Tag: GOP now the cult of Trump

Trumpworld has converted the nation’s regional talk radio hosts into a loyal army

Washington Post logoRICHMOND — With breakfast from McDonald’s in his left hand and his softsided briefcase rolling behind him, John Fredericks strolled into his radio studio, housed in a small, isolated building on the south side of this city.

He has engaged in some version of this ritual in the pitch dark for the past eight years as host of a morning show on a local AM radio station — an unlikely career path for the lifelong stutterer.

Fredericks, who declared bankruptcy in 2011 in the wake of the financial crisis and lost his family’s home, vowed to make the radio job work. And he turned his hosting gig at a single station into a regionally syndicated radio network run out of Richmond. Continue reading.

Why we are witnessing the death of reason among Republicans

AlterNet logoThe reviews are in for the first day of arguments in the Senate impeachment trial. For example:

Jon Ward

✔@jonward11

I sat in chamber for entire Schiff speech. That was a mauling. Trump team thought they were there to debate process and Schiff ambushed them with a full-throated case for impeachment. Republicans were visibly uncomfortable. Sekulow & Cippolone responses were rambling & bombastic

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The reviews are in for the first day of arguments in the Senate impeachment trial. For example:

Jon Ward

✔@jonward11

I sat in chamber for entire Schiff speech. That was a mauling. Trump team thought they were there to debate process and Schiff ambushed them with a full-throated case for impeachment. Republicans were visibly uncomfortable. Sekulow & Cippolone responses were rambling & bombastic

60.4K

Twitter Ads info and privacy
15K people are talking about this

GOP rejects effort to compel documents on delayed Ukraine aid

The Hill logoSenate Republicans on Tuesday rejected an opening effort by Democrats to compel the Trump administration to hand over documents related to the delayed Ukraine aid.

Democrats offered four amendments over roughly nine hours to the rules resolution that would have required the administration to turn over documents. All four were tabled, effectively blocking the requests, in 53-47 votes.

The documents, according to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), would relate to conversations and documents between President Trump, top administration officials and Ukraine on the delayed funding, which was eventually released in September.  Continue reading.

Presidential historian: Martha McSally’s unhinged outburst proves GOP has become a ‘monarchist party’ and ‘cult of personality’

AlterNet logoPresidential historian Jon Meacham is known for looking at the big picture, and he did exactly that on Tuesday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” when he analyzed Arizona Sen. Martha McSally’s recent outburst at CNN reporter Manu Raju.

Last week, Raju asked McSally if she wanted new evidence to be included in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. And the Arizona Republican angrily responded, “You’re a liberal hack. I’m not talking to you. You’re a liberal hack.”

According to Meacham, McSally’s outburst wasn’t an anomaly or an isolated incident but rather, was designed to express her unwavering devotion to Trump. Such behavior on McSally’s part, Meacham told hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, is characteristic of a “monarchist party” and a “cult of personality. Continue reading.

Devin Nunes ‘lied to the American people’: Hometown newspaper slams GOP congressman for ‘betraying our country’

AlterNet logoRep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) was scorched by his hometown newspaper in an editorial blasting the Trump supporter for his “betrayal.”

“Kiev, Ukraine, is nearly 6,200 miles from Tulare, Calif. That’s a long way from home for Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Tulare, who now faces explosive allegations that he and his staff contacted shadowy Ukrainian figures in an effort to betray American democracy,” The Fresno Bee noted. “Text messages released by the House Intelligence Committee last week reveal that a top Nunes aide named Derek Harvey – who on Trump’s National Security Council before he joined Nunes’ staff – sought direct contact with Ukrainian officials in an effort to smear former Vice President Joe Biden.”

Nunes, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has been a leading defender of the president. Continue reading.

Schiff says McConnell setting stage for ‘rigged trial’

The Hill logoHouse Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday over setting the stage for a “rigged” impeachment trial for President Trump.

Schiff, the lead impeachment manager on the House team, zeroed in on a provision in the rules resolution that could force the impeachment trial to go late into the night.

The provision gives the impeachment managers 24 hours to present their arguments, but over just two legislative days, with arguments beginning Wednesday and Thursday at 1 p.m. Continue reading.

‘Shove it,’ Rep. Ted Lieu tells GOP colleague Devin Nunes in response to lawsuit threat

Washington Post logoThe politicians’ dueling played out, as it almost always does these days, largely on Twitter and cable TV.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D) alleged in December that fellow California Rep. Devin Nunes (R) conspired with Lev Parnas, a former associate of President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, to undermine the United States. Parnas has pleaded not guilty to violating campaign finance laws.

Then a lawyer for Nunes, who is the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, sent a multi-page missive threatening to sue for damage to Nunes’s reputation, Lieu tweeted. The Democratic congressman replied with a letter of his own and posted a photo of the document online. Continue reading.

Trump may not be removed by the Senate, but he’s still terrified of his trial — here’s why

AlterNet logoDonald Trump is scared. The Senate trial following his impeachment for a blackmail and campaign cheating scheme starts next week, and it’s driving him to distraction. He was supposed to host a lame event at the White House on Thursday to bolster fake concerns that white evangelicals are being oppressed, but blew off pandering to his strongest supporters for an hour, likely because he couldn’t pry himself away from news coverage of the impeachment trial’s kickoff. After ending the event swiftly, Trump then tweeted angrily, “I JUST GOT IMPEACHED FOR MAKING A PERFECT PHONE CALL!”

(As with most things the president says, this was untrue — he was impeached weeks ago, in December.)

Trump’s cold sweats are significant, because everyone who has been following this case knows that the Senate will acquit him. Not because he’s innocent — no one who has actually consulted the evidence is foolish enough to believe that — but because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republicans who control the Senate decided long ago that they would cover up for their shamelessly corrupt president no matter what he does. With such an assured outcome, Trump’s fears seem overblown and silly, even for someone crippled by sociopathic narcissism and its accompanying paranoia. Continue reading.

GOP threatens to weaponize impeachment witnesses amid standoff

The Hill logoRepublicans are threatening to weaponize a fight on Senate impeachment witnesses amid growing concerns that moderates within their caucus could help Democrats call former national security adviser John Bolton to testify. 

After weeks of pledging that they would hold a quick trial with no witnesses from either side, Republicans — from Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on down — are sending public warning shots that if their GOP colleagues open the door to Democratic witnesses they’ll respond in kind, forcing votes on a slew of controversial individuals.

The pressure tactics are the latest shift in strategy as Republican leaders try to navigate the factions in their caucus, where moderates want to leave the potential for witnesses on the table and conservatives are anxious to quickly acquit President Trump.  Continue reading.

Rick Santorum flattened by CNN’s Berman after calling Parnas bombshell revelations ‘extraneous’ to impeachment

AlterNet logoRick Santorum and CNN’s John Berman got into a frantic back-and-forth on Friday morning after the former Republican senator attempted to dismiss the revelations by former Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas as something that should not be submitted as evidence in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump.

Discussing the Senate trial expected to start next week, Santorum said the only testimony and witnesses that should be allowed are ones that came up in the earlier House hearings.

“The House’s responsibility to bring to us a case,” Santorum stated. “They’re the one who is said these are offenses that are worthy of the president being removed from office; here is the record, here are the charges. The Senate didn’t impeach, the House did, so we are going to look at the record the House presented us. We’re going to look at the witnesses and say are there are questions that we have for the people that brought this case forward and relied on these witnesses and look at their testimony.” Continue reading.