The small club of Republicans shamelessly touting COVID-19 relief they voted against in March has grown steadily every week since.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), preemptively annoyed that this would happen since before the American Rescue Plan even passed, has been diligently blasting out press releases calling out the GOP lawmakers for their hypocrisy. She’s been kept busy.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: The Great GOP COVID Relief Credit Theft Continues”
I think TPM Reader AM somewhat clouds the issue by using the old money/new money analogy. It sounds too snooty and snobbish. But I think he’s really on to something. One of the things about Liz Cheney is that she clearly has as much or more contempt or lack of respect for Kevin McCarthy as she has for Donald Trump. She’s repeatedly and gratuitously embarrassed him in public. She likes disrespecting him publicly. As I mentioned in yesterday’s discussion with Kate in the podcast, Cheney has literally been around the highest echelons of the GOP since early childhood in the 1970s. Through her parents and her own life and political experience, she sees herself as part of the older, grown-up GOP.
I take her core conviction here – Trump’s danger, the danger of The Big Lie and the insurrection – as very genuine. But her refusal to ‘look forward, not back’ is, I think, both characterological and rooted in her deep-seated belief that guys like Kevin McCarthy and especially Donald Trump are just beneath her.
Here’s TPM Reader AM …
A Justice Department letter to the Arizona Senate leader who ordered the sketchy audit of the 2020 election was a first shot across the bow amid calls for a federal intervention into the ongoing recount.
Continue reading “Why DOJ Is Interested In How The Arizona Recount Is Handling Ballots”
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is inching closer to succeeding Rep. Liz Cheney (WY) as conference chair in an ouster poised to erase some of the few remaining vestiges of opposition to former President Donald Trump’s enduring power within the GOP caucus that has been buoyed by falsehood over a stolen election.
Continue reading “How Elise Stefanik Adopted Trump’s Cult Of Personality To Become The Anti-Cheney”
In a new letter, a DC Metropolitan police officer expresses his naked grief and trauma after being “beaten with fists, metal objects, stripped of my issued badge, radio and ammunition magazine and electrocuted numerous times with a Taser” during the Capitol attack on January 6.
Continue reading “Kinzinger Demands GOP Leaders Respond To Officer’s Grief At Downplaying Of Jan. 6”
From TPM Reader DT …
I am a research active scientist and have been doing my best to “follow the science” with how I behave during the pandemic. It is another story entirely about how that has been hard, even with a very rigorous scientific training at the best institutions in my field.
What shouldn’t be forgotten here is the history of the current moment. During the first 10 months of the pandemic, we were essentially left out in the cold. With the notable exception of Dr. Fauci (who very understandably flubbed the mask question at first), where could you go to figure out what to do? It was nothing but quackery and disinterest from the White House, a weak, compromised, subservient CDC director, a scarf-wearing clown show of a coronavirus task force, and on and on and on. All the state and lower levels of government had to define and address the problem in their own ways, with many falling victim to politicization that came straight from the top. News journalism was largely on point from the good typical outfits, but there were many messaging issues in headlines and some stories that made many scientists roll their eyes, not to mention the misinformation peddled by the bad typical outfits.
From TPM Reader RE …
My wife and I are both fully vaccinated. She is having a hard time adopting new behaviors, and still seems truly frightened at the possibility of mutant strains taking over. Even though there is no evidence of this currently happening, it shows the lasting trauma people are feeling. But I don’t understand how Nate Silver’s tweet could get someone like JG so wound up. And I don’t understand why people get vaccinated if it doesn’t help ease their felt trauma. To start healing the wound will require behavioral adjustments. This is understandably uncomfortable for some people, but it’s necessary.
The U.S. Justice Department has its eyes on the shady “audit” of 2020 election results in Arizona’s largest county.
Continue reading “Feds Want Answers From AZ Senate President On Sketchy ‘Audit’ Practices”
President Joe Biden signaled on Wednesday that he wasn’t shaken by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) fervid pledge to fully dedicate himself to obstructing the administration’s agenda.
A Florida measure scaling back its mail voting system and limiting ballot drop box access became law Thursday morning, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) making a Fox and Friends appearance to sign the bill.
Continue reading “DeSantis Signs Florida’s Restrictive Voter Bill — During A Fox And Friends Hit”
