"Is anyone else dreading July 1, when Florida loosens its gun laws? 

 Anyone with good sense in Florida is dreading July 1. That’s the day when the State will allow anyone over the age of 21 to carry a concealed weapon WITHOUT a permit and WITHOUT any gun training — AT ALL."

Duplicitous, hypocrital Republicans. It's Who They Are.

 

On Monday of this week, the White House announced that the federal government will begin to distribute over $40 billion in funding for broadband. 

And all the GOP Senators who voted against the bill and GOP governors who were also against it are taking credit for it.

Duplicitous, hypocrital Republicans:

Tuberville praises $1.4 billion for broadband he voted against: Alabama GOP will ‘damn sure take credit,’ Doug Jones says  

 

Republicans Are Taking Credit for Infrastructure Bill They All Voted Against

Amazing about-face from the members of Congress who tried to stop the bill in the first place

Republicans Keep Taking Credit For Billions In Broadband Subsidies Only Made Possible By The COVID Relief And Infrastructure Bills They Vehemently Opposed

"...the same Republicans who vehemently opposed and voted against both bills are now happily taking credit for their benefits among their constituents. 

Case in point: Republican Governor Ron DeSantis keeps crowing about Florida’s broadband investments made possible via Florida’s “Broadband Opportunity Program.” 

A significant chunk of those funds ($400 million) were only made possible via the federal ARPA bill DeSantis and state senators opposed, but good luck finding any mention of that in state press releases on the subject. 

The whole thing was, apparently, Ronald’s idea."

[skip]

"The same thing played out in most Republican controlled states, where leaders have (as required by the bills) created what are often their first ever broadband offices to disperse the funds, then pretended that this was all their idea, and that the lion’s share of the money isn’t coming from federal programs they fought tooth and nail against for the better part of the last few years. 

Like in Montana, where Republican Governor Greg Gianforte has also repeatedly issued press releases lauding broadband subsidies doled out by the state, without mentioning that Montana’s ConnectMT program is primarily going to be built on the back of ARPA and IIJA funds: “Expanding access to reliable broadband is a central element of Governor Gianforte’s Montana Comeback Plan.”

Duplicitous, hypocritical Republicans.

It's who they are.

HERE'S THE FORMER POTUS, TRUMP, ON TAPE AND IN HIS OWN WORDS, COMMITTING A FELONY.

Hit the link, and listen to the recording.

The tape is frightening. Trump is casually showing confidential documents, makes jokes about Hillary Clinton and then acknowledges he can’t declassify them because he’s no longer president. 

Listen to it.

Exclusive: CNN obtains the tape of Trump’s 2021 conversation about classified documents 

In the two-minute audio recording, Trump and his aides also joke about Hillary Clinton’s emails after the former president says that the document was “secret information.” 

“Hillary would print that out all the time, you know. Her private emails,” Trump’s staffer said. “No, she’d send it to Anthony Weiner,” Trump responded, referring to the former Democratic congressman, prompting laughter in the room. 

Trump’s statements on the audio recording, saying “these are the papers” and referring to something he calls “highly confidential” and seems to be showing others in the room, could undercut the former president’s claims in an interview last week with Fox News’ Bret Baier that he did not have any documents with him. 

 “There was no document. That was a massive amount of papers and everything else talking about Iran and other things,” Trump said on Fox. “And it may have been held up or may not, but that was not a document. I didn’t have a document, per se. There was nothing to declassify. These were newspaper stories, magazine stories and articles.” 

Trump pleaded not guilty earlier this month to 37 counts related to the alleged mishandling of classified documents kept at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. 

 The audio recording comes from a July 2021 interview Trump gave at his Bedminster resort for people working on the memoir of Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff. The special counsel’s indictment alleges that those in attendance – a writer, publisher and two of Trump’s staff members – were shown classified information about the plan of attack on Iran.

They're laughing while looking at top secret documents Trump stole from the US government:

"...A COLOSSAL POLITICAL MISCALCULATION."

"Conservative retired federal judge J. Michael Luttig has called the Republican Party base 'spineless' for its continued support of former President Donald Trump and submitted that the GOP is destroying itself. 

 'If the indictment of Mr. Trump on Espionage Act charges – not to mention his now almost certain indictment for conspiring to obstruct Congress from certifying Mr. Biden as the president on Jan. 6 – fails to shake the Republican Party from its moribund political senses, then it is beyond saving itself. Nor ought it be saved,' Luttig said in a scathing New York Times op-ed published Sunday." 

"Luttig called Republican support of Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, 'a colossal political miscalculation.' There is no path to the White House for Republicans with Mr. Trump. He would need every single Republican and independent vote, and there are untold numbers of Republicans and independents who will never vote for him, if for no other perfectly legitimate reason than that he has corrupted America’s democracy and is now attempting to corrupt the country’s rule of law."

*************************

Judge Luttig speaks the truth, but he may as well be howling at the moon. 

Republican leaders are well aware of the political risks of their Trump-at-all-costs strategy. They are equally aware of the moral depravity of the strategy, and they also fully understand that it is they who are undermining the Constitution and the rule of law, with potentially disastrous and possibly permanent consequences for the nation. They don't care. 

These people think only of their own power and profit, and they have concluded that these interests are best served by carrying on with the MAGA movement, regardless of its violence and absurdity. Surely we know this by now. 

Since the early 1960's, the GOP has existed principally to oppose any societal movement toward inclusion and civil rather than religious rule. Can anyone point to a current GOP candidate who sees the path to victory winding through the land of reality? 

The Republican Party has two purposes: make their nihilistic vision a reality and prop up the Trump cult. In 2010, when Republicans won Congress, Mitch McConnell made his vision for Congress crystal clear: make Obama a one-term president. When that failed, they did everything in their power to undermine him, including denying the confirmation of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. 

 Liz Cheney, someone who makes Nixon look like a hippie, lost her Republican primary. Her crime: defending our democratic institutions and holding Trump accountable for his crimes. 

As much as Judge Luttig is to be admired for his insightful essay on the dangers of Trump to the GOP and to our democratic republic, there will never be a reckoning for Donald Trump. Too many voters are impervious to his coarse, unethical and even criminal behavior.

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

 

"As we watch Russia collapse into chaos, here’s your reminder that the Leader of the GOP, Donald J. Trump, and many members of the House GOP side with Putin and his criminal regime."

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., also sides with Russia:

" '... the Russians were acting in good faith,' he said. 'So, no, I think we're the ones who have not been acting in good faith.' "

US Representative from California, Adam Schiff, got Durham to agree that...

 

Russia DID interfere in the 2016 election.

People who've worked with and for Donald Trump have testified that NOTHING is done without Trump's knowledge or approval. Nothing.

August 18, 2020:

"A GOP-led Senate panel released a report Tuesday that details extensive contacts between Trump campaign advisers and Russian intelligence in 2016. 

 The committee spent more than three years working on it, investigating Russia's interference, as you said, in the 2016 election. They reviewed more than a million documents, documents that were provided by U.S. spy agencies as well as documents that were provided by witnesses. They also interviewed witnesses - hundreds of them, including a lot of familiar names - Donald Trump Jr., former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort but also former Obama administration officials. And all of that digging has gone into this report, and the committee concludes that Russia conducted a sophisticated and aggressive campaign to influence the U.S. election to help Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton and that folks on Team Trump were more than happy to accept help from the Russians. 

But what's really important about that conclusion is that it is a bipartisan one. It is endorsed by both Democrats and Republicans. 

 Now, that sounds a lot like what Special Counsel Robert Mueller determined in his report last year as well."

 

I suppose lots of people have forgotten about this January 6 Secret Service scandal:

According to reporting from NBC News’ Pete Williams and Julia Ainsley, the inspector general’s probe into the Department of Homeland Security regarding missing Secret Service text messages hailing from January 5th and 6th, 2021, has now officially turned into a criminal investigation, after reports revealed the text messages being sought by the J6 House Select Committee were conveniently deleted after their request for the evidence was already made.

Yes, this really happened!

 

A House Republican who said, "We will hold members accountable," was quoted by New York Representative Dan Goldman.

Dan Goldman:  

"You are the party of George Santos! Who are you holding accountable?! Don’t lecture us with your projection. It’s pathetic."

The Party of Abraham Lincoln has become the Party of Jefferson Davis and Benedict Arnold.

You can't make this stuff up! 

The GQP censured Adam Schiff for doing his job. When the House failed to censure Rep. Schiff, Trump told those who voted with the Dems that they'd be primaried. They held another vote and did the bidding of the felony-indicted Party Boss, Trump. 

And yet the GQP  won't expel George Santos, an impostor with 13 federal indictments of THEFT, MONEY LAUNDERING, FRAUD and GIVING FALSE STATEMENTS. 

Shame on the Republican Party! Shame on Republicans!

 

TRUMP IS THE LEADING CANDIDATE TO GET THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY

 

Let that sink in.  

I cover Trump and his madness because 40% of America's voting population believeS this unhinged maniac should be POTUS again!

PS. Trump knew he lost the election. But remember who Trump's role model is and was:

Roy Cohn. Read about him.

*******************************

For those who did not watch Trump's interview on FAUX NOOZ with Brett Baier (I didn't either), here's what the Republican pundits who did watch it are saying:

Britt Hume:

“His answers on the matters of the law seem to me to verge on incoherent,” he said. “He seemed to be saying that the documents were really his and that he didn’t give them back when he was requested to do when they were subpoenaed because, you know, he wasn’t ready to because he sorted them and separated the classified information or whatever from his golf shirts or whatever he was saying. It was not altogether clear what he was saying.”

 

******************************

Via Raw Story: 'Every time he opens his mouth, it gets worse': Legal analyst slams Trump's interview with Bret Baier

"On the tape, Trump makes it clear that he understands he shouldn't be showing the Iran war planning document and that it was secret. 

 'When I said that I couldn't declassify it now, that's because I wasn't president I never made any bones about that,' said Trump. 'When I'm not president, I can't declassify.' 

 The admission is like a problem for Trump's legal team because it clarifies that he understands the law."

BOOM!

As an indicted felon, Trump has the right to remain silent. He just doesn't have the self-control to do so.

And that's always been his problem.

***************************

Re: Hunter Biden: 

"The Justice Department and Hunter Biden, the president’s son, have reached an agreement for him to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and avoid prosecution on a separate gun charge, according to a court filing on Tuesday. 

 Mr. Biden will plead guilty to misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his 2017 and 2018 taxes on time and agree to probation, the court filing said. 

The deal would most likely resolve the investigation without Mr. Biden serving a prison sentence. 

 Officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives who were responsible for reviewing Mr. Biden’s file were initially skeptical of bringing charges against him, especially considering that he had sought treatment and had no prior criminal history, according to another person with knowledge of the situation." --New York Times

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

IRONY IS NOT JUST DEAD IN THE CURRENT REPUBLICAN PARTY...

 

it is buried so deep in its grave that the Chinese are in tears about it as well.

Yes, friends and neighbors. Santos said those words, presumably, with a straight face.

TODAY...

 

An ex-president of the United States, and leading Republican candidate for the nomination for POTUS for the 2024 election, Donald J. Trump, will be arraigned in federal court for, among other charges, violating the Espionage Act.

Republicans still defending and excusing this trecherous ex-POTUS:

 

"The details in the indictment make it clear that Mr. Trump knew that he was not authorized to keep national security secrets in his possession and that he played a cat-and-mouse game to conceal them from the F.B.I. and other federal officials. 

At one point he suggested his lawyer take some documents to his hotel room and 'pluck' out anything really bad, the indictment says. 'Wouldn’t it be better if we just told them we don’t have anything here?' he asked his lawyers. He added, 'Well, look, isn’t it better if there are no documents?' Meanwhile, he instructed his lawyers to falsely inform federal investigators that they had cooperated fully. 

 With these actions, the former president demonstrated once again his contempt for the rule of law, his disregard for America’s national security and his mockery of the oath he took to support and defend the Constitution."

How dare McCarthy et al blame Biden for this? 

How can the party for the rule of law defend this alleged criminal, Trump?

Trump represents the rejection of American democracy.

Email from a friend:

"I don't see what all the fuss is about in indicting a former president if the evidence merits it on purely legal grounds. Sure, it'll add to the partisan rancor here, but that was going to happen either way so it's a wash. And if it looks like a partisan prosecution to some then that's only because they want to see it that way and not because of the underlying facts. Nor does it set a bad precedent just because of how it might look to some. Justice should never be based on how it looks, EVER. Anyone arguing otherwise is either a Trump partisan, a weak-kneed fool, or an outright fool."

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

Dancing in the Dark:

WOW!

 

BREAKING: Trump just said on his social platform that his attorneys have been informed that he's been indicted in the classified documents investigation. 

"Donald Trump has been indicted on at least 7 federal charges including illegal retention of classified documents, obstruction, conspiracy." - Dan Abrams

This is the first time in American history a former president has faced federal charges.

For those of us keeping score:

*Trump indicted on 34 felony counts, New York State

*Trump found liable for sexual assault

*Trump indicted on 7 federal charges (possibly one of the charges under the Espionage Act!) in the classified documents case.

UPDATE:

Posting on Twitter, Speaker McCarthy accused President Biden of "indicting Trump."

The Speaker of the House has no idea of how our American justice system works. To characterize his statement as staggeringly moronic would be an understatement. His stupidity and ignorance is alarming and again shows the country what a weak and feckless man and Speaker he is.

A grand jury, seeing and hearing a preponderance of evidence, indicted Trump. Period.

Trump and Trump alone is responsible for what happened to him today.

Speaker McCarthy is a damn fool.

Here's where Trump kept America's top secret docs:

FOR THOSE WHO COMPLAIN...

 

"WHY ISN'T THERE A STRAIGHT PRIDE MONTH/PARADE?!"

This is an oldie, but it needs to be posted again and again for the people who bitch every year we celebrate Pride Month with parades:

BREAKING NEWS

 

Prosecutors Tell Trump's Legal Team He Is a Target of Investigation

"The notice from the office of the special counsel Jack Smith suggested that an indictment was on the horizon in the investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents." 

"Notifying a potential defendant that he or she is a target is a formal way of indicating that the person is a direct focus of a criminal investigation and often precedes the filing of charges. The notification typically opens the door to defense lawyers requesting a meeting with prosecutors to offer their side of the story."

Will Trump finally face consequences for his actions? It's only a matter of time now for us to find out.

Trump's overall defense, in all these cases, seems to be that he is:

1) Innocent (real original thinking here); 

2) The DOJ and the FBI have been weaponized (whatever that means); and 

3) He's the target of a manufactured "political persecution" and "witch hunt." 

Well, that would have to be one massive conspiracy involving multiple state prosecutors, federal prosecutors, judges, multiple venues, multiple charges -- all amazingly well coordinated. 

The thing is, Trump is a career criminal. 

Trump had control of the apparatus of the Executive Branch of government of the United States of America, and he abused it -- every day, every moment, in the most egregious and profound way. So it's utterly unsurprising that he's got himself in some deep shyte. 

May this be the first of the many criminal indictments he deserves.

ANOTHER MASS SHOOTING

Graduating senior and his father were killed in shooting after high school graduation in Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Thirteen people are injured and two people are in custody following a reported shooter situation at Altria Theater that took place during Huguenot High School’s graduation ceremony on Tuesday.

The following injuries have been confirmed as a result of the shooting:

• 7 people shot. 3 with life-threatening injuries, 4 with non-life threatening injuries
• 2 people were injured by falls
• 1 person hit by a car
• 3 self-transported to the hospital for anxiety 

8News sources have reported that two people are dead, but police have not confirmed this information yet.

Currently multiple law enforcements are on scene of a mass shooting that took place during a high school graduation ceremony in Monroe Park on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Virginia. Police are reporting that at least 7 people have been shot with severe injuries and one suspect has been arrested

 

This is NEVER going to end. We are a weak and cowardly nation that allows this because of a misreading of the 2nd Amendment: Justice Scalia noted: “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. [It is] not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

We value guns over our children and our fellow citizens.

No other country has this problem.

IT'S. THE. GUNS.

Larry Huynh on Twitter:

"MASS SHOOTING at high school graduation celebration, outside Altria Theater in Richmond, Virginia. 

 As a parent, I don't want to my kids growing up with fears that THIS could happen to them on their big day. 

 Witness: "We heard perhaps 20 consecutive... what initially sounded like fireworks... 

It prompted a mad rush, a stampede to get back inside." 

June 6, 2023

 

via Democratic Underground

YOUR SUNDAY MOMENT OF ZEN

 

SATURDAY NIGHT DANCING

 

Sigh

 

Casey DeSantis wearing her newest fashion statement at a biker event in Iowa:

What woke means:

We're not surprised that the DeSantises and their followers would like to see "wokeness" die.

FOUND ON A FACEBOOK FRIEND'S HOMEPAGE:

DROP KICK ME JESUS, THROUGH THE GOALPOSTS OF LIFE.

A new Florida bill just signed into law explicitly allows prayers to be played uninterrupted over the loudspeakers before high school sporting events.

Now, some Florida schools say they are eager to take advantage of this new policy to spread the Good Word at public school football games this fall. The good word? Who could object to the good word. Shall we start with Allahu Ackbar? Hare Krishna? Jupiter Optimus Maximus?

Listen up governor De Rat's ass - it's unconstitutional unless you put slogans from all religions and their "good words" on the PA because: are you listening? - Florida can't legally establish a religion as official and I'll bet you shitweasels are planning to confine it to Christian messages. Or what you think of as a Christian message because I have real doubts about what teams Jesus supports.

Were you planning to add HEIL DESANTIS to the list?

Here's a question:

 

Will Trump's cultists remain loyal to a man who blatantly breaks the law and flouts it before the American people?

I think I know the answer.

Trump cultists will stay loyal to a man who violated the United States Espionage Act.

Trump Was Taped Discussing Sensitive Document He Had Kept After Leaving Office 

"Federal prosecutors obtained the recording as part of their investigation into the former president’s handling of classified documents. 

Federal prosecutors investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s handling of classified material have a recording of Mr. Trump from 2021 discussing a sensitive military document he had kept after leaving the White House, two people briefed on the matter said. In the recording, 

Mr. Trump suggested he knew the document was secret and had not declassified it, one person briefed on the matter said. The existence of the recording could undermine Mr. Trump’s repeated claim that he had already declassified material that remained in his possession after he left office."