Author: Data and Research Manager

Commentary: How The Republican Party Became A Death Cult

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The childish narcissism and prideful ignorance of the American right — as personified in its idol, former President Donald Trump — have transformed “conservatism” into a public health menace. Republicans in office and their media echoes are the principal obstacles to vaccinating enough Americans to achieve herd immunity from COVID-19, which would be awful even if their gullible audiences were the only potential victims. 

But the rapid spread of the highly contagious and harmful delta variant is a warning that large pools of unvaccinated human hosts create the perfect environment for further mutations that may overcome vaccines and kill more efficiently. This means, in short, that the Republicans resisting vaccination and encouraging others to resist are a danger to all. After whining bitterly for the past year about masks and shutdowns, these same complainers may now make a safe reopening impossible.

The campaign to thwart vaccination grows more intense on the right as the Biden administration seeks desperately to prevent a viral catastrophe. It is a campaign of fear and lies, seemingly designed to ensure that the maximum number of Americans will succumb to the disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least 99 percent of those Americans now dying from coronavirus infection are unvaccinated. The Republicans urging their constituents to reject the vaccine appear determined to massacre them in a terrible parody of the Darwinian theory of natural selection. Continue reading.

GOP Pols Forced to Admit the ‘Big Lie’ Is BS During Farcical Texas Showdown

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Protesters filled the Texas State House on Saturday for a hastily organized special session to debate Gov. Greg Abbott’s restrictive “election integrity” measures.

Republican lawmakers were forced to admit they have not seen any evidence of widespread election fraud during a Saturday showdown in the Texas State House over restrictive “election integrity” measures being taken up in a special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott.

The move was decried by Democrats as little more than an attempt to suppress minority votes. Experts say that unnecessary election security measures like the ones being proposed in Texas actually do nothing to make elections more secure and disproportionately disenfranchise people of color. Large numbers of opponents showed up on Saturday to officially register their objection to the GOP initiative, including former Rep. Beto O’Rourke.

One of them, a 17-year-old San Antonian named Kyle Huang, began his testimony by saying he was there representing “myself, and I guess my fellow citizens.” Continue reading.

Vacancies remain in key Biden administration positions

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The Biden administration is working to move past the pandemic without a permanent leader for the agency that authorizes drugs and vaccines. Democrats are decrying Republican-led efforts to restrict the right to vote, but President Biden has yet to nominate a solicitor general to represent the government on voting rights and other issues that could come before the Supreme Court.

And the Office of Management and Budget has only an acting director, even as the president seeks a sweeping budget resolution in Congress that would enable his “human infrastructure” plan to pass, one of his top goals.

Biden and his aides consistently tout their “whole of government” approach to solving pressing problems, but several key agencies across the government still have no permanent leaders. As the president approaches six months in office, some of those positions have direct involvement in addressing the crises Biden promised to prioritize at the start of his administration: the pandemic, the economy, climate change and racial inequity. Continue reading.

McCarthy, GOP face a delicate dance on Jan. 6 committee

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) faces a daunting task as he weighs his options for appointing Republicans to a special committee to investigate the Capitol attack of Jan. 6.

Formally, his picks need approval from Democratic leaders, who wrote the rules for the panel. Informally, McCarthy’s choices can’t upset former President Trump, who remains the party’s kingmaker. And internally, they can’t alienate one faction of McCarthy’s conference or another, which could threaten his chances of becoming Speaker if the House flips in next year’s midterm elections.

Yet there’s a fourth complication, as well: A number of lawmakers say they’re simply not interested in being on the committee. Continue reading.

Speaker Hortman Issues Statement About Rep. John Thompson

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman issued the following statement.

“The Minnesota House of Representatives takes allegations of member misconduct seriously. 

“There is a process in place pursuant to House Rule 6.10 whereby two or more members of the House may file a complaint about conduct by a member that they allege violates a rule or administrative policy of the House, violates accepted norms of House behavior, betrays the public trust, or tends to bring the House into dishonor or disrepute. Such a complaint, if filed, would be referred to the House Ethics Committee. To date, no House members have filed an ethics complaint regarding the allegations made against Representative Thompson.

“As in other instances of alleged member misconduct, in the absence of a formal ethics complaint, in my role as Speaker I will work with counsel to thoroughly investigate the law and facts, compare the alleged misconduct to prior allegations of wrongdoing by members of the Minnesota House and the resultant consequences, and act accordingly.”

In the Know: July 13, 2021

DFL In the Know Graphic


Governor Tim Walz
Minnesota lawmakers approved cash bonuses for essential workers. Now they just need to figure out who’s going to get the money., MinnPost

Minnesota News
Minnesota ends fiscal year with $2.7 billion more than projected, Brainerd Dispatch
In a bid to offer more affordable housing options, Minneapolis council members propose bringing back the rooming house, MinnPost
Longtime state Capitol-area planner Paul Mandell retires after 34 years, Pioneer Press
Rep. John Thompson calls for swift release of body camera footage from traffic stop, Star Tribune

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris News
Pressured by allies, Biden escalates fight for voting rights, Associated Press
Biden calls on Cuban regime to ‘hear their people and serve their needs’ amid rare protests, CNN
VP Kamala Harris says ‘Detroit … is the definition of resilience,’ urges COVID vaccines, Detroit Free Press
Harris: Texas Democrats displayed ‘courage’ by leaving state to block GOP voting bill, USA Today 

Continue reading “In the Know: July 13, 2021”

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy secretly assigned an aide to clean up Marjorie Taylor Greene’s messes: CNN

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According to a report from CNN’s Melanie Zanona, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) still fears publicly criticizing some of the extremist members of his caucus and, behind the scenes, has assigned a staff member to advise Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on how to dig herself out after she goes too far with her inflammatory comments.

According to CNN’s “New Day” host Brianna Keilar, “A top adviser to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was involved in a behind the scenes effort to rehabilitate the reputation of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. This adviser facilitated Taylor Greene’s visit to the Holocaust Memorial from last month after which she publicly apologized for her anti-semitic remarks.”

“Here is the thing though,” the CNN host added. “That remorse didn’t stick. She invoked Nazi-era imagery again this week to mock Covid safety practices.” Continue reading.

GOP lawmakers who oppose background checks now very concerned about shootings

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Republicans continue to block efforts in Congress to pass gun control legislation.

House Republicans, nearly all of whom voted against legislation to require a background check prior to all gun purchases, are now blaming President Joe Biden and other Democratic officials for a rise in the number of shootings and homicides.

In a series of tweets from their official caucus Twitter account on Tuesday, Republicans in the House noted a recent Fox News story about an increase in the number of shootings in major cities in 2021 so far compared to the first half of last year. “Welcome to Joe Biden’s America,” they tweeted, and paraphrased Fox contributor Joe Concha: “The common thread these are all cities run by Democrat Mayors.”

Several members of the caucus shared the tweets or offered their own similar assessments. Continue reading.

Weisselberg out in Scotland: First indication that indictment affects Trump Organization operations

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Allen Weisselberg, the indicted Trump Organization executive, was removed today as a director of Donald Trump’s golf resort in Aberdeen, Scotland, public records show. The move is the first to indicate how the indictment is affecting operations of the Trump Organization.

His removal comes as Scottish lawmakers and Avaaz, a global do-gooder organization, are pushing for an “unexplained wealth” inquiry into how Trump got the money to buy and refurbish both of his money-losing Scottish golf courses.

A 2018 British law lets investigators examine company and personal financial records to determine sources of money and riches that they deem suspicious. It’s been called the McMafia law. Continue reading.

Giuliani compares defending Trump in court to defending ‘terrorists’

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Rudy Giuliani’s law license was suspended in the state of New York over his ‘professional misconduct.’

Responding to his recent suspension from practicing law in the state of New York, Rudy Giuliani on Saturday compared his work as former President Donald Trump’s lawyer to that of lawyers defending terrorists who “have killed innocent people.”

A panel of judges of the New York Supreme Court determined in June that Giuliani had violated the New York Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers by making false claims that there had been fraud in the 2020 presidential election win by Joe Biden and that “false statements made by respondent constitute uncontroverted proof of respondent’s professional misconduct.”

In its decision, the panel pointed out, “Respondent repeatedly represented to the court that his client, the plaintiff, was pursuing a fraud claim, when indisputably it was not. … Respondent’s mischaracterization of the case was not simply a passing mistake or inadvertent reference. Fraud was the crown of his personal argument before the court that day.” Continue reading.