House's Putin Caucus Votes To Protect Russia

Yesterday afternoon, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to stop normal trade relations with Putin's Russia and its puppet ally Belarus under the "most favored nation" designation for favorable tariff and trade terms. The vote was a bipartisan 424 to 8, the eight being the usual suspects of hard core authoritarian, neo-fascist Republicans:  Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, Rep. Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, and Rep. Chip Roy of Texas. What's surprising is that a few more far-right Putin caucus Republicans didn't join them, like Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan of Ohio.

The bill would further isolate and damage Russia's economy by imposing higher tariffs on its goods, although with severe sanctions already in place, the additional tariff sanctions will have limited effect. The legislation moves to the Senate, where last week 31 Republicans voted against providing $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and then hypocritically said the U.S. should be providing more aid to Ukraine, hoping their voters wouldn't notice.

BONUS:   Regardless of his vote yesterday, Rep. Cawthorn has been on heavy rotation on Russian state media for his attack on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy earlier this month.

(photo: Four of the Putin Caucus, l. to r., Boebert, Gaetz, Taylor Greene, Massie.  Getty Images / Anna Moneymaker)

 

Governor Goodhair's Harebrained "Strategy"

Texas' gift to America, former Governor, Secretary of Energy and all- around simpleton Rick "Goodhair" Perry was thinking big when he texted a message to the Malignant Loser's chief of staff Mark Meadows on November 4:

Among the many problems with this (other than the spelling and punctuation), as Heather Cox Richardson points out, is that Goodhair

"wanted Republican-dominated state legislatures not even to wait to see who had won the election—none of those states had been called by November 4—but simply to ignore the will of the voters, choose their own electors, and hope that the Supreme Court would hand the election to Trump as he had been saying for weeks it would."

So, one day after the election, Goodhair and doubtless millions of fellow fascist cultists wanted to throw out the election they were well on the way to losing.  Trash the Constitution.  Repeat the 2000 Republican SCOTUS election override.  Make the Malignant Loser president for life. Nothing to see here.

Of course, Goodhair, being a brave and patriotic American, is denying he sent the text message, even though it was sent from a phone registered to him, as confirmed in two separate databases.

Well, subpoena his ass and have him deny it under oath (or have him take the fifth, as his fellow weasels are already doing).

BONUS:  Steve M at No More Mister Nice Blog says we shouldn't be surprised by Goodhair's anti- democratic text.