U.S. Politics

[Richard Smith]

Sad and humiliating:

[Rick Plant]

Audio recording shows Trump may have violated US espionage laws. Federal indictments MUST now issue

With the mounting evidence that Donald Trump violated our nation's espionage laws - including an audio recording that seems to include sharply incriminating statements by Trump himself - the Department of Justice must indict Trump if they except others to protect America's classified information.

This video discusses a number of data points that provide evidence of Donald Trump's political demise AND the growing likelihood that federal indictments are coming. 

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Joe Biden suffers hairline fractures after twisting his ankle playing with dog, his doctor says
Nov. 29, 2020
https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/politics/joe-biden/2020/11/29/joe-biden-twists-ankle-while-playing-his-dog/6458703002/


So back in 2020, President Biden suffered hairline fractures in his ankle and it never really healed properly. Anyone that has fractured something knows what it's like when your injury still gives you long term trouble at times.

Yesterday at an event, Biden's ankle gave out when he started to walk on stage and he ended up tripping but got right back up. Right wingers were mocking him because they are just hateful people but it's a total non story and nobody cares.

The 2 big stories yesterday of course, shows President Biden with a commanding lead in the polls and the Senate passed the debt ceiling bill.

Yahoo News/YouGov 2024 presidential poll

Biden 48% (+7)
Trump 41%

Biden 46% (+6)
DeSantis 40%

The Senate passed the budget bill with votes to spare. The vote was 63-36. It’s now a done deal. Biden will sign it and that’ll be that. Another big Biden win. Now we get to watch Kevin McCarthy get attacked by his own monsters for cooperating with Biden.

President Biden saved our economy and our country from an economic catastrophe which MAGA Republicans wanted to happen. This is true leadership by having a president take charge and getting the job done. President Biden has done that, he promised there would be no default and he prevented it from happening. That is true leadership and Biden is a real leader. That's another reason why he is leading in the polls with an even higher margin of victory than in 2020.   

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said it best:

Schumer: "Overwhelming majority of senate Democrats voted for the bill. A majority of Republicans voted against it. Why did we get more votes? We got more votes because the bill beat back the worst of the Republican agenda.

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1664472129545420801


Senate passes debt ceiling bill, sending measure to Biden to avert default
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/debt-ceiling-bill-passes-senate/

WATCH: Senate approves bipartisan debt ceiling bill
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-senate-convenes-after-house-approves-bipartisan-debt-ceiling-bill

BREAKING: Senate passes debt limit bill

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

Lauren Boebert missed debt ceiling vote despite leading fury against deal



Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) stood shoulder to shoulder with House Freedom Caucus members Tuesday to decry the debt ceiling deal as a disaster for the country. But when it came to actually voting on the bill, she outspoken congresswoman was nowhere to be seen, The Denver Post reported.

Despite all her bluster, the Post reported that Boebert skipped the vote.

"So we're here today in strong opposition of the latest so-called deal to lift the debt ceiling," she said into a microphone Tuesday. "As far as I'm concerned, I think McCarthy did the best he could do to some extent with this deal, but we made it clear at the outset of this Congress that we would not continue business as usual here in Washington, D.C."

It was just last week that Boebert told Steve Bannon that the debt ceiling wasn't real and Americans were being gaslit. She was furious that McCarthy made a deal, predicting that it was going to be the end of his speakership.

The report explained that when the vote came on Wednesday, passing 314-117, her vote was missing. It was overwhelmingly passed and her vote wouldn't have made any difference, but it was still notable after she was so adamant about her opposition.

It's unclear where Boebert was. She was spotted running up the steps to the Capitol as they gaveled the vote, Axios reporter Juliegrace Brufke, but she apparently missed it.

“The Swamp did its old song and dance and pretended to listen to the American people, but as soon as the backroom deal was made, it was predetermined that it would pass,” Boebert said in a statement she released after the vote. “I certainly wasn’t afraid to vote against the bill, as I have been advocating against it all week.”

Her spokesperson confirmed that she missed it.

Agence France-Presse



'Highly avoidable:' Ex-GOP Chair calls out Republicans' 'political posturing' on debt ceiling



House Republicans who demanded massive spending cuts as part of the proposed debt ceiling increase are merely "politically posturing," according to former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele, who said the whole debacle was completely avoidable.

Steele, who last month warned that the party he led over a decade ago doesn't currently have a direction or a message for voters, appeared on MSNBC's The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle late Thursday night. The host asked Steele if there was some disappointment among Democrats that Biden's student debt relief was taken off the table as part of the negotiations.

"The courts had been making it difficult for him. And there is no real clear path for its survival long term at this point," Steele said. "So, the president made a sacrifice here, as he had to, in order to get this done."

Steele also noted that the "fact of the matter is that this was highly avoidable," pointing to past circumstances where Republicans easily passed debt ceiling hikes.

"It was really avoidable, because all of the sanctimony from Republicans about the concern for the debt and the deficit was not there the three times that they raised it when Trump was president," Steele said. "In fact, the Democrats are like, we get the importance of not bankrupting the country, and we will give you a clean debt bill, which they did, three times: 17, 18, and 19."

Steele added that the "political posturing here is a little bit underwhelming for me."

Steele further called for the elimination of the entire debt ceiling debate.

"Eliminate this farce, this debt circus that we go through every 18 or so months. Just stop it. We are the only developed country outside of Denmark that does this stupid," he said, adding that Denmark "set the level so high they will never reach it."

"So, the reality of it is, this is all political posturing," he said. "What all of us watching this program know -- and we need serious players in the Senate, in the House, to deal with the physical health of this country if we think we are going to grow an economy for the generation that his graduating this week, next week and weeks ahead."

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

DeSantis is a total buffoon. He can't even talk to reporters pretending to act like Trump and comes off looking like a clown. Even Floridians in the reddest sections of Florida are now tired of his discrimination and fascist laws against Americans and the education system. 


'Barking’: DeSantis mocked as his crew races to protect him from criticism after he attacks reporter



Continuing his official presidential campaign kickoff this week, Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis delivered a speech to New Hampshire voters Thursday morning but refused to take questions from the audience. Afterward, when a reporter simply asked why, DeSantis blasted him, saying repeatedly, "Are you blind?" because he was talking to individual supporters at the time.

The candidate's campaign team immediately swarmed to protect him on social media.

NBC News senior national political reporter Jonathan Allen on Twitter posted the video (below) and wrote that DeSantis had "lashed out at a reporter for asking him about it while he was chatting with members of the crowd individually."

At NBC News, Allen's headline reads: "Ron DeSantis loses his temper with a reporter: 'Are you blind?'"

Allen reports DeSantis "became noticeably agitated" and "lashed out at a reporter — twice barking 'Are you blind?'"

The reporter who had asked DeSantis why he wouldn't take questions was Steve Peoples, chief political reporter for The Associated Press, who tweeted: "Here in Laconia, NH at his first stop in state as presidential candidate, DeSantis speaks for 58 minutes. He takes no questions from audience."

“People are coming up to me, talking to me,” DeSantis said. “What are you talking about? Are you blind? Are you blind? People are coming up to me, talking to me whatever they want to talk to me about.”

Allen adds that the Florida governor's decision to not take questions "was surprising and frustrating to some Republicans who came to hear DeSantis speak."

On social media, many were also not impressed.

"Some of us warned that DeSantis wasn’t ready for the national media or public spotlight, that he had been coddled in Florida for far too long, and that his media team of Pushaw, Redfern, et al spend too much time trolling on Twitter and not helping him," observed MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan.

But the question really is why wouldn't a candidate for president, who has been in politics for over a decade, be excited to talk to prospective supporters and take their questions, especially given the history of states like New Hampshire and Iowa, where establishing that personal relationship historically has been critical to the success of a candidate's campaign?

Former federal prosecutor, former DeSantis administration official, and former Republican Ron Filipkowski noted, "Ron DeSnowflake lost his cool again and had another freakout. This guy can’t deal with people."

Observing DeSantis is "so out of his depth," former journalist Ed Moltzen writes: "There are towns in New Hampshire with the official title 'Town Moderator' - people who assist with fielding audience questions to political candidates during forums. That’s how much open Q & A is in the political DNA of New Hampshire."

Huffpost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte had warned, "Just watch. DeSantis’ social media arsonists will fan this interaction for days."

And indeed, DeSantis' crew was quick to attack, which Dáte pointed to.

Governor DeSantis' press secretary Bryan Griffin quickly moved to falsely frame the interaction.

"This @AP reporter asked this question while @RonDeSantis was surrounded by voters in New Hampshire asking him questions and taking pictures," Griffin tweeted. "Perfectly illustrative of the modern media shutting their eyes and ears to the truth to push their narrative."

The question was clearly about DeSantis' refusal to take questions from the audience, so the audience could hear his answers.

Christina Pushaw, DeSantis' far-right former press secretary who moved to his presidential campaign as his rapid response director, responded to Griffin to attack the reporter.

"Very diplomatic of you to refer to the AP activist as a reporter!" she said.

But journalist Marcus Baram replied to Griffin: "You KNOW what the reporter meant.

Not a meet-and-greet with lots of people in a crowded room.

Questions asked in a setting where the person has time to ask the governor without distractions, and he has the time to respond with a substantive answer.

Campaigning 101."

Watch DeSantis at this link: https://twitter.com/i/status/1664282718304337923[/b]



'Backlash to the backlash' is seeing reddest parts of Florida rise against DeSantis' right-wing crusade



The wave of right-wing populism that carried Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) to a decisive reelection victory in November appears to have hit a wall.

A Tuesday night school board meeting held in a county DeSantis won handily saw furious teachers, students and parents railing against right-wing efforts to reshape the Sunshine State’s educational system – a clear sign of an emerging “backlash to the backlash, Washington Post columnists Greg Sargent and Paul Waldman wrote Thursday.

“By now, it’s obvious that the reactionary culture warriors who want to reshape American education are inspiring a serious liberal counter-mobilization in response,” Sargent and Waldman write in an opinion piece for The Post published under the headline “In a deep red Florida county, a student-teacher revolt shames the right.”

“Remarkably, this backlash to the backlash is gaining momentum in some of the reddest parts of the country.”

The meeting was held in Hernando County, which DeSantis won by 41 points, and which has become the focus of national media attention after fifth-grade teacher Jenna Barbee showed her class the Disney film “Strange World,” which features an openly gay character.

The Florida Department of Education is investigating Barbee over whether she violated the state’s new “don’t say gay” law that bans instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation.

Sargent and Waldman write that “The scene featured teachers pointedly declaring that right-wing attacks are driving them to quit, even as parents and students forcefully stood up on their behalf, demanding a halt to the hysteria.”

Barbee is resigning from the Hernando County School District and she isn’t alone, according to the report.

“No one is teaching your kids to be gay,” Alyssa Marano, a math teacher who has resigned from the district, said at Tuesday’s meeting.

“Sometimes, they just are gay. I have math to teach. I literally don’t have time to teach your kids to be gay.”

Sargent and Waldman write that “the real story of the night was the response. Again and again, parents and students forcefully defended teachers. They cast the right’s attacks, the censoring of educators and the removal of books as the real threats to education.”

“War on woke?” one student said. “More like war on your children’s future.”

Sarah Jones writes for New York Magazine that the blowback to far-right efforts to shape education seen at the Hernando County district are happening throughout the country, as “liberal parents in states as far-flung as New York, North Carolina and Montana are organizing local groups, pressuring school boards and running for office to challenge the right’s education takeover.”

“Just as a car wreck commands attention, the ugliness of right-wing culture-warring often transfixes the news media,” Sargent and Waldman write.

“But another story is beckoning: Ordinary parents everywhere and their elected representatives are responding, and declaring that they’ve had enough.”

Read the full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/01/hernando-county-ron-desantis-book-bans-democratic-governors/

[Rick Plant]

The White House @WhiteHouse

Our economy gained 339,000 jobs in May.

That’s a total of 13 million jobs created under President Biden.

And more jobs in 28 months than any President has created in a four-year term.



https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/1664653392461832198

[Richard Smith]

Magnificent poll numbers continue for Trump.  Can he overcome the leftist media bias and corrupt justice system to win in 2024?  No other person in history could do it.  Compounded with the changes in election laws to allow Dems to ballot harvest it is almost impossible.  The Biden clown show, however, is too much for many Americans.  A full two-thirds of the country believe it would be a "disaster" for Biden to be re-elected.  That's 66%.  You couldn't find that many folks who could agree on anything else in politics, but the clear consensus is that Old Joe is the worst president in modern history.