Republican Assault on Democracy and March Towards Fascism

[LFC]

I'm pulling this story over from the old board because it's so very important.

More than half of all the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives just filed a brief with the Supreme Court that supports Texas’ madcap legal effort to hand President Trump the 2020 election.



The brief was signed by 106 House Republicans, including boisterous, hardcore pro-Trump members like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana, and Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York.



Never mind that Texas’ legal claim looks like pure applesauce, according to legal experts and even some other Republicans. These members of the House are all for the idea of overturning an American presidential election because their guy didn’t win.



“The unconstitutional irregularities involved in the 2020 presidential election cast doubt upon its outcome and the integrity of the American system of elections,” the brief says.



The House members are just the latest group of Trumpy Republicans to throw down in the legal battle the president recently hailed as the “big one.” On Wednesday, 17 other states, all with Republican attorneys general, also filed a brief in the Supreme Court supporting Texas’ position.



The rumpus surrounding Texas’ lawsuit is now descending into a kind of legal Burning Man for Trump supporters, with Republican politicians from around the country flocking to demonstrate their support for the president, who is arguing the election was somehow stolen from him without providing evidence.

[Bact PhD]

Dec 11, 2020 14:35:08 GMT LFC said:

I'm pulling this story over from the old board because it's so very important.

More than half of all the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives just filed a brief with the Supreme Court that supports Texas’ madcap legal effort to hand President Trump the 2020 election.



The brief was signed by 106 House Republicans, including boisterous, hardcore pro-Trump members like Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Rep. Greg Gianforte of Montana, and Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York.



Never mind that Texas’ legal claim looks like pure applesauce, according to legal experts and even some other Republicans. These members of the House are all for the idea of overturning an American presidential election because their guy didn’t win.



“The unconstitutional irregularities involved in the 2020 presidential election cast doubt upon its outcome and the integrity of the American system of elections,” the brief says.



The House members are just the latest group of Trumpy Republicans to throw down in the legal battle the president recently hailed as the “big one.” On Wednesday, 17 other states, all with Republican attorneys general, also filed a brief in the Supreme Court supporting Texas’ position.



The rumpus surrounding Texas’ lawsuit is now descending into a kind of legal Burning Man for Trump supporters, with Republican politicians from around the country flocking to demonstrate their support for the president, who is arguing the election was somehow stolen from him without providing evidence.

Thanks. This sort of pull-over is exactly what I was hoping for.

[LFC]

Rod Dreher just faced the natural progression of people playing the perpetual victim and being frightened of shadows and lies. An author and right-wing radio show host named Eric Mataxas, who is a friend of his, is calling for actual civil war for the greater glory of Trump. No, not in coded phrases. It's blatant. He's also making demands of God(tm) because they're praying really hard and fasting. FASTING! Of course God(tm) must do their bidding!

Dreher recoils in horror up until the line "Words mean things!" After that he goes right into the same victimhood that scares the crap out of people and radicalizes them, just like his friend. Rod is too clueless to see his role in all this simply because he stops short of advocating for violence. It's the same refusal of personal responsibility as David Frum and his ilk. But seriously, read what this maniac has to say out loud and publicly.

“So who cares what I can prove in the courts? This is right. This happened, and I am going to do anything I can to uncover this horror, this evil.”

[snip]

“We need to fight to the death, to the last drop of blood, because it’s worth it.”

Here's his demand of God(tm):

The holy remnant of the church is, has never prayed like this and fasted. People like me and others we’re fasting. When’s the last time we fasted and said God, you have to do this, there’s too much evil, we cannot just shrug it off, you need to speak, Lord, you need to do something. People have been fasting and praying so much that I know something is going to happen. Whatever happens, something will happen.”

[goldenvalley]

Dec 11, 2020 22:40:51 GMT LFC said:

Rod Dreher just faced the natural progression of people playing the perpetual victim and being frightened of shadows and lies. An author and right-wing radio show host named Eric Mataxas, who is a friend of his, is calling for actual civil war for the greater glory of Trump. No, not in coded phrases. It's blatant. He's also making demands of God(tm) because they're praying really hard and fasting. FASTING! Of course God(tm) must do their bidding!

Dreher recoils in horror up until the line "Words mean things!" After that he goes right into the same victimhood that scares the crap out of people and radicalizes them, just like his friend. Rod is too clueless to see his role in all this simply because he stops short of advocating for violence. It's the same refusal of personal responsibility as David Frum and his ilk. But seriously, read what this maniac has to say out loud and publicly.

“So who cares what I can prove in the courts? This is right. This happened, and I am going to do anything I can to uncover this horror, this evil.”

[snip]

“We need to fight to the death, to the last drop of blood, because it’s worth it.”

Here's his demand of God(tm):

The holy remnant of the church is, has never prayed like this and fasted. People like me and others we’re fasting. When’s the last time we fasted and said God, you have to do this, there’s too much evil, we cannot just shrug it off, you need to speak, Lord, you need to do something. People have been fasting and praying so much that I know something is going to happen. Whatever happens, something will happen.”

This hyperbolic speech over a guy who is clearly just a huckster?   It's worth destroying the American form of democracy over him? I am baffled.

[Bact PhD]

Dec 11, 2020 23:00:37 GMT goldenvalley said:

Dec 11, 2020 22:40:51 GMT LFC said:

Rod Dreher just faced the natural progression of people playing the perpetual victim and being frightened of shadows and lies. An author and right-wing radio show host named Eric Mataxas, who is a friend of his, is calling for actual civil war for the greater glory of Trump. No, not in coded phrases. It's blatant. He's also making demands of God(tm) because they're praying really hard and fasting. FASTING! Of course God(tm) must do their bidding!

Dreher recoils in horror up until the line "Words mean things!" After that he goes right into the same victimhood that scares the crap out of people and radicalizes them, just like his friend. Rod is too clueless to see his role in all this simply because he stops short of advocating for violence. It's the same refusal of personal responsibility as David Frum and his ilk. But seriously, read what this maniac has to say out loud and publicly.

Here's his demand of God(tm):
This hyperbolic speech over a guy who is clearly just a huckster?   It's worth destroying the American form of democracy over him? I am baffled.

They're ALL IN for the hucksterism.

[Bact PhD]

Supreme Court to Texas, et al.: GTFO .

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-texas-election-trump/2020/12/11/bf462f22-3bc6-11eb-bc68-96af0daae728_story.html

[LFC]

Here is a list of the 126 traitorous House Republicans.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called this out for what it is: “the most serious attempt to overthrow our democracy in the history of our country.”

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) cited the Constitution and legal precedent when he called for the 126 traitors to not be seated. I like it. They want a war then give them a f***ing war. Force those who want their seats to publicly renounce their treason and acknowledge President Biden. Every Democrat now has to be out in the public eye calling the Republican out for their treason.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) today called on House leaders to sanction Members and exclude from the 117th Congress any Members-elect who are supporting Donald Trump’s efforts to invalidate the 2020 presidential election. Pascrell cites the text of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment which disqualifies from service any individuals who seek to attack American democracy, as well as Congress’s power to exclude Members by majority vote as acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court in Powell v. McCormack.

“Stated simply, men and women who would act to tear the United States government apart cannot serve as Members of the Congress. These lawsuits seeking to obliterate public confidence in our democratic system by invalidating the clear results of the 2020 presidential election undoubtedly attack the text and spirit of the Constitution, which each Member swears to support and defend,” Rep. Pascrell writes House leaders. “Consequently, I call on you to exercise the power of your offices to evaluate steps you can take to address these constitutional violations this Congress and, if possible, refuse to seat in the 117th Congress any Members-elect seeking to make Donald Trump an unelected dictator.”

Article I, Section 5 of the United States Constitution gives each chamber of Congress ultimate responsibility to decide its membership, positing that “[e]ach House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members.”

Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment stipulates that: “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof…”

[Bact PhD]

YoYo supported it, no shock there. He's leaving office, but I suspect his replacement is at least as devout a follower of The One True Faith as he is.

[Bact PhD]

At this stage of things, although the Rebekah Jones saga started out as a "Coronavirus" story, the recent developments merit its inclusion in this thread.

Short version: Ms. Jones, as a data scientist working for the state of Flori-DUH, set up a running COVID dashboard for the state Dept. of Health. However, as the state moved towards re-opening in May, there was conflict regarding the accuracy of the numbers. Ms. Jones was canned and soon set up her own competing database.(1) Fast-forward a few months to earlier this week, and her home is raided by FDLE on grounds that she hacked into the emergency notification system to send a text. Interestingly enough, they took her phone and computers...with all her contact info on them. "DeMinimis," a Trump Mini-Me if there ever was one, has a story that seems weak at best.(3)

(1) www.npr.org/2020/06/14/876584284/fired-florida-data-scientist-launches-a-coronavirus-dashboard-of-her-own

(2) www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/florida-coronavirus-data-rebekah-jones.html

(3) www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/11/florida-desantis-defends-raid-attacks-data-scientist-rebekah-jones/6510250002/

[goldenvalley]

Dec 12, 2020 17:10:04 GMT Bact PhD said:

At this stage of things, although the Rebekah Jones saga started out as a "Coronavirus" story, the recent developments merit its inclusion in this thread.

Short version: Ms. Jones, as a data scientist working for the state of Flori-DUH, set up a running COVID dashboard for the state Dept. of Health. However, as the state moved towards re-opening in May, there was conflict regarding the accuracy of the numbers. Ms. Jones was canned and soon set up her own competing database.(1) Fast-forward a few months to earlier this week, and her home is raided by FDLE on grounds that she hacked into the emergency notification system to send a text. Interestingly enough, they took her phone and computers...with all her contact info on them. "DeMinimis," a Trump Mini-Me if there ever was one, has a story that seems weak at best.(3)

(1) www.npr.org/2020/06/14/876584284/fired-florida-data-scientist-launches-a-coronavirus-dashboard-of-her-own

(2) www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/us/florida-coronavirus-data-rebekah-jones.html

(3) www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/11/florida-desantis-defends-raid-attacks-data-scientist-rebekah-jones/6510250002/

I saw the video of the cops entering her house, stomping around as if they have an arrest warrant for a dangerous person instead of a warrant for a couple of laptops and phones.  Is all cop training coming from movies and tv shows about cops?

[Bact PhD]

The Rebekah Jones saga continues:

www.gainesville.com/story/news/2021/01/16/florida-doh-whistleblower-rebekah-jones-turning-herself-in-face-charge/4184101001/

www.gainesville.com/story/news/2021/01/18/rebekah-jones-arrested-charged-felony-may-banned-using-computers/4202574001/

She turned herself in, but the judge didn’t quite buy the State’s arguments.
Now she’s got the ‘Rona.

"It was a little bit of overreach, which I think this entire case has been overreach," said Jones' attorney, Stephen Dobson. Jones was still being processed as of 1 p.m. Sunday and was expected to be released later on Sunday, he said.

Dobson said he is still waiting for the state attorney to file formal charges, but regardless said "we will defend her vigorously."

Later, Dobson said that Jones had been quite sick when she turned herself in Sunday night and tested positive for the novel coronavirus while in custody. She has since bonded out.

Oh, as of this morning, still no actual charges, despite the blather about “felony charges” that were going to be filed.

[Deleted]

I said in another thread that our countries and the world can breath again but I had forgotten there are still Magats that hold the Governors seats so perhaps I was precipitate. What gets me is the sheer vindictiveness of it all - what's the point (other than just being an arsehole because of course they can)? I hope Jones fully recovers from the virus and is vindicated in court if it gets that far *smh at the whole kit and caboodle*

[Bact PhD]

Moreover, Ms. Jones & family had relocated to the DC area shortly after the raid. I suspect she will be vindicated in court...eventually.

[Bact PhD]

Our good friend "The Q-Anon Shaman" continues to make his "case" in court. (paywalled)

[beelzebuddy]

[LFC]

Now that an officer has been murdered and another injured the Sedition Caucus members are getting bashed over their prior demands to take down the fencing at the Capitol. Of course MTG and Boebert were all mouth about it. On a personal note I'm happy to see other sources using "Sedition Caucus" though, to be fair, I would place the two of them in the Treason Caucus.

[LFC]

Rep. Devin Nunes is as corrupt a liar as exists in Congress and has clawed at democracy and the free press as much as any other Republican fascist. He's also a fan of frivolous lawsuits. Looks like he pushed CNN too hard and they decided not to take his bullshit. Now an aide and his attorney that were pushing the case get to open their wallets and pay for CNN's legal fees. I wonder what that bill looks like. I hope it's steep.

The Merced Sun-Star is reporting that a close aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and his lawyer been sanctioned over their continuing efforts to sue CNN.

The report notes that Nunes' senior aide Derek Harvey and his attorney Steven S. Biss -- who also took part in representing the GOP lawmaker in his suits against CNN, the Washington Post and Twitter -- have been told by Judge Richard Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland that they must pay the "legal fees in a lawsuit they filed against CNN regarding a news story about the California congressman."

"Judge Richard Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland dismissed Harvey's lawsuit in February, finding Harvey had failed to prove any statements were 'materially false,'" the report states. "Bennett handed down sanctions against Harvey and Biss after they filed an amended complaint seeking to have him reconsider his dismissal of the lawsuit."

According to the judge, the amended complaint didn't pass legal muster.

"This Court finds that Plaintiff Harvey's filing of the Amended Complaint unreasonably multiplied the proceedings in this case, and this Court is satisfied that it is appropriate to impose a sanction as to the Plaintiff and his counsel under this court's inherent authority and (federal law)," the judge ruled, adding, "In fact, this Court was hard pressed to see how several of the allegedly defamatory statements cited in Harvey's original Complaint had much to do with the Plaintiff at all, as they focused almost entirely on the actions of Congressman Nunes."

In summary, the judge ruled that Harvey and Biss are to pay CNN's court costs and legal fees, saying the amended complaint was filed in "bad faith."

[LFC]

Missouri had a direct vote on Medicaid expansion which passed by over 83,000 votes. Republicans have now decided that they don't have to abide by it. Like all things political the Republicans favor things that favor them and attack anything that does not. Democracy? That means nothing to them.

When Missouri voters approved Medicaid expansion in August, the results weren't all that close.

The constitutional amendment requiring the state to expand eligibility to upward of 275,000 residents passed 53.3% to 46.7%. The margin of victory stood at more than 83,000 votes.

Less than a year later, the Republican-dominated House is balking. GOP legislators voted last week to exclude the funding necessary to carry out the expansion, leaving its fate unclear.

One lawmaker, Republican Justin Hill of Lake St. Louis, went as far as to say he was "proud to stand against the will of the people who were lied to." Others were quick to say that Missouri is a republic, not a democracy.

"I think they were told half of the story," Rep. Cody Smith, a Carthage Republican, said of voters.

Missouri Republican lawmakers, faced with an electorate willing to approve measures championed by liberals, are growing increasingly antagonistic toward direct democracy. In recent weeks, they have moved to both undermine voter decisions and advance proposals that would make it harder for voters to make changes in the future.

In addition to fighting Medicaid funding, Republicans are exploring ways to derail a minimum wage increase approved by voters in 2018. And the House has passed a measure that would require two-thirds of voters to approve future constitutional amendments instead of a simple majority.

The measure also raises the bar to get initiative petitions on the ballot. Tens of thousands of additional signatures could be required from more areas of the state, changes that would effectively give rural voters more influence in the initiative process.

[goldenvalley]

How dare those voters expand a program that true Republicans want to gut!

There are reasons to be antagonistic to "direct" democracy.  California's system has been hijacked by big money to use ballot propositions to get what they want.  The recent one on the employment status of app based delivery systems...like Uber, Lyft, DoorDash...is an example of one. However changes to the system should be done in a stand alone proposition so that everyone sees what they are.  Hiding them in other propositions is underhanded and not done in the public interest.

[LFC]

The MAGAts are tired of the establishment and they're actively doing something about it. The tiger that the Republicans rode for years continues to feed on them. They just found this out in South Carolina, bigly.

According to a report from the Daily Beast, there is a coordinated effort in South Carolina to take over the local Republican precincts by newcomers whose main allegiance is to former president Donald Trump.

As the Beast's Sam Brodey writes, "Since Trump's defeat and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the MAGA faithful around the country have been restless. State-level activists have led the charge nationally in loudly criticizing and plotting against any Republican perceived to be an enemy of the Trump movement, from members of Congress who voted to impeach the ex-president to local officials seen as being weak or soft when it counted."

Case in point: what is happening in deeply conservative South Carolina.
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According to Lenna Smith, a 30-year veteran in Republican politics in the state, a recent meeting to hold the annual board election was flooded with newcomers she had never seen before, with the Beast reporting, "what happened next was totally out of her control. When it came time to elect the precinct's president for the coming year, one of the newcomers nominated a fellow newcomer, but not a single person nominated Smith. Stunned, she had to nominate herself...When it came time to vote, the outcome was a foregone conclusion: Smith had lost the president position she'd held for years. For the vote on the next most senior office, the same thing happened, and then the next, until there were no more offices left. Smith had been totally shut out."

And it's not an isolated incident.

What Smith experienced was not a one-off, with the report noting similar incidents happening across the state.

According to Pressley Stutts, a local Tea Party leader, purging the Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) is the focus of the Trump loyalists.

"There are a lot of good people that did lose their positions. Some are my friends. Some people say, Pressley, what have you done?" he told the Beast before adding that Trump, with his comments, has given implicit instructions to his followers. "He said, go purge, get rid of the RINOs in the Republican Party. So we took him seriously."

According to Suzette Jordan, a GOP activist in Greenville for decades, longtime Republicans with political experience are being displaced at a startling pace and she worries about where the local party is going.

"It's frustrating to think the party may be turned over to people who have different goals from what we've had for years. Their goal is to replace us all. They may succeed," she claimed before adding that she was an elector who cast her vote for Trump. "We've been accused of being establishment, being not MAGA enough, whatever that means. Afterward, a lady stepped up and said, 'Congratulations on being an elector!' It was kind of ironic to me. None of that mattered."

Current chairman of the Greenville County GOP, Nate Leupp told the Beast "that about 30 percent of the county's precincts were targeted by the outsider faction on the night of March 22. Their message, he told The Daily Beast, was clear: 'We are MAGA, and we're here to take over'."

The party is quickly on a path that will full normalize the likes of MTG, GED Barbie Boebert, and intellectual stalwarts like Goehmert and Gaetz (pre-sex scandal). Welcome to the natural but unholy outcome of decades of Republican political strategy.

[LFC]

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-ARshole Extraordinaire) pulls a classic fascist move by calling for the imprisonment of more of "those people." Few things make a congressional Republican want to touch themselves more than the thought of jamming more and more people into privatized prisons run by companies that give them donations.

It's a playbook Americans know all too well. Right wing politicians getting elected – or elected to higher office – by promising to bring down crime by arresting the "bad guys." Never mind what some of the causes of some of the crime are: unemployment, poverty, homelessness, lack of resources, inequity, lack of education, and in 2020, a massive global pandemic.

In response to a CNN report titled, "The US saw significant crime rise across major cities in 2020. And it's not letting up," Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and likely 2024 presidential hopeful, just delivered his "solution."

"Lock them up," basically.
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"We have a major under-incarceration problem in America," Cotton tweeted Tuesday. "And it's only getting worse."

If there's one thing America is suffering from, it is not "under-incarceration."

America truly has found something to be "number one" at: locking people up.

"The United States is the world leader in incarceration, despite the national incarceration rate being at its lowest in 20 years, with about 25% of the world's prison population being in the US," World Population Review reports, citing data from World Prison Brief. "The United States currently has over 2.1 million total prisoners. The prison population in 1972 was 200,000, almost 2 million less than it is today."

Not only does the U.S. lead the world in per capita incarcerations, but in total number of people behind bars. The U.S. has less than one-quarter of the population of China, yet has more people in jail than the world's most-populous nation.

Cotton, who is the second-most far right Republican in the U.S. Senate and ranked below-average in leadership, literally offered not a single solution to the ills that plague the nation. Out of 26 votes this year, Cotton has voted no 23 times – against every Biden initiative or nomination but three.

[LFC]

Sen. Josh Hawley is being rewarded by the Republican base for his sedition and treason. These have gone from being tactics and are now Republican principles.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is learning that, in 2021, sowing distrust in basic functions of democracy can be good electoral politics.

According to a new Politico report, Hawley raised more than $3 million during the first three months of the year, a handsome return on his efforts to not only overturn the results of the election, but also for seeming to cheer on a now-failed coup attempt.

Hawley has denied accusations that that his infamous raised fist to Trump supporters who would later storm the Capitol was an attempt to egg on the insurrection. But he was also one of the main Senate ringleaders of the effort to halt certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory.

During the two and a half weeks following the Jan. 6 attack, Hawley raised $600,000, according to a person familiar with the totals who spoke to Politico. For comparison’s sake, Hawley last year raised only $43,000 in the first quarter of the election cycle. Compared to $3 million in the same span of time, it’s a substantial uptick for the senator, who’s not up for reelection until 2024.

And he’s not the only member of Congress who is pulling in big money after hyping a conspiracy theory. QAnon congresswoman Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who is a freshman member of the House, raised $3.2 million during the first quarter — despite getting booted from her committees over her past violent remarks about colleagues and her conspiracy-mongering social media presence.

Hawley’s aggressive push to weaken democracy has earned him some condemnation from some Republican colleagues. But clearly those individual donors most loyal to Trump can see through his political need to distance himself from the notorious raised fist.

[LFC]

Arizona could plausibly end up with a full blown fascist in charge of their elections.

Arizona State Rep. Mark Finchem will not be mistaken for a Never Trump conservative anytime soon. The far-right Republican conspiracy theorist, who comes from the Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene/Rep. Lauren Boebert school of extremism, has voiced his support for QAnon, praised the Oath Keepers, promoted former President Donald Trump's bogus election fraud lies and falsely claimed that antifa attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6. And now, Finchem is running for Arizona secretary of state — which, journalist Cameron Joseph stresses in an article published by Vice on April 12, would put him in charge of elections in the Grand Canyon State.

"Some Republicans worry that Finchem could be a force to contend with in primary, given how virulently pro-Trump much of the GOP base is in the state," Joseph observes. "And Democrats are terrified at the prospect of Finchem in charge of Arizona's election system heading into 2024 — when the state could once again be at the epicenter of the presidential map."

One of the Arizona Democrats who is sounding the alarm about Finchem is Bonnie Heidler, who chairs the Pima County Democratic Party Chair. Heidler told Vice, "I'm totally freaked out that he's running. He cannot hold that position. If he does, democracy is completely out of the question."

Heidler is right to be concerned given Finchem's history. After now-President Joe Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Finchem joined Trump in promoting the false claim that the election had been stolen from him because of widespread voter fraud — and he claimed that Trump really won Arizona. Finchem, like Trump, was furious when Gov. Doug Ducey, a conservative Republican, certified Biden's Electoral College victory in the state.

On his website, Finchem claims, "Since my very first election, I knew something was very wrong with our elections process. Then on November 3rd, 2020, the unthinkable happened: Americans witnessed real-time reallocation of votes from one candidate to another, broadcast on national television."

Such claims have been totally debunked by cybersecurity experts for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but that hasn't prevented Finchem from promoting them. And on January 6 — before the storming of the U.S. Capitol Building — he was in Washington, D.C. for Trump's Stop the Steal Rally.

During a March 4 appearance on Victory News — a Christian Right outlet — Finchem pushed the QAnon conspiracy theory, saying, "They're finding so many kids. We've got a serious problem in this nation. And that's one of the things that disturbs me so much about our current congressional state of affairs. There's a lot of people involved in a pedophile network and the distribution of children, and that makes me absolutely sick. And unfortunately, there's a whole lot of elected officials that are involved in that."

[LFC]

TPM has a great summary on the Republican assault on democracy as they attempted to derail, delay, and dispose of virtually all of Biden's nominees. No shock here. It's exactly what Moscow Mitch demanded from his little fascists when Obama was president but at least they currently don't have the majority to destroy the functionality of a serious person in the White House.

We’ve known for some time that Senate Republicans were laying the groundwork to obstruct the new administration, particularly when it came to opposing President Biden’s Cabinet nominees. And today, even though almost all of Biden’s crisis-tested and historically diverse Cabinet has been confirmed, we cannot forget that Republicans tried — and ultimately failed — to derail the incoming Biden administration. And we cannot forget that this opposition was driven not simply by Senate Republicans’ partisanship and a desire to score political points, but also in a deliberate effort to protect their special interest allies and corporate donors.

Gearing up for obstruction
Following President Biden’s win, but before losing their majority in early January, Senate Republicans blew up the longstanding bipartisan tradition of moving the confirmation process forward during the lame-duck period. Instead, they did nothing, waiting to see if they’d maintain control of the Senate — where they would have the power to obstruct Biden’s nominees even further. The obstruction continued as Mitch McConnell, soon to lose the majority when Vice President Harris was sworn in and became the tiebreaker in the 50-50 Senate, refused for weeks to agree to a simple organizing resolution — a procedural step that would allow Senate Democrats to start confirming Biden’s nominees, the work he and his party refused to do.

We don’t have to wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot. In 2001, in a 50-50 Senate with Democrats in control ahead of President Bush’s inauguration, Senate Democrats put political differences aside to make sure the incoming administration had its Cabinet in place as soon as possible. In 2021, amid a global pandemic and after former President Trump and members of their own party helped incite a violent insurrection on our U.S. Capitol, Senate Republicans failed to do the same.

At least now there are a few Republicans who aren't 100% obstructionists but they're few. If Republicans gain the Senate majority in 2022 they'll fall in line though Moscow Mitch will have plenty of power to sink nominee after nominee with just the help of a few of his most fascist minions. History will repeat itself.

Despite their best efforts, Senate Republicans’ attempts to sink or damage Biden’s nominees ultimately failed because the American people saw through them. In addition to the rank hypocrisy Biden’s nominees experienced compared to the treatment of President Trump’s nominees, many Republican senators made it clear that they were acting on behalf of special interests — most notably the pharmaceutical and oil and gas industries.

In many cases, they didn’t even try to hide their motivations: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) said the quiet part out loud when he voiced opposition to now-Secretary Becerra because he wasn’t a pharmaceutical executive like President Trump’s HHS secretary, Alex Azar. Sens. Steve Daines (R-MT) and John Barrasso (R-WY) were vocal about their concerns for the extraction industries in their states, while ignoring the tribal voices and environmentalists back home that supported Haaland’s nomination. Ultimately, these attacks all fell flat and each of these nominees was confirmed with bipartisan support.

[LFC]

These moves could potentially see more abuse than stand your ground laws.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed state Republicans’ bill on Wednesday evening that will protect drivers who run over protesters from criminal and civil liability.

This comes amid mass demonstrations against anti-Black police brutality.

The bill, H.B. 1674, seeks to crack down on protests that obstruct traffic by granting drivers immunity and imposing harsher punishments on protesters who make it “unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous” for drivers to pass.

“We are sending a message today in Oklahoma that rioters who threaten law abiding citizens’ safety will not be tolerated,” Stitt said in a statement. “I remain unequivocally committed to protecting every Oklahoman’s First Amendment right to peacefully protest as well as their right to feel safe in their community.”

The injury or death of the individual occurred while the motor vehicle operator was fleeing from a riot, as defined in Section 1311 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma Statutes, under a reasonable belief that fleeing was necessary to protect the motor vehicle operator from serious injury or death; and 2. The motor vehicle operator exercised due care at the time of the death or injury.

Under the new law, a driver who “unintentionally” causes injury or death while “fleeing from a riot […] under a reasonable belief that fleeing was necessary to protect the motor vehicle operator from serious injury or death” will not be criminally or civilly liable for that injury or death as long as the driver was exercising “due care at the time.”

Oklahoma’s protections for drivers who run over protesters go further than those found in Florida’s “anti-riot” law signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week, which shields drivers who run over protesters from getting sued, but not from criminal charges.

Republicans in other states, including Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, and Washington are pushing similar driver immunities in what appears to be a growing wave of anti-protest legislation by the GOP in response to nationwide protests against police killings of Black Americans.