The cruelty is the point

 

Randy Fine represents Florida's 6th District in Congress.  

UPDATE 06/19/2025:

UPDATE 07/09/2025:

BTW, Fine serves Florida.

UPDATE 07/29/2025:

Other Tuesday results

Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.), two progressive lawmakers who are members of the “Squad,” fended off primary challengers on Tuesday, making them favorites to win their third and second terms, respectively.

Bush earned 69.5 percent of the vote in her primary, easily beating out Missouri state Sen. Steve Roberts, who garnered 26.6 percent of the vote.

[...]

In Michigan, Tlaib also easily won her primary against three major challengers, garnering 66.5 percent of the vote. The AP called the race early Wednesday morning.

[...]

In a member-on-member primary in Michigan’s 11th District, moderate Rep. Haley Stevens defeated Rep. Andy Levin, who was backed by progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

And in Missouri’s Democratic Senate primary, Lucas Kunce, who was also backed by Sanders, lost the race to philanthropist Trudy Busch Valentine.

  The Hill

Elsewhere, Trump-endorsed candidates beat out anyone who dared to cross him.

Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), who voted last year to impeach former President Trump, is projected to lose his primary Tuesday to Trump-backed challenger John Gibbs.

Gibbs’s victory is a major win for Trump, who vowed to exact revenge on any Republican who broke with him over his false claim that 2020 election was stolen or in the wake of the attack on the Capitol.

  The Hill

There may be no hope for Arizona.

Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R), who offered dramatic public testimony to the House Jan. 6 select committee about his resistance to the pressure campaign on state officials waged by former President Trump to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, has lost his reelection bid.

State Sen. David Farnsworth, who was endorsed by the former president in late June, has been projected to win the race by The Associated Press and several other news outlets.

  The Hill

An Arizona lawmaker who embraces election conspiracies and was endorsed by former President Donald Trump won the Republican primary Tuesday for the top elections post in the presidential battleground.

[...]

Finchem, who attended Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, has said he only intends to ensure that election laws are followed to address concerns by many Republicans about how elections are run. Still, he tried to get the Legislature to overturn the 2020 election results and has spoken about making major changes to election rules that are written by the secretary.

[H]e contends tens of thousands of fake ballots led to Biden’s win, a claim for which there is no credible evidence.

  The Hill

[Rep. Paul Gosar] Won with 64 percent of the vote. He voted to overturn 2020 election results.

Trump endorsed the incumbent representative the day after Gosar’s chamber passed a resolution to remove the congressman from committee assignments for posting an anime video appearing to attack Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.

Gosar has been on the margins within the House this year, even gaining rebuke from House minority leader Kevin McCarthy for speaking at a white nationalist event in March. But Trump said the congressman “has been a loyal supporter of our America First agenda, and even more importantly, the USA.”

  Politico

And it looks like election-denier and Trump endorsed Kari Lake will be the winner for GOP governor candidate in Arizona.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Loyalty tests

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Another reason Israel banned the Congresswomen

From a Lee Fang (Intercept) email:

After every congressional election, Democratic leaders pressure newly elected lawmakers to visit Israel on a trip paid for and organized by the nonprofit arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the lobby group known as AIPAC.

So after last year’s Democratic victory, I reached out to freshmen lawmakers like Rep. Rashida Tlaib and asked if they would go on AIPAC’s trip.

Many of the incoming freshmen hadn’t yet heard about it, so I shared documents and records of past trips and the one-sided perspective they provided for lawmakers.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, responded to my inquiry by publicly rejecting the AIPAC trip and announcing her own delegation — to give lawmakers an opportunity to see firsthand the conditions in Gaza and hear from a broad range of voices.

  

She didn't want the Potemkin tour.

Most media outlets see congressional support for the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and its blockade of Gaza as business as usual and don’t report on it. But reporting on AIPAC’s influence is a vital part of The Intercept’s commitment to expose the powerful forces shaping U.S. foreign policy.

The Intercept broke the story of Tlaib’s delegation last December, making waves within the Democratic caucus. In the same story, which I wrote with Alex Kane, she came out in support of the movement to boycott, sanction and divest from Israel as a response to its ongoing occupation.

This week, the Israeli government made the unprecedented decision to bar Tlaib’s delegation from entering the country, making headlines across the globe — and citing her support for BDS in its decision.

For years, AIPAC’s delegations have gone on with relatively little scrutiny. Human rights experts have long argued that the little-known junkets are a major factor in tilting the scales toward policies that reflect the interests of the Israeli government over Palestinians.

We dug into the numbers, exposing how AIPAC quietly wields power with party leaders and how much the group spends per year to fly lawmakers and staff on luxury junkets to hear from Israeli military and political elites.

This summer, we exposed the political underbelly of the trip, reporting on the strong-arm tactics used by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to pressure new Democrats into accepting AIPAC’s invitation. Had Tlaib’s trip gone forward, we would have been one of the only U.S. outlets accompanying the lawmakers to document the journey.

Well, we can't have that.

This should be the response of every member of Congress

Impeach the motherfucker

Israel on Thursday announced that it would deny Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) entry during an upcoming overseas trip, citing the lawmakers' past comments critical of the country.

The decision was announced moments after President Trump tweeted that it would show "great weakness" for Israel to allow the two congresswomen into the country, calling them a “disgrace.”

[...]

“It would show great weakness if Israel allowed Rep. Omar and Rep.Tlaib to visit. They hate Israel & all Jewish people, & there is nothing that can be said or done to change their minds,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. “Minnesota and Michigan will have a hard time putting them back in office. They are a disgrace!”

[...]

It marks a reversal from last month, when Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer said that the Israeli government would not deny entry to members of Congress.

[...]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a lengthy statement later Thursday standing by the decision and disputing accusations that rejecting Omar and Tlaib entry would cause a broader rift in U.S.-Israeli relations.

He cited Israeli law that prohibits entry into the country for individuals who support a boycott of Israel.

[...]

The prime minister added that if Tlaib filed a request to see her family members in the West Bank, Israel would consider granting her access on humanitarian grounds.

[...]

The congresswomen have supported Palestinian rights and backed the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Both have been accused by other members of Congress of using anti-Semitic language, but leaders of both parties had said they should be allowed to visit Israel.

  The Hill

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Thursday broke with Israel's decision to bar Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) from visiting the country, saying "every member of Congress should be able to visit."

"We disagree with Reps. Omar and Tlaib’s support for the anti-Israel and anti-peace BDS movement, along with Rep. Tlaib’s calls for a one-state solution. We also believe every member of Congress should be able to visit and experience our democratic ally Israel firsthand," AIPAC tweeted Thursday.

  The Hill

UPDATE:  Stephanie Grisham is learning what it means to be tied to Trump.

"The Israeli government can do what it wants," press secretary Stephanie Grisham said, adding that reports Trump told Netanyahu he thought the two congresswoman should be barred were "inaccurate."

  CNN

One hour later:

Can't feel sorry for Grisham.  She knew what she was getting.

UPDATE:

Rise and whine

He's tripling down.

I WISH they were destroying the Democratic Party, or moving it substantially left.  That would be a hell of an accomplishment.

They don't think America was wicked in its origins.  They think there were wicked things being done at its origin, and those things are still wicked and need to be changed.  If you disagree, then you ARE racist.

Also, even if destroying the Democratic Party were a bad thing, it's certainly preferable to destroying the country, which is what Trump and his enablers are doing.



And that's just laughable (as is so much of what the Asshole in Chief says).  The Republican Party was less unified on this vote than it's ever been since he took office.  Four Republicans voted with the Democrats.  Has that happened in Trump's term before?   John McCain may have been the last one to do it.  Or Justin Amash, but he wasn't a Republican on this vote.



"Wow!" indeed.  Unlike the AIC, the Speaker was totally exonerated.

“Every single member of this institution should join us in condemning the president’s racist tweets,” Pelosi said.

[...]

Republicans called for Pelosi’s words to be removed from the official record, arguing the speaker broke a House parliamentary rule that states lawmakers cannot malign the character of the president.

What ensued was hours of tumult that pushed Democrats and Republicans into their respective corners, caused the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus to “abandon” his duties presiding over the House floor, and that left Pelosi — the House speaker — temporarily banned from speaking on the floor for the rest of the day.

[...]

The mayhem comes down to House Republicans’ refusal to censure Trump, no matter the extremity of his rhetoric. Since his weekend tweets, Trump has not backed down on his comments about Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib, saying they “hate” the United States. Republicans have been steadfast in defending him.

[...]

In the middle of a vote, civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) told reporters outside the floor of the House, “The president is a racist. We cannot deny that.”

[...]

Pelosi said the parliamentarian (the official who advises representatives on the House’s rules) had already signed off on her speech, and refused to withdraw her words. Then came the chaos.

[...]

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), the former leader of the Congressional Black Caucus who was presiding over the House floor during Pelosi’s speech, decided to “abandon the chair” out of frustration.

“We don’t ever, ever want to pass up, it seems, an opportunity to escalate,” Cleaver said, chastising the lawmakers on the floor. “I dare anyone to look at any of the footage and see if there was any unfairness. But unfairness is not enough because we just want to fight. I abandon the chair.”

  Vox

Would he also abandon the country?  Dems need to replace him for abandoning his chair.

In Cleaver’s absence, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) took the chair and brought with him a decision — one that surprised his own party. He ruled that Pelosi’s remarks were not in order. In other words, he ruled that lawmakers, including Pelosi, could not say Trump or his tweets were racist.

The truth must never be spoken in the halls of Congress.

Instead, they would go on to say the rhetoric coming out of the White House was. (That’s how closely House members were parsing their words.)

Technically speaking, it's coming out of Trump's Twitter.

The crux of this fight is a line in House parliamentary procedure that “personal abuse, innuendo, or ridicule of the President is not permitted.”

Is that in the spirit of the Constitution handed down from the founders?

As Josh Chafetz, a law professor at Cornell Law School, pointed out in a Twitter thread, this is not actually a standing rule of the House. Instead, it’s a “precedential ruling of the chair” of the House, which is laid out in the Thomas Jefferson Manual of Parliamentary Practice.

I did not know that. So old Tom wasn't one hundred percent in favor of abolishing royalty.

The part of Jefferson’s parliamentary manual that applies to the current situation with Pelosi was adopted from the British Parliament; members of Parliament could not “speak irreverently or seditiously against the King.” Basically, they couldn’t insult the monarch on the floor of Parliament.

[...]

“This manual Thomas Jefferson created for himself when he was vice president,” Chafetz told Vox in an interview. “It was a manual of precedence he thought would be useful from British parliamentary practice.”

Looking forward to becoming president.

Though Jefferson’s parliamentary manual was first used and then later discarded by the US Senate, the House adopted also it in 1837 — and they’ve continued to use it.

[...]

[Hoyer's] ruling [against Pelosi] pushed the House floor to a vote: The body as a whole would have to decide whether Pelosi’s comments calling Trump’s tweet’s racist would be removed from the official record. Democrats stood in lockstep: The motion to strike them failed 190-232. Independent Rep. Justin Amash (MI), who recently left the Republican Party, voted with Democrats.

[...]

Because Hoyer ruled that Pelosi’s words had violated decorum, Pelosi got the punishment House members receive for speaking out of turn: not being allowed to speak on the floor for the rest of the day. That punishment was overturned by a vote, too.

[...]

“The speaker engaged in a small-but-necessary act of legislative civil disobedience,” Rep. Raskin said. “She needed to tell the truth about the president’s remarks.”

[...]

“There is a logic for parliamentary rules to prevent us from engaging in ad hominem attacks, where we attack the personality or character of the president. But Speaker Pelosi didn’t do that. She criticized his remarks. And members of the House have to have the right to do that. To criticize policy and remarks of the president. That’s a necessary implication of the separation of powers.”

Pelosi should be sidelined for refusing to hold Trump accountable for his many actions that render him unfit for office, not for calling him what he is.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Bow down or get shot down

Trump has already been angry about what he sees as a weak defense [of his racist tweets] by Republican members of Congress and has informed at least two lawmakers of his dissatisfaction, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

That reaction explains the ginger response to Trump by Republicans up for reelection in difficult races, who are caught between condemning the president’s words and facing his wrath.

“I wouldn’t have done it. That’s not what we ought to focus on in this country,” said Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) of Trump’s tweets. Gardner is up for reelection in an increasingly blue state. And while he’s endorsed Trump in 2020, he says he disagrees with Trump’s rhetoric: “We should focus on ways to bring people together.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has not endorsed Trump, has called on the president to withdraw his “way out of bounds and offensive” tweet.

But Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.), who hails from a diverse state and is also vulnerable in 2020, declined to discuss the matter. Others who did take on Trump’s comments have made clear that their distaste for the president’s style of attack does not affect their support for him.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Monday that Trump’s tweets are racist because the four congresswomen under attack are “American citizens.” But she made clear that otherwise there is no daylight between her and the president.

“I’d love for you to make that clear. While I don’t appreciate the tweets, but I still support the president,” Ernst said on Tuesday. Their political alliance is unharmed “because if you just look at his policies and what he’s been able to do. Our economy is booming, and we’re really doing quite well as Americans.”

  Politico

So he can do whatever he wants. He's a star. Grab 'em by the pussy.

These people are pathetic, and just as responsible for the destruction of decency and the rise of authoritarianism as the asshole at the top. They make it possible.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

White supremacist administration

"What the president is doing is, we are tired — sick and tired — of many people in this country," she said.

  The Hill

And many people in this country are sick and tired of this unholy bitch and the demon she works for.

"Forget these four. They represent a dark underbelly of people in this country of people who are not respecting our troops, are not giving them the resources and the respect that they deserve."

"Dark underbelly." No dog whistle there. That's a shout.

She told reporters that the congresswomen represent a "dark element," but did not respond to a question about whether that phrase carried racial undertones.

Undertones?

Conway disputed that the comments and tweets were racist, suggesting that they were about criticizing the lawmakers' policy positions. She argued that attacks on "socialism" and "communism" have "nothing to do with gender," and said she's "had it with people denigrating the American flag."

"When you throw the word racism around long enough, people get desensitized and that's a shame," she said.

Trump did not mention socialism or communism in his original tweets. Instead, he wrote the progressive congresswomen should "go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came." All four women are American citizens, and three of the four were born in the U.S.

But, this is a surprise to me...

Scaramucci in a tweet called out Trump after the president suggested on Sunday that the group of lawmakers "go back" where they came from.

"Would @realDonaldTrump ever tell a white immigrant — whether 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th+ generation — to 'go back to your country'? No. That's why the comments were racist and unacceptable," Scaramucci tweeted. "America is a nation of immigrants founded on the ideals of free thought and free speech."

  

No wonder he didn't last at the White House.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



UPDATE 7/18:

Double-down Don

Grab 'em by the pussy, Don.  You're a star.  You can do what you want.

UPDATE:

Send Lindsey packing

I haven't come across that Graham tirade yet, but I'm sure I will.  He's really not a well man.  He was never great, but since Trump's "election", he's come unhinged like so many Republicans.

Take 'em all on, and take 'em all down.

Jaime Harrison

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Nancy Pelosi, get off your ass!

Start impeachment proceedings now.







If we are not happy here, we can change it, you asshole.  We don't have to leave.  This is our country, and it's our responsibility to make it live up to its promise.



I might not have put it that way, but the point is taken.



And whoever is saddled with this asshole, get out the vote for somebody else!



Pelosi is not doing her job, and thereby enabling this to happen.

UPDATE:

This from the new White House press secretary - you know, the one who defended Melania for wearing that coat.*

*  "I really don't care, do U?"

Impeach

UPDATE:

UPDATE:

Impeach the motherfucker

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Thursday that she would sign on to a resolution calling for an investigation into whether President Trump should be impeached, citing the Mueller report in her decisionmaking.

"Mueller’s report is clear in pointing to Congress’ responsibility in investigating obstruction of justice by the President," she tweeted.

"It is our job as outlined in Article 1, Sec 2, Clause 5 of the US Constitution," the freshman representative added. "As such, I’ll be signing onto @RashidaTlaib’s impeachment resolution."

  The Hill

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) on Thursday stepped up his push for impeaching President Trump following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report, despite reluctance from House Democratic leaders to go as far.

Green said during a press conference in his Houston district office that Mueller has "given us ample evidence for us to move forward with impeachment," citing 10 instances of potential obstruction of justice outlined in the report.

  The Hill

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Thursday that nothing he saw in special counsel Robert Mueller's report would make seeking to impeach President Trump a "worthwhile" effort "at this point."

Hoyer made the remarks to CNN’s Dana Bash following the Justice Department's release of Mueller’s partially redacted findings in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

  The Hill

No doubt Nancy Pelosi agrees with him.

Get out of the way, Steny.



And that would be impeachment.



No, Adam, it would not be fruitless.  It would show the American people that Congress takes its responsibilities seriously.   It would also keep the crimes and bad acts of Trump in the news for the 2020 campaign cycle. 







Is influencing the investigation not obstruction of justice?







Who says?  Where's that study? 

Also:  It's Obama's fault I took Russia's help because he didn't stop me is is balls.