A report card on the Biden administration

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NBC continued, "Republicans in the House and the Senate have signaled that they want to delay passage of a spending bill over objections to the Biden administration's Covid-19 vaccination mandates for workers.

"The conservative caucus in essence is threatening a potential shutdown to push back against Biden's vaccination mandates."
"President Joe Biden looked out over an audience of government scientists and framed his latest plan for fighting COVID-19 as an opportunity to at last put an end to divisiveness over the virus, calling the politicization of the issue a “sad, sad commentary."

"Some people “on the other team,” he said Thursday, were threatening to hold up government spending and endangering the nation’s credit out of pique over vaccination requirements."

“Go figure,” he added.

"It was a quick aside in a Biden speech that otherwise struck a largely bipartisan tone. But it served as fresh evidence that after taking it on the chin for months, Biden and his allies are increasingly willing to hit back, casting Republicans as the true obstacle to the nation’s recovery from the pandemic."

ABC reporting.
 
“We’re going to walk down to the Capitol, and we’re going to cheer on our brave senators and congressmen and women. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”

“When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules."

“We fight like hell and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore,” President Trump during Jan. 6 insurrection.

Mark Meadows downplays the Capitol riot in his forthcoming memoir, saying "a handful of fanatics" are behind the deadly January 6 insurrection, according to a report in the Guardian.

An estimated 2,000 to 2,500 people entered the Capitol during the course of insurrection and rioters violently attacked and assaulted 1,000 law enforcement officers during the siege.

Business Insider reports. "Meadows also minimizes Trump's role in instigating the riot, saying the mob "had absolutely no urging" from the former president despite him telling supporters, who had gathered to protest the election result, to "fight like hell."

"Meadows writes that Trump was "more subdued than usual" in the speech and that he was ad-libbing when he said, "We're going to walk down to the Capitol and we're going to cheer on" members of Congress objecting to counting slates of electoral votes for President Joe Biden.

"Trump was "speaking metaphorically," Meadows says, when he told supporters at a rally that he was going to march down to the Capitol. He "knew as well as anyone that we couldn't organize a trip like that on such short notice."

Come on, now that was funny.

During the four years of Trump's Presidency we heard a variety of excuses for what came out of the mouth of the immature, inexperienced President.

"Trump really didn't mean that."

"Trump was being sarcastic."

"Trump was joking."

Now we get "Trump was ad-libbing," and "Trump was speaking metaphorically."

Trump never joked. Trump is the joke.
 
Mark Meadows downplays the Capitol riot in his forthcoming memoir, saying "a handful of fanatics" are behind the deadly January 6 insurrection.
Now this is interesting.

Politico writes, "Jan. 6 investigators have tried to pry information from Mark Meadows for months. Meadows may have damaged his case for maintaining the secrecy of his contacts with former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 by divulging selected details in his book, due to publish Tuesday."

“It's … very possible that by discussing the events of Jan. 6 in his book, if he does that, he's waiving any claim of privilege. So, it'd be very difficult for him to maintain ‘I can't speak about events to you, but I can speak about them in my book,’” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of the panel’s nine members.

Politico continued, "Meadows’ book is due to be released the same week he’s expected to appear before the Jan. 6 committee. Meadows’ lawyer George Terwilliger III and Thompson described a breakthrough, revealing that Meadows had provided thousands of emails to the panel and arranged to appear for an interview.

"In the upcoming interview, committee members plan to challenge Meadows’ citing of executive privilege as a reason to avoid discussing his interactions with Trump. Now, they say, his book could become a factor in that argument."

The Republican Party will be in a world of hurt during most of 2022 leading up to the mid-term elections in November. The Republican President and several Republican members of Congress participated in an attempt to overthrow the elected government on Jan. 6. The investigation continues.
 
Considering the recent activities of Republican legislators as in the cases of Massie, Boebert, Greene, and Gosar (I could name more, but what's the point) one wonders if there is a contest between Republicans as to who could be the most stupid.

The latest entry comes from Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky released a holiday portrait on Twitter on Saturday that features him and six family members in front of a Christmas tree. But instead of posing with wrapped presents or perhaps a family pet, each person is gleefully holding some type of gun beneath the words, "Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo."

The portrait includes his young daughter. The ludicrous tweet comes days after four students were shot and killed in a Michigan high school. To see this incredulous tweet, click here:


Why do Republicans do this? First, to be in good standing with former Republican President Donald Trump.

Second, the pay is good. By and large, Republicans come from rural districts. The educationally challenged farmers and rural shopkeepers love this. The ludicrous statements fall within the limits of their intelligence and they pay heavily to the campaigns of Massie, Boebert, Greene, Gosar, et.al.

What do the forum's Republicans have to say about all this? We will never know. The forum's Republicans do not discuss Republicans.
 
Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows is cooperating with the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot and is providing records and agreeing to appear for an initial interview.
CNN reports, "Marc Short, the former chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, is cooperating with the January 6 committee, a significant development that will give investigators insight from one of the highest-ranking Trump officials, according to three sources with knowledge of the committee's activities.

"Short remains one of Pence's closest advisers and is a firsthand witness to many critical events the committee is examining, including what happened to Pence at the Capitol on January 6 and how former President Donald Trump pressured the former vice president not to certify the presidential election that day."

Short's assistance signals a greater openness among Pence's inner circle, and it is difficult to believe that Short is doing this on his own. For ten years Short has been a close confidant for Mike Pence. There is little doubt that Pence has given his full approval to what Short is doing.

Pence wants to be President. Perhaps he thinks he can knock off the top contender for the GOP nomination, the former President who incited the insurrection on Jan. 6.

CNN continued, "Before working as Pence's chief of staff, Short was Trump's legislative director for the first 18 months of his presidency. Short was with Pence for most of January 6, including after the vice president was rushed out of the Senate chamber and moved to a safe location beneath the Capitol. Rioters had broken in to stop the certification of the presidential election, and some were chanting "hang Mike Pence."

"Short was also in the Oval Office on January 4, when Trump and conservative attorney John Eastman tried to convince Pence to change the counting of the Electoral College votes in certain selected states."
 
Trump is determined to destroy the Republican Party. He accomplished a great toward that effort in Georgia earlier this year when he discouraged Republican voters in a Senate runoff election. Net result, the Democratic Senators were elected and the Republican Party lost control of the Senate.

Now Trump is at again, and again it is in Georgia.

ABC reports, "Less than a year after losing the presidency, Donald Trump has set out to reshape the GOP in his image across the nation's top political battlegrounds, sparking bitter primary battles that will force candidates and voters to decide how much to embrace Trump and his grievances."

But nowhere is his quest more consequential than Georgia.

"Trump has inspired a slate of loyalists to seek statewide office in the Southern swing state, and as of Monday, that group included former Republican Sen. David Perdue, who formally launched a challenge against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. The move marked a rare, serious primary threat to a sitting governor, bucking the wishes of GOP leaders in Washington and ensuring months of Republican infighting in a state where the party is trying to restore its dominance."

Advantage, Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate who hopes to win due to the Trump inspired internecine squabble within the Republican Party.

Trump once quipped that "2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D) may have done a better job in office than her opponent, Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who has continued to catch the former president's ire for refusing to overturn 2020 election results," The Hill.

To the detriment of the GOP, Trump continues his assault on Republican incumbents he doesn't like because they didn't cooperate with him in his attempt to overthrow the elected government.

We will not hear from the forum's Republicans on this matter. Their silence on the real issues facing our country will continue.

Why it is expected that Republicans will win the mid-terms in November is a mystery. One possible answer, the educationally challenged grassroots Republican knows about none of this. Their complete absence from this thread that deals with those important issues gives credence to that explanation.
 
To the detriment of the GOP, Trump continues his assault on Republican incumbents he doesn't like because they didn't cooperate with him in his attempt to overthrow the elected government.
Chris Cillizza writes, "By any measure, Charlie Baker is one of the most popular governors in the country.
In 2018, he won reelection as Massachusetts' chief executive with 67% of the vote and his approval ratings regularly crested 60% -- even amid the worst throes of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

"That Baker did so as a Republican in one of the most Democratic states in the country is absolutely remarkable. In anything close to a normal Republican Party, Baker would be one of its stars -- someone touted as a future national leader.

"Instead, Baker announced late last week that he would not seek reelection next year. And, in so doing, he made clear that he loved his job.

"Left unsaid -- but not unnoticed -- was the fact that former President Donald Trump had endorsed Geoff Diehl, a Republican running against Baker in the 2022 primary.

"Baker had drawn Trump's ire by saying publicly that he believed the President should be removed from office following January 6."
 
Donald Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows is cooperating with the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot and is providing records and agreeing to appear for an initial interview
Why am I not surprised? These are the people who expect to control Congress after the mid-terms? Good Lord, why?

Is it because the educationally challenged rural voters have no idea what is going on? This thread indicates the reality of that statement. Republican voters are no where around, afraid to discuss the real issues of the day.

That said, still another influential Republican, a close Trump associate, has made a fool of himself.

The Times reports, "Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff under President Donald J. Trump, on Tuesday informed the committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol that he was no longer willing to cooperate with its investigation, reversing a deal he reached with the panel just last week to sit for an interview and provide documents.

"The turnabout was the second in two weeks by Mr. Meadows, who had initially refused to comply with a subpoena from House panel in line with a directive from Mr. Trump, but told the panel last week that he would be willing to provide documents and sit for a voluntary interview."

In the meantime, judging from the complete lack of response, grassroots Trump Republicans are clueless. They have no idea of what is going on. Worse, they don't want to know. A good many of them never heard of Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff when Trump was in the White House.
 
Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff under President Donald J. Trump, on Tuesday informed the committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol that he was no longer willing to cooperate with its investigation.
Meadows' book came out today. A coincidence, right?

Yeah, sure, and pigs fly.

Meadows is scheduled to appear before the Jan. 6 select committee tomorrow. If he fails to appear, he will be charged with contempt, and the matter will be turned over to the DOJ.

Speaking of which, Steve Bannon goes on trial in July for Contempt of Congress. The timing couldn't be better. The mid-term election campaigns will have a full head of steam, and the country will learn of the Republican attempt to overthrow the elected government.

In August, The House Select Committee investigating the deadly January 6 riot requested that the telecommunications companies preserve the phone records of a group of GOP members of Congress who played some role in the "Stop the Steal" rally that served as the prelude to the Capitol insurrection. The committee is expected to ask for those records sometime in the near future.
 
Hopefully, this ends well. Hopefully, Putin is not stupid.

The Times reports, "President Biden and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia spoke for roughly two hours by videoconference on Tuesday in an effort to defuse a growing military crisis along Ukraine’s borders, where tens of thousands of Russian troops have massed in what U.S. officials say could be the prelude to an all-out invasion.

"The meeting was one of the biggest foreign policy tests of Mr. Biden’s presidency to date, with consequences for the stability of Europe, the credibility of American threats and the future of a country the United States has spent years trying to defend from Mr. Putin’s aggression.

"The leaders’ videoconference did not resolve the crisis along Ukraine’s borders, and neither the Kremlin nor the White House reported substantial progress.

"Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said after the meeting that Mr. Biden had offered Mr. Putin the choice between a diplomatic solution and the severe economic and political consequences that would follow a Russian invasion of Ukraine — but he did not say whether Mr. Putin had made any commitments."

Much is at stake here. Personally, I think Putin is bluffing. He merely wants to show who is the boss in Eastern Europe, and it isn't the United States.
 
Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff under President Donald J. Trump, on Tuesday informed the committee scrutinizing the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol that he was no longer willing to cooperate with its investigation.
Those attempting to cover for former President Trump who attempted to overthrow the elected government on Jan. 6 are making complete fools of themselves. The leading player in that scenario is Mark Meadows.

After providing the Jan. 6 committee with over 6,000 documents, after the publication of his book yesterday with myriad details of the lead-up to the Jan. 6 insurrection and the insurrection itself, Meadows changed his mind yesterday and decided not to cooperate with the committee.

The Times reports, "Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff for President Donald J. Trump, filed suit on Wednesday against Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in an attempt to persuade a federal judge to block the committee’s subpoenas.

"Mr. Meadows’s suit came hours after the committee said it would move forward with a criminal contempt of Congress referral against Mr. Meadows after he refused to appear for a scheduled deposition.

"His lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington, accuses the committee of issuing “two overly broad and unduly burdensome subpoenas” against him, including one sent to Verizon for his phone and text data."

Apparently, it hasn't dawned on Meadows that it isn't every day that a soon-to-be retired President leads a revolt against the elected government. The material required by the select committee is related to that foiled attempt by Trump.

In other words, the events are extraordinary and need to be dealt with extraordinarily.

Hence, Meadows is facing criminal prosecution along with Jeffery Clark and Steve Bannon.

"The committee did not immediately announce a date for its vote on the contempt referral against Mr. Meadows, which is all but certain to be approved and sent to the full House, where lawmakers are likely to pass it, formally recommending that the Justice Department prosecute Mr. Meadows," the Times.

The trials will probably come in the summer just in time for the mid-term elections. US District Judge Carl Nichols set a July 18 start date for the trial of Steve Bannon.
 
Hopefully, this ends well. Hopefully, Putin is not stupid.
As things stand now, American troops will not be sent to Ukraine.

The Guardian reports, "Joe Biden has said that he is not considering sending US troops to defend Ukraine in response to a Russian military buildup on the country’s borders.

“That is not on the table,” he told reporters on Wednesday, one day after speaking directly with Vladimir Putin in an effort to avert a military crisis.

"Biden has warned Putin that there would be “severe consequences” if Russia launches an attack on Ukraine and said the US would be providing “defensive capabilities” to the Ukrainian military.

"Biden also said that he was hoping to announce “meetings at a higher level” between Russia and at least four Nato members in an effort to address the Kremlin’s complaints about the military alliance. Biden said he hoped to be able to announce the meetings by Friday.

"The talks would include “at least four of our major Nato allies and Russia to discuss the future of Russia’s concerns relative to Nato writ large and … bringing down the temperature along the Eastern Front.”
 
Apparently, so far, three of Trump's close associates feel they have committed a crime because of their role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

CNN reports, "Roger Stone, an ally of former President Donald Trump, has become the latest individual subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating January 6 to indicate he would plead the Fifth Amendment as a way to try and get out of cooperating with the panel.

"In a letter to the committee obtained by CNN, Stone's lawyer, Grant J. Smith, wrote that "pursuant to the rights afforded him by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, he declines to be deposed or to produce documents."

"Two other high-profile witnesses also have indicated they would plead the Fifth, which protects against self-incrimination: John Eastman, the lawyer who helped craft a questionable legal theory that former Vice President Pence had the authority to interrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election results, and Jeffrey Clark, a former top Justice Department official during the Trump administration."

These three are willing to admit that they committed a crime, and they have the right not to incriminate themselves. That's very interesting.

Those attempting to cover for former President Trump who attempted to overthrow the elected government on Jan. 6 are making complete fools of themselves.

The forum's Republicans continue their silence on the issues. That is significant.
 
Breaking news!

NBC reports, "A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that former President Donald Trump cannot prevent the House Jan. 6 committee from getting hundreds of documents created when he was in the White House.

"A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that although Trump retained some authority to claim executive privilege, it was not strong enough to overcome President Joe Biden's decision that Congress has a legitimate need for the material."

The current President has already ruled that executive privilege does not apply in this case. Consequently, the court is saying a former President's claim of privilege does not supersede the current President's decision on the matter.

"The president and the legislative branch have shown a national interest in and pressing deed for the prompt disclosure of these documents," wrote Judge Patricia Millett for the court.

“The events of January 6th exposed the fragility of those democratic institutions and traditions that we had perhaps come to take for granted,” Millett wrote. “In response, the President of the United States and Congress have each made the judgment that access to this subset of presidential communication records is necessary to address a matter of great constitutional moment for the Republic.”

NBC continued, "Trump's lawyers will likely now file an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court in an effort to block the release. The court put a 14-day hold on its own ruling to give his lawyers time to pursue an appeal."

The Supreme Court is a conservative court, and Trump appointed three of the judges.

That said, the conservative court supports the Constitution's separation of powers. The former President has lost each time he has brought this matter before a federal court, the Constitution taking precedence over a former President. It is doubtful the Court will take this matter up.

If the Supremes do decide to take it, it is extremely doubtful they will rule that a former President can overrule the current President.
 
A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that former President Donald Trump cannot prevent the House Jan. 6 committee from getting hundreds of documents created when he was in the White House.
"Both Branches agree that there is a unique legislative need for these documents and that they are directly relevant to the Committee’s inquiry into an attack on the Legislative Branch and its constitutional role in the peaceful transfer of power," the court said.

Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington said after the ruling: “Regardless of today’s decision by the the appeals court, this case was always destined for the Supreme Court. President Trump’s duty to defend the Constitution and the Office of the Presidency continues, and he will keep fighting for every American and every future Administration.”

Do we laugh or cry? The former President is delusional. He has completely lost it.

I'm wondering, is this all a joke to Trump? Seems like it.
 
Biden is doing a fantastic job with the economy!

CNBC reports, "Weekly jobless claims tumbled last week, reaching a fresh 52-year low as the U.S. jobs market climbs out of its pandemic-era hole, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

"Initial filings for unemployment insurance totaled 184,000 for the week ended Dec. 4, the lowest going back to Sept. 6, 1969, which saw 182,000."

Actually, what I said about Biden is not true. Presidents have little control over the economy ... or employment.

However, tradition has it that when the economy is bad, Presidents get the blame. When the economy is doing great, Presidents get the credit, although that is not true in Biden's case. The economy is doing great, and Biden's approval rating is in the toilet.

Go figure.
 
Presidents have little control over the economy ... or employment.

However, tradition has it that when the economy is bad, Presidents get the blame. When the economy is doing great, Presidents get the credit, although that is not true in Biden's case.
The Post reports, "Prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly 40 years last month, increasing 6.8 percent over the same period a year ago, as inflation continues to squeeze households and businesses nationwide and complicates the political environment for Congress and the White House.

"The broad-based increases span just about every sector, from pork, poultry and produce to housing and sporting goods. Even Dollar Tree, which has long sold items for $1, is hiking prices to $1.25.

"Rising prices throughout the economy threaten to swamp the White House’s legislative agenda during a critical moment for President Biden, as persistently high inflation spooks both voters and lawmakers.

A combination of soaring demand and supply disruptions has — for many Americans — tarnished an otherwise robust economic recovery
.

The polls indicate that Americans are blaming the President for inflation even though Biden has done nothing to cause inflation.

The Post continued, "The legislative implications of the new report could be immense. The primary Democratic holdout on Biden’s $2 trillion tax and spending package is Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia. Manchin, for months, has cited inflation as one of his primary reasons for urging Democrats to proceed with caution.

"Biden and his allies attempted to deflect mounting criticism of inflation by saying the new spending package is necessary to help Americans deal with rising costs. They said the spending package is designed to reduce families’ costs on household items such as prescription drugs, housing and health care."

"On Friday, Biden blamed supply chain dysfunction, not government spending, for pushing prices higher. Still, he referred to the current inflationary surge as a “real bump in the road.”

The President is meeting with Manchin early next week. Asked Friday if he could persuade Manchin to support the social spending plan, Biden was reticent.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” the President told reporters.
 
Donald Trump says the election was stolen from him. This became the basis for the Jan. 6 insurrection and his attempt to overthrow the elected government. Regarding the current assault on our government, please recall Vladimir Putin, the communist dictator of Russia, wanted Trump elected President in the 2016 election.

Chris Cillizza writes:
In an interview with Donald Trump earlier this week, conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt said something truly breathtaking.

"You know, Mr. President, you and I disagree about the election, but we agree on so much," Hewitt told Trump, segueing into a conversation about China's hypersonic missiles.

Talk about an other-than-that-how-was-the-play-Mrs. Lincoln moment!

That Hewitt uttered that line without irony is a telling window into how conservatives have found ways to rationalize Trump and his fundamentally anti-democratic attempts to undermine the faith of the American public in the 2020 election results.

Here's the reality: You can't just sort of yada yada the election rejection embraced by Trump. Because in refusing to accept the result of the 2020 election and repeatedly (and falsely) alleging voter fraud, Trump is actively working against everything that makes America, well, America.


That is exactly what Trump Republicans are doing on this forum. This thread is sometimes critical of Trump, but it is not just the complete absence of Trump Republicans on the issues in this forum. It is this forum as a whole.

Want proof? Look at the threads started by Trump Republicans. With very few exceptions, there is nothing about the Republican Party, their party. There is nothing about what their party is doing. There is nothing about their party's leader, Trump. Significant numbers of high ranking Republicans were involved in the Jan. 6 insurrection. Trump Republicans offer no defense for these Republicans, and they say nothing sbout the Jan. 6 select committee that is investigating Trump's attempt to overthrow the elected government.

And these people expect to control Congress after the 2022 mid-terms? What the hell!
 
President Joe R. Biden, how refreshing that sounds. What a refreshing day. Our divisive, erratic, foolish, conspiratorial, narcissistic President is gone, replaced by a President who deeply wants to unite us. Barring ill-advised preconceived notions about President Biden, his task should be easy. We are all Americans
But some of us are rich Americans, and they have always been Biden's base. Imho, he has served corporate interests as long as he's been in public office.

He looked and sounded good in 2020 by comparison to a malignant, moronic con-man, but his campaign lies are becoming too obvious to ignore:


DECEMBER 10, 2021

Roaming Charges: King of Tides


"Biden told many stammering whoppers during the primary campaign, but perhaps none more ludicrous than this one back on November 20, 2019: 'And I would make it very clear we were not going to, in fact, sell more weapons to them [Saudi Arabia], we were going to, in fact, make them pay the price and make them, in fact, the pariah that they are. There’s very little social redeeming value of the — in the present government in Saudi Arabia.'"

Congress Must Halt Biden’s Arms Sales to Saudi Arabia
 
The best news correspondent in the business is leaving Fox and joining CNN. He has had it with conspiratorial Fox network, a network that omits important news. News Trump doesn't like.

CNN reports, "Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, one of the few high-profile news personalities who retained a reputation of integrity as Fox leaned hard into right-wing and conspiratorial programming, announced Sunday that he is departing the network and joining CNN+ to host a weekday show.

"Wallace made the stunning announcement of his departure at the end of "Fox News Sunday," the flagship weekly political program that he has moderated since 2003.

"Wallace described his time at Fox as a "great ride" and said he was "ready for a new adventure."

"That adventure will take place at CNN, where Wallace will become an anchor for CNN+, a streaming service launching in early 2022. According to CNN's press release, Wallace will host a weekday show featuring interviews with newsmakers "across politics, business, sports and culture."
 
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