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.

White House says Biden warned Putin on ransomware attacks

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President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. would take action to “defend its people” against ransomware attacks, per a White House readout of the call on Friday. 

The big picture: The call comes after a Russia-linked group is believed to be behind an attack on software provider Kaseya, the latest in a mass of ransomware attacks impacting U.S. companies. 

What they’re saying: “I made it very clear to him that the United States expects when a ransomware operation coming from his soil — even though it’s not sponsored by the state — we expect him to act. And we’ve given him enough information to act on who that is,” Biden said on Friday afternoon. Continue reading.

Top Biden ally pleads with him to scrap filibuster for election reform

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Rep. Jim Clyburn said it’s time for the president to embrace more aggressive changes to the Senate rules.

After months of setbacks and gridlock on voting rights, one of President Joe Biden’s top allies in Congress is calling for him to support amending the Senate filibuster.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told POLITICO Biden “should endorse” the idea of creating a carveout to the legislative filibuster in the Senate for legislation that applies to the Constitution. In effect, the reform would make it possible for Democrats to pass their sweeping elections reform bill and another bill reauthorizing key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with just Democratic support.

It’s a sentiment the congressman says he’s shared with White House counselor Steve Ricchetti and Office of Public Engagement Director Cedric Richmond as well. “I’ve even told that to the vice president,” Clyburn said. Continue reading.

‘Warning lights are blinking red’: Pollsters sound the alarm on shocking data on GOP voters

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Polling data is showing that Republican base voters are radicalizing against democracy, and two polling experts are sounding the alarm on what it means for the United States.

The Economist’s G. Elliot Morris pointed to polls showing that a plurality of Republican voters think that state legislatures should have the right to overturn the results of presidential elections, while supermajorities believe that former President Donald Trump really won the 2020 election and that President Joe Biden is illegitimate.

In fact, Morris said that the most recent polling numbers show that 74 percent of Republican voters do not believe Biden’s presidency is legitimate. 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.”

Robert E. Lee statue taken down in Charlottesville

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The city of Charlottesville, Va., has taken down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, marking the end of a years-long effort to have it removed.

Videos shared to social media showed the statue being hoisted off its stone base Saturday morning, with some in the crowd cheering as it was removed from the pedestal.

The city announced Friday it would remove the statue, which was at the site of the 2017 “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally that resulted in the death of a counterprotester. Continue reading.

CPAC attendee circulates ‘plan’ to re-install Trump as president ‘in days’

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An attendee at this year’s second Conservative Political Action Conference has reportedly been handing out cards that feature a “plan” to return former President Donald Trump to the White House “in days.”

As flagged by Forbes reporter Andrew Solender, the “plan” involves seven steps, none of which appear to have any possibility of becoming a reality.

The first step involves somehow ousting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) by getting the Congressional Black Caucus to switch to the Republican Party and voting in a “trusted Conservative.” Continue reading.