"Sphincter Politicians on Parade”

[LFC]

Oh, FFS. As if the George Santos dog surgery scam story couldn't get worse.

[LFC]

David Kurtz, writing at TPM's Morning Memo, admits he just can't quit George, at least not yet.

You Do You, George Santos!

I came into today determined not to lead a third Morning Memo in a row with the saga of George Santos. But I am a mere mortal running a small political tabloid, and Santos is a demigod of political scandal, bamboozlement and chicanery. I stand no chance against his formidable powers of cunning deceit and absurd scams. I bow before thee, George.

[LFC]

Let's give MTG her moment back in the rectal probe spotlight. She's pulling a Kyrsten Sinema or Elise Stefanik, changing her "principles" to play to a different audience. Of course Marge's idea of reinvention is simply picking fights with her former friends. She's never been very bright or subtle.

Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appears to be changing her public approach to politics, leading to speculation that the famously far-right member of Congress may be trying to pull off a “remake” or “rebranding.” And while her new style might not be terribly convincing, it is getting attention. She recently has been picking fights with fellow far-right allies to make her case.

The latest development came Wednesday, when Greene picked a Twitter fight with her fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) after he tweeted a message congratulating her for the assignments on the House Homeland Security and Oversight Committees.

“Bravo @mtgreenee!” Gaetz wrote in a tweet. “She’s going to do amazing work for the people on these key committees she has EARNED.” 

Instead of thanking her fellow MAGA Republican and moving on, Greene snapped back at Gaetz accusing him of wasting precious time by holding up Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) speakership bid earlier this month, suggesting Gaetz did not get any substantial results from his gambit — except successfully lowering the threshold of a “motion to vacate” (MTV) the speaker’s chair.

“Thanks to @speakermccarthy & Steering for voting me on the committees I requested on the submission form most of us filled out,” Greene responded in a retweet. “Too bad we’re weeks behind after you spent a week only getting MTV from 5 to 1. As the leading MAGA voice in Congress, I look forward to committees.” 

Apparently trying to take the high road, Gaetz responded: “Well, we got a few other things but I’m thrilled the MTV is back to the pre-Pelosi standard. Totally worth it! We the People will be in better hands with MTG holding the corrupt Biden Admin accountable via committee service. I’m so here for it.”

Greene was not letting it go.

[goldenvalley]

Jan 19, 2023 17:45:42 GMT LFC said:

Let's give MTG her moment back in the rectal probe spotlight. She's pulling a Kyrsten Sinema or Elise Stefanik, changing her "principles" to play to a different audience. Of course Marge's idea of reinvention is simply picking fights with her former friends. She's never been very bright or subtle.

Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) appears to be changing her public approach to politics, leading to speculation that the famously far-right member of Congress may be trying to pull off a “remake” or “rebranding.” And while her new style might not be terribly convincing, it is getting attention. She recently has been picking fights with fellow far-right allies to make her case.

The latest development came Wednesday, when Greene picked a Twitter fight with her fellow Freedom Caucus member Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) after he tweeted a message congratulating her for the assignments on the House Homeland Security and Oversight Committees.

“Bravo @mtgreenee!” Gaetz wrote in a tweet. “She’s going to do amazing work for the people on these key committees she has EARNED.” 

Instead of thanking her fellow MAGA Republican and moving on, Greene snapped back at Gaetz accusing him of wasting precious time by holding up Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) speakership bid earlier this month, suggesting Gaetz did not get any substantial results from his gambit — except successfully lowering the threshold of a “motion to vacate” (MTV) the speaker’s chair.

“Thanks to @speakermccarthy & Steering for voting me on the committees I requested on the submission form most of us filled out,” Greene responded in a retweet. “Too bad we’re weeks behind after you spent a week only getting MTV from 5 to 1. As the leading MAGA voice in Congress, I look forward to committees.” 

Apparently trying to take the high road, Gaetz responded: “Well, we got a few other things but I’m thrilled the MTV is back to the pre-Pelosi standard. Totally worth it! We the People will be in better hands with MTG holding the corrupt Biden Admin accountable via committee service. I’m so here for it.”

Greene was not letting it go.

Picking fights is what she does.  It's all she does.  It may not matter to her who she picks on so long as she gets attention and $$ from donors.  Here's a profile of her from The Atlantic.

[andydp]

This week's award goes to MTG fort her proposal to label ANTIFA a terrorist organization because... (wait for it...)

Greene went on to lament that antifa supporters "defend Democrat causes," including what she said were "the drag queens targeting our children with Drag Queen Story Time."

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says 'Time to Declare Antifa Domestic Terrorists'

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is planning legislation to declare "antifa" a "terrorist organization" following a riot that she alleges the group was behind.

Six people were arrested over the weekend in connection with a protest-turned-riot in Atlanta, Georgia, which caused property damage including a police car set afire. Although it is not clear if any of the suspects were supporters of antifa, Greene quickly pinned the blame on the network.

More of this drivel and associated comments by Tuckums are here.

www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-time-declare-antifa-domestic-terrorists-1775949

(Ed note: if she wants to keep drag queens away, she may have to get rid of her buddy Rep Santos.)

[goldenvalley]

Arizona lawmakers, at least a majority of them:

Arizona Republicans shielded legislators from the state’s open-records law this week — a move that comes months after the release of thousands of documents detailing extensive efforts to undermine Joe Biden’s victory here in the 2020 presidential election.

Documents that have surfaced over the past two years include correspondence describing the inner workings of a partisan review of the 2020 election by the Cyber Ninjas, as well as emails by Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, urging lawmakers to overturn President Donald Trump’s narrow defeat in the state.

The new rules will greatly limit the public release of lawmakers’ communications. State senators will not have to disclose any text messages sent on personal devices, even when dealing with state business. For lawmakers in both the Senate and the House, emails and other documents will be destroyed after 90 days — in many cases, well before members of the public know to ask for them.

And the Arizona Supreme Court:

Ordinarily, Arizona officials must retain most public records indefinitely and release them when someone asks for them. Seizing on a recent state Supreme Court ruling, the lawmakers on Tuesday and Wednesday adopted rules that set limited standards for when they must make documents public. Capitol Media Services first reported the rule changes.

Last month, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled it had no power to enforce the state’s open-meetings law when it came to legislators. The ruling appeared to clear the way for the legislature, narrowly led by Republicans, to set its own transparency policies, which it has promptly done.

Nice way to shut down any public inquiry into their work.  The article points out that Congress is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) which is a travesty too.  But the Arizona folks had some transparency rules that they're going backward on.  

[LFC]

Santos has sense enough to realize that the more visible he is, the less chance he's got of keeping his salary, benefits, and whatever scammed campaign cash he's sitting on.

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has recused himself from serving on any House committees, according to several reports.

The scandal-plagued freshman told House Republicans that he’ll be taking a step back because “he’s a distraction,” an anonymous lawmaker told the Washington Post. The announcement was made in a closed GOP conference on Tuesday morning.

He will reportedly be stepping down from his assignments on the House Small Business Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, CNN reported.

[goldenvalley]

Jan 31, 2023 18:50:09 GMT LFC said:

Santos has sense enough to realize that the more visible he is, the less chance he's got of keeping his salary, benefits, and whatever scammed campaign cash he's sitting on.

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has recused himself from serving on any House committees, according to several reports.

The scandal-plagued freshman told House Republicans that he’ll be taking a step back because “he’s a distraction,” an anonymous lawmaker told the Washington Post. The announcement was made in a closed GOP conference on Tuesday morning.

He will reportedly be stepping down from his assignments on the House Small Business Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, CNN reported.

I wonder if there is some back channel discussion with him to get him to pull away from committees. McCarthy and company surely must have realized after that this wasn't going to die down plus the campaign finance violations are looking more likely.

[LFC]

This week it's the House Republicans as a group. They so petty and cruel that they're demanding Jamie Raskin not wear the bandana he's been covering his head with as he goes through chemo. How sick is that? Meanwhile Bimboebert brags about carrying a Glock in the House now and we have this guy who is apparently wearing some kind of beret.

[goldenvalley]

Feb 1, 2023 18:41:06 GMT LFC said:

This week it's the House Republicans as a group. They so petty and cruel that they're demanding Jamie Raskin not wear the bandana he's been covering his head with as he goes through chemo. How sick is that? Meanwhile Bimboebert brags about carrying a Glock in the House now and we have this guy who is apparently wearing some kind of beret.

Sheer petty vindictiveness.  I see more maturity in a middle school lunch room than I'm seeing the House right now.

[LFC]

The American Public: "The George Santos story couldn't get more bizarre is it tried."

George Santos: "Hold my beer!"

I’m not sure the George Santos stories keep getting worse. But they do get weirder, more bizarre.

As we learned way back at the beginning of the Santos saga, he remained a wanted man in Brazil for check fraud he committed back in 2008. After he became an international celebrity in December, Brazilian authorities decided to reinitiate the case which had stalled when they couldn’t locate him. After the case was reopened Santos hired a Brazilian lawyer to represent him in the revived case. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, since it’s George Santos, that he managed to find a lawyer who’s always a convicted murderer. In fact, a convicted contract killer.

This account is based on the article published yesterday in the Brazilian daily Folha and some limited additional reporting of my own.

In 2004 Jonymar Vasconcelos, then a low ranking sailor in the Brazilian Navy, was part of what the Folha termed a ‘death squad’ behind a mob execution. This was more organized crime than anything backed by the state per se. These are criminal gangs run by rogue elements in the military police. Vasconcelos was sentenced to 18 years in prison but ended up serving only five. He was released to house arrest and supervised release in 2009. Two years later the judge who sentenced him, Patrícia Acioli, was herself murdered.

[LFC]

Two days! Just two f***ing days!

[andydp]

Feb 5, 2023 18:22:43 GMT LFC said:

Two days! Just two f***ing days!

No one seems to care even if it’s “icky gay sex.”

[goldenvalley]

More juvenile behavior.  Same as with the AR 15 lapel pins.  A middle schooler might think this is owning the libs or making a point of some sort but all I see is juvenile, immatureness.

[goldenvalley]

Oh yeah.  This is the lady that stalked behind the Parkland High School guy.  Kissing up to McCarthy doesn't mean she changed her overall approach to those she disagrees with. I wonder if this is her audition to be Trump's running mate in 2024.

[pnwguy]

Sums up things pretty well...

[goldenvalley]

Feb 9, 2023 5:01:31 GMT pnwguy said:

Sums up things pretty well...

View Attachment

I do wonder what MTG's reaction would be if AOG confronted her and her balloon with an AR 15. "Pop your balloon or I'll do it for you!"

[LFC]

Feb 9, 2023 16:33:54 GMT goldenvalley said:

Feb 9, 2023 5:01:31 GMT pnwguy said:

Sums up things pretty well...

View Attachment

I do wonder what MTG's reaction would be if AOG confronted her and her balloon with an AR 15. "Pop your balloon or I'll do it for you!"

Easy. If AOC confronted her in any way, even verbally and respectfully, she’d play the victim.

[goldenvalley]

The title of this thread might need to be changed to Sphincter Politicians of the week.  Lots of BS happening in the Weaponization of Federal Government Committee this week which has become the "Airing of Grievances and Conspiracies Committee". Too numerous to mention the various antics happening including the calling of a retired FBI agent who actually retired before 9/11 happened who was opining on how the FBI changed after 9/11. And they called two US Senators to testify too, one of them was Ron Johnson (R WI)?!?

But I'm here to lift up Congress member Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) as a rather pale imitation of George Santos. 

Twelve years before she was elected as the first Mexican American woman to represent Florida in Congress, Anna Paulina Luna was serving at Whiteman Air Force Base in Warrensburg, Mo., where friends said she described herself as alternately Middle Eastern, Jewish or Eastern European. Known then by her given last name of Mayerhofer, Luna sported designer clothing and expressed support for then-President Barack Obama.

By the time she ran for Congress as a Republican, she had changed her last name to Luna in what she said was an homage to her mother’s family. A staunch advocate for gun rights, she cited on the campaign trail a harrowing childhood that left her “battle hardened.” She said she and her mother had little extended family as she grew up in “low-income” neighborhoods in Southern California with a father in and out of incarceration. She said she experienced a traumatizing “home invasion” when she was serving in the Air Force in Missouri.

Luna’s sharp turn to the right, her account of an isolated and impoverished childhood, and her embrace of her Hispanic heritage have come as a surprise to some friends and family who knew her before her ascent to the U.S. House this year. A cousin who grew up with Luna said she was regularly included in family gatherings. Her roommate in Missouri had no recollection of the “home invasion” Luna detailed, describing instead a break-in at their shared apartment when they were not home, an incident confirmed by police records. And three years before her first congressional bid as a conservative, Luna registered to vote as a Democrat in Washington state, voting records show.

While this woman's mother appears to back her up others do not.  And even mother was an elementary school teacher who eventually went to law school...not well off, but not impoverished.

[LFC]

Feb 10, 2023 17:32:05 GMT goldenvalley said:

The title of this thread might need to be changed to Sphincter Politicians of the week.  Lots of BS happening in the Weaponization of Federal Government Committee this week which has become the "Airing of Grievances and Conspiracies Committee". Too numerous to mention the various antics happening including the calling of a retired FBI agent who actually retired before 9/11 happened who was opining on how the FBI changed after 9/11. And they called two US Senators to testify too, one of them was Ron Johnson (R WI)?!?

And that's why we have the House Republican "Investigations" and Other Total Nonsense thread. If you see any juicy tidbits of Republican insanity revolving around this particularly component of fascism be sure to put them there.

But I'm here to lift up Congress member Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) as a rather pale imitation of George Santos.

She's also batshit nuts.Here's a gift link to the WaPo article I found. Another wildly fabricated backstory. Republicans really do attract the worst of the worst. Their inability to stay remotely close to the truth and their infinite capacity for grift are embedded at the DNA level.

[goldenvalley]

Feb 10, 2023 17:55:51 GMT LFC said:

Feb 10, 2023 17:32:05 GMT goldenvalley said:

The title of this thread might need to be changed to Sphincter Politicians of the week.  Lots of BS happening in the Weaponization of Federal Government Committee this week which has become the "Airing of Grievances and Conspiracies Committee". Too numerous to mention the various antics happening including the calling of a retired FBI agent who actually retired before 9/11 happened who was opining on how the FBI changed after 9/11. And they called two US Senators to testify too, one of them was Ron Johnson (R WI)?!?

And that's why we have the House Republican "Investigations" and Other Total Nonsense thread. If you see any juicy tidbits of Republican insanity revolving around this particularly component of fascism be sure to put them there.

But I'm here to lift up Congress member Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) as a rather pale imitation of George Santos.

She's also batshit nuts.Here's a gift link to the WaPo article I found. Another wildly fabricated backstory. Republicans really do attract the worst of the worst. Their inability to stay remotely close to the truth and their infinite capacity for grift are embedded at the DNA level.

I didn't think about that thread.  Thanks for the redirection.

As to Luna...so far she hasn't been implicated in trafficking in puppies yet so George is still way ahead of her in the degrees of liar category.  I'm thinking she believes she is the Republican AOC...good looking Hispanic who is outspoken and who isn't quite so obviously nuts like MTG. Or a version of Hope Hicks, the favorite of Trump.

[LFC]

Feb 10, 2023 18:22:05 GMT goldenvalley said:

I didn't think about that thread.  Thanks for the redirection.

Yeah, I wanted one place to track what Josh Marshall so eloquently calls "their f***ery."

[andydp]

GV: ask and it shall be done unto you.

“Sphincter Politicians on Parade”

[LFC]

Feb 10, 2023 19:36:09 GMT andydp said:

“Sphincter Politicians on Parade”

Oh, my. Georgie thinks that's just FAAAAAABULOUS!

[LFC]

The Texass AG is corrupt as them come, and now he's taking the taxpayers' money to pay off his punishment. Gawd, Republicans are dumb as f*** when it comes to getting fleeced.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has agreed to a $3.3 million settlement with a group of former staffers who accused him of corruption—and taxpayers will be footing the bill. Under the terms of the settlement, Paxton admitted no guilt for the charges of bribery and abuse of office that had been leveled against him but did apologize for calling his accusers “rogue employees.” The charges stemmed from allegations that Paxton used his office to grant political favors to Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, who allegedly also hired a woman with whom Paxton was having an extramarital affair. Paxton, who is still under federal investigation for corruption, will now no longer need to sit for a civil deposition, though the settlement does not limit his accusers’ ability to speak publicly or cooperate with federal prosecutors. According to reporting by the Associated Press, the scandal spurred high-profile resignations in Paxton’s office, though he remains popular with voters and cruised to re-election in 2022.