Category: MAGA / Republican

Ya win some, ya lose some…

I noticed the day’s news yesterday evening; it seemed to stay about even on the good news-bad news bit. For instance, over the weekend, we got the story about the Portage Co. OH sheriff harassing people with Harris-Walz signs, and being outright political. It was separately reported, and I can’t find it now, but when some people tried to get the state’s SoS to somehow stop or discipline the sheriff, the SoS, who truly has no authority in these matters, reportedly declined because of how soon the election is, then also made a political statement, which is unethical in most states, but likely not illegal in a Republican state. Anyway, Monday there is a wonderful story; the Portage Co., OH elections board went to work on the issue.

In Texas, it is quite legal and just fine for citizens to surround traveling vehicles and harass the people inside to the point of fear for their very lives. The harassed bus driver was awarded a small amount, Not sure what else we expected, maybe due process of law and respect for human life on the highways of the United States, but I guess it is TX, after all. Who needs stinkin’ laws, anyway…

So back up North in Nebraska, there is a Republican with a conscience who honors his oath of office. This is good news, because, of course, because we’ve already read that GA will be required to hand count the number of ballots cast to be sure their number of ballots equals the number of votes tallied. That will surely go well, says the year 2000 …

Finally, one of the worst people in the world exists in the US. Here to give us balance is someone rich who seems to be good.

I’ll wrap this up for now. Who knows what will happen later today?

Some news we can use

These companies are bankrolling a multi-million dollar effort to elect Mark Robinson governor of North Carolina by Judd Legum

Maybe we here don’t patronize any of these entities anyway, but it’s worth tossing the info out whenever a discussion comes up, if it’s peaceful enough to do so. The entire piece is not much longer than this, but I wanted to put the details here rather than stuff we’ve seen already, in case everyone else is as busy as I am. Not complaining. Anyway, here’s the tea:

Judd Legum Sep 23, 2024 Read on Substack

Snippets:

None of this prevented the Republican Governors Association (RGA) from throwing its support behind Robinson. In a post on X on March 5, the day Robinson won the Republican nomination, RGA chairman Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) congratulated Robinson and said the organization “look[s] forward to supporting him in the general election.”

The RGA has followed through. Data from AdImpact, a company that monitors political ad spending, obtained by Popular Information, reveals that the RGA, an affiliated PAC, and an affiliated non-profit have spent more than $17.3 million since June 11, 2024 on ads in support of Robinson. The money has financed over 20,000 ads across North Carolina supporting Robinson’s candidacy. The actual expenditure by the RGA is far higher, as the $17.3 million does not include the cost of producing the ads, polling, or any other activities taken on behalf of Robinson. (snip)

During this election cycle, for example, DoorDash has donated $625,000 to the RGA. This money has been used to support Robinson and other Republican gubernatorial candidates. DoorDash’s support of Robinson, who has repeatedly maligned LGBTQ people with crude rhetoric, through the RGA, is not consistent with the company’s carefully crafted public image. 

The company regularly features LGBTQ-owned restaurants that deliver using DoorDash. On June 1, 2024, the company posted a blog post celebrating Pride Month. DoorDash said that it would spend the month “celebrating the diversity and vibrancy within the LGBTQ+ community by emphasizing how race, gender, sexuality, ability, and other aspects intersect to form unique individual identities.” The blog post claimed that DoorDash, “will continue to prioritize investing in and advancing opportunities for historically underrepresented people.” 

On June 4, 2024, the RGA received a $250,000 contribution from DoorDash. These funds, along with other large corporate contributions, helped finance the RGA’s ad blitz in support of Robinson that started later in June. (snip)

Top corporate contributors to the RGA this cycle include Google ($585,000), Walmart ($570,000), CVS ($550,000), Microsoft ($550,000), Travelers Insurance ($460,000), Amazon ($450,000), Deloitte ($400,000), Charter Communications ($385,000), Oracle ($325,000), Pfizer ($300,000), Coca-Cola ($250,000), The Motion Picture Association ($250,000), and Wells Fargo ($250,000).

Popular Information contacted each of these companies and asked if they had any concerns that their contributions to the RGA were being used to support a candidate like Robinson.

Wells Fargo declined to comment. The other companies did not respond. (snip)

Some republican maga stuff

GOP Rep Admits “No Evidence” Of Migrants Voting

“Well, obviously, it would take, you know, 10,000 inaccurate ballots or 20,000 ballots to turn things around,” he said. “No, we don’t have evidence of that. But who knows? If you find a little bit of cheating, who knows if you had the time and resources to look around for more. Who knows what you’d find.”

Grothman last appeared here in July when he lamented that society should return to living “like it was in the 1960s.”

He appeared here last year when he declared that low-income housing discourages people from getting married.

That same week he complained that Biden won’t nominate “straight white guys” to the federal judiciary.

He also appeared here in January 2023 when he posted a flag associated with the Christian nationalist movement outside his Capitol office.

Months earlier he gave a floor speech condemning the US Census for collecting data on LGBTQ Americans, which he found “horrifying.”

Before that he appeared here in June 2021 when he authored a bill that would ban teaching the history of racism in Washington DC public schools.

His first appearance here came in September 2011 when as a Wisconsin state senator he authored a successful bill that banned mentioning contraception in sex ed classes.

Grothman opposes recognizing Kwanzaa and Martin Luther King Jr. Day as state holidays. In 2015, he authored a bill to place a ban on same-sex marriage in the US Constitution.

He ran unopposed in the 2022 election.

This is because of the lies Vance and tRump spread about Haitian eating peoples pets

Springfield Mayor Assumes Emergency Powers After Threats To Walmart, Kroger, And Planned Parenthood

This next one is because DeathSantis wants to be able to make a political hit job on this incident to score points and claim that Biden Harris refused to give tRump proper Secret Service protection. Hugs. Scottie

DeSantis Wails: Feds Shut Me Out Of Golf Course Probe

Read the full article. DeSantis has said that the feds can’t be trusted to properly investigate the shooting attempt since they are also prosecuting Trump for stealing classified documents.

Trump Shares Fake Photo Showing Harris With Sean Combs: “Have You Engaged In Diddy’s Freak Offs?”

This week, Montel Williams called out a now deleted post of an unaltered photo claiming that he was Diddy. Williams stated, “Here they go again with ‘all black people look alike.”

All four memes below were posted separately today by the multiple felon.

Comer Calls Walz Family “Scary And Indoctrinated”
Vance: Dems May Attempt Military Coup If Trump Wins
Ohio Catholic Bishops Blast Vance For Racist Lies
Felon Posts Unhinged Rant On “Unhappy Women”

GA Election Board May Force Hand-Counting Of Ballots

This is a two part post.  The first part is what they intended to do, the second is them doing it.  The intent is well expressed in the comments.  The goal is to have the red rural parts of the state that vote republican to be in and recorded with the urban blue lagging way behind so the cultist can claim tRump won and the Democrats cheated at the last minutes.  Then if time runs out for the count to be done the state will only certify the tRump voting areas leaving the cities out of the count, throwing the state to tRump even if Kamala Harris wins.  Again republicans know that their plans are unpopular and they don’t care.  They don’t want to represent people, they want to rule over the people.   Hugs.  Scottie

GA Election Board May Force Hand-Counting Of Ballots

September 19, 2024 Republicans, Trump cultists

 

The Washington Post reports:

The Georgia State Election Board is expected to vote on a measure to force counties to hand-count all ballots this year, a requirement that could delay reporting of results by weeks if not months and that critics say is designed to inject chaos and uncertainty into the presidential contest in a vitally important swing state. The board will take up the proposal, which would require the hand count in addition to the customary machine count, Friday morning at the state Capitol in Atlanta.

The flurry of rulemaking is the work of a new right-wing majority that took control of the board in May with an avowed mission of preventing fraud and other irregularities from tainting the presidential result this year. All three are supporters of former president Donald Trump, and the rules they are pushing have been promoted by the state’s leading proponents of the false claim that President Joe Biden stole the Georgia election in 2020.

Read the full article.

BeccaM2 days ago

Meaning they’ll never hit the deadline required by federal law.

BeccaM  TrollopeReader2 days ago

I’m thinking Florida, Nov 2000, all over again.

“She’s gonna win Georgia, so we’ll make sure she can’t have the electoral votes in time.”

gyges  BeccaM2 days ago

This is one of the things Raffensperger thought unlikely, but concerning, in an interview on NPR last Tuesday.

HKDaniel 2 days ago

This is the plan –

Rural districts are small and easy to count.
Urban districts are not.

Sooo, the Dump will have a large lead that will linger for weeks, then it will suddenly be Harris in the lead when the urban districts finally finish.

Cue the outrage machine. GA legislature refuses to certify and instead votes for the Dump.

Look for this playbook in a state near you very soon.

RoyalScribe  HKDaniel2 days ago

The blue counties won’t be allowed to finish. The election commission will suddenly say, “Oops, deadline has passed, we’re certifying with just the counties that finished their recounts.”

gyges2 days ago

Georgia Secretary of State Ben Raffensperger is concerned about delays and lack of security. Currently, the count audit that compares numbers of electronic tallies with paper slips is done in secure locations with a panel of auditors and party representatives. He’s concerned that decentralizing this reduces security and increases opportunity for fraud.

Heard a very good interview with him on NPR last Tuesday. I’d recommend giving it a listen. He’s still the same man of integrity we heard in the Trump tapes he released to the public.

 

GA Election Board Orders Hand-Counting Of Ballots

September 20, 2024 Republicans, Trump cultists

 

The Washington Post reports:

The Georgia State Election Board approved a rule Friday requiring counties in the critical presidential battleground to hand-count all ballots this year, potentially upending the November election by delaying reporting of results by weeks if not months.

The change was spearheaded by a pro-Trump majority that has enacted a series of changes to the state’s election rules in recent weeks and approved the hand-count requirement despite a string of public commenters who begged them not to.

Critics included democracy advocates who accused the board of intentionally injecting chaos and uncertainty into the presidential contest as well as election supervisors and poll workers who said hand counts would take too long, cost money and almost certainly produce counting errors.

Read the full article.

JoeMyGod Mod2 days ago

Just as with Pennsylvania’s GOP-written law that mail ballots cannot be counted in advance, the cult will blame Democrats.

Raising_Rlyeh 2 days ago edited

The fact that the GA AG told them these rules likely violates the law gives me a little hope. Lawsuits need to be immediately filed

    • Michael Hampton 2 days ago

    Then when it takes them 6 days to count them all, trumpy and his cronies will be able to scream about the election being rigged. 

     

    RIFFING IS NOT POLICY!

    The Mango Moose Knuckle is dusting off the 2016 and 2020 lies and polishing them up! It truly is the same lame hateful playbook from days gone by.

    Do you wonder why

    Hello All. One of the things I find very important is to understand the history of a topic. I don’t understand 99.9999% of it, but I really think it’s important.

    My Question for today: Why are Republicans and Democrats so unable to come together in our values?

    I would begin with the thought that idealization of the extreme has garnered a ‘squeeky wheel’ effect. This chart from the Republican Party in New Mexico clearly shows how shallow and truly dishonest the rhetoric has become. It is purposely vague and a divisive solicitation of reactions rather than thought.

    Are we as Democrats against Parental Rights? Or, are we as Democrats against the raiding of our libraries and learning institutions by “parents” making sweeping decisions about the information and education for everyone else’s parents? Again, or are we Democrats against allowing the “religious” extremists to thrust their will into another parent’s child’s decision to develop and exercise their own genuine identity? Can we argue about a parent’s right to take their child to a book reading performed by a so-called “drag queen”? Or… what?

    Do we as Democrats disagree with a voter i.d. out of hand, or are we against the use of hurdles and known socioeconomic devices to deny those with fewer resources their right to vote?

    Do we as Democrats disagree with the Constitution or are we in disagreement with the proliferation of guns that kill our children and want reasonable safeguards emplaced? Do we believe that our children’s right to life supplants the right of unstable people owning guns? Wasn’t it Trump who was cheered by his followers after saying he would be able to suspend the constitution?

    Do we as Democrats disagree with legal immigration or are we in disagreement with throwing children into cages, removing them from their parents AND THEN LOSING THEM!! (yes, that happened under Trump), or other such cruelty against those hoping for a better life for themselves and their children? I personally think the “border issue” is a distraction they don’t want to solve. Also, have you ever noticed that the vehemence for these “immigrants” always seems to be around those of color? We get immigrants from all over the world.

    Shall I go on? The Democrats have repeatedly shown we are more fiscally responsible with the budget, have consistently shown we want ALL to pay their fair share of taxes INCLUDING the very wealthy (gasp!), have consistently shown we are more willing to financially and structurally support prenatal and neonatal care for both the mother and the child. We are also consistently showing much greater concern for the well being of the baby through to adulthood in nutrition, health care, education and opportunities. We are simply not willing to force life where it is not wanted by the parent, or forcing the parent to continue a pregnancy that is fundamentally unhealthy and dangerous. Democrats have consistently shown that regulation of businesses is important because it keeps the trains from derailing and costing billions of dollars, keeps the rivers from burning and destroying land, and unlike the dipshit Michigan Republican governor that thought it wise to use the very polluted Detroit River for the drinking water for Flint – we are against costing countless people their homes and lives so that businesses can pollute freely.

    The simple fact is that the very powerful do not want us knowing the truth, thinking rationally on a topic, realizing that we are being kept in the dark and fed bullshit by those wanting us to disagree and fight over scraps under the table. Remember: Republicans don’t understand why those with college educations, who are trained to look beyond base statements, vote against them – and Donald Trump “loves the uneducated” who he can manipulate with innuendo and emotional malarkey.

    Well, such is my opinion this morning. Hugs everyone.

    Randy

    New Court Filings Place Matt Gaetz at a Party at the Center of the Sex Trafficking Scandal

    This is the first public filing that cites sworn testimony alleging that Gaetz attended one of the long-rumored parties with a teenage girl.

    https://www.notus.org/florida/new-court-filings-matt-gaetz-dorworth-sex-party

    Jose Pagliery September 20, 2024 01:35 AM | Updated: September 20, 2024 10:28 AM

    Rep. Matt Gaetz attended a drug-fueled sex party in 2017 with the 17-year-old girl at the center of the alleged sex trafficking scandal, according to legal documents filed to a Florida federal court shortly before midnight Thursday, which cite sealed affidavits from three eyewitness testimonies.

    The minor, who was a junior in high school at the time, arrived in her mother’s car for a July 15, 2017, party at the Florida home of Chris Dorworth, a lobbyist and friend of Gaetz’s, according to a court filing written by defense attorneys who interviewed witnesses as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit Dorworth brought in 2023.

    The lobbyist claimed he had been unfairly dragged into the alleged sex trafficking scandal that has dogged Gaetz and his allies for years. Dorworth ultimately dropped the case, but lawyers filed these documents in an attempt to recoup attorneys fees for a lawsuit they say should never have been brought.

    One eyewitness cited in the court filings, a young woman referred to as K.M., provided a sworn affidavit that claimed the teenage girl was naked, partygoers were there to “engage in sexual activities,” and “alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy … and marijuana” were present. The teenage girl was identified in the filings only as A.B.

    “The discovery taken in this case to date reflects that on Saturday, July 15, 2017 … Dorworth, hosted a party at his residence … with the following guests present: (1) A.B.; (2) K.M.; (3) B.G.; (4) Matt Gaetz,” lawyers wrote in the filing, also listing several others. The defense lawyers filed testimonies from those three women — who the attorneys say placed Gaetz at Dorworth’s house that night — under seal pending a judge’s approval to make the records public.

    Additionally, Gaetz’s own ex-girlfriend — who was present at the party — provided testimony that lawyers say rebuts Dorworth’s claims that he was not there.NOTUS independently verified that Gaetz and one of the women who testified were previously involved in a relationship; she is only identified in the court filing by her initials, B.G.

    The congressman’s ex-girlfriend’s eleventh hour testimony on Sept. 3 came just two days before Dorworth dropped his lawsuit, defense attorneys said in the filing. The defense lawyers also relied on Dorworth’s geolocated cell phone records, which showed that he communicated constantly with the congressman that day.The defense’s court filings show a hired digital forensic examiner identified Gaetz’s number, which has a Florida panhandle 850 area code and texted back and forth 30 times that day and then called Dorworth twice in the hours before the evening revelry. “B.G., another attendee at that party, confirmed A.B.’s testimony under penalty of perjury,” defense lawyers wrote.

    This marks the first time that sworn testimony has been referenced in public court filings alleging that the congressman attended one of the long-rumored parties tied to an alleged underage sex scandal.Previous reports have revealed details of ex-politician and Gaetz friend Joel Greenberg’s confession letter that was never made public, which described how Gaetz would allegedly pay him to arrange several sexual encounters with young women — including a 17-year-old girl. Greenberg is serving an 11-year prison sentence for a list of charges, including fraud and sex trafficking with a child.

    There have also been reports of Venmo payment transactions that were also never released showing the congressman paying Greenberg on at least one occasion.

    In 2021, Gaetz appeared on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show and asserted, “The person doesn’t exist. I have not had a relationship with a 17-year-old. That is totally false.” Gaetz has denied allegations that he has ever had sex with a minor or participated in sex trafficking.

    The Department of Justice investigated Gaetz and ultimately declined to file criminal charges.

    Gaetz did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Records also show that A.B., who was born in 1999, attended three weekly deposition sessions in July and testified in front of lawyers in Boulder, Colorado.

    The new details were released in a cache of court filings that were ironically made public as a direct result of the congressman’s friend, Dorworth, trying to make this disappear.

    When the DOJ dropped the investigation, Dorworth sued several people including Greenberg, and the woman who claimed she was sex-trafficked by Gaetz when she was only 17.

    Dorworth responded by text message Friday morning, repeating his claim that he “never met” the teenager, “not once in my life.”

    “She is also lying about Matt Gaetz,” he added.

    Dorworth said his account is supported by a polygraph test he took years ago during which he was asked about the alleged encounters, and he noted that he is “still suing Joel, his parents and his company in state court.” He also took issue with the way defense lawyers referenced material that he stressed was “confidential.”

    —

    The story has been updated with Dorworth’s respone. (sic)

    Jose Pagliery is a reporter at NOTUS.

    Let’s talk about the republicans getting tricked by the GOP….

    Watch: GOP Ohio AG gets testy after being fact-checked live on CNN

    https://www.rawstory.com/dave-yost-cnn-interview/

    Watch: GOP Ohio AG gets testy after being fact-checked live on CNN
    Brianna Keilar interviews Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (Screen cap via CNN
     

    Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost grew testy on Monday when CNN host Brianna Keilar fact-checked him for promoting false claims about Haitian immigrants.

     

    During an interview about bomb threats that have been leveled against schools in Springfield, Ohio in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s attacks on the community there, Keilar asked Yost about his own role in helping Trump advance false claims about immigrants kidnapping and eating residents’ pets.

    Keilar pointed out that Springfield Mayor Rob Rue has said that local police have investigated and found no evidence to back up claims that Haitian immigrants in the city are eating either pets or local wildlife.

    “Do you think the mayor is lying?” she asked him.

    Yost dodged the question and said that most of his social media posts about Haitian immigrants in Springfield have been on the “real impacts” they’ve had rather than the fictional pet-eating impacts.

    ALSO READ: Scientific American magazine backs Harris with second endorsement in 179-year history

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    “My tweet was about the media’s disregard for citizen reports, citizen interaction with their government,” he said.

    Keilar then pressed him for more information about these “citizen reports” and Yost said he was referring to “several videotaped comments that were made by citizens regarding a variety of things going on in Springfield.”

    Yost added that these comments from citizens “are not enough to make a case” against Haitian immigrants, and he then pivoted to saying that too many children attending school in Springfield don’t speak English.

    Keilar then asked Yost why he and other Republicans don’t simply talk about the strain on local resources that migrant communities are placing on public services instead of telling lurid and false tales about pet eating, especially “when you are supposed to be a very serious law enforcement individual.”

    Yost took exception to this statement.

    “Implying, of course, that you think I’m not [serious],” he replied indignantly.

    Flamingo Stink Eye, by Clay Jones

    Never surrender to water fowl Read on Substack

    (This is really good; a worthy click.)

    Shortly after Donald Trump was arrested last year in Fulton County, Georgia on charges related to electoral fraud in the 2020 election, he returned to X/Twitter for the first time since Elmo lifted his ban, and shared his mugshot with the caption, “Never surrender.”

    Never mind the fact that it was a photo of him surrendering. Republicans are idiots. Merchandise with that image is for sale on his campaign’s website along with merch featuring images from the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

    Now, Trump will try to make money off this incident of a guy hiding in bushes with an assault rifle. What will they try to sell, pictures of his fat ass being whisked away on a golf cart? He also can’t parade around with a giant bandage from this incident since the bush person not only didn’t hit him with a bullet but didn’t even get a shot off. The potential assassin never even saw Trump.

    The mental case was waiting in bushes along the golf course hoping Trump would eventually waddle by.

    I got over 1,100 replies to my tweet about Trump being uninjured after not being shot at, and I think all the angry replies wish Trump was shot at so they can push the martyred victim bullshit. (snip-MORE)