House Speaker Votes Continue

Several trolls in the so-called House Freedom Caucus have paralyzed the U.S. House of Representatives all week, blocking election of a presiding Speaker. The umpteenth round of voting will occur tonight, January 6th at 10 PM EST.

Update:

After 14 ballots, the House again failed to elect a Speaker. On this date two years ago, terrorists failed to disrupt Congress. Today, the terrorists inside the House did just that.

The House began voting for the 15th time at 11:50 PM.

New:

Early on Saturday, Kevin McCarthy was elected to the Office of Speaker of the House, or what’s left of it.

More:

“The ‘spoiler caucus’ is creating chaos,” David Winston, Roll Call

“The Chaos Caucus Is Now In Charge,” Michelle Cottle, New York Times

____________________________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-CST

Image (based on paraphrase of UT football coach Darrell Royal) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht,NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Right-Wing Apparel Maker’s Fake ‘Made In USA’ Claims

The Utah-based Lions Not Sheep clothing company sells T-shirts and baseball caps with provocative slogans printed on them, sure to appeal to the gun-toting, camo-wearing, flag-waving, Trump-loving, by-God self-proclaimed MAGA patriots on your gift list. The Federal Trade Commission just fined the firm for ripping the “Made In China” labels from their imported duds and putting “Made In USA” tags on them. The fraudsters came to FTC attention after bragging about the label-switch on social media.

The Made in USA Labeling Rule, effective as of August 2021, prohibits claims that a product was made in the United States unless final assembly or processing of the product occurs in the U.S., all significant processing that goes into the product occurs domestically, and all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the U.S.

More:

“Pro-Trump brand is fined by FTC for incorrect ‘Made in the USA’ labels,” María Luisa Paúl, Washington Post

Pro-Trump apparel company fined for falsely labeling products “Made in USA,” Julia Shapero, Axios

“Utah-based Lions Not Sheep apparel company fined for swapping ‘Made in China’ tags for ‘Made in USA.’” Kyle Dunphey, Deseret News

__________________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-AfP

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

 

Cult-Like Online Conspiracy Theory Groups

Dr. Janja Lalich explains the cult-like nature of many online conspiracy theory groups, how people get caught up in them, and what can be done to help those who have fallen into them. A Wired video.

Related:

“Why people believe Covid conspiracy theories: could folklore hold the answer?” Anna Leach and Miles Probyn, The Guardian

_____________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-ykR

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Sarah Palin’s Libel Lawsuit Thrown Out of Court

Sarah Palin, former Miss Wasilla and once part-time Temp-Governor of Alaska, had her libel suit against the New York Times thrown of of court. In an editorial, the Times erroneously linked Ms. Palin’s rhetoric to specific incidents of political gun violence, but quickly issued a correction. The judge found that the plaintiff’s case did not rise to the level of harm established as libel by the Supreme Court. In an unusual move, the judge made his ruling while the jury was deliberating, and the jury, independently, reached the same conclusion.

Sarah Palin, the proto-Trump, will probably appeal.

_____________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-yNl

Image (“Mad As Hell!”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Pro-Virus Protesters Infested DC Last Weekend

Thousands of disgruntled and unvaccinated citizens descended on Washington DC last Sunday to defend their right to infect fellow Amercans with the COVID-19 virus. Anti-vaccine protesters and other members of the pro-death movement included the usual quacks and wingnuts, but also their strange bedfellow Robert Kennedy Jr., who compared vaccine mandates to Dr. Mengeles’ experiments at Auschwitz.

The District of Columbia has vaccine and mask mandates for indoor dining, so naturally the wrathful anti-vax throngs took their anger out on DC’s restaurant waitstaff.

Update:

“RFK Jr. apologizes after condemnation for Anne Frank comment,” Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press

More:

“Thousands march on Washington, D.C., in rally against vaccine mandates,” Daniel Uria, UPI

“Anti-vaccine activists march in D.C. — a city that mandates coronavirus vaccination — to protest mandates,” Katie Mettler, Lizzie Johnson, Justin Wm. Moyer, et al., Washington Post

“Anti-Vaccine Mandate Rally Draws Misinformation, RFK Jr., and Comparisons to Nazi Germany,” Eli Weiner, Washington City Paper

“‘Defeat The Mandates’ Rally Against Covid-19 Precautions Held During Omicron Surge,” Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes

Related:

“5 Republican Politicians Freaking Out About DC’s Vaccine Mandates,” Jessica Sidman, Washingtonian

“Omicron Cases Appear to Peak in U.S., but Deaths Continue to Rise,” Mitch Smith, Julie Bosman and Tracey Tully, New York Times

“The Anti-vaccine Right Brought Human Sacrifice to America,” Kurt Andersen, The Atlantic

___________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-yFw

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

QAnon Isn’t a Conspiracy, It’s a Religion

Why are Qanon True Believers impervious to facts? As prophecized, after 2020, Qanon became a cult, wholly based on belief, and you can’t argue with religious faith.

And this Cult of Q is growing. A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core found that 15 percent of Americans say they think that the levers of power are controlled by a cabal of Satan-worshiping pedophiles, a core belief of QAnon supporters. 15 percent of Americans, 30 million people, means QAnon has more followers in America than Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism combined.

More:

“QAnon Now as Popular in U.S. as Some Major Religions, Poll Suggests,” Giovanni Russonello, New York Times

“Understanding QAnon’s Connection to American Politics, Religion, and Media Consumption,” Public Religion Research Institute

________________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-xc3

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

 

Democrats Focus on Marjorie Taylor Greene like a ‘Jewish Space Laser’

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R, GA-14), the congresswoman from QAnon, has denied the reality of the Sandy Hook and Parkland school shootings, so naturally her fellow Republicans have put her on the House Education Committee. She also also thinks California’s wildfires were caused by secret Jewish space lasers, so maybe Republicans will put her on the Forestry Subcommittee, too. Democrats, appalled by this and her other conspiracy beliefs about 9/11 and international Zionist plots, and her rabid racism and Islamophobia, are calling for a vote to expell Ms. Taylor Greene from the House. This is milder treatment than the congresswoman has suggested for Democrats: execution.

Ms. Taylor Greene

More:

“Parents of Sandy Hook victims slam Taylor Greene’s appointment to Education Committee,” Lexi Lonas, The Hill

“GOP Congresswoman Blamed Wildfires on Secret Jewish Space Laser,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine

“How Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, promoter of QAnon’s baseless theories, rose with support from key Republicans,” Michael Kranish, Reis Thebault and Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post

“The Republican establishment’s long dalliance with the conspiracist right,” Zack Beauchamp, Vox

“QAnon Fears That Greene’s Obsession with Jewish Space Lasers Is Distracting Her from Battling Baby-Eating Cannibals,’ Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

Update:

“McConnell says ‘loony lies’ spread by Marjorie Taylor Greene are a ‘cancer’ on G.O.P.,” Catie Edmondson, New York Times

________________
Short link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-wBY

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Twitter’s Insurrection Night Massacre

After it became clear that Donald Trump had used Twitter to organize and incite the murderous mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, Twitter finally suspended his disinformation-spewing account permanently.

Twitter also disabled 70,000 QAnon-linked accounts used to propagate the conspiracy theories behind the MAGA Capitol insurrection. People those conspirators followed were unhappy.

Sarah Palin Rants for Republicans in Georgia, Denies Trump Lost

Sarah Palin, former Miss Wasilla and Alaska TV sportscaster, once part-time Temp-Governor of Alaska, failed reality TV star and Fox News commentator, and John McCain’s biggest mistake, is now campaigning in Georgia alongside QAnon-embracing Congress-creature-elect Marjorie Taylor Greene. She’s in the Peach State in support of corrupt conservative GOP Senate candidates David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, now in close races ahead of  the January 5th runoff election. Ms. Palin echoed false claims that Trump didn’t lose the presdential election, and spoke Friday as part of the “Save America Tour,” funded by the right-wing  Club for Malignant Growth. which also booked conservative ciruit celebs Ted Cruz, Rick Scott, Jim Jordan, and Lee Greenwood.

More:

“Sarah Palin hits campaign trail in Georgia, denying Trump lost alongside QAnon-supporting Republican,” Stuti Mishra, The Independent

“Palin campaigns in Georgia for Loeffler, Perdue,” Celine Castronuovo, The Hill

“Sarah Palin Returns to the Movement She Started in Georgia Runoff Campaign,” Sam Brodey, Daily Beast

Related:

“’A Serial Liar’: How Sarah Palin Ushered in the ‘Post-Truth’ Political Era in Which Trump Has Thrived,” Patrice Taddonio, Frontline

_____________________

Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-wgi

Image (“Mad As Hell!”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

Ginni Thomas, Spy Hunter!

Rightwing lobbyist, Supreme spouse, and Tea Party cultist Ginni Thomas is making a list, checking it twice, and ridding the Trump White House of spies, snakes and traitors, those professional civil servants more devoted to the Constitution than personal loyalty to Donald Trump. That sounds better to conspiracy nuts when they call the Civil Service the “Deep State.”

Since 2013 Ginni Thomas has been part of the ad hoc Groundswell group, a rightwing cabal opposed to GOP centrists as much as liberal Democrats. In January she and other Tea Party survivors met with President Trump in the White House with a belated Christmas gift, their Naughty/Nice List. The Goundswell goons called for the firing of qualified federal government professionals and the hiring of Trump toadies, hard right wingnuts, Fox News talking heads, and other incompetents in their stead.

After getting her fringe-group friends into high White House places, Ms. Thomas plans to defend the Trump-archy in the 2020 election through her own MAGA-supporting PAC.

More:

“Trump’s ‘Deep State’ hit list,” Jonathan Swan, Axios

“Among Those Pressing Trump to Weed Out Disloyalty: Clarence Thomas’s Wife,” Maggie Haberman, New York Times

“Clarence Thomas’ Wife Is Helping Trump Purge ‘Snakes’ From the White House — and Replace Them With Fox News Regulars,” Travis Gettys, The New Civil Rights Movement

“Ginni Thomas’ White House Meeting Was Just Another Grift,” Mark Joseph Stern, Salon

Updates:

“Trump acknowledges lists of disloyal government officials to oust,” Jacob Knutson, Axios

“Trump Claims Purging Officials Who Are ‘Disloyal’ To Him Is Good For America,” Cristina Cabrera, TalkingPointsMemo

“Baby-faced assassin: the 29-year old at the heart of Trump’s ‘deep state’ purge,” Tom McCarthy, The Guardian (also “A new senior leader at the White House personnel office: A college senior,” Daniel Lippman and Meridith McGraw, Politico).

___________________
Short Link: https://wp.me/p6sb6-uty

Image (“Ginni Thomas, Spy Hunter!”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.