Even with ex-president Donald Trump’s endorsement, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) failed to get more than 50 percent of the vote in his GOP primary race on Tuesday, forcing him into a runoff against Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
Continue reading “Embattled Texas AG Paxton Faces Off Against George P. Bush In Runoff”The Karen Circus Comes To Town
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Just Look At That Guy’s Face Up There
Biden gave his first State of the Union address last night (check out our liveblog here), during which far-right Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) did … whatever this is:
- Seeking her own chance to shine, Boebert also heckled Biden as he brought up his late son, Beau, and the exposure to toxic burn pits that put veterans like Beau “in a flag-draped coffin.” “You put them there, 13 of them,” Boebert commented loudly. She was apparently referring to the 13 American troops who were killed in a bomb attack in Kabul last year.
Russian Troops Ramp Up Attacks On Major Ukraine Cities
The Russian offensive steadily intensified overnight, and now Moscow claims to have captured Kherson, a key port city, though Ukraine disputes that claim.
- New York Times: “Russia moves to encircle and capture critical cities in Ukraine.“
- CNN: “Brutal onslaught rages in Ukraine as Zelensky calls for more international support”
- Wall Street Journal: “Ukraine’s Kharkiv Front Line Holds Despite Russian Bombardment”
- The Guardian: “Researchers gather evidence of possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine”
Arizona GOPer Who Went To White Nationalist Con Gets Censured (Not For That Tho)
The GOP-controlled Arizona state Senate censured state Sen. Wendy Rogers (R), one of the lawmakers who went to the white nationalist America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) this past weekend, on Tuesday for making threats against fellow Republicans online and calling for her enemies to be hanged.
- The censure didn’t say anything about the fact that she went to a white nationalist rally, or her many ties to white nationalism in general, or her racist and anti-Semitic posts online. The original draft of the resolution, which Rogers posted on social media, condemned her for “inciting general racial and religious discrimination.” That part got taken out.
- Rogers didn’t bother defending her comments on Tuesday during the censure vote, according to the Arizona Mirror.
Wisconsin GOP’s Election Investigator Pushes For 2020 Election Decertification
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, the guy who was appointed by Wisconsin Republicans to run their state’s sham election audit, told a state Assembly committee on Tuesday that the Wisconsin legislature should take “a very hard look” at decertifying the 2020 presidential election results.
- That’s legally impossible. And Gableman’s own “interim report” that he gave to state lawmakers on Tuesday not only says that the purpose of his report is “not to challenge certification,” but admits that magically decertifying the results “would not, on its own, have any other legal consequence under state or federal law.”
- Gableman, who’s admitted that he doesn’t know how elections work, still isn’t finished with his taxpayer-funded “investigation,” even though he was supposed to be done by 2021.
- Again: This guy has fully acknowledged that he doesn’t know how elections work. And he went to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s whacky “Cyber Symposium.”
Former Trump Official-Turned-Candidate Can’t Answer Questions About Her Own District
Morgan Ortagus, who previously served as the spokesperson for the State Department under Trump, is now running for Congress in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District–an area she doesn’t actually seem to know much about, if her painful radio interview with the Tennessee Star Report on Monday is anything to go by.
- Ortagus, who’s been endorsed by Trump, couldn’t answer any of the questions the radio host asked about the district. Not one.
- The ex-Trump administration official is a Florida native who didn’t start living in Tennessee until she moved to Nashville last year. The Tennessean notes that her address isn’t in the 5th District and that this is the first time she’s running for office.
- Sidenote: Trump’s endorsement of Ortagus, which came before she even announced her decision to run, actually pissed off his foot soldiers.
Congrats America, You Paid $1 Million For Trump’s Hotel And Travel Last Year
The former president racked up more than $1.3 million in hotel and travel expenses with the Secret Service while traveling between South Florida and New Jersey last year, according to the Daily Beast.
A Big Sad
So about that trucker “convoy” that was supposed swarm D.C. en masse Canada-style before Biden’s State of the Union address yesterday…..
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Iowa Guv Reynolds Unloads A Scattershot List Of Grievances In GOP Response
President Joe Biden will deliver his first official state of the union Tuesday night, with a House chamber full and masks optional.
It’ll be an attempt to energize voters as the midterms loom, and to balance his domestic economic priorities with remarks on Russia’s continued attack on Ukraine.
Planned protests, most notably trucker convoys mimicking those in Canada, seem to have fizzled out somewhat. The Capitol building is still ringed in protective fencing “out of an abundance of caution,” according to Capitol Police.
Where Things Stand: Here’s Why Some Evangelicals Think Putin’s War Is The Beginning Of The End Times
Over the years, Pat Robertson and other fringe evangelicals and non-serious Christian scholars have become known for exegesis-ing any and all current news events into some sort of Biblical End Time prophesy. For some, COVID vaccines are the “Mark of the Beast.” For others, President Obama was the anti-Christ. (Trump got that distinction, too). The legalization of gay marriage in the U.S. was believed to be a signal that some hybrid Sodom and Gomorrah/rapture-induction event was imminent.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Here’s Why Some Evangelicals Think Putin’s War Is The Beginning Of The End Times”Retain a Healthy Skepticism
There’s one point I want to re-emphasize though it may sound a discordant note. In wartime communications even the good guys lie. Indeed, there’s at least some argument that wartime deception is a component of warfare itself. But the point is, governments and armies lie — especially when their backs are against the wall. The chaos and confusion of war also create erroneous reports. Sometimes the two intertwine. So while most of the claims we see coming out of the Russian side are downright Orwellian, we shouldn’t assume that all the claims we’re hearing from the Ukrainian side will bear out.
Continue reading “Retain a Healthy Skepticism”Multiple High-Profile Republicans Spoke At A White Nationalist Conference. Party Leadership Shrugs.
Four elected Republican politicians — including two U.S. representatives, a state senator, and the lieutenant governor of Idaho — spoke at a white nationalist conference Friday night, further strengthening the party’s ties to the racist right.
Continue reading “Multiple High-Profile Republicans Spoke At A White Nationalist Conference. Party Leadership Shrugs.”Ukrainians Fight Back As Russia Bombs Civilian Areas
After Russia’s initial push to quickly take Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities failed, the invasion force seems to have settled on a new strategy involving heavy attacks on Ukrainian centers of resistance.
It’s an approach that, so far, has been hitting both civilian and military targets. Reports say was a Russian cruise missile struck Kharkiv’s central administrative building on Tuesday, as the city faced barrages of artillery and rocket bombardment in residential areas and on Ukrainian military positions.
Satellite images show a nearly forty-mile long convoy of Russian armored vehicles and equipment on the northern highway that runs from Belarus to Kyiv. Ukrainian defenders have managed to hold back assaults on the capital and on Kharkiv in recent days, but have lost ground as Russian troops encircle the southern city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, and reportedly stormed the central city of Kherson early Tuesday morning.
With sanctions imposed, Russia is now reacting. On Tuesday, it banned foreign companies from exiting investments in Russian enterprises. We’ll be following along throughout the day as the situation develops.
McConnell Forced To Strongly Contradict Rick Scott’s Wacky GOP Agenda Amid Criticisms
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) aggressively countered Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) 11-point plan Tuesday as Democrats continue to hammer the party for its tax proposal.
Continue reading “McConnell Forced To Strongly Contradict Rick Scott’s Wacky GOP Agenda Amid Criticisms”Abbott Sued For Ordering Investigations Of Parents With Transgender Children
Texas officials have already begun investigating parents of transgender children following Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) abrupt directive against care for trans youth in the state last week. And a parent who works for the state agency carrying out the governor’s order — and one of the first parents in the state targeted by an anti-trans rights probe — is waging a legal battle against it.
Continue reading “Abbott Sued For Ordering Investigations Of Parents With Transgender Children”Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Trump Adviser Cleta Mitchell, OAN Anchor Christina Bobb
The congressional Jan. 6 Committee on Tuesday subpoenaed several new witnesses in its probe of the Capitol attack, including a prominent Republican lawyer who advised Donald Trump during his effort to steal a second term, and a One America News Network anchor who worked on the side for Rudy Giuliani.
Continue reading “Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Trump Adviser Cleta Mitchell, OAN Anchor Christina Bobb”