As Everyone Knows, Trump-- Like The Mafia-- Is An Enemy Of Law And Order... But Why Did The Republican Party Go Down That Path With Him?

 

The box on the right is the official one. The box on the left was put up by the Republican Party to steal your ballot and burn it. Be careful of Republicans; they hate democracy

No one has been arrested in the Republican scheme to steal ballots and burn them by setting up phony drop-off boxes around California. It seems to have begun in Fresno County in an attempt for the local Republican Party to steal ballots from Hispanic voters, although the coordinated Republican fraud has been detected in Los Angeles and in Orange County where it may be part of an effort by sleazy Republican congressional candidate Michelle Steel, who Kevin McCarthy's Congressional Leadership Fund SuperPAC has supported with $1,980,734 so far this cycle. This is just the kind of felony McCarthy-- an ethics-free Trump stalwart-- would get behind. It appears that Jordan Tygh, a regional field director for the California Republican Party and part of the Steel campaign, is the designated fall guy for the GOP higher-ups. Steel has not been disqualified, let alone arrested, for her decision to steal ballots.

Republicans are freaking out as they stare at the dimensions of the tsunami headed their way. Yesterday, Wall Street Journal reporters Danny Dougherty and Chad Day looked at the early voting data that helps explain the GOP freakout. "Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Virginia," the wrote, "have already received more early ballots than they did in the 2016 presidential election. Several other states have topped 2016 numbers for mail ballots returned, even as in-person early voting is opening up in much of the country. So far, 8.2 million people have voted by mail in the general election and 835,000 headed to polling places early to cast ballots, according to figures from 35 states and the District of Columbia compiled by the Associated Press. For comparison, more than 58 million early ballots were cast in 2016... North Carolina, another presidential battleground and host to a competitive Senate race, received more mail-in votes by September than it saw for all of the 2016 general election... In both North Carolina and Florida, registered Democrats have cast more ballots than registered Republicans so far. In North Carolina, independent voters have also cast more early ballots than registered Republicans.

Presumably, it was just rogue elements in the Trump coalition and not officials of the Republican Party who are behind the thwarted plot to kidnap Democratic governors. Yes, governors (plural)-- not just Gretchen Whitmer. Washington Post reporters Kayla Ruble and Devlin Barrett wrote that according to sworn FBI testimony, the same right-wing terrorists in Ohio who plotted to kidnap the Michigan governor, also talked about kidnapping Virginia Governor Ralph Northam.

Trump continually smeared and attacked both governors in a way than any violent, low-IQ follower of his might believe he was being called on by the president total action against them to "liberate" their states.

Northam spokeswoman Alena Yarmosky said the FBI “alerted key members of the Governor’s security team throughout the course of their investigation,” but to keep tight control of information about such a sensitive matter, neither the governor nor other members of his staff were told.

“At no time was the Governor or his family in imminent danger,” said Yarmosky, adding that extra security measures “have been in place for Governor Northam and his family for quite some time, and they will remain.”

The spokeswoman also faulted Trump for fueling anger.

“Here’s the reality: President Trump called upon his supporters to ‘LIBERATE VIRGINIA’ in April-- just like Michigan. In fact, the President regularly encourages violence against those who disagree with him. The rhetoric coming out of this White House has serious and potentially deadly consequences. It must stop,” said Yarmosky.

Tuesday’s hearing is to determine if some of those charged in the alleged Whitmer plot can be released on bond. Separately, seven others are charged by state authorities in Michigan with providing support to terrorist acts.

Don Don-- Criminals hate regulations

Trask, the FBI agent, described in great detail how federal agents became concerned about the accused, particularly after a June meeting in Dublin, Ohio, where self-styled militia members from four or five states gathered to discuss possible plans.

It was at that meeting, Trask said, that the notion of grabbing governors was raised, specifically mentioning the governors of Virginia and Michigan. One of the suspects, Adam Fox, then returned to Michigan and began recruiting possible accomplices for such a kidnapping, Trask said.

Fox and others conducted surveillance on the governor’s lakeside vacation home, Trask said, and at one point Fox told the others that he wanted to abduct the governor, take her away from the home by boat, and then “leave her out in the boat” so others would have to come rescue her, according to testimony at the hearing. Another option discussed was to take Whitmer to a secret location where they would put her “on trial,” Trask said, possibly in Wisconsin.

...Trask also detailed the ways in which the half-dozen suspects repeatedly discussed plans to attack law enforcement. At one point, a member of the group mentioned the possibility of attacking Michigan State Police buildings.

At another point, one of the defendants, Brandon Caserta, became irate that he had been pulled over and ticketed for driving without insurance.

“An injustice just happened to me,” Caserta messaged the other suspects, according to evidence introduced at the hearing, and he wrote he could find out where the two police officers lived and “tap them,” which the FBI agent said was slang for killing them.

Even as the FBI closed in on the group, the defendants became increasingly concerned they might be under investigation by federal agents. At one point, the accused collaborators scanned each other’s bodies for radio signals, to see if anyone was wearing a recording device, the agent said. While the scans turned up nothing, the group’s alleged plot was infiltrated by two informants and two undercover agents, Trask said, and the FBI secretly recorded more than 100 hours of the suspects’ conversations.

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

A lot has changed in America since the attacks of 9/11/01. If he was still among the living, Osama bin Laden would be smiling as much as Vladimir Putin does when he reflects on the self-destructive forces unleashed by fear and paranoia. Fear and paranoia have no bounds when it comes to republicans thinking about Muslims, whether those Muslims are in far away countries or living peacefully right down the street trying to make a new life for themselves and their families in a country they believe in more than those who cheer the idea of banishing them.

I remember a Trump supporter from Minnesota telling me during the 2016 campaign that "We should kill all the Muslims." He's a big NFL fan so I sarcastically said, "Fine, the next time your Minnesota Vikings come east to play my New York Giants, I'll look forward to seeing how many players they can put on the field to face the Giants." The look on his face was one of simple-minded confusion, a look I often see on the faces of Trump supporters. He'd never stopped to think that any players on his favorite team, the team he cheers for, would be executed if he and people like him had their way. I told him that my Giants would probably run up quite a score if they were able to field their starting 11 vs. whatever was left of his favorite team after he and his kind "purged" it of Muslims. "8 Vikings vs. 11 Giants? 6?" The would be homicidal maniac likes to place bets on games so I asked him how much did he want to bet me on the outcome. The wheels in his brain were having a lot of trouble. Sigh. Critical thinking ability is not a trait of repugs. That's why they're republicans.

We've done a lot of bad, un-American things since 9/11. We've even had 62 million citizens vote for an un-American, un-patriotic president of bigotry. Centrist, right of center or left of center, no matter how much we disliked them or even detested them, the one thing we could always say about our presidents before was that they were somehow pro-America. That's gone and never to come back if republicans continue to be allowed to have their way. In this country, right now, we have half of us rejecting strangers who come to our shores while welcoming enemies who tamper with our elections into our computers. The inconvenience of longer lines at airports are nothing compared to that; nothing compared to having Russian-paid operatives running the United States Senate or having half of us cheer the terrorization and torture of children.

Tonight's meme features the van of the MAGA-Bomber, a red hatted man who proudly attended Trump rallies and went home and made pipe bombs and mailed them to prominent Democrats. Check out the Sarah Palin style targets superimposed over his perceived "enemies of the people." That he didn't succeed in killing anybody was just dumb luck. We weren't so lucky with the man who also took the 24 hour psychotic rhetoric he heard from Trump and FOX "News" to heart and drove 10 hours to El Paso to act accordingly. There are more of them out there, and millions more who support this sort of thing with their votes. Our law enforcement people are catching would be killers in the midst of hatching their murderous plans every week but sooner or later, one will slip through. Periodically, one does. As many have said, terrorists only have to be lucky once. We have to be lucky always.

Trump's White Nationalism Is A Threat To The Safety Of Every American

When Nan Whaley, the mayor of Dayton heard-- through the grapevine-- that Trump was thinking of going to Dayton to comfort the victims of the white nationalist mayhem he had caused, she joked that if Dayton was lucky Trump would direct AirForce One to fly to Toledo instead. That would be a long shot-- he'll be there, and in El Paso, today. The Washington Post's John Wagner reported that his "appearances that will not be universally welcome as the two cities grieve from weekend mass shootings that left 31 dead and many others injured and rattled. After hiding out in his rat-infested Bedminster golf resort all weekend while his white nationalist supporters ran amuck, Kellyanne Conway lied to the media, claiming he's wanted to go there since he heard of the massacres and suggested his "itinerary would be similar to other visits in the wake of mass shootings or natural disasters. 'He’s goes, trying to help heal communities, meeting with those who are injured, those loved ones who have survived the innocents who have lost their lives so senselessly and tragically,' she said. 'He meets with local law enforcement, federal law enforcement. He meets with medical professionals. He thanks first responders.'" That's today's script.

Several past and present Democratic officials urged Trump not to visit El Paso, a city of about 683,000 with a largely Latino population, in the aftermath of Saturday’s anti-immigrant attack at a Walmart Supercenter that left 22 dead.

Officials are still investigating but believe the alleged gunman posted a manifesto that echoed Trump’s harsh rhetoric on immigrants, notably describing his attack as “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

“This president, who helped create the hatred that made Saturday’s tragedy possible, should not come to El Paso,” former congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-TX) tweeted late Monday afternoon. “We do not need more division. We need to heal. He has no place here.”

The words of O’Rourke, a presidential candidate, echoed those earlier in the day of Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), whose district includes the El Paso Walmart targeted in the massacre.

During a television appearance Monday, she urged the president and his team “to consider the fact that his words and his actions have played a role in this.”

“From my perspective, he is not welcome here,” Escobar said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “He should not come here while we are in mourning.”

El Paso Mayor Dee Margo (R) said at a Monday news conference that Trump will visit his city on Wednesday. He said he would welcome Trump in an official capacity and ask him “to support our efforts with any and all federal resources that are available.”

But Margo also cautioned Trump against invoking his previous rhetoric to talk about the border city.

“I will continue to challenge any harmful and inaccurate statements made about El Paso,” Margo said. “We will not allow anyone to portray El Paso in a way that is not consistent with our history and values.”

Adolpho Telles, chairman of the El Paso County Republican Party, said during a television interview Wednesday that he welcomes Trump’s visit.

“Clearly it is going to help with people healing, and this is a time of healing,” Telles said on CNN.

He accused Democrats of “making this a political event for their benefit.”

White House officials say Trump is also planning to visit Dayton, where another gunman killed nine people early Sunday.

Asked during a CNN interview Tuesday morning if he wants Trump to visit his home state, Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) noted that he represents a different area but said that Trump “would not be welcome in my hometown.”

Ryan, another Democratic hopeful whose congressional district includes a large swath of northeastern Ohio, called Trump “a polarizing figure.”

“He finds a million ways to divide us,” Ryan said. “He’s got to get beyond that.”

Trump, meanwhile, took to Twitter on Tuesday to push back against a tacit rebuke from former president Barack Obama.

In social media posts on Monday, Obama called on the country to reject words “coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders” that feed fear and hatred and normalize racist sentiments.

In his tweet, Trump quoted co-host Brian Kilmeade on Fox News’s Fox & Friends as pointing out that it was unusual for past president to speak out about the current occupant of the Oval Office in the wake of mass shootings.

“Did George Bush ever condemn President Obama after Sandy Hook,” Trump quoted Kilmeade as saying. “President Obama had 32 mass shootings during his reign. Not many people said Obama is out of Control. Mass shootings were happening before the President even thought about running for Pres.”

That's probably not the way Greg Miller was looking at it when he wrote, also for the Post, Far-right Violence Spurs Calls To Revise Security Priorities. He noted that the country "continues to employ a staggering arsenal of armed forces, unmanned drones, intelligence agencies and sweeping domestic authorities to contain a threat-- Islamist terrorism-- that has claimed about 100 lives on American soil since the nation mobilized after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. No remotely comparable array of national power has been directed against the threat now emerging from the far right, a loose but lethal collection of ideologies whose adherents have killed roughly the same number of people in the United States, post-9/11, as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State combined. The disparity is a source of growing alarm for officials and experts, some of whom now say the United States is overdue for a realignment of national security priorities as violence on the far right escalates."

The 22 murdered in El Paso Saturday were part of a spate of massacres incited by Trump's white nationalism "directed at targets selected for racial or religious reasons, including shootings at synagogues in San Diego and Pittsburgh... The prospects for a change in course, however, appear limited-- complicated by legal constraints, toxic American political currents and the amorphous nature of an adversary that has no dis­cern­ible structure or Osama bin Laden-like leader and has burrowed into corners of the Internet the way al-Qaeda once hid in the mountain redoubts of Afghanistan. The grim statistics associated with these two strains of extremism have begun to converge. The numbers of people killed in attacks linked to Islamist radicals or the far right in the United States since 2002 are virtually equivalent-- 104 versus 109, respectively, according to data compiled by the think tank New America .

Protecting the public from the most pressing terrorist threat “has been our governing principle for many years now,” said Lisa Monaco, who served as the top counterterrorism adviser to President Barack Obama. Given the surge in attacks linked to the far right, she said, “we need to prioritize our resources and focus on this threat.”

In some ways, the opposite has occurred under President Trump.

Last year, the administration downgraded the position that Monaco previously held, meaning that the top counterterrorism adviser in the White House no longer reports directly to the president.

The administration has also curtailed or disbanded a Department of Homeland Security program that had been created to counter violent extremism by working with regional authorities and organizations to identify those vulnerable to radicalization, whether by Islamist groups or the far right.

The main obstacle to mobilizing against the white supremacist threat, officials said, may be political. Trump on Monday denounced the alleged white nationalist sentiments of the suspected killer in El Paso. But his presidency has come to be defined by policies that are aligned with aspects of the white nationalist agenda and his penchant for fanning racial animus.

“This both makes the mobilization more necessary and interferes with that mobilization,” said Dan Byman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University and a former staff member of the 9/11 Commission. Trump’s words and actions, he said, amplify the danger by emboldening those with radical, racist views, while his signals of tolerance toward such groups-- including his comments after violence in Charlottesville-- undermine his subordinates’ ability to agree upon and organize around the threat.

Trump’s refusal to acknowledge Russian interference in U.S. politics has also contributed to the far right’s rise, experts said. Since at least 2015, Moscow’s destabilization efforts have included sweeping online operations aimed at sowing racial division in the United States by promoting the positions of white nationalists.

A social media study by researcher J.M. Berger concluded that far-right networks online are dominated by intersecting themes: “support for U.S. President Donald Trump, support for white nationalism, opposition to immigration (often framed in ­anti-Muslim terms).”

The latter is an area in which the response to 9/11-- with its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and multibillion-dollar investments in border security aimed at blocking entry to radicalized Muslims-- may have fostered xenophobic attitudes that contributed to the rise of the far right.

There are indications that U.S. national security agencies are beginning to shift toward the far-right threat. FBI Director Christopher A. Wray recently testified that the bureau had made about 100 domestic terrorism arrests in the past nine months and that “a majority of the domestic terrorism cases we’ve investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence.”

But others said the almost singular reliance on the bureau to disrupt far-right networks-- with little or no involvement of other agencies-- underscores the extent to which the government has failed to adapt.

Nicholas Rasmussen, who served three years as director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said that attacks linked to al-Qaeda or the Islamic State-- including the Boston bombings and the night club shooting in Orlando-- were invariably followed by “all-hands” meetings at the White House. Among those assembled were often the heads of the Pentagon, the CIA, and the Treasury and State departments.

“But I suspect that didn’t happen this weekend at the White House,” Rasmussen said. “If it had happened in the Obama or Bush White Houses, I’m not sure it would have either. Because as soon as you hear ‘domestic,’ everybody reverts to ‘Well, the FBI has the ball.’ ” He added: “The FBI is hands down the best investigative law enforcement agency in the world, but asking them to take on this problem on their own makes no sense.”

A National Security Council spokesman declined to say whether any Cabinet-level meetings had taken place at the White House in the wake of the latest shootings, citing policy against such disclosures.

Right Wing Terrorist In The Washington State Legislature Explains How To Divide Up The Booty They Steal After They Kill The Jews And Gays And Liberals

2018 Republicans-- Matt Shea and Cathy McMorris Rodgers

Between Spokane and the Idaho border you'll find the 4th legislative district. It's very rural. There's got to be a town there but I can't find one, although there was a post office of sorts in a town called Drygoon and in 1902 they changed the name from Drygoon to Colbert in honor of a postmaster named Harry Colbert. But I'm not certain if it's inside the district or not. Like I said, it's very rural. The state Rep from the 4th, Matthew Shea, is 44. He's beyond conservative. When his wife Lisa divorced him, she applied for an application of protection because he considered her a possession, not a possession like a lamp but a possession like the way it was in the Old Testament. Her court papers say he was very abusive, physically and emotionally and that he "insisted she walk on his left side because his sword, if he had one, would be on his right side." Refusing to get a job, he hosted a hate talk radio show on Patriot Radio twice a week. In 2008 he was elected to the state legislature, where he defines the far outer fringes of a Republican Party, whose uneducated and drugged-up base is consumed by insane conspiracy theories.

Why should Matt Shea matter to anyone out side of eastern Washington? Two reasons. On Wednesday, Shea admitted he had distributed a manifesto that strongly smacks of right-wing domestic terrorism, The Biblical Basis for War, and certainly makes it clear that Shea has been promoting violence against people who don't adhere to his extremist-- many would say psychotic-- ideology.

The Spokane County Sheriff, Ozzie Knezovich, sent the manifesto, which was written by Shea, "straight to the FBI" and noted that it "is not a Sunday school project or an academic study. It is a 'how to' manual consistent with the ideology and operating philosophy of the Christian Identity/Aryan Nations movement and the Redoubt movement of the 1990s." Shea prophesizes he will be elected president (of the U.S.) and that his assassination will lead to a civil war. You tell me, does this crackpot manifesto of his look like a call to prepare for violence and civil war? You can't put someone in prison for this stuff-- or even in a mental institution. It's up to his constituents to remove him from office, though.

Biblical Basis for War


1. God is a Warrior.

2. When is the time for war? When God says its time...Prayer Council.
3. Fight to win so you don’t have to fight again.

4. 4 Things to stay within God’s will:

a. Holy Cause;

b. HolyLeader;

c. Holy Army; and

d. HolyCamp.

5. 4 Ways to know its time to fight:

a. God reveals His will to the leader;

b. LeaderinquiresofGod...PrayerCouncil;

c. God puts it on the hearts of the people; or

d. Godstartsthefight.

6. Things for a Holy Army

a. Sacrifice/Worship/Prayer;

b. Circumcision/Saved;

c. Vow (consecration to the Lord);

d. Trumpets/Ark;

e. Atonement/Money; and

f. Praise to God Before/During/After.

7. 5 Facts of War:

a. War is a fact of life.

b. GodiswithusandthebattleisHis.
c. Numbers are inconsequential.

d. Armamentsareinconsequential.

e. Isaiah 57:1 – Why Righteous Men are Killed...

8. 4 Qualifications of a Warrior:

a. 18 years old or older;

b. AblebodiedMan;

c. Single Minded in Battle; and

d. StableHome.

9. 5 Exemptions from Service:

a. Training Family – New Home;

b. Newlyweds–NewWife;

c. Farmer – New Crops;

d. Scared–FearMeansaLackofFaith(OffertoLeave);or

e. Priests – Duty to Ministry in Temple.

10. Rules of War

a. Conduct a census of all able bodied males (18-45).

i. Identify Exemptions (see above).

ii. Appoint Captains of 10’s, 50’s, 100’s and 1000’s.

b. Avoidbloodshedifpossible.

c. Make an offer of Peace before declaring war.

i. Not a negotiation or compromise of righteousness.

ii. Must surrender on terms of justice and righteousness:


1. Stopallabortions;
2. Nosame-sexmarriage;
3. Noidolatryoroccultism;
4. Nocommunism;and

5. MustobeyBiblicallaw.


 iii. If they yield – must pay share of work or taxes.

 iv. If they do not yield – kill all males.

d. Warisnotwagedagainstnationsbutagainstman(noscorched 
earth or Sherman’s march to the sea).

 e. Cut down only non-food trees necessary for supplies (safeguard 
production over politics or retribution).

 f. Do not attack or kill productive citizens. They are your base of 
support after the enemy is defeated.

 g. Law of Booty

i. 1/2 went to those who fought.

ii. 1/2 went to those who didn’t.

iii. Divide evenly to the individuals...each gives tribute to Lord.

1. TithetoChurch&Ministry

2. NonetoGovernment–Removestemptationtofight.

3. Mayuseyourparttogivetothosewhohelped.

4. Commanders received the same portion. If a greater portion then they would have an incentive to fight.

11. Organizational Structure for War

a. Captains of 5/10/50/100/1000

i. 5 = Team Leader (Corporal)

ii. 10 = Squad Leader (Sergeant)

iii. 50 = Platoon Leader (Lieutenant/Sergeant First Class)

iv. 100 = Company Commander (Captain/First Sergeant)

v. 1000 = Battalion Commander (Colonel/Sergeant Major)

b. SmallStandingArmy(QuickReaction&ShellLeadership).

c. Only Muster in War Time.

12. Biblically Dealing with Tyranny

a. Tyranny is never a divinely appointed means of government.

b. AtyrantissomeonewhoruleswithoutGod.

c. Tyranny is not a lawful form of government.

d. “Godless civil rulers are no more than bands of robbers.” St. Aug.

e. When the rule of law dies as sin prevails throughout the land, 
tyranny is not far behind.

f. Book of Judges – Sin = Tyranny.

g. Deuteronomy 28:1 – Blessings for Obedience.

h. Deuteronomy28:15–CursesofDisobedience.

i. Judges 3 – The Lord will test you to see if you Obey Him.

j. No such thing as “rebelling against tyranny.” RESTORATION

k. Deuteronomy 4:34 – God brings His people out of tyranny.

i. God doesn’t use majorities. The majority is usually wrong.

ii. Hebrews 11:32 – Heroes of Faith that conquered tyrants.

l. Options:

i. Use of Deception


1. Notgenerallyspeakingonlyveryspecifically.

2. Avoidingbeinganaccomplicetosin.

3. Donotowethetruthtosomeonewhowillabuseit.


 ii. Avoidance

1. Thisdoesnotmeancowardice.

2. Conflictwithtyrannyalsoispreventingwickedness 
from harming property, lives, family when you don’t 
have the strength or resources to overcome.


 iii. Assassination & Sabotage


1. Assassinationtoremovetyrantsisjust,notmurder.

2. 2Chron.23:12–DietrichBonhoeffer–PlotforHitler.


 iv. Armed Resistance & Guerilla War.

m. Considerations Before Beginning War – Prayer & Contemplation

i. Strength and Resources.

ii. Ability to go full-scale on a long-term basis to win.

iii. Not a temporary action based on emotion.

iv. Review the Declaration of Causes and Necessity.

v. Reasonable hope of winning, God is on your side. If not wait.

vi. Is God directing? Ex. 33:14-15, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Gamaliel.

vii. People are tired of tyranny & sin w/ hearts set on Freedom? OR People accustomed tyranny and don’t know who God is?

viii. Micah – Patriots who want to serve God not “libertine.”

13. Warrior Priests

a. Living Sacrifice.

b. Intercessionthroughprayerandaction.

c. Adam was told to tend and guard (“Abad & Shamar”).
d. Warrior=Guardianship.
e. 2 Chronicles 23:8-9 – Armed Guards & weapons in the tabernacle.

f. Prayer Humility, Wisdom, Courage, and Protection.

g. James 4:8 – Draw near to God and purge double mindedness.

h. James4:17–Notdoingtherightthingissin.

i. Proverbs 21:31 – “Prepare your horse for battle, but the battle is 
the Lord’s

14. Freedom is in Jesus Christ.
 Where the Spirit of God is, there is Liberty.

Last month, writing for Rolling Stone-- and before the deranged manifesto leaked-- Leah Sottile reported that Something’s Brewing in the Deep Red West. Shea is the chair of the state Republican caucus and he's batshitcrazy, frothing at the mouth for a race war or a religious war, or a war against the media, or a war of independence... just some kind of war. Sottile reported that "in his nine years in office he has allied with some of the most high-profile conspiracy theorists and anti-government extremists in the American West: from Cliven Bundy and his sons to a neo-Confederate Idaho preacher to the head of the Oath Keepers, an extremist group that believes “the United States is collaborating with a one-world tyrannical conspiracy called the New World Order.”

“I don’t think that the extent of [Shea’s] connections are widely known,” says Rep. Marcus Riccelli, a three-term Democrat in the state legislature who represents Spokane. “It’s a real statement of the Republican Party that someone with his extreme views has risen in the ranks of leadership.”

Long before President Trump deemed the press the “enemy of the people,” Matt Shea was refusing to speak with the media and airing his concern over conspiracy theories like FEMA camps with InfoWars’ Alex Jones. Shea also organized the Spokane chapter of the anti-Muslim ACT for America, which the Southern Poverty Law Center classifies as a hate group. And for the past few summers, Shea has spoken at a secretive religious community run by a man who was a foundational figure in the Christian Identity movement, which, according to the Anti-Defamation League, believes white Europeans to be the lost tribes of Israel and considers Jews to be the offspring of Eve and Satan.

...People have been talking about hacking off the eastern part of Washington-- from the Cascades to Idaho-- since at least 1915. But recently, creating a bastion of God-fearing, gun-toting, canned-food eating whiteness where conservatives can survive the End Times has been embraced by survivalists and dubbed the American Redoubt-- an idea that’s gained enough interested parties to demand an actual corner of the real estate market. Though Shea’s Liberty idea hasn’t gained much traction in the Statehouse, it’s red meat for anti-government extremists at a time when some Americans really are viewing this area of the country as the last remaining holdout for the type of America they think can be great again... “There’s a deep divide within the Spokane County Republican Party between its mainstream wing and its more constitutionalist wing,” Clayton says. “The constitutionalist wing is heavily influenced by Christian nationalists and some white-supremacist elements… they have a particular view of the Constitution and it’s all steeped in this idea of liberty. It’s anti-statism. It’s anti-government.”

Last August, Daniel Walters painted a picture of how the seemingly "mainstream conservative," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a key Ryan lieutenant and Trump enabler, plays footsie with these racists, Nazis and terrorists.

This year, one of the crazed fascists, Jered Bonneau, ran against McMorris Rodgers in the primary. Shea hadn't endorsed her in 2014 or 2016 and Bonneau expected fellow lunatic Shea to endorse him this year. But McMorris Rodgers wanted Shea's endorsement against Bonneau and, for some reason no one seems to know, Shea gave it to her.

It shows how, even as McMorris Rodgers has distanced herself from the alt-right, she's been aligning herself more closely with a different part of the GOP fringe-- the patriot movement-- as she gets ready to face her first truly competitive election.

Even though McMorris Rodgers is nearly certain to survive the top-two primary, her performance-- and the performance of her Democratic competitor, former state Sen. Majority Leader Lisa Brown-- could have major impacts on fundraising and voter enthusiasm. If McMorris Rodgers crushes Brown in the primary, it could hobble the Democrat for the general election. But if Bonneau-- or fellow Trump-loving conservative Dave Saulibio-- gained traction it could split the vote.

...“I reached out to Matt Shea to talk about some of the others that were in the race," McMorris Rodgers told the Spokesman-Review. “And in the course of that conversation, he let me know that he was going to be supporting me.”

Read the rest of the eye-popping story. Or don't. But, if you can, vote for or, in any way you can, support Lisa Brown, who would be a great candidate for Congress even if there were no Matt Shea or Cathy McMorris Rodgers. On Tuesday, here's another race where Nate Silver's model should be proven woefully inadequate for accurate political forecasting.

Midnight Meme Of The Day!

by Noah

Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.
- Donald J. Trump, December 2015

3 middle-aged white male American terrorists. All in one week. Just. One. Week. Not a Muslim among them. Just. One. Week.

One middle-aged man sent pipe bombs to democrats, selecting a Jewish man as his first target. One middle-aged man targeted black people and killed 2 at a grocery store, for the crime of shopping while black. One middle-aged man storm trooped his way into a synagogue and killed 11 Jews as they worshiped.

Should we, to borrow a phrase Trump repeatedly used during his campaign, consider "a complete and total shutdown" of middle-aged white males "until our country's representatives can figure out figure out what is going on" or should we actually use what's left of our rational national mind to another solution?

Jihad comes in many forms, or should I say that Jihad is not exclusively limited to the targets of the speech Trump gave back in 2015. He might as well have been talking about his own supporters and his own political party. He could have just as well been talking about himself, something he does incessantly. His hatred is beyond all comprehension, unless you realize that he is a madman using it for his own gains.

As I write this, Trump is planning to head for Pittsburgh to display not his "sense of reason or respect for human life" but to display his disrespect for all lives but his own.

Trump is not a middle-aged madman. He's so much older than that, but, he is a madman. It was obvious in 2015 and it is more obvious now. Too many people kept silent about his madness, even as it was openly on display, night after night, on national TV. For those who didn't want to see his madness, we should have demanded and coerced something more than that note from his quack doctor. I used to watch Trump speak and wonder where's the guy with the long hook or the folks in the white suits with the net. I still wonder the same thing whenever I see him on TV.

The hatred comes from you Donald J. Trump. It comes from you and you know it. You foment it and you embolden your disciples with it as, even now, you follow the Mein Kampf playbook and double down on your targets. Your party loves you for it. They cheer you on with approval for everything you ask them for. We know "understand this problem" and "the dangerous threat it poses" for our country and the world. While McConnell follows you around on his knees and Ryan perfects his award-winning smirk, we watch in helpless frustration and disbelief and do nothing.

Trump Coddles His Fascist Followers, Claims Incorrectly Charlottesville Violence Was "On Many Sides"

In Trump's America, all of our America

There was already trouble Friday night when old-fashioned KKK racists and Nazis and new-fashioned alt-right Trump supporters descended on Charlottesville looking for trouble in response to a Trump nut named Jason Keller's call for a "pro-white" rally. This is something they've been promoting for weeks in the fever swamps of TrumpWorld. On Friday night they were screeching anti-Black and anti-Semitic chants, marching around waving cheap Walmart tiki torches.

Although officially organized by several fascist groups, the League of the South, the National Socialist Movement, the Traditionalist Workers Party, the Fraternal Order of Alt Knights and Vanguard America and Identity Evropa, this was nothing short of a warning from the Bannon wing of the Trump Regime to remember that Trump's supporters are easily roused to violence and that if Trump is removed there will be blood in the streets.

Much of the country was stunned and horrified that after the first death yesterday, Trump was finally forced to say something. But his message was basically to blame both sides, referring to what happened as an "egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides." Many sides of what? The movement he's the titular head of? Politico noted that "white nationalists cited Trump's victory as validation for their beliefs, and Trump's critics pointed to the president's racially tinged rhetoric as exploiting the nation's festering racial tension."

The organizers had named their weekend of racist rallies, "Unite the Right." Both Richard Spencer, the Nazi leader who's always getting punched in the face, and KKK leader David Duke were present. Duke was quick to declare Charlottesville a "turning point" for a movement that aims to "fulfill the promises of Donald Trump." When I asked Alan Grayson what he thought of the conflagration he told me that "David Duke said it far beyond my poor power to add or detract. Duke said that the racists are trying 'to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump.' If the hood fits, wear it." This was the poster Richard Spencer-- who hasn't been charged with inciting violence of as accessory to murder yet-- had up on his social media pages.

Michael Keegan, President of People for the American Way, spoke for all American-- except Nazis and racists, obviously, when he said that yesterday's events were "heartbreaking and infuriating. When Donald Trump was elected president, many of us feared that his election would embolden radical extremists and white supremacists. Today shows that those concerns were entirely justified. Moreover, the President’s refusal to clearly and emphatically denounce a group of Nazis and white supremacists underscores his longstanding willingness to exploit the Right’s most hateful impulses for political gain-- as well as the GOP’s willingness to abide Trump’s tactics of hate in order to push its own ideological agenda. Elected officials should make clear in no uncertain terms that they condemn the hate and racism of the 'Unite the Right' rally and its leaders, and they won’t associate with those who do otherwise. Our thoughts are with the victims of today’s terror attack, as well as with their families and loved ones. I’m grateful for the activists of every race and creed who are standing up for their values every day in nonviolent protest in Charlottesville and across the country. They, not those who spew bigotry and hatred, represent the true American way."

Even a few Republicans were willing to say aloud what manu of the non-racist ones are all whispering among themselves. Cory Gardner is the GOP Senator from Colorado and Rob Portman the GOP senator from Ohio, parts of which are as Trumped-up as any backward, unrepentant and treasonous part of the Old Confederacy.

And David Jolly is the former congressman from St. Petersburg, Florida who was defeated last year, largely dragged down because of so many voters' revulsion with Trump and everything he and his white nationalism sociopaths stand for. More Republican elected officials should confront the stark, ugly truth of what he tweeted for all the world to see yesterday:

We got in touch with Jenny Marshall, the progressive candidate running in the central North Carolina district represented by bigot Virginia Foxx. "Americans across this country," Jenny told us, "must stand together in condemning the aims of white supremacy and white nationalism. While our government must protect freedom of speech, we, as its citizens, have a duty to reject the violence provoking, hate speech and intimidation shown by the alt-right. Our president and his administration have been silent as our fellow Muslim citizens in Minnesota had their mosque attacked and again during these horrific events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia. We cannot wait for his leadership in this matter, as it is obviously lacking. So, now is the time for America's citizens to gather together and resoundingly reject bigotry and racism. We must show the world that love trumps hate."

We also reached out to two nationally prominent civil rights attorneys who are both running for Congress. Dan Canon is probably best-known for his successful arguments to the Supreme Court for marriage equality in the Obergefell case. He told us that Trump's "repeated failure to condemn his white supremacist supporters speaks volumes. This isn't a situation in which 'both sides' bear equal fault. It's not even close. There's simply no place in American discourse for the idea that our neighbors should be subjugated or separated by race. We've known that the 'alt-right,' in its various guises, has been a cancer in America for more than a century. You don't let a cancer metastasize. You fight it head on."



The other civil rights attorney is Jim Thompson, who is running for the Wichita-based Kansas congressional seat. We want his eloquent words to be the official Blue America response to the tragedy in Charlottesville:

"My heart aches for those injured in Charlottesville, especially for the families of the three who lost their lives standing up to hatred and protecting our democracy. The thoughts and prayers of myself and my family are with you all. As a civil rights attorney and a U.S. Army infantryman, I have sworn to protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. What we witnessed in Charlottesville is no less than a domestic enemy intent on the subversion of our American principles and embracing the evil of terrorism. We saw White Nationalists, Nazis, and the 'Alt Right' claiming to 'Unite the Right' and seeking to destroy equality. They consider themselves superior simply because of the color of their skin and religious preference. They raise their hands in salutes paying homage to Hitler and Nazi principles, which included the killing of millions of men, women and children of different races, colors, religions, and those who did not fit the stereotype of the “master race.” Our grandfathers fought in World War II to eliminate this stain on humanity, and we must continue their fight. In a land where all men and women are created equal and entitled to the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, there can be no ultimate peace between the Nazi/white supremacist/'alt right' philosophy of government, and our American values stated in the Constitution. I unequivocally reject their philosophy and will continue to fight all enemies of equality, justice, and the United States of America.

"I embrace our diversity of religion, race, and opinion in this country. However, the right to an opinion does not mean that the opinion is right. When immorality, hatred and intolerance form the basis of an opinion or movement, we must exercise our freedom of speech to identify those who hold that opinion and condemn them and their beliefs. Mr. President, you must lead that charge. I ask you Mr. President to formally and unequivocally reject the alt right movement, white supremacy and Nazi philosophy, and to state their beliefs and philosophies are inconsistent with American values. Contrary to your assertion, there are not “many sides” to this issue, there are only two sides: right and wrong. Mr. President, it is long past time for you to choose which side of the fence you are on because riding the fence will just get splinters in your ass."

Want to help put a stop to this quasi-condoned racism and violence? Help elect progressives like Jenny Marshall, Randy Bryce, James Thompson and the other Blue America-endorsed candidates here. We'll leave off with an eloquent and simple statement from VoteVets that puts into context the tragedy that this country suffered in November, 2016: "Hundreds of thousands of Americans gave their lives fighting the hateful ideologies that fueled yesterday's protests and subsequent violence in Virginia. The president dishonors their memories with his 'many sides' response to yesterday's domestic terrorist attack."

Will Cliven Bundy Sit Down For An Interview With Rachel Maddow? What If They Allow Him To Bring Sean Hannity Along As A Body Guard?

Last week a new name started popping up on my Twitter feed: Cliven Bundy. Before I had even processed it, he was in a standoff with federal law enforcement officials over unpaid taxes and fees and Harry Reid was calling him a domestic terrorist, Sean Hannity was egging him on to start an armed rebellion and Ted Cruz seemed to be angling to get him to run on his ticket in 2016. It looked too silly/ugly/predictable to pay any attention to. So I didn't. But it didn't go away. It got louder and uglier and sillier and more predictable and right-wing imbecile Dana Loesch was already whining that poor Cliven needs better media training.

I'm not sure how old we were when Ken and I first became friends, but I'm guessing it was around 15. I asked him if he had considered writing about the Bundy crap. He hadn't. "I didn't think anyone would be eager to hear my solution, which would be to have him killed just so people would stop talking about him-- and also it would teach him a lesson. You know, it's hard even to get these criminal-crackpot types' attention, let alone teach them a lesson." I bet Hannity and some of the other Republicans who championed Bundy until he went full racist Monte yesterday, would have liked-- or at least been relieved by-- Ken's solution. No Cruz, of course; he still wants to see Rafael/Cliven presidential bumperstickers on pickup trucks in 2 years. But Dean Heller… what could that clod be thinking?

All year, the Nevada Republican senator has been trying to pull off a Susan Collins fake moderate pose, voting with the Democrats every now and then-- primarily when it didn't matter much to the wing nut base-- in the hope of looking more purple than red in a state that gave Obama back-to-back wins in 2008 (55%) and 2012 (52%)… and where only 33.7% of voters are registered Republicans. But seeing all those right-wing terrorists marching around brandishing rifles forced Heller's inner nut back to the surface. At a joint appearance with Harry Reid on Las Vegas' KSNV-TV, he proudly declared, "What Sen. Reid may call domestic terrorists, I call patriots." Oops. Heller will be working all year to get that off his shoes!

Soon after, Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) asked the Interior Department to "investigate the role of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in efforts to pass bills at the state level" that undermine federal authority over state lands and thwart the agency's duties. And that, in effect, is very much related to what Maddow's program was about last night. I urge you to watch the video up top. Grijalva: ALEC's pattern of activity raises serious questions about how changes to land management laws and regulations, especially in the Western United States, are being pushed by ALEC without public disclosure of its role or that of the corporations that fund its legislative agenda… The consequences of ALEC's positions are severe and deserving of careful scrutiny. They are entirely consistent with the position taken by anti-government rancher Cliven Bundy and his armed supporters… The ALEC vision of state sovereignty trumping long-standing federal government efforts to manage public lands has already had tangible effects on Bureau of Land Management and other agency employees' efforts to do their jobs."

So Ken wouldn't weigh in, another of our friends, though, Adam-who-watches-Fox-all-day, did. He e-mailed me this morning: "On Fox News today," he wrote, "every announcer denounced Clive Bundy when they started their shows. You should have me as your official Fox News reporter of what Fox News is saying." Oh, and The Economist weighed in too: The Rise And Fall of Cliven Bundy-- No Hero. "Bundy's charming comments… make it harder to deny that this law-breaking crank should be no one's poster boy; nor should the self-styled militiamen who journeyed from across the country to defend, at the point of assault rifles, Mr Bundy's right to trespass be hailed as heroes." Someone pass Dean Heller another aspirin.

Colbert: "Man, Hannity ate up that story so hard, 

Bundy should have charged him grazing fees."

Watchdogs like the Southern Poverty Law Centre warn of fringe ideas like those animating Mr Bundy's backers migrating "from the margins to the mainstream." This dynamic has clearly been at play in the past couple of weeks. Politicians who should know better, such as Dean Heller, Nevada's Republican senator, and Brian Sandoval, the state's mild-mannered governor, were all too quick to suggest that the story's real villains are the federal officials seeking to enforce multiple court orders against Mr Bundy, rather than the ragtag posse ranged against them. These same politicians have had to move fast in denunciating Mr Bundy's comments today.

The conservative-leaning Economist made the point that Bundy just went a little far and a little off the rails for their right-wing taste. "Bundy and his followers, energised by the spread of tea party anti-government sentiment and enabled by the echo chamber of conservative blogs and social media" seemed like a powerful wagon for politicians who complain about the size of government to hitch their stars to. Really? Let's watch and see how that works out for Dean Heller. And Rafael "Ted" Cruz.

And, of course, this story could never be complete without Colbert weighing in. Is he going to be able to do this kind of thing on the new show he's going to? Would he want to?

Just when you think right-wing intelligence can't be any lower, it is -- they don't know the meaning of "choice"

Dint ol' Ronnie Reagan hisself promis us we dint hafta beleeve in no stuff we dint wanna like no Big Bongs which anyways is just a big bell or somethin' in Inglund?

by Ken

Do you know what the word "choice" means? What it means to choose between options? Yes, you say? You do? Then I'm sorry to have to tell you that apparently you have just been disqualified from being a right-winger.

We'll come back to this in a moment. Meanwhile I want to commiserate with Daily Kos blogger LaFeminista, who yesterday found herself banging her head up against the limits of right-wing intelligence, in a poignant post called "Breaking: Americans Find Something Else Not To Effing Believe In."

Evolution is so absurd but the idea of humans walking with dinosaurs is quite interesting.

Climate change is a liberal commie Nazi plot

Now we have the Big Bang

WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- In a new national poll on America's scientific acumen, more than half of respondents said they were "not too confident" or "not at all confident" that "the universe began 13.8 billion years ago with a big bang."

The UPI "Science News" post in question, by the way, is headed "Majority of Americans doubt the Big Bang theory."

This leads our author to wonder, "What is the basis of their opinion/lack of confidence?"

Oh right.

The same as everything else when faced with complicated theories.

suggesting more respondents are aware of the science than originally suggested -- they just don't believe the science.

I don't believe. WTF?

It has come to the point where all debate is reduced to belief, that is all well and good when debating about fairies at the bottom of the garden.

What annoys the crap out of me is that it has become the lazy way of getting around having to study and think.

I don't believe the science, yada, yada plus vacuous anecdotal evidence; fairy dust.

Well fuck you then

Show me some bloody data or just admit that you don't know.

Yes indeed, "it has come to the point where all debate is reduced to belief," and as I note frequently, to my mind this is the most enduring and profound (measuring in at a tiny fraction of a micron deep) of America's folksiest sage, Ronald Reagan. Professor Reagan taught Americans that they didn't have to fear or even entertain doubt in the face of unpleasant reality. In reality, he told them, reality is only what you want to believe. (The corollary, which wasn't actually part of the Reagan doctrine but has since been intuited, is that if anyone tries to force you to believe stuff you don't wanna, well, isn't that why God gave us guns?)

I COULDN'T HELP THINKING OF THIS POST IN
CONNECTION WITH A THINKPROGRESS ONE

Why on earth shouldn't Chelsea and Marc be happy?

It's a piece by Tara Culp-Ressler called "Why Chelsea Clinton’s Pregnancy Is So Baffling To Abortion Opponents." The post begins (links onsite):

Last week, the news that Chelsea Clinton is expecting her first child inspired its fair share of headlines — even fueling suggestions that it was somehow carefully timed to benefit her mother’s potential presidential run. The announcement also made the rounds in the right-wing blogosphere, inspiring several op-eds attempting to highlight the apparent contrast between the Clintons’ stance on reproductive rights and their daughter’s decision to have a child.

Now this too kind of floored me when I belatedly heard about it. This goes beyond the usual category of "You can't make this stuff up" to "Why would anybody try to make this up?" There is supposed to be some conflict between being "pro-choice" and choosing to have a baby? Huh? What am I missing here?

Abortion opponents expressed confusion that the Clintons would refer to Chelsea’s unborn child as a “baby” and not a “fetus,” suggesting that’s wholly incompatible with their support for legal abortion. “When it’s their own grandchild, it appears the Clintons see things differently, with their words most definitely betraying their true feelings on the matter. No talk of a non-person fetus, only of a child,” a Christian Post editorial noted, declaring that the Clintons must actually believe that life begins at conception.

The insinuation, of course, is that the people who support abortion rights must always opt for abortion over pregnancy. But that’s an incredibly black-and-white view of reproductive rights that doesn’t actually reflect the reality of Americans’ experiences — including the women who have chosen to end a pregnancy at some point in their lives.

Although the issue of reproductive rights typically separates people into two camps, either “pro-life” or “pro-choice,” there’s increasing evidence that those labels don’t accurately capture Americans’ complex relationships to abortion. Many people identify as both, and say their attitude about the procedure depends on the situation. Some people who tell pollsters they’re “pro-life” don’t actually support overturning Roe v. Wade. It’s possible to believe you are carrying a baby and choose to end the pregnancy anyway. Many times, personal experiences with abortion fall into what’s known as a “grey area” between the two political camps.

Tara goes on to make some excellent and interesting points about the actual attitudes of actual people on the subjects of pregnancy and abortion. It's a fine piece, and I encourage you to read it.

But I found myself still stuck back at ground zero, this supposed incompatibility between being pro-choice and choosing to have a baby. Until it finally hit me that the supposed pro-lifers, who as we know are only in favor of a few very narrowly defined forms of life, and are in fact enormously hostile to most others, literally do not know the meaning of the word choice. And possibly, it occurred to me, they have no concept of the mental process of choosing, of arriving at the best possible set of alternatives in any given situation and then, using all your developed mental faculties, making the most informed possible choice among those alternatives.

It is, in other words, the basic, essential process by which everything that can be accomplished by these minds -- with which we were endowed by some sort of creator -- is accomplished. And of course the process includes accepting responsibliity for our choices.

Which takes me straight back to "what annoys the crap out of" LaFeminista: that this business of reducing all debate to belief "has become the lazy way of getting around having to study and think."

Yes, it has. It's not only the groupthink mentality's way of protecting its Borg-like nonthinking collective from any necessity or even impulse to think. It's the groupthink mentality's front line of protection against the danger of anyone outside or inside the collective who may be infected with such an impulse.

Ladies and germs, I give you, on a platter, the Right-Wing War Against Science. Just because people were once able to get along with dinosaurs doesn't mean we have to subject ourselves to scientific silliness like evolution and climate change and now these damn big bongs.

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