This past week has seen the GOP Impeachment effort descend even further into chaos. What we have all now discovered is that the rock bottom of this utter farcical clown show has a basement.
Luckily the Democrats on the committee have been doing their jobs and fully leveraging it.
Here below is Rep Swalwell from this past week listing the top 10 reasons why it’s over for impeachment, and he then uses a visual aid to pronounce the moment that the impeachment died – Rep Swalwell truly is a master of the art of visual aids…
Rep Swalwell also used the opportunity to highlight what Trump actually did (hence we discover one reason why Fox News is no longer carrying these proceedings live) …
Rep Moskowitz called their bluff and Jim Jordan walked right into the trap like the dope that he is …
Rep Crockett was taking no shit when dealing with the deeply dubious witness Bobulinski …
AOC also proceeded to slice and dice Bobulinski. She uses his vague responses to highlight that there is no specific high crime that they are accusing Biden of …
- She goes on to point out … “What happened a month ago? The FBI arrested the person who offered those allegations for falsifying his testimony to the FBI. This entire impeachment inquiry is based on an actual provable individual who has lied.“
As for what comes next, Rep Comer tweets that they will invite Joe Biden to explain n why his family received tens of millions from foreign countries. In reply Rep Moskowitz tweets back below that they will invite Trump to do exactly the same.
- Side Note: In Biden’s case, there is zero evidence that his family received tens of millions from foreign companies, but in Trump’s case there is a great deal of solid evidence …
Oh, and let’s not forget that we also got to see the key reason why Fox News no longer carries these proceedings live. The actual testimony from Lev Parnas is directly very damaging to them, and exposes them as willing liars and promoters of disinformation that they knew to be false …
For ease of access, here is the text from the above initial tweet …
Written Statement of Lev Parnas, March 19, 2024
To all the Honorable members of Congress, I am humbled and thankful to appear here before the House Oversight Committee today under oath, for the sole purpose of telling the truth.
From soon after my arrest on October 9, 2019 up to now, I have been steadfastly attempting to share the irrefutable truth with you. The American people have been lied to, by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and various individuals in government and media positions, all of whom worked to create a web of falsehood. They did this purely to serve their own interests, knowing that it would undermine the strength of our nation.
I come before you as a concerned American citizen who loves this country, and as a man who has faced up to his own wrongdoings. From November 2018 to October 2019, I was a key participant in and witness to numerous efforts to prove that Joe Biden and Hunter Biden were linked to corruption in Ukraine. Rudy Giuliani, on behalf of then-president Donald Trump, tasked me with a mission to travel the globe finding dirt on the Bidens so that an array of networks could spread misinformation about them. They sought to damage the Bidens’ reputations and secure the 2020 election for Trump.
When I was arrested, I was initially accused of being involved in a plot to remove Marie Yovanovitch, the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine whom Trump had fired in April 2019. I was smeared by this false information, and also untrue claims that I was fleeing the country. As my case continued, the Department of Justice decided they had no interest in Ukraine, sanitizing their marquee claims about Ambassador Yovanovich from my indictment.
Instead, I was prosecuted for federal campaign finance and unrelated fraud charges. I was found guilty, served my sentence, and remain on supervised release. I do not hide from that reality, because it is part of my truth. The best way to serve the United States now is to explain everything, which is what I have tried to do from the very beginning, only to be silenced repeatedly by those in power who stood to gain from Trump’s re-election. But I will be silenced no longer.
We are at the precipice of history, a time when not just our country but the world depends on the outcome of the next U.S. election. I have always been ready, willing, and able to stand in front of this Committee, the DOJ, Special Counsel, and any other Committee or federal authority, and answer all questions. Today, with your help, we can finally put an end to this wild goose chase once and for all. Then you can get back to the important work of representing the bests interests of the American people.
Please consider that the facts of what I say here have never changed from the moment I submitted everything to Congress during the first Trump impeachment in Fall 2019. I have never wavered from saying that there was no evidence of the Bidens’ corruption in Ukraine – because there truly was none. On the contrary, by setting up a search for false criminality, every individual majorly involved in this plan was disguising their own criminal activity. That persists to this very day: The impeachment proceedings that bring us here now are predicated on a bunch of false information that is being spread by the Kremlin.
Throughout this entire situation, no credible source has ever provided proof of Joe or Hunter Biden’s alleged corruption in Ukraine. The FBI, CIA, and NSA have all failed to produce any evidence of criminal activity. No respectable Ukrainian official has ever said that the Bidens did anything illegal.
Former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, who fired Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin, has himself stated “there is not one single word of truth” to these allegations about Joe Biden. Yuri Lutsenko, who succeeded Shokin as Prosecutor General, has also confirmed that nothing ties the Bidens to criminal activity in Ukraine.…
The successive tweets under his initial tweet continue with more of the same. Read it and weep because the GOP has known all this from day one, yet continues to push the lie for their own ends.
Moving on, below you will once again find my usual selection of some of the other truly bizarre and extreme claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary.
With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s once again dive into this very murky pool of absurdity and stupidity.
Christian Nationalism
Charlie Kirk: “If you vote Democrat as a Christian, I think you can no longer call yourself a Christian. You have to call yourself something else. I do not think you can be a Christian and vote Democrat.”
- Here let me fix it for you … “If you vote for the pussy-grabbing sexual assaulter and fraduster, or anybody who supports him, then you can no longer call yourself a Christian. You can of course still vote Republican but if you also call yourself Christian, nobody will believe you“
- The notion that casting a vote for the Democratic Party is tantamount to renouncing one’s Christian faith is a leap of logic so vast, it would even give Evel Knievel pause.
- His stance is jaw-dropping stuff because literally everything Jesus stood for is absolutely everything Republicans now stand against.
- Summary: Collage dropout has appointed himself as the gatekeeper of who is and is not Christian.
- If you are running for office to be a religious fascist, then you really are running for the wrong reasons.
- It is indeed weird to find a church movement, that instead of helping the homeless, funds candidates to make poverty and homelessness worse.
- Quote: “These Charismatic leaders showed unwavering support for Trump and for his policies an viewed any opposition to the former president as spiritual warfare. They stigmatized and delegitimized their critics, claiming their enemies to be under demonic influence. These enemies include political and religious leaders who do not share the same enthusiasm for Trump and his vision for the United States. Some Charismatics have even prophesized the coming of a second American civil war—encouraging Christians to defend themselves against all opposition to Trump and their plan for a Christian hegemony. Many of these Trump-supporting Charismatics view democratic pluralism with suspicion and often try to silence church leaders who disagree with them. Pluralism is simply—and literally—demonized.”
Not all politicians are the same, that’s why your vote matters … (and yes, seeing the Cuban flag under the bible outside the office of an elected US official is deeply weird) …
The Cult of Trump
- (*checks*) … yep, I can see he has an orange tongue after vigorously licking Trump’s arse when he ended his campaign.
Some “Bloodbath” context
As you are of course aware, this happened …
So here are a few tweets to add some context.
The Big Lie
One big news items of the past week is that one of the handmaids of American fascism got a plum spot within a legacy American media organization.
MSNBC has had considerable pushback, rightly so, for hiring the blatant and unrepentant disinformation queen Ronna McDaniel, who spent years pushing the Big Lie, so they have been forced to row things back …
- Hey MSNBC, please hire two sitting Republicans so that Hakeem Jeffries can become House Speaker
Quick reminder that it is about ratings for the networks and not truth …
Christian “Love”
A Christian pastor in California allegedly paid two hitmen $40,000 to kill his daughter’s boyfriend. (The boyfriend thankfully survived the shooting.)
- I not sure he fully grasped that “Thou Shalt Not Kill” is not an optional suggestion that can be ignored, but a commandment.
- More details here on ABC7. When they contacted the church for comment, they advised that he was just a self-appointed pastor.
Another shutdown loomed and was then averted at the last minute
Deeply Weird
- “Hey John … thoughts and prayers“
- Reminder: A few days after Jan 6, Eastman went looking for someone in then-President Donald Trump’s orbit to discuss an issue involving his effort to overturn the election. When he went to White House lawyer, Eric Herschmann, he was given this guidance, “I’m going to give you the best free legal advice you’re ever getting in your life: Get a great fucking criminal defense lawyer. You’re going to need it,” … and sure enough, here we are as he proceeds to grift off MAGA for $$$ to pay his legal bills.
- Eastman is facing nine charges in Georgia: two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree; two counts of conspiring to commit false statements and writings; one count of violating the Georgia RICO Act; one count of solicitation of violation of oath by public officer; one count of conspiring to impersonate a public officer; one count of conspiring to file false documents; and one count of filing false documents
PA congressional candidate Maria Montera (R) compares the Second Amendment to the Ten Commandments and implies shootings are a result of abortion policy: “We need to support life … If you have a total lack of life and respect of life, of course there’s going to be shootings.”
- There are many many nations on the planet that support legal abortion, and don’t have shootings … why is that? … Oh, wait, we do know. It’s because they restrict gun ownership and have strict storage laws that are enforced on those who do have a license. That’s why.
- An actual “total lack of respect for life” actually means having no sensible gun regulations, and not pissing all over healthcare choices for batty religious reasons.
Rep. Lauren Boebert says that she got involved in politics because “God made it very clear that there were important conversations taking place at tables that I needed to be sat at.”
- We are indeed all very familiar with her “Family values”. Was God also speaking to her as she was polishing some duds beanstalk in a theatre packed with kids?
- “Lauren, verily I say unto you, ‘Your date is in need of some relief!’, sayeth the Lord” – Wankeronomy, 3:16
- Meanwhile back in our reality her lust for money and political power involves exactly zero gods … unless of course she means the Greek god Eros.
The False Profit$
Self-proclaimed “prophet” Donna Rigney reports that God told her that “vindication is coming to Donald Trump and to all who have been falsely accused, even those who have been imprisoned since Jan. 6.”
- A more or less rock solid guarantee is that if she predicts it, then it’s not going to happen.
- Prophecy 101: Toss out lots of vague stuff and then when you get a hit, ignore all the failures and use the hit to establish your self-appointed prophet “credentials”. In this example, she is making a bet that Trump can delay delay delay until the election and then if he wins he can make it all go away … except … using exactly zero supernatural ability, I can predict that it will not play out like that. In her case further down the road she will simply pretend she never said this or many of the other failed prophecies and so continue to scam gullible people.
- This Pro Trump stance is not new for her. Example: “Trump will soon be restored” claims Donna Rigney three years ago back in 2021.
MAGA Cultist Shane Vaughn Unleashes Racist Attack On Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. He derided SCOTUS Justice Brown Jackson, who is Black, as “Judge Jumanji Jungle Lips.” because he did not like that she raised concerns about a plaintiff’s apparent intention to use the First Amendment to “hamstring” the government’s ability to respond to harmful or dangerous misinformation in “an environment of threatening circumstances.”
- Wow, a MAGA extremist pastor is also a very open and blatant racist. I’m shocked I tell you, shocked by this “discovery”.
- Meanwhile we all gasp in total awe at the depths of his total lack of self-awareness when he says “your mindset is messed up”
- Reminder: John Shane Vaughn is the Pastor who went to jail for fraud, not before he found Jesus, but while he was a pastor. He has since then changed to using his middle name so that his followers don’t find out.
Since we are on the topic of Shane (John), then we also have another gem of raw stupidity. This past week he also explains that he gets upset “at the use of SPANISH and other LANGUAGES as acceptable ALTERNATIVES to English in our society” because “IT IS NOT AMERICAN LANGUAGE !!!!”
- England enters stage left, coughs loudly, and then says, “er … excuse me but …”
Self-appointed prophet Lance Wallnau proclaims that “the left is loaded with demons” just like in Nazi Germany: “I don’t think it’s people anymore; I think you’re dealing with demons talking through people.”
- Traditional Christian churches have been pushing back against grifters like Wallnau. This is him in a bit of a panic about that pushback and so he needs to literally demonise anybody not prepared to lower their ethics and play on his team.
- Actual examples of left-wing “deeply wicked” stuff includes: healthcare access, fund public schools, keep kids & citizens safe from insane ppl getting weapons, and against tax cuts for the mega-rich (*shudders*, oh the horror and evilness of it all)
- Meanwhile, Herr Wallnau needs to be reminded which party it is that actual modern Nazi’s rally around and support.
Creepy New Evangelical App
There is a new App that Evangelicals can now use to see exactly who lives everywhere so that they can “Pray” for you and generally stalk you.
Elle Hardy @ The New Republic has done a deep dive on it titled “How Evangelicals Use Digital Surveillance to Target the Unconverted” …
Here are a couple of insights …
- This is a deeply creepy stalking app. There are some very serious privacy and data security concerns here, but since this is the Trump supporting demographic, ethics concerns don’t merit any thought.
- It contains a sharable note-taking function. Within the videos promoting it, they suggest leaving information for each household, such as “Daughter left for college” and “Mother is in the hospital.”
- Much of the information it pulls together is commercial and not generally available to the public. In the wrong hands this is a serious invasion of privacy.
- Newly arrived people to a neighbourhood might find a knock on the door from strangers with knowledge of their personal circumstances distressing and deeply concerning, especially if they are refugees. Also you don’t need a great deal of imagination to know how horrific something like this will be for the LGTBQ community.
- Quote: “placing people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds on easy-to-access databases is a dangerous road to go down, no matter how urgently they want to spread the good news.“
- I’ll be adding a note for my house that simply says “here be dragons”.
Tennessee Update
Republicans can’t even get the easy and right things done. Luckily others will step in instead (and no doubt some Republican will step up to try and take credit for the @Arbys donation) …
4 Years ago
Hannity tried a bit of spin: “To me, the one thing they don’t want to talk about is are you better off than you were 4 years ago because there’s no good answer.“.
So how exactly does this work, does he really think we all have alzheimer’s and have actually forgotten?
We really are far far better off than we were Four Years ago, and its not even close …
Finally…
O’Leary tried to defend the indefensible (Trump’s fraud) and kept talking over Laura Coates on her show, but she was not having it …
The beautiful one liner that Travis comes back with to the question “can you define a women?” was “Someone who covers their drink when you walk in the room” …
Biden explains that he advised a guy suffering from crushing debt that he could not help him …