately progressive Northern Virginia suburbs. He infamously admitted on a hidden camera that he couldn't express his extreme anti-choice views (think Texas) because it would alienate independent voters that he needs in those suburbs, saying wait until he's Governor.

Unfortunately for Youngkin's attempt to hide his extreme positions before the election (he refused to debate McAuliffe this summer likely because of that), his rabid right-wing supporters keep coming out of the woodwork to support him:

"Anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice religious-right groups and leaders are mobilizing to help Republican Glenn Youngkin win this year’s Virginia gubernatorial election in which voting is already underway.

Youngkin has bragged about endorsements from national religious-right groups, including the anti-choice Susan B. Anthony List and National Right to Life. Another right-wing anti-choice group, CatholicVote, told supporters in an email on the first day of early voting that the group had been 'planning for this race for months.' The group slammed Catholic Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe’s support for Roe v. Wade and told its followers that the race has 'national importance' and 'the first big high-profile referendum on the Biden presidency.' The group claimed that it had recruited more than 100 volunteers for its voter outreach efforts." (snip)

Youngkin has also been endorsed by FRC Action, a political arm of the anti-LGBTQ Family Research Council. Youngkin has publicly supported right-wing activists campaigning against LGBTQ-inclusive policies in Loudoun County schools, and he has promised religious-right activists to fight for policies that would allow anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the name of religious freedom. While some conservative gay activists have claimed that Youngkin is 'inclusive,' the candidate has refused to say whether he supports marriage equality."  (our emphasis)

Youngkin is counting on voters in those Northern Virginia suburbs (as well as in other Dem and independent strongholds) to vote on the basis of his dishonest ads, and not pick up on his right-wing agenda and where his endorsements are coming from.

Voting is already underway in Virginia.  If you're a citizen of the Commonwealth and have not yet voted, please go to the Department of Elections website for further information about casting your ballot.  Early voting has been light so far, so we need Democrats and Democrat- leaners to cast their ballots as soon as possible to avoid issues on Election Day (November 2) and to make sure this Republican Trumpkin is defeated.

Hypocrites And Cheats

 

What kind of people do you find in conservative/ Republican world?  (Spoiler alert: Hypocrites and cheats.)

Here's your cheat, Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn "Hedge Fund" Youngkin:

GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin and his wife last year successfully petitioned Fairfax County to designate their horse farm as an agricultural district, which led to a 95% reduction in the taxes they pay on the 31.5-acre property in Great Falls that surrounds their home.

The agricultural district reduced the Youngkins’ real estate tax bill on the farm by a total of $151,844.90 in 2020 and 2021 combined, according to public information that the Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration provided to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Blue Virginia notes,

As you read the Richmond Times-Dispatch story, Youngkins received 95% tax cut due to conservation status of their horse farm, keep in mind that the Youngkins are worth something like $300 million, so obviously they didn’t need the $150k+ tax break from Fairfax County to “preserve” their horse farm (note: it’s crazy that Fairfax County actually *granted* this tax break; what on earth?).  [snip]

To put this in perspective, $150k is just 0.05% of $300 million. If you’re worth $2 million, the equivalent would be a tax break of just $1,000. Or if you’re worth $200,000, the equivalent would be a tax break of just $100.  Anyway, the point is, the Youngkins certainly didn’t need the tax break, let alone in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when presumably Fairfax County had a lot more important things to be dealing with. The fact that the Youngkins thought it was very important to milk the county for this tax break (aka, “dodge property taxes,” as Terry McAuliffe puts it) really shows where their priorities are…

Youngkin was recently caught telling a supporter that he can't talk about his radical abortion position because it would hurt him among voters, so he's really a twofer -- a hypocrite and a cheat.

Here's your hypocrite, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill:

Joe Biden has long been open about his Catholic faith. The president regularly attends Sunday mass and credits his faith with helping him get through the worst times in his life.

Like Biden, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi is also a faithful Catholic. She angrily attacked Donald Trump last year when he questioned her faith.

Recently, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted to approve a document concerning the sacrament of communion. The measure would prevent politicians like Biden and Pelosi, who have voted to allow abortion rights from receiving the holy sacrament.

The General Secretary of the USCCB, Monsignor Jeffrey Burrill read the voting results to the conference back in June. Burrill has now resigned from his position after cell phone data revealed that he used the gay dating app Grindr and regularly visits gay bars.

Burrill's sexuality is not the issue here.  His hypocrisy in participating in a corrupted, Republican- wired effort to smear and undercut President Biden and other practicing Catholic Democrats for their pro- choice views while he himself was simultaneously violating Church "moral standards" very much is the issue. Meanwhile, Burrill's superior, Archbishop José Gomez, deemed Burrill's actions as alleged "misconduct" and "possible improper behavior" which, in the rotten (not to mention hypocritical) world of Catholic hierarchy sexuality dogma, apparently counts for a moral position, as opposed to a political culture one. 

The Slippery Glenn Youngkin's "Economic Advisor"

A couple of days ago, we noted dodgy Republican / Trumpist candidate for Governor of Virginia, a smooth charlatan by the name of Glenn Youngkin, was ducking debates with Dem candidate and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe. Youngkin's been absolutely saturating the Dem-stronghold, Northern Virginia suburbs of DC with deceptive, suburban voter-friendly TV ads portraying himself as a can-do outsider, a moderate guy looking to improve schools, business opportunities, etc. Missing is any reference to the enthusiastic endorsement he got from his party's Dear Leader, or references to his right-wing views on womens' reproductive rights or gun safety measures. (Youngkin's TV ads in conservative areas of Virginia hypocritically portray him as an ally of Trump's). 

Youngkin's hidden right-wing agenda is compounded by the report that he's named Trumpist trickle down economics kook and reject for a position on the Federal Reserve Board Stephen Moore as his "senior economic advisor." Jonathan Chait reports in New York Magazine:

“'I have the best senior economic adviser on the planet in Stephen Moore working with me on this,' Youngkin tells the Washington Post.

Stephen Moore is not the best economic adviser on the planet, or for that matter, the country, the state, or any area that contains Steve Moore and any other human being, with the arguable exception of Lawrence Kudlow, Moore’s longtime partner.

Indeed, Moore’s whole career has been a testament to the proposition that one can have a successful career as a Republican Party economist without having any serious grasp of economics."  (our emphasis)

Chait details Moore's long history of being wrong on economic matters (e.g., tax cuts would increase Government revenue: nope!). Moore's also a walking grenade launcher of bizarre reactionary comments, according to the Washington Post:

"In a 2000 column for the National Review, Moore lambasted female athletes who were pressing for equal pay in a Nike ad campaign.

'The women tennis pros don’t really want equal pay for equal work. They want equal pay for inferior work,' Moore wrote. [snip]

During a debate about minimum wage in 2016, Moore claimed that low labor force participation could be corrected by allowing children to work.

'I’m a radical on this; I’d get rid of a lot of these child labor laws. I want people starting to work at 11, 12,' he said during the debate."  (our emphasis)

There's more and it's just as ugly. That Youngkin would have Moore as his senior advisor -- or in any capacity -- speaks volumes about the true guy behind the TV ads running in Northern Virginia. McAuliffe had better get busy revealing the real Youngkin in his own ads, or this charlatan will steal some of those suburban voters in November who haven't been paying attention.

(photo: CBS News)