U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

Well, another Republican phony scam against Joe and Hunter Biden bites the dust!

The House Republican fake “whistleblower” against Joe Biden just got criminally indicted for being a Chinese spy. Yes, that's right!

For quite some time now, House Republicans have claimed they had a “whistleblower” who had supposed evidence that Hunter Biden, and maybe even President Joe Biden, had taken all kinds of imaginary dirty "bribe" money from Ukraine. The funny thing was, they never could seem to produce this individual – even claiming at one point that they’d lost him.

Now it turns out he’s been found. Found by the DOJ, that is. The House Republican “whistleblower” has just been criminally indicted for allegedly being a Chinese spy. No really, this was their whistleblower. This is the guy they’d been hyping. Of course now he’s claiming he was only indicted to silence him, which is laugh out loud territory. We’ll see how many House Republicans decide to go even further down the conspiratorial rabbit hole with this guy, and how many of them simply start pretending they’ve never heard of their own "whistleblower".

Republicans are an absolute joke using a fake "whistleblower" in order to go after the President of the United States and his son. That's pretty much criminal.     


Republican’s ‘Whistleblower’ Charged as Unregistered Foreign Agent

Gal Luft, currently a fugitive, has been charged with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, arms trafficking, and sanctions violations

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/gal-luft-doj-charged-unregistered-foreign-agent-1234785971/




Gal Luft, the GOP's new fake Hunter Biden "whistleblower," was just indicted by the Justice Department for arms trafficking, violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, making false statements to federal agents, and being an unregistered foreign agent for China.

GOP James Comer and Jim Jordan's sham investigations continue to backfire.




MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch

This is what James Comer said *yesterday* about his fake whistleblower who was just indicted for being a Chinese spy:

"He's very credible and the people on MSNBC who made fun of me when I said we had an informant that was missing, they should feel like fools right now. And this is their worst nightmare."

Watch: https://twitter.com/i/status/1678550013218263042

[Rick Plant]

People are now calling the Florida Governor "DeSaster" instead of DeSantis. And that's because of both his disastrous failure as a Governor and as a Presidential candidate.

While Ron DeSantis declares a 'war on the woke' in one of the most humiliating presidential runs in history, his state of Florida just suffered another devastating blow.

Farmers Insurance announced they are leaving Florida, making them the 4th insurer to leave the Florida market this year, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

Homeowners in the state are paying more than ever for insurance as they face an unprecedented crisis.

Faux News is heavily promoting DeSantis but now the Murdoch's see him as a loser.   

https://tampabay.com/news/business/2023/07/11/farmers-insurance-florida-leaving-hurricanes-insolvent/


Murdochs Start to Sour on DeSantis: ‘They Can Smell a Loser’
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ron-desantis-rupert-murdoch-donald-trump-1234786639/


GOP could lose state of Florida because of Farmers Insurance: ex-Trump official



A flood of insurance companies fleeing Florida could cost the GOP the state in the next election, a former Trump official warned Tuesday.

Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary of public affairs under Trump, was reacting to Farmers Insurance's announcement earlier in the day that it was dropping all home and auto insurance policies in the state and leaving, Newsweek reported.

The decision was driven by business costs that are forced up by hurricane rebuilding and recovery, the company said. It’s the fourth insurance firm to pull out of the Florida market in the past year.

"I keep saying hurricane insurance costs are a vital issue in Florida – a truly fundamental kitchen table concern,” Caputo said in a tweet.

"It changes votes, for real. Florida is a must-win battleground for the GOP nomination – will hurricane insurance decide it?"

Farmers’ decision is expected to affect 100,000 homeowners.

Florida homeowners already pay the highest premiums in the U.S., Newsweek reported.

"This business decision was necessary to effectively manage risk exposure," Farmers said in a statement issued Newsweek in a statement.

Political consultant Jay Townsend agreed with Caputo’s warning.

"As insurance costs rise, and strain the household budgets of working-class people, they soon start looking for the culprit," he told Newsweek.

"Inevitably, they will identify the Governor as one of them. And even if he did nothing wrong, they'll ask why he didn't do something to stop it."

Already the anger was being directed at DeSantis and other state officials.

"Everyone who has Citizens Insurance is at risk of losing everything this Hurricane season. What are you and your boss [Florida Governor] Ron DeSantis doing about it since he's never here anymore and he's running for President?" far-right activist Laura Loomer tweeted at the state’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, a Republican.

Read More Here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/farmers-insurance-pulls-out-of-florida-affecting-100000-people/



'Most abjectly racist thing I've heard from a US senator': Jake Tapper shreds GOP's Tommy Tuberville

CNN's Jake Tapper on Tuesday had some sharp words for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who told fellow CNN host Caitlan Collins on Monday night that being a white nationalist doesn't necessarily make someone a racist.

In analyzing Tuberville's comments, Tapper said that Alabama's senior senator "seems to be parsing the difference between people who are abject racists like members of the Klu Klux Klan and people who are merely white nationalist who believe in the supremacy of white people," which Tapper described as "a distinction without a difference."

The CNN host noted, however, that Tuberville has his own history of deploying racist dog whistles on the campaign trail.

"His comments make more sense when you consider what he said in October at a campaign rally, the most abjectly racist thing I've heard from a U.S. senator in decades," he said. "I'm quoting here, he said... 'Democrats,' quote, 'want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want reparations because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.'"

Tapper argued that this was "nakedly racist" because it framed all Black Americans as "the people that do the crime" since they would be the ones receiving any hypothetical reparations for slavery.

"I think there are serious questions about his views when it comes to matters of race and white supremacy," Tapper concluded.

Watch:

[Rick Plant]

While the media continues to focus other unimportant stories, President Joe Biden is racking up wins on the international stage.

Today, he formally lobbied Turkey to end their blockade of Sweden's entry into NATO. Not only does this move strengthen NATO, it weakens Russia. This is another historic Biden accomplishment as he promised a month ago Sweden would enter NATO and he delivered once again on his promises.   

The more folks underestimate President Biden, the more he accomplishes.





Biden just secured a big win from his Europe trip



CNN — President Joe Biden has already secured a powerful deliverable from his Europe trip – one that will weaken Russia’s strategic position in another detrimental consequence of its invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey’s lifting of its blockade on Sweden’s entry into NATO was a significant and stunning move on the eve of the NATO summit in Lithuania. The reversal by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came hours after he warned Sweden would be out in the cold until Turkey got its long-delayed membership in the European union.

Once Sweden finally joins NATO, it will bolster Biden’s reputation as a US leader who reinvigorated and expanded the bloc. Finland – which decided to sign up, like Sweden, after the invasion of Ukraine – has already added hundreds of miles of NATO territory on Russia’s border. Biden’s lifeline of arms and ammunition for Ukraine and leadership of the alliance has made him the most significant president in transatlantic affairs at least since George H.W. Bush, who presided over the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany. His legacy will ultimately depend, however, on the outcome of the war in Ukraine and his capacity to avoid a direct clash with Russia.

Turkey’s about-face will also lighten the mood at the NATO summit, where the alliance’s most unified moment in years had been in danger of being somewhat tarnished by divides over Ukraine’s pleas to get a timetable for membership. Biden had said before leaving the US that Ukraine was not ready to join. New member states need unanimous approval of all NATO’s members before they can join the club and benefit from its collective security guarantee.

Erdogan’s move was also a severe blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin. First, it will result in the expansion of NATO territory and strengthen the alliance after an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine that Putin had argued was partly intended to weaken the West and to counter what he claims is its effort to neuter Russia’s power in its own backyard. Secondly, the decision by Erdogan – an increasingly autocratic leader who has enjoyed largely cordial ties with the Kremlin strongman – will frustrate Russia’s attempts to sow divides between NATO members in order to weaken the alliance.

Monday’s events were another intriguing twist for a mercurial leader who has leveraged Turkey’s strategic position where the West meets the East to try to rebuild his country as a major regional power. While it is so far unclear whether Erdogan secured anything more than cosmetic concessions from Sweden, NATO’s European powers and the United States, his sudden change of mind raises the question of whether he had negotiated himself into a corner. He had already dropped objections to Finland joining the alliance.

The newly reelected Erdogan has vexed successive US presidents for years, both over his geopolitical muscle flexing and his hardline rule that Washington fears will erode Turkey’s secular constitution and democracy. In recent years, the US has been frustrated by his cozying up to Putin and also his suggestions, yet to be realized, of a rapprochement with Syria.

Behind the scenes diplomacy after US pressure

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who is very close to Biden and was just persuaded to extend his term until October 2024, said that Turkey’s change of heart was the product of months of diplomacy. “This is not new negotiation, but it is about implementing, and reassuring the implementation of the different things we agreed a year ago in Madrid,” Stoltenberg said.

Turkey’s change of heart also followed a telephone call between Biden and Erdogan on Sunday, in which the American president appears to have made his position crystal clear. The White House hinted at the tone of the call when it said Biden expressed a desire to get Sweden into NATO “as soon as possible.”

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the deal came about after talks between NATO, Turkey and Sweden but also pointed to recent US engagement, including the president’s meeting in Washington last week with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

"We’re coming into this consequential summit with a full head of steam,” Sullivan told reporters in Vilnius following the Sweden deal which he said highlighted a sense of unity that would disappoint Putin. “Every few months, the question is called: Can the West hang together? Can NATO hang together?” he added. “Every time allies gather, that question gets re-upped, and every time the allies come together and answer it forcefully and vehemently: Yes we can.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, hailed the unpicking of the deadlock and also sought to secure political credit for Biden, whom he saluted as a foreign policy expert. “He has a real grasp of it, a real handle on it, and is very effective. And this is a victory for America, for the West, for freedom, and for President Biden.”

Whether Turkey got any political wins may not emerge for several days. But official media in Ankara quoted a senior official as saying Erdogan secured Sweden’s full support for Turkey’s entry process into the EU, which has been on hold for years. Stoltenberg also expressed strong backing for Turkey’s campaign for EU membership, and Biden said in a statement he was looking forward to enhancing security in Eurasia with the Turkish leader.

All of these steps, however – while possibly giving Erdogan political cover back home for his shift of position – hardly seem like big breakthroughs for Turkey. Stoltenberg, for instance, has no capacity to influence its bid to join the European Union. And Erdogan’s crackdowns on human rights and the media have only increased skepticism about Turkey’s capacity to meet EU entry conditions. Sweden and Turkey did agree to work together to combat terrorism as part of the deal between their leaders, and NATO agreed to appoint a new counter-terrorism coordinator. These steps appear to be aimed at assuaging Erdogan’s demands for a crackdown on the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Sweden. Turkey claims that the Stockholm government had allowed members of the group to operate on its soil and has been complicit in far-right anti-Islam protests.

Another factor that may have weighed on Erdogan was the fact that a group of bipartisan senators had called on Biden to delay the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, which would be one of the biggest arms sales in years, until it dropped its objections to Sweden’s NATO membership. Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Monday he had not yet decided whether to drop his long-standing opposition to the F-16s deal, partly over concern Turkey could use the planes to intimidate fellow NATO member Greece. The New Jersey Democrat said he could make up his mind “in the next week.” Sullivan said that Biden supported the sale of the jets and had placed no caveats or conditions on it in recent weeks in talks with the Turks. He also said the administration had been in touch with Menendez on the issue.

A stunning reversal

Given his hardline position coming into the NATO summit, Erdogan appears to have fallen well short of his own objectives. He warned as recently as Monday morning that Sweden’s membership should be linked to Turkey’s own aspirations to join the EU. “Turkey has been waiting at the gate of the European Union for over 50 years now,” and “almost all NATO member countries are European member countries,” he warned.

Former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner said on CNN on Monday that Erdogan’s sudden shift was “fascinating” because he had essentially been seeking to negotiate quid pro quos with the US for months. “This really isn’t about Sweden, this is about the United States and Turkey and Turkey’s role,” she told Jake Tapper. “He played his hand too hard by putting the EU membership on the table, and I think he really wants to be seen by NATO as the person who comes in and saves the day, not as the spoiler.” She continued: “He started looking like the spoiler and I think he had to back off.”

One major consequence of Erdogan’s reversal could be a souring of his relations with Putin only days after he he invited the Russian leader to Turkey in August. Erdogan wants to wield Turkey’s power to broker an extension to a deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from Black Sea ports.

In another significant move over the weekend, Turkey allowed the release of a group of Ukrainian commanders, who were previously captured by Russia after leading the defense of Mariupol from the Azovstal steel plant last year. They went home to a heroes’ welcome with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky despite a prior agreement with Russia that they would not be handed over to Ukraine until the end of the war.

It looks like Erdogan has made a significant break with Putin. But anyone who expects him to quit playing multiple sides of the great geopolitical game will likely be disappointed. Erdogan has always been about exacting maximum power for himself and Turkey, and that is unlikely to change.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/11/politics/biden-turkey-sweden-nato/index.html

[Rick Plant]

President Biden @POTUS

Folks, we're in Lithuania for the NATO Summit.
 
Our Alliance is stronger, more energized, and more united than ever.



Lithuania, thank you for the warm welcome.



The United States is here today to reaffirm our ironclad commitment to NATO, but also to our Ally Lithuania.
 
Our partnership goes back a long way. And our commitment to Lithuania, to the Baltics, and to NATO has not wavered.



It's great to be back in Vilnius.







The United States will always stand with Lithuania, and we are committed to defending every inch of NATO Territory.
 
Our commitment to the security of our NATO Allies is ironclad.

Today, President Nausėda of Lithuania and I discussed our commitment to defending NATO's eastern flank and our support for the people of Ukraine.
 
We're taking on these shared challenges together.



At this critical moment, there’s no one better equipped to lead a united NATO than Secretary General Stoltenberg.
 
Putin thinks the way he succeeds is to break NATO – it’s not going to happen.



It was great sitting down with President Erdoğan once again today in Lithuania for a NATO Summit made even more historic by Türkiye’s agreement on the admission of Sweden.



NATO stands strong.



https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1678875563669311490

[Richard Smith]

Old Joe embarrassed himself numerous times in "Europe" this week.  Isn't there one person on his staff who can instruct him on where he is supposed to go so that he doesn't roam around on stage like an escaped dementia patient?

[Rick Plant]

In another show of international strength, Lithuania President Gitanas Nauseda bestowed President Joe Biden with The Order of Vytautas the Great with the Golden Collar, the highest award that a Lithuanian President can bestow on anyone.

President Biden is the first American president to receive the award for special merits in developing the bilateral relations between the Republic of Lithuania and the United States of America, improving the political, cultural, economic, and social cooperation of the two countries.

Doesn't really fit the radical right wing "old man with dementia" fake narrative, does it?





NATO Summit: President Biden Receives Order Of Vytautas The Great From Lithuania


NATO Summit: President of Lithuania welcomes Joe Biden at the Presidential Palace in Vilnius

VILNIUS — The NATO summit kicked off in Vilnius with a show of solidarity for Ukraine, as President Joe Biden’s motorcade arrived at the summit site amidst a sea of blue and yellow flags adorning the city.

Ukrainian flags were raised on street poles, city buses, and buildings, while residents were urged to join in by displaying blue and yellow flags on their windows and balconies. The city’s tallest building, the Vilnius TV Tower, also joined in by illuminating its facade with the colors of NATO, Lithuania, and Ukraine flags after dark.

Welcome to Lithuania, @POTUS! He will participate in the #NATOSummit. The U.S. commitment to our NATO Allies and Article 5 is sacrosanct and President Biden is in Vilnius to affirm that. #WeAreNATO pic.twitter.com/uBxJAIA6XC

— U.S. Embassy Vilnius (@USEmbVilnius) July 10, 2023

Earlier today, President Nauseda presented President Biden with the Order of Vytautas the Great, adorned with a golden collar. This honor holds significant meaning, as it is the highest award that a Lithuanian President can bestow, and President Biden is the first US President to receive it. The Order of Vytautas the Great was established in 1930 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas the Great. It is granted to both Lithuanian and foreign heads of state, as well as their citizens, in recognition of distinguished services to the State of Lithuania.

The White House expressed, “This award recognizes President Biden’s special merits in developing bilateral relations between the Republic of Lithuania and the United States of America, as well as his contributions to political, cultural, economic, and social cooperation between the two countries.”

The United States established diplomatic relations with Lithuania in 1922. Since Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, the two countries have developed a close partnership. The United States warmly welcomed Lithuania’s accession to NATO and the European Union in 2004.

The office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania revealed that President Gitanas Nauseda engaged in discussions with President Biden regarding support for Ukraine, measures to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank, and the response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, backed by Belarus. Furthermore, President Nauseda mentioned Lithuania’s efforts to secure military equipment from the United States.

President Nauseda highlighted the warm reception given to President Biden by the Lithuanian people, acknowledging that some Vilnius residents had temporarily left the city due to heightened security measures.

“The United States is here today to reaffirm our commitment to NATO, but also to Vilnius,” stated President Biden during the meeting with Nauseda. He pledged to stand by Lithuania and assured that all necessary assistance would be provided.

Expressing his support for Ukraine, President Biden emphasized, “We’re also going to discuss our support for Ukraine.”

He reiterated his strong backing for the transatlantic alliance. “As you’ve probably heard, I’m a strong supporter of the transatlantic alliance,” said Biden. Leaning towards President Nauseda, he added, “As I’ve said before, we take, NATO takes, all of us take, Article 5 literally.” President Biden also expressed confidence in Sweden joining NATO, saying, “I’m confident we can get that done.” Moreover, he reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine.

President Nauseda, a vocal advocate for Ukraine’s NATO membership, emphasized the urgency of taking decisive action in the face of the current security situation in Europe.

“Now is the right time for strategic decisions. Inviting Ukraine to join NATO would be our strategic responsibility and would firmly link Ukraine to the Euro-Atlantic security architecture. Ukraine deserves to be invited,” he shared his views after a meeting with a group of US Senators on Monday.

Biden will hold a meeting with President of Turkey later today following Erdogan’s agreement to forward Sweden’s accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly to ensure ratification.

https://thepavlovictoday.com/nato-summit-president-biden-receives-order-of-vytautas-the-great-from-lithuania/

[Rick Plant]

Right wingers are pulling their hair out as their two main talking points against President Biden has gone up in smoke.

U.S. inflation has fallen dramatically than any G7 country, and President Joe Biden's new border policy has fixed the Trump border disaster. Biden's border success demolishes the Republican lie of an "open border".     

Republicans should be thrilled that President Biden is cleaning up Donald Trump's disasters that Biden inherited. That's what an effective President does, which is get solid results from competent leadership.       

Today’s CPI report brings new and encouraging evidence that inflation is falling while our economy remains strong.

• Inflation has fallen for 12 months in a row to 3% — the lowest it’s been in over two years!

• Wages are rising — wages for the average worker are now higher than they were before the pandemic, accounting for inflation.

• The U.S. has the lowest inflation and strongest economic growth of all G7 nations.

• We’ve never seen such a large drop in inflation while also seeing jobs growth.

The bottom line: We’re seeing more jobs and lower costs while other countries are still suffering with high inflation. That’s Bidenomics in action.


US inflation hits its lowest point since early 2021 as prices ease for gas, groceries and used cars
https://apnews.com/article/inflation-prices-interest-rates-economy-federal-reserve-53d93610b5ccaacd097853593f29bc26

UK’s Inflation Crisis Expected to Last Another 10 Months
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-11/cost-of-living-crisis-to-last-another-10-months-says-retail-economics#xj4y7vzkg


Paul Glastris @glastris

The Washington Post today reports that Biden’s new asylum/refugee policies are working—two months after my colleague
@billscher @monthly reported they were working and four months after he predicted they would work. /1

Southern border ‘eerily quiet’ after policy shift on asylum seekers
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/07/12/us-mexico-border-migrant-crossings/

Here is @billscher reporting the Biden administration’s boarder policy success in March, before anyone else did. /2

Republicans Want to Impeach Mayorkas. How About Giving Him a Medal?
The Homeland Security secretary and Cuban refugee is being pilloried by the right and some on the left for his immigration policies, but the Biden administration is succeeding in slowing the influx of refugees and ending the cruelty of the Trump era.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/05/18/republicans-want-to-impeach-mayorkas-how-about-giving-him-a-medal/

Here is @billscher predicting in March that Biden’s boarder strategy would be a success, back when the rest of the new media, channeling nativist conservatives and immigrant advocates, portrayed the administration’s policies as feckless /end

Biden’s Smart Immigration Idea
The Welcome Corps allows Americans to sponsor groups of vetted migrants seeking asylum and help newcomers settle in their communities.
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/03/30/bidens-smart-immigration-idea/ @monthly

https://twitter.com/glastris/status/1679242494570029057