A report card on the Biden administration

[Jay59]

Are you telling me what to write in my thread?

It was not in the imperative voice

What happens with the investigation of the Jan. 6 committee has a huge effect on Biden, the Democratic Party, and the mid-term elections in November.

If that is what you you are hanging your hopes upon, you have more problems than I thought.

For the record, I doubt it helps the Democrats and it could hurt them. The whole it was insurrection narrative was never convincing--except to Trump haters, who need no convincing--and it has gotten old.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Now this is funny.

Fox News reports, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas "referred to the Jan. 6 riot as a terrorist attack during a Senate hearing Wednesday featuring testimony from Capitol Police Chief J. Thomas Manger.

"Cruz, who was among 147 Republicans in Congress who voted on Jan. 6 to overturn Biden's victory, said at the hearing that the riot that day was a "terrorist attack."

Later, Cruz was contrite for telling the truth.

Fox continued, "Sen. Cruz on Thursday said he made a “mistake” when, a day earlier, he described the Capitol riot as a “terrorist attack.”

"In an interview, Fox News’ Tucker Carlson denounced Cruz for his comment and accused the GOP senator of telling a "lie."

“The way I phrased things yesterday, it was sloppy and it was frankly dumb," Cruz said. "As a result of my sloppy phrasing, many people misunderstood what I meant when I called it a terrorist attack.

“What I was referring to are the limited number of people who engaged in violent attacks against police officers and I think you and I both agree that if you assault a police officer, you should go to jail. That's who I was talking about,” he said.

I told you this was funny.

And sickening. This guy is a U.S. Senator, and he sounds like a bad little boy telling his mommy he is sorry.

Put another way, Republicans continue to attempt to change the meaning of words. A deadly "terrorist attack" on our capitol becomes an "assault on a police officer."

The mob’s breaching of our capitol became a “normal tourist visit.” Yes, A Republican lawmaker actually said that.

Cruz was right the first time. A "terrorist attack" means a terrorist attack. But the likes of Cruz and Carlson don't seem to understand that.

Or, they chose to make complete fools of themselves.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

This is puzzling.

U.S. News reports, "Polling shows that the public's approval of Biden's handling of the economy has dropped precipitously during his first year. A recent CNBC/Change poll found that 6 out of 10 Americans disapprove of his performance on the economy. A RealClearPolitics average of polls in the past five weeks shows that 56% of Americans disapprove of Biden's handling of the economy, with 40% approving of it."

U.S. News also reports, "President Joe Biden took a victory lap on his first-year economic record Friday, touting low unemployment and record jobs growth even as polling shows the American public is deeply unhappy with Biden's performance on the issue."

"There's been a lot of press coverage about people quitting their jobs. Well, today's report tells you why – Americans are moving up to better jobs," Biden said from the White House after the final monthly jobs report of 2021 was released. "This is the kind of recovery I promised and hoped for for the American people."

U.S. News continued, "With a booming stock market and higher average wages, "Today, America is the only leading economy in the world where the economy as a whole is stronger than before the pandemic," the president crowed.

"December's jobs report indeed showed disappointing job growth, with 199,000 jobs created. But the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9%, a level considered to be full employment.

"Biden said Friday the supply chain issues had been greatly resolved and that, despite GOP warnings that Christmas would be blue for celebrants awaiting gifts in the mail, 99% of packages arrived on time for the holidays.

“No wonder one leading economic analyst described what we accomplished in 2021 as the strongest first-year economic track record of any president in the last 50 years,” President Biden said.

As to Biden's poor poll numbers, go figure.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Talks between the Biden administration and the Russian government seem to be going nowhere.

The Times reports, "With Russian troops massing along Ukraine’s borders, American and Russian diplomats made clear after an intense round of negotiations on Monday that while the two sides would keep talking, they remain far from agreement on meeting each other’s security concerns.

"Russian officials said they told their American counterparts they had no plans to invade Ukraine, in a series of talks that lasted nearly eight hours. “There is no reason to fear some kind of escalatory scenario,” Sergei A. Ryabkov, a Russian deputy foreign minister, told reporters after the meeting.

"Wendy Sherman, the lead American diplomat, said the United States was “pushing back on security proposals that are simply non-starters for the United States,” including Russia’s demands that Ukraine not be admitted into NATO, and that the alliance end its security cooperation with Ukraine."

“We will not allow anyone to slam closed NATO’s open door policy, which has always been central to the NATO alliance,” Ms. Sherman said on a conference call with reporters. “We will not forgo bilateral cooperation with sovereign states that wish to work with the United States. And we will not make decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine, about Europe without Europe, or about NATO without NATO.”

"If Russia does not get what it wants, President Vladimir V. Putin said last month, the Kremlin is prepared to resort to military means to achieve its aims," the Times.

California’s GDP is larger than Russia’s.

There are serious doubts Russia will invade Ukraine. Wars are very costly, and Ukraine has a respectable, battle hardened military, and she will get military assistance from NATO. If she invades, the sanctions placed on Russia and Russian leaders by the NATO countries will likely be more costly than the war itself.

Russia is bluffing to obtain security assurances.

That won't work, either.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.
When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules.
We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” President Donald Trump, January Sixth, 2021.

The law is closing in on Donald Trump.

ABC News reports, "The prosecutor weighing whether Donald Trump and others committed crimes by trying to pressure Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election victory said a decision on whether to bring charges could come as early as the first half of this year.

"Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said in an interview with The Associated Press last week that her team is making solid progress, and she’s leaning toward asking for a special grand jury with subpoena power to aid the investigation."

Then we have CNN reporting, "A federal judge in Washington, DC, is questioning former President Donald Trump's actions during his speech on January 6, 2021, as he considers for the first time whether Trump is immune from liability related to his supporters attacking the US Capitol.

"During a court hearing Monday, Judge Amit Mehta pointed out repeatedly that Trump on January 6 asked the crowd to march to the Capitol, but that he didn't speak up for two hours asking people to stop the violence.

"The words are hard to walk back," Mehta said. "You have an almost two-hour window where the President does not say, 'Stop, get out of the Capitol. This is not what I wanted you to do.'" (Note: It was a three-hour window.)

"What do I do about the fact the President didn't denounce the conduct immediately ... and sent a tweet that arguably exacerbated things?" the judge asked. "Isn't that, from a plausibility standpoint, that the President plausibly agreed with the conduct of the people inside the Capitol that day?"

A Trump ally is afraid to appear before the January Sixth Select committee.

Ohio Republican "I have nothing to hide" Jim Jordan now is hiding from the committee looking into the January Sixth insurrection led by President Trump.

The Guardian reports, "The Ohio Republican Jim Jordan is the second sitting congressman to refuse a request for cooperation from the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack.

"In a Sunday night letter to the committee chair, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the Trump ally accused the panel of “an outrageous abuse” of its authority.

"He also claimed “an unprecedented and inappropriate demand to examine the basis for a colleague’s decision on a particular matter pending before the House of Representatives."

Jordan fails to explain that "particular matter" was his vote in January 2021 to not accept the Electoral College results as required by the Constitution.

In other words, Jordan cooperated in the attempt to overthrow the elected government.

Apparently, Jordan is concerned about incriminating himself or causing severe harm to his political career.

Or both.

Citing committee sources, the Guardian has reported that the panel is considering whether Trump himself might be charged with criminal conspiracy.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

"We can do that. But we have to let people know that they can -- they can believe and they can have confidence that those elections are fair."

Who said that? A Democrat in Washington? President Biden?

Nope, South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds. A mid-westerner always tells it like it is.

CNN reports, "On Sunday, South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds was asked a blunt question by ABC's George Stephanopoulos: "What do you say to all those Republicans, all those veterans who believe the election was stolen, who have bought the falsehoods coming from former President Trump?"

"Here's how Rounds responded:

"We looked -- as a part of our due diligence, we looked at over 60 different accusations made in multiple states.

"While there were some irregularities, there were none of the irregularities which would have risen to the point where they would have changed the vote outcome in a single state.

"The election was fair, as fair as we have seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency. And moving forward -- and that's the way we want to look at this -- moving forward, we have to refocus once again on what it's going to take to win the presidency.

"So, moving forward, let's focus on what it takes to win those elections. We can do that. But we have to let people know that they can -- they can believe and they can have confidence that those elections are fair."

We need more Republicans like Rounds. I could even rejoin the Republican Party if they quit peddling the Big Lie. I am tired of holding my nose as I vote Democrat, but Trump Republicans are far worse.

After all, most believe in the Big Lie and support Trump's attempt to overthrow the elected government. That is true of Republicans in Congress.

That makes my skin crawl.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

"We can do that. But we have to let people know that they can -- they can believe and they can have confidence that those elections are fair."

Who said that? A Democrat in Washington? President Biden?

Nope, South Dakota Republican Senator Mike Rounds.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell agreed with those sentiments.

The 2020 federal election drew the United States’ highest voter turnout in more than a century, breaking records despite the Covid-19 pandemic and efforts to undermine the election process with the Big Lie of a stolen election.

In a backlash to this historic voter participation, many state lawmakers have proposed and enacted legislation to make it harder for Americans to vote, justifying these measures with falsehoods steeped in racism about election irregularities and breaches of election security.

Between January 1 and September 27, at least 19 states enacted 33 laws that make it harder for Americans to vote. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup-october-2021

The Times reports, "President Biden endorsed changing Senate rules to pass new voting rights protections during a speech in Atlanta on Tuesday, the most significant step he has taken to pressure lawmakers to act on an issue he has called the biggest test of America’s democracy since the Civil War.

"Mr. Biden did not go so far as to call for full-scale elimination of the filibuster, a Senate tradition that allows the minority party to block legislation that fails to garner 60 votes, but said he supported an exception to the filibuster in the case of voting rights. Either endeavor has slim chances of winning support from all 50 Senate Democrats, who are already facing threats of retaliation from Republicans in the chamber.

"But Mr. Biden, recounting a swath of restrictive voting measures in place across the country, said Republicans were standing on the wrong side of a moral imperative to protect “the heart and soul” of American democracy."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

What is the nuclear option? Sounds ominous. It's not.

Zachary B. Wolf explains, "As Democrats push to pass voting rights legislation through Congress, there's been talk of using a process known as the "nuclear option."

"It's an overheated phrase that boils down to changing Senate rules to pass legislation with a simple majority.

"Senators need 60 votes to do just about anything in the Senate but change the rules. That takes only 51 votes.

"Nuclear? That sounds harsh for something as simple as a rule change.

"Actually passing legislation takes only 51 votes, but because of the procedural rules, it takes 60 to invoke cloture and get to the actual vote. By requiring only 51 votes to limit debate, the entire character of the chamber would change. Instead of being forced to get buy-in from the minority party -- Republicans right now -- the majority party would be able to pass anything for which it could get a simple majority.

"The idea is that it would figuratively "blow up" the Senate. For now, a simple majority Senate excites many Democrats who want to pass more legislation. It frightens Republicans whose strategy is to grind things on Capitol Hill to a halt [because Democrats are in control of the government]."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

We need more Republicans like Rounds. I could even rejoin the Republican Party if they quit peddling the Big Lie. I am tired of holding my nose as I vote Democrat, but Trump Republicans are far worse.

After all, most believe in the Big Lie and support Trump's attempt to overthrow the elected government. That is true of Republicans in Congress.

That makes my skin crawl.

"The election was fair, as fair as we have seen. We simply did not win the election, as Republicans, for the presidency," Republican Senator Mike Rounds told ABC News.

That fact-based comment prompted a broadside from former President Donald Trump, who called Rounds a "jerk" and "ineffective" and vowed "never" to endorse Rounds for reelection.

"Is he crazy or just stupid?" Trump remarked.

CNN reports, "Senior Republicans are closing ranks behind Sen. Mike Rounds after he endured a scathing attack from former President Donald Trump for acknowledging the reality that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election."

"I think Sen. Rounds told the truth about what happened in the 2020 election," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN on Tuesday. "And I agree with him."

CNN continued, "The back-and-forth is the latest sign that many Republicans -- particularly in the Senate -- are eager to move past the former President's obsession with the 2020 elections and instead focus on more fertile ground: The Biden agenda and their efforts to take back both houses of Congress in 2022.

"Yet, Trump continues to hover over the party given his outsize influence with his intelligence challenged base, his close hold over House Republicans and his ability to generate attention over his outright falsehoods and conspiracies over the outcome of the 2020 election.

"Many Republicans were angered over the personal nature of Trump's attacks against Rounds, who lost his wife in November after a battle with cancer."

"I take great exception to anybody that calls Mike Rounds a jerk," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican. "Because he's one of the kindest, nicest, most sincere members that we have."

"Even some Trump allies came to Rounds' defense on Tuesday," CNN stated.

"I've always said I agree that the election was not stolen -- at least to the degree that it was illegal theft," said Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican. "I've moved on a long time ago, and most members of Congress have, including Mike."

"I say to my colleague, welcome to the club," Sen. John Thune, the senior South Dakota Republican said of the Trump attack on Rounds. "I don't think re-litigating or rehashing the past is a winning strategy.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

CNN reports, "Senior Republicans are closing ranks behind Sen. Mike Rounds after he endured a scathing attack from former President Donald Trump for acknowledging the reality that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election."

"I think Sen. Rounds told the truth about what happened in the 2020 election," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN on Tuesday. "And I agree with him."

The good news is, Trump's grip on the Republican Party is waning.

CNN reports, "Donald Trump is facing weak support among Republicans for his calls to depose Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and aides and allies say it's forcing the former President to confront new limitations on his influence over the party.

"In the 11 months that have passed since Trump first called for the Kentucky Republican to be ousted -- suggesting shortly after his second Senate impeachment trial ended that it was time for the "unsmiling political hack" to be voted out of office -- McConnell's authority among Senate Republicans has neither waned nor has he faced the onslaught of blistering attacks from GOP hopefuls that Trump has been pining for.

"Most candidates who have nabbed Trump's endorsement have refused to declare war on McConnell, who remains a powerful fundraiser and influential party figure in his own right, while those who are still angling for the former President's support have also stopped short of staking out opposition to the powerful senator from Kentucky. Trump's ineffective attempt, thus far, to challenge the top Senate Republican has forced him to temper his criteria as he aims to be a kingmaker in this year's midterm elections."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

A Trump ally is afraid to appear before the January Sixth Select committee.

Ohio Republican "I have nothing to hide" Jim Jordan now is hiding from the committee looking into the January Sixth insurrection led by President Trump.

Kevin McCarthy at one point also said he had nothing to hide about the January Sixth insurrection, but it is quite likely that he, too, will hide from the select committee looking into the attempted coup.

Strange how many of Trump's allies in the attempt to overthrow the elected government have nothing to hide, but are reluctant to show they have nothing to hide.

The Times reports, "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol on Wednesday formally requested an interview with Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, who was in close contact with former President Donald J. Trump during and after the violence.

"The letter to Mr. McCarthy is the committee’s latest attempt to learn more about Mr. Trump’s actions as mob rioters stormed the building for hours on Jan. 6 and his mind-set in the days that followed. It made Mr. McCarthy, a California Republican, the highest-ranking lawmaker the panel has pursued in its inquiry."

“You have acknowledged speaking directly with the former president while the violence was underway on Jan. 6,” Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and chairman of the committee, wrote in a letter to Mr. McCarthy.

"In particular, the panel said it was interested in a phone call that Mr. McCarthy had with Mr. Trump during the riot. Mr. McCarthy previously described the call, in which he asked Mr. Trump to send help to the Capitol as a violent mob breached the complex, as “very heated,” the Times.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The Biden administration and its NATO allies are having difficulties in their talks with the Russians.

ABC News reports, "BRUSSELS -- The United States and NATO rejected key Russian security demands for easing tensions over Ukraine but left open Wednesday the possibility of future talks with Moscow on arms control, missile deployments and ways to prevent military incidents between Russia and the West.

"The decisions came at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, the first of its kind in over two years. That Russia's delegation did not walk out of the talks and remained open to the prospect of future discussions after having its main positions rebuffed were seen as positive notes in a week of high-level meetings aimed at staving off a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who chaired the meeting, said NATO nations and Russian envoys both “expressed the need to resume dialogue and to explore a schedule of future meetings.”

"Russian President Vladimir Putin wants NATO to withdraw its troops and military equipment from countries that border Russia, which include Ukraine but also NATO allies like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Putin also asked for the 30-nation military alliance to agree not to admit any more members.

"Speaking after the meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman reaffirmed that some of Putin’s security demands “are simply non-starters.”

Putin is bluffing. Russia with a modest GDP can't afford a costly war plus harsh economic sanctions from the U.S. and our NATO allies.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

President Biden is facing an uphill battle with respect to his agenda.

And the American voter is not the least bit sympathetic.

Biden is forced to deal with a 50/50 Senate, meaning a one vote majority when the vice-president votes to break a tie. In addition, there are two Democratic Senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who act more like Republicans and are actively blocking Biden's agenda without any help from Senate Republicans.

Biden is even facing opposition from the conservative Supreme Court which is comprised of six conservative judges and three liberal judges. They are creating havoc with Biden's agenda, and possibly the House committee investigation of the January Sixth insurrection. Trump has asked the court to prevent the disclosure of White House documents related to that insurrection.

Just when many thought we were rounding the corner on the pandemic, Biden is force to confront the highly contagious omicron variant. If that were not bad enough, Republican governors like DeSantis in Forida and Abbott in Texas are putting up roadblocks in the fight against the deadly virus.

As did the Supreme Court. ABC News reports, "The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a stay of the OSHA vaccine-or-test requirement on private businesses of 100 or more workers, dealing a setback to the Biden administration's effort to control the COVID pandemic."

The highly contagious omicron variant is creating havoc with our economy with the worst inflation rate in 40 years and severe supply chain issues as millions of workers call in sick. Air travel is in distress.

Who do Americans blame for all these woes? The pandemic? Republicans and conservative judges? The Republican-like Democratic Senators?

No to all.

Americans blame President Biden. "The buck stops here," I guess.

An average of the major polls provided by FiveThirtyEight shows Biden's approval rating at 42%, disapproval 51%.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Strange how many of Trump's allies in the attempt to overthrow the elected government have nothing to hide, but are reluctant to show they have nothing to hide.

CNN reports, "House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he will not cooperate with a request from the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot, hours after the panel asked the California Republican to voluntarily provide information, including details about former President Donald Trump's state of mind during the Capitol attack and in the weeks after."

As to the reason he won't cooperate with the investigation into an attempt to overthrow the elected government, McCarthy gave us this B.S.

"As a representative and the leader of the minority party, it is with neither regret nor satisfaction that I have concluded to not participate with this select committee's abuse of power that stains this institution today and will harm it going forward." McCarthy said in a statement Wednesday night.

ABC continued, "The Republican leader charged that the committee "is not conducting a legitimate investigation," citing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rejection of some of his picks to serve on the panel, and claimed that it "is not serving any legislative purpose."

McCarthy failed to mention that the two picks Pelosi rejected, Jim Jordan and Jim Banks, both participated in the coup attempt by voting to reject the results of the 2020 election and their rhetoric confirmed their beliefs of a stolen election.

McCarthy also failed to mention that it was he, not Pelosi, who refused to name Republicans to the committee.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has yanked his appointees from a proposed bipartisan panel to study the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi rejected two of his appointees.

McCarthy Pulls Members From 1/6 Commission After Pelosi Rejects 2 Picks

"This panel has lost all legitimacy and credibility," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters during a quickly called press conference at the Capitol.

www.newsweek.com

So, another Republican leader has made a complete fool of himself by refusing to cooperate with an investigation into the January Sixth insurrection incited by the Republican President.

These people are supposed to win the House in November? How can that be?

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Biden is forced to deal with a 50/50 Senate, meaning a one vote majority when the vice-president votes to break a tie. In addition, there are two Democratic Senators, Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin, who act more like Republicans and are actively blocking Biden's agenda without any help from Senate Republicans.

By ensuring that the Democrats and President Biden fail, Sinema and Manchin are virtually making it certain that their party will lose and the Republicans will take control of Congress in the November mid-terms. They probably will not be disappointed with that outcome.

After all, when that happens Sinema and Manchin will be in the majority.

 

[Sandy Shanks]

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.
When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules.
We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” President Donald Trump, January Sixth, 2021.

President Trump was addressing far right extremists groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who participated in the ransacking of our capitol during the January Sixth insurrection.

They are now paying a price for that indiscretion. 753 people have been arrested. Some have already been sent to prison.

The leaders of this attempted coup will pay a steep price after they have been tried and convicted. Presumed innocence for these misguided miscreants is difficult.

The Times reports, "Stewart Rhodes, the leader and founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was arrested on Thursday and charged along with 10 others with seditious conspiracy over what prosecutors said was their wide-ranging plot to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year and disrupt the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s electoral victory.

"The arrest of Mr. Rhodes, 56, was a major development in the sprawling investigation of the Capitol attack. He and the other Oath Keepers are the first to be charged with sedition among the more than 700 people accused so far of taking part in the assault.

"The Justice Department has brought a variety of charges in connection with the Capitol attack; it has prosecuted about 275 people for obstructing Congress’s duty to certify the 2020 presidential vote count, for example. But it had not previously brought a sedition charge, with the legal weight and political overtones it carries about an election in a highly polarized country."

The polarization is caused by the leader of the Republican Party who -- to this day -- professes that the election was stolen from him.

Worse, his education challenged followers from the rural counties of America believe him, making it difficult for the Republican leadership to rein in their wayward leader.

In addition, through contributions from the gullible, Trump has made millions off the Big Lie.

The far right extremists who believed him and conducted the assault on our capitol will pay a steep price for their surreal, almost child-like, gullibility.

Many now ask themselves, "What was I thinking?"

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The Republican Party through its silence and participation supports the attempt to overthrow the elected government on January Sixth.

A majority of Republicans in the House and fourteen Republican Senators refused to certify the Electoral College results on January six, 2021.

Today, some Republican lawmakers are outspoken in their support of Donald Trump who continues to preach the election was stolen from him, which is the basis for the attempted coup. Others say nothing. The prefer not talking about the leader of their party. Their support for Trump is in their acquiescence.

So it is not surprising that the RNC will no longer participate in Presidential debates. They would be far too embarrassing and revealing.

The Times reports, "The Republican National Committee is preparing to change its rules to require presidential candidates seeking the party’s nomination to sign a pledge to not participate in any debates sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

"Republican committee officials alerted the debate commission to their plans in a letter sent on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. If the change goes forward, it would be one of the most substantial shifts in how presidential and vice-presidential debates have been conducted since the commission began organizing debates more than 30 years ago.

"The change requiring candidates to refuse participation in the commission’s debates is to be voted on at the R.N.C. winter meeting in Salt Lake City in February."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

The Republican Party through its acquiescence and participation supports the attempt to overthrow the elected government on January Sixth.

A majority of Republicans in the House and fourteen Republican Senators refused to certify the Electoral College results on January six, 2021.

The Republican Party has a serious problem. Its leader will not accept that he lost the election despite his defeat in sixty court cases, rejection by the Supreme Court on the issue of a fraudulent election, Trump's DOJ insistence there was no fraud, and all 50 states agreed.

Despite all this, a number of Republicans in Congress and/or running for office believe the election was stolen from Trump. Not surprisingly, they offer no evidence to support this assertion.

Neither does Trump. Along with others, he just yells a lot when it comes to the lost election.

The Times reports, "Former President Donald J. Trump returned on Saturday to Arizona, a cradle of his political movement, to headline a rally in the desert that was a striking testament to how he has elevated fringe beliefs and the politicians who spread them — even as other Republicans openly worry that voters will ultimately punish their party for it.

"Mr. Trump’s favored candidate for governor, Kari Lake, is a first-time office seeker who has threatened to jail the state’s top elections official. His chosen candidate to replace that elections official, a Democrat, is a state legislator named Mark Finchem, who was with a group of demonstrators outside the Capitol on Jan. 6 as rioters tried to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

"And one of his most unflinching defenders in Congress is Representative Paul Gosar, who was censured by his colleagues for posting an animated video online that depicted him killing a Democratic congresswoman and assaulting President Biden.

"All three spoke at Mr. Trump’s rally in front of thousands of supporters on Saturday in the town of Florence, outside Phoenix.

"But as popular as the former president remains with the core of the G.O.P.’s base [largely education challenged voters from rural counties], his involvement in races from Arizona to Pennsylvania — and his inability to let go of his loss to Mr. Biden — has veteran Republicans in Washington and beyond concerned. They worry that Mr. Trump is imperiling their chances in what should be a highly advantageous political climate.

"Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, and other senior party officials have expressed their misgivings in recent days about Mr. Trump’s fixation on the last election, saying that it threatens to alienate the voters they need to win over in the next election in November."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Putin is bluffing. Russia with a modest GDP can't afford a costly war plus harsh economic sanctions from the U.S. and our NATO allies.

ABC News reports, "Russia's top diplomat angrily rejected U.S. allegations that Moscow was preparing a pretext to invade Ukraine, as Russian troops that are amassed near the Ukraine border launched more drills Monday.

"The White House said Friday that U.S. intelligence officials had concluded that Russia had already deployed operatives to rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine to carry out acts of sabotage there and blame them on Ukraine in a “false-flag operation” to create a pretext for possible invasion."

It should be noted that a false flag op is useless if it has been discovered beforehand.

ABC continued, "Speaking to reporters Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the U.S. claim as “total disinformation.”

"He reaffirmed that Russia expects a written response this week from the U.S. and its allies to Moscow’s request for binding guarantees that NATO will not embrace Ukraine or any other ex-Soviet nations, or station its forces and weapons there.

"Washington and its allies firmly rejected Moscow's demands during last week’s Russia-U.S. negotiations in Geneva and a related NATO-Russia meeting in Brussels, which were held as an estimated 100,000 Russian troops with tanks and other heavy weapons are massed near Ukraine in what the West fears might be a prelude to an invasion."

What is going on? Its simple. Putin is creating an emergency to get what he wants. He has done that before, many times.

There are serious doubts it will work here. NATO is not about to submit to the Russian dictator's demands.

 

[vegas giants]

Solid B plus

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Business Insider reports, "Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, called for "trial by combat" while addressing a mob of pro-Trump supporters in Washington DC, just hours before hundreds of them violently stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

"Giuliani, President Trump, and his son Donald Trump Jr. were among those who addressed a large crowd of the president's supporters outside the White House on Wednesday afternoon to contest the result of November's presidential election, which Trump continues to falsely insist that he won.

"Giuliani repeated false claims that the election results were "fraudulent" and told the crowd: "If we are wrong we will be made fools of, but if we're right a lot of them will go to jail. So let's have trial by combat."

The Guardian reports, "The US congressional committee investigating the deadly January 6 Capitol attack has issued a blitz of subpoenas to some of Donald Trump’s top lawyers – including Rudy Giuliani – as the panel continues to gather information on the former president’s attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

"The House select committee subpoenaed four of Trump’s legal team on Tuesday: the former president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and his associate Boris Epshteyn, as well as Sidney Powell and Jenna Ellis, who all worked to defend Trump’s baseless voter fraud claims as he attempted to undermine the election result."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Matters are getting worse from the point of view in the West.

Just as Putin planned it. As Trump and his gullible base along with key Republicans are working to divide America over the Big Lie, Putin is taking the opportunity created by a weakened America to achieve certain goals.

NBC reports, "The White House believes Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine at any moment, press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday, warning that an “extremely dangerous situation” is building along the Ukrainian border.

"We believe we're now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack on Ukraine. I would say that's more stark than we have been,” Psaki said during her daily press briefing."

CNN adds, "The Biden administration is weighing new options, including providing more arms to Ukraine to resist a Russian occupation, to try to raise the costs for Russian President Vladimir Putin should he decide to invade the country.

"President Joe Biden has said that sending US combat troops to Ukraine to fight a war with Russia is off the table. But special operations forces already rotate in and out of the country to provide training to Ukrainian forces and a senior administration official said it is possible that other agencies could provide some support, likely the CIA. CIA Director Bill Burns traveled to Kyiv last week to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and discuss risks to Ukraine, a US official said."

 

[Sandy Shanks]

Our President did extremely well in his press conference today.

In the longest Presidential press conference in American history, President Biden answered questions from 24 reporters from the White House Press Corps. The questions were on every conceivable subject, and the President, using his vast experience, answered each in concise terms.

Some reporters, the reporter from Fox for example, tried to bait him, but Biden wouldn't bite. Instead, he had some fun with the reporter.

Biden rates an A+ for his performance.

To learn more about the press conference see https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/politics/biden-news-conference-important-takeaways/index.html

 

[Sandy Shanks]

“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.
When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules.
We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” President Donald Trump, January Sixth, 2021.

The Supreme Court with three Trump appointees issued the death knell to Trump's hopes of keeping secret his actions on and before the attempt to overthrow the elected government on January Sixth.

The case was a Constitutional clash on the scope of executive privilege and whether a former president may invoke it when the current one has waived it.

The Times reports, "The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused a request from former President Donald J. Trump to block the release of White House records concerning the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

"Only Justice Clarence Thomas noted a dissent.

"A special House committee investigating the attack sought the records from the National Archives, which gave both President Biden and Mr. Trump the opportunity to object.

"Mr. Trump invoked executive privilege, a doctrine meant to protect the confidentiality of presidential communications, over some of the documents.

"Mr. Biden took a different view in October in declining to assert executive privilege over some of the materials.

“Congress is examining an assault on our Constitution and democratic institutions provoked and fanned by those sworn to protect them, and the conduct under investigation extends far beyond typical deliberations concerning the proper discharge of the president’s constitutional responsibilities.”

Dana Remus, the White House counsel, added that executive privilege should not be employed to protect “information that reflects a clear and apparent effort to subvert the Constitution itself.”

"Lawyers for the House committee responded that the Supreme Court should not thwart its inquiry. “The select committee’s work,” they wrote, “is of the highest importance and urgency: investigating one of the darkest episodes in our nation’s history, a deadly assault on the United States Capitol and Congress, and an unprecedented disruption of the peaceful transfer of power from one president to the next.”

 

[justoneman]

Our President did extremely well in his press conference today.

In the longest Presidential press conference in American history, President Biden answered questions from 24 reporters from the White House Press Corps. The questions were on every conceivable subject, and the President, using his vast experience, answered each in concise terms.

Some reporters, the reporter from Fox for example, tried to bait him, but Biden wouldn't bite. Instead, he had some fun with the reporter.

Biden rates an A+ for his performance.

To learn more about the press conference see https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/19/politics/biden-news-conference-important-takeaways/index.html

Did we see the press conference? He started out OK but faded in the middle and the last bit, he lost his train of thought and rambled on and on with incoherent babble. Truely embarrassing that he is the president of the United States. He kept moving over sideways from the podium too far from the mike so his voice kept fading out. How can you say he did extremely well?