Last Call For Block This Tweet

Apparently, Republicans are such bastions of freedom that they want to legislate that the final word on banning social media accounts for violating terms of service through violent rhetoric or racist/sexist language would solely be up to...let me check my notes here..."The Attorney General of the Great State of Arkansas."

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced legislation on Thursday that would limit who social media platforms can block from their platforms. This comes as GOP lawmakers across the country rally against big tech platforms.

The AR Voices: Combating Cancel Culture and Protecting Freedom of Speech bill states that social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and others would be held liable for damages when they unfairly censoring or banning someone. The bill goes on to say if the websites do not act in “good faith” they will have violated the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (ADTPA) and can be held accountable by the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office.

“Cancel culture cannot become the norm in Arkansas, especially when our Freedom of Speech in rural America is in jeopardy,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “This legislation would allow everyone, no matter the circumstances to have an equal and fair opportunity to post online and if a social media giant does not comply, the company can be held accountable.”

In Arkansas, each violation of the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act could result in injunctions and civil penalties of up to $10,000.

Sen. Ricky Hill, R-Cabot, and Rep. Brian Evans, R- Cabot are cosponsoring HB 1647.

Republicans have called out social media platforms for censoring conservatives and showing bias in taking accounts down; especially after Facebook and Twitter suspended former President Donald Trump's accounts in January after he was accused of invoking an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

In 2018, a Republican Arkansas representative proposed a bill that would allow social media websites to be sued for removing certain religious and political posts, whether or not the platforms deem the posts to be hate speech. But the bill was withdrawn days later.

So if the Attorney General of Arkansas determines a Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. account was disabled without acting in "good faith", whatever that means is apparently solely up to the AG under this statute, then a $10,000 fine per account blocked, because as we all know the Republican party only exists in 2021 to serve Donald Trump's white supremacist cult of violence. 

This is really all about revenge, with enough red states passing legislation like this, social media companies would be liable for millions in civil damages for blocking racist Republicans...but only Republicans. I'm betting Leslie Rutledge here wouldn't mind a bit if anyone left of Susan Collins was banned from Twitter or yanked from Facebook.

In the end, the GOP want to make sure their voices are heard...and ours are silenced. It's what fascists do, folks.

A Supreme Disappointment, Con't

Supreme Court Justice Amy Comey Barrett is going to be handing down decisions for decades, and nobody should be surprised that her first missive is substantially rolling back what can be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, because apparently the First Amendment isn't goddamn Constitutional enough.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett penned her first Supreme Court majority opinion on Thursday, writing a 7-2 decision that will shield federal agencies from having to disclose certain materials under an exception to the Freedom of Information Act. 

Barrett's debut majority opinion came in a case that was the first she heard as a justice, back on November 2. 

The case at hand concerned FOIA, a law designed to allow the public greater access to records from the government. It mandates the disclosure of documents held by a federal agency unless they fall within certain exceptions. 

On Thursday, the court narrowed the category of documents subject to release, dealing a loss to those seeking more government transparency and who argue that FOIA was meant to lift the curtain and give the public insight into a government's decision-making process. 

The Sierra Club and other groups had brought the challenge, seeking more information about an Environmental Protection Agency 2014 rule concerning the operation of cooling water intake structures and whether they would hurt protected species. 

Specifically, the groups sought records related to the US Fish and Wildlife Service's and National Marine Fisheries Service's consultations with the EPA. Although the services turned over thousands of documents, they invoked the "deliberative process privilege" for some draft opinions. 

"The deliberative process privilege protects the draft biological opinions at issue here because they reflect a preliminary view -- not a final decision -- about the likely effect of the EPA's proposed rule on endangered species," Barrett wrote. She said the drafts by the agencies never had final approval, hadn't been sent to the EPA and were "predecisional and deliberative."

 

Never ask how the sausage is made, it's "predecisional and deliberative". Disappointed in Elena Kagan, too, as she joined the six conservatives.

 

Still, expect decades of this from Barrett.

 

It's About Stopping Suppression

House Democrats have passed HR 1, the For The People act, a major reform package of voting rights and security measures that the party of white supremacist voter suppression all voted against, and a bill that has no chance whatsoever against the GOP Senate filibuster.

The House late Wednesday night passed expansive legislation to create uniform national voting standards, overhaul campaign finance laws and outlaw partisan redistricting, advancing a centerpiece of the Democratic voting rights agenda amid fierce Republican attacks that threaten to stop it cold in the Senate.

The bill, titled the “For the People Act,” was given the symbolic designation of H.R. 1 by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and it largely mirrors a bill passed two years ago in the early weeks of the House Democratic majority.

This year, however, the bill has taken on additional significance because of the new Democratic majority in the Senate and President Biden’s November win, as well as the efforts underway in dozens of Republican-controlled state legislatures to roll back voting access in reaction to former president Donald Trump’s loss and his subsequent campaign to question the election results.

Democrat after Democrat said this week that the GOP’s state-level efforts made it more important than ever to act at the federal level to preserve expansive voting laws. Many invoked the gains won in the 1960s civil rights movement by activists including John Lewis, the Georgia Democrat who died of cancer last year.

“The right to vote is under attack,” said Rep. Terri A. Sewell (D-Ala.). “Voter suppression is alive and well. Old battles have become new again. The legacy of the foot soldiers like John Lewis requires that we pick up that baton — the baton of voter access, the baton of voter equality — and we continue the next leg. Their cause is now our cause, too.”

The bill’s voting provisions would guarantee no-excuse mail voting and at least 15 days of early voting for federal elections; require states to use their existing government records to automatically register citizens to vote; restore voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentences; and mandate the use of paper ballots.

Other provisions would create new disclosure requirements for “dark money” donations to political groups; require states to appoint independent commissions to draw congressional districts; and create new federal standards for election equipment vendors.

The bill also would require tech platforms to disclose political advertising information; establish a code of ethics for Supreme Court justices for the first time; restructure the Federal Election Commission to an odd number of members to break partisan deadlocks; and require presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns.

The bill has become a lightning rod for Republican opposition, spurring claims that it is a partisan attempt to rewrite federal election laws in Democrats’ favor. No Republicans voted for the bill in 2019 or Wednesday night, when it was approved 220 to 210.

 

Republicans will do everything they can to stop this bill in the Senate, because if they don't, they're done. And even if by some miracle the bill does pass, I guarantee you that the Roberts Court will strike it down saying that the federal government has no business telling states how to run federal elections.

 

Go figure.

 

The key here it to watch who blames the Democrats for this bill failing. The bill will absolutely fail because every single Republican will vote against it. This will happen until something is done about the filibuster, which will never happen, and Dems will lose the House and Senate in 2022 when they are blamed instead of the Republicans who will sink every bill in the Senate.

And so it goes.

 

 

StupidiNews!

• New Zealand has downgraded a tsunami warning for its northern coast after an 8.1 magnitude quake struck near the Kermadec Islands.
• Michelle Obama is urging the Senate to pass the For The People act, expanding voting rights nationally, in a statement reminding Americans that "our democracy remains under attack".
• California health officials say the state will set aside up to 40% of COVID-19 vaccine doses for minority and poor communities "hardest-hit" by the virus.
• Senate Republicans are warning President Biden that any future infrastructure spending bills must be paid for by spending cuts elsewhere, with "not a dime" in new taxes.
• US roads were more dangerous in 2020 with an 8% increase in traffic fatalities over 2019, despite 13% fewer miles driven.
  

Last Call For The Most Corrupt Couple

Mitch McConnell certainly remains one of the most corrupt people in Washington, but his wife, former Dubya Labor Secretary and Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, is just as bad. Turns out the Trump regime sat on an inspector general's report that Chao was so corrupt that she was referred to the Justice Department for prosecution, something of course Bill Barr ignored.

While serving as transportation secretary during the Trump administration, Elaine Chao repeatedly used her office staff to help family members who run a shipping business with extensive ties to China, a report released Wednesday by the Transportation Department’s inspector general concluded.

The inspector general referred the matter to the Justice Department in December for possible criminal investigation. But in the weeks before the end of Trump administration, two Justice Department divisions declined to do so.

Ms. Chao, the wife of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, announced her resignation on Jan. 7, the day after the Capitol riot. At the time of her departure, an aide to Ms. Chao said her resignation was unrelated to the inspector general’s investigation.

The investigation of Ms. Chao came after a 2019 report in The New York Times that detailed her interactions with her family while serving as transportation secretary, including a trip she had planned to take to China in 2017 with her father and sister. The inspector general’s report confirmed that the planning for the trip, which was canceled, raised ethics concerns among other government officials.

As transportation secretary, Ms. Chao was the top Trump administration official overseeing the American shipping industry, which is in steep decline and is being battered by Chinese competitors.

“A formal investigation into potential misuses of position was warranted,” Mitch Behm, the Transportation Department’s deputy inspector general, said to House lawmakers on Tuesday in a letter accompanying a 44-page report detailing the investigation into “use of public office for private gain.”

The investigators did not make a formal finding that Ms. Chao violated ethics rules. But they detailed more than a dozen instances where her office took steps to handle matters related to her father, who built up a New York-based shipping company after immigrating to the United States from Taiwan in the late 1950s, and to her sister, who runs the company now.

These included an interview with a Chinese-language television station at the New York City headquarters of Foremost Group, the shipping company. The focus of the conversation there, according to a Transportation Department translation of the media plan prepared for the interview, was to discuss how Ms. Chao’s father, James Chao, had been “dubbed ‘Chinese Ship King,’ how Foremost Group ‘ascended to its status in the world,’ and Dr. Chao’s business endeavors.”

Mr. Chao, 93, who was born in China, built a business that centered around transporting commodities like coal and iron ore to the Chinese market. Elaine Chao, his eldest daughter, who was raised in and around New York City, has been prominent in Republican politics for decades, including an eight-year term as labor secretary under President George W. Bush.

Foremost Group was responsible as of 2019 for a large portion of orders at one of China’s biggest state-funded shipyards, and had secured long-term charters with a Chinese state-owned steel maker, The Times reported.

The Chao family’s American success story has vaulted the family to celebrity status in China, and the Chaos regularly meet with top officials on their trips to the country.

In a statement on Wednesday, a public relations firm representing Ms. Chao said the report cleared her of any wrongdoing.

“This report exonerates the secretary from baseless accusations and closes the book on an election-year effort to impugn her history-making career as the first Asian-American woman appointed to a president’s cabinet and her outstanding record as the longest tenured cabinet member since World War II,” the statement said.

Turns out the reason the Trump regime screamed about "Biden crime family's corrupt China deals!" for years was because the wife of the Senate Majority Leader was actually the one getting rich off Beijing for herself and her family.

That's how all this works, you see.

Another Head For The Blue Dog Wall

After Joe Manchin claimed his trophy of Neera Tanden's head earlier this week, it looks like California Attorney General Xavier Becerra may be going down in flames as well, after the Senate Finance Committee deadlocked 14-14 on his nomination as Health and Human Services Secretary.

The 14-14 party-line vote sent Becerra’s nomination to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell for further action. Under new rules to deal with the 50-50 Senate split between the two parties, either can file a motion to bypass a tied committee and bring matters straight to the Senate floor with a separate procedural vote.

Becerra’s fate will depend on Senate Democrats’ ability to stick together and support him, possibly with a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Kamala Harris.

The defection of one moderate Democrat, Joe Manchin, derailed the nomination of Biden’s pick as budget director, Neera Tanden, especially given the lack of Republican support, but administration officials suggested that was an isolated case given lawmakers’ frustration over Tanden’s past tweets.

A spokesman for Manchin could not immediately be reached for comment on Becerra’s nomination.

Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, said the White House remained confident about Becerra’s ultimate confirmation.

“We certainly understood from the beginning that every nominee would not receive 93 votes, but we ... remain confident and confidently behind the nomination,” she told reporters.

The Finance Committee in the same session on Wednesday approved two other Biden nominees - Katherine Tai for U.S. Trade Representative and Wally Adeyemo for deputy Treasury secretary - by voice votes, indicating no significant opposition.

Two Finance Committee Republicans, Bill Cassidy and Mike Crapo, said on Wednesday they had opposed Becerra because of his lack of past healthcare experience and challenges as California attorney general to HHS authorities to grant religious conscience waivers to Obamacare mandates that coverage be provided for contraception.

“His qualifications to be HHS secretary seem to be minimal beyond suing HHS,” said Cassidy, who is a physician.

Psaki noted, however, that Cassidy also told Becerra “he’d bet he has the votes” to be confirmed.

Both Crapo and Cassidy said they would work with Becerra to lower healthcare costs if he won confirmation.

 

So, exactly like Tanden, Becerra has zero chance of getting any GOP votes, which means Joe Manchin can now have his head too if he wants it. Whether or not he will is a question for next week. And if Manchin doesn't bite, well, it's entirely possible that Kyrsten Sinema or another Democrat could lay down a big, big marker.

We'll see, but I have a bad feeling about it.

Our Little White Supremacist Domestic Terrorism Problem, Con't

Capitol police are so concerned about the domestic terrorism chatter involving another Trump cultist attack on Democratic lawmakers that the House is not in session today as a precaution.

U.S. Capitol Police have intelligence that shows “a possible plot to breach the Capitol by an identified militia group” on Thursday, nearly two months after a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the iconic building to try to stop Congress from certifying now-President Joe Biden's victory.

The threat appears to be connected to a far-right conspiracy theory, mainly promoted by supporters of QAnon, that Trump will rise again to power on March 4. That was the original presidential inauguration day until 1933, when it was moved to Jan. 20.

Capitol Police are “aware of and prepared for any potential threats towards members of Congress or towards the Capitol complex,” they said in a statement Wednesday.

Capitol Police already have upgraded security and increased patrols, they said. No specific information on the threat was released.

The U.S. House on Wednesday was working to wrap up for the week given the threat of violence at the Capitol. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer notified lawmakers late Wednesday of the sudden schedule change.

The decision was made given the threats on the Capitol, according to a Democratic aide granted anonymity to discuss the matter. The House had been scheduled to be in session Thursday, but moved up consideration of its remaining legislative item, the George Floyd Justice in Police Act, to Wednesday night.

Capitol Police received “new and concerning information and intelligence” on Tuesday afternoon indicating “additional interest in the Capitol for the dates of March 4th – 6th by a militia group,” Acting House Sergeant at Arms Timothy Blodgett said in a message Wednesday morning to members of Congress.

Blodgett said earlier this week that additional personnel would be posted on Capitol grounds as a precaution on Thursday because of a conspiracy theory about the significance of the date. He said at the time that there was no indication that groups would travel to D.C. or commit acts of violence.

Members of Congress and staff members were asked to carry identification, report any threats or suspicious activity, and keep emergency numbers on hand.

 

As FBI Director Chris Wray warned on Tuesday, the threat of white supremacist domestic terrorism remains both real and widespread.

FBI Director Chris Wray bluntly labeled the January riot at the U.S. Capitol as “domestic terrorism” Tuesday and warned of a rapidly growing threat of homegrown violent extremism that law enforcement is scrambling to confront through thousands of investigations.

Wray also defended to lawmakers his own agency's handling of an intelligence report that warned of the prospect for violence on Jan. 6. And he firmly rejected false claims advanced by some Republicans that anti-Trump groups had organized the deadly riot that began when a violent mob stormed the building as Congress was gathering to certify results of the presidential election.

Wray's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, his first before Congress since the insurrection, was the latest in a series of hearings centered on the law enforcement response to the Capitol insurrection. Lawmakers pressed him not only about possible intelligence and communication failures ahead of the riot but also about the threat of violence from white supremacists, militias and other extremists that the FBI says it is prioritizing with the same urgency as the menace of international terrorism organizations.

“Jan. 6 was not an isolated event. The problem of domestic terrorism has been metastasizing across the country for a long time now and it’s not going away anytime soon,” Wray told lawmakers. “At the FBI, we’ve been sounding the alarm on it for a number of years now.”

The violence at the Capitol made clear that a law enforcement agency that remade itself after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to deal with international terrorism is now laboring to address homegrown violence by white Americans. President Joe Biden’s administration has tasked his national intelligence director to work with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security to assess the threat. And in applying the domestic terrorism label to conduct inside the Capitol, Wray sought to make clear to senators that he was clear-eyed about the scope and urgency of the threat.

Wray said the number of domestic terrorism investigations has increased from around 1,000 when he became FBI director in 2017 to about 2,000 now. The number of white supremacist arrests has almost tripled, he said.

 

Everyone knew this was coming. Now that it's here, Republicans are doing their dead level best to pretend otherwise. Meanwhile, their cultist minions circle like sharks, looking for opportunities to ambush Democratic lawmakers.  It won't be long before the attacks start mounting outside the Beltway, too.

StupidiNews!

• House Democrats have passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which also passed the House last year but never received a vote in the Senate.
• Senators in both parties are working on legislation to rescind parts of the War Powers Act under President Biden after airstrikes against Iraqi targets in Syria last week.
• Embattled NY Dem Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he will not resign in the wake of dual scandals involving COVID-19 nursing home death figures and "credible" sexual harassment accusations.
• The Senate could vote on the American Rescue Plan COVID-19 package as early as this weekend, but Democrats warn that a deal may take until next week.
• The third prototype of SpaceX's Starship spacecraft took off, flew, landed, and then exploded at the landing site ten minutes later due to a methane leak.
  

Last Call For Can't Get No Relief

Senate Democrats are struggling to keep all 50 on board for Biden's American Rescue Plan, while Senate Republicans are doing everything they can to delay the bill as long as possible in hopes that it falls apart and that they can blame Democrats for the suffering.

President Biden has agreed to narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus payments in his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, a concession to moderate Senate Democrats as party leaders moved Wednesday to lock down support and finalize the sweeping legislation.

Under the new structure, the checks would phase out faster for those at higher income levels, compared to the way the direct payments were structured in Biden’s initial proposal and the version of the bill passed by the House on Saturday.

The change came as the Senate prepared to take an initial procedural vote to move forward on the bill as early as Wednesday evening. Biden and Senate Democratic leaders were scrambling to keep their caucus united since they cannot lose a single Democrat in the 50-50 Senate if Republicans unite against the legislation.

In addition to the stimulus checks, the sweeping economic package would also extend unemployment benefits through August, as well as set aside $350 billion for state and local aide; $130 billion for schools; $160 billion for vaccinations, testing and other health care system support; an enhanced child tax credit and other provisions including rental aid and food assistance.

At least one Senate Republican -- Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska) -- appeared open to considering a vote in favor of the legislation, telling reporters, “My state needs relief.” Elsewhere, though, GOP opposition was hardening, as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) announced plans to force Senate officials to read the entire 600-page-plus bill aloud before debate could even begin -- a process he predicted would take around 10 hours.

“I don’t want to sound like a leftist, but I’m gonna resist,” Johnson told a talk radio host in Wisconsin.

Under the plan for stimulus checks passed by the House, individuals earning up to $75,000 per year and couples making up to $150,000 per year would qualify for the full $1,400 payment. The size of the payments would then begin to scale down before zeroing out for individuals making $100,000 per year and couples making $200,000.

Under the changes agreed to by Biden and Senate Democratic leadership, individuals earning $75,000 per year and couples earning $150,000 would still receive the full $1,400-per-person benefit. However, the benefit would disappear for individuals earning more than $80,000 annually and couples earning more than $160,000.

That means singles making between $80,000 and $100,000 and couples earning between $160,000 and $200,000 would be newly excluded from seeing any benefit under the revised structure Biden agreed to.

 

There's no real good reason to limit who gets checks even further, but moderate Blue Dogs like Joe Manchin and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire are insisting that the limits be changed and the money that would have gone to upper middle class folks be given to hospitals and schools for vaccination help instead.

The good news is that Republicans like Lisa Murkowski may sign on to the bill, yay!  The bad news is nobody should really give a single damn about what anyone rancid enough to remain in the Trump white supremacist party has to say.

So, we'll see. Personally I want to see someone call Manchin's bluff and make him personally responsible for sinking this bill, but the stakes are too high. People are going to hurt badly without this money. We can't afford gamesmanship here.

But Senators are going to Senate.

Texas Goes Very Viral, Con't

In a brilliant effort to make Texans stop hating him over the power and water issues in the state, GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is lifting all COVID-19 regulations for people, businesses, and schools effective next Wednesday, so they'll hate him for killing tens of thousands of Texans over the next couple of months instead.

"It is now time to open Texas 100%," said Gov. Greg Abbott this afternoon, signaling the ease of COVID-19 restrictions.

Effective next Wednesday, all businesses of any type are allowed to open 100 percent and the mask mandate will be lifted, the governor stated as part of his executive order to rescind previous orders.

While Abbott acknowledged the virus isn't going away, he insisted the state is far better equipped to fight COVID-19 than a year ago thanks to vaccines.

Late last week, the Texas governor indicated an announcement is coming "pretty soon" on whether he'll relax current COVID-19 mandates, including one in effect since last July that requires masks in public.

"We're working right now on evaluating when we're gonna be able to remove all statewide orders, and we will be making announcements about that pretty soon," Abbott said during a news conference in Corpus Christi last Thursday.

Abbott's announcement took place inside a locally-owned Mexican restaurant in the Lubbock area.

 

Expect other GOP governors to do the same in the weeks ahead, even as Dr. Fauci and the CDC are warning that it's too soon to do what Abbott is trying to do. 

"We don't want to continue to prevent people from doing what they want to do. But let's get down to a good level," Fauci said in an interview on "Face the Nation." "Let's get many, many more people vaccinated. And then you could pull back on those types of public health measures. But right now, as we're going down and plateauing, is not the time to declare victory because we're not victorious yet."

While there has been a drop in the number of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations since early January, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warned Friday that the declines could be stalling at a high number, which she said was a "very concerning shift in the trajectory." As of Friday, the seven-day average is just under 73,000 new infections, according to the CDC.

While Fauci said the fall in coronavirus cases was "really sharp and encouraging," he agreed a plateau of around 70,000 new cases per day is "concerning."

"That's exactly the thing that happened during previous surges," he said. "As it peaked and started to come down, people withdrew some of the intensity of the public health measures and it kind of stabilized at a very high level. That's very dangerous."

Fauci stressed Americans should continue to comply with public health measures such as wearing masks, avoiding large gatherings and social distancing. He said the leveling off in new cases also underscores the need to vaccinate as many people "as quickly and as expeditiously as you possibly can."

"That's why adding yet again another really good vaccine into the mix is really very important," he said.

 

So expect to see another spike in COVID cases in March and hospitalizations and deaths in April. Hopefully Texas won't suffer too badly in the meantime, but I'm betting with zero mask and social distancing mandates, the spike will be rapid and devastating and very obvious to officials by April 1.

Sorry, Texas friends.  Your 2021 is only going to get worse.

Georgia On Trump's Mind, Con't

Fulton County, Georgia DA Fani Willis's election fraud case against Donald "find me those votes" Trump is headed to an Atlanta grand jury this week.

Fulton County prosecutors are expected to appear before a grand jury this week seeking subpoenas for documents and witnesses related to their investigation of former President Donald Trump and some of his top associates for possible election fraud, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned.

Legal experts are split as to whether there’s a strong case to be made, but most agree Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results merit greater scrutiny. Fani Willis, Fulton’s new district attorney, has said she’s prepared to follow the evidence wherever it leads.

Some believe the recording of Trump’s Jan. 2 phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger leaning on him to “find” the votes to reverse Joe Biden’s win is grounds to move forward.

“If there were a textbook (example of) how to commit criminal election fraud, this would be it,” said Atlanta attorney David Walbert, who has represented Fulton County and the state of Georgia in several elections and redistricting cases.

Longtime criminal defense attorney Don Samuel believes the matter isn’t cut-and-dried.

“You’ve got to prove not only that he encouraged the secretary of state to commit a crime, but that he did so willfully and aware that what he was doing was illegal,” said Samuel, whose high-profile clients have included football stars Ray Lewis and Ben Roethlisberger and attorney Claud “Tex” McIver. That “is kind of an uphill battle, it seems to me, when you’re surrounded by lawyers when you’re making the call.”

Willis, an experienced prosecutor admired even by courtroom adversaries, said during a recent interview that she has no choice but to investigate.

“Nobody is above the law,” she said.

 

Nobody is above the law, but the law changes depending on who's enforcing it.

 

Needless to say, watch Georgia Republicans carefully on this one.  This is still Georgia, and if the grand jury goes badly, Republicans will keep their mouths shut. But if the proceedings turn into what I think will happen -- a viable case for indicting Donald Trump -- then the GOP will unleash its full fury against her, and I even expect Gov. Brian Kemp to try to remove her from office somehow.

 

And also, there's the very real possibility that violence, possibly lethal violence, mind you, could be employed. After the attempted January 6th coup, all bets are off as to what happens.

 

But you'd better believe Georgia is on Trump's mind, and the attacks on Willis will start very, very soon.

StupidiNews!

• Neera Tanden has withdrawn her nomination as head of the WH Office of Management and Budget as her Senate confirmation lacks the votes to pass, the White House has accepted the withdrawal.
• The Biden administration says they are on track for 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of May, enough for all American adults.
• House Democrats have subpoenaed Donald Trump's tax returns again in the wake of last month's Supreme Court refusal to block Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance from investigating them.
• Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman says threats against Congress have nearly doubled in 2021 since the January 6th US Capitol terrorist attack.
• A Texas jury has ordered chipmaker Intel to pay $2.2 billion for patent infringement, Intel says it will appeal and accuses the plaintiff of being a patent troll.
  

Last Call For Operation Rehabilitation

There will always be one place where having a Trump regime job on the resume will actually help getting you hired, and that's the right-wing noise machine at FOX News.

Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany will officially join Fox News as an on-air commentator, the network announced Tuesday.

The news, which was announced by Fox News host Harris Faulkner, comes after weeks during which the network had equivocated about McEnany's role at the network.

"It is my distinct pleasure to welcome Kayleigh McEnany to the Fox family," Faulkner said. "We will be seeing much more of her."

A spokesperson for Fox News declined to comment beyond Faulkner's statements.

McEnany, a former CNN contributor, was a spokesperson for Trump's 2020 re-election campaign and took on the role of White House press secretary last spring. She told reporters as she took the job: "I will never lie to you."

That promise quickly became the subject of criticism, as McEnany routinely defended and promoted misleading statements made by then-President Donald Trump. McEnany proved to be one of Trump's most ardent defenders during the election, with Fox News at one point cutting away from a press conference she held in early November in which she pushed false claims of voting irregularities.

McEnany is the latest person to walk through the revolving door between Fox News and the Trump White House: Sarah Sanders, another former press secretary, joined Fox News before leaving to eye a run for Arkansas governor. Larry Kudlow, Trump's former economic director, recently joined Fox Business Network where he hosts his own show. Hope Hicks, Trump's longtime communications director, also joined Fox News' parent company, Fox Corp., in 2018 to serve as its executive vice president and chief communications officer. She later returned to the Trump White House.

 

As the Big Lie machine gears up for attacking Biden and the Dems and supporting Trump through his legal woes, the familiar faces of Trump's propaganda corps on FOX will put them back on top. It's what the cultists want, and it's what they'll get.

 

Kayleigh the professional liar only changed who signs her paychecks, not her job. 

But I bet there's an extra zero on the salary at the new gig.

It's About Suppression, Con't

Georgia state House Republicans have passed their raft of voter suppression measures to make sure Black turnout can never again approach what it was in November and January.

A bill to restrict ballot drop boxes, require more ID for absentee voting and limit weekend early voting days passed the Georgia House on Monday amid protests that the proposals would make it harder for voters to participate in democracy.

The House voted along party lines, 97-72, on the sweeping elections bill supported by Republicans who want to impose new voting requirements after losing presidential and U.S. Senate races in Georgia.

Democrats opposing the legislation said it creates obstacles for voting that will do more to reduce turnout than increase election security.

The bill now heads to the state Senate, where a committee voted Monday to end no-excuse absentee voting, which would require most voters to cast ballots in person. That legislation could receive a vote in the full Senate within days.

Georgia is at the center of a nationwide debate over election access and security, brought on by Republican Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud. Election officials, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, have said there’s no evidence of widespread fraud that could have changed the election, and the results were verified by recounts and audits.

During a 2 1/2-hour debate in the Georgia House, state Rep. Kimberly Alexander said the bill would lead to voter suppression by creating hurdles to casting a ballot.

“Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly are trying to change the rules of the election here in Georgia, rules that you wrote, because you were handed defeat,” said Alexander, a Democrat from Hiram. “You know that your only chance of winning future elections is to prevent Georgians from having their votes counted and their voices heard.”

But Republican legislators said their proposals will build voters’ trust in elections after it was shaken by members of their own political party. Their policies would put new limits on absentee voting, used by a record 1.3 million Georgians in the presidential election, two-thirds of whom voted for Democrat Joe Biden.

Legislative Republicans who supported Trump’s claims have not contested the results of their own General Assembly elections.

“Our goal in this bill is to make sure that Georgia’s election results get back quickly and accurately,” said state Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem. “The way we begin to restore confidence in our voting system is by passing this bill. There are many commonsense measures improving elections in this bill.”

Other backers of the bill said it would help prevent the possibility of fraud and create consistency across the state in voting access and funding.

Protesters waved signs and chanted “no voter suppression” at the Capitol on Monday, making their voices heard as legislators prepared to vote. A previous protest on Friday led to a confrontation when an officer grabbed Democratic state Rep. Park Cannon’s arm after she stood in front of an officer’s bullhorn.

“This bill is going against all the accessibility that makes voting possible by removing absentee and early voting hours,” said Regine Shabazz, an Atlanta resident protesting at Liberty Plaza outside the Capitol.

Limits on absentee voting will harm the poor and those without transportation to polling places, said Melissa McCollum of Gainesville who was in the group of protesters.

“We have proven again and again that our election was fair and not compromised, so why are they trying to reduce voting rights? I don’t get it,” McCollum said.

 

There's not much to get. It's voter suppression of Black voters in a Southern state in service to white supremacy. It's a tale as old as America itself.

It's all the GOP has left.

The Day Hell Froze Over In Texas, Con't

The lights may be back on and the water is working for some, but millions of Texans are still suffering after decades of Republican mismanagement left infrastructure vulnerable, and they need immediate help from a federal government that Texans have been told can't help them, won't help them, and shouldn't help them. One of Joe Biden's first real tests is to prove Republicans wrong.

The plumbing in Marilu Leyva's mobile home looks as if it was mangled by a monster, and it no longer delivers water. The damage to Hussein Kamel's power-washing equipment by the freeze forced his family business to cancel jobs. The recliner where Albert Hoelscher's wife sat for days and nights in the bone-chilling cold is now empty.

Two weeks after a deadly winter storm led to a near-collapse of the Texas power grid, temperatures in many cities are back in the 60s and 70s, the ice and snow have melted, and electricity and water service have mostly been restored. But widespread damage remains: burst pipes that must be replaced; crops and livestock that died in the cold; business equipment that was destroyed; and the loss of more than 30 lives.

Millions of Texans are wondering what it will take to recover, how much it will cost and who will help them.

Large swaths of the state are still assessing the extent of the damage, and the state legislature is holding hearings to determine what went wrong and what changes are needed. President Biden visited Houston on Friday and promised that the federal government is “in for the long haul” and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide millions of dollars in aid, including help for uninsured homeowners.

Since the storm hit, local elected leaders and volunteers pulled together in cities and communities across the state to fill people’s immediate needs of food and water. But the longer-term fixes needed to make Texans whole are a window into the disparities that disasters magnify, especially in affluent cities such as Austin.

“Please don’t forget about us,” said Leyva, 40, whose beloved mobile home park is tucked between a creek and railroad tracks near million-dollar homes, trendy restaurants and a popular beer garden in a rapidly gentrifying area three miles from downtown Austin. “We still need help.”

For 15 years, Leyva has saved her wages from working as a nanny to beautify the interior of the home she shares with her teenage son. But beneath the carefully laid linoleum was a deteriorating plumbing system that snapped when water froze inside the plastic pipes. Power has returned after being out for roughly five days, but she and about 50 families in her community have not had running water since the first freeze.

Those who live in this largely immigrant community rarely ask for help from outsiders. But they have had to rely uncomfortably on the kindness of friends and strangers in the short term, because the price tag for repairs is beyond what they can afford. Losing a week of work after a year of inconsistent employment is also not helping matters.

Early on, neighbors trudged through the snow to a nearby brewery in search of drinking water. Others posted pleas on social media that were seen by local community organizers who brought food, bottled water and a cube of potable water to the mobile home park. Another local arranged for a food truck to cook meals for the community.

The trailer park residents relish being hidden away from the bustle of the capital city to live their quiet lives. But their predicament required them to yell for help and accept the generosity.

“I don’t know how much longer we can endure this,” said Julia De Los Santos, 45, who lives in the park and posted a plea on social media.

 

Nobody expects GOP Gov. Greg Abbott to lift a finger. He'll just blame Biden. Meanwhile, Abbott says he's going to lift all COVID-19 restrictions "pretty soon". And Texas Republicans are just going to pretend that everything is fine and normal again.

But it's not. We need a national infrastructure plan, a multi-trillion dollar Marshall Plan for the US, another Public Works Administration for a new era.

Republicans will never allow it.

And on top of that, people in Texas need help today. Right now.

Hoping they get it won't be enough.