House of Representatives Or “Outhouse”?

The GOP has turned our House of Representatives into an outhouse that usually sits behind a shack in the woods. The reason for this move is because there is absolutely no leadership in the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House position is empty with no one actually being the Speaker. This has become all too clear over the last year or so.

Kevin McCarthy is so mealy-mouthed that he has no concept of leadership nor any concept of governance. Either that or he simply doesn’t care about either and just wants the title and perks that go with the office. He has shown his total incompetence in even trying to hold his own caucus together. And, the worst part is that he seems to relish his incompetence.

Let’s take a look at just a few things that we have witnessed just in the last week or two. We are facing the potential of another Republican caused government shutdown. McCarthy cannot get his own caucus to respect the deal he made with President Biden over the debt limit bill passed. In that deal, he pledged, as well as the Republicans in Congress, that they would cap the budget for 2024 at 2023 levels.

That sounded like a good deal until Republicans started reneging on that deal and demanding huge cuts to the budget. McCarthy as always, caved to the extremists in his caucus and now the government is facing another shutdown caused by Republicans. But, the major stumbling block for the next budget is the extremists views on abortion. Every single budget bill for every agency in the Government includes anti-abortion riders.

It doesn’t matter what the agency is they are talking about, those anti-abortion riders are included and they are causing the bills to fail or be pulled from a vote because moderate Republicans don’t want them in the bills. McCarthy won’t pull the riders and tell the extremists to use other measures to try to push their stupid views on the American people. No, he pulls the bills from a vote and hides in his closet to avoid a real discussion on the issue, which the vast majority of Americans believe that abortion should be legal and the woman’s choice.

He announced this week that he asked several committees to open up “impeachment inquiries” against President Biden. He did this for two reasons. First, it came out that trump met with the wackos of the Republican party and declared he wanted this inquiry and they went along with it. Secondly, he opened it because the extremists in his party vowed to shut down the government if he did not open an inquiry.

Now that he has done what they wanted, the extremists are claiming that he is “gaslighting” his own party because “he really does not want to impeach the President”. Of course in all of the so-called “hearings” being held in the House, not one piece of actual evidence has been shown to indicate that the President has done anything illegal or improper. All they have uncovered is inuendo and false accusations that have all fallen apart in their own hearings.

Once again we have the extremists in the Republican party playing Russian Roulette with our government and our economy over things that have nothing to do with how our government should work. They are doing everything they can to undo our government in order to make headlines for their wacko base. And, McCarthy is letting them get away with it again. He has no backbone and no desire to be a real Speaker of the House and take care of the business of the Government.

Finally, and this is a real thorn in my side we have the stupid bubble headed nutjob from Georgia knows as MTG. If this woman had one more brain cell in her head, it would die from loneliness. She not only doesn’t have a clue about government and how it is supposed to work, she is actively suggesting that “states consider seceding from the United States”.

On the 22nd anniversary of the horrible 9/11 terrorist attack on our country, she declared that if a state doesn’t like the border situation, they should consider secession. Here we have a sitting member of the House of Representatives actually calling for this nation to split up. Needless to say that would result in another civil war with millions of people being killed.

There is no other way to say this, that statement is treasonous against the nation she is supposed to be representing. It cannot be considered as “free speech”, because the constitution says “seditious and treasonous” speech is not protected speech.

Yet, McCarthy has said nothing about this act of treason. He has not declared the comments even as “inappropriate”. He has allowed them to sit and stir in the minds of those who want to destroy our nation. McCarthy is so afraid of actually doing his job, that he allows such treasonous talk from members of his own caucus because he is afraid of losing his title.

I am going to say this on a personal note. I am a 20 year veteran of our military. I took an oath to protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. MTG is, in my opinion a domestic enemy to the Constitution with comments like this one. Also, on September 11, 2001, I lost 5 colleagues, two of which were good friends in the attacks. They lost their lives trying to save others.

It was a brutal time for all of us who love our country, and this woman, and I would prefer to use another word, says states should consider seceding from the union on the anniversary of that horrible day. That is the very definition of treason and she should be held accountable for it.

Itis time for such speech to be investigated. MTG should be thrown out of office by the House. Not allowed to resign, but be thrown out in disgrace for her treasonous behavior. But, McCarthy won’t dare to even consider that because he is nothing but a wet blanket pretending to be someone important.

We have a political party, the Republicans, who made a pact with the devil and is now stuck with the results. The extremists and white supremacists have taken over the party. They have no policies except to bash our great nation and try to destroy our democracy.

Kevin McCarty with his cowardice, has turned the House of Representatives of the United States of America into its “outhouse”. It has become a place where autocratic wackos and white supremacists go to shit on America and our democratic way of life.

This is the party that wants to rule over us for eternity. We must vote the bastards out of office from the national level right down to the local level. It is the only way to ensure a democratic future for our children and grandchildren.

Opinion: Political Violence Will End When Republicans Love Their Children More Than They Hate American Democracy

There is one simple fact about our nation. Violence, and especially political violence is rising and rising. Yet, we have one party, the Republican party that not only does not care about the violence, but in many cases are actually encouraging it.

I have come to the conclusion that we will continue with this mayhem until Republicans learn to love their children more than they hate our nation and our democracy. At every turn, Republicans are stripping away personal freedoms from citizens in a “power move” they believe will give them control of the nation.

The rights they are stripping are not just about minorities. They are stripping away personal medical freedoms. They are stripping away personal choices. They are stripping away education freedoms. They are stripping away voting rights. And, this list continues to grow with each Republican controlled legislature session.

We keep hearing Republicans telling us that they “won’t get between you and your doctor”. Yet they have passed laws that do exactly that. Only they say they have the power to tell each American if an abortion is okay or not. Only they have the power to tell parents what medical treatment is okay for their children. Only they have the power to put doctors in prison for refusing to follow their draconian views.

When it comes to education, only they can tell a teacher what he or she can talk about in class. They have the power to rewrite history to make themselves “feel better” about their racism. Or, as one of the advocates said: “Are we indoctrinating children? Yes, we are putting doctrines favorable to us in front of them so they become more like us”.

Violence has increased dramatically. In the last 4 years, deaths of children by guns has increased by 40%. You read that correctly. In the last 4 years, deaths by guns of children has nearly doubled. Yet, Republicans say nothing and do nothing to protect children from this epidemic of gun violence.

When their leading candidate attacks judges, lawyers and even jurors with crude and violent rhetoric, they sit back and say nothing. When mass shootings take place, and there have been 400 between January and July, they only say “our thoughts and prayers”. When people are killed over political issues, they remain silent.

A store owner in California was murdered the other day. As it was reported, she owned a shop and proudly flew a rainbow flag at her shop. A man decided he didn’t like that so he tore it down. When she confronted him about it, he pulled out a gun and shot her to death.

This is not as uncommon as you think. And the reason it is not so uncommon is because of the vitriol hurled from Republicans against the LGBTQ community. Republicans are attempting to make LGBTQ something that is a second class “condition” and therefore members of the LGBTQ community should be held in contempt as second class citizens.

This violence just doesn’t stop. Armed thugs show up at libraries where there are “drag story reading” sessions. They show up at pride events. They show up anywhere LGBTQ people assemble to celebrate their lives and their love. Republicans applaud this outlandish behavior and tell us “well they brought it upon their perverted selves”.

What they truly refuse to acknowledge is the real fact that LGBTQ people, women, Asians, African-Americans, and immigrants are NOT all Democrats. They refuse to acknowledge that their constituents and their children are also part of these groups.

All transgender adults and children are not all Democrats. All gays and lesbians are not all Democrats. The children of these hating Republicans are part of these groups just as much as children of Democrats. Yet, they are willing to deny their own children the personal freedoms they claim for themselves.

Their children have been victims in schools shootings. Yet, they won’t do anything to protect their own children from gun violence. Thier children are being targeted by restrictive voter suppression laws in states, yet, they continue to pass more and more legislation to make it harder for their own children to vote.

For most of my 70 plus years of life, I have been told that Democrats are “trying to take away our freedoms”. But in all of that time, I have seen no laws passed by Democrats that actually take away any rights or tries to get between me and my doctor. That is the purview of the Republican Party of today.

It is actually sickening to anyone who actually looks at what is going on and realize that Republicans are actually attacking their own children with these fascist laws being passed in Republican states.

We can draw no other conclusions that Republicans hate America and American democracy more than they love their children. The American political arena is not longer a battle for real policies or ideas. It has been turned by Republicans into a battle for our very souls. Not just our nation’s soul, but our souls as well.

They claim to be “Christian” then pass laws that are extremely anti-Chrisian. They claim to love America then pass laws taking away the personal freedoms of its citizens. They cry about our “open borders” but won’t come to the table and work on reasonable immigration reform to stop what they are complaining about.

They always offer “thoughts and prayers” after every mass shooting, but won’t pass any laws to protect their own children from becoming a victim of the next mass shooting or school shooting.

Republicans are always looking for something or someone to blame for everything. They have offered us nothing to battle the real threat to our nation from within. They only praise the crazies who are committing political crimes like the J6 traitors.

When their leading candidate says “if you come for me we will come for you” there is dead silence from their party leaders. When he attacks judges. lawyers and private citizens who served on juries, you hear dead silence from their party leaders.

All of this proves that Republicans have one shiny object in their vision. That shiny object is a dictatorship where they rule over us and not govern for our betterment. If that means their own children must be punished along with those nasty Democrats, so be it.

I will say it again. This political landscape will only change when Republicans love their children more than they hate America and American Democracy. That alone is reason enough for them to be trounced in the next election all the way down the ballot.

I hate to keep saying it but The Shirts Keep Marching Along!

How Much More Disgusting Can Republicans Get? Apparently A Lot More

There is a bill being debated in the Colorado Legislature that clarifies the remedies a person with a disability is entitled to under current Colorado law regarding discrimination in public spaces. The bill was authored by Rep. David Ortiz (D) who was paralyzed while serving as a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army.

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) has been around for decades. Yet, people with disabilities still find it difficult to access some locations. This bill makes it possible for people with disabilities to hold those locations accountable for discrimination.

So, Republicans just can’t seem to be able to stand the idea that people with disabilities require access to everywhere just like everyone else. They believe that if you simply can’t walk up the stairs, you obviously don’t need to be there.

They have become so heartless, that they are willing to use any language and any “evidence” that these kinds of measures are not necessary. So, up steps one of their heroes in Colorado Rep. Richard Holtorf (R). He just doesn’t see any need for any protections for disabled people.

As reported by RawStory, Holtorf said Colorado doesn’t need additional protections for people with disabilities against discrimination because Spain won’t let participants at the famous “running of the bulls” in Pamplona sue if they get injured.

“If you’re dumb enough to get on this road and run the eight blocks, ten blocks and run in the ring and you get hurt, you own it,” he said. “And that’s Spanish law.”

“There’s no liability, there’s no lawsuits, you don’t get to do any of that,” he added. “Because you’re responsible for the risks that you take in this running of the bulls.”

If you are scratching your head over this, so is every sane person on the planet. According to this rant, we can make a bunch of conclusions about what he is saying. The most offensive is that he seems to believe that if you have a disability, it is y0ur fault so you must just shup up and put up with it.

According to this “logic”, Rep. Ortiz shouldn’t get any accessibility because his disability as caused by his choice to be a helicopter pilot in the U.S. Army. He is actually telling every disabled vet that their disability is their fault, so shut up about accessibility.

According to his “logic” if you were born with a disability “you must have chosen” to have that disability, so just shut up about having reasonable accessibility.

This Republican lawmaker believes that if you are a disabled veteran it is your fault because you volunteered to serve you country. If you suffered a disabling disease it is your fault because you should not have gotten that disease. If you are blind it is your fault because you chose to be blind. This sick list goes on and on.

We know that the Republicans in Colorado believe just like this clown does. There has been no outcry about this rant against people with disabilities. We also know Republicans back this clown’s views because they are filibustering the bill in order to try to run out the clock so they don’t have to vote on it.

This is just more proof just how inhumane Republicans are towards the very p0pulation they are supposed to represent. It shows that this inhumanity and hatred is not confined to just a few crazies in Washington. It is rampant throughout the party. It is dangerous to our democracy and dangerous to the very well-being of you and your family.

This version of the so-called Republican Party must be trashed at the polls next year. We need to cleanse our politics of these self-serving power grubbing morons before it becomes too late. If we can give them the thrashing they deserve, then maybe the real Republicans will take back their party.

But, as my English friends say “Chance would be a fine thing”.

The Dog Can’t Drive The Car It Has Been Chasing

Well, today we will witness round seven in the hunt for a speaker. The radical right in the House is digging in trying to deny Kevin McCarthy the title of speaker. In the votes taken so far, he has lost votes over the six votes already held. Yesterday, after saying they would hold a vote at 8 pm, Republicans asked for an adjournment instead of putting McCarthy through another humiliating defeat.

The plan was to sit in his office trying to “negotiate” with the radical right of their party in order to get him his votes. Even if they succeed in getting him elected, according to the “deals” he has already made, he will be the weakest Speaker of the House in our history. Hell, he even made it easier for these nuts to oust him from the post if he is elected.

With all of this going on, you would think that Republicans would be hunkering down and dealing with their own caucus. But, that isn’t the case. Instead, many of the same people who wish to destroy our Congress are trying to blame all of this on Democrats.

Marjorie Taylor Greene put out a 30 second ad attacking Hakeem Jefferies. Apparently, she is afraid he might get the speaker position especially considering he got more votes on each ballot than McCarthy. Instead of trying to help McCarthy get the votes, she is attacking the Democrat leader.

In another outrageous statement, one of the representative elects who nominated McCarthy on the last ballot voted on said that Democrats were “eating popcorn and drinking alcohol” on the House floor while Republicans floundered time and time again.

Just what the hell is wrong with these people? You cannot get your “candidate” elected if you don’t work to convince your own party to support him. You cannot help your candidate win by attacking the other party. Just how does that help McCarthy get the votes he needs to be named speaker of the house?

As we sit back and watch this debacle, we are witness to the lack of leadership, the lack of priorities, the lack of policies and the lack of morality present in today’s Republican Party. The only main priority on display from these clowns is their own personal attempts to get attention from the media they all love to put down.

Greene and others are attacking the other radicals for not voting for McCarthy. The other side are attacking the rest of the party for voting for McCarthy. Neither side is interested in showing any willingness to govern. They are only interested is screaming at each other and trying to gain the “base’s” approval instead of the American People’s approval.

The former guy has tried to put his stamp of approval on McCarthy and tell everyone to vote for McCarthy. But, one of his staunchest supporters, Boebert, told him he should tell McCarthy to “step down”. Proving that trump cannot control the monsters he created.

To be clear, this fight over the Speaker position has nothing to do with “draining the swamp” or “changing the rules” or “making the House work better”. No, it is all about personalities. It is about being able to stand on the floor of the House and attack everyone and anyone who does not agree with you.

This fight is about getting headlines for the minority in the party. It is about pretending to be something you are not, a fighter. It is about screaming, shouting, attacking and personal attention. That is really what this fight is about and Republicans know it or they wouldn’t be trying to attack Democrats who are united behind their leader.

While Republicans are showing the nation they are the party of chaos and do-nothingness, Democrats are united and trying to govern the nation. Unfortunately for the American people, Democrats are the minority in the House and we can be sure nothing will be done to improve our lives or our nation.

It doesn’t matter who Republicans finally make the Speaker of the House. That person will only be a figurehead with no leadership ability and chaos will reign for the next two years courtesy of the radical right in the Republican party.

Republicans wanted and got the majority in the House. Now, they are proving they can’t handle the responsibility of being the majority. Republicans wanted the majority in government, but they are like the dog chasing the car. The dog wouldn’t know how to drive it even if he catches it. Republicans are proving beyond a reasonable doubt they cannot drive the car known as the House of Representatives. Just like that dog.

It Is 2023 – The Sad Clown Show Is About to Begin

Today the new Congress begins. The House is now under a slim Republican majority. If what we have watched since the election holds, it is going to be the worst and most ineffective House we have ever seen in our nation’s long history.

Today we are going to see if Kevin McCarthy will actually be voted in as the Speaker of the House. He is facing strong opposition from the far right of the party and he is selling his soul to get their votes. The only question is will he succeed?

The fact is that even if he does win the speakership, he will undoubtedly be the weakest and most feckless speaker of the house ever. Since he needs to appease the trump maga nuts, he will not be able to do anything of essence while he is the speaker. We can be sure that no legislation that will help us fix any of our problems will reach the floor.

Whether or not you liked Nancy Pelosi, we all know that she was a very strong speaker of the house. She was able to keep her caucus together when it came to legislation that would help Americans. She was able to moderate between the far left ranks and the moderate ranks and was able to pass real meaningful legislation.

On the other hand, McCarthy can’t even come close to that strength. He really isn’t interested in governing our nation. All he wants is the title and the perks that come with the title of Speaker of the House. He has no agenda other than investigations. He has no solutions to any of our problems. He has no plans for immigration reform, health care, inflation or anything else. All he wants it the title of Speaker of the House not the responsibilities that go with that title.

How the vote for speaker ends up, will produce the weakest speaker in history and the most ineffective House in history. Republicans have shown their hand. They are not interested in the American people. They are interested in revenge against their supposed “enemies” and the supposed “enemies” of their hero trump.

Today’s vote will let us know just how miserable the House will be in the next two years. It will show us just how bad the party is and just what their “ambitions” are. The deals McCarthy is agreeing to get the votes of the right wing nuts is very dangerous.

We have seen chaos in Congress for a while. People have blamed the divide between Democrats and Republicans. The real problem we face now is the chaos that Republicans will create with their own infighting. Republicans will face off against each other for two years and nothing will get done.

As a famous sports caster would say “sit back and strap it down”. The very sad clown show is about to begin. The losers? The American People.

Mar-A-Lago Dinner Proves Trump Unfit To Hold Public Office

It seems the outrage over trump having dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes is not dying down yet. Some Republicans have come out and said he should never have met with the two men. Only one called trump out by name though.

Let us remember that Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has made several anti-sematic remarks in the past month or so. Nick Fuentes is an avowed white supremacist and antisemite as well. Fuentes was one of the leaders at the Charlottesville riots when trump was president and he said “there were bad people on both sides”. Refusing to denounce the white supremacists who started the violence.

Of course in his usual defense, trump claimed that “I didn’t even know who Fuentes is”. Every time trump mingles with his white supremacist and ant-sematic supporters, he always claims he “doesn’t know who they are”. That goes all the way back to 2016 when David Duke, a leader of the KKK, gave his full throated support to trump in his run for president. When questioned, trump said “I don’t know who David Duke is”.

Let me say this. The defense of “I don’t know who he is” is a clear example one of two things. One – trump is the most stupid and most ignorant man on the face of the planet or two – trump is the biggest liar on the face of the earth. Regardless of which is true, trump has shown he is totally unfit to hold any public office.

If he is the most stupid and most ignorant man on the planet, he does not have the qualifications to run a country. If he is the biggest liar on the face of the planet he cannot be trusted with running a country. Therefore, he should cease his “campaign for president” immediately.

That is one of the things that is missing in Republican condemnation of his dinner with these two morons. Not one Republican has said that the dinner disqualifies him to be the nominee from their party. If, as some have said, there is no room in the party for antisemites and white supremacists, then why haven’t they called on him to pull out of the campaign?

If, as Marco Rubio said, the dinner was “disgusting” why isn’t he stating openly that he would not support trump if he won the nomination? Of course, they won’t say anything bad about trump and his white supremacy and anti-sematic tendencies because they are all afraid he will say something bad about them on his truth social or on Fox News.

There is a simple fact behind all of this. By having dinner with two known antisemites and a white supremacist, trump is advertising his true beliefs. He is advertising that everything he says about supporting Israel is a lie. He is also advertising his white supremacy beliefs. Both of which should disqualify him to be our president.

Then again, we knew back in 2016 that this was all true about him, and he still won the election. His supporters, whom Republicans are afraid of, actually run the party and especially the primaries. That means they need to acquiesce to trump and his beliefs in order to remain in office. If they go against trump, his supporters will vote them out in the primaries.

As a result, the Republican Party has not only become more right-wing extremist, it has become more anti-sematic and more white supremist. All in the name of power and rule.

Unless a Republican comes out and states very clearly that meeting with these two despicable people disqualifies trump to be the nominee of the party, nothing will change and things in their party will get even worse than it already is. Don’t hold your breath, though.

Republicans Blame Everything and Everyone For Their Poor Midterm Results – Except Their Bad Polices

We still don’t know the final results of Tuesday’s election. However, that is nothing new. We have a long tradition of not knowing who all of the winners and losers are on election night. And, with the popularity of mail voting, that “delay” in counting votes is growing year by year.

In at least three states, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin mail votes cannot even start being counted until election day. Meaning that thousands maybe even millions of ballots sit in a box somewhere waiting to be counted. If they could begin counting these ballots earlier, then maybe we wouldn’t have such a big delay between election day and the final results.

But, that is the problem with democracy. It is messy. In our country, it becomes even more messy because elections are handled at the state level not the national level like other countries. I am not saying that is a bad thing, but it means that things can be slower in one state over others.

I have to admit, election misinformation doesn’t seem to be ad fierce as it was in 2020. But, that doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful and even outright lies. For example, in Wisconsin, it is normal procedure for a poll worker to place their initials on ballots before handing them to the voter on election day.

Someone took a video of this happening. Fox News took that clip and aired it. Later that same day, someone posted it on social media and claimed it happened in Philadelphia. By Wednesday, QAnon and Michael Flynn started saying it was “proof” of voter fraud.

In Arizona, there was a problem with vote tabulators. Turns out the problem was with the printing of ballots. In some cases, the ink on the ballot was not “dark enough” to be read by the machines. In Arizona, if the ballot is rejected by the machine, you can place your ballot in a box with the machine so it can be counted by hand later in the day.

However, again, Republicans jumped on this problem as “proof” of voter fraud. Of course, Maricopa County was the target of these allegations. Maricopa County is the largest county in the state and has about 70 percent of the total population of the state. And, it leans a lot more Democrat than Republican. So, naturally it must be voter fraud even though the election council is predominantly Republican.

The odd part is this. Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania all “battleground states” are mostly controlled by Republicans. Their state legislatures are predominantly Republican and most statewide officials are Republican. Yet, they are the states most targeted for “voter fraud”. So, in my guess, Republicans are complaining that Republicans are committing voter fraud against Republicans. Hmmm.

Now that we know for sure the “promised great red tsunami” never happened, we are hearing all kinds of excuses for their failures. We hear Republicans complaining about Kevin McCarthy as the reason for their failure. We hear Republicans complaining about trump being the reason for their failure. We hear Republicans complaining about “weak” candidates for their failure.

But, Tucker Carlson has another reason for their failure. On one hand he claimed the great influence Fox News has on elections. On the other hand, he blames other news media for the failure of Republicans having their great red tsunami. Carlson scoffed at the notion that “bad candidates” were the problem, asserting that “candidate quality is actually not the most important thing.” Um, forgive me stupid, but candidate quality is actually THE most important thing to win elections. Or at least it should be.

But no, according to Carlson, any stupid insane person should win elections if they are considered “conservative” and if every single media outlet promoted their stupidity as a “good thing” like Fox News does.

We have always heard excuses from people who lost elections. But, the excuses and the complaining has grown over the past 20 years or so. This excuse and complaining has come mostly from Republicans. And, it all exploded with the former guy “Humpty Trumpty”. In this midterm election and the losses from his “personally backed candidates” it appears that “Humpty Trumpty” fell off the wall.

The fact of the matter is that people who go to the polls and vote are not as lazy or stupid at Republicans want them to be. They are intelligent people who recognize the simple fact that Republicans offer not plans or policies that will make their lives better. They now realize that the real party that is “taking away our rights” is the Republican Party. That doesn’t usually mean a favorable election result, and in this case, it didn’t.

Usually in a midterm for a first term president, his party is beaten pretty badly. That did not happen this year. It may be that Republicans will control Congress after all of the dust settles down, but Americans did not give them the “mandate” they wanted to blow up our country and our form of government.

That is a plus. But, the fight isn’t over. This is just the first step in making our democracy stronger not weaker. The fight over whether we are a democracy or an autocracy is still on. We cannot become lax or weak in our defense of our democracy in the aftermath of this election.

Sorry, but if you look up “sore losers” in the dictionary, you will find pictures of the Republican Party. As Humpty Trumpty would say, “how sad”.

Are They Just Lazy, Ignorant, Inept Or Really Anti-American?

Republicans want us to vote them into power in the House and Senate this year. They want us to vote them in for Governor of many states this year. They claim they are pro-life, pro-military and pro-American. They claim to have “all the answers” to our problems, but won’t tell us what those answers are.

I say the Republicans are liars. They are only pro-life if it doesn’t affect them and their girlfriends, right Herschel Walker? They are not pro-military because under Rick Scotts plan for the GOP if the recapture the House and Senate, one of the biggest cuts he wants is veterans benefits. Besides, every time lately they want to use the military as props for their campaigns, they can’t seem to get it right.

In the latest example, we have the Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona. Kari Lake, who is supposedly a former news reporter, put up an ad that claims she will “secure our border”. In the ad, an announcer says that she “will deploy the National Guard to the border”. While he is talking we are shown a military parade. Except that military parade is of Russian Soldiers participating is some sort of “victory parade”.

Makes one wonder if she is planning to import those so-called “toxic masculine” soldiers to secure our border. The same “toxic masculine” soldiers getting their asses kicked in the war in Ukraine. Or, is she and her staff so stupid they don’t recognize Russian soldiers when comparing them to American soldiers. As her opponent commented: “If Kari Lake can’t identify a uniformed member of the Arizona National Guard from a Russian soldier, she has no business leading our brave men and women as governor.” 

This isn’t the first time Russian troops were used in campaign ads for the GOP. It has been going on for years. At least as long as their hero trump has been on the stage.

House Republicans led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy two weeks ago “unveiled their ‘Commitment to America’ agenda for 2023 ― and with it, an inspirational video chock full of scenes presented as exceptional imagery of America but that are actually stock footage from Russia and Ukraine.” 

The Huffington Post reported about this ad. according to a report in the Huffington Post. “Serg Grbanoff, a filmmaker based in Russia…told HuffPost that he filmed” a scene used in the GOP’s video “in Russia’s Volgograd region.”

“In another scene,” HuffPost reports, “a boy is seen smiling and running in a field with a toy airplane. The words ‘Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ appear on the screen, a reference to the Declaration of Independence.” That “clip was also created by Grbanoff, and also filmed in the Volgograd region of Russia.”

There’s more.

In 2020 Trump’s Make America Great Again Committee asked Americans to “support our troops” in an ad that ran on 9/11. The ad featured Russian fighter jets and a solder carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

The we have this. According to a review by American Ledger, a website published by the progressive super PAC American Bridge 21st Century, reported in 2020, “a political advertisement featuring several Texas Republican congressional candidates used stock footage of a Russian warship and an Israeli military helicopter to promote their campaigns.”

Before that, in 2016, then-candidate Donald Trump released an ad decrying the treatment of American vets. “Our great veterans are being treated terribly,” Trump said in a video. “The corruption in the Veteran’s administration, the incompetence is beyond. We will stop that.”

Gawker at the time reported “it was pulled down before most anyone could see it after commenters pointed out that the footage clearly depicted Russian veterans wearing the distinctive St. George ribbon and pins with the Communist hammer and sickle.”

Mistakes do happen. However, how come it is the Republicans who keep using Russian stock videos in their ads? How come when they want to show their support for “our military” they seem to choose Russian soldiers to “show that support”?

Well, I can think of only a few reasons for this repeated offense against our real military. They are incompetent, they are stupid, they are lazy, they are completely inept, or they prefer the Russian military over ours.

Why is it for reasons unknown the accidental usage of Russian imagery appears to have only occurred in ads by Republicans and only Russian footage? Footage from any other country, for instance, Canada, Australia, or Mexico, does not appear to have ever mistakenly been used.

So, let’s look at this again. Do we really want a party that is so stupid, lazy, inept or pro-Russian military to be in charge of our government? Do we really believe that laziness is a staple of the Republican party? Do we really believe they are that inept? Are they really so pro-Russian military they prefer to show them in their ads?

If this had happened once or twice, I could make the claim that it is all a mistake. But, after being busted for these mistakes over and over, I must ask if it is all intentional? Are they subliminally telling us that they want our country run like Russia? Is that their real goal in wanting to gain control of the country?

When they get busted for these ads, they take them down but they never apologize to the brave men and women in our military for using Russians. The candidate will blame their “staff” for the “error”. They never take responsibility for the actions of their staff.

Leadership begins at the top. If a candidate is being made a fool of by his or her staff by using Russian footage instead of American footage, why aren’t they being publicly fired or even rebuked by the candidate?

These ads are clearly showing there is no leadership in the Republican party over their staffs or they approve of the ads and the Russian footage in them. So, why should we trust them to show leadership in running our country? What makes their lack of leadership and laziness a quality we would want in our government leaders? I for one don’t trust them as far as I can throw them.

Just more reasons the Republicans must be trashed at the polls this November. And proof why they must be trashed at the polls all the way down ballot. They apparently are lazy, inept, or love Russia more than America.

Vote the bums out in November.

Republicans – “We Broke It – Now You Have To Fix It For Us”

For as long as I can remember, the Republicans have always fought against improvements in our infrastructure. This year the Democrats passed a huge infrastructure bill and just about every Republican voted against it. They also voted against the Inflation Reduction Act but are now crowing about its benefits to their voters.

On the flip side, they have cause massive water problems in more than one location. We all remember the Flint, MI water case when in order to “save money” the Republicans switched Flint’s water from Detroit water to the Flint River. That cause massive problems including lead poisoning of the people of Flint.

It took almost a full year before the Republican state legislature and the Republican Governor of the state to even admit there was a problem. Flint is still struggling with their water problems, although they have gotten much better and they aren’t being poisoned anymore.

Now we have Jackson, MS with a water problem. The city of Jackson has an antiquated water supply system and an antiquated water treatment facility. Back in July, the water almost completely stopped flowing to houses. Several of the pumps were broken and then a flood happened and more pumps were destroyed.

The water pressure to houses has been restored, but that is not the end of the story. The people of Jackson are still under a “boil water” advisory because the quality of the city water is still not potable. Oh, did I mention that Jackson is also a predominantly black city and also the State Capitol?

The City knew of its problems and planned, with the help of the state, to fix it. There was money allocated to the city by the state to help fix their water distribution system. But, every time the city tried to use that money, the Republican controlled state legislature stepped in to place roadblocks to the city accessing the money.

This went on for years and years. As a result, the system was never fixed. The reason Republicans gave was the same thing they always say, “It costs much”. This water problem was a man-made situation created by Republicans in the state of Mississippi. They rejected to help the city or made it impossible for the city to access allocated funds for the project.

Okay, the Republicans, who claim that they know what is best, now have a water problem in their Capitol City. Instead of coming to the aid of the city and doing whatever is necessary to bring their water and sewar treatment up to snuff, they are laying low in the grass and are now “demanding” the Federal Government step in for them.

The two Senators, both Republicans from the state have called on the Biden administration to include money that would help resolve Jackson’s water crisis in the government’s upcoming stopgap funding bill, arguing the Mississippi capital city’s emergency needs are “on par with other disaster situations across the country.”

The OMB did include $47.1 billion for disaster relief across the nation. But, it did not include the water problems in Jackson. So, the Republicans, whose party caused this issue, are now crying about how this problem should be cured by the federal government.

Senator Hyde-Smith (R-MS) issued a press release that said: “Jackson’s water crisis is nothing short of a full-blown emergency, and it’s disappointing and concerning that the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure needs did not make it in the administration’s $47.1 billion emergency request.”

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General is now investigating the water crisis. Jackson’s current conundrum began when the Pearl River flooded during heavy rainfall, affecting water treatment processes after pumps at the main facility were already damaged. Water pressure has been restored, but the city is still under a boil-water advisory, leaving thousands without access to clean water and many reporting brown water flowing from the taps of their home.

But, let’s be honest here. Republicans are always crying about “big government spending” and voting against bills that would help solve our major infrastructure issues. On the state level, they refuse to allocate and spend money to solve their own state’s infrastructure issues. Then when the shit hits the fan because of their stupidity they all start running to the federal government with their hands out for money to fix issues they created in the first place.

This nation is facing a ton of “natural disasters” that are caused by climate change, something else Republicans say isn’t happening. We have drought in about a third of our country. These droughts have caused massive wildfires and when the rains do come they come so hard and so fast that it causes massive floods.

The water levels at Lake Meade behind the Hoover Dam are so low, we are finding all sorts of things that were beneath hundreds of feet of water. If it continues to fall at its current rate, there won’t be enough water to power the generators that send electricity to millions of customers. What will they do then?

The people do need help. And, the people of Jackson need help. The difference is that the problem in Jackson is a Republican Caused Man-Made disaster. If they had allowed Jackson access to the money they needed, this might have been prevented. But, since it is a predominately black city, the Republicans in Mississippi legislature just couldn’t let the money go to fix the problems.

That means that Sen Hyde-Smith is allowed to compare the natural disasters in other parts of the country as being the same as the Republican man-made disaster in her state. Mississippi is number one in money received from the federal government and it is also the state that send the least amount federal taxes to the government.

Republicans are always crying about all “those people who are looking for handouts” from the federal government. Yet, their states are leading the list of “people looking for handouts from the federal government”. These Republicans follow the mantra that “we can break anything because fixing it would cost us too much” and then turn around and “demand the feds come to their rescue”. Of course, if the feds do come to their rescue, they will take full credit for the fix and ignore the problem was caused by them in the first place.

Just more proof as to why we need to vote Republicans out of office this November. We need to vote them out of the Federal Government, we need to vote them out of state legislatures and we need to vote them out of local government. Otherwise, we will continue to see citizens suffer, get sick and even die because of Republican inactions on necessary infrastructure.

We need a government that is responsive to the needs of the people. Not a political party only interested in “ruling” over us. Republicans only want to “rule” over us they are not interested in our needs.

Vote the bums out in November!

Republicans Show Indifference To National Security Concerns

DOJ Photo Of Mar-A-Lago Search

The right led by the Republican Party is always talking about National Security. They complain about how our national security is threatened by the so-called “open borders”. To them, that is the biggest threat to our national security.

On the other hand, they are indifferent to the actual national threat to our country which is their dear leader. The photo above was taken from the 36-page document released by the DOJ over the Mar-a-Lago search. In it you will see there are several documents marked with some of the highest classifications that can be placed on them.

These documents in the photo were strewn on the floor of a storage room at the resort when FBI agents searched the place. This is very serious proof that trump did in fact illegally hold classified material at his residence. But, that isn’t what Republicans see.

The GOP twitter account for the Judicial Committee which Jim Jordan is the reported “ranking member” and who controls the account, posted this photo with the caption: “That TIME Magazine Cover Was A Huge Threat To National Security”. It included an eyerolling emoji to make their point.

If you look closely at the photo, you will notice a box on the right side that contains picture frames. In the top frame is the TIME Magazine cover of trump. We don’t even know if it is real or one of the many fake ones trump has had made up over the years, which even he admitted to doing.

Of course, the tweet completely ignored all of the classified material spread all across the floor. They didn’t seem to even notice that material. All they saw was a TIME Magazine cover. I guess you only see what you want to see.

But then again, that really isn’t the case here. Jordan is supposed to know the damage of what the release of this material can do to our country. Yet, he ignores all of that and only talks about one piece in the picture. That is a blatant dereliction of his duty and his oath of office.

Scott Stedman, an investigative journalist and founder of Forensic News explains what we’re looking at. “The image is actually quite telling. The secret/top secret documents found in Trump’s office have a ‘TK’ classification which stands for TALENT KEYHOLE aka secret intelligence from spy satellites and planes. So Trump had super secret spy tech AND product information from human sources in his office at Mar-a-Lago. It’s a national security Hindenburg.”

To anyone who worked with classified material, it is also proof of his illegally possessing that material. This photo shows he deliberately lied to investigators when questioned about having “more” classified material stored at his residence, and knowingly violated numerous laws concerning the storage and handling of classified material.

The classified material was found all over the place. It was found comingled with trump’s personal stuff. It was found on storeroom floors and even in desk drawers, which were not even locked. But, Republicans only seem interested in focusing on the most meaningless part of the photo.

Everyone should take a copy of this photo. Every time a Republican complains about the “open borders” being a threat to our national security, show them this photo and ask them how this isn’t a threat to our national security? Ask them why someone can illegally take classified material and they won’t condemn the actions?

With each passing day this scandal continues, we are forced to face the truth that Republicans are NOT interested in national security unless it is something other than the stealing of classified material by their dear leader. They don’t seem to care to ask if trump sold any of this information to one of our enemies to enrich himself. I don’t know what he did with the material, but at least I am willing to ask. Republicans are not willing to ask because they are afraid what the answers would be.

In the year of 2022, the true colors of the Republicans have come to open light. They claim to support law enforcement but are willing to allow death threats against FBI agents for doing their jobs. They are willing to ignore the Capitol Police who were injured trying to protect them from the insurrection a year earlier. They are willing to not condemn death threats against DOJ employees or judges or even civilians who work at the National Archives.

They have proven that the claim of “massive voter fraud” is a big lie every time the “accept” the nomination of their party in an election. If there is so much voter fraud, how can we know for certain they won “fair and square”? Well they say we can believe it because they say so. But, if they lose their election, it is because of voter fraud not bad policies, if they even have any policies.

They have shown in this case they really don’t care about national security if the threat is from one of their own, like trump. All they care about is gaining power. All they care about is destroying our nation and our democracy so they can become the “ruling” party.

That is today’s Republican Party. Liars the lot of them. They have turned a respectable political party into the 21st century NAZI party intent on “taking over” at all costs.

More reasons the Republicans must be soundly defeated down the ballot. They must the stomped into oblivion so the fascists can finally be defeated by the real Republicans and we can get back to governing instead of trying to rule.

Vote the bums out in November!