A report card on the Biden administration

[Sandy Shanks]

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."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

"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."

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.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

.

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.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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 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?

 

[Linuxcooldude]

That is because Republicans like you are totally incapable of defending their party.

Perhaps it is because defending the Republican Party is impossible.

Have you looked at the "Views" figure of this thread lately?

You know it's an echo chamber when nearly all the posts are from one person.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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.

Positively amazing, the forum's Republicans have nothing to say.

Of course, I know they avoid this thread. They have no desire to face reality, and even less desire to learn the truth about their savior.

 

[Jay59]

Positively amazing, the forum's Republicans have nothing to say.

Of course, I know they avoid this thread.

I'm not a Republican, but I check here once a month or so.

Normally you answer yourself. When did you pose a question that actually invited a response?

They have no desire to face reality, and even less desire to learn the truth about their savior.

Says the person creating his own reality.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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

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.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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."

Although limited by the paucity of tools that it has, the Biden administration is doing what it can to control inflation.

CNN reports,"US stocks jumped on Wednesday afternoon after the Federal Reserve announced it will increase interest rates by an aggressive three-quarters of a percent.

"Wednesday’s rate hike – the largest in 28 years – signaled to investors that the Fed is committed to lowering inflation rates. Fed chair Jerome Powell indicated that a similar hike could come in July if the economic data doesn’t improve."

CNN also reported, "President Joe Biden is still debating whether to lift some tariffs on China put in place by his predecessor as he mines his authorities for ways to bring down skyrocketing prices that have caused his approval ratings to plummet.

"Biden is on track to announce a decision on tariffs within a few weeks, according to an official familiar with the matter, though he hasn’t yet made a final determination.

"Inflation has proved a frustrating challenge for the President, who has instructed his team to continue searching for avenues to reduce financial burdens on Americans."

In keeping with this emphasis, CNN also reported, "In his latest attempt to stem raging inflation affecting almost every American, President Joe Biden has a new target – oil giants that are banking high profits even as gasoline prices at the pump hit record levels.

"Biden rebuked the wealthy sector after he announced a trip to Saudi Arabia and is expected to ask it to pump more oil to alleviate some of the pressure on Americans as inflation pummels his own approval ratings and the prospects of Democrats in midterm elections. His moves coincide with an expected aggressive interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, which could help cool the overheating economy but is part of a strategy that also risks tipping it into a recession."

Our President has called on U.S. oil refiners to produce more gasoline and diesel, saying their profits have tripled during a time of war between Russia and Ukraine as Americans struggle with record-high prices at the pump.

President Biden is doing what he can with the limited resources he has. If Biden critics have any suggestions as to what more he can do, no doubt everyone would be interested in hearing them.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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.

Trump continues his silence on the issues being brought forward by the committee. He appears to be acknowledging his guilt as are his colleagues in Congress who also remain silent.

ABC reports, "Former President Donald Trump on Monday responded in a lengthy statement to the House's ongoing Jan. 6 committee hearings, assailing the panel as illegitimate and their presentation as one-sided -- but rather than refute their evidence, he reiterated the same baseless claims about the 2020 presidential election that are at the center of the proceedings and the group's case that he had attempted a "coup."

"Trump's 12-page statement, sent to reporters on Monday night, comes after the second public hearing held by the House select committee investigating last year's deadly Capitol attack. His statement, marked by characteristic exclamations and insults, called the hearings "a smoke and mirrors show" that failed to include "all exculpatory witnesses, and anyone who so easily points out the flaws in their story."

"The statement, however, did not directly respond to the specifics laid out by the committee to the public thus far -- including testimony earlier Monday from Trump's inner circle that he knew he had lost the last presidential race and had no legitimate reason to claim widespread fraud, instead choosing to listen to Rudy Giuliani to falsely claim victory over Joe Biden."

Trump is clueless. He has no idea what is happening. Let's examine what he said.

"Their presentation is one-sided." "Failed to include "all exculpatory witnesses, and anyone who so easily points out the flaws in their story."

Trump seems unaware that he refused to appear before the committee to explain his innocence. He is unaware that the Republican leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, refused to appoint Republicans to the committee. Trump's close associates who could possibly defend him refused to appear before the committee.

"Their presentation is one-sided." "Failed to include "all exculpatory witnesses, and anyone who so easily points out the flaws in their story." Rural Trump Republicans with their limited awareness will believe him. Like Trump, they are clueless.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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 [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 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.

For reasons they are unaware of and cannot explain, Donald Trump is their savior, thus explaining why they believe everything Trump says. Consequently, most of them have voted for Trump endorsed candidates in the primaries.

That is understandable. They don't know what is going on. All they know is, they like Trump for some reason.

What is disturbing is that many of these Republican candidates are winning. Most were favorites anyway. Here is the disturbing part. These candidates support the view that Trump won the election and the coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021. If they didn't believe that, they would not have gotten Trump's endorsement.

In other words, Republicans running for office -- governor, secretary of state, state legislatures, U.S. Congress, etc. -- support the attempted overthrow of the elected government on Jan. 6, 2021.

There is no other way to read that.

Republicans on this forum will remain silent on these issues. After all, what can they say? Not even Trump is declaring his innocence. Neither are any members of the Republican Party.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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

J. Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge, said Pence heeding Trump’s directive would have “plunged America into what I believe would have been tantamount to a revolution within a constitutional crisis.”

The Post reports, "John Eastman, a conservative lawyer advising President Donald Trump, sought a presidential pardon after pushing a plan to overturn the 2020 election that he knew to be illegal, evidence and testimony showed during a hearing Thursday by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. Eastman had aggressively pushed a plan for Vice President Mike Pence to use his authority to help overturn the results, but acknowledged to Pence attorney Greg Jacob that the plot violated the law and would lose at the Supreme Court “nine to nothing,” Jacob testified.

"Giuliani and Eastman, two of Trump’s top advisers, knew their plot was probably illegal, witnesses said. And here’s the key thing: Knowledge of the plot being illegal is significant when it comes to proving whether the Jan. 6 plotters committed a crime. [If Trump's two key advisors knew it was a crime, then Trump knew it was a crime and White House lawyers were saying so.]

"Eastman emailed Giuliani and asked to be put on Trump’s pardon list."

"The House's ongoing Jan. 6 committee hearings are illegitimate and their presentation one-sided. They failed to include "all exculpatory witnesses, and anyone who so easily points out the flaws in their story," Donald Trump.

The committee has been literally begging for Trump's associates to come forward.

The Post continued, "Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) specifically named House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), and Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who corresponded with Trump lawyer John Eastman about his attempts to overturn the election results."

Earlier, the committee had urged Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, and others to come forward.

“We’re not going to close the door on hearing from anyone,” Aguilar said.

So far, none have come forward to defend Trump. Congressional Republicans are so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

The forum's Republicans remain silent on the issues as well.

With Trump as their leader, Republicans expect to win control of Congress in November.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Although limited by the paucity of tools that it has, the Biden administration is doing what it can to control inflation.

ABC reports, "Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has pledged to do whatever it takes to curb inflation, now raging at a four-decade high and defying the Fed's efforts so far to tame it.

"Increasingly, it seems, doing so might require the one painful thing the Fed has sought to avoid: A recession.

"A worse-than-expected inflation report for May — consumer prices rocketed up 8.6% from a year earlier, the biggest jump since 1981 — helped spur the Fed to raise its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of point Wednesday.

"Not since 1994 has the central bank raised its key rate by that much all at once. What's more, several more hikes are coming."

The rate hike only affects borrowing; borrowing to buy a house or a car along with credit card borrowing. The rate has little or no effect on gas or food prices, in other words, the day-to-day spending by Americans, meaning the issues that are bothering most Americans.

For that reason, it is conceivable that President Biden along with Democrats running for office in November are privately hoping for a recession.

While the Fed's rate hikes won't lower prices on gas and food, a recession certainly will.

Of course, then Americans will blame Biden for the recession even though that is the only way prices will be lowered. Americans know so little about economic principles.

With full employment and prosperity comes inflation caused by increased spending. A recession is a downturn in the economy and prices go down due to less spending. Perhaps two percent of the population know that.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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.

For reasons they are unaware of and cannot explain, Donald Trump is their savior, thus explaining why they believe everything Trump says.

Politico reports, "The Jan. 6 select committee made its most forceful case Thursday that Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election was more than an affront to the democratic process — it was a crime.

"For all the panel’s public quibbling over whether to vote on referring Trump to the Justice Department for a possible criminal case, members did it their own way. They used Thursday’s public hearing to present what they see as some of their most compelling evidence and thereby mount a case, with Attorney General Merrick Garland watching, that Trump broke the law in his effort to make former Vice President Mike Pence single-handedly overturn the election.

The Times reports, "A day after the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault illustrated the serious danger that rioters posed to Mike Pence, former President Donald J. Trump unleashed a new attack on the man who had served him as vice president, criticizing him for refusing to interfere with the Electoral College certification of the 2020 presidential contest.

"Speaking on Friday afternoon before a faith-based group [?!?], Mr. Trump said that “Mike did not have the courage to act” in trying to unilaterally reject the Electoral College votes that were being cast for Joseph R. Biden Jr."

Mostly, Republicans are saying nothing. When one or two speak up to defend Trump, they all use the same strategy. They say everyone is lying and that a Congressional hearing is a kangaroo court. They do not deal with the actual evidence because they have no idea what it is.

Consequently, Trump's gullible, uninformed followers do not know that those testifying are Republicans and many were a part of the Trump White House.

The witnesses include Trump's vice-president, Pence's chief of staff, Pence's counsel, Trump's attorney general, White House counsel, his daughter, Ivanka, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, along with several others.

Trump's followers expect to win control of Congress in November.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Many Trump endorsed Republican candidates are winning. Most were favorites anyway. Here is the disturbing part. These candidates support the view that Trump won the election and the coup attempt on Jan. 6, 2021. If they didn't believe that, they would not have gotten Trump's endorsement.

In other words, Republicans running for office -- governor, secretary of state, state legislatures, U.S. Congress, etc. -- support the attempted overthrow of the elected government on Jan. 6, 2021.

Republicans have gone off the deep end!

CNN reports, "The Republican Party of Texas over the weekend adopted a resolution at its state convention that rejects President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, further aligning the state party establishment with former President Donald Trump in pushing false election claims.

“We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States,” reads the resolution."

Republicans are just as nuts in Missouri.

"Eric Greitens, a leading contender for the Republican Senate nomination in Missouri, released a new video in which he is depicted as hunting RINOs (Republicans in Name Only)," CNN.

"I’m Eric Greitens, Navy SEAL, and today we’re going RINO hunting.” Greitens says as he walks down a sidewalk with a gun in hand.

The video cuts to a house where Greitens, surrounded by what looks like a tactical unit, waits by the door. “The RINO feeds on corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice,” says Greitens. The unit smashes the door down and throws what looks like a smoke grenade. Greitens strides through the door. “Join the MAGA crew,” he says. “Get a RINO hunting permit. There’s no bagging limit, no tagging limit and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.”

Greitens is a former governor of Missouri. According to Wikipedia, "In February 2018, Greitens was charged with felony invasion of privacy and later with campaign-related offenses. He was indicted on felony charges of computer tampering in April 2018;[8] all charges were dropped in May 2018. Greitens resigned from office on June 1, 2018,[9] after the Missouri General Assembly commenced a special session to consider impeachment."

The Jan. 6 select committee made its most forceful case on Thursday that former Republican President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election was more than an affront to the democratic process — it was a crime.

What is wrong with the Republican Party?

We will never know. As you can see, Republicans don't talk about the issues presented.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

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 Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin, wanted Donald Trump to become our President in 2016 and wanted the Republican Party to be in power.

He is being rewarded handsomely. America is in turmoil. The very basis of our democracy, free elections, is under attack. Who is responsible for this attack? Aided by a very conservative Supreme Court that has become so unpopular it has walled itself off from the American people, Trump and the Republican Party, of course, while Republicans remain silent.

CNN reports, "Homeland and national security officials are worried about how Russia could significantly exploit US divisions over the November midterms, considering scenarios like Russia staging smaller hacks of local election authorities – done with the deliberate purpose of being noticed – and then using that to seed more conspiracies about the integrity of American elections.

"These efforts, the officials said, would be designed to dovetail with the false doubts about the 2020 presidential election spread by former President Donald Trump and many of his allies.

"Although US elections have become more secure in recent years, officials say that an atmosphere of distrust in America’s elections, coupled with the sheer number of local election systems, means there’s no way to truly be ready for such a convergence of Russian asymmetric warfare techniques."

Is anyone surprised?

Grassroots Republicans have no idea what is going on. They avoid respected news sources and threads like this one. Republicans are not fans of reality.

 

[Chase Morgan]

Grassroots Republicans have no idea what is going on. They avoid respected news sources and threads like this one. Republicans are not fans of reality.

No doubt, Shanks

Pathetic little republican "snowflakes" can't handle the truth.

They need to be DESTROYED at ballot boxes...

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin, wanted Donald Trump to become our President in 2016 and wanted the Republican Party to be in power.

He is being rewarded handsomely. America is in turmoil. The very basis of our democracy, free elections, is under attack.

ABC reports, "The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol held another hearing Tuesday on the pressure campaign it says former President Donald Trump and allies put on state election officials as part of a larger "seven-part scheme" to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

"Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who led the hearing Tuesday focused on Trump's pressure campaign on state election officials, appeared to speak to Attorney General Merrick Garland and other prosecutors at the Department of Justice watching the committee unfold its findings, reminding the public that lawmakers will not be the ones to bring charges to Trump and allies."

"Whether his actions were criminal will ultimately be for others to decide. But what he did was without a doubt unconstitutional. It was unpatriotic, and it was fundamentally un-American," Schiff said.

"The committee has appeared to make the case that Trump directly engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the government," ABC.

"The committee played audio clips of the now-infamous phone call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, in which Trump told Raffensperger he needed to "find" 11,780 votes in Georgia -- just one vote over the margin by which he trailed President-elect Joe Biden -- so he could be declared the winner of an election that three separate counts in the state confirmed he lost.

"The call lasted 67 minutes and appeared to follow a cycle of Trump offering false election conspiracies and Raffensperger calmly explaining to him that each one was not accurate. At one point, Trump suggested to Raffensperger that his inaction could mean he was criminally liable."

Reversing the scales of justice is an old trick played by Trump many times. He knows he is criminally liable, but he can't help himself. He is mentally unstable from a narcissistic point of view, and he can't accept losing.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

"Whether his actions were criminal will ultimately be for others to decide. But what he did was without a doubt unconstitutional. It was unpatriotic, and it was fundamentally un-American," Schiff said.

"The committee has appeared to make the case that Trump directly engaged in a conspiracy to defraud the government," ABC.

The report above did not do justice to the Jan. 6 hearing today. One had to watch it to get the full impact. Suffice to say that it was extremely damaging to Trump and the Republican Party, and it is being played out to a national television audience. It is as if Trump wanted to destroy his own party.

One can only surmise that Trump was deranged. He was warned countless times by his own advisors, his own family, for crying out loud. To attempt a coup of this size with little or no support was just plain nuts, doomed to fail from the very start. Only someone with a mental problem would try it.

CNN reports, "Donald Trump is growing increasingly irritated with the House panel investigating the January 6, 2021, riot as it lifts the curtain on some of its findings with public hearings that have garnered gavel-to-gavel cable coverage – much to the annoyance of the TV-obsessed former President.

"He has taken his complaints about the committee on the road, lashing out at the congressional panel during a speech to conservatives in Nashville last Friday."

“I don’t understand why Kevin didn’t put anyone on the committee,” a reference to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s decision to boycott the select committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two Republican members he originally chose to sit on the panel.

"Trump’s growing frustration with the absence of any hard core supporters on the select committee – which has given the panel uninterrupted air time and deprived Republicans of the ability to cross-examine witnesses in real time."

Trump is clueless and completely unaware of his own vulnerability. He really thinks some should come forward and defend him.

There is no defense, and Republicans are proving it with their silence.

McCarthy didn't assign anyone to the committee because he couldn't find any Republicans willing to make fools of themselves trying to defend Trump's actions. McCarthy promised a Republican investigation. There was none for the same reason.

Those testifying against Trump are members of his party.

I told you Trump was nuts.

The problem facing the Republican Party: They are culpable. On Jan. 7, 2021, 147 Republicans voted to accept Trump's Big Lie, to wit, the election was stolen from Trump. In this year's primaries, many Republicans who are winning have Trump's endorsement, meaning those Republicans also believe in Trump's lie, thus earning Trump's endorsement.

In view of the extremely damaging testimony in the past week, one would call that culpable.

How do the forum's Republicans feel about all this? We don't know. Their silence continues.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The problem facing the Republican Party: They are culpable. On Jan. 7, 2021, 147 Republicans voted to accept Trump's Big Lie, to wit, the election was stolen from Trump. In this year's primaries, many Republicans who are winning have Trump's endorsement, meaning those Republicans also believe in Trump's lie, thus earning Trump's endorsement.

CNN reports, "Donald Trump’s Big Lie is becoming a big problem for the media outlets that comprise his powerful propaganda arm.

"On the same day that the former president’s scheme to remain in power was further exposed at another January 6 Committee hearing, Fox and OAN suffered legal defeats in court related to their advancement of his election lies. And last week, on Thursday, Newsmax also suffered a legal loss.

"So far, the right-wing media outlets that peddled Trump’s false election narratives have had little luck winning in court against the voting tech companies suing them for billions of dollars. It is early in the process, of course. But the string of defeats these media outlets have suffered indicate that these lawsuits have some teeth to them.

"The cases also point toward the fact that Trump’s election lies will be litigated in court, through multiple cases, regardless of whether the Department of Justice pursues charges against him or not…"

Trump, the leader of the Republican Party, is in a heap of trouble. For that matter, so is the Republican Party, and the mid-terms are just around the corner.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Trump appointed three judges to continue his legacy.

Because of its enormous unpopularity, the conservative Supreme Court has walled itself off from the American people.

And for good reason. It is extremely likely the Court will decide that the government will control a woman's pregnancy, a decision that runs counter to the majority of Americans. The Court doesn't seem to care. What matters to the Court is its religious view on pregnancies.

CNN explains, "Under normal circumstances on decision days at the end of June, the Supreme Court emerges from behind crimson curtains to finally issue the most controversial cases of the term after months of closed-door deliberations. Wearing their judicial robe and exhausted from the final push of work, the justices take their seats and the majority opinion is read by its author."

None of that will happen this month.

CNN continued, "Instead, the courtroom’s majestic chamber is dark – ostensibly due to lingering Covid concerns. The plaza has been completely walled off by security fences, a move prompted by protests that erupted last month after a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked to the media.

"Now, armed guards are providing 24-hour protection at the justices’ homes while protestors sometimes gather outside and the President has signed legislation to enhance security protection for the justices and their families."

Then we have this fateful decision. In the face of countless shooting massacres in our country where children are the targets in many cases the court has returned us to the Middle Ages where guns are concerned.

ABC reports, "The Supreme Court ruling Thursday striking down a New York state law limiting the right to carry a concealed handgun in public is sparking a furor from Albany to Washington as gun safety activists and Democrats warn the ruling will lead to more guns, and more violence.

"The high court's ruling struck down the century-old law mandating that gun owners demonstrate "proper cause" to carry a concealed handgun outside of their homes.

"The 6-3 opinion was authored by Justice Clarence Thomas for the conservative majority with the three liberal justices dissenting.

"Republicans and gun rights groups, for their part, hailed the ruling, casting it as a needed protection of the Second Amendment.

Similar laws in several other states are now in jeopardy because of the Court's decision.

Republicans are rejoicing!

 

[Sandy Shanks]

This is the kind of representation uninformed, education deprived Trump Republicans want.

CNN reports, "Newly elected Republican Congresswoman Mayra Flores spread conspiracies on social media that the January 6 riot at the US Capitol was caused by members of the far-left group Antifa and repeatedly used a hashtag of the QAnon conspiracy theory in tweets that have since been removed.

"Flores won the special election for Texas’ 34th Congressional District last week, giving Republicans an additional seat in the House of Representatives. She beat a field of four other candidates – two Republicans and two Democrats.

"Before running for office, Flores was a local Republican activist who tweeted under the handle “LaRepublicana86,” where she spread false claims about election fraud and immediately began suggesting on January 6, 2021, that the Capitol riot was caused by Antifa and “infiltrators.”

"The Republican Party of Texas adopted a resolution at its state convention that rejects President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election, further aligning the state party establishment with former President Donald Trump in pushing false election claims."

“We reject the certified results of the 2020 Presidential election, and we hold that acting President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was not legitimately elected by the people of the United States,” reads the resolution.

The Hill reports, "The Jan. 6 committee investigating the attack on the Capitol revealed Thursday that at least a half-dozen Republican lawmakers asked for presidential pardons for their role in voting to overturn election results in certain states on Jan. 6, 2021, according to testimony from former Trump aides.

"Testimony from Trump aides named Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) Mo Brooks (Ala.) Louie Gohmert (Texas), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), and Scott Perry (PA.) as seeking pardons."

Trump Republicans are the same people who want to control Congress after the November mid-terms.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Trump appointed three judges to continue his legacy.

Because of its enormous unpopularity, the conservative Supreme Court has walled itself off from the American people.

The extreme unpopularity of Trump's conservative Court grew in intensity today.

Following the shooting massacres in Buffalo and Uvalde as well as others, the Court expanded gun rights. One can now carry a loaded gun in plain view down Fifth Avenue in New York. What kind of person would want to do such a thing?

Following that fateful decision, the Court made an extremely unpopular decision today.

CNN explains, "The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday, holding that there is no longer a federal constitutional right to an abortion.

"The opinion is the most consequential Supreme Court decision in decades and will transform the landscape of women’s reproductive health in America.

"Going forward, abortion rights will be determined by states, unless Congress acts.  Already, nearly half of the states have or will pass laws that ban abortion while others have enacted strict measures regulating the procedure."

There are hundreds of reasons why this decision was a poor one, and many of them will become clear in the coming months as chaos reigns. Here are a few.

The Court argued that the right to an abortion is not in the Constitution. The enormous duplicity of this statement by the Supreme Court is egregious. The American people have hundreds of rights that are not enumerated in the Constitution. The statement is downright ludicrous, damaging the reputation of the Court.

This is the first time in its history that the Supreme Court has removed a fundamental right, the right of a woman to make her own decisions regarding her health and well-being.

The Court is imposing its religious view on the American people.

The Court determined that the government is in control of a woman's health when it involves a pregnancy. The woman and her doctor do not decide her fate. The state does.

Oklahoma has made abortion a criminal act, punishable by a prison term. If a woman from Oklahoma goes to New York where abortion is legal, can Oklahoma charge the person who performed the abortion?

The Court's obsession with its religious view on abortion overrode all other considerations.

This is Trump's legacy and the Republican Party is solely responsible. It will take a federal law to restore a woman's right to make health decisions. Keep that in mind when you vote in November. It will require 60 votes in the Senate to override Republican opposition to the legislation.