Explaining Fox, the Right Wing and Today's Republican Party

Carl Sagan said it so right and true, all those years ago. And now it's all made worse, much worse, with Donald Trump and his supporters.

Don't think it's true? Search the headline: Republican reps declare Jan.6 insurgency 'a normal tourist visit' from 'peaceful patriots'

The Craziness That is the GOP Now

So it's been done. Republicans voted to oust Lix Cheney from her positino in their party because she wouldn't support the lie that Donald Trump won the election last November. Insane that's still going on. So here we are.

I love quoting Republicans themselves on this situation.

The insanity that is today's Republicans Party.

Joe Walsh has been speaking up about them for some time.

We must vote them all out.

The Republican Party/USA/Democracy Dilemma

People are fleeing the Republican Party. Democrats are as popular as they've been in a decade.

Quote of the Day -- On Republicans After Trump

What Republicans have learned from Trump:

Never apologize. Lie. Never admit wrongdoing. Lie. Never take responsibility. Lie. Never follow the rules. Lie. Never be on the defensive. Lie. Attack. Accuse. Attack. Accuse. Lie. Play the victim. Lie. Play the victim some more. Lie. --Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom (Keeping in mind Joe Walsh is a conservative and former Republican himself).

More Good to Great News on Trump and the Republicans

 

From?  Who else? Not only good to great news but Missouri's own Josh Hawley is in here, too. Oh, happy day.

Heather Cox Richardson 

February 4, 2021 (Thursday)

Today Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) proposed giving at least $3000 annually per child to American families. This suggestion is coming from a man who, when he ran as the Republican candidate for president in 2012, famously echoed what was then Republican orthodoxy. He was caught on tape saying that “there are 47 percent of the people who… are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.” 

Romney’s proposal indicates the political tide has turned away from the Republicans. Since the 1980s, they have insisted that the government must be starved, dismissing as “socialism” Democrats’ conviction that the government has a role to play in stabilizing the economy and society. 

And yet, that idea, which is in line with traditional conservatism, was part of the founding ideology of the Republican Party in the 1850s. It was also the governing ideology of Romney’s father, George Romney, who served as governor of Michigan from 1963 to 1969, where he oversaw the state’s first income tax, and as the secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Richard Nixon, where he tried to increase housing for the poor and desegregate the suburbs. It was also at the heart of Romney’s own record in Massachusetts, where as governor from 2003 to 2007, he ushered in the near-universal health care system on which the Affordable Care Act was based.

But in the 1990s, Republican leadership purged from the party any lawmakers who embraced traditional Republicanism, demanding absolute loyalty to the idea of cutting taxes and government to free up individual enterprise. By 2012, Romney had to run from his record, including his major health care victory in Massachusetts. Now, just a decade later, he has returned to the ideas behind it.

Why?

First, and most important, President Joe Biden has hit the ground running, establishing a momentum that looks much like that of Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933. Roosevelt had behind him stronger majorities than Biden’s, but both took office facing economic crises—and, in Biden’s case, a pandemic as well, along with the climate crisis--and set out immediately to address them.

Like FDR, Biden has established the direction of his administration through executive actions: he is just behind FDR’s cracking pace. Biden arrived in the Oval Office with a sheaf of carefully crafted executive actions that put in place policies that voters wanted: spurring job creation, feeding children, rejoining the World Health Organization, pursuing tax cheats, ending the transgender ban in the military, and reestablishing ties to the nation’s traditional allies. Once Biden had a Democratic Senate as well as a House—those two Georgia Senate seats were huge—he was free to ask for a big relief package for those suffering in the pandemic, and now even Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), who had expressed concern about the package, seems to be on board.

FDR’s momentum increased in part because the Republicans were discredited after the collapse of the economy and as Republican leaders turned up as corrupt. Biden’s momentum, too, is likely gathering steam as the Republicans are increasingly tainted by their association with the January 6 insurrection and the attack on the Capitol, along with the behavior of those who continue to support the former president.

The former president’s own behavior is not helping to polish his image. In their response to the House impeachment brief, Trump’s lawyers made the mistake of focusing not on whether the Senate can try a former president but on what Trump did and did not do. That, of course, makes Trump a witness, and today Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the lead impeachment manager, asked him to testify.

Trumps’ lawyers promptly refused but, evidently anticipating his refusal, Raskin had noted in the invitation that “[i]f you decline this invitation, we reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong adverse inference regarding your actions (and inaction) on January 6, 2021.” In other words: “Despite his lawyers’ rhetoric, any official accused of inciting armed violence against the government of the United States should welcome the chance to testify openly and honestly—that is, if the official had a defense."

The lack of defense seems to be mounting. This morning, Jason Stanley of Just Security called attention to the film shown at the January 6 rally just after Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani spoke. Stanley explained how it was an explicitly fascist film, designed to show the former president as a strong fascist leader promising to protect Americans against those who are undermining the country: the Jews. Stanley also pointed out that, according to the New York Times, the rally was “a White House production” and that Trump was deeply involved with the details.

Trump’s supporters are not cutting a good figure, either. Today, by a vote of 230-199, the House of Representatives voted to strip new Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) of her assignments to the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee. It did so after reviewing social media posts in which she embraced political violence and conspiracy theories. This leaves Greene with little to do but to continue to try to gin up media attention and to raise money.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had declined to take action against Greene—although in 2019 he stripped assignments from Steve King (R-IA) for racist comments-- and only eleven Republicans joined the majority. The Republican Party is increasingly associated with the Trump wing, and that association will undoubtedly grow as Democrats press it in advertisements, as they have already begun to do.

McConnell has called for the party’s extremists to be purged out of concern that voters are turning away from the party. Still, the struggle between the two factions might be hard to keep out of the news as the Senate turns to confirmation hearings for Biden’s nominee to head the Department of Justice, Merrick Garland.

Going forward, the attorney general will be responsible for overseeing any prosecutions that come from the attempt to overturn the election, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will question Garland, has on it three Republican senators involved in that attempt. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been accused by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of calling before Trump did to get him to alter the state’s vote count. Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) both joined in challenging the counting of the electoral votes.

It is hard to imagine the other senators at the hearing will not bring the three compromised senators into the discussion. The Republicans have so far refused to schedule Garland’s hearing, although now that the Senate is organized under the Democrats, it will happen soon.

Trump Republicans are betting the former president’s endorsement will win them office in the future. But with social media platforms cracking down on his disinformation, his ability to reach voters is not at all what it used to be, making it easier for members of the other faction to jump ship.

In addition, those echoing Trump’s lies are getting hit in their wallets. Today, the voting systems company Smartmatic sued the Fox News Channel and its personalities Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and Jeanine Pirro, along with Giuliani and Trump’s legal advisor Sidney Powell, for at least $2.7 billion in damages for lying about Smartmatic machines in their attempt to overturn the election results.

Republicans rejecting the Trump takeover of the party are increasingly outspoken. Not only has Romney called for a measure that echoes Biden’s emphasis on supporting children and families, but also Senator Ben Sasse (R-NE) today released a video attacking the leaders of his state’s Republican Party after hearing that they planned to censure him for speaking out against the former president.

“If that president were a Democrat, we both know how you’d respond. But, because he had ‘Republican’ behind his name, you’re defending him,” Sasse said. “Something has definitely changed over the last four years … but it’s not me.”

Not done there, there's this beauty from yesterday. Yahoo.

House Boots Marjorie Taylor Greene From Committee Assignments

Not done there.

Fox News loses viewers, flees even further right and away from news

I think FOX is in real big trouble

It's a bee--YOU--tee-full day, campers! RED FRIDAY!! Think happy thoughts. GO CHIEFS!!!

The Atlantic Magazine Gets This So Right

 Yes, it's heartening to see the truth spelled out so big and so bold.

Trump Is the Worst President in History - The Atlantic

I like it so much I'm going to post it twice.

Worst President Ever - The Atlantic

Just a bit from the article:

Three particular failures secure Trump’s status as the worst chief executive ever to hold the office.

President Donald Trump has long exulted in superlatives. The first. The best. The most. The greatest. “No president has ever done what I’ve done,” he boasts. “No president has ever even come close,” he says. But as his four years in office draw to an end, there’s only one title to which he can lay claim: Donald Trump is the worst president America has ever had.

In December 2019, he became the third president to be impeached. Last week, Trump entered a category all his own, becoming the first president to be impeached twice. But impeachment, which depends in part on the makeup of Congress, is not the most objective standard. What does being the worst president actually mean? And is there even any value, at the bitter end of a bad presidency, in spending energy on judging a pageant of failed presidencies?

It is helpful to think of the responsibilities of a president in terms of the two elements of the oath of office set forth in the Constitution. In the first part, presidents swear to “faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States.” This is a pledge to properly perform the three jobs the presidency combines into one: head of state, head of government, and commander in chief. In the second part, they promise to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States....”

As Trump prepares to leave Washington, the capital is more agitated than during any previous presidential transition since 1861, with thousands of National Guard troops deployed around the city. There have been serious threats to previous inaugurations. But for the first time in the modern era, those threats are internal. An incumbent president is being asked to discourage terrorism by supporters acting in his name.

...There are many verdicts on Donald Trump still to come, from the Senate, from juries of private citizens, from scholars and historians. But as a result of his subversion of national security, his reckless endangerment of every American in the pandemic, and his failed insurrection on January 6, one thing seems abundantly clear: Trump is the worst president in the 232-year history of the United States.

It's an excellent, not surprisingly well-documented article. Here's hoping lots and lots of Americans read it so they both know more of our nation's history but also so they can and do put this soon to be former President Trump in the correct light and category, perspective.

Not done there, however, Trump and his administration did this on their way out.

Trump's 1776 Commission Report Roundly Condemned

Trump Administration’s '1776 Report' Justifies Slavery

Because I guess there's just not enough lies or stupidity to go around for this guy and his people.

Fortunately, there is, rightly, yet more good news, too.

Support for convicting Trump grows among Republicans

Yet more goodness.

Trump Approval Plunges Again To Record Low In Final Poll

GOP in bind over Trump as corporate donations freeze

Opinion: Trump is destroying his own party on the way out 

Have heart, America.  In 24 hours, we'll have intelligent, adult, informed, rational leadership again.

Donald J Trump Legacy, Part II

Thanks, Mr. President. Again, thanks. So much. 

(click on picture for easier reading)

Thanks, Republicans.

That's quite the guy you got there. Quite the guy you foisted on us all, on the nation.

The Donald J Trump Legacy, Part I

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, what he did. And what he most certainly didn't do.

Thanks, Mr. President. Thanks, Mr. Trump.

Thanks, Republicans.

For nothing.

Because that's what good we got from this guy. 

Nothing. 

Literally nothing. Zero.

Just Some of the Legacies of Republican Party President Donald J Trump

Herewith. 

Donald Trump’s Legacy of Lies

To assess the legacy of Donald Trump’s presidency, start by quantifying it. Since last February, more than a quarter of a million Americans have died from COVID-19—a fifth of the world’s deaths from the disease, the highest number of any country. In the three years before the pandemic, 2.3 million Americans lost their health insurance, accounting for up to 10,000 “excess deaths”; millions more lost coverage during the pandemic. The United States’ score on the human-rights organization Freedom House’s annual index dropped from 90 out of 100 under President Barack Obama to 86 under Trump, below that of Greece and Mauritius. Trump withdrew the U.S. from 13 international organizations, agreements, and treaties. The number of refugees admitted into the country annually fell from 85,000 to 12,000. About 400 miles of barrier were built along the southern border. The whereabouts of the parents of 666 children seized at the border by U.S. officials remain unknown.

Trump reversed 80 environmental rules and regulations. He appointed more than 220 judges to the federal bench, including three to the Supreme Court—24 percent female, 4 percent Black, and 100 percent conservative, with more rated “not qualified” by the American Bar Association than under any other president in the past half century. The national debt increased by $7 trillion, or 37 percent. In Trump’s last year, the trade deficit was on track to exceed $600 billion, the largest gap since 2008. Trump signed just one major piece of legislation, the 2017 tax law, which, according to one study, for the first time brought the total tax rate of the wealthiest 400 Americans below that of every other income group. In Trump’s first year as president, he paid $750 in taxes. While he was in office, taxpayers and campaign donors handed over at least $8 million to his family business.

America under Trump became less free, less equal, more divided, more alone, deeper in debt, swampier, dirtier, meaner, sicker, and deader. It also became more delusional. No number from Trump’s years in power will be more lastingly destructive than his 25,000 false or misleading statements. Super-spread by social media and cable news, they contaminated the minds of tens of millions of people. Trump’s lies will linger for years, poisoning the atmosphere like radioactive dust.

Thanks, Mr. President.

Thanks, Republicans.

Now, America, let's set about cleaning up these messes.

Whither the Republican Party?

Bill Moyers makes a great statement today and then asks an also excellent, fair, even important question today.

There is no real Republican Party anymore, it has morphed into the Party of Trump. Will democracy survive if people continue to believe whatever they want to believe, if truths, facts, and respect for the rule of law are eliminated?

Bill Moyers talks with noted lawyer Steven Harper and distinguished historian Heather Cox Richardson about threats to democracy and the future of democracy after Trump.

Link:

PODCAST: Democracy on the Edge

Quote of the Day -- Presidential Edition

 

Carl Bernstein  @carlbernstein

I'm not violating any pledge of journalistic confidentially in reporting this: 21 Republican Sens–in convos w/ colleagues, staff members, lobbyists, W. House aides–have repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump & his fitness to be POTUS. 

The 21 GOP Senators who have privately expressed their disdain for Trump are: 

• Portman 
• Alexander 
• Sasse 
• Blunt 
• Collins 
• Murkowski 
• Cornyn 
• Thune 
• Romney 
• Braun 
• Young 
• Tim Scott 
• Rick Scott 
• Rubio 
• Grassley 
• Burr 
• Toomey 
• McSally 
• Moran 
• Roberts 
• Shelby

With few exceptions, their craven public silence has helped enable Trump’s most grievous conduct—including undermining and discrediting the US the electoral system.

9:10 PM • 11/22/20

Let's do this, folks.

#Throwthebumout  

Now 19 Days After This Election

We are now, as I said in the headline, 19 days after this presidential election and still, still this Republican Party excuse for a President refuses to recognize, accept, respect our vote, our votes, our election, even our Democracy. 

That's the bad news. That and this are the bad news. This was announced today.

Operation Warp Speed Head Says He’s Been Instructed Not To Share Vaccine Information With Biden Team

This is obscene. He is now openly hurting the nation in the middle of the worst, most killing, deadly international pandemic in the last more than 100 years. It's over 2 weeks since we voted. He needs to concede and everyone in his political party needs to speak up and point him in that direction.

Then this happened yesterday.

G20 leaders meet to discuss help for poorest nations in post-Covid world, Trump golfs

If there's good news, and there is, it's that all kinds of people, especially from his own political party, are starting to speak up to say what he should do, what should happen. First from the GOP's Senator Toomey from Pennsylvania.

GOP senator congratulates Biden, says Trump should accept 

And this is likely one reason he spoke up and out.

Federal judge dismisses Trump election lawsuit in Pennsylvania

The judge said Trump's lawsuit was--his words--"without merit." He wrote "...Trump’s campaign had used “strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations” in its effort to throw out millions of votes.

In scathing opinion, federal judge dismisses Trump campaign lawsuit in Pennsylvania

And another. Another Republican Party Senator speaks up publicly, saying Trump should concede.

GOP senator calls for cooperation on Biden transition: 'I'd rather have a president who has more than one day to prepare'

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said on Sunday that it was "past time to start a transition" to a Biden administration adding he would "rather have a president that has more than one day to prepare."

Same conclusion in Michigan.

Republican Michigan congressman: 'The people have spoken

Then there's Maryland's Republican Governor Hogan. He makes a great point.

Hogan ramps up criticism of Trump: 'Stop golfing and concede'

Hogan is one of a handful of Republican governors, including Govs. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Mike DeWine of Ohio, who have criticized the president’s refusal to acknowledge the results of the election and called on him to concede to Biden.

Then this, based on this morning's Sunday morning talk shows.

Pressure grows from GOP for Trump to recognize Biden election win

Even Chris Christie is recognizing reality now. And keep in mind, Christie is also another member of the GOP, the President's own one and same political party.

Chris Christie: Trump's legal team has been 'a national embarrassment'

And Alan Dershowitz, for pity's sake.

Alan Dershowitz Tells Maria Bartiromo: 'The Outcome Of The Election Will Not Be Reversed'

One of President Donald Trump's most high profile legal defenders on Sunday said that he did not expect the results of the election to be reversed.

And John Bolton. Again. A person from Trump's own staff and administration at one point, of course.

'Just Say It's Wrong': John Bolton Begs Republicans To Stop 'Hiding' From Trump's Election Denial

In spite of all this, in spite of the time it is after this election, in spite of the numbers of people from his own political party saying he should, at long last now, concede, it was announced he plans to continue on.

Trump vows to appeal judge's dismissal of Pennsylvania election challenge

It is maddening. Not done there, he's doing this, too.

Trump Requests Georgia Recount, Meaning 5 Million Votes Will Be Tabulated A 3rd Time

More Georgia reality.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Bluestein on Georgia recount: 'The results still stand'

The facts came out this weekend on, of all places, Fox, too.

Dominion spokesman: 'It is not physically possible for our machines to switch votes from one candidate to the other'

A spokesperson Dominion Voting Systems addressed conspiracy theories about the company on Fox News Sunday, saying it was “not physically possible” for its machines to change voter selections.

“This is a nonpartisan American company. It is not physically possible for our machines to switch votes from one candidate to the other,” Michael Steel said on Fox News’ “America’s News HQ” Sunday.

“Let's be very clear, our election system is run by local elected officials and nonpartisan poll watchers. We simply provide a tool to count the ballots and to print and count ballots,” he added. “There is no way such a massive fraud could have taken place and there are no connections between our company and Venezuela, Germany, Barcelona, Kathmandu, whatever the latest conspiracy theory is.”

I understand he wants so badly to stay out of jail but this is one desperate, very desperate man, folks.

And so, we gird our loins, so to speak.

Democrats gear up for last oversight showdown with Trump

The bad news is, with over 2 weeks behind us since the election, this failed President still hasn't and won't accept reality.

The good news is that more and more in his political party are. 

Links. While Trump fiddles, our Rome burns.

North Carolina passes 5,000 COVID-19 deaths

Active coronavirus cases hit new high in Arkansas

Jeff Stein: Trump 'seems to have lost interest in the stimulus,' only worried about the election

Poll: 61 percent of voters say it's important that Trump give concession speech

This President, the Nation, History and Democracy

Truth

Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders·

No figure in history has done more to undermine American democracy than Donald Trump. His "birther" movement tried to delegitimize the Obama presidency. His refusal to accept defeat now is trying to undermine the Biden presidency. 

Goodbye Trump

____________________

#ThrowTheBumOUT

Quote of the Day -- Trump Legacy Edition

This is what's most concerning, if not frightening, to me, going forward, after Biden is inaugurated.

"...Trump is attacking, defaming and delegitimizing U.S. elections in a manner unprecedented in the country’s history. His obstructionism won’t keep him in power, but it will deeply wound America’s democratic culture. He is whipping his base into a frenzy about a stolen election, and few of them are going to change their minds because of court decisions and recounts. The conspiracy theory of the stolen election of 2020 is here to stay."

God help us all.

God help America.

Source:

Trump’s contempt for democratic norms could haunt us for years

Quote of the Day -- On This Excuse of a President

 From the Daily Kos and The Atlantic today.

As The Atlantic stated in its October 2016 endorsement of his opponent, Hillary Clinton, Trump “traffics in conspiracy theories and racist invective; he is appallingly sexist; he is erratic, secretive, and xenophobic; he expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself … He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”

But no one could have been prepared for just how unfit for office Donald Trump would actually turn out to be, or the incompetence of the people he would choose to surround himself.

Not only did Trump not “grow” into the office—which was the least anyone could expect—he diminished it and poisoned it, along with the country he was elected to serve.

What we have learned since we published that editorial is that we understated our case. Donald Trump is the worst president this country has seen since Andrew Johnson, or perhaps James Buchanan, or perhaps ever. Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America’s allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents; he has made himself an advocate of a hostile foreign power; and he has failed to protect America from a ravaging virus. Trump is not responsible for all of the 220,000 COVID-19-related deaths in America. But through his avarice and ignorance and negligence and titanic incompetence, he has allowed tens of thousands of Americans to suffer and die, many alone, all needlessly. With each passing day, his presidency reaps more death.

Let's do this folks. Vote. And vote blue.  #BlueWave2020

86 45        BYEDON

From the article:

The Atlantic's endorsement of Joe Biden raises a sobering point all Americans should consider

Final Presidential Debate--Trump Takes More HIts

Yes, we had the final Presidential election campaign debate last night as we all know and yes, The Orange Man, The Trumpster, "President" Trump is now taking hits on it as he rightly should this morning. Here are but some.

Right off the bat, let's put this up front.

Post-debate CNN poll: Biden wins final presidential debate

Joe Biden did a better job in the final debate on Thursday, according to a CNN Instant Poll of debate watchers. Overall, 53% of voters who watched the debate said that Biden won the matchup, while 39% said that President Donald Trump did.

Viewers once again said that Biden's criticisms of Trump were largely fair (73% said they were fair, 26% unfair), and they split over whether Trump's attacks on Biden were fair (50% said yes, 49% no).

On from there. 

Trump says that windmills kill 'all the birds' after saying he knows 'more about wind' than Biden

It's difficult to tell just where this President Trump gets his information.

On the news this week that 545 migrant children's parents couldn't be located after the Trump administration separated them, the parents from the children, The Trumpster had this response.

Trump says children separated from their parents were "so well taken care of"

Forget that they're children.

Forget that they're abandoned.

Forget that they're now in institutions.

Forget that they're no doubt scarred for the rest of their lives by this experience, these experiences.

Trump says they're "so well taken care of."

Right. Sure they are. Just as well as if they were, what?  With their own family? With their own parents?

An excellent summary of the final debate comes this morning from Forbes Magazine, I think.

The Biggest Falsehoods Of The Final Trump-Biden Presidential Debate

Just a bit from the article gives a great deal of good information.

• On the Covid-19 death toll, Trump claimed that “2.2 million people were expected to die,” a misleading number which he has stated multiple times to claim that his administration saved 2 million lives. The number is based on the worst-case scenario modeled by the Imperial College of London which hypothesized what would happen if no action was taken during the pandemic and people continued to live their daily lives as normal, with no change in behavior. The model, however, acknowledged that such a scenario was unrealistic.
• Trump incorrectly stated that the country was “rounding the corner” on the pandemic, despite the number of new infections rising once again to nearly 60,000 a day, following a dip in the late summer.
• Trump also falsely claimed that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease official, had described Covid-19 as “no problem” and predicted it would “go away soon.” In reality, even back in January, Fauci said that the U.S. had to take the disease seriously, while in February he said that the risk was still low but cautioned “this could change.”
• Trump accused Joe Biden of receiving $3.5 million from Russia and the amount came through Putin, a claim based on a politically charged report released by Senate Republicans last month into Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Russia and Ukraine. The report, however, does not accuse Joe Biden of any wrongdoing or claims that Hunter Biden’s business dealings influenced the Obama administration’s foreign policy. Hunter Biden’s lawyer has also denied that he was the “co-founder” of the company in question.

This one is a particular favorite for me.

• In one of the most bizarre statements of the night, Trump claimed that Biden’s platform is pushing to force buildings to replace their existing windows with smaller ones, or remove them altogether, in the name of energy efficiency. This claim is false since Biden’s platform makes no mention of windows anywhere, nor does the Green New Deal, a more expansive proposal to fight climate change endorsed by many progressive Democrats but not Biden himself.

It goes on from there.

• Under fire for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump tried to shift blame, repeatedly accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of acting slower and accusing her of “dancing on the streets in Chinatown in San Francisco” and urging street fairs and parades. Pelosi made a visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown in late February, where she urged people to take precautions and to be vigilant while advocating the patronage of Chinese businesses. A day later Pelosi called for a broader and more forceful response to tackling the virus, according to the Washington Post.
• During the debate, Biden claimed that Trump had caused America’s trade deficit with China to “go up, not down”. According to PolitiFact, this is mostly false since the U.S. trade deficit with China in goods and service was lower under Trump in 2019, than it was in any of the final three years of the Obama administration, where Biden served as vice president. Biden’s campaign is pointing to a narrower evaluation that includes trade in goods only, where numbers under Trump have generally been higher than they were under Obama.
• Under fire for his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trump tried to shift blame, repeatedly accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of acting slower and accusing her of “dancing on the streets in Chinatown in San Francisco” and urging street fairs and parades. Pelosi made a visit to San Francisco’s Chinatown in late February, where she urged people to take precautions and to be vigilant while advocating the patronage of Chinese businesses. A day later Pelosi called for a broader and more forceful response to tackling the virus, according to the Washington Post.
• During the debate, Biden claimed that Trump had caused America’s trade deficit with China to “go up, not down”. According to PolitiFact, this is mostly false since the U.S. trade deficit with China in goods and service was lower under Trump in 2019, than it was in any of the final three years of the Obama administration, where Biden served as vice president. Biden’s campaign is pointing to a narrower evaluation that includes trade in goods only, where numbers under Trump have generally been higher than they were under Obama.

PBS wrote this today.

President Trump’s very first line of the night, about COVID-19 deaths, was false and set the tone as he and Democratic rival Joe Biden unleashed a torrent of claims in their last presidential debate.

AP FACT CHECK: Examining claims from the last Trump-Biden debate

Of course, this will all be said to be "fake news" by this President and his followers but so it goes.

As a final but important side note here today, it needs to be pointed out that EVERY modern day candidate for the presidency turned in their taxes. EVERY ONE.

Just not this one. Not Donald J "Jenius" Trump.

In summary today:

1. Hunter is not running for President. 
2. We are not “rounding the corner” on Covid-19. 
3. Vaccines are not weeks away. 
4. Trump can actually behave better if enough people tell him to, if it's absolutely required.
5. Yes, we know when the cages were built, and we also know for what purpose. 
6. The stock market is still not the economy.
7. Trump comparing himself to Lincoln is bizarre. 
8. Release your taxes, Mr. President. We know the audit excuse is complete nonsense. 
9. This debate probably didn’t change anyone’s mind.
10. Meanwhile, too, not one word from this "President" on what he would do if he were, God and heavens forbid, reelected. Not one.

Thanks, Mr. President.

Thanks, Republicans.

Now, let's do this.

86 45

BYEDON

Still more:

Who won the debate? The first polls say Joe Biden

Why Joe Biden won the final debate

745 Economists sign an Open Letter Opposing Trump's Re-Election

More than 700 economists including Nobel laureates oppose Trump reelection

Trump's debate performance was too little, too late

More than 300 military family members endorse Biden

Get The New York Times Today, Folks

Great, even important op/ed piece today from The New York Times.

End Our National Crisis 

"The case against Donald Trump"

CORRUPTION

ANGER

CHAOS

INCOMPETENCE

LIES

DECAY

The Worst President in Modern History

HIS UNAPOLOGETIC CORRUPTION BY MICHELLE COTTLE

WHEN SCIENCE IS PUSHED ASIDE BY JENEEN INTERLANDI

HIS DEMAGOGY BY JESSE WEGMAN

HIS FAKE POPULISM BY FARAH STOCKMAN

HIS INCOMPETENT STATESMANSHIP BY SERGE SCHMEMANN

Let's do this, folks.

86 45

BYEDON

Donald Trump, at His Core

 

So true.

Let's do this, folks.

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BYEDON

Quote of the Day -- Democracy Edition

 

"This is an election between Donald Trump and Democracy and Democracy must win."

--Bernie Sanders

Vote, folks.

And vote blue.

#BlueWave

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Okay, Now Senator Hawley is Just Lying

 I was stunned to the point of near anger at what is now coming out of Republican Party, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley's mouth now.

Sen. Hawley on Dems’ Supreme Court packing threat: They’re ‘saying they'll burn down the Constitution’

Here's the problem. 

No one said that. 

Quite the contrary. Now he's creating things out of thin air that aren't remotely true.

In the article, it also points out Sen. Hawley says he hopes Americans are all listening closely. It's because we're listening and paying attention that we're going to vote out this Republican Party President Trump, at the very least.

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#BlueWave2020