Conservative Ideology: A Big Lie

[MDlaxfan76]

Michael Steele calls Orange Douche Bag out.

... you might want to spend a few minutes reading the comments after the video.

Boy….he really went out on a limb there. He’s the reason we ended up with BHO, and I am also a fan of him. Dang shame he does not ever get much accomplished. Like a typical entrenched republican….all talk and about himself.

Really? Obama? Steele wasn't made chair of the RNC until after Obama won. 2009. And he was out of that office well before the second election, Reince Priebus became Chair in 2011 onward. Chair in 2012 and in 2016. Threw out the results of the RNC's introspective that argued for broadening, not narrowing, the GOP. Tea Party zeitgeist took over, precursor to MAGA.

Maybe check yourself on that one re Steele being the "reason we ended up with Obama".

Here's a wink though, you sound a little like Donald who can't seem to remember who he beat in 2016, he thinks that was Obama not Hillary and he keeps calling Biden Obama as well...hmmm

I left out "Second Term" I have been on pain meds the last few days, post surgery.

Hope the surgery went well! And recovery isn't too difficult.

Not sure how you can blame Steele for Romney falling short of making Obama a one term POTUS.
Reince Priebus was RNC Chair during that election season.

If anything really mattered from a Party org standpoint, I'd suggest that it was the turning away from the recommendation to broaden the GOP's appeal, including embracing policies like immigration reform (including path to citizenship) and investments in addressing poverty (from a conservative perspective eg school choice, infrastructure, etc) and to make the tone of the party more welcoming to various diverse audiences. The hardening of the Tea Party versus the W Bush "compassionate conservatism" , HW Bush's "thousand points of light" and Reagan's "morning in America" optimism, including immigrant amnesty.

That turn resulted in Priebus winning the Chair. That's when Steele was rejected from a leadership role by the GOP. 2011.

IMO, Romney would have made a terrific President, but he was/is nowhere near the political athlete that Obama is...same for Clinton and Reagan...different class of athlete.

Romney would have made a terrific president if you were Democratic .The only time he ever sounded like he had a set of balls was when he called out trump. I guess Barack confiscated them at some point in time and put them in his lockbox. Lucky for Mittens that Barack gave them back.

Such a d-ckhead comment. You're on a roll.

[jhu72]

So Youngkin endorsed Trump. I would expect him to lose next year. Just another gutless POS.

[cradleandshoot]

Michael Steele calls Orange Douche Bag out.

... you might want to spend a few minutes reading the comments after the video.

Boy….he really went out on a limb there. He’s the reason we ended up with BHO, and I am also a fan of him. Dang shame he does not ever get much accomplished. Like a typical entrenched republican….all talk and about himself.

Really? Obama? Steele wasn't made chair of the RNC until after Obama won. 2009. And he was out of that office well before the second election, Reince Priebus became Chair in 2011 onward. Chair in 2012 and in 2016. Threw out the results of the RNC's introspective that argued for broadening, not narrowing, the GOP. Tea Party zeitgeist took over, precursor to MAGA.

Maybe check yourself on that one re Steele being the "reason we ended up with Obama".

Here's a wink though, you sound a little like Donald who can't seem to remember who he beat in 2016, he thinks that was Obama not Hillary and he keeps calling Biden Obama as well...hmmm

I left out "Second Term" I have been on pain meds the last few days, post surgery.

Hope the surgery went well! And recovery isn't too difficult.

Not sure how you can blame Steele for Romney falling short of making Obama a one term POTUS.
Reince Priebus was RNC Chair during that election season.

If anything really mattered from a Party org standpoint, I'd suggest that it was the turning away from the recommendation to broaden the GOP's appeal, including embracing policies like immigration reform (including path to citizenship) and investments in addressing poverty (from a conservative perspective eg school choice, infrastructure, etc) and to make the tone of the party more welcoming to various diverse audiences. The hardening of the Tea Party versus the W Bush "compassionate conservatism" , HW Bush's "thousand points of light" and Reagan's "morning in America" optimism, including immigrant amnesty.

That turn resulted in Priebus winning the Chair. That's when Steele was rejected from a leadership role by the GOP. 2011.

IMO, Romney would have made a terrific President, but he was/is nowhere near the political athlete that Obama is...same for Clinton and Reagan...different class of athlete.

Romney would have made a terrific president if you were Democratic .The only time he ever sounded like he had a set of balls was when he called out trump. I guess Barack confiscated them at some point in time and put them in his lockbox. Lucky for Mittens that Barack gave them back.

Such a d-ckhead comment. You're on a roll.

Spoken like a true blue spineless raging RINO who has grown accustomed to having his testicles stored in a lockbox. We have trump because of weak ass Republicans like yourself who make a living allowing Democrats to roll them 24/7/365. Good job MD, pat yourself on the back and stand up and take a bow. If bipartisanship is ever suppose to accomplish anything Republicans have to at least pretend they have some degree of intestinal fortitude. That is something you don't possess. Your a one trick pony who wants to blame all of the ineptitude of your party on trump. There is more than enough blame to sprinkle all over the Republican party.

[Seacoaster(1)]

Another Tuberville steps into the light.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... n-jonsson/

"Once upon a time in another America, many considered diversity, equity and inclusion fundamental national values, at least nominally.

Now those notions are so reviled in much of America that one senator is threatening the promotion of a highly qualified and praised Air Force officer.

Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt (Mo). is blocking Col. Benjamin Jonsson’s promotion to brigadier (one star) general because of the officer’s perceptive but provocative Air Force Times article, headlined “Dear white colonel … we must address our blind spots around race.”

Jonsson’s July 2020 commentary, in the form of a letter to colleagues, was posted five weeks after George Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer. The commentary reflects how Floyd’s homicide and the following period of racial reckoning affected Jonsson.

“As white colonels,” he wrote, “you and I are the biggest barriers to change if we do not personally address racial injustice in our Air Force. Defensiveness is a predictable response by white people to any discussion of racial injustice. White colonels are no exception. We are largely blind to institutional racism, and we take offense to any suggestion that our system advantaged us at the expense of others.

“That I addressed this letter to white colonels made many of you uneasy, and we have seen similar white defensiveness play out in many of our conversations since the murder of George Floyd.”

Jonsson included specific examples of White defensiveness among his colleagues, but White colonels aren’t the only folks Jonsson made uneasy.

He was highlighted in an article in the Daily Signal, published by the right-wing Heritage Foundation. Jonsson’s piece was three years old when the Signal’s story ran last August during a widely criticized, almost nine-month hold by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) on 455 senior military promotions, including Jonsson’s.

The Signal, which researched those awaiting promotion, quoted William Thibeau, the Claremont Institute’s American Military Project director, saying, “Col. Jonsson exhibited a toxic embrace of DEI policies that have no place in the U.S. military. His public characterization of ‘white colonels’ blindness is inherently divisive and sends shock waves through his command.”

In December, Tuberville lifted his hold, but Schmitt immediately used an individual senator’s right to block nominations to continue holding up Jonsson’s promotion. He was originally nominated by President Biden in January 2023.

“It is long past time to root out divisive DEI policies and their advocates from our apolitical military,” Schmitt said in a statement. “Leaders must emphasize unity of mission and purpose, not our immutable differences if we are to maintain our military as the greatest meritocracy in the world.”

Jonsson was mistakenly included in the Senate’s mass approval of senior military leaders in December, but then his nomination was quickly withdrawn because of Schmitt’s hold.

Leadership is one of Jonsson’s strongest characteristics, according to colleagues, including a top Trump administration Defense Department appointee.

Heather Wilson, who was secretary of the Air Force during Donald Trump’s presidency, is a former Republican member of Congress and an Air Force veteran. She supports Jonsson, who was one of her Pentagon military assistants.

“Ben has been a commander or vice commander four times, and has done exceptionally well as a leader,” said Wilson, now president of the University of Texas at El Paso. “The military has very few officers this well prepared in an area of the world of vital national interest to the United States.”

Jonsson’s bio points to that preparedness, which includes now working in a position meant for a one-star as chief of staff for the Air Mobility Command, with 110,000 employees headquartered at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Born in Upstate New York and raised in Plymouth, Minn., the Air Force Academy graduate is fluent in Arabic, has seven Air Medals, and flew 900 combat hours over Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. His friends describe him as a devout Christian devoted to his biracial family.

“He is absolutely qualified for promotion,” said Kris Bauman, a retired Air Force colonel who hired Jonsson in 2017 to work on Jordanian affairs at the White House’s National Security Council under Trump. “He has had incredibly successful commands at all levels and has served in an exemplary manner at the highest levels of our government. He is exactly the kind of critical, strategic thinker that we desperately need to be leading our forces.”

Bauman blamed “politics to serve the ‘anti-woke’ agenda” for the hold.

“The irony is that the hold is preventing the promotion of a conservative Christ-follower who actually takes the teachings of Jesus seriously, who puts his faith into action in a manner that leads to flourishing for everyone he leads, regardless of their faith or race,” Bauman added.

Jonsson was not alone in his fight against institutional racism. Just days after Floyd’s death, retired Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein penned a commentary on the Air Force website that said that “we are not immune to the spectrum of racial prejudice, systemic discrimination, and unconscious bias. … Discussing our different life experiences and viewpoints can be tough, uncomfortable, and therefore often avoided. But we have been presented a crisis. We can no longer walk by this problem.”

Furthermore, Jonsson’s article is in keeping with official Air Force Standards, which say, “Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are key to Air Force standards and missions. Diversity of thought, experience, and perspectives is critical to innovation and maintaining the Air Force’s competitive advantage. …. Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility are about strengthening our force and ensuring our long-term viability to support Air Force missions with dignity and respect.” The top of the document says, “COMPLIANCE … IS MANDATORY” in caps.

The White House, the Pentagon, the NAACP, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, support Jonsson’s promotion.

His message to Air Force decision-makers in 2020 was direct, hopeful and applies well beyond the military.

“Dear white colonel,” he wrote, “you and I set the culture, drive the calendar, and create the policies at most of our installations around the Air Force. If we do not take the time to learn, to show humility, to address our blind spots around race, and to agree that we are not as objective as we think and our system is not as fair as we think, then our Air Force will not rise above George Floyd’s murder. But we can rise above it, we can break these invisible barriers, if we choose to engage and stop excusing ourselves.”

Jonsson’s nomination expires May 1 if he is not confirmed by then."

[jhu72]

Ronny Jackson has been demoted. The event took place in July 2020. He continues to call himself Rear Admiral. Another smacked ass loser.

[cradleandshoot]

Ronny Jackson has been demoted. The event took place in July 2020. He continues to call himself Rear Admiral. Another smacked ass loser.

I thought only the Greek navy had rear admirals?? I bet they don't mind a good ass smacking...

[NattyBohChamps04]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

[jhu72]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

Yup. I don't recall seeing the articles posted on the board reporting the stories. I have seen them in my reading of the dailys.

[youthathletics]

Hey afan......do you like this guy? https://x.com/sparklingruby/status/1767 ... 41708?s=20

[MDlaxfan76]

Hey afan......do you like this guy? https://x.com/sparklingruby/status/1767 ... 41708?s=20

Other than being a performative a-s, both guys make sound points.

Of course Listen to one’s constituents, but the job is to represent their best interest, not inflame and parrot the most uninformed among them. If actions and decisions are in their best interests but not well understood, the path is to educate them as to why.

If those with expertise and experience make a recommendation, don’t displace that judgment based on misinformation and confusion among a less informed public. If your disagreement is with the substance of a decision based on informed analysis, make that case based on facts and logic not what will tickle the most uninformed.

I don’t know the specific topic before t hem so have no basis for opinion beyond the over wrought performance of the guy at the dais. So, no opinion.

Do you disagree with what I’ve said about the duty of a representative, whether at the state or federal level?

Or do you think that re-election should be their priority?

[cradleandshoot]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

Yup. I don't recall seeing the articles posted on the board reporting the stories. I have seen them in my reading of the dailys.

So you now blindly believe everything you read? The cocaine they found in Bidens white House was left over from the trump years. Your post did get me thinking... I wonder how much alcohol and drugs are consumed in Congress on any given day?

[youthathletics]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

Yup. I don't recall seeing the articles posted on the board reporting the stories. I have seen them in my reading of the dailys.

So you now blindly believe everything you read? The cocaine they found in Bidens white House was left over from the trump years. Your post did get me thinking... I wonder how much alcohol and drugs are consumed in Congress on any given day?

The drugs they were using are not uncommon in those circles. It is how they often navigate all the time zone changes of global travel, while maintaining the daily activities of the WH. The article also cites they did not purchase the 'generic' brand over the 'name brand' so the costs were much greater than years past.

[cradleandshoot]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

Yup. I don't recall seeing the articles posted on the board reporting the stories. I have seen them in my reading of the dailys.

So you now blindly believe everything you read? The cocaine they found in Bidens white House was left over from the trump years. Your post did get me thinking... I wonder how much alcohol and drugs are consumed in Congress on any given day?

The drugs they were using are not uncommon in those circles. It is how they often navigate all the time zone changes of global travel, while maintaining the daily activities of the WH. The article also cites they did not purchase the 'generic' brand over the 'name brand' so the costs were much greater than years past.

I know trump doesn't drink and has a dislike for alcohol because of his brothers problems. I could see how any WH has to medicate their people on a daily basis. I'm sure that the antacids flow freely

[cradleandshoot]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

Yup. I don't recall seeing the articles posted on the board reporting the stories. I have seen them in my reading of the dailys.

So you now blindly believe everything you read? The cocaine they found in Bidens white House was left over from the trump years. Your post did get me thinking... I wonder how much alcohol and drugs are consumed in Congress on any given day?

The drugs they were using are not uncommon in those circles. It is how they often navigate all the time zone changes of global travel, while maintaining the daily activities of the WH. The article also cites they did not purchase the 'generic' brand over the 'name brand' so the costs were much greater than years past.

I know trump doesn't drink and has a dislike for alcohol because of his brothers problems. I could see how any WH has to medicate their people on a daily basis. I'm sure that the antacids flow freely

[NattyBohChamps04]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

Yup. I don't recall seeing the articles posted on the board reporting the stories. I have seen them in my reading of the dailys.

So you now blindly believe everything you read? The cocaine they found in Bidens white House was left over from the trump years. Your post did get me thinking... I wonder how much alcohol and drugs are consumed in Congress on any given day?

One thing for a page to be hopped up on cocaine and adderal. Another for the White House Physician to be inebriated and high on the job

[cradleandshoot]

Trump White House physicial drinking and on drugs on the job. Great stuff.

Yup. I don't recall seeing the articles posted on the board reporting the stories. I have seen them in my reading of the dailys.

So you now blindly believe everything you read? The cocaine they found in Bidens white House was left over from the trump years. Your post did get me thinking... I wonder how much alcohol and drugs are consumed in Congress on any given day?

One thing for a page to be hopped up on cocaine and adderal. Another for the White House Physician to be inebriated and high on the job

I guess an awkward case could be made for this sawbones staying stoned on the job. Having to be trumps doctor comes with its own challenges. I can only visualize what a trump prostate exam would look like.

[NattyBohChamps04]

I guess an awkward case could be made for this sawbones staying stoned on the job. Having to be trumps doctor comes with its own challenges. I can only visualize what a trump prostate exam would look like.

Point conceded. I'd wanna be a 12-pack and 2 vicodin in before putting on the gloves...

[cradleandshoot]

I guess an awkward case could be made for this sawbones staying stoned on the job. Having to be trumps doctor comes with its own challenges. I can only visualize what a trump prostate exam would look like.

Point conceded. I'd wanna be a 12-pack and 2 vicodin in before putting on the gloves...

It could get worse, Mr President could you cough for me? Tennis in shorts is a game not very becoming to him.

[dislaxxic]

Mitch McConnell Urges Courts To Ignore New Rules Meant To Prevent 'Judge-Shopping'

Mitch is beyond a doubt the biggest buttwipe in our nation's modern history.

The new rules put forward by the conference followed years of controversy over the practice of judge-shopping exploited by conservatives. Conservative activist groups and GOP attorneys general have increasingly directed their lawsuits against Biden administration policies to single-judge geographical divisions in Texas where they know they will get a sympathetic hearing.

"This was an unforced error by the Judicial Conference. I hope they will reconsider," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Mar. 14.

"This was an unforced error by the Judicial Conference. I hope they will reconsider," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Mar. 14.

In particular, conservatives have repeatedly filed suit on issues of national importance in the Amarillo, Texas, federal courthouse in the Northern Texas federal district. That’s because the Amarillo courthouse has only one judge: the conservative activist and Trump appointee Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.

Kacsmaryk has consistently sided with conservatives in a series of highly controversial decisions that are often overturned on appeal. In 2021, he prevented the Biden administration from ending former President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” immigration policy. That was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court. And, most notably, he issued a nationwide injunction blocking the distribution of the abortion drug mifepristone. That decision was put on hold by the Supreme Court as it hears arguments on appeal.

In addition to his floor speech, McConnell sent a letter with GOP Sens. John Cornyn (Texas) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) to David Godbey ― the chief judge of the District Court of the Northern District of Texas, where Kacsmaryk’s Amarillo courthouse is situated ― urging him to ignore the Judicial Conference’s new rules.

“Judicial Conference policy is not legislation,” the letter states. “It is Congress that decides how cases should be assigned in the inferior courts and Congress has already spoken on this issue in an enacted statute: Congress gave that power to the individual district courts. Whatever the Judicial Conference thinks you ought to do, what you actually choose to do is left to your court’s discretion under the law.”

McConnell and his fellow GOP senators blamed the new Judicial Conference policy on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who sent a letter along with 18 Democratic senators to the judicial body asking it to consider a new policy on judge-shopping in July 2023.

For his part, Schumer thanked the Judicial Conference in a statement for issuing the new rules following his letter: “After nearly a year of sounding the alarm and calling for courts to act, I am pleased the Judicial Conference has finally taken action to update rules, level the playing field, and bring more justice back into the justice system by finally putting an end to unscrupulous plaintiffs having the ability to choose their judge.”

..

[Seacoaster(1)]

Paying for the Big Lies:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... efamation/

"For the second time in eight months, a top Donald Trump ally has, extraordinarily, declined to try to prove that they didn’t defame an election worker. Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake (R) has joined former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani in that distinction.

The news comes even as Trump owes more than $86 million after losing a pair of defamation cases against E. Jean Carroll, whom he has arguably continued to defame.

Throw in the $787.5 million Fox News agreed to pay a voting machine company over bogus theories that it aired bolstering Trump’s stolen-election claims and the $148 million judgment against Giuliani, and the combined bill is north of $1 billion — and potentially growing, thanks to Lake’s capitulation and other lawsuits.

The Trump political movement has long had a truth problem. That has now manifested itself as a very expensive defamation problem.

As well as anything, these defamation cases lay bare just how careless and demagogic the MAGA movement has become.

The latest big news is Lake’s declining to defend her statements about Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer (R), whom she repeatedly accused of deliberately sabotaging her narrow 2022 loss for Arizona governor. (Courts have repeatedly rejected that argument and upheld Lake’s defeat.)

As The Washington Post’s Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Maegan Vazquez reported Tuesday, lawyers for Lake, her campaign and an affiliated nonprofit have asked the judge to move directly to the damages phase — determining whether Lake owes Richer money, and, if so, how much.

The situation is strikingly reminiscent of Giuliani’s defamation case eight months ago. Facing an arduous and expensive discovery process — during which Giuliani’s legal team had to produce evidence — Giuliani ultimately simply granted that his statements about Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss were false and even defamatory, before the huge judgment against him.

Both Lake and Giuliani tried to put a good face on their capitulations. Lake has cited the cost of pressing forward and insisted that she’s not giving up. She also gamely insisted that defending her statements “would only serve to legitimize this perversion of our legal system.”

But it’s worth emphasizing that moving directly to the damages phase spares a defendant a fraught discovery process, in which their claims and their private deliberations could be put under a microscope.

Fox’s historic settlement with Dominion Voting Systems came only after a robust discovery phase that proved hugely embarrassing for the network. The evidence showed that Fox executives and hosts understood the claims they chose to air were bogus but that they pressed forward anyway. Repeatedly, they cited a desire to toe Trump’s line and avoid alienating his supporters. (You can see the fruits of that discovery process here.)

The judge in Giuliani’s case suggested that Giuliani was deliberately shirking his discovery obligations to insulate himself from other civil and criminal cases. Giuliani has also been indicted alongside Trump in the Fulton County, Ga., election-subversion case.

Lake’s move is a far cry from her previous commentary. In January, she noted that “discovery goes both ways,” adding: “I TRULY look forward to that. I stand by everything I’ve said. I’ve always been truthful when I’ve talked about elections.”

(There could still be a discovery phase in the Lake lawsuit; it’s not clear whether the judge will grant Lake’s motion. And Richer’s legal team could push for the process in service of making a point and potentially increasing the damages.)

Lake’s January comment is a telling one. Repeatedly, Trump-aligned defendants in these cases have hailed the discovery process as one in which they would be vindicated and could prove the veracity of their stolen-election claims. If Lake truly believes that Richer rigged the election against her, what better way than to unearth his private communications? At least one high-profile Trump backer is criticizing Lake for giving up in that quest.

But as with the many voter-fraud lawsuits that have failed, it has become clear that election deniers simply don’t have the evidence to back up their claims. And, at worst, the process involves risks demonstrating how craven they were in spreading these claims in the first place.

What’s also important to note here is that, although these cases involve only a handful of stolen-election claims, they are among the signature ones. The idea that Georgia election workers planted thousands of ballots was everywhere, because it was an easily consumable example of purported mass voter fraud. So, too, the theories that voting machines rigged the election. Lake’s claims about Maricopa County in many ways kept the election-denial movement going in 2022, after the GOP began shying away from this kind of rhetoric in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

These cases are merely those in which the claims were specific enough to provide grounds for a defamation lawsuit — where an individual party suffered an injury. Stolen-election claims have been everywhere, but they’ve rarely led a specific entity to be targeted by Trump backers. When they have, the record for election deniers is ugly.

Politics has always involved stretching the truth about your political opponents. But it tends to be done with a deft touch and plausible deniability. What we have today is a movement, led by the President of 30,000 False or Misleading Claims, that is increasingly shameless about spreading the thinnest and most debunkable of claims about supposedly nefarious opponents.

The sum total: Serial defamers could figure heavily into the Republican Party’s hopes of retaking both the presidency and the Senate."