A report card on the Biden administration

The AP reports, "The House is swiftly working to put its stamp on gun legislation in response to mass shootings in Texas and New York by 18-year-old assailants who used semi-automatic rifles to kill 31 people, including 19 children."

Actually, there have been 233 mass shootings this year, 20 mass shootings since the slaughter of children and teachers in Uvalde.

The AP continued, "The Democratic legislation, called the Protecting Our Kids Act, was quickly added to the legislative docket after last week’s school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

"But with Republicans nearly all in opposition, the House action will mostly be symbolic, merely putting lawmakers on record about gun control ahead of this year’s elections. The Senate is taking a different course, with a bipartisan group striving toward a compromise on gun safety legislation that can win enough GOP support to become law. Those talks are making “rapid progress,” according to Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, one of the Republican negotiators.

Many would be much happier if a Democratic Senator had said that. The decades old record shows that Republicans are merely playing the game. There is an election in a few months. They need to pretend they are more concerned about Americans dying from gunfire than the millions they receive from the NRA.

 

CNN reports, "Within minutes of the US Capitol breach on January 6, 2021, messages began pouring into the cell phone of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Among those texting were Republican members of Congress, former members of the Trump administration, GOP activists, Fox personalities – even the President’s son. Their texts all carried the same urgent plea: President Donald Trump needed to immediately denounce the violence and tell the mob to go home."

“He’s got to condem (sic) this ****. Asap,” Donald Trump Jr. texted at 2:53 p.m.

“POTUS needs to calm this **** down,” GOP Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina wrote at 3:04 p.m.

“Fix this now,” wrote GOP Rep. Chip Roy of Texas at 3:15 p.m.

“I thought the President could stop it and was the only person who could stop it,” said Alyssa Farah Griffin, who was Trump’s director of strategic communications until she left the White House in December 2020.

CNN continued, "One of the key questions the January 6 House committee is expected to raise in its June hearings is why Trump failed to publicly condemn the attack for hours, and whether that failure is proof of “dereliction of duty” and evidence that Trump tried to obstruct Congress’ certification of the election.

"CNN obtained the 2,319 text messages that Meadows selectively handed over to the January 6 committee in December before he stopped cooperating with the investigation."

Meadows isn't the only one who refuses to explain their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, a coup attempt to overthrow the elected government. Rather than coming forward to explain their innocence, nearly all of Trump's close associates are refusing to appear before the committee.

The list includes Four House Republicans, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Andy Biggs of Arizona.

It is fair to assume that only the guilty would react in that way.

Republicans are expected to win control of Congress in the November mid-terms. Go figure.

 

With inflation dominating the headlines Joe gets no credit for the strong job market.

Payrolls rose 390,000 in May, better than expected as companies keep hiring

The U.S. economy added 390,000 jobs in May, better than expected despite fears of an economic slowdown and with a roaring pace of inflation, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.

At the same time, the unemployment rate held at 3.6%, just above the lowest level since December 1969.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for nonfarm payrolls to expand by 328,000 and the unemployment rate to edge lower to 3.5%.

“Despite the slight cooldown, the tight labor market is clearly sticking around and is shrugging off fears of a downturn,” said Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s senior economist. “We continue to see signs of a healthy and competitive job market, with no signs of stepping on the brakes yet.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/03/jobs-report-may-2022-.html

 

How many of the 390k did Biden hire? If he gets credit for this, why shouldn't he take credit for Inflation?

 

That statement was made yesterday. No doubt the figures have been updated.

As police officers stood outside a locked fourth-grade classroom, a student trapped inside with the man shooting at her classmates dialed 911. She was in Room 112, she whispered to the dispatcher. Seven minutes later, she called again. There were multiple students dead, she said. The child hung up and called several more times, her words growing increasingly desperate and grim. “Please send police now,” she said in one of the final 911 recordings — over 40 minutes after her initial call. -- The Post

CNN Reports, "President Joe Biden tried to turn a string of horrific mass shootings into momentum Thursday night, imploring 10 Republican senators to join Democrats on some – any – new gun-related legislation.

"The speech, which compared dead American children to US casualties in war, came on a night when fellow Democrats on a House committee passed a string of proposals that most Americans might support but have no chance of passing through a GOP blockade in the Senate. The National Rifle Association immediately rejected his proposals,

"Biden made clear he’s willing to accept far less than the measures he prefers – an assault weapons ban – in exchange for real federal action. In the speech, he laid out some main proposals: banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines or raising the age to purchase them to 21, strengthening background checks, enacting safe storage and red flag laws, repealing the immunity that protects gun manufacturers from liability and addressing the mental health crisis."

This is all in vain and our President knows it.

The forum's Republicans remain completely silent on the issue.

 

The Guardian reports, "Peter Navarro, a top former White House adviser to Donald Trump, was taken into custody after being indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack.

"The indictment against Navarro marks the first time that the justice department has pursued charges against a Trump White House official who worked in the administration on January 6 and participated in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

"Navarro is facing one count of contempt of Congress for his refusal to appear at a deposition and a second count for his refusal to turn over documents as demanded by the select committee’s subpoena, the justice department announced in a news release.

"The former Trump White House adviser, who was involved in the former president’s unlawful scheme to have the then-vice president, Mike Pence, refuse to certify Joe Biden’s election win on January 6, was taken into custody at the airport."

"The former president’s unlawful scheme?" That brings up an interesting question. Trump is heard cheering on his mob, urging them to enter Congress and do the "right thing" by not allowing the certification of the Presidential election. His associates are doing his bidding. A number of Trump's close associates have been indicted or will be indicted, and some have gone to prison.

Yet nothing ever happens to the mastermind behind the coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021. Donald Trump has never been charged with a crime. Why is that?

 

Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, the king maker. Nearly every Republican running for office in November and the primaries before that ae seeking his endorsement.

And the Republicans are expected to win Congress in the November mid-terms.

On a related topic, Dean Obeidallah writes, "'Top Gun: Maverick” is summer’s first blockbuster, boasting breathless reviews and what will likely be the biggest box office in Tom Cruise’s storied, 35-plus-year Hollywood career.

"But there’s another potential blockbuster coming that I hope eclipses the audience for “Top Gun”: I’m talking about the January 6 committee public hearings, set to premiere on June 9. Just look at the advance buzz:

"And while “Top Gun” was just one film, the January 6 committee hearings are expected to be an eight-episode extravaganza. Some installments are even scheduled to air in prime time."

“The story of the worst presidential political offense against the Union in American history,” US Rep. Jamie Raskin.

How is it possible that this man is the leader of a major American political party? The answer lies in the current make-up of the GOP.

The Republican Party has captured the minds of those who live in the rural counties of America. Those voters are mostly farmers and rural shopkeepers. They lack education and they are not well-informed. Most of what they know about politics is by word of mouth, otherwise known as gossip.

At the heart of their rudimentary political beliefs -- for some reason they are unaware of -- Donald Trump is their savior. How that occurred is a mystery, and Republicans are unable to tell us because of their limited awareness. Moreover, they lack communication skills. The proof is their posts or lack thereof when it comes to defending their party's actions.

 

Oh look.. a Trump bashing post in a Biden thread...

Let's talk about Biden in a Biden thread... crime boss Joe Biden ...

Who calls a person a "lying dog-faced pony soldier" and not have his teeth violently removed...

Who literally flaunts racism by specifying a black women need only apply for a job.

Who still buys oil from our enemies who invade other countries and some chant death to America.

Who took us from a net exporter of oil for the first time in 75 years, and returned us to energy dependence

Who ""Set Up"" the War on Parents by his administration.

Who taunts our enemies and takes us closer to war, then sells the oil we need to fight a war to Europe.

Who Has crippled America with skyrocketing gas prices and highest inflation in 40 years.... lying about the economy claiming inflation was just transitory

Who emboldened our enemies in Russia and China by demonstrating his cowardice in Afghanistan.

Who indoctrinated our children with racist CRT

Who blackmailed a foreign government using US taxpayer money and claim it is US policy, while implicating his boss president

Who participate in a coup to overthrow a duly elected president........

Who, thanks to his incompetence, has the world feeding America instead of America feeding the world?
America is now the country in need of foreign aid to keep our own children from starving.

Who is holding American citizens without a fair and speedy trial and trial by a jury of their peers

Who totally screw up a military evacuation and leave Americans behind enemy lines, who are still there to this day.

Who abandoned an military airbase in the middle of the night, release 1500 terrorist loose, and equip our enemy with our most sophisticated military equipment in the world

Who released the 1500 terrorist, which one turned around killed 13 American military folks and 170 civilians.

Who then turned around for revenge and drone striked an innocent man and his 7 children.

Who ordered a military evacuation, then leaving for a 3 day vacation refusing to take any calls from our allies
Who takes credit away from getting vaccine approval and a developing distribution

Who release and ship Covid infected illegal invaders into the US to infect American citizens

Who tell illegal invaders to come and then allow them to invade our country unimpeded.

Who has killed thousands of Americans with illegal opioids brought through his open border.

Who leaves millions of dollars of wall material lay on the ground then have the American tax payers build a wall around his house.

Who claims a president with Covid deaths should not be president and then remain in office after he has more deaths under his watch.

Who propose reimbursing illegals while blaming another president for exactly what his administration is also doing...

Who cancels an American pipeline, killing thousands of good paying jobs while giving a thumbs up to a Russian pipeline..

Who reverses us from energy independent exporting oil to begging OPEC to produce more oil...

Who mandates others wear a masks and then go out in public without a mask.

Who left Americans and alleys in Afghanistan that are still there. He has emboldened our enemies in Russia and China by demonstrating his cowardice in Afghanistan

Who Biden refused to send in our troops to get Americans out while Germany, Britain, and France send in their troops to get their people out.
Americans and allies are still trapped in Afghanistan and our own government is not getting them out... private American citizens are... what a disgrace the withdraw was
operation Pineapple Express
https://www.foxnews.com/media/scott-mann-patriot-awards-winner-fox-nation-afghanistan-rescue-mission
project dynamo
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2021/1...ehind-in-afghanistan-hundreds-remain-1177728/

Who sign a $2 trillion spending package into law under the guise of “COVID relief”— even though an estimated $1 trillion in previous spending remains unspent

Who has a son's laptop that implicate himself in very shady foreign deals...

Who equip our enemy with our military stuff making the US the number 1 state sponsor of terrorist.

Who is the Crime boss daddy take showers with his daughter.

Who totally eviscerate a former President for doubting elections while himself telling Americans to doubt the elections

Who has a dope head whore mongering son. ( lives in his $2.5 million home while claiming he’s unable to pay child support for his baby conceived out of wedlock. He was also arrested for drug possession when he was 18 but never served any time and had his record expunged.

Baby boy was also kicked out of the Navy for cocaine usage and was recently suspected of smoking crack at a strip club.)........

Who claims transparency then has his son using his toot straws to supposedly create painting that secretly sold without accountability. Hunter painting $500k.. picaso paintin $400k

Who spend 120 years in Congress

Who touch and sniff little girls

Who is compromised by China... bought and paid for

Does not know what planet he is on.

Don't know their name is not Brandon..

Who pays contractors million to not build the wall

Who claimed the previous president put people in cages... while his administration and his former boss are the ones building the cages.

Who defend Antifa movement riots attack a federal courthouse in Portland, Oregon and claim that the feds were “brutally attacking peaceful protesters.”

Who claimed there was not a vaccine before he came into office, when he had already gotten a vaccination shot himself before and the vaccine were distributed starting a month before he took office.... Thanks to Warp Speed

Who claims he was the "great one" that ended a 20 year war... after the previous president is actually the one making the move to end the 20 year war. He literally took the previos presidents idea and efforts and claimed as his own.

Who tries to deny lawful Americans from owning guns for personal protection, while sending billions of military equipment and aid to a foreign country for their personal protection.

Who made threats to take a president behind the bleachers and the threat to a president was laughed off where any other would be "consulted". Try that one yourself and see how that works out for you.

 

Thanks Joe… the man who abandons US military equip to our enemies, the Taliban….. making the US the worlds number 1 state sponsor of Terror… which is a treasonous act by aiding and abetting our enemies….

is wanting to take our guns away.

 

Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert was trying to make the point that the scales of justice are tilted against Republicans these days. He did it in the worst possible way.

“If you’re a Republican, you can’t even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent or they’re coming after you,” Gohmert said in a Friday interview on NewsMax. “They’re going to bury you, they’re going to put you in the DC jail and terrorize and torture you and not live up to the Constitution there.”

Huh! I have no words.

 

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Senate Intel report confirms Russia aimed to help Trump in 2016

Putin could not be more pleased with his choice as history is repeating itself.

In 1861 the southern states attempted to overthrow the elected government. They initiated the bloodiest war in American history, the Civil War. It lasted for four grueling years, and it took decades for our country to recover.

The heart of the Republican Party lies in the southern states. Virtually all of them have Republican governments.

Led by their leader, former President Donald Trump who led a coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, to overthrow the elected government, Republicans are attacking the very basis of American democracy. They are attacking the legitimacy of America's free elections. To this day their leader is claiming the 2020 Presidential election was stolen for him despite the fact that 60 court cases, the Supreme Court, all 50 states, and Trump's own A.G. have made it clear there was no theft.

So, the basis for their attack on our elections is a lie, but Republicans continue their assault on American democracy.

Is it any wonder why Putin is happy with what his acolyte and the Republican Party are doing.

But Americans are fighting back.

The Guardian reports, "The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack will unveil new evidence at Watergate-style public hearings this week showing Donald Trump and top aides acted with corrupt intent to stop Joe Biden’s certification, according to sources close to the inquiry.

"The panel intends to use the hearings as its principal method of revealing potential crimes by Trump as he sought to overturn the 2020 election results, the sources said, in what could be a treacherous legal and political moment for the former president."

As the justice department mounts parallel investigations into the Capitol attack, the select committee is hoping that the previously unseen evidence will leave an indelible mark on the American public about the extent to which Trump went in trying to return himself to the Oval Office.

 

A CNN analysis writes, "As the January 6 hearings hit prime time, the ex-President’s thunderous demands for loyalty and the hunger for power of his acolytes in the House mean that’s not an option.

"Trump’s demand for, and the GOP’s willingness to offer, a robust defense into what are expected to be damaging details of his complicity in a coup attempt are deeply revealing about his future political intentions and the former President’s control over his party. The evolving plan to hit back against the committee on behalf of Trump also exposes the hypocrisy and the ambition of key House Republican leaders who whitewash Trump’s role in the history of the January 6, 2021, insurrection to advance their own careers.

"It offers a foreboding reality check 17 months after the Capitol insurrection about how House Republicans have chosen the promise of future political advancement over the protection of American democracy.

"The committee is expected to mount a devastating case about Trump’s behavior as he tried to steal the 2020 election in the run-up to and during the January 6 assault on the Capitol, which he incited and didn’t act to stop as lawmakers ran for their lives.

"There are potential pitfalls for Republicans who stand with Trump as the lurid tale of violence, lies and autocratic power grabs is told again for the American people and for the benefit of history. The evidence could be so damning that those who seek to discredit the hearings will find themselves defending the indefensible – a dark moment of the American story that is so heinous it will live in infamy."

Republicans are limited in their choices. They have only one.

Lie like hell.

 

1/6 hearings have nothing to do with Biden's report card

Trump was bad
Biden is horrible

 

CNN reports, "The long-awaited hearings by the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection of the US Capitol kick off Thursday in prime time.

"The proceedings intend to “provide the American people with a summary of our findings about the coordinated, multi-step effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election.”

Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin predicts these hearings will deliver “the story of the worst presidential political offense against the Union in American history.”

CNN continued, "Trump and his allies are desperately trying to provide “counterprogramming” to distract from the hearings.

"On Saturday, Rep. Elise Stefanik – the third-ranking member of the House GOP leadership – revealed part of their plan in an interview with Breitbart News."

Interesting, not a major network. Instead, the notice was given on a network friendly to Trump.

“We’re working very closely with President Trump and his team” on a counter-messaging effort, Stefanik said, adding that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep. Jim Jordan “and really all of the House Republicans will be pushing back in a rapid response fashion.”

“You will see us all over the airwaves, we will be setting the record straight,” Stefanik promised, as they will argue that the bipartisan committee’s work is “illegitimate.” And they plan to assert the panel’s true goal will be to punish political opponents and target “patriotic Trump supporters.”

"FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress that the federal investigators view January 6 as an act of “domestic terrorism.” Without Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen, there would have been no attempt to overturn the election, warranting the investigation," CNN.

Are Republicans going to argue the FBI is "illegitimate," too? The Jan. 6 committee will be passing on evidence to Americans, not creating it.

If Trump had accepted his defeat, as other one-term presidents had, he would not have engaged in a behind-the-scenes attempt to overturn the election.

If Trump had recognized his loss, he wouldn’t have radicalized supporters with a barrage of lies about the election.

Sixty court cases, the Supreme Court, all 50 states, even Trump's attorney general all found there was no significant fraud. Trump and those who support his lies cannot find sufficient fraud to overturn the Presidential election results.

Vladimir Putin is loving this. Americans attacking the legitimacy of their own free elections. It doesn't get better than this.

 

Stephen Collinson writes, "It was never clearer than on Wednesday that the Senate’s paltry ambition on gun reform is overwhelmed by the horrific reality of America’s regular massacres and the unbearable agony of family members left behind.

"But, as an 11-year old survivor of the terror in Uvalde – who smeared the blood of a classmate on herself to play dead during the rampage – testified to Congress, and a pediatrician told of decapitated bodies of children hit by bullets from a high velocity rifle, Democrats on Capitol Hill pledged to accept even a narrow, incremental bill if it is offered by pro-gun Republicans just to do something – anything.

"A familiar political dynamic is beginning to unfold. As days pass after the latest act of terror, the momentum for a quick and meaningful political response to change gun laws slows, as Capitol Hill Republicans – some with presidential ambitions that depend on" millions from the gun lobby, meaning the NRA."

As CNN reports, Republican gun reform is essentially useless or pro forma. "A narrow set of changes to gun laws is still under consideration, including hardening school security, providing more funding for mental health care, ensuring that juvenile records can be considered when a person between ages 18 and 21 wants to buy a high-powered semi-automatic weapon like an AR-15 and providing federal incentives for states to pass so-called red flag laws."

The Republican solution, as expected borders on being ludicrous. How much money would be needed to provide security for every school in the country? The shooters in Buffalo and Uvalde had no history of mental illness. Senate Republicans want the states to pass red flag laws, not the U.S. Senate.

The Republican proposals would be laughable if they were not so tragic. They simply don't care how many die from the shooting massacres as long as the NRA is forthcoming with its millions.

The forum's Republicans have nothing to say about all this.

 

Just how dumb are Republicans?

“If you’re a Republican, you can’t even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent or they’re coming after you,” Gohmert said in a Friday interview on NewsMax. “They’re going to bury you, they’re going to put you in the DC jail and terrorize and torture you and not live up to the Constitution there,” Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert.

“Don’t we suspect that like one-third of the people outside of the Capitol complex on January 6 were actual FBI agents hanging out,” Blake Masters, the Republican Senate candidate from Arizona.

CNN reports, "In a manner of hours, the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol will officially unveil its first findings in a primetime hearing that is expected to be carried live on all broadcast and cable news channels, save Fox News.

"And House Republican leaders have no idea – or, at least, a decidedly incomplete view – exactly what the committee will be presenting, flying blind into what could be one of the turning points in the 2022 midterm elections."

How could this happen to the Republicans? Answer; It was a matter of abject stupidity on the part of the House Minority Leader.

Here is the short version.

Legislation to form a bipartisan independent commission to understand how the January 6 insurrection happened passed the House with 35 Republican votes in May 2021.

That bill went to the upper chamber, where Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell killed it.

Mistake number one: Instead of a bipartisan independent commission, the investigation would be conducted by a House committee dominated by Democrats.

On July 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi named eight members of the committee: seven Democrats and Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who had voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump over his role on January 6. Later she appointed Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

Later that month, McCarthy announced his five selections for the committee – including firebrand Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana.

Since Jordan and Banks were likely to be called as witnesses before the committee, Pelosi rejected them. Jordan, in particular, played an important role in the events of Jan. 6.

In retaliation, McCarthy pulled all five GOP nominees. “Unless Speaker Pelosi reverses course and seats all five Republican nominees, Republicans will not be party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts,” said McCarthy.

Mistake number two: Republicans have absolutely no idea what is going to happen when the committee opens its investigation into the Republican-led revolt to the public.

It is anticipated the forum's Republicans will have nothing to contribute. They are all hiding.

 

And speaking of Afghanistan, Biden said NOTHING about the 13 fine young Americans who died at Kabul International Airport during his State of the Union address. All 13 of them were better Americans than he could ever hope to be, and he never breathed a word about them.

Some of us haven’t forgotten.

 

Sandy Shanks said: ↑
The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Senate Intel report confirms Russia aimed to help Trump in 2016

Putin could not be more pleased with his choice.

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office.
Senate Intel report confirms Russia aimed to help Trump in 2016

"The House select committee on the Capitol insurrection has a duty far beyond investigating one of the most traumatic days in US history. Its wider mission is to expose and catalog an assault on democracy that is still going on.

The panel holds its first prime-time televised hearing Thursday in a bid to imprint the implications of this national nightmare – when a mob incited by then-President Donald Trump tried to prevent the certification of 2020 election results," CNN

What to watch for at the House's first prime-time hearing

CNN reports, "The House select committee investigating January 6 will use its first prime-time public hearing on Thursday to make the case that former President Donald Trump was at the center of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and prevent the transition of power, according to the committee.

"The panel will reveal new evidence that aides say will help “connect the dots” between Trump’s election lies, his attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win and the violence that unfolded on January 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop the counting of electoral votes.

"Aides outlined the first public hearing, which will take place in prime time, as the committee’s opening salvo – previewing what’s to come in the month’s worth of planned hearings.

"Thursday’s hearing is the first in a series planned this month to illustrate what the panel’s months-long investigation into January 6 has uncovered. Aides said that the opening hearing would serve to lay out a summary of the committee’s findings, which all points back to Trump himself."

 

This is something Republicans seem to be unaware of as they critique Biden on his possible visit to Saudi Arabia.

Diplomacy was not invented to communicate with our friends. Diplomacy was created so that we can deal with our enemies.

ABC reports, "The United States is restoring a line of communication for the Palestinians that had been canceled by the Trump administration.

"The move was announced Thursday before a possible visit by President Joe Biden to Israel and the occupied West Bank. It means the Palestinians will deal directly with the U.S. State Department in Washington rather than first go through the American ambassador to Israel.

"The department has changed the name of the Palestinian Affairs Unit to the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs. In a statement, the newly renamed office said the move was meant to “strengthen our diplomatic reporting and public diplomacy engagement.”

"The U.S. was reinstating a system in place for decades before President Donald Trump's decision."

 

CNN reports, "The House select committee investigating January 6 will use its first prime-time public hearing on Thursday to make the case that former President Donald Trump was at the center of a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election and prevent the transition of power, according to the committee.

It is readily apparent that Donald Trump is guilty of the charges presented by the House January Six Select Committee.

Donald Trump has made no attempt to provide evidence to the committee of his innocence.

No associate of Donald Trump has made an attempt to provide evidence to the committee of Trump's innocence.

Trump and his associates have made no attempt on any venue (Fox, Breitbart, major networks) to provide evidence of Trump's innocence.

60 court cases, the Supreme Court, 50 states, Electoral College, and Trump's attorney general all say the election was legitimate.

Trump and his associates have not provided any evidence that the election was fraudulent.

Trump is guilty of fraud by claiming the election was stolen from him and that he was the winner of the election.

Trump is guilty of inciting the far-right extremist mob. He spoke to the mob as their President.

"We fight like hell And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.
All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats, which is what they’re doing … We will never give up, we will never concede. It doesn’t happen. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved.”
Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about … We will stop the steal.”
Because you’ll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show strength and you have to be strong.”

The worst of it is this. Grassroots Trump Republicans, like those on this forum, accept Trump's guilt by saying nothing. Republicans in Congress in Congress accept Trump's guilt. Indeed, they want his endorsement in the coming elections.

147 Republicans voted to not accept the results of the 2020 Presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021, once order was restored after Trump's coup attempt failed.

Trump is the current leader of the Republican Party.

Republicans are expected to win control of Congress in November.

Our country is in very serious trouble. When Americans say a coup attempt to overthrow the elected government is okay with them and put the party responsible back in power, we have a very serious problem.

The forum's Republicans will not respond to these issues.

 

Our country is in very serious trouble. When Americans say a coup attempt to overthrow the elected government is okay with them and put the party responsible back in power, we have a very serious problem.

The forum's Republicans will not respond to these issues.
******************************************************************************************************************************************************
As expected, Republicans did not respond to the issues. As do Congressional Republicans, they remain silent when it comes to the overwhelming evidence against Trump and his leading role in the coup attempt to overthrow the elected government.

In the case of the forum's Republicans, their intelligence level may explain their silence. They seem to be uninformed as well.

The Republican Party has captured the minds of those who live in the rural counties of America. Those voters are mostly farmers and rural shopkeepers. They lack education and they are not well-informed. Most of what they know about politics is by word of mouth, otherwise known as gossip.

Moreover, they lack communication skills. The proof is their posts or lack thereof when it comes to defending their party's actions.

 

After San Bernardino nothing changed. After Orlando nothing changed. Hard to believe, but Robb Elementary is not the worst school shooting. Sandy Hook Elementary is. Of course, nothing changed after Sandy Hook, either.

The NRA sponsored Republican Party will not permit changes to be made.

That statement was made two weeks ago and it is ringing true today.

That said, after the massacre at a Buffalo supermarket, after another massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, and after thirteen massacres last weekend, the Republican Party has agreed to a pittance to quiet the masses. They are hoping everyone will shut up and go home.

The Post reports, "A bipartisan group of senators announced Sunday that it had reached a tentative agreement on legislation that would pair modest new gun restrictions with significant new mental health and school security investments."

Note: The shooters in Buffalo and Uvalde had no history of mental illness. What will be the cost of providing security for every school in the country?

The Post continued, "Under the tentative deal, a federal grant program would encourage states to implement red-flag laws (not the U.S. Senate). federal criminal background checks for gun buyers younger than 21 would include a mandatory search of juvenile justice and mental health records, and would prevent gun sales to domestic violence offenders other than spouses."

This is akin to putting lipstick on a pig, meaning the provisions are virtually meaningless. They are mere fodder for the masses that prove the authoritarian nature of the heartless Republican Party.

Meaningful reforms are missing.

CNN reports, "Notably, the agreement doesn’t include a provision that would expand background checks for all firearm sales or transfers. Also left out is a federal ban on military-style assault weapons (the AR-15 was developed for the military for the expressed purpose of killing people). Additionally, the agreement doesn’t include a change to the age at which a person needs to be to purchase an assault-style weapon.

Then there is this.

"The framework proposes funding commitments that could easily run into the billions of dollars, and Republicans want any new spending to be offset with cuts elsewhere in the federal budget, people involved in the negotiations said," Post.

Republicans are unwilling to agree to meaningful reforms that cost little or no money, but are willing to spend billions of dollars to prove a point. They have argued for decades that mental illness and lack of school security are the causes of most shooting massacres. Or ...

Even these pitiful reforms won't see the light of day. This has all been a charade.

 

The Times reports, "On the second day of the hearing, William P. Barr, the former attorney general, said in a recorded deposition that claims of widespread electoral fraud were nonsense.

"Former President Donald J. Trump’s attorney general testified that he believed the president had grown delusional as he insisted on pushing false claims of widespread election fraud that he was told repeatedly were groundless."

“He’s become detached from reality if he really believes this stuff,” Barr said, adding, “There was never an indication of interest in what the actual facts were.”

To this day, Trump is still preaching the Big Lie, i.e. he won the 2020 Presidential election. The reason lies in the make-up of the Republican Party, and the fact that grassroots Republicans believe him and they have donated millions to Trump. Trump remains today the head of the party, and Republicans seeking office desperately want his endorsement.

The Republican Party has captured the minds of those who live in the rural counties of America. Those voters are mostly farmers and rural shopkeepers. They lack education and they are not well-informed. Most of what they know about politics is by word of mouth, otherwise known as gossip.

For some reason they are unaware of and cannot explain, Donald Trump is their savior, thus explaining why they believe everything Trump says. This also explains their total silence on issues involving Trump or their party. Their communication skills are limited.

As mentioned, grassroots Republicans have donated millions to their savior. The Times continued, "The committee asserted that Mr. Trump used the lie of a stolen election to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, duping his donors and ultimately fooling his supporters into showing up at the Capitol to press his bogus claims of a massive election “steal.”

"The committee presented evidence that there was not, in fact, an “Election Defense Fund” for the Trump campaign, despite the campaign soliciting millions in donations for one."

Raising money based on false pretenses is the definition of fraud.

Republicans were duped, but they don't care. Reminder, Trump is the leader of the party, proving once again the naivete of his supporters.

Will we allow grassroots Republicans to choose our Congress in November?

 

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Senate Intel report confirms Russia aimed to help Trump in 2016

With all the turmoil in Washington, including a Congressional hearing to investigate a former President, a President Putin chose to support, the Russian autocrat could not be more pleased with his selection. Trump continues his attacks on America's free elections and a majority of Republicans in Congress support his efforts and seek his endorsement.

To Putin's everlasting pleasure his choice for President in 2016 is currently the Republican leader.

CNN reports, "The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol detailed Monday how those around then-President Donald Trump told him he lost the 2020 election – but he refused to listen, turning instead to his attorney Rudy Giuliani to embrace false claims that the election was stolen.

"The Democratic-run committee has featured clips from William Barr’s deposition more than any other witness so far. These clips have established Barr as the highest-ranking Trump administration official to affirm the legitimacy of the election results and disavow Trump’s relentless effort to claim that the election was tainted by fraud.

"One of the primary areas of focus of Monday’s hearing was to underscore the idea that Trump and some of his allies continued to peddle false claims of election fraud after they were personally told those claims were not legitimate.

"The committee made the argument that Trump was repeatedly told by his own top officials, including Barr and Stepien, that the myriad of fraud claims he was pushing were groundless and were certainly not evidence that the election was stolen."

Why Trump continues to lie is explained in the previous post. One reason, because of Trump's gullible fans, it is profitable.

Here is the interesting part, beyond denouncing his own daughter and his attorney general, Trump is not offering any defense for his actions. He is silent.

No Republican has come forward to defend Trump. They are silent.

That says a lot.

Which explains why the forum's Republicans will continue their silence.

 

ABC reports, "President Joe Biden confirmed Tuesday that he will visit Saudi Arabia next month for talks with its leaders, a dramatic change in his stance on the kingdom that he pledged to make a “pariah” as a Democratic candidate for the White House.

"With the visit at the tail end of a July 13-16 Middle East trip that includes stops in Israel and the West Bank, Biden is edging off his adversarial stance on the Saudis' human rights record. He's looking to reset the relationship at a time when the U.S. could use help from the oil-rich kingdom to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe.

"The stop in Saudi Arabia will include talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the kingdom, according to White House and Saudi officials. U.S. intelligence officials have determined Prince Mohammed likely ordered the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi."

Our President is trying hard to alleviate our pain at the pump, and what does get from Republicans? Grief.

For political purposes, Republicans want gas prices to go higher, not lower. They want to win control of Congress in November.

Can they do any better? Of course not. Gas prices are determined by market conditions, and there is not a damn thing Washington can do about it.

But our President will try anyway.