(click on images to enlarge)
(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
(Christopher Weyant, Boston Globe)
(Jen Sorensen, gocomics.com)
(Nick Anderson, Reform Austin News, TX)
(Rob Rogers, Tinyview.com)
(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)
(Joe Heller, hellertoon.com)
(Pat Bagley, The Salt Lake Tribune)
(Ellis Rosen, @EllisRosen)
Well, it was quite a good 48 hours for arresting MAGAt insurrectionists, wasn't it!? Here's another one, who happened to be a former FBI supervisor:
The FBI this week arrested a former bureau supervisor in connection with the Jan. 6 riot who they said called for killing officers protecting the Capitol that day.
Authorities arrested Jared L. Wise in Oregon on Monday, court records show. An FBI affidavit says he worked as a special agent and a supervisory special agent at the FBI from 2004 until 2017.
It wasn’t immediately clear where Wise was employed at the time of the riot.
Wise was charged with entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly conduct in a restricted building; disorderly conduct with an intent to impede an orderly session of Congress; and unlawfully parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
"I’m former—I’m former law enforcement. You’re disgusting. You are the Nazi. You are the Gestapo. You can’t see it. ... Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!” federal authorities say he told officers after he entered the Capitol. “Yeah, f--- them! Yeah, kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em! Kill ’em!”
The FBI said that security video showed Wise entered the Capitol through the Senate wing door and that cellphone data confirmed his presence. He later exited out a window, it said.
The incident when Wise yelled at police took place on the upper west terrace at around 4:21 p.m., when violence against police officers was happening in front of him, "including officers being knocked to the ground directly in front of him," the FBI affidavit said. That's when Wise "turned in the direction of the violence" and called for the mob to kill officers, the FBI affidavit said.
The initial tip came from someone Wise told about entering the building, according to the affidavit. Wise was living in New Braunfels, Texas, until last June, authorities said, and then moved to Bend, Oregon...
Once again, please check out the FBI's rogues gallery of treasonous insurrectionists to see if you can help in the identification and arrest of a MAGAt.
UPDATE: Here's a little more detail on Wise's time at the FBI's New York bureau, and his post-FBI employment at (wait for it) "Project Veritas."
(Image: via Twitter)
The defeat of Reaganomics --
For the past 40 years voters have had to choose between Reaganomics and the Reaganomics-lite of Wall St. dominated Dem administrations. @JoeBiden changed all that and the American people are the beneficiaries. https://t.co/QOxdHr2pPj
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) May 3, 2023
Bootsie's loose lips may sink his ship --
Ron DeSantis' ongoing disaster with Disney is getting worse for him. It turns out his own memoir repeatedly admits that he weaponized the state against Disney for criticizing "don't say gay." Disney extensively cites his book in its lawsuit against him:https://t.co/vgMZ9FlHa7
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) May 2, 2023
Tovarich Tucker a racist fascist? The fuck you say! --
I can’t believe Tucker Carlson is exactly who he appeared to be. Also from a historical perspective, wrong as usual https://t.co/MDS6mc9dmv
— Adam Serwer π (@AdamSerwer) May 3, 2023
This text is emblematic of Carlson’s rhetorical strategy on his every show: overtly pushes hate, racism, encouraging brutality, but then he rhetorically stands back from it, as if to say, but of course, I am a good person and am not advocating this very thing I relentlessly push. pic.twitter.com/ylzgd8DlCq
— πΌππ‘ππππππππ πΏπππππ (@maxapotter) May 3, 2023
And how about this as the "great replacement" for Tovarich Tucker? --
Straight up racism from the guy who some are suggesting could replace Carlson at 8. https://t.co/9ylcvqYkYa
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) May 2, 2023
History repeats at CNN --
This is how the normalization of wannabe fascist populism happens! https://t.co/RUGRwvr2Eh
— Finchelstein (@FinchelsteinF) May 2, 2023
As I show n NIXONLAND, Roger Ailes invented the TV "town hall" format for the 68 Nixon campaign to bamboozle the public into believing Nixon was bravely taking all comers (when actually he was getting questioned by amateurs who didn't know how to ask tough ?s + follow up). https://t.co/rxTNA6iYkF
— Rick Perlstein (@rickperlstein) May 3, 2023
"Yank off that cap and see if the hair comes with it." --
Trump and Eric probably burying some documents on the golf course in Scotland today. (Yes, that is Trump). pic.twitter.com/F1oGmlfXW6
— Ron FilipkowskiπΊπΈ (@RonFilipkowski) May 1, 2023
What's that Musk-y smell? "Get back on my crappy platform or else!" --
NEW: In a series of emails today, Elon threatened to reassign @NPR to "another company" unless the network started tweeting again
— Bobby Allyn (@BobbyAllyn) May 3, 2023
(link actually works this time)https://t.co/ffFIjYhxwX
ELON: “I don’t even want you on this site, you government propaganda swine.”
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) May 3, 2023
NPR: “Okay. We’ll leave.”
ELON: “How fucking dare you”
Rep. Colin Allred launches campaign to unseat Sen. "Cancun Ted" Cruz --
I’m running for U.S. Senate because Texans deserve a Senator whose team is Texas. Ted Cruz only cares about himself.
— Colin Allred (@ColinAllredTX) May 3, 2023
Join our campaign today: https://t.co/2dROrrQrPV pic.twitter.com/9iz9yu1rFb
Practice makes perfect --
Love it!
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) May 3, 2023
It's really hard to remember all the moves! πpic.twitter.com/U9goR3zIQs
When singer / songwriter Gordon Lightfoot died Monday, one of folk music's finest artists was lost. As tributes pour in for Lightfoot, we highlight three iconic songs: his beautiful and melancholy first hit, "If You Could Read My Mind," the gritty and quietly menacing "Sundown," and a song about a lost love, "Carefree Highway." We wish he had another 84 years of creating music.
Russia accused Ukraine with sending two drones to attack the Kremlin last night in an effort to kill war criminal and thug Vladimir Putin. The Russians claimed the drones were "put out of action" by electronic countermeasures. Putin was at his country estate at the time.
There are suspicions that this "attack" is likely a false pretext for escalation, as the Kremlin said it reserved the right to retaliate. A video posted on a site with ties to Russian state security purports to show a drone exploding in the vicinity of Red Square, but was unable to be verified by Western sources. A representative of President Zelensky said Ukraine had no involvement in the alleged attack. There is considerable opposition to Putin inside Russia, especially after his mobilization efforts and the mounting casualties in his war of aggression in Ukraine.
BONUS: Here's brief footage of the attack --
Astonishing footage of last night's drone attack on the Kremlin pic.twitter.com/3rghCHdIed
— Francis Scarr (@francis_scarr) May 3, 2023
BONUS II: Secretary of State Blinken says he would take anything coming out of the Kremlin "with a large shaker of salt."
Another Florida MAGAt heads to jail:
A Florida man accused of setting off an explosive and injuring several police officers during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was arrested Tuesday, officials said.
Daniel Ball, 38, of Homosassa, Florida, was arrested in Inverness, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Orlando, according to court documents. He is charged with multiple felonies, including assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon. [snip]
According to the criminal complaint, Ball entered the Capitol through the Senate wing door and pried a piece of a wooden shutter from a window in the Senate connecting corridor before exiting the building.
Ball later worked with others to violently push against fully uniformed police officers attempting to keep people out of the Capitol, prosecutors said. When that was unsuccessful, Ball moved back into the crowd and threw an explosive into the entranceway, investigators said...
It seems Mr. Ball was on 5- year probation for violent offenses, including assault on two police officers, when he joined in the January 6 insurrection. Only the best people.
The FBI is still rounding up these treasonous morons. Check out their rogues gallery of MAGAts still on the loose, as well as those that have been arrested.
(Image: U.S. District Court Magistrate)
(click to enlarge)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Ted Littleford, New Haven Independent)
(Michael Ramirez, Las Vegas Review-Journal)
(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)
(Bill MacKinnon, Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
(Nick Anderson, RA News)
 |
| “Hold on! Never mind! I just got word that the pickleball fad is over.” |
(Tim Hamilton, The New Yorker)
CNN's desperate normalization of the Malignant Loser with their "Town Hall" --
I hope this isn’t the case but it appears CNN is attempting to duck responsibility for asking Trump tough questions by presenting the network as merely a conduit for VOTERS questions. https://t.co/nG9M5iEEsV
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 2, 2023
it shouldn't have to be said but it's irresponsible for any media outlet to treat a guy who attempted a coup after the last presidential election like a normal presidential candidate
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 2, 2023
Wonder if anyone at the NH town hall will ask him that. https://t.co/iXrAQ53o6i
— S.V. DΓ‘te (@svdate) May 2, 2023
The Malignant Loser couldn't pay off E. Jean Carroll because it's not about money --
Interesting consideration: Trump almost always settles cases when he can. If Carroll wasn't being truthful & suing because she wanted her day in court, if she was really just after money, she would have settled, taken the cash & spared herself the court proceedings.
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) May 2, 2023
Wanted war criminal Putin may face arrest if he attends summit in South Africa --
Ukraine war live updates: Putin warned of arrest if he attends summit; Kremlin rejects U.S. claim of 100,000 Russian casualties https://t.co/criBgCAgzS
— CNBC (@CNBC) May 2, 2023
I hear House Republicans out on TV saying they would never vote to cut veterans’ benefits.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 2, 2023
In case there’s any confusion, I made a little chart that could help them out. pic.twitter.com/SVvamK3KC2
Today's installment of "It Wasn't A Drag Queen" --
Residents in a NC county are calling for the resignation of a county commissioner after he was arrested&indicted for felony indecent liberties with a child.
— dara faye (@darafaye) May 2, 2023
He had been grooming a 13 yr old girl from his church & had “inappropriate interactions”.
Meet Richard D. Braswell. pic.twitter.com/Jw2NjDlCcp
Former Virginia police officer, David Stone, has pleaded guilty to 50 counts of possession of child sexual abuse materials. pic.twitter.com/xmJpg8paQb
— πππ€π¬ (@antifaoperative) May 1, 2023
MAGA Republicans are out of touch weirdos (see "QOTD" post, below) --
Fox News is the Republican Party, and why they’re such out of touch weirdos (who have a lot of trouble winning elections) pic.twitter.com/CD7CoQ3iN2
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) May 2, 2023
Folk music giant Gordon Lightfoot dies at 84. His music never will --
Gordon Lightfoot, Canada's legendary folk singer-songwriter whose hits include "Early Morning Rain" and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," has died at age 84. https://t.co/2qaEEOVgQm
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 2, 2023
Taking one for the team --
It is with deep sadness that we must report the #MetGala cockroach was stepped on. #RIP pic.twitter.com/cqtmfFNaKV
— Variety (@Variety) May 2, 2023
The New York Times' Jamelle Bouie has an op-ed about how the Republican / Forced Birth / Shooters party "woke mind virus" refrain and culture war, while ginning up the fascistic MAGA base, isn't resonating with the majority of Americans:
"Along with low unemployment, there’s been meaningful economic growth, and [Biden] can point to significant legislative accomplishments. The Democratic Party is behind him; he has no serious rivals for the nomination.
But Biden’s biggest advantage has to do with the opposition — the Republican Party has gotten weird. [snip]
Not only do Americans not care about the various Republican obsessions — in a recent Fox News poll 1 percent of respondents said “wokeness” was 'the most important issue facing the country today' — but a large majority say that those obsessions have gone too far. According to Fox, 60 percent of Americans said 'book banning by school boards' was a major problem. Fifty-seven percent said the same for political attacks on families with transgender children. [snip]
And yet there’s no sign that Republicans will relent and shift focus. Just the opposite, in fact; the party is poised to lurch even further down the road of its alienating preoccupations. On abortion, for example, Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, says candidates need to address the issue “head on” in 2024 — that they can’t be 'uncomfortable' on the issue and need to say 'I’m proud to be pro-life.'
But the Republican Party has veered quite far from most Americans on abortion rights, and in a contested race for the presidential nomination, a 'head-on'focus will possibly mean a fight over which candidate can claim the most draconian abortion views and policy aims." (our emphasis)
We welcome Republicans using the same culture war slogans and positions for a general election that they use in their right-wing primary elections, as the clueless Ronna Romney McDaniel appears to suggest. It's worth a minimum of 100 electoral votes for Dems.
The U.S. Treasury is estimating that the U.S. could default on its debt payments by June 1, earlier than previously thought. The refusal of Republican hostage takers to vote a clean debt ceiling increase makes them the clear obstacle in the situation, in which they are trying to extort spending cuts in exchange. From the Washington Post report:
"President Biden on Monday invited House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other congressional leaders to the White House next week to discuss the debt ceiling, as Washington scrambles over new fears that the government could default by as soon as June 1.
The request for talks arrived on the same day that the Treasury Department offered its jarring new projection of a truncated timeline, warning that a failure to act — in as few as about four weeks — could tip the fragile U.S. economy into another recession.
The debt ceiling — set at about $31 trillion — is the legal maximum the U.S. government can borrow to pay its bills. Since January, the Biden administration has adopted special budgetary maneuvers to safeguard the country’s credit, finance federal agencies, and buy time for lawmakers to raise or suspend the cap." (our emphasis)
Of course the MAGA radicals in the House would like nothing better than to crash the economy and blame it on President Biden for political gain, despite the public's view that the ceiling should be raised, and that it's Congress' responsibility to do it.
In the Malignant Loser's years in office, the debt ceiling was raised without demanding cuts in spending, making it clear that the debt ceiling becomes a weapon when a Democrat is in the White House, as the Post article notes:
"Previously, Republicans have raised the debt ceiling without issuing demands. Three times, they addressed the borrowing cap under President Donald Trump without including fiscal reforms. Each time, Democrats serving in the minority also supplied their votes in a bid to avert a crisis.
Yet the GOP under Biden has adopted a more aggressive posture, aiming to use the threat of a fiscal crisis as a political tool while blaming Democrats for a burgeoning debt. In reality, policies supported by both parties have contributed to an imbalance that could exceed $50 trillion over the next 10 years."
As part of their debt ceiling extortion, they've passed a draconian budget that cuts billions in veterans programs, environmental and renewable energy initiatives, student debt relief and other popular programs. They've played this game in years past, and inevitably they buckle at the 11th hour. Unfortunately, this House is more radical than ever before, and they're far more likely to use this to strike at the economy and try to blame the Biden Administration.
BONUS: The Malignant Loser once denounced using debt ceiling for leverage.
Just before the Writers Guild of America went on strike at midnight, Stephen Colbert returned from a week off to deliver a classic monologue. Topics included the firing of Tovarich Tucker Carlson, Biden's reelection announcement and age, and "Broken Robot in the Hall of Never Going to be Presidents" Ron DeSantis' trip abroad.
We hope the strike is resolved quickly in favor of the writers so that we can continue to enjoy their work in an equitable entertainment industry.
Excerpts from E. J. Dionne's very readable op-ed in the Washington Post:
"When President Biden announced in a video last week that he was seeking reelection, he opened the possibility that the 2024 campaign will involve a genuine — perhaps even searching — philosophical debate over the meaning of freedom. [snip]
Biden’s video opened with the word 'freedom,' used it four more times and threw in a mention of 'bedrock freedoms' for good measure. During a 90-second campaign ad that followed, the word was mentioned six times. In addition, the video declared: 'Joe Biden has made defending our basic freedoms the cause of his presidency.' [snip]
But Biden is getting at a deep contradiction in the conservative view of freedom. Consider that DeSantis supports sharp restrictions on abortion, has backed a process through which books can be removed from school libraries, and signed laws narrowing what can be taught about the United States’ racial history and restricting teaching about LGBTQ issues.
He also used government power to retaliate against Disney for the company’s opposition to his policies on gay and lesbian rights. The move has split conservatives, many of whom are uneasy with the invocation of public authority against a corporation for resisting a politician’s preferences." (our emphasis)
What a depraved, gun-humping heartless prick the Governor of Texas is --
Absolutely despicable to refer to the victims of a gun massacre, including an 8-year-old, as “illegal immigrants” pic.twitter.com/zbLlj58cL1
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 1, 2023
Texas governor goes out of his way to say Texas shooting victims were 'illegal immigrants' https://t.co/tr2Su5Z3xU
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) May 1, 2023
.@GregAbbott_TX wants to dehumanize the victims. This is Daniel Enrique Laso, 8. pic.twitter.com/XpPazYun3Z
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) May 1, 2023
Meanwhile the carnage continues every day --
At least two people are dead and four were injured after a 19-year-old allegedly opened fire at a Mississippi home early Sunday morning, police say. https://t.co/b6rLA16mxO
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 30, 2023
A good summary of Biden's accomplishments and the need to keep him in the White House --
Today is my first day on the Biden-Harris re-election campaign and we are releasing a new digital ad focused on the work that @potus has done to improve Americans’ lives, and why he must be re-elected. pic.twitter.com/4xoLwFL74m
— Quentin Fulks (@quentinfulks) May 1, 2023
Sen. Josh "The Runner" Hawley is overcompensating again --
Josh Hawley says a "crisis in masculinity" is the biggest issue in America. He's thinking about:
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY) April 30, 2023
- Whether pants should be called "mants"
- If there's anything more butch than holding a pencil like this
- How hair gel is a form of testosterone
- Writing a poem called A Man Can pic.twitter.com/0zgVOfuIQa
Incredible "youth pastor about to be exposed" energy here. https://t.co/C7jaaRgcUC
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) May 1, 2023
The reviews are in: Meatball Ron bombed bigly. Sad! --
Ron DeSantis bombs on overseas trip. Comments from British business leaders who met with him:
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) May 1, 2023
“Looked bored, stared at his feet.”
“His message wasn’t presidential.”
“Low-wattage.”
“Nobody in the room thought, ‘this man’s going places.”
“There wasn’t any stardust.”
“Horrendous.” pic.twitter.com/WKUqFexuIL
The Malignant Loser's perpetual, ignorant pity party --
When you have a really good grasp on what happened to Lincoln https://t.co/FEtgeXaNFp
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) May 1, 2023
The Malignant Loser's goombah lawyer not making a good impression vs. E. Jean Carroll --
I’ve conducted over 300 jury trials. It’s never easy to tell your client, ‘I’m not doing that,’ or ‘I’m not doing it that way.’ But you just have to whenever you can within the laws of ethics. It appears Trump seeks out lawyers who don’t have this gene in their DNA.
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 1, 2023
Oh yeah? What happened to your other ear? --
— shirts that go hard (@shirtsthtgohard) April 30, 2023
(click to enlarge)
Who will be Tovarich Tucker's "Great Replacement" on Fox? We like the talking anus "Pucker" Carlson's chances, since it comes closest to the original.
Please consider supporting Tom's great work by going here.
Kyiv’s frontlines are abuzz with vehicle movement and artillery strikes, with regular explosions hitting vital Russian targets in occupied areas.
Its defense minister has said preparations are "coming to an end" and President Volodymyr Zelensky has assured a counteroffensive "will happen," while demurring on any exact start date.
It may have already started; it may be weeks away. We don’t know — and that fact is a strong measure of Ukraine’s success as this begins.
Moscow, on the other hand, is in the closing-time bar brawl stage of their war. After losing Kharkiv and Kherson, they have had at least seven months to ready the next likely target of Ukrainian attack: Zaporizhzhia.
That has happened, with vast trench defense networks that can be seen from space. That recognition of their enormity is not necessarily a compliment in 2023. They are big, yes, but they are also something anyone can peruse on Google. That’s not great in an era of precise rockets and speedy armored advances.
Then there's the firing of Russia's deputy defense minister, and the mercenary Wagner group's leader Prigozhin's threat to pull out of the battle if supplies don't reach his thugs. On top of the Russian forces' proven ineptitude and morale problems, Ukraine's chances seem to be improving.
A 2018 Senate investigation that found there was “no evidence” to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault against the US supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh contained serious omissions, according to new information obtained by the Guardian.
The 28-page report was released by the Republican senator Chuck Grassley, the then chairman of the Senate judiciary committee. It prominently included an unfounded and unverified claim that one of Kavanaugh’s accusers – a fellow Yale graduate named Deborah Ramirez – was “likely” mistaken when she alleged that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a dormitory party because another Yale student was allegedly known for such acts.
The suggestion that Kavanaugh was the victim of mistaken identity was sent to the judiciary committee by a Colorado-based attorney named Joseph C Smith Jr, according to a non-redacted copy of a 2018 email obtained by the Guardian. Smith was a friend and former colleague of the judiciary committee’s then lead counsel, Mike Davis.
Smith was also a member of the Federalist Society, which strongly supported Kavanaugh’s supreme court nomination, and appears to have a professional relationship with the Federalist Society’s co-founder, Leonard Leo, whom he thanked in the acknowledgments of his book Under God: George Washington and the Question of Church and State.
Smith wrote to Davis in the 29 September 2018 email that he was in a class behind Kavanaugh and Ramirez (who graduated in the class of 1987) and believed Ramirez was likely mistaken in identifying Kavanaugh.
Instead, Smith said it was a fellow classmate named Jack Maxey, who was a member of Kavanaugh’s fraternity, who allegedly had a “reputation” for exposing himself, and had once done so at a party. [snip]
In an interview with the Guardian, Maxey confirmed that he was still a senior in high school at the time of the alleged incident, and said he had never been contacted by any of the Republican staffers who were conducting the investigation.
“I was not at Yale,” he said. “I was a senior in high school at the time. I was not in New Haven.” He added: “These people can say what they want, and there are no consequences, ever.”
The revelation raises new questions about apparent efforts to downplay and discredit accusations of sexual misconduct by Kavanaugh and exclude evidence that supported an alleged victim’s claims." (our emphasis)
When you take a judicial confirmation hearing conducted by Republican senators and add the Federalist Society and their operatives, you have a corrupt stew. Kavanaugh was a privileged frat boy who had a history of assaulting girls, and they covered for him.
"There is no doubt that we have a crisis of purpose for men, especially young men in this country, and we just need to call these men to something higher," [Sen. Josh] Hawley [Insurrection-MO] told Fox News on Sunday.
"But it comes down to an individual father taking responsibility for his family and his child, whether they're out of wedlock or not," [Fox "News" host Rachel] Campos-Duffy opined. "And it's really shocking that right now, at this very moment, we have the first son, Hunter Biden, shirking his responsibilities as a father to little Navy Biden."
"And we have grandparents in the White House who haven't stepped up at least to step in for him at that," she added.
The politics of personal destruction as practiced by MAGAts won't even leave a grandchild of the President out of the picture. These slimy, fascistic guttersnipes go there as easily as they would discuss the weather. Vile.
