Category: National Issues

GOP Senator Dismisses COVID Deaths Of 400 Children

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Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican of Kansas and an obstetrician, dismissed the deaths of 400 children who have died from COVID-19 during a Senate hearing Tuesday with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.

Sen. Marshall’s remarks were based on his false claim that “probably zero” of the 400 children who died of COVID (that number has not been confirmed) had no pre-existing condition.

“Children are not supposed to die,” Dr. Walensky told Sen. Marshall, right before he delivered his remarks dismissing their deaths, as if having a pre-existing condition makes it acceptable for a child to die of COVID-19. Continue reading.

‘You falsely smeared my wife’: Eric Swalwell reveals furious text exchange with Tucker Carlson

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On Friday, The Daily Beast reported that Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) posted screenshots of an angry argument between him and Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who wanted to get him on the phone for a call.

“Tucker, I’m hesitant to do that. You falsely smeared my wife on Tuesday and she’s getting death threats,” said Swalwell, referring to a retracted Fox News story alleging that Swalwell’s campaign funneled money to a business employing his wife. “That’s way out of bounds. She’s a pregnant mom of a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. Hit me all you like. But to go after her. That’s just wrong.”

“Carlson responded by calling the Democrat a ‘coward’ and then apparently phoning him a few minutes later,” reported Blake Montgomery. “Swalwell tweeted, ‘I’m just not that into you.'” Continue reading.

Dating app trips up another Capitol riot suspect, one accused of hitting police with whip

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The phrase “all is fair in love and war” took on a new meaning Friday, when a Texas man was arrested after boasting to a match in a dating app about participating in the Jan. 6 riot “from the very beginning.”

Andrew Taake of Houston was charged with assaulting police and storming the Capitol building. His arrest follows a months-long investigation spurred by a tip and a FedEx delivery driver who confirmed his identity to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Taake made his initial court appearance Friday in the Southern District of Texas, according to a Department of Justice news release. His public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Continue reading.

Suspect Tries to Compare Capitol Riot to Last Year’s Violence in Portland, Ore.

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Right-wing news media and Republican politicians have often made the comparison. Now, in a narrow legal context, a judge will consider the argument.

The comparison has become a staple among right-wing figures in the news media and Republican politicians: The attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6 was really no different than the unrest last year that accompanied months of racial justice protests. Any discussion of the first should — out of fairness, they have said — make reference to the second.

Now, for the first time, a federal court is poised to consider the merits of that argument, albeit in a narrow legal context.

The move comes in the case of Garret Miller, a Dallas man charged with storming the Capitol and facing off with officers inside. Last month, Mr. Miller, 34, raised what is known as a selective prosecution defense, claiming that he had been charged with violent crimes because of his conservative beliefs while dozens of leftist activists in Portland, Ore., had similar charges stemming from last year’s violence reduced or dismissed. Continue reading.

A Republican official’s comment accidentally exposes the party’s ‘Snowflake Syndrome’: columnist

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A recent op-ed piece published by The Washington Post highlights the problem of Snowflake Syndrome among voters who cast ballots for former President Donald Trump. The author, Greg Sargent, notes that the current Republican agenda centers on the following: restricting voting rights, sowing doubt about the COVID-19 vaccine, and downplaying the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The problem is that there is no justification or substantial evidence to support any of their arguments regarding these initiatives. In fact, all are connected to false narratives and misinformation that has been, in some way, influenced by Trump. For example, the nationwide push for voting rights restrictions is supposedly an incentive to increase voters’ confidence in the integrity of the United States’ voting systems. But Sargent pushed back against that argument describing it as “bad-faith nonsense.”

“Broadly speaking,” Sargent wrote, “this “confidence” storyline is bad-faith nonsense: It’s being widely abused to keep alive the myth of the stolen election and to justify an unprecedented wave of efforts to disenfranchise the opposition’s voters. It is not designed to build confidence in our elections, but to further undermine it, for illicit purposes.” Continue reading.

WATCH: Biden leaves conservative reporter speechless after bringing up the GOP’s QAnon problem

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A blunt-talking President Joe Biden shut down a conservative reporter on Thursday night who asked if Democrats are defunding police departments — firing back with a question about a QAnon claim that left the reporter grasping for an answer.

As Biden walked across the South Lawn, he engaged with Shelby Talcott from the conservative Daily Caller following his town hall event in Cincinnati. The exchange went like this, according to White House transcripts:

“Mr. President, can you clarify what you said about no — that there’s no — no one in the Democratic Party is anti-police”‘ Talcott asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Biden replied before adding, ” I said that that — that is not the Democratic Party’s position. I’m the Democratic Party; I am President. So is the Speaker of the House and so is the –- the Majority Leader. We are not defunding the police.” Continue reading.

Abortion rights face most difficult test yet at Supreme Court

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Abortion rights groups are issuing dire warnings that abortion access is likely to be sharply curtailed across the country if the Supreme Court uses a Mississippi case to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision.

The admonishments come after Mississippi on Thursday explicitly urged the justices to overturn the landmark 1973 ruling when the court reviews Mississippi’s ban on virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

“It cannot be overstated how dire the implications would be if Roe v. Wade were overturned,” said Vangela Wade, president of the Mississippi Center for Justice, which is co-counsel on the case. “Women across Mississippi and this nation would lose their fundamental right to chart their own future. Instead, that power would be in the hands of the government.” Continue reading.

‘Loser’ Trump needled by Lincoln Project in brutal new ad highlighting Tom Brady snub

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On Friday, the anti-GOP conservative group the Lincoln Project launched a new online ad mocking former President Donald Trump over NFL star Tom Brady’s refusal to associate with him.

“Tom Brady, great, great friend of mine,” said Trump in the opening of the clip. “Unbelievable winner.”

“Part of being a winner is knowing when enough is enough,” said the narrator, echoing a former quote from Trump himself. “You know, winners just like being around other winners. Not just to talk about how great winning is, because it is great. But to make fun of the losers. Locker room talk. Perfect example? Tom Brady.” The ad then cut to Brady making fun of Trump’s election loss at the White House with President Joe Biden. Continue reading.

Senate GOP brags about poll showing Biden is more popular than they are

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A new Politico/Morning Consult shows President Joe Biden is faring much better than Republicans.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee circulated a poll on Wednesday, suggesting it was proof that Americans are unhappy with President Joe Biden. But that survey showed him with a majority approval rating — well above their own levels of support.

The committee, which is the official campaign arm of the Senate Republican minority, put out a press release titled, “NEW POLL: Majority of Americans Disapprove of Biden’s Amnesty and Open Borders Agenda.” Citing a Politico/Morning Consult survey released Wednesday, it observed that “only 39% of voters approve of Biden’s handling of immigration and a whopping 50% disapprove.”

“As the Biden administration continues to bungle the response to the crisis they created at the Southern Border, Joe Biden’s approval rating on immigration continues to free fall,” the press release claimed. “It takes a stunning level of incompetence to have numbers this bad.” Continue reading.

Voters Overwhelmingly Support Biden Infrastructure Plan As GOP Plots Obstruction

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A day after Senate Republicans blocked debate on a bipartisan infrastructure deal, a new poll shows about two-thirds of American voters back the framework.

On Thursday, Navigator Research released a survey of 1,000 registered voters, finding 66 percent supported the plan — agreed upon in June by President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators — which would invest $579 billion in transportation, broadband, and water system infrastructure. That framework was backed by 86 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and a 46 percent plurality of Republicans.

Although 11 Republican senators agreed on the outlines of a deal in June, every single one of them — and the entire GOP caucus — voted on Wednesday to filibuster a motion to start debate on the bill. Because the motion required a three-fifths supermajority vote, the Democratic majority was stymied in its attempt to even take the plan up for consideration. Attempts to salvage an agreement are ongoing. Continue reading.