Last Call For Devin Nunes

California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes is officially gone from Congress as of today, as he's joining Trump's media empire. I figure it will go as well as Trump's university, casinos, or steaks.

 

Devin Nunes, a Republican who has represented California since 2003, has officially resigned from Congress, ending a nearly 20-year stint in the House of Representatives. 

Nunes, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, announced in December that he was leaving Congress at the end of 2021 to become CEO of the Trump Media & Technology Group. His departure also comes as midterm elections kick off in which he faced the threat of a more-Democratic district through redistricting. 

"I was presented with a new opportunity to fight for the most important issues I believe in. I'm writing to let you know I've decided to pursue this opportunity, and therefore I will be leaving the House of Representatives at the end of 2021," Nunes told his constituents in a letter issued in December. 

His resignation was effective January 1, 2022. 

Nunes served as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee when Republicans were in the majority in which he led efforts among Trump's allies to discredit the FBI's Russia investigation and Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe. His role as an attack dog against the Russia probe raised his popularity among Trump's supporters, and he became a top fundraiser in the House GOP conference as he gained stature on the right. 

He was also an outspoken defender of Trump during his first impeachment, and the then-President awarded Nunes the Medal of Freedom in 2021.

 

Nunes's tenure as House Intel chair was problematic to say the least, but the guy had access to some very classified information. Needless to say, he's immediately going to work for Trump, despite Republicans all but literally measuring the drapes in the House and Senate for November.

 

Nunes knows he's going to be redistricted out, and then he's free in the wind to be subpoenaed at will be investigators, so he's hooking up with Trump for cover.

 

We'll see how this goes, but if Nunes is as clueless about media as he is technology, this is going to be a train wreck visible from Alpha Centauri.

Orange Meltdown, Con't

Senate Republicans are scrambling to get out of the blast zone from Donald Trump's upcoming January 6th speech later this week, but there's nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide.

Senate Republicans are cringing at former President Donald Trump's plans to speak on Jan. 6, openly fretting he's trying to pull their party back into debating his false election claims.

“I don't think that's a good idea,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.). “I guess it depends on what he's going to say. But early assumptions are that it's going to be an aggressive statement. I just don't think it's a good idea.”

Then there's Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who wants to “stay focused on congressional activities." And Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), who voted to convict Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 attack, said the event isn’t a “terribly good idea,” but added, "What am I going to do about it?”

And those were the members who decided to even talk about it. While Trump plans to defend the rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol nearly a year ago at a press conference Thursday, Senate Republicans largely prefer to ignore him, still seeing scant purpose in provoking a prickly Trump, even a year after he's left office. In interviews Tuesday, several declined to comment and instead said their attention is on moving forward.

Senate Republicans' opting not to discuss Trump’s latest grievances highlights the ongoing tension within the GOP over how much attention to give to the former president, especially as he continues to falsely state that the 2020 election was stolen. While many Senate Republicans condemned Trump in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack — when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol — he still holds substantial sway over the party, particularly in GOP primaries.

“It’s a free country and you’re entitled to say whatever you want to say subject to some limitations, but I think the country has moved on,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas.). “I think that’s where we ought to focus our efforts, is on getting things done for the American people and not re-litigating issues that have already been decided.”

In addition to talking about the 2020 election, Trump is also expected to decry the House select committee’s investigation into Jan. 6. Thursday’s press conference is widely viewed as Trump's effort to counter-program a series of events Democrats are holding to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the attack.

Most Senate Republicans voted to acquit Trump in the impeachment trial centered on his role in the Capitol attack and most also voted to block a bipartisan Jan. 6 commission from being established. House Democrats instead set up a select committee to probe the circumstances around the attack.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are both scheduled to deliver remarks at the U.S. Capitol that day. Meanwhile, many Senate Republicans are expected to be out of town for Georgia GOP Sen. Johnny Isakson’s funeral.

Few Senate Republicans see an upside in talking about Trump, the 2020 election and his role in the Jan. 6 attack.

“There's no benefit on commenting,” said Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). “So I'm not going to comment.”

 

What courageous heroes we have here, right? "What am I going to do" and "It's a free country" and "So I'm not going to comment."

Wait until these jackasses have to deal with Trump's actual words.

I know, I know, our broken media won't actually ask Senate Republicans about Trump's near-guaranteed disaster diatribe, but it doesn't mean that asking them if they support his insurrectionist lies might be important to maintain what little of the republic we have left.

The Vax Of Life, Con't

Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan has issued a 30-day state of emergency to activate resources to deal with Covid Omicron.

Gov. Larry Hogan declared a 30-day state of emergency that mobilizes the National Guard to assist state and local health officers at testing and vaccine sites and authorizes the state Department of Health to take steps to increase staffing at overwhelmed hospitals.

Hogan predicted that Maryland is expected to see its “most challenging” phase of the pandemic in the next four to six weeks. He said models are showing that hospitals could see more than 5,000 people hospitalized, which would amount to a 250 percent increase in hospitalizations.

“With this new surge of omicron it’s important for Marylanders to go back to using common sense and doing the things that will keep us safe: avoiding crowds, keeping your distance, washing your hands, and yes, once again, wearing the damn masks,” Hogan said.

On Tuesday, the state health department reported 3,057 people hospitalized with covid-19, an record since the start of the pandemic. The number of patients hospitalized is an increase of 500 percent in the last seven weeks, Hogan said.

Hospitals implemented pandemic surge plans when they reached 2,000 covid-19 patients, which included the transfer of patients from overcrowded hospitals to hospitals that could accommodate them and the cancellation of non-urgent elective surgeries.

Hogan said his focus has been and continues to be keeping people out of hospitals and preventing deaths. Asked about imposing a statewide mask mandate, he said he is not considering one because it is difficult to enforce.

 

Considering most GOP state legislatures have made enforcing mask mandates impossible, I'm wondering why Hogan is balking here.

 

Oh, no I don't. He's a Republican. Like Greg Abbott in Texas, and Ron DeSantis in Florida, he wants federal resources now, but won't use them wisely.

 

It's posturing, just like every other Republican in the country on Covid.

StupidiNews!

 We're back from HoliDaze, and ready to fight into 2022.
 

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