Category: U.S. Senate

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Gun Crime Gun Nuts U.S. Senate WTF?!

Ted Cruz’s Solution To The Mass Shooting Problem: Imprison The Mentally Ill

Now that the problem of mass shootings and gun violence are back on the front page as a result of what transpired in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday, the debate has begun once again on the issue of sensible gun control.

During a Senate hearing on Tuesday, there was a great deal of talk about possibly banning assault weapons such as the one used by the Boulder shooter, strengthening background checks for gun buyers, and other reforms that have sadly been discussed thousands of times before whenever innocent people are slain by a weapon of mass murder.

But something Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said during the hearing was especially chilling, not only because it suggested just how deeply in debt Cruz is to the gun lobby, but also because it called for putting people with mental illness into prison if they are caught with a gun.

Specifically, Cruz remarked:

“The senator from Connecticut knows that is false, and he knows that’s false, because Sen. [Chuck] Grassley and I together introduced legislation … targeted at violent criminals, targeted at felons, targeted at fugitives, targeted at those with serious mental disease to stop them from getting firearms and put them in prison when they try to illegally buy guns.”

So now mental illness will be a crime instead of a disease? On antidepressants? You can buy a gun, but you’ll be sent to prison if you do under Cruz’s deeply flawed logic.

Also, Cruz’s comments completely ignore the real problem that exists in this country: There’s too many damn guns! Does anyone actually believe that more guns is the answer to the problem of gun violence? That’s absurd! It makes no damn sense whatsoever. But it does allow Cruz and his GOP colleagues to continually suck on the teat of big gunmakers who are only too happy to buy U.S. senators if that’s what it takes for them to remain in business. Apparently, money trumps human life when it comes to Cruz and his ilk.

If Republicans cannot rationally discuss the gun problem in this country, maybe it’s time we make them the permanent minority party.

 

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Climate Change U.S. Senate WTF?!

Ron Johnson Proves His Complete Ignorance Of Geography In Disastrous NY Times Interview

Proving yet again that he’s an empty suit with an even emptier skull, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is making national news as the result of a disastrous interview he gave to the New York Times, expounding on climate change (which he doesn’t understand) and even world geography (which he must have flunked in school).

Attempting to make a point about climate change, Johnson told the Times:

“You know, there’s a reason Greenland was called Greenland. It was actually green at one point in time. And it’s been, you know, since, it’s a whole lot whiter now so we’ve experienced climate change throughout geologic time.”

The Times quickly fact-checked the Wisconsin Republican, noting:

“In the interview on Thursday, Mr. Johnson was still misinformed about the etymology of Greenland, which got its name from the explorer Erik the Red’s attempt to lure settlers to the ice-covered island,” adding Johnson continued, ‘I could be wrong there, but that’s always been my assumption that, at some point in time, those early explorers saw green. I have no idea.'”

No idea? That’s an understatement. Even those who have worked with Johnson acknowledge that he’s a fool, with a former campaign worker pointing to what he called the senator’s “muscular ignorance” and a critic laughing about Johnson being a “gullible rube.”

Johnson is even being compared to an infamous Wisconsin senator who preceded him: Joe McCarthy:

“The drumbeat of distortions, false theories and lies reminds some Wisconsin Republicans of a figure from the state’s past who also rarely let facts get in the way of his agenda: Senator Joseph McCarthy, whose witch hunt for communists in and out of government in the 1950s ruined lives and bitterly divided the country.”

Hopefully Johnson will meet a similar fate as McCarthy and wind up a defeated, broken man.

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Justice Department Supreme Court U.S. Senate

Justice Department May Reopen Investigation Into Alleged Misconduct By Brett Kavanaugh

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is demanding that the Justice Department and FBI reopen their investigation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, The Guardian reports:

“The FBI is facing new scrutiny for its 2018 background check of Brett Kavanaugh, the supreme court justice, after a lawmaker suggested that the investigation may have been ‘fake.’

“Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator and former prosecutor who serves on the judiciary committee, is calling on the newly-confirmed attorney general, Merrick Garland, to help facilitate ‘proper oversight’ by the Senate into questions about how thoroughly the FBI investigated Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing.

“The supreme court justice was accused of sexual assault by Christine Blasey Ford and faced several other allegations of misconduct following Ford’s harrowing testimony of an alleged assault when she and Kavanaugh were in high school.”

Whitehouse’s allegations about the FBI investigation of Kavanaugh drew immediate reaction on social media, where many suggested the justice needs to be examined for all of his prior behavior:

https://twitter.com/everyone_blue/status/1371845863505588233?s=20

https://twitter.com/dambaras/status/1371845591978938376?s=20

If Kavanaugh truly has nothing to hide, he should welcome Sen. Whitehouse’s call for a real FBI investigation. But he won’t.

 

Categories
Donald Trump U.S. Senate

Former Solicitor General Has A Fascinating Theory For Why Lindsey Graham Continues To Kiss Trump’s A*s

Why does Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) remain so fervently loyal to Donald Trump? The failed, one-term president can’t do anything for Graham politically, and the South Carolina senator isn’t even up for reelection until 2026.

Could it be that Graham is trying to cover his ass legally, because he knows that his neck is on the line when it comes to a legal matter that Trump is also facing?

Neal Katyal, who served as acting Solicitor General in the Obama administration, had some thoughts on the matter that he shared Monday on MSNBC.

Pointing to the investigation being conducted by Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis into efforts Trump made to get election totals in the Peach State overturned by calling Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Katyal noted that Graham also tried to meddle in the Georgia election:

“Racketeering is often really about violent crimes like murder or kidnapping, but Georgia defines it more broadly to include false statements made to state officials.

“And here Trump does have a defense. “What he’s going to say is ‘I wasn’t falsifying information, I genuinely believed I had won the election.’ Now ordinarily, that kind of defense wouldn’t pass the smell test, but when you’re dealing with delusion of grandeur Donald, maybe he’s got a defense there.”

Katyal then theorized that Graham and others who are part of the larger conspiracy to meddle in the Georgia election may be looking for a way to flip on Trump, cooperate with prosecutors, and save their own skins:

“The investigation is not just about Trump. It’s also about Lindsey Graham, Rudy Giuliani, the former U.S. Attorney, Mr. Byung Pak and some others. And any of those folks can flip on Trump.

“Why is (Graham) still paling around with Donald Trump? Well, one shouldn’t rule out … the possibility that he might be paling around with Donald Trump because he’s hoping Trump will let something slip that Lindsey Graham can use in exchange for a deal.”

Think about it: Graham doesn’t want to be indicted and face a trial in Georgia. And he certainly doesn’t want to do 20 years in a Georgia prison for racketeering.

If indeed Graham does make a deal and agree to testify against Trump, the Donald could be in a world of hurt.

Here’s Neal Katyal on MSNBC: