If I was to create a bingo card of what might pop up for this week’s highlight, a clip of Madison Cawthorn being groped by an associate who appears to be his lover, would not have been on it.
OK, you want to see it, so here you go …
The relationship is not just one clip. There are also many Venmo payments to his longtime aide, with message notes suggesting sexual things. Actually, that’s not quite correct, the notes are way more than suggesting, they are very explicit. I checked, there are payments for “Nudes”, payments for “The quickie at the airport”, payments for “getting naked for me in Sweden”, and much more.
But wait, this can’t be right, Madison was briefly married last year.
Yep, his “friend” came with him on his honeymoon, for a marriage that lasted 8 months. He lived with them the entire time Cawthorn was married.
I quite honestly don’t care if he is gay, if he is, then that’s fine. The truly big deal here is the raw hypocrisy. He has been openly and violently an opponent of gay people – his hypocrisy is the issue.
Somebody is really sticking the knife into Madison – here is a link to an official complaint filed with the House Ethics committee. It contains a long list of issues all neatly wrapped up with some rather robust evidence.
Meanwhile Noah Y. Kim over at Mother Jones has created a very handy “Guide to Madison Cawthorn’s Many Scandals“. Be warned, its a very long list, and it continues to grow.
Madison has been building up a rather impress list of accomplishments. Namely: lying about almost everything; caught taking loaded guns on a flight (last Tuesday, and the second time this has happened); pulled over while driving with expired tags (roughly about a month ago); insider trading (also last Tuesday); photos of him partying while wearing women’s lingerie (the week before last). For most politicians, even one of those would be career ending. For Madison, that has simply been this past month.
I suspect Republicans just might be beginning to consider the thought that their elected representative is a bit of a problem. Well hey guys, sorry, when you abandoned the norms and instead embraced the lunatic fringe, then for you this is now the new normal.
Prediction: This just might be the tipping point that kills his political career. Lying, stealing, grifting, racism, fascism, etc… not a problem in today’s GOP, and yet it should be. However, drift into LGBTQ+ territory and it is game over, and yet it should not be. I guess that sums up who they are now.
Don’t you truly wish for the good old days back in 1992, yes thirty years ago, when spelling “potato” incorrectly was enough to end a political career.
Moving on, below you will find my usual selection of some truly bizarre claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary. With my usual hat tip to my main source, Right Wing Watch, let’s dive in.
Enjoy.
Healthcare “experts”
John Bennett, chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party and a current GOP congressional candidate, declares that… “we should try Anthony Fauci and put him in front of a firing squad.”
- Republican Jesus is alive and well in Oklahoma. I believe the verse about firing squads for public health officials is in the new version of the Republican Bible, you will find it in Trump 15:23-27
- Somebody perhaps should advise him that threatening government officials is a felony under federal law, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Hey @SecretService and @FBI, you might like to consider having a friendly chat with John Bennett.
- Irony Alert: behind him is a reference to Ephesians 5:11. That reads “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.“
Eric Metaxas is now peddling “cures” for diabetes and “EMF pendants” that can protect you from COVID-19.
- It is indeed weird for a guy who was one hailed as a “Christian Intellectual” to spend his days as a snake-oil charlatan.
First, let’s set a bit of context here – Fact Check: Elon does not own Twitter … yet. All that has happened is that the board had recommended acceptance of the offer. It’s the shareholders who have yet to decide.
- According the SEC filings they have 6 months to either sort things out or extend the deadline of Oct 24th. If the shareholders vote no, Twitter must pay Elon $1 billion. If Elon reneges on the deal, he must pay Twitter $1 billion. The agreement also bans Twitter from seeking a better deal. So, a big financial motivation to get it done.
- Let’s not forget that US regulators, and regulators in the many other nation states where Twitter operates, will need to weigh in on this before the deal can complete. Such reviews will take many months.
- No timeline for a shareholder vote has been announced, but the Twitter annual meeting is May 25th, so it just might happen there, or it might be a lot later.
- Bottom Line: Right now Elon does not “own Twitter”, and that’s not going to change for many many months yet. Anybody making decisions or issuing statements because “Elon owns Twitter” is making a huge assumption that this completes and does not drag out for years or fizzle and fail.
Gab founder Andrew Torba is upset about all the right-wing activists who can’t wait to get back on Twitter now that it is owed by Elon Musk: “This is why the right has been losing for so long in the culture war. We beg the left for table scraps like dogs in their systems and institutions instead of building our own systems that we dominate as warriors for Christ. It’s like watching someone who has been clean for a year fall off the wagon: unbecoming, shameful, and sad.”
- The “Warriors For Christ” don’t get tossed off social media for either being right-wing or for being “Warriors for Christ”, they get tossed for spouting violent racist bigoted rhetoric and hate speech that targets others with credible threats. “Freedom of Speech” does not mean being free of the consequences of what you say. Elon will not be their new messiah.
Milo Yiannopoulos has no intention of returning to Twitter even though he is “the undisputed master of that particular art form”: “My Twitter account was the most influential work of art since the Second World War.”
- His award for being the “Greatest Twitter Master since WWII” sits right next to his awards for “honesty” and “humility”
Lance Wallnau declares that Elon Musk bought Twitter in order “save democracy.”
- Nope.
Pastor Shane Vaughn claims that Twitter orchestrated its sale to Elon Musk just to “stop Truth Social.”
- Why would anybody want to “stop” and already failed social media platform that nobody cares about?
Truly Bizarre
“I’m the one you’ve been waiting for,” declares Republican gubernatorial candidate Kandiss Taylor of Georgia. “I believe in Jesus, guns, and babies.”
- “Jesus, Guns, and Babies”, literally a GOP wet dream that covers their complete policy spectrum these days.
- The one big challenge here is that there is simply no way to parody this. Any attempt to do so would be considered an endorsement by her. (I’m not kidding, that actually happened)
- If you click the link, stare in awe and wonder at the dilapidated brick wall she chose as her background. It is perhaps deeply symbolic.
Lauren Witzke spent the weekend canvassing on behalf of fellow white nationalist Laura Loomer who is running for Congress in Florida.
- Let’s just say that if you know both of them, then you will appreciate that this truly is a perfect match made in Q-Heaven.
Do not ask Michele Bachmann how she thinks things are going these days: … “We live in a time of utter madness, and we’re being ruled by lawless monsters.”
- The mistake was to assume that she “thinks”.
- Sorry Michele, it’s not 2017 anymore.
Nick Fuentes appeared again on Russia Today, where he declared hat the American intelligence agencies and State Department are “the biggest purveyors of misinformation or disinformation in the entire world.”
- Don’t even bother trying to power your irony meter on, it would simply glimpse this and keel over in protest.
Roger Stone Claims There Is a ‘Satanic Portal’ Over the White House
- He claimed that he had photographic proof, so he rolls out a nighttime picture from a webcam and what do we see … a fuzzy blob. It’s a raindrop in the lens of the webcam. (About here is the right place for you to now facepalm).
- Sadly you know that there are way too many people who will buy what he is selling.
Doug Mastriano was asked about his recent attendance at the QAnon “Patriots Arise” conference Thursday during Pennsylvania’s Republican primary gubernatorial debate. Predictably, he responded by insisting that “it’s very unfair” to call the organizers QAnon conspiracy theorists just “because you disagree with them politically.”
- Calling the organizers Allen and Francine Fosdick QAnon conspiracy theorists is perfectly accurate because that is who they proudly are.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sat down for an interview with Michael Voris of the radical right-wing Catholic organization Church Militant, where she declared that the “spiritual character” of America has become so evil that “I don’t even know why God has not destroyed us.”
- MTG Translator: “Good” = Racism, Antisemitic, QAnon, Pizzagate, Anti-Vaccine, Putin; “evil” = anybody who dares to even hint that anything within her “good” list might not be such a good idea.
- Reminder, this supposedly godly “christian” women has in the past a well-established reputation (there is solid evidence) of sleeping with numerous guys that she was not married to. She is literally hypocrisy incarnate. When she claims that she wants to bring her “values” to Washington, then this is what she means.
- This is the same interview where she complains that people don’t really know her “because the media created a character of me”: “They don’t want the American people to understand that I’m actually very smart.”. What can one say about that except to observe that she is literally “Dunning-Kruger” incarnate.
- The folks interviewing her, “Church Militant”, used to be called “Catholic TV”, then the Catholic church stepped in and stopped them from doing that. Catholic scholars (real ones) have labelled this group as “racist and homophobic”. They have been formally denounced and disowned by the Catholic Church.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also says that Washington, D.C. is “so incredibly pathetic” that she has no respect for the Capitol or the government.
- I strongly suspect that the feels here are mutual
- I also wonder why this is news. Is there anybody who did not know her feelings on this?
Yes, that interview turns out to be a literal gold-mine of nuggets. She also said this … Christians Helping Resettle Undocumented Immigrants and Refugees Are Controlled by the Devil
- Cue Republican Jesus Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the Rich, Blessed are the Strong, Do good for them that Love you and click like on all you posts. Tell everybody else to F**k off, especially Immigrants and Refugees“
Meanwhile, fanatical Catholic Bill Donohue is very upset with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for saying that Satan is controlling the Catholic Church.
- To be honest, I struggle to understand why Bill thinks that opinion of the Catholic Church is an issue.
Earlier this week Marjorie declared that she doesn’t care about having access to a “communist” and “godless” platform like Twitter because “Twitter is nothing. Twitter is powerless.”
- Just days later, she held a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, demanding the restoration of her Twitter account.
- I’ve honestly no idea why she wants it back since she clearly can’t remember anything she ever tweets.
- Wrap your head around this – A member of the United States government is demanding access to free services rendered by a private business.
Tom Boggioni @ Raw Story: Warring Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert had to be separated at GOP conference.
- You might have assumed that they are buddies, apparently not.
- Quote: “Their confrontation grew so heated that at least one onlooker feared the Greene-Boebert back-and-forth might escalate beyond the verbal cage match had another board member not stepped in to de-escalate, according to a GOP lawmaker who was granted anonymity to describe what happened,” Politico reports.
The False Profit$
Hey, do you remember that last week Mario Murillo had big plans for the revival he was leading in Batavia, New York. The news this week is that he has now canceled because … “we are facing pastors and leaders who oppose me because I support Trump.”
- Reminder: he promised “the greatest month in the 50-year history of our ministry“…”the greatest impact our ministry has ever had on America“.
- That “Prediction” turns out to be as reliable is a Trump election win prophecy.
And as always, no week is complete within something from Paster Shane Vaughn. This past week he blasts TINO (Trump In Name Only) activists who dare to criticize former President Donald Trump, which is something Vaughn says he’ll never do “because God chose the man.”
- Shane appears to be advising that the God he believes in is so inept that the best he could come up with was Trump.
Statistic of the week
The very best argument for being non-religious has been the behaviour of the religious. It is having on-going consequences …
Interesting Articles that caught my eye
- Trip Gabriel @ The New York Times: He Fuels the Right’s Cultural Fires (and Spreads Them to Florida).
- David Edwards @ Raw Story: Mike Lindell’s new election delusion: ‘All those judges Donald Trump put in, they’re going to rise up’.
- Jamie Gangel, Jeremy Herb, and Elizabeth Stuart @ CNN: Mark Meadows’ 2,319 text messages reveal Trump’s inner circle communications before and after January 6.
- David Gilbert @ Vice News: QAnon Thinks Elon Musk Is Going to Let Them Back on Twitter.
- Jason Beeferman @ The Texas Tribune: How Sandy Hook lies and the Jan. 6 inquiry threaten to undo Alex Jones.
- Will Sommer @ The Daily Beast: The Right’s New Conspiracy Theory: Kamikaze Planes and Food Fires.
Quote of the week
Koalemos
When these folks say, “God has told me …”, or “God has called me …”, then my immediate thought is to wonder which specific God. The answer is “Koalemos”.
In Greek mythology, Koalemos (Ancient Greek: Κοάλεμος) was the god of stupidity. This is the deity that picked Trump to be his man.