Accountability is something we could see a lot more of. A
lot more. That certainly applies to the people who helped Trump try to
overthrow our government. Aaron Blake (WASHINGTON POST) notes:
A Washington Post/University of Maryland poll this
year showed just 12 percent of Americans said the rioters “defended
democracy,” while a clear majority — 58 percent — said they “threatened
democracy.”
There
are also limits to an embrace of the rioters even in the GOP. Fewer
than half of Republicans in that poll agreed with Trump that the Jan. 6
defendants’ punishments were “too harsh.” Another poll last
year showed just 24 percent of Republican primary voters preferred a
candidate who supported those who entered the Capitol.
It’s
possible that has changed somewhat as Trump has increasingly
bear-hugged the rioters as the 2024 election has worn on; we don’t have a
lot of good, more recent data.
But
those numbers would seem to confirm that Trump is truly testing
Americans’ willingness to write off that day and his supporters’
willingness to lump themselves in with that “we.” And it’s not just a
2024 election issue; it’s also a more lasting test for the strength of
our democracy.
It
is about our democracy. And those who participated in the insurrection
attempt should be behind bars and, yes, that includes Donald Trump
himself.
Thursday, October 17, 2024. Donald Trump continues to threaten
American citizens just as he continues lying, Kamala Harris faces off
with FOX "NEWS" and Jill Stein gets an endorsement that she's earned.
Donald Trump has stoked outrage by claiming to be “the father of IVF” at a women’s town hall event hosted by Fox News, inviting cries of protest given his track-record on rolling back women’s rights, notably his instrumental role in overturning Roe vs Wade in 2022 and flirtation with a nationwide abortion ban.
“We really are the party for IVF,” the Republican presidential nominee insisted.
“We want fertilization, and it’s all the way, and the Democrats tried to attack us on it.”
The
father of IVF? I can remember when Ivana would joke -- at least I
think she was joking -- that Donald wasn't even the father of Eric.
Like most informed Americans, Kamala Harris found his claim bizarre.
As audience members confronted him over these impacts—which became clear in Alabama earlier this year—Trump reiterated his usual spiel of reproductive rights-related falsehoods, which included claiming that “every legal scholar” wanted Roe overruled (easilydebunked) and that Republicans are “the party of IVF”—despite the fact that Republicans have twice blocked
a vote on a bill that would protect IVF access nationwide, as I have
covered. (The GOP said that it supports IVF and that the bill was
unnecessary.)
But Trump also debuted a new lie at the town hall: He claimed he’s the “father of IVF.”
“I want to talk about IVF,” Trump said
in the lead-up to a question about how abortion bans could impact
fertility treatments. “I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this
question.” (He then proceeded to call Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.)—who he said taught him what IVF is—”fantastically attractive.")
If you are wondering what on Earth he could have possibly meant, you are not alone. Trump is certainly not the creator of the reproductive technology (that was
a British doctor, named Robert Edwards, in 1978). And Trump has never
suggested any of his five children were born through IVF. In a statement
provided to Mother Jones, Karoline Leavitt, national press
secretary for the Trump campaign, dismissed the comment as “a joke
President Trump made in jest when he was enthusiastically answering a
question about IVF as he strongly supports widespread access to
fertility treatments for women and families.” She did not respond to
questions about whether Trump supported the Democratic-led bill on IVF
that Republicans twice blocked, or how his proposal to force the government or private insurance companies to fund IVF would actually work (estimates say it could cost around $8 billion).
Harris promptly clapped back, telling
reporters Trump’s comments were “quite bizarre,” adding, “if what he
meant is taking responsibility, then yeah, he should take responsibility
for the fact that one in three women in America lives in a Trump abortion ban state.”
It
was an outrageous lie from a man who steals credit for everything. The
only humor in the alleged 'jest' came from those responding to the lie
like Jimmy Kimmel.
The liar is anti-choice so let's not that first so we can
factor in her whorish nature. Second, letting one state ban it -- even
just one -- is being for banning abortion. Quit lying. One bad weave
and the liar thinks she's tricked us all.
The Supreme Court’s rejection this week of the Biden administration’s appeal to weigh in on a dispute over emergency abortion care in
Texas foreshadows how the next president could protect or restrict
abortion access without signing — or vetoing — federal legislation.
The
court’s decision came Monday as early voting was already underway in
some states in the first presidential election since the Supreme Court
overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal abortion protections and sending the issue back to the states.
Restoring Roe’s
protections nationwide are central to the case that Democratic nominee
Kamala Harris is making against Republican nominee Donald Trump. Headed
into the final weeks of the race, polls show abortion gaining on the
economy as the top-of-mind issue for voters, particularly in
battleground states and for women under 45 years old.
Trump, who as president cemented the conservative bloc on the court that overturned Roe in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,
has provided few details about how his administration would approach
abortion, saying only that he feels it is an issue best left up to the
states and that “everyone knows” he would not sign a federal abortion
ban.
Trump has yet to comment on the myriad of other ways a president’s administration can impact abortion access
via the federal agency rulemaking process or by prosecuting state bans
when they conflict with federal laws, such as in the Texas dispute.
In
the Texas case, the Biden administration is arguing that a 1986 law
known as EMTALA, which requires most hospitals to provide emergency
care, applies to abortion even in states with bans — Texas disagrees.
The state’s abortion ban has limited exceptions for patients who have a
life-threatening condition or who are at risk of “substantial impairment
of a major bodily function” but what constitutes substantial impairment
is left undefined.
The
Supreme Court’s decision to not hear an appeal at this juncture means
that as the case continues, a lower court order will remain in place
that says hospitals cannot be required to provide emergency abortions in
cases when they might violate Texas’ ban. Legal experts told The 19th
that the order could also affect cases in Louisiana and Mississippi,
which are also under the jurisdiction of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals.
“Let me be clear: Donald Trump is the architect of this health care crisis,” Vice President Harris wrote on the social media site X shortly
after the Supreme Court’s decision not to take the case. “I will never
stop fighting for a woman’s right to emergency medical care — and to
restore the protections of Roe v. Wade so that women in every state have access to the care they need.”
Which
is how it should be. Healthcare is not a 'state's rights!' issue.
That's a lunatic fantasy. A woman has every right to expect the same
type of healthcare in any state in the union. Don't be tricked by the Harris Faulkners of the world.
This
is beyond stupid. We've said it here many times but I think Tim Walz
has been much more passionate about it: Mind your own damn business!
You don't want an abortion? Don't have one. Otherwise, mind your own damn business.
My
healthcare is not your business. My choices are not your business.
Informed consent means that my doctor and I make the best decisions
about my healthcare. It is no one else business.
ROE
V WADE was popular with the majority of Americans and with the majority
of American women. It was established law -- something the Republicans
on the Crooked Supreme Court forgot they stated in their Senate
confirmation hearings. By conspiring, a group of liars were able to
coach the justices on how to pass a confirmation hearing -- and Donald
ordered the FBI to stand down on investigating sexual predator Brett
Kavanaugh -- and, first chance it had, the Crooked Court then ignored
established law, ignored the principle of stare decisis, ignored the
whole point of precedent and overturned ROE V WADE as step one in
destroying the right to privacy for US citizens. Crooked Clarence, high
on the vast amount of bribes he's taken in over the years or just as
flat out stupid today as he was in 1992, showed the Court's hand with
his opinion where he noted the plan to next turn over all other right to
privacy cases -- including birth control and marriage equality -- save
for LOVING V VIRGINIA. Many pointed out the reasoning there -- though
Samuel L. Jackson was one of the first -- Clarence left his first wife
and became a chubby chaser which led him to the grotesque Virginia
'Ginni' Thomas. LOVING V VIRGINIA, a right to privacy case, mandated
that all states in the union recognize interracial marriage. So, in
case you missed it, Crooked Clarence took a dump on the right to privacy
judgments except for the one that impacted his own life.
Fox News
allowed former President Donald Trump's all-women town hall to be
filled with MAGA supporters — and failed to disclose as such, according
to a report.
"The Georgia town hall, where Trump took questions on reproductive laws, transgender rights and other issues, aired Wednesday morning," according to the CNNreport.
"But Fox News did not disclose that the female audience it selected for
the event was packed with local Republican supporters."
Moreover,
Fox News edited out moments where participants in the town hall said
things that made this too obvious, " reported Hadas Gold and Liam
Reilly.
For example, one woman named Alicia said, “I want to thank you for
coming to a room full of women the current administration would consider
domestic terrorists,” and added, “I proudly cast my vote for you today.
I hope they count it.”
Fox News edited out the last part where
she said she was already a Trump voter, but a CNN reporter in the
audience captured the full exchange.
Deranged Donald continues to make threats against the American people. David Badash reports:
The
Trump campaign lashed out at Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Monday
after the Democratic vice presidential nominee quoted the Republican
presidential candidate who repeatedly over the weekend has been saying
he would like to use the U.S. military against American citizens.
As NCRM reported,
the Republican presidential nominee said he thinks the U.S. Armed
Forces should be used against Americans who oppose him, called his
critics “the enemy from within,” and declared they are more dangerous
than America’s greatest foreign adversaries, including Russia, China,
and North Korea.
“I
always say we have the outside enemy, so you can say China, you can say
Russia, you can say, Kim Jung-Un,” Trump told supporters at an Aurora,
Colorado rally on Friday. But, he added: “It’s the enemy from within,
all the scum that we have to deal with that hate our country. That’s a
bigger enemy than China and Russia,” he said as the audience cheered.
Then,
on Sunday, Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo of his desire
to use armed forces against Americans on Election Day.
[. . . ]
“Donald
Trump over the weekend was talking about using the U.S. Army against
people who disagree with him,” Walz had said. “Just so you’re clear
about that, that’s you. That’s what he’s talking about. This is not some
mythical thing out there. He called it the ‘enemy within.'”
The
Trump War Room social media account wrote: “Tim Walz peddles a
disgusting lie that President Trump will use the U.S. Army against his
political opponents: ‘That’s you, that’s what he’s talking about.’ This
is reckless, dangerous rhetoric,” the campaign stated. “Tim should be
ASHAMED of himself.”
Host
Harris Faulkner played the snippet of Trump’s Bartiromo interview in
which he explained that the “enemy from within” included “lunatics” such
as Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the loudest voices during
Trump’s first impeachment. Faulkner noted that Harris had suggested
Trump is “unhinged.” (The crowd, heavily constituted of Republicans and Trump supporters, tittered at the very idea.)
Trump, predictably, denied that he is, calling Democrats “the party of sound bites.”
“Somebody
asked me, ‘Can they be brought together?’” he said, apparently meaning
that he was asked whether Democrats could work with Republicans. He
suggested that he said he doesn’t think they could “because they are —
they’re very different. And it is the enemy from within and they’re very
dangerous. They are Marxists and communists and fascists.”
He
returned to his criticism of Schiff, suggesting that Schiff is among
those who “made up the Russia hoax” — that is, the investigation into
whether Trump’s 2016 campaign had knowingly worked with the Russian
effort to swing the results to his advantage. (A lengthy probe into the
matter identified several
members of Trump’s campaign who had been in contact with Russian agents
and determined that the campaign had at least welcomed the Russian
effort.)
And
again Trump shrugged at the threat posed by foreign countries
(including Russia) as easy to handle — more so than the threat from his
political opponents.
“The
more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis,” he said, referring to
former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and, apparently, her
husband, Paul.
Shortly before the 2022 election, a deranged man broke into the Pelosis’ San Francisco house
in an apparent effort to force Nancy Pelosi to admit that the Russia
probe was contrived. Paul Pelosi, who doesn’t work in politics, was
struck with a hammer in the attack.
“These
people, they’re so sick, and they’re so evil,” Trump continued. “If
they would spend their time trying to make America great again, we would
have — it would be so easy to make this country great.”
All
of this, all of Trump’s response to the criticism of his initial
comments Sunday, serves to bolster that criticism. Saying that Democrats
are evil and sick and incapable of working with Republicans is
commentary aimed at suggesting that no political agreement can be
practically or morally achieved. Comparing the opposition of Democrats
to that of foreign adversaries — casting it as worse than that of
those adversaries, in fact — elevates the idea that internal enemies
should be dealt with in the way we might deal with an invasion force
from a foreign power.
Former
President Donald Trump's decision to double down Wednesday on his
threats of the "enemy within" — and his campaign's hasty efforts to
spread the word — stunned onlookers who said they fear a looming
authoritarian regime.
Trump's
War Room was quick to post video on X of Fox News anchor Harris
Faulkner's interview with Trump and his response to concerns that he
would use his executive power to sic the military on political rivals.
"FAULKNER:
'Kamala Harris has said you sounded unhinged and unchecked power is in
our future,'" the Trump campaign tweeted. "TRUMP: 'They are a party of
soundbites... And it is the enemy from within. They are very
dangerous.'"
Trump
went on to list the people and political groups he argued should be
considered enemies of the people, among them Marxists, Rep. Adam Schiff
(D-CA), fascists, communists, and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
"It is the enemy from within," Trump said. "They're very dangerous...and they're sick."
Harris wants to use Trump’s own words as “evidence” against in the closing days of the campaign, according to the WSJ report.
In
the plodding, “check the box” campaign strategy that Democrats often
default to, candidates are given the false choice of either addressing
voters’ most pressing concerns or warning that Trump is a menace and
threat to democratic values. Harris’ “all of the above” approach in
recent days weaves together both attack lines into a seamless whole.
Most notably, Harris has connected Trump’s
essential weakness of character with his authoritarian impulses, his
fondness for dictators, and his disregard for the Constitution. You get
these threats with Trump precisely because he is a such a hollowed-out
shell of a human. It’s a powerful reminder that fascism is a refuge for
the weak and insecure, an argument that defuses the fear that Trump
seeks to instill.
Kamala went on FOX "NEWS" because she's not a chicken like Donald who cancelled on 60 MINUTES and CNBC.
Let's turn to Donald's financials. Philip Bump has a must read, "The myth of Businessman Trump has collapsed"
(WASHINGTON POST), about some people slowly awakening to the reality.
Or some of it. Donald Trump is not as wealthy as people like to think.
And he has nothing to show for all his years if you really get into the
weeds. He is sitting on a mountain of debt. If and when just one bank
decides to call in a loan, his entire faux empire could come crashing
down. That's why he's selling $3 BIBLEs made in China for -- selling
them for $60 bucks. He's a con artist. And he needs cash because he's
got nothing. That's why he is trying to farm our his campaign air
travel onto the US taxpayer. Travis Gettys (RAW STORY) notes:
Donald Trump's campaign has set up a fundraising page for hurricane relief, but it's not clear where the money is actually going.
The
Republican nominee's campaign created the fundraising campaign billed
“as an official response for MAGA supporters to offer their financial
assistance to their fellow Americans impacted by Hurricane Helene,” reported The New Republic. The page lists charities it says would receive the MAGA funds.
Three of the four charities listed are Christian or Evangelical nongovernmental organizations — Samaritan’s Purse, Water Mission, and Mtn2Sea Ministries — while the fourth is listed as the “Clinch Foundation,” which appears to be the Clinch Memorial Hospital’s Foundation in Valdosta, Georgia.
It has hardly been a month since presidential candidate Donald Trump started hawking digital tokens in something called World Liberty Financial, a loosely defined lending business that mimicked some of the more spectacular failures of
the last crypto bubble. Basic questions about the business — What
exactly is it? How does it work? What is newly matriculated NYU freshman
Barron Trump doing as one of the company’s “Web3 Ambassadors”? — have
gone unanswered. And if the point of World Liberty Financial is simply
to raise a ton of money through unregistered securities offerings,
historically a pretty lucrative business in cryptoland, even that has
gone awry. In the opening hours of trading, a period of maximum hype,
the company has raised a paltry $12 million or so, falling far short of
its $300 million goal.
This
shortfall has no clear explanation. Trump has been unabashedly courting
crypto investors for most of this election season. At a bitcoin
conference this summer, Trump laid out his crypto-centric vision of a
second term: He would create a digital stockpile of the digital currency
and make the U.S. the “bitcoin superpower of the world.”
He vowed to rein in the Feds and ax Gary Gensler, who, as the chair of
the Securities and Exchange Commission, has been a bogeyman for the
industry. There has also been a surge in the value of one of his other
nebulously defined companies, Trump Media & Technology Group,
which has more than doubled its share price since late September and
added more than $2 billion to Trump’s personal (but paper) fortune.
The
World Liberty Financial token sale, meanwhile, has been plagued with
problems. For a while, the site went down, making it nearly impossible
to buy the tokens. But even if it worked fine, it wasn’t clear how many
people would have actually been able to purchase them. The company’s
Telegram group has made it clear that the tokens would be sold only to
accredited U.S. investors — that is, people who are professionals or are
just extremely rich — as well as investors overseas. In other words,
not just any Trump fan could buy in. (Whether the company is actually
holding to that is another matter. On October 11, I received an email
pushing me to buy them, despite having no accreditation whatsoever. “We
are pleased to inform you that, as a confirmed Whitelist entrant, you
are now eligible to register for the upcoming $WLFI public sale,” the
email said.) As of Wednesday morning, fewer than 3,000 people actually
bought the tokens.
He
builds nothing. He's a business disaster. Atlantic City? He wouldn't
even fix leaky roofs. He'd have them put out big white buckets to
catch the leaks when it rained. And those buildings, true of all of his
buildings, only came about due to crooked deals. Kamala has a strong
housing plan but I'm always amazed that when housing gets covered in
this race -- rarely, but some times -- that we're not talking about how
Trump 'befriended' (bribed) politicians and city officials to get the
land he wanted. Eminent domain is not popular with voters. They
rightly see it as a threat to their own home ownership or own small
business ownership.
Eminent
domain would allow Donald to grab real estate at bargain prices, he'd
talk it up and try to get any fools to join him, he'd fall behind and
then try to get refinancing, then he'd work to unload the properties.
Despite perfecting this crooked model, he was lazy and slow and
sometimes had to declare bankruptcy when he was too slow in getting out.
He's
not in NYC because they hate him. I've written about this at length
for the community newsletters but no NYC family of standing respects
him. They consider him gauche and tasteless. He tried to buy his way
into society and it never took. His life is as a social outcaste looked
down upon by others, a comic Edith Wharton novel centering around a
vial outsider who is known as a grifter who preys upon the less
informed.
Again,
he's sitting on a mountain of debt and the whole thing collapses at any
moment if even one bank starts calling in the loans. He has no real
income other than his con jobs and his pension as a US president.
That's why he's always doing one money grubbing con after another. And
it's why 'old money' doesn't get in bed with him, they know he's a con
artist.
These are not hidden details or obscure secrets.
THE
APPRENTICE money is long gone and that's really the closest Donald ever
came to actually working in his life -- hosting a game show. Donald
lives outside of his means and always has. His multiple bankruptcies
didn't bestow respectability on him nor do his current efforts at
grift. I get it. He's trying to claw his way back into the White House
because he thinks it could save him. It can't. And if he manages to
die before all the debts get called in, that just means Junior and Eric
get stuck with the bills. (Ivanka was always smart to listen to her
mother and she should be left holding less debt as a result.)
But
the lack of income goes to why he keeps avoiding paying E Jean
Carroll. He doesn't have the money. He's also not paying his attorney
fees and hasn't been for some time. I mean, what do you want, his full
financials?
As I've noted
many times before, bankers who okayed the questionable loans that keep
Donald afloat currently are risking their jobs and their reputations.
They never should have okayed the loans.
I
mention the above because people think his 'wealth' means he's good or
god-like. No, he just knows how to run a con. He's never worked at
anything in his life except being a game show host. Brad Reed (RAW STORY) notes:
United
Auto Workers member Dawnya Ferdinansen on Wednesday called out former
President Donald Trump after he made belittling comments about her
profession.
In
a video posted by the United Auto Workers' Twitter account, Ferdinansen
took issue with Trump claiming that American autoworkers who work for
foreign car manufacturers don't really build cars but rather "take them
out of a box and assemble them."
"We could have our child do it," Trump said of the work.
Ferdinansen, an Ohio-based autoworker, wasted no time tearing the former president to pieces.
"I'm
making this video in response to Trump's statement that autoworkers
just 'assemble parts,' out of a box," she said. "I challenge you, Trump,
to one full 12-hour day in any auto assembly plant. I want to see you
assemble parts out of a box for 12 hours! Until you accept and complete
this challenge, until you actually work a manual labor job, you keep the
name of the UAW out of your mouth!"
Dawnya is correct. Donald knows nothing about doing actual work and, at his age, never will.
Like Jill Stein, Donald just shows up when the cameras are around because he's too damn lazy to do any of the work required.
Yes,
Jill Stein. The Green Party's presidential nominee for the third
time. She's finally getting the recognition she's so long deserved --
an endorsement from the KKK.
The Green Party could have looked to the future and
nominated someone who wasn't over 70 years old and had not already run
twice (and failed twice) for president before. Instead, they went with
racist Jill Stein. The KKK knows one of their own when they see her.
There's a reason for that.
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