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Many of us accurately predicted the indictments that have ensued from Trump's criminal behavior. The co-conspirator designations of Orange Hitler are just a little more fun.
Biden is NOT jailing his opponents. Federal and State law enforcement has found sufficient evidence to indict, that is ALL that is going on.
And only one candidate has implied that he will order his DOJ to go after political opponents with the statement 'I am your retribution'.
There is no way to overstate the criminal lengths that Trump went to stay in power illegally.
An amusing editorial on the proposed new Bears stadium. Something tells me there'll be more than a few 'knives out' for this proposal.😏
Column: Suuuure, give the Chicago Bears whatever they want for a new stadium after that pitch
Mayor Brandon Johnson, President and CEO Kevin Warren and Chairman George McCaskey listen while the Bears announce their plans to build a new domed lakefront stadium on April 24, 2024, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
By PAUL SULLIVAN | psullivan@chicagotribune.com | Chicago Tribune
PUBLISHED: April 24, 2024 at 6:51 p.m. | UPDATED: April 25, 2024 at 8:35 a.m.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/04/24/chicago-bears-stadium-brandon-johnson/
You have to give the Chicago Bears and Mayor Brandon Johnson credit for their boldness.
Name-dropping the likes of Daniel Burnham, former President Barack Obama, Taylor Swift and Beyonce on Wednesday during their presentation of a proposed $4.6 billion stadium project was pure genius.
Highlighting the historic Soldier Field colonnades after hiding them behind the crash-landing spaceship from the previous stadium renovation while talking about the need to “respect and embrace our traditions” was gaslighting at its finest.
Informing us that “no new taxes” would be necessary to pay for the project was what everyone wanted to hear, even though public funding of at least $1 billion probably would be necessary to get a deal done.
Finally, announcing the plan the day before the Bears are expected to select quarterback Caleb Williams with the first pick in the NFL draft was a marketing coup, a much better idea than announcing it the day after another loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Everything seemed to be fine, and if the Bears get their wish, a new stadium would be ready in time for the 2028 season, when Williams should be gunning for his second Super Bowl.
After seeing the renderings and listening to Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren talk about the Super Bowls, Final Fours, Illinois high school football championships and concerts that would take place in the new stadium, how could anyone dare say no to this idea?
“If that doesn’t make your teeth chatter, I don’t know what will,” Warren said after the release of the renderings.
Obviously Warren never has sat in the stands at a Bears game in subzero weather or he would know the only thing in Chicago that would make one’s teeth chatter is watching a bad team while freezing your butt off. I have, and I can’t say it’s comparable to seeing the renderings.
But they did look kind of cool, just as the renderings for the proposed White Sox Park in the South Loop looked terrific. I’m guessing the renderings of the new Comiskey Park and the Soldier Field renovation also looked cool when they were revealed, because anything new and futuristic looking is bound to appear better than the status quo.
Maybe there will even be more bathrooms, and video boards that you won’t have to crane your neck to see?
Let’s do it.
Naturally, Gov. J.B. Pritzker immediately threw cold water on the Bears’ and Johnson’s big day, saying he was “skeptical” and wondering “whether it’s a good deal for the taxpayers.” That’s the easiest way to put the kibosh on the project without actually looking into whether it would be a good thing for the city and the McCaskeys, the public and private part of the public-private venture.
Funding should not be an issue. Warren told the Tribune editorial board that the 30-year bonds for U.S. Bank Stadium, which he got built in Minnesota, were paid off 23 years ahead of schedule because of revenues from e-pull tabs, a gambling game that’s like a lottery ticket.
If extending the 2% hotel tax for another 40 years is a problem for Pritzker, perhaps the Bears can instead propose an added 2% tax on adult-use cannabis sales in Illinois. That should pay off the bonds for the new stadium in no time, as anyone who ever got a contact high from strolling through the tailgate parties on the Waldron Deck, the proposed site of the stadium, can attest.
The nonprofit Friends of the Park likely will try to butt in, as they did when they drove away the last billionaire who wanted to build something — a “Star Wars” themed museum — on our cherished lakefront.
But this is not an ego-driven project promoting an overrated sci-fi movie that appeals only to nerds. This is our beloved Bears, even though they’re owned by the not-so-beloved McCaskeys. Who elected these “Friends” anyways? Can’t they find something to do inside for once in their lives?
Time is of the essence, the Bears warned us, with the cost expected to go up by $150 million or so every wasted year without a shovel in the ground.
If you can’t bear the idea of helping out the billionaire McCaskeys, do it for all the kids who would benefit from what was touted as 20% more open space from the removal of the crashed spaceship and turning the current field into a park — albeit with better sod, I’m guessing.
Or think about Johnson’s inauguration ceremony at the new stadium, as he bizarrely fantasized about Wednesday during his rambling pep-rally speech that ended with the words “God bless the greatest freaking city in the world.”
That’s our mayor, an orator for the ages.
Or think about poor Beyonce not having to worry about performing in the rain, as almost happened last summer, we were informed at the presentation. Not only would the new translucent roof protect fans from dreaded “Bear weather,” it would keep pop stars such as Beyonce and Swift warm and dry.
There are so many reasons to get this done it boggles the mind, and the sooner the better before the White Sox ask for their handout.
The No. 1 reason, of course, is the possibility of a getting Super Bowl down the road.
“How many people would love to come to a Super Bowl in Chicago?” Johnson asked, before answering his own question:
“Everyone.”
A week in Chicago in February over Phoenix or Miami? It’s a no-brainer.
There were plenty of unanswered questions about financing, parking, tailgating, PSLs and whether anyone will be able to find the Uber lot after a game. The 1.4-mile walk from the Roosevelt Road “L” station would still be a half-hour to the Waldron Deck site, but maybe they’ll have room in the infrastructure budget for a people mover.
Anyway, Bears, you had me at “Fear the roar.”
So bye-bye, spaceship, and so long, Bear weather.
As Burnham said: Make no little plans when you can have a translucent roof instead.
Your anecdotes AND your take on history are.....unreliable.
That's the pre-Southern Strategy state of the South. Are you denying that the Civil Rights and Voting Right Bills in the mid-60's DIDN'T drive most of the white bigots/KKK to the GOP?
Fanciful straw man premises. Here's 3 that aren't.
How long are you going to support the commie caucus that comprises too much of the GOP House, particularly Moscow Margie, AKA the Jewish Space Laser Loon?
How long are you going to pretend that the House GOP is interested in addressing the issues at the border, while not allowing a bipartisan Senate Bill to do just that, a vote on the House floor?
How long are you going to delude yourself that the conspirator/co-conspirator orange piece of 💩 is qualified to be POTUS?
https://www.democraticunderground.com/119811684
Paragraphs are the bane of the critical thinking impaired.
Millions Cancel Subscriptions to National Enquirer After Learning Its Stories May Not be True
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—In a development that has rocked the news industry, The National Enquirer has lost millions of subscribers amid revelations that some of its stories might not be factual.
After Donald J. Trump’s hush money trial exposed the Enquirer’s inner workings, the newspaper’s reputation for unimpeachable journalism suffered a severe blow, media insiders say. Harland Dorrinson, an Enquirer subscriber for over thirty years, said discovering that the weekly periodical was not a dependable information source was “a gut punch.” “In a complex and confusing world, I always felt that there was one news outlet that could make sense of it all,” he said. “That’s been stolen from me.”
If the Enquirer distorted its coverage to support Trump’s election in 2016, Dorrinson wondered, “Does that mean Hillary Clinton wasn’t really dying? Or that she didn’t delete emails from her multiple lesbian lovers? Or that Bill Clinton didn’t have a sex romp in a pickup truck that was caught on video? Now I don’t know what to believe.”
The longtime subscriber said that the Enquirer’s sudden loss of credibility would force him to seek reliable reporting elsewhere, adding, “I guess I’ll give Fox a shot.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/millions-cancel-subscriptions-to?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2337656&post_id=143890114&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1xp0zk&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Millions Cancel Subscriptions to National Enquirer After Learning Its Stories May Not be True
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—In a development that has rocked the news industry, The National Enquirer has lost millions of subscribers amid revelations that some of its stories might not be factual.
After Donald J. Trump’s hush money trial exposed the Enquirer’s inner workings, the newspaper’s reputation for unimpeachable journalism suffered a severe blow, media insiders say. Harland Dorrinson, an Enquirer subscriber for over thirty years, said discovering that the weekly periodical was not a dependable information source was “a gut punch.” “In a complex and confusing world, I always felt that there was one news outlet that could make sense of it all,” he said. “That’s been stolen from me.”
If the Enquirer distorted its coverage to support Trump’s election in 2016, Dorrinson wondered, “Does that mean Hillary Clinton wasn’t really dying? Or that she didn’t delete emails from her multiple lesbian lovers? Or that Bill Clinton didn’t have a sex romp in a pickup truck that was caught on video? Now I don’t know what to believe.”
The longtime subscriber said that the Enquirer’s sudden loss of credibility would force him to seek reliable reporting elsewhere, adding, “I guess I’ll give Fox a shot.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/millions-cancel-subscriptions-to?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2337656&post_id=143890114&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1xp0zk&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Millions Cancel Subscriptions to National Enquirer After Learning Its Stories May Not be True
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—In a development that has rocked the news industry, The National Enquirer has lost millions of subscribers amid revelations that some of its stories might not be factual.
After Donald J. Trump’s hush money trial exposed the Enquirer’s inner workings, the newspaper’s reputation for unimpeachable journalism suffered a severe blow, media insiders say. Harland Dorrinson, an Enquirer subscriber for over thirty years, said discovering that the weekly periodical was not a dependable information source was “a gut punch.” “In a complex and confusing world, I always felt that there was one news outlet that could make sense of it all,” he said. “That’s been stolen from me.”
If the Enquirer distorted its coverage to support Trump’s election in 2016, Dorrinson wondered, “Does that mean Hillary Clinton wasn’t really dying? Or that she didn’t delete emails from her multiple lesbian lovers? Or that Bill Clinton didn’t have a sex romp in a pickup truck that was caught on video? Now I don’t know what to believe.”
The longtime subscriber said that the Enquirer’s sudden loss of credibility would force him to seek reliable reporting elsewhere, adding, “I guess I’ll give Fox a shot.”
https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/millions-cancel-subscriptions-to?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2337656&post_id=143890114&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1xp0zk&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
WTF is that? Could you be any more f'ing ignorant? I said it before, you do nothing/know nothing Trumpanzees don't like sciency shit and the only thing you know about chips is that they come in a bag.
Read and weep over the fact that Trump did nothing like it, 💩 for brains.
The CHIPS and Science Act's Ongoing Impact
IP LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT
By Simon Butler
https://www.perforce.com/blog/mdx/chips-and-science-act-semiconductor-manufacturing
More than a year after the CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law – granting $52 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturers to build fabrication plants in the U.S. – it has had a notable impact on semiconductor jobs, education, and overall outlook.
Though the act spurred dramatic and immediate investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, some of the key gains are just starting to be seen. For example, leading semiconductor manufacturers have announced their plans to build new fabs in 2024 and 2025 and the much-anticipated location of The National Semiconductor Technology Center is still being determined. On the local level, states are beginning to match national funding with their own increased budgets and legislation.
Most recently, the Biden administration built upon the Chips and Science Act by passing the The Building Chips in America Act, or the Kelly Amendment, a bipartisan law that speeds up the review process for semiconductor research and development projects.
This article explains The CHIPS and Science Act, The Building Chips in America Act, and the progress in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing since these crucial achievements. We will also share why investment in manufacturing must be met with an equal investment in IP security.
The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 provided $52 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturers to build fabrication plants in the U.S. For reference, currently only 12% of all semiconductor chips are made in the U.S. This represents a 25% decrease since 1990. During this time, as U.S. semiconductor manufacturing fell, global competition increased. Manufacturing in East Asia, in particular, rose to make up 75% of semiconductor production.
This act comes amidst a global economic downturn, with lawmakers hoping that American-made chips will solve security and supply chain issues. In short, this is something the U.S. needs to reassert its historical influence on semiconductor manufacturing and ensure the future of the industry.
Tech Hubs Program
One key part of the CHIPS and Science Act is its Tech Hubs program. The program began accepting applications in summer 2023, and will notify applicants and begin granting funds later in the year.
The program seeks to diversify the U.S. semiconductor sector by building new fabs in regions outside of traditional tech hubs. To meet this goal, the U.S. Economic Development Administration will give $15 million in strategy development grants to 20 new "tech hubs" across the country.
This comes in response to highly concentrated semiconductor jobs and talent. Currently, four of the 10 largest semiconductor manufacturers are headquartered in California, while three are in Texas. Geographic diversity will be essential as the semiconductor industry faces an ongoing workforce shortage.
The National Semiconductor Technology Center
Another stand-out element of the CHIPS and Science Act is The National Semiconductor Technology Center. This space will bring together semiconductor experts in multiple disciplines, including research, design, engineering, and manufacturing.
Another goal in opening this center is facilitating more collaboration and conversation between industry leaders, academics, and those in both state and local government. The center will sponsor research grants and be a space to test emerging semiconductor technology.
As of fall 2023, the site of The National Semiconductor Technology Center has not yet been determined. Recently, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker lobbied the White House, proposing the Chicago area as a potential site.
The Building Chips in America Act of 2023
The Building Chips in America Act, passed in summer 2023, builds upon the success of the CHIPS and Science Act. Put simply, the amendment will streamline the process that manufacturing and development projects have to go through in order to gain approval.
The act contains several core components that make conducting environmental reviews easier. These new guidelines come as the industry responds to the larger call to enhance sustainability.
Previously, long review processes made opening a semiconductor fab – which is already a multi-year effort – more tedious. The Building Chips in America Act provides a three-part solution:
Designating the Department of Commerce as the lead federal agency to carry out National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) reviews.
Omitting some projects from the NEPA review process, including semiconductor initiatives that expand existing fab sites and projects that already have state and federal permits.
Allowing the Secretary of Commerce to partner with state governments to complete NEPA reviews.
Impact of the CHIPS and Science Act
Though it will take decades to fully reflect on and grasp the impact of the CHIPS and Science Act, some improvement is already observable a year after its passage. Overall, the act has driven $166 billion in semiconductor investments and job growth. In the years ahead, those in the industry can look forward to more fabs, a push toward semiconductor education at both the community college and university level, and a rise in job openings to reinvigorate and grow the workforce.
New Semiconductor Fabs
There are currently 67 new fabs or fab expansions scheduled to start construction by 2025, according to figures from SEMI. Here are a few of the largest developments:
Intel will build two new fabs, a combined $20 billion investment, in Chandler, Arizona. They are slated to open in 2024. Intel also recently announced construction of two new fabs in Licking County, Ohio, and stated that the company aims to foster a "Silicon heartland" in the state.
TSMC will build two new fabs, costing $40 billion, in Phoenix, Arizona. They will be operational in 2024 and 2026.
Micron will build a "megafab" in Clay, New York. The multi-phase project is estimated to cost $100 billion over 20 years, but an initial, $20 billion phase will be complete by 2023. Micron will also expand their campus in Boise, Idaho.
GlobalFoundries recently purchased 800 acres to begin building a second chip fab in Malta, New York.
Investments in Semiconductor Education and Job Creation
One of the biggest challenges for the semiconductor industry is a prolonged workforce shortage. According to data from the U.S. Census, only 28% of the semiconductor workforce is under 34 years old. For comparison, 16 to 34 year olds make up 35.3% of the overall American workforce.
Investing in education is a crucial way to reverse this decades-long trend. Recently, semiconductor programs at institutions across the country have flourished, training thousands of graduates to meet increasing industry demand.
Purdue University launched their Semiconductor Degrees Program, which will incorporate courses in chip manufacturing and design, chemical engineering, packaging, and more.
Arizona State University recently added a graduate certificate in Semiconductor Processing to their list of online offerings.
The Ohio State University opened The Center for Advanced Semiconductor Education and Research Program, partnering with 10 Ohio institutions who will use the facility to complete hands-on coursework.
The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will allow students to declare a Minor in Semiconductor Engineering beginning in 2024.
Samsung has built a manufacturing apprenticeship program at Austin Community College.
According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 70% of newly created semiconductor jobs will require a two-year degree, while the other 25% will call for a bachelor's, master's, or doctorate degree.
This growth in semiconductor education will be necessary as the industry prepares to add 115,000 jobs by 2030. As job openings increase, interest seems to be rising, as well. Data from Handshake, a job application platform for college students and young professionals, shows that applications at semiconductor companies increased nearly 80% between 2022 and 2023.
Infrastructure, Chips and Science, neutering of the GOP House extremists, 15M jobs, low unemployment and no f'ing recession....the ONLY thing the GOP is good at producing decade in, decade out.
What's Trump's platform, beyond retribution?
Oh no, done in by the crap voter fraud conspiracy theories they fed to so many laughably credulous Trumpanzees who post here.😵🤣
MI already did it....Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, and now Arizona have all charged at least some of those who participated in their respective fake elector schemes, while an investigation is ongoing in Wisconsin. Prosecutors in New Mexico and Pennsylvania announced they would not bring charges on the matter.
Oxymoron rich phrase.....Among those indicted RNC’s senior counsel for election integrity.😏
Trumpanzees have their election fraud conspiracy theories but the law has Trump's co-conspirators by the gonads. Three words the GOP would rather not see together in the same sentence? Fake electors scheme.
Too bad, they own it along with the pathetic 2000 Mules, Cyber Ninjas nothing-burger in AZ and Fox News' 787.5 million settlement....capitulation for lying their asses off....with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges.
Giuliani and Meadows Among Trump Pals Charged in Arizona’s 2020 Election Probe
PILING ON
Seven attorneys and aides were indicted in total Wednesday.
Josh Fiallo Breaking News Reporter
Updated Apr. 24, 2024 8:08PM EDT Published Apr. 24, 2024 7:55PM EDT
https://www.thedailybeast.com/giuliani-and-meadows-among-trump-pals-charged-in-arizona-2020-election-probe?ref=home?ref=home
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
An Arizona grand jury indicted seven attorneys and aides linked to Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign on Wednesday, including his onetime Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, and his former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The felony charges are tied to their alleged efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state and have Trump be named winner—despite him losing the state by 10,000 votes.
The state’s attorney general announced the indictments, which were obtained by The Daily Beast. Others charged alongside Meadows and Giuliani were Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign lawyer; John Eastman, a Trump lawyer who presented him with the now-infamous “coup memo,” which included a roadmap to implementing the fake elector plot and overturning the election; Christina Bobb, a Trump lawyer; Boris Epshteyn, a top campaign adviser; and Mike Roman, a campaign aide.
Also charged was Kelli Ward, the Arizona GOP leader during the 2020 election and the immediate aftermath, who regularly parroted election lies.
Trump was not charged, but the indictment lists him as an unindicted co-conspirator.
“We conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video statement. “I understand for some of you today didn't come fast enough. And I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all. But as I’ve stated before, and will say here again today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”
News of the indictment surfaced just hours after Giuliani, Ellis, Meadows, and Trump himself were named unindicted co-conspirators in a Michigan case concerning that state’s fake elector scheme.
Trump’s allies reportedly came up with a seven-state scheme to subvert the Electoral College and turn the election in his favor, in which Arizona—and its 11 electoral votes—was among the most important battleground states.
Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, and now Arizona have all charged at least some of those who participated in their respective fake elector schemes, while an investigation is ongoing in Wisconsin. Prosecutors in New Mexico and Pennsylvania announced they would not bring charges on the matter.
You Trumpanzees have your election fraud conspiracy theories but the law has Trump's co-conspirators by the gonads. Three words the GOP would rather not see together in the same sentence? Fake electors scheme.
Too bad, they own it along with the pathetic 2000 Mules, Cyber Ninjas nothing-burger in AZ and Fox News' 787.5 million settlement....capitulation for lying their asses off....with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges.
Giuliani and Meadows Among Trump Pals Charged in Arizona’s 2020 Election Probe
PILING ON
Seven attorneys and aides were indicted in total Wednesday.
Josh Fiallo Breaking News Reporter
Updated Apr. 24, 2024 8:08PM EDT Published Apr. 24, 2024 7:55PM EDT
https://www.thedailybeast.com/giuliani-and-meadows-among-trump-pals-charged-in-arizona-2020-election-probe?ref=home?ref=home
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
An Arizona grand jury indicted seven attorneys and aides linked to Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign on Wednesday, including his onetime Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, and his former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The felony charges are tied to their alleged efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state and have Trump be named winner—despite him losing the state by 10,000 votes.
The state’s attorney general announced the indictments, which were obtained by The Daily Beast. Others charged alongside Meadows and Giuliani were Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign lawyer; John Eastman, a Trump lawyer who presented him with the now-infamous “coup memo,” which included a roadmap to implementing the fake elector plot and overturning the election; Christina Bobb, a Trump lawyer; Boris Epshteyn, a top campaign adviser; and Mike Roman, a campaign aide.
Also charged was Kelli Ward, the Arizona GOP leader during the 2020 election and the immediate aftermath, who regularly parroted election lies.
Trump was not charged, but the indictment lists him as an unindicted co-conspirator.
“We conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video statement. “I understand for some of you today didn't come fast enough. And I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all. But as I’ve stated before, and will say here again today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”
News of the indictment surfaced just hours after Giuliani, Ellis, Meadows, and Trump himself were named unindicted co-conspirators in a Michigan case concerning that state’s fake elector scheme.
Trump’s allies reportedly came up with a seven-state scheme to subvert the Electoral College and turn the election in his favor, in which Arizona—and its 11 electoral votes—was among the most important battleground states.
Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, and now Arizona have all charged at least some of those who participated in their respective fake elector schemes, while an investigation is ongoing in Wisconsin. Prosecutors in New Mexico and Pennsylvania announced they would not bring charges on the matter.
You Trumpanzees have your election fraud conspiracy theories but the law has Trump's co-conspirators by the gonads. Three words the GOP would rather not see together in the same sentence? Fake electors scheme.
Too bad, they own it along with the pathetic 2000 Mules, Cyber Ninjas nothing-burger in AZ and Fox News' 787.5 million settlement....capitulation for lying their asses off....with Dominion Voting Systems over defamation charges.
Giuliani and Meadows Among Trump Pals Charged in Arizona’s 2020 Election Probe
PILING ON
Seven attorneys and aides were indicted in total Wednesday.
Josh Fiallo Breaking News Reporter
Updated Apr. 24, 2024 8:08PM EDT Published Apr. 24, 2024 7:55PM EDT
https://www.thedailybeast.com/giuliani-and-meadows-among-trump-pals-charged-in-arizona-2020-election-probe?ref=home?ref=home
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
An Arizona grand jury indicted seven attorneys and aides linked to Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign on Wednesday, including his onetime Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, and his former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani.
The felony charges are tied to their alleged efforts to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state and have Trump be named winner—despite him losing the state by 10,000 votes.
The state’s attorney general announced the indictments, which were obtained by The Daily Beast. Others charged alongside Meadows and Giuliani were Jenna Ellis, a Trump campaign lawyer; John Eastman, a Trump lawyer who presented him with the now-infamous “coup memo,” which included a roadmap to implementing the fake elector plot and overturning the election; Christina Bobb, a Trump lawyer; Boris Epshteyn, a top campaign adviser; and Mike Roman, a campaign aide.
Also charged was Kelli Ward, the Arizona GOP leader during the 2020 election and the immediate aftermath, who regularly parroted election lies.
Trump was not charged, but the indictment lists him as an unindicted co-conspirator.
“We conducted a thorough and professional investigation over the past 13 months into the fake electors scheme in our state,” Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a video statement. “I understand for some of you today didn't come fast enough. And I know I’ll be criticized by others for conducting this investigation at all. But as I’ve stated before, and will say here again today, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined.”
News of the indictment surfaced just hours after Giuliani, Ellis, Meadows, and Trump himself were named unindicted co-conspirators in a Michigan case concerning that state’s fake elector scheme.
Trump’s allies reportedly came up with a seven-state scheme to subvert the Electoral College and turn the election in his favor, in which Arizona—and its 11 electoral votes—was among the most important battleground states.
Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, and now Arizona have all charged at least some of those who participated in their respective fake elector schemes, while an investigation is ongoing in Wisconsin. Prosecutors in New Mexico and Pennsylvania announced they would not bring charges on the matter.
Michael Ian Black: Trump Diapers Would Be a MAGA Phenomenon
YUGER THAN TRUMP STEAKS
My business advice to the ex-president, who’s having a tough time sitting all day in the courtroom.
Michael Ian Black
Published Apr. 24, 2024 4:30AM EDT
https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-ian-black-trump-diapers-would-be-a-maga-phenomenon
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
Dear (former, best ever) President Donald Trump,
We’ve had our disagreements over the years, some of them pretty bigly. But if there’s one important lesson you’ve taught me, it’s that we should never let personal grievances, ethics, or the law stand in the way of a good business opportunity.
As your legal fees continue to mount by the millions, your Truth Social stock tanks, and the bond for your $454 million judgment for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll is rejected (so unfair!)—now’s the perfect time to explore a new income stream that can capitalize on the attention you’re getting over rumors you’ve been audibly farting in the courtroom during your first-ever criminal trial.
Now, I know these are unconfirmed, uncorroborated rumblings, but even if it’s not true, own it! As your former spokesperson, John Barron, knew, all PR is good PR. And, believe me, when you hear this pitch, I think you might shit yourself—pun VERY much intended.
Here it is: “Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments.”
Think about it. You’re an adult (chronologically, if not temperamentally), you wear diapers, and you fart a lot. In a quiet courtroom, that kind of constant, audible flatulence could turn a sympathetic juror into a Soros-controlled globalist puppet.
We can stop that from happening.
And can’t you just picture the commercial?
An American flag waving in the breeze, the first stirring notes of the Star Spangled Banner featuring the Jan. 6 Prison Choir (such a great song, sir, brought tears to my eyes). The scene is majestic, awe-inspiring. Then, out of nowhere, somebody rips one, almost ruining the magnificent, some say better-than-the-original song.
Enter YOU, possibly arriving via escalator, looking like a modern-day Winston Churchill, but much more muscular and virile and without the phony-baloney accent.
It’d go something like this:
“I’m President Donald Trump. Whether I’m on the golf course or in a courtroom run by a totally conflicted and disgraced judge, there are times where I just let it rip.
“Sometimes I even shart a little.
“I need an adult diaper that’s as tough and patriotic as me. That’s why I’ve created Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments.
“They not only absorb the weird stuff down there, they’re also equipped with my patented fart-baffling diaper technology. No other brand can match this very strong, very powerful system for neutralizing the sounds of even the juiciest, wettest fluffer doodles.
“The secret: gold!”
(Note: the secret isn’t really gold. It’s styrofoam. But we’ll paint it gold. Those idiots won’t know the difference.)
“Using the same state-of-the-art technology that made Trump Sneakers the best-selling shoe in history, my Trump Diapers will get you through a rough day in court, or the boardroom, or the back nine at Bedminster, where I am club champion 10 years running.
“Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments: for when you’re shitting yourself because you might go to jail after falsifying business records, obstructing justice, stealing classified documents, and attempting to overturn a presidential election.”
So…
What do you think?
Yes, the tagline is a little ungainly, but it’s hard to fit almost a hundred felony charges into a pithy catchphrase. Did you have to commit so many crimes?!? (Allegedly, lol.)
Also, I admit that adult diapers aren’t the world’s most glamorous product, but that’s where the Trump magic comes in. Who else but you could turn an embarrassing medical condition into a goldmine? Sleepy Joe Biden? Please—that guy’s too busy governing, like a nerd.
If anybody can turn this idea into a hit, it’s you. After all, your doubters probably thought nobody would pay thousands upon thousands to attend a fraudulent university, either.
Maybe you worry selling adult diapers will “damage your reputation.” The good news—not possible! Your reputation is already as soiled as the inferior adult diaper you’re currently wearing.
Look, you’ve already demonstrated time and again that there are no limits to how far you will debase yourself for a buck, so why not sink just a little bit further? The haters already hate you and the big, burly men who tear up in your presence will appreciate a personal hygiene product emblazoned with your name and face strategically placed right where a star could grab it.
Now, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, but in between one of your courtroom naps, maybe you could look over the prospectus I’ve prepared. Don’t worry, it’s mostly pictures!
Feel free to respond via The Daily Beast. I promised them a cut of the proceeds, but I’m going to screw them over just like the Master taught me to do. Former President Trump, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, at least until you inevitably sue me.
Michael Ian Black: Trump Diapers Would Be a MAGA Phenomenon
YUGER THAN TRUMP STEAKS
My business advice to the ex-president, who’s having a tough time sitting all day in the courtroom.
Michael Ian Black
Published Apr. 24, 2024 4:30AM EDT
https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-ian-black-trump-diapers-would-be-a-maga-phenomenon
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
Dear (former, best ever) President Donald Trump,
We’ve had our disagreements over the years, some of them pretty bigly. But if there’s one important lesson you’ve taught me, it’s that we should never let personal grievances, ethics, or the law stand in the way of a good business opportunity.
As your legal fees continue to mount by the millions, your Truth Social stock tanks, and the bond for your $454 million judgment for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll is rejected (so unfair!)—now’s the perfect time to explore a new income stream that can capitalize on the attention you’re getting over rumors you’ve been audibly farting in the courtroom during your first-ever criminal trial.
Now, I know these are unconfirmed, uncorroborated rumblings, but even if it’s not true, own it! As your former spokesperson, John Barron, knew, all PR is good PR. And, believe me, when you hear this pitch, I think you might shit yourself—pun VERY much intended.
Here it is: “Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments.”
Think about it. You’re an adult (chronologically, if not temperamentally), you wear diapers, and you fart a lot. In a quiet courtroom, that kind of constant, audible flatulence could turn a sympathetic juror into a Soros-controlled globalist puppet.
We can stop that from happening.
And can’t you just picture the commercial?
An American flag waving in the breeze, the first stirring notes of the Star Spangled Banner featuring the Jan. 6 Prison Choir (such a great song, sir, brought tears to my eyes). The scene is majestic, awe-inspiring. Then, out of nowhere, somebody rips one, almost ruining the magnificent, some say better-than-the-original song.
Enter YOU, possibly arriving via escalator, looking like a modern-day Winston Churchill, but much more muscular and virile and without the phony-baloney accent.
It’d go something like this:
“I’m President Donald Trump. Whether I’m on the golf course or in a courtroom run by a totally conflicted and disgraced judge, there are times where I just let it rip.
“Sometimes I even shart a little.
“I need an adult diaper that’s as tough and patriotic as me. That’s why I’ve created Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments.
“They not only absorb the weird stuff down there, they’re also equipped with my patented fart-baffling diaper technology. No other brand can match this very strong, very powerful system for neutralizing the sounds of even the juiciest, wettest fluffer doodles.
“The secret: gold!”
(Note: the secret isn’t really gold. It’s styrofoam. But we’ll paint it gold. Those idiots won’t know the difference.)
“Using the same state-of-the-art technology that made Trump Sneakers the best-selling shoe in history, my Trump Diapers will get you through a rough day in court, or the boardroom, or the back nine at Bedminster, where I am club champion 10 years running.
“Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments: for when you’re shitting yourself because you might go to jail after falsifying business records, obstructing justice, stealing classified documents, and attempting to overturn a presidential election.”
So…
What do you think?
Yes, the tagline is a little ungainly, but it’s hard to fit almost a hundred felony charges into a pithy catchphrase. Did you have to commit so many crimes?!? (Allegedly, lol.)
Also, I admit that adult diapers aren’t the world’s most glamorous product, but that’s where the Trump magic comes in. Who else but you could turn an embarrassing medical condition into a goldmine? Sleepy Joe Biden? Please—that guy’s too busy governing, like a nerd.
If anybody can turn this idea into a hit, it’s you. After all, your doubters probably thought nobody would pay thousands upon thousands to attend a fraudulent university, either.
Maybe you worry selling adult diapers will “damage your reputation.” The good news—not possible! Your reputation is already as soiled as the inferior adult diaper you’re currently wearing.
Look, you’ve already demonstrated time and again that there are no limits to how far you will debase yourself for a buck, so why not sink just a little bit further? The haters already hate you and the big, burly men who tear up in your presence will appreciate a personal hygiene product emblazoned with your name and face strategically placed right where a star could grab it.
Now, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, but in between one of your courtroom naps, maybe you could look over the prospectus I’ve prepared. Don’t worry, it’s mostly pictures!
Feel free to respond via The Daily Beast. I promised them a cut of the proceeds, but I’m going to screw them over just like the Master taught me to do. Former President Trump, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, at least until you inevitably sue me.
Michael Ian Black: Trump Diapers Would Be a MAGA Phenomenon
YUGER THAN TRUMP STEAKS
My business advice to the ex-president, who’s having a tough time sitting all day in the courtroom.
Michael Ian Black
Published Apr. 24, 2024 4:30AM EDT
https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-ian-black-trump-diapers-would-be-a-maga-phenomenon
Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
Dear (former, best ever) President Donald Trump,
We’ve had our disagreements over the years, some of them pretty bigly. But if there’s one important lesson you’ve taught me, it’s that we should never let personal grievances, ethics, or the law stand in the way of a good business opportunity.
As your legal fees continue to mount by the millions, your Truth Social stock tanks, and the bond for your $454 million judgment for sexually assaulting E. Jean Carroll is rejected (so unfair!)—now’s the perfect time to explore a new income stream that can capitalize on the attention you’re getting over rumors you’ve been audibly farting in the courtroom during your first-ever criminal trial.
Now, I know these are unconfirmed, uncorroborated rumblings, but even if it’s not true, own it! As your former spokesperson, John Barron, knew, all PR is good PR. And, believe me, when you hear this pitch, I think you might shit yourself—pun VERY much intended.
Here it is: “Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments.”
Think about it. You’re an adult (chronologically, if not temperamentally), you wear diapers, and you fart a lot. In a quiet courtroom, that kind of constant, audible flatulence could turn a sympathetic juror into a Soros-controlled globalist puppet.
We can stop that from happening.
And can’t you just picture the commercial?
An American flag waving in the breeze, the first stirring notes of the Star Spangled Banner featuring the Jan. 6 Prison Choir (such a great song, sir, brought tears to my eyes). The scene is majestic, awe-inspiring. Then, out of nowhere, somebody rips one, almost ruining the magnificent, some say better-than-the-original song.
Enter YOU, possibly arriving via escalator, looking like a modern-day Winston Churchill, but much more muscular and virile and without the phony-baloney accent.
It’d go something like this:
“I’m President Donald Trump. Whether I’m on the golf course or in a courtroom run by a totally conflicted and disgraced judge, there are times where I just let it rip.
“Sometimes I even shart a little.
“I need an adult diaper that’s as tough and patriotic as me. That’s why I’ve created Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments.
“They not only absorb the weird stuff down there, they’re also equipped with my patented fart-baffling diaper technology. No other brand can match this very strong, very powerful system for neutralizing the sounds of even the juiciest, wettest fluffer doodles.
“The secret: gold!”
(Note: the secret isn’t really gold. It’s styrofoam. But we’ll paint it gold. Those idiots won’t know the difference.)
“Using the same state-of-the-art technology that made Trump Sneakers the best-selling shoe in history, my Trump Diapers will get you through a rough day in court, or the boardroom, or the back nine at Bedminster, where I am club champion 10 years running.
“Diaper Don’s Soundproof Adult Undergarments: for when you’re shitting yourself because you might go to jail after falsifying business records, obstructing justice, stealing classified documents, and attempting to overturn a presidential election.”
So…
What do you think?
Yes, the tagline is a little ungainly, but it’s hard to fit almost a hundred felony charges into a pithy catchphrase. Did you have to commit so many crimes?!? (Allegedly, lol.)
Also, I admit that adult diapers aren’t the world’s most glamorous product, but that’s where the Trump magic comes in. Who else but you could turn an embarrassing medical condition into a goldmine? Sleepy Joe Biden? Please—that guy’s too busy governing, like a nerd.
If anybody can turn this idea into a hit, it’s you. After all, your doubters probably thought nobody would pay thousands upon thousands to attend a fraudulent university, either.
Maybe you worry selling adult diapers will “damage your reputation.” The good news—not possible! Your reputation is already as soiled as the inferior adult diaper you’re currently wearing.
Look, you’ve already demonstrated time and again that there are no limits to how far you will debase yourself for a buck, so why not sink just a little bit further? The haters already hate you and the big, burly men who tear up in your presence will appreciate a personal hygiene product emblazoned with your name and face strategically placed right where a star could grab it.
Now, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now, but in between one of your courtroom naps, maybe you could look over the prospectus I’ve prepared. Don’t worry, it’s mostly pictures!
Feel free to respond via The Daily Beast. I promised them a cut of the proceeds, but I’m going to screw them over just like the Master taught me to do. Former President Trump, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, at least until you inevitably sue me.
And the subtext for this case as with all the others? The f'ing Trumpanzees would be hollering 'lock him up!' IF a Dem were undergoing the exact same prosecutions.
Because they can't forthrightly address that, they have no persuasive arguments to make about 'weaponization of the DOJ', witch-hunts or any other free range conspiracy theories about law enforcement they pull out of their increasingly chaffed asses.
Listen carefully for the the sounds of cognitive dissonance flooding their wee minds as they read the above.
Exactly. Trump's bullshit about 'presidents will be afraid to do anything' if broad immunity is not in place is the way that an amoral ignorant P.O.S. thinks.
The f'k they'll be afraid. They will sit down with the WH lawyer if there is any doubt about any action. Trump clearly didn't do that. 60 days of stop the steal and fake electors shenanigans, one really imperfect phone call to GA and the summons of his morons to come to the Capitol on 1/6, 'it's gonna be wild', and haranguing those assholes to fight like
hell? No WH lawyer would sign off on any of it.
Nothing so healthy for him; bucket a KFC more likely.
Your claim, your assertion, YOUR burden of proof. I don't have to Google DD on the Easter Bunny or ANY Trumpanzee conspiracy theories pulled out of Trumpanzee asses.
And what's with the f'ing 20 days, Nazi?
Brilliant, as clear a case of the logical fallacy that association is causation as one can hope to see from a Trumpanzee.
I hope that the responses to your posts that you read here remind you of what a VERY hard time you had during your abbreviated HS career.
Yes, he was right and still is.
Donald Trump has neutered Republicans' power to sabotage Joe Biden
It also doesn't hurt that Democrats in Congress have held unprecedentedly united
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED APRIL 24, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/24/donald-has-neutered-republicans-power-to-sabotage-joe-biden/
While most of the country was riveted by recaps of Donald Trump's sordid hush-money trial on Tuesday, something amazing was happening in Washington: the Senate debated and then passed the national security package that's been consuming the Capitol for the last six months. With a lopsided vote of 79-18, the bills with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan among some other things will soon be signed by the president and behind us. Notably, there is no increased funding for the border because Donald Trump ordered the Republicans to reject it so that he could keep demagoguing the issue during the campaign. Nevertheless, Tuesday's vote is a big win for President Joe Biden and the Democrats.
The GOP infighting has escalated in the wake of the House's months-long tantrum led by the far-right extremists who seemed to truly believe that they could hold their breath until they turned blue and they would eventually get everything they wanted.
Leading MAGA rebel Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left town without calling for Speaker Mike Johnson to vacate the chair, demanding instead that he resign, which isn't going to happen. Podcaster Steve Bannon and a couple of fellow right-wing sad sacks — Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Az. — joined the call but it's clear that however frustrated some of them might be there is no appetite in the House GOP for any more internecine fights, at least for the moment. And the rest of the party is obviously sick of the kooks.
GOP Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina pulled no punches, talking about Greene's malign influence, calling her "uninformed" and "a terrible leader" and complaining that she's "dragging our brand down."
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas probably speaks for many in his party who are too cowardly to say it as plainly as he did when he called the wild extremists in the GOP "scumbags."
GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw: Some Republicans "want Russia to win so badly" they may oust Speaker Johnson
They all might want to take a look at the big orange guy who's actually pulling the strings but he's even turning his back on Greene and continuing to support Johnson, recently telling a radio host:
Look, we have a majority of one, OK? It's not like he can go and do whatever he wants to do. I think he's a very good person. You know, he stood very strongly with me on NATO.
It was a bit low energy but it's pretty clear that Trump not going to back any play to oust Speaker Johnson so Greene is sidelined, at least for now.
There's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done.
It's been a bad run for Trump and for Greene these past few weeks. But you know who's having a great run? President Joe Biden. His poll numbers are edging up but the general election still looks incomprehensibly tight considering how much policy success the president has had with a Congress that is so dysfunctional. Somehow he and the Democrats have made it work for them.
I think we're all familiar with Biden's big legislative wins in the first two years: the American Rescue Plan, which set the table for a very positive economic recovery, a big infrastructure bill that is just now coming online all over the country, the first major gun safety bill in decades, capping prescription drug costs for seniors and much more. And it was all done with razor-thin majorities in both chambers.
Most pieces of legislation passed with bipartisan votes despite what is arguably the most toxic political environment since the 1850s. It was a remarkable feat but I think most observers assumed that it was going to be the end of it when Republicans managed to eke out a tiny victory and flip control of the House in 2022. How could anything get done with Donald Trump pulling the strings and crazed right-wing extremists dominating the caucus?
House Republicans had their fun with the Hunter Biden farce and the various "investigations" into the so-called Biden Crime family which have gone nowhere. And immigration has been a genuinely vexing problem that the GOP has exploited as they always do. But as it turns out, while the House Republicans ran around in circles causing chaos on a weekly basis, the important sausage kept getting made. And despite all the drama, the Biden White House ended up getting most of what it wanted without having to give up much of anything in return, at least in part because the Republicans wouldn't take yes for an answer when concessions were offered.
The biggest achievement was avoiding a costly debt limit/government shutdown and I wouldn't have bet that would happen. But former speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House negotiated a spending deal that served as the excuse to take down McCarthy. (As it turns out it was really about McCarthy refusing to stop an ethics investigation into Florida gadfly Matt Gaetz, but that's another story.) McCarthy's successor Mike Johnson kept the spending agreement in place and fought off another attempt to shut down the government. Just this past month, House Republicans passed the FISA extension backed by the White House and now the big national security package: the ugliest sausage-making extravaganza ever.
It's been such pandemonium that it was hard to see exactly what was happening but now that the smoke is clearing it's obvious that the writing was on the wall when McCarthy gave so many concessions to the crazies during that bizarre speakers' race at the beginning of the term. Handing the keys to that faction was a major mistake because those people are maximalists for whom politics is all or nothing and they can't accept that having a tiny majority in one house of Congress makes that impossible.
In the end, it took the House Democrats being unprecedentedly united, despite some very real tensions within their own coalition, and a willingness for some moderate Republicans to finally stand their ground despite dilly-dallying around for months. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., kept his majority together without the centrist divas causing any trouble for once.
Not only that, Senate Republicans who haven't completely gone insane refused to follow the House model and came through on the important issues as well. But there's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done. It wasn't pretty but under the circumstances, the achievements are very big wins at little cost. Meanwhile, the Republicans are reeling with internal strife while their leader sits fuming in a courtroom daily.
Donald Trump has neutered Republicans' power to sabotage Joe Biden
It also doesn't hurt that Democrats in Congress have held unprecedentedly united
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED APRIL 24, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/24/donald-has-neutered-republicans-power-to-sabotage-joe-biden/
While most of the country was riveted by recaps of Donald Trump's sordid hush-money trial on Tuesday, something amazing was happening in Washington: the Senate debated and then passed the national security package that's been consuming the Capitol for the last six months. With a lopsided vote of 79-18, the bills with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan among some other things will soon be signed by the president and behind us. Notably, there is no increased funding for the border because Donald Trump ordered the Republicans to reject it so that he could keep demagoguing the issue during the campaign. Nevertheless, Tuesday's vote is a big win for President Joe Biden and the Democrats.
The GOP infighting has escalated in the wake of the House's months-long tantrum led by the far-right extremists who seemed to truly believe that they could hold their breath until they turned blue and they would eventually get everything they wanted.
Leading MAGA rebel Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left town without calling for Speaker Mike Johnson to vacate the chair, demanding instead that he resign, which isn't going to happen. Podcaster Steve Bannon and a couple of fellow right-wing sad sacks — Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Az. — joined the call but it's clear that however frustrated some of them might be there is no appetite in the House GOP for any more internecine fights, at least for the moment. And the rest of the party is obviously sick of the kooks.
GOP Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina pulled no punches, talking about Greene's malign influence, calling her "uninformed" and "a terrible leader" and complaining that she's "dragging our brand down."
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas probably speaks for many in his party who are too cowardly to say it as plainly as he did when he called the wild extremists in the GOP "scumbags."
GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw: Some Republicans "want Russia to win so badly" they may oust Speaker Johnson
They all might want to take a look at the big orange guy who's actually pulling the strings but he's even turning his back on Greene and continuing to support Johnson, recently telling a radio host:
Look, we have a majority of one, OK? It's not like he can go and do whatever he wants to do. I think he's a very good person. You know, he stood very strongly with me on NATO.
It was a bit low energy but it's pretty clear that Trump not going to back any play to oust Speaker Johnson so Greene is sidelined, at least for now.
There's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done.
It's been a bad run for Trump and for Greene these past few weeks. But you know who's having a great run? President Joe Biden. His poll numbers are edging up but the general election still looks incomprehensibly tight considering how much policy success the president has had with a Congress that is so dysfunctional. Somehow he and the Democrats have made it work for them.
I think we're all familiar with Biden's big legislative wins in the first two years: the American Rescue Plan, which set the table for a very positive economic recovery, a big infrastructure bill that is just now coming online all over the country, the first major gun safety bill in decades, capping prescription drug costs for seniors and much more. And it was all done with razor-thin majorities in both chambers.
Most pieces of legislation passed with bipartisan votes despite what is arguably the most toxic political environment since the 1850s. It was a remarkable feat but I think most observers assumed that it was going to be the end of it when Republicans managed to eke out a tiny victory and flip control of the House in 2022. How could anything get done with Donald Trump pulling the strings and crazed right-wing extremists dominating the caucus?
House Republicans had their fun with the Hunter Biden farce and the various "investigations" into the so-called Biden Crime family which have gone nowhere. And immigration has been a genuinely vexing problem that the GOP has exploited as they always do. But as it turns out, while the House Republicans ran around in circles causing chaos on a weekly basis, the important sausage kept getting made. And despite all the drama, the Biden White House ended up getting most of what it wanted without having to give up much of anything in return, at least in part because the Republicans wouldn't take yes for an answer when concessions were offered.
The biggest achievement was avoiding a costly debt limit/government shutdown and I wouldn't have bet that would happen. But former speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House negotiated a spending deal that served as the excuse to take down McCarthy. (As it turns out it was really about McCarthy refusing to stop an ethics investigation into Florida gadfly Matt Gaetz, but that's another story.) McCarthy's successor Mike Johnson kept the spending agreement in place and fought off another attempt to shut down the government. Just this past month, House Republicans passed the FISA extension backed by the White House and now the big national security package: the ugliest sausage-making extravaganza ever.
It's been such pandemonium that it was hard to see exactly what was happening but now that the smoke is clearing it's obvious that the writing was on the wall when McCarthy gave so many concessions to the crazies during that bizarre speakers' race at the beginning of the term. Handing the keys to that faction was a major mistake because those people are maximalists for whom politics is all or nothing and they can't accept that having a tiny majority in one house of Congress makes that impossible.
In the end, it took the House Democrats being unprecedentedly united, despite some very real tensions within their own coalition, and a willingness for some moderate Republicans to finally stand their ground despite dilly-dallying around for months. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., kept his majority together without the centrist divas causing any trouble for once.
Not only that, Senate Republicans who haven't completely gone insane refused to follow the House model and came through on the important issues as well. But there's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done. It wasn't pretty but under the circumstances, the achievements are very big wins at little cost. Meanwhile, the Republicans are reeling with internal strife while their leader sits fuming in a courtroom daily.
Donald Trump has neutered Republicans' power to sabotage Joe Biden
It also doesn't hurt that Democrats in Congress have held unprecedentedly united
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED APRIL 24, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/24/donald-has-neutered-republicans-power-to-sabotage-joe-biden/
While most of the country was riveted by recaps of Donald Trump's sordid hush-money trial on Tuesday, something amazing was happening in Washington: the Senate debated and then passed the national security package that's been consuming the Capitol for the last six months. With a lopsided vote of 79-18, the bills with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan among some other things will soon be signed by the president and behind us. Notably, there is no increased funding for the border because Donald Trump ordered the Republicans to reject it so that he could keep demagoguing the issue during the campaign. Nevertheless, Tuesday's vote is a big win for President Joe Biden and the Democrats.
The GOP infighting has escalated in the wake of the House's months-long tantrum led by the far-right extremists who seemed to truly believe that they could hold their breath until they turned blue and they would eventually get everything they wanted.
Leading MAGA rebel Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left town without calling for Speaker Mike Johnson to vacate the chair, demanding instead that he resign, which isn't going to happen. Podcaster Steve Bannon and a couple of fellow right-wing sad sacks — Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Az. — joined the call but it's clear that however frustrated some of them might be there is no appetite in the House GOP for any more internecine fights, at least for the moment. And the rest of the party is obviously sick of the kooks.
GOP Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina pulled no punches, talking about Greene's malign influence, calling her "uninformed" and "a terrible leader" and complaining that she's "dragging our brand down."
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas probably speaks for many in his party who are too cowardly to say it as plainly as he did when he called the wild extremists in the GOP "scumbags."
GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw: Some Republicans "want Russia to win so badly" they may oust Speaker Johnson
They all might want to take a look at the big orange guy who's actually pulling the strings but he's even turning his back on Greene and continuing to support Johnson, recently telling a radio host:
Look, we have a majority of one, OK? It's not like he can go and do whatever he wants to do. I think he's a very good person. You know, he stood very strongly with me on NATO.
It was a bit low energy but it's pretty clear that Trump not going to back any play to oust Speaker Johnson so Greene is sidelined, at least for now.
There's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done.
It's been a bad run for Trump and for Greene these past few weeks. But you know who's having a great run? President Joe Biden. His poll numbers are edging up but the general election still looks incomprehensibly tight considering how much policy success the president has had with a Congress that is so dysfunctional. Somehow he and the Democrats have made it work for them.
I think we're all familiar with Biden's big legislative wins in the first two years: the American Rescue Plan, which set the table for a very positive economic recovery, a big infrastructure bill that is just now coming online all over the country, the first major gun safety bill in decades, capping prescription drug costs for seniors and much more. And it was all done with razor-thin majorities in both chambers.
Most pieces of legislation passed with bipartisan votes despite what is arguably the most toxic political environment since the 1850s. It was a remarkable feat but I think most observers assumed that it was going to be the end of it when Republicans managed to eke out a tiny victory and flip control of the House in 2022. How could anything get done with Donald Trump pulling the strings and crazed right-wing extremists dominating the caucus?
House Republicans had their fun with the Hunter Biden farce and the various "investigations" into the so-called Biden Crime family which have gone nowhere. And immigration has been a genuinely vexing problem that the GOP has exploited as they always do. But as it turns out, while the House Republicans ran around in circles causing chaos on a weekly basis, the important sausage kept getting made. And despite all the drama, the Biden White House ended up getting most of what it wanted without having to give up much of anything in return, at least in part because the Republicans wouldn't take yes for an answer when concessions were offered.
The biggest achievement was avoiding a costly debt limit/government shutdown and I wouldn't have bet that would happen. But former speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House negotiated a spending deal that served as the excuse to take down McCarthy. (As it turns out it was really about McCarthy refusing to stop an ethics investigation into Florida gadfly Matt Gaetz, but that's another story.) McCarthy's successor Mike Johnson kept the spending agreement in place and fought off another attempt to shut down the government. Just this past month, House Republicans passed the FISA extension backed by the White House and now the big national security package: the ugliest sausage-making extravaganza ever.
It's been such pandemonium that it was hard to see exactly what was happening but now that the smoke is clearing it's obvious that the writing was on the wall when McCarthy gave so many concessions to the crazies during that bizarre speakers' race at the beginning of the term. Handing the keys to that faction was a major mistake because those people are maximalists for whom politics is all or nothing and they can't accept that having a tiny majority in one house of Congress makes that impossible.
In the end, it took the House Democrats being unprecedentedly united, despite some very real tensions within their own coalition, and a willingness for some moderate Republicans to finally stand their ground despite dilly-dallying around for months. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., kept his majority together without the centrist divas causing any trouble for once.
Not only that, Senate Republicans who haven't completely gone insane refused to follow the House model and came through on the important issues as well. But there's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done. It wasn't pretty but under the circumstances, the achievements are very big wins at little cost. Meanwhile, the Republicans are reeling with internal strife while their leader sits fuming in a courtroom daily.
Donald Trump has neutered Republicans' power to sabotage Joe Biden
It also doesn't hurt that Democrats in Congress have held unprecedentedly united
By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED APRIL 24, 2024 9:00AM (EDT)
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/24/donald-has-neutered-republicans-power-to-sabotage-joe-biden/
While most of the country was riveted by recaps of Donald Trump's sordid hush-money trial on Tuesday, something amazing was happening in Washington: the Senate debated and then passed the national security package that's been consuming the Capitol for the last six months. With a lopsided vote of 79-18, the bills with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan among some other things will soon be signed by the president and behind us. Notably, there is no increased funding for the border because Donald Trump ordered the Republicans to reject it so that he could keep demagoguing the issue during the campaign. Nevertheless, Tuesday's vote is a big win for President Joe Biden and the Democrats.
The GOP infighting has escalated in the wake of the House's months-long tantrum led by the far-right extremists who seemed to truly believe that they could hold their breath until they turned blue and they would eventually get everything they wanted.
Leading MAGA rebel Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., left town without calling for Speaker Mike Johnson to vacate the chair, demanding instead that he resign, which isn't going to happen. Podcaster Steve Bannon and a couple of fellow right-wing sad sacks — Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Paul Gosar, R-Az. — joined the call but it's clear that however frustrated some of them might be there is no appetite in the House GOP for any more internecine fights, at least for the moment. And the rest of the party is obviously sick of the kooks.
GOP Sen. Tom Tillis of North Carolina pulled no punches, talking about Greene's malign influence, calling her "uninformed" and "a terrible leader" and complaining that she's "dragging our brand down."
Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas probably speaks for many in his party who are too cowardly to say it as plainly as he did when he called the wild extremists in the GOP "scumbags."
GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw: Some Republicans "want Russia to win so badly" they may oust Speaker Johnson
They all might want to take a look at the big orange guy who's actually pulling the strings but he's even turning his back on Greene and continuing to support Johnson, recently telling a radio host:
Look, we have a majority of one, OK? It's not like he can go and do whatever he wants to do. I think he's a very good person. You know, he stood very strongly with me on NATO.
It was a bit low energy but it's pretty clear that Trump not going to back any play to oust Speaker Johnson so Greene is sidelined, at least for now.
There's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done.
It's been a bad run for Trump and for Greene these past few weeks. But you know who's having a great run? President Joe Biden. His poll numbers are edging up but the general election still looks incomprehensibly tight considering how much policy success the president has had with a Congress that is so dysfunctional. Somehow he and the Democrats have made it work for them.
I think we're all familiar with Biden's big legislative wins in the first two years: the American Rescue Plan, which set the table for a very positive economic recovery, a big infrastructure bill that is just now coming online all over the country, the first major gun safety bill in decades, capping prescription drug costs for seniors and much more. And it was all done with razor-thin majorities in both chambers.
Most pieces of legislation passed with bipartisan votes despite what is arguably the most toxic political environment since the 1850s. It was a remarkable feat but I think most observers assumed that it was going to be the end of it when Republicans managed to eke out a tiny victory and flip control of the House in 2022. How could anything get done with Donald Trump pulling the strings and crazed right-wing extremists dominating the caucus?
House Republicans had their fun with the Hunter Biden farce and the various "investigations" into the so-called Biden Crime family which have gone nowhere. And immigration has been a genuinely vexing problem that the GOP has exploited as they always do. But as it turns out, while the House Republicans ran around in circles causing chaos on a weekly basis, the important sausage kept getting made. And despite all the drama, the Biden White House ended up getting most of what it wanted without having to give up much of anything in return, at least in part because the Republicans wouldn't take yes for an answer when concessions were offered.
The biggest achievement was avoiding a costly debt limit/government shutdown and I wouldn't have bet that would happen. But former speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House negotiated a spending deal that served as the excuse to take down McCarthy. (As it turns out it was really about McCarthy refusing to stop an ethics investigation into Florida gadfly Matt Gaetz, but that's another story.) McCarthy's successor Mike Johnson kept the spending agreement in place and fought off another attempt to shut down the government. Just this past month, House Republicans passed the FISA extension backed by the White House and now the big national security package: the ugliest sausage-making extravaganza ever.
It's been such pandemonium that it was hard to see exactly what was happening but now that the smoke is clearing it's obvious that the writing was on the wall when McCarthy gave so many concessions to the crazies during that bizarre speakers' race at the beginning of the term. Handing the keys to that faction was a major mistake because those people are maximalists for whom politics is all or nothing and they can't accept that having a tiny majority in one house of Congress makes that impossible.
In the end, it took the House Democrats being unprecedentedly united, despite some very real tensions within their own coalition, and a willingness for some moderate Republicans to finally stand their ground despite dilly-dallying around for months. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., kept his majority together without the centrist divas causing any trouble for once.
Not only that, Senate Republicans who haven't completely gone insane refused to follow the House model and came through on the important issues as well. But there's no doubt that it took a very steady hand in the White House to stay the course and keep working the legislative levers to get the job done. It wasn't pretty but under the circumstances, the achievements are very big wins at little cost. Meanwhile, the Republicans are reeling with internal strife while their leader sits fuming in a courtroom daily.
Really, on camera? Let's see it. Sounds like the usual anecdotal Trumpanzee 'people are saying' level of 'evidence'.
And you righties are not the most reliable interpreters of videos, bringing as you do predetermined conclusions to your viewing. You JUST f'ing know someone's up to no good, even when they ain't.
Sadly indeed.😪
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jury-awards-148m-to-georgia-women-defamed-by-rudy-giuliani/ar-AA1lzBJF