Month: January 2022

Categories
Congress GOP

Democratic Congressman Slams Kevin McCarthy As ‘The Dumber Version Of Ted Cruz’

During an appearance on MSNBC to address the way Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) groveled before Fox host Tucker Carlson while discussing the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) said the only person more worthless than Cruz is House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).

Gallego began by noting that Cruz’s disgusting display of cowardice is proof that the Republican Party is now a “cult of personality.”

“It’s a sad statement from Cruz. I’ve been in politics now for probably 10 years, and it’s just not worth it. It’s not worth selling out your family like he (Cruz) did when he sold out his dad and his wife. It’s not worth selling your own soul, especially for someone like Donald Trump. And to grovel at the knees of someone like Tucker Carlson, it’s definitely not worth it.”

The Arizona Democrat added that members of the GOP cannot even renounce the sort of violence that took place on Jan. 6 because  “you’re basically saying that it was pushed by dear leader, and you can’t attack dear leader, dear leader is perfect.”

Host Chris Hayes then interjected to say McCarthy seems “somewhat similar” to Cruz, which led Gallego to rip into the the California Republican:

“Kevin McCarthy is Ted Cruz but just not as smart.

“He’s the dumber version of Ted Cruz, still an empty shell of a human being, just as craven of a politician, but just not as smart. He’ll do anything to become speaker of the House. He’ll align himself with QAnon crazies, Matt Gaetz— who is pretty close at some point to hopefully being indicted for being a pedophile. This is the type of person that he is, and he’ll do it because he wants that title of Speaker of the House.”

If Republicans do take control of the House after the 2022 midterm elections (and there’s no guarantee they will), McCarthy will be a leading contender for House speaker. But his party has drifted so far to the right that he may not be extreme enough to garner the necessary support from his caucus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRnaBi9Un1c&feature=emb_logo
 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Crime Donald Trump The Trump Adminstration

Capitol Rioter Plans To Subpoena Bannon, Giuliani, And Trump For Testimony At His Trial

Dustin Thompson was one of the thousands of pro-Trump supporters who showed up in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021 and stormed the U.S. Capitol at the urging, he says, of failed, one-term President Donald Trump.

And now, as part of his defense, Thompson and his attorney are planning to subpoena Trump, former White House adviser Steve Bannon, and Rudy Giuliani, who was working as a personal attorney to Trump at the time of the Capitol insurrection.

Kyle Cheney, the Senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, noted on Twitter that Thompson even plans to use the U.S. Marshals Service to serve the subpoenas:

In the filing, Thompson’s attorney argues:

“Considering the significant roles these witnesses play in the legal and political communities, and the evasiveness that some have historically shown in the face of court orders, Defendant submits that appointment of the U.S. Marshals Service is necessary in order to effectuate his right to compulsory process and ensure that the same is accomplished expeditiously.”

That’s certainly a valid point. And it’s almost impossible for Bannon, Giuliani, or Trump to say they played no role in what transpired at the Capitol. We already have evidence from the House Select Committee that suggests the three were instrumental in urging supporters to show up on the 6th and protest the results of the 2020 election, which Trump overwhelmingly lost in both the popular and electoral vote.

Plenty of people on Twitter agreed that Thompson should be allowed to subpoena the three co-conspirators. After all, none of them is doing anything worthwhile or valuable at the moment:

https://twitter.com/MadHominem/status/1479575461961383936?s=20

https://twitter.com/tortuga_ricardo/status/1479583440861155329?s=20

Can you imagine the look on Donald Trump’s face when a U.S. Marshal hands him a subpoena and tells him, “You’ve been served”? Personally, I would gladly pay money to see that.

 

Categories
Capitol Insurrection Donald Trump Mike Pence

Former Pence Staffers Are Being ‘Particularly Cooperative’ With House Jan. 6 Committee

In what can only be seen as the ultimate irony, it now appears that the evidence most likely to result in criminal charges being filed against failed, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump may be provided by staffers who once worked for former Vice President Mike Pence.

According to Axios, members of Pence’s staff have been “particularly cooperative” with the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection:

People in and around former Vice President Mike Pence’s office have been particularly cooperative as the Jan. 6 select committee focuses on what former President Trump was doing during the more than three hours the Capitol was under attack, sources familiar with the testimony tell Axios.

The cooperation of those who had a front-row seat to what transpired on that horrible January day is key to the committee, which is on the verge of holding public hearings that could further expose Trump and members of his inner circle to criminal referrals the Justice Department would be hard-pressed to ignore.

Some of the former Pence staff members have even agreed to talk to the Jan. 6 panel without having to be subpoenaed:

  • Both Pence’s former chief of staff Marc Short, and former press secretary Alyssa Farah, who later served as White House communications director, are among those cooperating with the committee.
  • Keith Kellogg also has given a deposition.
  • One source familiar with their involvement said Short, who was subpoenaed by the committee, would not have cooperated without the approval of Pence.

The committee has received the most helpful information from “second- and third-tier administration staff who were not directly involved but were at the White House on Jan. 6 and had access to top administration officials.”

After speaking with the committee, Farah noted:

“You could see how much information they already had.

“Those who are refusing to cooperate likely are doing so out of complete fealty to Donald Trump and not wanting to piss him off.

“But, secondarily, because they’re realizing the committee has quite a bit more information than they realized. And their involvement is known to a much greater degree than they realized.”

The upcoming public hearings could prove to be a tipping point that will convince the majority of Americans Trump and members of his staff need to be held accountable and prosecuted for their crimes. And they should also make for the most fascinating television since the Watergate hearings back in 1974.

 


Categories
Congress GOP Right Wing Morons

WATCH Marjorie Taylor Greene Get ‘Canceled’ By Newsmax When She Attacks The FBI

Right-wingers absolutely love to talk about how progressives want to impose “cancel culture” on everything they disagree with, which is really just code for conservatives wanting to be racist, homophobic, sexist, or disgustingly bigoted and getting their feelings hurt when they’re called out for being willfully obtuse.

But cancel culture came to call for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Thursday during her media event with fellow extremist Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL). And this time it came from the right.

 

First of all, the press conference on the first anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was even more batshit crazy than you’d expect hearing the names Greene and Gaetz, with the Florida perv insisting that Jan. 6 had been a false flag staged by the federal government:

“Congresswoman Greene and I are not here to celebrate January 6. We’re not here to obsess about it. But we are here to expose the truth.”

He then went fully fact-free:

“We know this: January 6th last year wasn’t an insurrection. No one’s been charged with insurrection, no one’s been charged with treason. But it may very well have been a Fedsurrection.”

When it was Greene’s turn to talk, she picked up the baton from Florida Man and kicked off her own demented rant:

“You know what I think needs to be the biggest investigation in United States history? What is going on at the FBI and what is happening at the Department of Justice? And the American people deserve those answers because it’s the American people and the taxpayers that pay for all of it! Now I don’t want to have anything to do with a government that is going to be so obsessed with overturning regime change in our own country when it should be serving the American people, particularly…”

Extreme right-wing “news” site Newsmax quickly cut away from Greene, with the host noting:

“All right, Marjorie Taylor Greene. With Congressman Matt Gaetz there, putting forth some of the arguments from the Republican side that you certainly didn’t hear today from President Biden and the Democrats.”

Yep, Marj and the Sunshine State Perv got canceled by a right-wing outlet, which may well be the most ironic thing of 2022 even though the year has just begun.

Sorry, Marj, but even your conservative, tinfoil hat-wearing compatriots appear to be tired of your crap.

Categories
GOP Ron DeSantis Viral Video

Why Is Ron DeSantis Gasping For Air In This Viral Video?

There’s something terribly wrong with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and that’s not the set up for a punch line.

DeSantis was speaking to a group of people recently about manufacturing in the Sunshine State, but as you’ll notice in the video, he seems to be having trouble breathing. Matter of fact, he appears to be gasping for air and on the verge of tears at one point. Take a look:

You may recall that the Florida governor went missing for two weeks. When he finally made a public appearance, a combative DeSantins told reporters he’d accompanied his wife for treatment of her cancer:

“A lot of people, particularly people who have gone through breast cancer treatment, the notion that would be considered a vacation, I think is offensive to a lot of those folks.”

The larger problem, however, is that DeSantis pulled a Houdini right as cases of COVID-19 were exploding across Florida and members of his administration tried desperately to pretend everything was under control.

So the video of the governor trying to breathe was certain to set off a lot of controversy and commentary on social media, where people wondered if perhaps DeSantis had contracted a case of coronavirus but didn’t want to let anyone know.

https://twitter.com/nathanwfoster/status/1478805098738372611?s=20
https://twitter.com/N_Random_Twit/status/1478809770052050947?s=20