The Extreme Right's Pro-Kremlin Fifth Column

 

The Guardian has a lengthy and important story about the pro-Kremlin right in this country, and how they are taking war criminal and thug Vladimir Putin's talking points to an American audience. The first paragraphs of the story are disturbing:

"Ever since Russia launched its brutal war in Ukraine the Kremlin has banked on American conservative political and media allies to weaken US support for Ukraine and deployed disinformation operations to falsify the horrors of the war for both US and Russian audiences, say disinformation experts.

Some of the Kremlin’s most blatant falsehoods about the war aimed at undercutting US aid for Ukraine have been promoted by major figures on the American right, from Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes to ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Fox News star Tucker Carlson, whose audience of millions is deemed especially helpful to Russian objectives.

On a more political track, House Republican Freedom Caucus members such as Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Scott Perry – who in May voted with 54 other Republican members against a $40bn aid package for Ukraine, and have raised other concerns about the war – have proved useful, though perhaps unwitting, Kremlin allies at times."  (our emphasis)

Tucker "Mothertucker" Carlson in particular has been an avid disseminator of Putin's messaging on Ukraine. Carlson sees Putin's interference in the 2016 and 2020 elections on the Malignant Loser's behalf, as well as his Christofascist policies, as the mark of an ally. Russian state television has made Carlson one of the most popular media personalities (also see here and here), as they play clips of his attacks on Ukraine and our policies.

Led by unhinged right-winger Marjorie Taylor "Traitor" Greene (Insurrection-GA), the House Republican Freedom Fascist Caucus is rife with fifth columnists who want to undermine our support of a democratic Ukraine, in favor of Russia's brutal and illegal invasion. They've ignored (or worse, adopted) Putin's numerous statements that he wants to destroy the U.S.'s influence in the world, and his April, 2005, annual message in which he declared that the fall of the Soviet Union to be the greatest political catastrophe of the 20th century. Putin's on a mission to recreate the geographic footprint of the Soviet Union, but as a anti-American fascist / imperialist entity, one that clearly has the support of some of the U.S.'s most prominent right-wingers.

 

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

The stunning success of Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive has exposed the rotten reality behind Russia’s reputation as a military superpower. More than six months since the onset of Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion, it is now obvious that his army is in fact a deeply flawed institution that bears almost no resemblance to the immaculate fighting force of Red Square parades and Kremlin propaganda. Instead, the Russian military suffers from endemic corruption, low morale, and poor leadership, with individual initiative in short supply and commanders deeply reluctant to accept personal responsibility. Last week’s disastrous defeat in northeastern Ukraine will only worsen the situation, with officers gripped by fear as Moscow seeks scapegoats for what is shaping up to be one of the most shameful military defeats in Russian history.

The scale of Ukraine’s recent victory has stunned the entire world, but perhaps nobody was as surprised as the Russians themselves. Naturally, the Kremlin sought to suppress news of the counteroffensive, but the speed of events and the sheer scale of the collapse meant that details of the unfolding disaster could not be completely censored despite the best efforts of the authorities. The resulting realization was a huge psychological blow for the Russian public, who learned for the first time that their soldiers in Ukraine were demoralized and beaten. The rout of Russian forces in Kharkiv Oblast was also a painful wake-up call for Ukrainian collaborators, who realized that Russia cannot be relied upon and will abandon them without thinking twice.

Beyond these immediate implications, Ukraine’s counteroffensive also says much about the broader state of the Russian military and provides valuable indications of what we can expect to see next. From now on, fear will shape every single decision made by Russian commanders in Ukraine. This will not be fear of losing precious lives or damaging Russia’s national interests; it will be a very personal fear of retribution from a vindictive hierarchy seeking culprits to blame for the rapidly declining fortunes of the Russian army. (our emphasis)

The bad:

Before Trump came along, antisemites had little investment in American politics. His rhetoric articulates themes they recognize as compatible with their own, and he has given them a reason to marshal their energies on behalf of one side in a two-party system from which they had been excluded.

There is a simple test to measure their influence. If antisemites were too marginal to pose any danger, it would be easy enough for the party to cut them off. (If you want to know what it looks like when Republicans decide to really throw somebody out of their party, look at their treatment of Liz Cheney.) Instead, they vacillate. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy declined to comment on [Arizona Rep. Paul] Gosar’s attendance at white nationalist Nick Fuentes’s conference. McCarthy has likewise promised to restore [Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor] Greene’s committee privileges if Republicans regain the majority.

Prosecutors have found that Trump’s January 6 rally attracted a significant number of people who share Hitler quotes, hold membership in neo-Nazi organizations, have a fixation with “white genocide,” and the like, making the party leadership’s desire to sweep the whole thing under the rug all the more dangerous. Whatever misgivings the remaining old-line Republicans may have toward the militant cadres Trump inspired, Republicans fear their political and even terroristic power. They no longer imagine they have the gatekeeping force to exclude the antisemites, less still to steer the party away from the kind of paranoid rhetoric that invites their participation.  (our emphasis)

The ugly:

After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows.

On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words “The Storm is Coming.” In QAnon lore, the “storm” refers to Trump’s final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried, and potentially executed, on live television.

As Trump contemplates another run for the presidency and has become increasingly assertive in the Republican primary process during the midterm elections, his actions show that far from distancing himself from the political fringe, he is welcoming it.

He’s published dozens of recent Q-related posts, in contrast to 2020, when he claimed that while he didn’t know much about QAnon, he couldn’t disprove its conspiracy theory.  (our emphasis)

A sick, sociopathic demagogue seeks his own level.

Pardon Me ... And Me ... And Me

 

Names were named at today's January 6 insurrection hearing:   Republican/ Seditionist Congressmen who were looking for a presidential pardon for their actions in service of the Malignant Loser's coup attempt (can you say "consciousness of guilt"?):

 

Rep. Matt Gaetz (Pedo Seditionist-FL), in particular, requested a pardon that went "from the beginning of time up until today, for any and all things."   (Translation:  "Please make that underage sex trafficking case against me go away, too!")

All of the two- legged rats requesting pardons are frothing, well- known enemies of American democracy.  One of them, Rep. Mo Brooks (Seditionist-AL) appears to be eager to extract some vengeance on the Malignant Loser for double- crossing him in his effort to win the Republican nomination for Senate in Alabama.  The next round of hearings unspool in mid- July and promise to continue to expose the criminality of the Malignant Loser and his sychophants.

Another Republican Claims Credit For Funding He Voted Against

 

Insurrectionist Arizona Republican crackpot Rep. Paul Gosar joins a long list of fellow nihilists who voted against President Biden's American Rescue Plan (twice!) only to take credit for the relief money that subsequently flowed into his district.  From the lying seditionist's press release:

Representative Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s decision to award $32,000 to the City of Kingman for the Kingman Airport through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

“I am pleased to announce that the City of Kingman will receive this critical funding for economic relief related to operational costs for cleaning and sanitizing the Kingman Airport to combat the spread of COVID-19. This funding is essential to maintaining safe and reliable air service to the community,” said Rep. Gosar.

Kingman Mayor Jen Miles said, “We are grateful for Congressman Gosar’s continued support, and this funding will help with the ever-growing Kingman Municipal Airport operations.”

As Steve Benen notes, Gosar is just doing what his fellow charlatans have always done and are already doing:

President Joe Biden signed the Democrats' Covid relief package on March 11, but it was on March 10 when Republican Sen. Roger Wicker celebrated the American Rescue Plan's beneficial "targeted relief" for restaurants. The Mississippi senator neglected to mention the fact that he voted against the bill that provided the relief.

As regular readers know, he soon had plenty of company. GOP Reps. Madison Cawthorn and Alex Mooney took similar steps in March, touting funds for community health centers in their respective districts, overlooking the inconvenient detail that those health centers wouldn't have received the money if they'd had their way. New York's Nicole Malliotakis pointed to funding in the package as one of her "achievements," despite the fact that she voted against the ARP.

They all assume (perhaps rightly) that their constituents don't follow "Washington politics" and can be gulled into believing these cynical, hypocritical assholes are helping their communities.  Shame on craven local officials for letting them get away with it.  Every local media reporting on these scams should make it abundantly clear that Republicans were against these essential funds before they were for them. Shame on them if they don't!

(Photo:  Gosar caught in another lie/ Jonathan Ernst, AFP, Getty Images)

Gosar Censure Vote Today

A small, but well- deserved action holding one of the worst psychos in the House Republican Nut Caucus responsible for his vileness:

The House plans to vote Wednesday on a resolution that would both censure Republican Congressman Paul Gosar and remove him from his committee assignments. 

Gosar last week posted on Twitter an edited anime video that depicted him attacking President Biden and apparently killing Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He later deleted the tweet and issued a statement saying he doesn't condone violence.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that the disciplinary plan was necessary because Gosar made threats about harming a member of Congress.

"That is in itself not only an endangerment of that member of congress but an insult to the House of Representatives," Pelosi said.

Gosar serves on the House Oversight and Reform Committee with Ocasio-Cortez. The resolution would remove him from that committee and the House Committee on Natural Resources. Congressional committees are where the language of bills are hashed out — and they can give lawmakers the power to shape laws and influence policy.

Earlier today, the House Rules Committee passed the resolution to censure Gosar and remove him from his seat on the two committees he serves on by a 9-4 vote, with (spoiler alert!) no Republican voting in favor.

As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said, he'd be expelled "in a perfect world."  Now, he can roam the halls of Congress with fellow psycho Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Seditionist-GA), who was removed from her committee assignments in February but not censured for her bizarre and violent statements.

 

House Democrats Move To Censure Rep. Gosar

Expulsion and psychiatric evaluation would be a better option, but --

A group of House Democrats said Wednesday that they plan to introduce a resolution to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., for posting an edited animated video that depicts him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking President Joe Biden.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., a co-chair of the Democratic Women's Caucus, was joined by nine other lawmakers in a joint statement announcing their plans to file the censure resolution Friday.

"For a Member of Congress to post a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden is a clear cut case for censure," the lawmakers said. "For that Member to post such a video on his official Instagram account and use his official congressional resources in the House of Representatives to further violence against elected officials goes beyond the pale."

Gosar shared an altered video on his official social media channels Sunday evening in which he and other Republican lawmakers are depicted as heroes from the Japanese anime series "Attack on Titan." The faces of Ocasio-Cortez and Biden were superimposed on the show's villains. Twitter added a warning label to Gosar's tweet later.

Censure is considered the harshest form of punishment in the House after expulsion. It requires a floor vote and a simple majority to pass...

Gosar has provided ample evidence of his unfitness for office, as his own siblings have previously enumerated:

● Falsely blamed the Charlottesville, Virginia, neo-Nazi march on an innocent, old man in a vicious anti-Semitic attack?

● Claimed that Covid-19 was overblown and would miraculously disappear after the election, thereby misleading and harming those who believed you, despite the fact that Arizona had the highest infection rate in the world both before and after the November election?

● Marched in England for convicted criminal Tommy Robinson in support of his hateful attacks against British Muslims?

● Backed the Cliven Bundy insurrection, when Bundy used an armed mob to defy officers attempting to enforce laws Bundy had clearly violated for years? (And doubled down on Bundy’s bigotry by failing to condemn Bundy’s horrible racist rant, although that rant was too much even for Sean Hannity?)

● Were an open and avowed “birther”?

Gosar's shared, violent video should also trigger a visit from the Secret Service and FBI, since it depicts him killing a Member of Congress and attacking the President.  He's clearly mentally ill, but he needs to see that his actions and words have consequences.  The rotted out Republican House leadership is too craven and cowardly to act, so it's again incumbent on Democrats to maintain basic norms;  censure is the very least they can do to register their disgust with this crude crackpot's attack on a fellow Member and the President.  Get it done.

(Photo:  He seems sane / Gage Skidmore)

Coronavirus Poetic Justice Update

That was then:

Reviewing the coronavirus supplemental appropriation and preparing to go vote. pic.twitter.com/wjJ4YY4VZz

— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 4, 2020

(Har.)

This is now::  "Rep. Matt Gaetz is the latest member of Congress to go into self-quarantine after coming in contact with an individual at CPAC who has since tested positive for the coronavirus." Not so funny anymore is it, you smug jackass?

Other science- skeptical Trumpist Republicans who are self- quarantining after coming into contact at the Conservative Crackpot Political Action Conference with a person who tested positive for coronavirus: Texas Sen. "Tailgunner Ted" Cruz, Arizona Rep. Paul "Even My Family Hates Me" Gosar, and Georgia Rep. Doug "Peckerwood" Collins.  Both Collins and Gaetz have also come into contact with germophobe dolt Donald "Dr. Trump, PhD'oh" Trump in recent days.

We can only hope, if you know what we mean and we think you do.

Arizona Republican Paul Gosar So Awful, Six Siblings Cut Ad Opposing Him

If six of your siblings are voting against you, you must be a slimy piece of work (and Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar is just that):



He's running against Democrat Dr. David Brill.  Five Thirty Eight and Cook rate this a solid Republican district, but this ad may move the needle a bit.  Gosar is on the fringe of a fringe party and the voters of AZ-4 have some decisions to make, maybe starting with listening to those who know Gosar best.

The Pope And His Detractors

(click on image to enlarge)

(Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle)

With the impending visit of Pope Francis to the United States this week, there's a new poll out showing the Pope is wildly popular with both Catholics and non-Catholics;  his church, not so much:

Pope Francis is adored by American Catholics and non-Catholics, who have embraced his optimism, humility and more inclusive tone. But as the 78-year-old pontiff arrives in the United States for his first visit, the public’s view of the Catholic Church is not nearly as favorable, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. [snip]

The pope’s activism on social, economic and environmental issues is supported by a wide swath of Catholics and non-Catholics, with just 14 percent of Americans wishing he would be less active on those issues. Thirty percent of Catholics wish he would be more active on those issues, while more than half think Francis should continue as he has been. Just over half of non-Catholics are comfortable with his current level of outspokenness.

The poll also found limited discomfort about Francis’s speech Thursday before a joint meeting of Congress, the first for any pope. Two-thirds of Catholics said it was appropriate for him to address social, economic and environmental issues before lawmakers, as did nearly 6 in 10 among the public overall.  (our emphasis)

 Immune to the Pope's charms are paleo-reactionaries like Republican cafeteria Catholic Rep. Paul Gosar (Fossil-AZ), who will boycott the Pope's address to Congress, and plutocrats' best friend columnist George "Quill" Will, whose tiny Tory fists are clenched in unholy rage against the Pontiff's messages of social and economic justice, and saving the planet:

Pope Francis embodies sanctity but comes trailing clouds of sanctimony. With a convert’s indiscriminate zeal, he embraces ideas impeccably fashionable, demonstrably false and deeply reactionary. They would devastate the poor on whose behalf he purports to speak — if his policy prescriptions were not as implausible as his social diagnoses are shrill. 

Wow.  We might maybe give half a s**t about what "Quill" Will had to say about "sanctimony" had he, say, addressed the previous two conservative Pontiffs turning a largely blind eye to the pedophile crisis in the Church.  Or if "Quill" Will himself didn't absolutely reek of the sanctimony he falsely pins on Pope Francis (Will is, of course, a climate-change denier with ties to the fossil fuel industry; and an "independent journalist" who secretly helped St. Ronnie of Hollywood prepare for debates;  his second wife now works for Gov. Scott "Koch Head" Walker -- nice fellah).

Will, of course, is not alone in his Pope-rage.  Right-wing squealers from "Oxycontin" Rush Limbaugh to dullard pols like Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum have criticized the Pope's refreshing new emphasis on issues that matter to people and the Earth.  Watching the tiny heads of these awful people explode is part of the pleasure in having Pope Francis speak out, knowing the vast majority of the public embraces him.

BONUS:  Charles P. Pierce rips Will a new one.

Today's Dispatches From The Stupid Party

Sed quia ipsa loquitur (h/t TPM):

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) confused the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram with a mid-sized Florida city during an appearance Tuesday on CNN, the Sun Sentinel newspaper in Florida reported Wednesday. 

Gosar said that if the U.S. were to pay ransom to terrorists, then "every American citizen traveling abroad becomes a subject in regard for kidnapping and then the plight of how much money has been captivated in the Boca Raton group."

In addition to being geographically challenged, chew on Gosar's word salad in that last paragraph.  "... the plight of how much money has been captivated...?"  That's some Sarah Palin quality word-smithing right there.

According to our intelligence sources, here's what the "Boca Raton group" might look like:

What an idiot.

But Gosar's not alone!  Here's a helpful roundup of recent foot- in- mouth- disease outbreaks from probable Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party presidential contenders.  As it is said, "The stupid, it burns."