Republican Assault on Democracy and March Towards Fascism

[jackd]

As to the responsibility of drivers under these circumstances, I'm not sure the statute doesn't merely reaffirm existing law.

[LFC]

The fascists behind the Big Lie continue to work together to destroy American democracy.

A political operative who was behind robocalls urging Trump supporters to march to the Capitol on the day of the joint session of Congress ratifying Joe Biden’s electoral victory was hired on Thursday by the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) — a prominent GOP group that has come under fire for promoting the rally that occurred shortly before the deadly Capitol insurrection.

The board of RAGA voted to appoint Peter Bisbee as its new executive director, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution on Thursday. Bisbee previously served as the head of RAGA’s policy arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, which financed robocalls urging its backers to “stop the steal” at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Bisbee’s promotion within RAGA comes almost a week after Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) resigned from his position as chair of RAGA. In his resignation letter dated April 16 and obtained by AJC, Carr cited a “significant difference of opinion” among the organization’s leadership, with the “fundamental” difference beginning after Jan. 6 and the “opposite views” about the “significance” of the events of that day.

Isn't that just awesome? About two dozen state AGs, the top law enforcement officials in their states, are promoting lies to help them undermine elections. Fascism isn't coming to America, it's here ... bigly.

[LFC]

Kevin McCarthy faced some tough questions from Chris Wallace on his phone call with Trump in the midst of the Jan 6 Republican Insurrection. Like a good soldier he dodged, weaved, and stonewalled.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Sunday refused to disclose the details of his call with then-President Donald Trump during the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, when McCarthy allegedly implored Trump to call off his supporters who were ransacking the Capitol.

The GOP leader dodged when Fox News host Chris Wallace asked if Trump had told him “well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election then you are” during that call, as recounted by Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-WA).

“What he ended the call was saying — telling me, he’ll put something out to make sure to stop this,” McCarthy told Wallace. “And that’s what he did. He put a video out later.”

He remained tight-lipped as Wallace pressed him on the incident, saying that “my conversations with the president are my conversations with the president.”

“I engaged in the idea of making sure we could stop what was going on inside the Capitol at that moment in time,” McCarthy said. “The president said he would help.”

Herrera Beutler, one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the insurrection, has stood by her account that McCarthy had told her about Trump’s remark.

[LFC]

[moved to Voter Suppression thread]

[LFC]

Marco Rubio was always just a dim, purchased little shit but now he's going all in on trying to bring companies to heel. Republican support for corporate free speech was flushed down the toilet in the blink of an eye. Bold hypocrisy mine. He's literally whining about things the Republicans have supported for decades as a cover for government suppression of free speech.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has decided to crown himself the leader of what he calls the GOP's "work of rebuilding — and rebalancing — the relationship between our nation and its large corporations" that he claims are "waging a merciless war against traditional values."

In a New York Post op-ed titled "Corporations that undermine American values don't deserve GOP support," the Florida Republican threatens American companies with increased regulation and taxes, merely for exercising their First Amendment rights, now that they no longer support the Republican Party's far-right extremism on social issues.

"No policymaker would allow a company to dump toxic waste into a river upstream of a thriving town he is charged with governing," wrote Rubio, who just five years ago said addressing climate change was "just not good public policy."

"Yet corporate America eagerly dumps woke, toxic nonsense into our culture, and it's only gotten more destructive with time. These campaigns will be met with the same strength that any other polluter should expect," he said, to tremendous push back and mockery on social media.

"Our nation needs a thriving private economy. And patriotic business leadership has historically underwritten the American Dream. But lawmakers who have been asleep at the wheel for too long, especially within my own party, need to wake up. America's laws should keep our nation's corporations firmly ordered to our national common good."

Rubio, who every morning posts a quote from the Bible, is literally threatening corporations that do not embrace Republican policies, something other GOP lawmakers have done in recent weeks after Major League Baseball pulled the All-Star Game out of Atlanta.

He adds, "taking aggressive positions on woke cultural issues that tear at our national fabric might seem like an easy way to avoid boycotts from activists. But those of us charged with keeping America strong recognize that these positions are the greatest threat to our long-term viability," which is demonstrably false.

[Deleted]

Apr 26, 2021 22:12:41 GMT LFC said:

Marco Rubio was always just a dim, purchased little shit but now he's going all in on trying to bring companies to heel. Republican support for corporate free speech was flushed down the toilet in the blink of an eye. Bold hypocrisy mine. He's literally whining about things the Republicans have supported for decades as a cover for government suppression of free speech.

 America's laws should keep our nation's corporations firmly ordered to our national common good."

What's that sound I hear? Well, gosh, it's his jack-booted thugs marching in his dreams. "when fascism comes to America ........" .

[andydp]

Apr 27, 2021 10:01:18 GMT @islander said:

Apr 26, 2021 22:12:41 GMT LFC said:

Marco Rubio was always just a dim, purchased little shit but now he's going all in on trying to bring companies to heel. Republican support for corporate free speech was flushed down the toilet in the blink of an eye. Bold hypocrisy mine. He's literally whining about things the Republicans have supported for decades as a cover for government suppression of free speech.

What's that sound I hear? Well, gosh, it's his jack-booted thugs marching in his dreams. "when fascism comes to America ........" .

Isn't that the sound of a "commie" thing ? "All for the state and no dissention allowed ."

[goldenvalley]

Apr 27, 2021 14:58:40 GMT andydp said:

Apr 27, 2021 10:01:18 GMT @islander said:

What's that sound I hear? Well, gosh, it's his jack-booted thugs marching in his dreams. "when fascism comes to America ........" .

Isn't that the sound of a "commie" thing ? "All for the state and no dissention allowed ."

Rubio is virtue signaling to all those who dislike the political correctness shown by those companies.  He probably has no intention of ever acting on his statements and he'll certainly accept $$ from those companies he criticizes.  He figures no one will know who donates to his PAC and he'll be right about that.

[AnBr]

[LFC]

That song is actually called "For What It's Worth." I guess the poster decided too many people wouldn't know that.

[LFC]

Ted Cruz just said the quiet part out loud. Actually two quiet parts. The first part is that either corporate America comes to heel and at least keeps their mouths shut when the GOP tells them to or they will use the power of the U.S. government to punish them. As if that's not bad enough he also freely admits that the GOP functions on "pay to play" by threatening to revoke it. On the upside the party is at least being honest about their utter corruption.

Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-Texas) threat to “woke” CEOs was slammed Sunday as likely the “most openly corrupt” message ever from the Senate, declared Walter Shaub, former head of the Government Office of Ethics.

In a Wall Street Journal column last week, Cruz warned that CEOs opposing Republican threats to voting rights will be excluded from his party’s pay-to-play legislative operation — because they’re no longer conservative enough for the GOP.

For example, Republicans will stop accepting donations in exchange for “looking the other way” when corporate bigwigs dodge taxes, Cruz wrote in a stunningly honest admission of his party’s current modus operandi.

“This time,” he wrote, “we won’t look the other way on Coca-Cola’s $12 billion in back taxes owed. This time, when Major League Baseball lobbies to preserve its multibillion-dollar antitrust exception, we’ll say no thank you. This time, when Boeing asks for billions in corporate welfare, we’ll simply let the Export-Import Bank expire.”

Shaub, who served under both Barack Obama and Donald Trump, called Cruz’s threat a blatant admission that Republicans are selling corporate donors “access to the government.” In a clear swipe at Cruz’s clueless self-exposure, Shaub noted that most lawmakers have too much “sense” to say it quite so brazenly.

“It’s the part everyone knows: these crooks sell access,” Shaub tweeted. “Others have the sense not to admit it. This is why our republic is broken: Immoral politicians selling power we’ve entrusted to them like it’s theirs to sell.”

Walter Shaub
@waltshaub

This may be the most openly corrupt thing any Senator has said. It's the part everyone knows: these crooks sell access. Others have the sense not to admit it. This is why our republic is broken. Immoral politicians selling power we've entrusted to them like it's theirs to sell.

The Republican Party is now a totally corrupt and fascist organization. There's not a shred of anything decent left.

[LFC]

"OBEY!"

A resolution to censure GOP Sen. Mitt Romney for his two votes to convict former President Donald Trump failed Saturday at the Utah Republican Party organizing convention, where the senator had been booed earlier in the day -- a reflection of the anger that persists among the party's core activists about Trump's impeachment and Romney's frequent criticisms of him throughout his presidency.
The vote failed 711-798, according to Utah Republican Party spokeswoman Lynda Cox.
The resolution to censure Romney, which was submitted by Don Guymon, a party delegate from Davis County, was rife with unproven conspiracy theories, including about President Joe Biden and his family. The language of the resolution also alleged that Romney "consistently publicly criticized President Trump" and that his "comments not only hurt President Trump's reelection but hurt other Republicans on the ballot."

Although the censure failed, Romney's treatment Saturday was a reminder of the fractures in the GOP over the legacy of the former President and his sway over the future of the party.

"Now you know me as a person who says what he thinks, and I don't hide the fact that I wasn't a fan of our last President's character issues," Romney told the crowd. In response, members of the audience booed loudly enough to force Romney to stop his speech and wait for them to quiet down.

Later in his remarks, Romney referred to himself as "an old fashioned Republican," which drew more boos from members of the crowd. The 2012 GOP presidential nominee defended himself from the jeers by listing his conservative credentials.
"Oh yeah, you can boo all you like, but I've been a Republican all my life. My dad was a governor of Michigan, my dad worked for Republican candidates that he believed in. I worked for Republicans across the country and if you don't recall, I was the Republican nominee for President in 2012," Romney said, which was met by applause from members of the audience.

"Yeah, I understand I have a few folks who don't like me terribly much and I -- I'm sorry about that. But I express my mind as I believe is right and I follow my conscience as I believe is right," Romney said at one point, to which the crowd responded with both boos and cheers.

[goldenvalley]

May 3, 2021 15:22:57 GMT LFC said:

"OBEY!"

"Oh yeah, you can boo all you like, but I've been a Republican all my life. My dad was a governor of Michigan, my dad worked for Republican candidates that he believed in. I worked for Republicans across the country and if you don't recall, I was the Republican nominee for President in 2012," Romney said, which was met by applause from members of the audience.

I had to laugh at the part of the quote above. That's Romney's Richie Rich character showing through.  "I'm better than you boorish, booing rabble.  I'm the real thing!" 

[goldenvalley]

May 3, 2021 15:10:23 GMT LFC said:

Ted Cruz just said the quiet part out loud. Actually two quiet parts. The first part is that either corporate America comes to heel and at least keeps their mouths shut when the GOP tells them to or they will use the power of the U.S. government to punish them. As if that's not bad enough he also freely admits that the GOP functions on "pay to play" by threatening to revoke it. On the upside the party is at least being honest about their utter corruption.

Is the esteemed Senator from Texas losing his frontal lobe control?  Seriously, he used to be more in control of himself, but he's spouting off like Trump does these days.  

[LFC]

The knives are coming out for Liz Cheney again because she has not obeyed and bowed to the greatness of Dear Leader.

Some House Republicans have suggested that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) could be ousted as conference chair within a month as prominent members of the caucus fume over her unwillingness to bend to the enduring influence of former President Donald Trump.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Republican Study Committee Chair told Axios on Friday that Cheney’s comments during a GOP retreat in Orlando, Florida, earlier this week presented “an unwelcome distraction,” and he questioned whether she would still hold her spot as No. 3 House Republican in a month.

The criticism comes after the GOP erupted into outrage after Cheney suggested to reporters on Monday that the party’s elected leaders were in charge of the GOP — appearing to challenge those who continue to elevate Trump.

“I think right now, the Republican Party is headed by Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy in the House. I think our elected leaders, you know, are the ones who are in charge of the Republican Party,” Cheney said at the time.

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) — who visited Trump at his Palm Beach resort earlier this year also appeared to push back — defending Trump’s key role in the party during an Axios interview on Friday.

“President Trump is still a very active part of our party and a vocal leader in our party,” Scalise said.

“So this idea that you just disregard President Trump is not where we are, and, frankly, he has a lot to offer still and has offered a lot,” he added.

[LFC]

Susan Collins whines about not being the party of Trump. Gee, she's so brave.

[LFC]

A TPM reader (paywalled) says that despite Liz Cheney's policy positions she does actually believe in our system of government, something that couldn't be said for her father BTW. That now makes her an enemy of the party.

I share Josh’s chagrin about my growing respect for Rep. Liz Cheney. Like Josh, I am repulsed by her policy positions – and, perhaps more importantly, by the values and ethics that underlies those positions.

BUT Liz Cheney provides Democrats an important and powerful contrast: Liz Cheney accepts the rule of law, does not sell conspiracy theories because they are politically convenient. Almost every other elected Republican demonstrates through their actions a fundamental opposition to democracy itself. Those same elected Republicans are eager to punish Rep. Cheney for supporting our system of government.

Over and over I keep thinking that should Rep. Cheney lose her leadership role as a result of standing for rule of law – Democrats gain a powerful messaging opportunity tailor-made for the suburban voters who chose Biden for president but voted Republican in down-ballot races in the 2020 election.

Suburban voters – here’s your choice: chaos, violence and a vindictive, lawless government or a move towards political and economic stability. Suburbanites voted Republican for decades on the promise of stability and prosperity. Republicans are proudly announcing their rejection of both. Today, the Democratic party represents both of those principles.

[LFC]

Cheney tweeted "THE BIG LIE" out loud. Now they'll do everything in their power to destroy her.

Liz Cheney
@liz_Cheney

The 2020 presidential election was not stolen. Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.
10:27 AM · May 3, 2021

[LFC]

Cheney is toast as McCarthy is throwing her under the bus. I can't see her surviving another vote to oust her from her leadership position. It will be interesting to see if she can even hold her Congressional seat in 2022.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was reportedly caught on a hot mic Tuesday fuming over Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and announcing that he’s “had it” with the number three Republican, whose critique of former President Donald Trump has stood in the way of advancing the alternate reality his party is pushing.

“I think she’s got real problems,” McCarthy reportedly told Fox News’ Steve Doocy ahead of a “Fox and Friends” interview on Tuesday, according to a copy of off-air tape from the morning interview that Axios snagged.

“I’ve had it with … I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence. … Well, someone just has to bring a motion, but I assume that will probably take place,” he reportedly added.

The off-air frankness came as McCarthy publicly put forward a drastically pared down version of his posture when asked about the conference chair during the interview.

Rather than openly assume the position he had espoused moments earlier, or defend Cheney, McCarthy largely aired grievances about her, pinning his criticisms to what he claims he has heard from other members.

“I have heard from members concerned about her ability to carry out the job as conference chair, to carry out the message,” McCarthy said during one portion of the interview.

And we know what the message is that must be carried out. It's "The Big Lie."

[LFC]

The lines are being drawn in the Republican civil war and a few are trying to speak up. From all indications they'll be destroyed.

Lieutenant Gov. of Georgia, Geoff Duncan (R), on Wednesday offered his support for Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) who is “telling the truth,” in spite of calls for her ouster from Republicans wedded to former President Donald Trump who refuse to reckon with the danger of false claims about a stolen 2020 presidential election.

“There’s definitely chaos on the battlefield right now,” Duncan said during a CNN interview on Wednesday morning when asked about the House GOP effort to oust Cheney.

“It’s going to take some time for I think the base to come back, but at the end of the day, I think, just like Liz Cheney, I believe in telling the truth. I think real leadership is about telling the truth,” he added.

The party of Trump telling the truth? That's so cute.

[LFC]

One name already being raised to replace Cheney is the vacuous Trumpsucker Elise Stefanik (R-NY). If this is the one tasked with getting out "their message" then you know that there's zero difference between it and the lies of Faux News. (F***, what am I saying. We know that already.)

House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) is openly abandoning Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) as he boosts Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in a bid to replace her as conference chair.

A spokesperson for the No. 2 Republican issued a statement defending the move to boot Cheney.

“House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair,” Scalise’s spokesperson, Laura Fine said in a statement first reported by Punchbowl News.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has also been rallying for Stefanik to many Republicans, Punchbowl said.

The development comes after earlier reports, that Stefanik was being considered as a potential replacement for Cheney among a group of other women candidates, amid growing discontent in the chamber that Cheney has delivered a message at odds with the one put forward by an ever-more entrenched wing of Trump loyalists in the House.

Beginning with a vote to impeach former President Donald Trump earlier this year, Cheney has continuously stood up to a series of false claims and conspiracy theories about a stolen election put forward by Trump and his congressional allies.

The other contenders floated as potential replacements — including Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), who is now ex[ected to back Stefanik rather than run for the post — have all been defenders of the former president.

[LFC]

The Republicans on the FEC effectively gridlocked and killed the investigation into Trump's election related payoff of Stormy Daniels. Republicans at every level of government continue to push their fascist machine forward.

The Federal Election Commission said on Thursday that it had formally dropped a case looking into whether former President Donald J. Trump violated election law with a payment of $130,000 shortly before the 2016 election to a pornographic-film actress by his personal lawyer at the time, Michael D. Cohen.

The payment was never reported on Mr. Trump’s campaign filings. Mr. Cohen would go on to say that Mr. Trump had directed him to arrange payments to two women during the 2016 race, and would apologize for his involvement in a hush-money scandal. Mr. Cohen was sentenced to prison for breaking campaign finance laws, tax evasion and lying to Congress.

“It was my own weakness and a blind loyalty to this man that led me to choose a path of darkness over light,” Mr. Cohen said of Mr. Trump in court in 2018.

While Mr. Cohen has served time in prison, Mr. Trump has not faced legal consequences for the payment.

“The hush money payment was done at the direction of and for the benefit of Donald J. Trump,” Mr. Cohen said in a statement to The New York Times. “Like me, Trump should have been found guilty. How the F.E.C. committee could rule any other way is confounding.”

In December 2020, the F.E.C. issued an internal report from its Office of General Counsel on how to proceed in its review. The office said it had found “reason to believe” violations of campaign finance law were made “knowingly and willfully” by the Trump campaign.

But the election commission — split evenly between three Republicans and three Democratic-aligned commissioners — declined to proceed in a closed-door meeting in February. Two Republican commissioners voted to dismiss the case while two Democratic commissioners voted to move forward. There was one absence and one Republican recusal.

That decision was announced on Thursday.

Two of the Democratic commissioners on the F.E.C., Shana Broussard, the current chairwoman, and Ellen Weintraub, objected to not pursuing the case after the agency’s staff had recommended further investigation.

“To conclude that a payment, made 13 days before Election Day to hush up a suddenly newsworthy 10-year-old story, was not campaign-related, without so much as conducting an investigation, defies reality,” they wrote in a letter.

[LFC]

Josh Marshall (paywalled) notes that many state level Republicans really did hold the line and refuse to steal the election. Since then people not signing on to The Big Lie are being purged from the party and moves are being made to turn control of elections over to partisan legislatures. Basically don't expect 2024 to be a replay of 2020. Perhaps not even 2022.

One of the little-remarked-on dynamics of the 2020 post-election is how many Republicans, mostly at the state level, didn’t go along with The Big Lie or efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election. The key in most cases was that it’s one thing to mouth off or make a protest vote. It’s another to break the law or specifically refuse a legal responsibility of office. Would Brad Raffensperger have stood his ground against overturning a free in fair election if he’d been a Republican member of Congress rather than Georgia’s top election administrator? I tend to doubt it. The same applies to Gov. Kemp, though he took much less of a clear stand.

But since January Republicans who don’t sign on to The Big Lie are being purged from office across the country. We’re seeing the Liz Cheney drama front and center. But comparable things are happening across the country. It’s the personnel component of the wave of voting restriction bills we’re seeing passing in numerous Republican states.

Earlier this week, I heard from one reader who described a situation in California with a proposed recall for a local school board, trying to eject school board members who hadn’t reopened schools quickly enough. Obviously, schools having been a very contentious issue for the last year. So on its face that’s just the pull and tussle of democratic action – a feature of civic vitality rather than a bug. But when I looked into the story it showed an intensity – and a level of extreme agitation out of sync with public opinion – that I was inclined to agree with the reader who said he felt like the community was headed toward a local version of the Capitol Insurrection.

This is all speculative of course. We’re barely three months out from the events of the insurrection and Joe Biden’s inauguration. But we should start seriously thinking about scenarios in 2024 where the local officials who by and large didn’t agree to falsify election returns in 2020 – even when they were standard variety partisan Republicans – will agree to do so in 2024.

Let’s think of Congress. It’s more likely than not that Republicans will recapture the House next year. If that happens, will the House agree to certify Electoral College results if Joe Biden is reelected? I don’t think we can take that for granted – to put it mildly.

As odious as her politics may be in general, Liz Cheney is in the process of being ejected from the House GOP leadership because she won’t embrace The Big Lie and continues to see the Capitol insurrection as a development which presents an existential threat to the future of the democratic order. That is incompatible with being a Republican. The Big Lie and the insurrection aren’t about 2020. It’s about 2024.

[LFC]

A recorded meeting between a policy adviser for Moscow Mitch and groups representing right-wing oligarchs shows just how afraid they are of having their identities known when the shovel money into defeating things that the majority of Americans want.

A recording obtained by The New Yorker of a private conference call on January 8th, between a policy adviser to Senator Mitch McConnell and the leaders of several prominent conservative groups—including one run by the Koch brothers’ network—reveals the participants’ worry that the proposed election reforms garner wide support not just from liberals but from conservative voters, too. The speakers on the call expressed alarm at the broad popularity of the bill’s provision calling for more public disclosure about secret political donors. The participants conceded that the bill, which would stem the flow of dark money from such political donors as the billionaire oil magnate Charles Koch, was so popular that it wasn’t worth trying to mount a public-advocacy campaign to shift opinion. Instead, a senior Koch operative said that opponents would be better off ignoring the will of American voters and trying to kill the bill in Congress.

Kyle McKenzie, the research director for the Koch-run advocacy group Stand Together, told fellow-conservatives and Republican congressional staffers on the call that he had a “spoiler.” “When presented with a very neutral description” of the bill, “people were generally supportive,” McKenzie said, adding that “the most worrisome part . . . is that conservatives were actually as supportive as the general public was when they read the neutral description.” In fact, he warned, “there’s a large, very large, chunk of conservatives who are supportive of these types of efforts.”

As a result, McKenzie conceded, the legislation’s opponents would likely have to rely on Republicans in the Senate, where the bill is now under debate, to use “under-the-dome-type strategies”—meaning legislative maneuvers beneath Congress’s roof, such as the filibuster—to stop the bill, because turning public opinion against it would be “incredibly difficult.” He warned that the worst thing conservatives could do would be to try to “engage with the other side” on the argument that the legislation “stops billionaires from buying elections.” McKenzie admitted, “Unfortunately, we’ve found that that is a winning message, for both the general public and also conservatives.” He said that when his group tested “tons of other” arguments in support of the bill, the one condemning billionaires buying elections was the most persuasive—people “found that to be most convincing, and it riled them up the most.”

They figured out which party was completely for sale and they bought it. Fascism + Oligarchy = Republicanism. No wonder they admire Russia and Putin so much.

[goldenvalley]

May 7, 2021 22:45:59 GMT LFC said:

A recorded meeting between a policy adviser for Moscow Mitch and groups representing right-wing oligarchs shows just how afraid they are of having their identities known when the shovel money into defeating things that the majority of Americans want.

clip

They figured out which party was completely for sale and they bought it. Fascism + Oligarchy = Republicanism. No wonder they admire Russia and Putin so much.

This meeting was about HR 1/ S 1, right?  The For the People Act worries the oligarchs and also the vote suppressors in the states because it sets up standards for running elections and for redistricting that would make their goals more difficult to achieve.