Hat, cattle, etc. The GOP’s “throw it against the wall and see what” shtick just is not working anymore. Not even with the oft-complicit The New York Times. The RW distraction machine is sputtering. Rep. Jim Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee released an interim report on the Hunter Biden faux financial scandal on Wednesday. The report and the press conference announcing the release landed with a loud plop. After four months of investigation, House Republicans who promised to use their new majority to unearth evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden acknowledged on Wednesday that they had yet to uncover incriminating material about him, despite their frequent insinuations that he and his family have been involved in criminal conduct and corruption. No evidence is no impediment to the ongoing smear campaign. But not even Fox & Friends is buying what House Republicans are selling. Heather Cox Richardson calls the report “a bizarre effort.” Of course. It’s who MAGA Republicans are: A press conference the House Oversight Committee also held this morning got more attention than Jordan’s report, but it, too, was a fizzle.
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Donald Trump on TV acting like a psycho It was horrible. I keep up with him, as you know. I read his silly feed on his silly social media platform and I watch his videos. And I’ve watched his interviews and rallies. But I have not seen him at a normal campaign event since 2020 and even though I know he will never change, it’s still a shock to see him lie so relentlessly — and worse, watch the audience cheer and applaud as if he’s said something hilarious or profound. I confess that it shook me a bit. If anything he’s worse than he was before. Oliver Darcy, the media reporter sent this newsletter last night: It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening. Kaitlan Collins is as tough and knowledgable of an interviewer as they come. She fact-checked Trump throughout the 70-minute town hall. Over and over and over again, she told him that the election was not stolen. That it was not rigged. That there was no evidence for the lies he was disseminating on stage. “The election was not rigged, Mr.
“Women LET you” In case you were wondering if the other GOP candidates were gong to take on Trump, this is a very good indication that they are not: The group of Republican candidates and potential candidates for president in 2024 joined together to forcefully condemn and renounce former President Donald Trump after he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation on Tuesday. Just kidding. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), assumed to be Trump’s biggest competition when he announces, sidestepped the opportunity when it was served up to him at a Wednesday event. “I’ve been pretty busy — I know there’s different stuff in the news,” he said. “I may have something to say about the overall landscape for ’24, but stay tuned on that,” he added. Former Governor and Ambassador Nikki Haley also took what would normally be a massive cudgel to take to her primary opponent and politely set it on the ground. “I’m not gonna get into that,” she told Hugh Hewitt, a right-wing radio talk show host. “That’s something for Trump to respond to.
But sure, bring back Orange Julius Caesar Job satisfaction hit a 36-year high in 2022, reflecting two effects of the tight pandemic labor market: The quality of jobs improved as wages and work flexibility increased, and workers moved into positions that were a better fit. Last year, 62.3% of U.S. workers said they were satisfied with their jobs, according to new data from the Conference Board, up from 60.2% in 2021 and 56.8% in 2020. The business-research organization polled workers on 26 aspects of work, and found that people were most content with their commutes, their co-workers, the physical environment of their workplace and job security. Among the happiest workers: people who voluntarily switched jobs during the pandemic and individuals working in hybrid roles with a mix of in-person and remote work. Men’s satisfaction was higher than women’s in every component, especially in areas such as leave policies, bonus plans, promotions, communication and organizational culture.
Construction workers say many employees have not showed up to work because they fear deportation. Critics say Florida Senate Bill 1718 is to blame. If signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, businesses could face a $10,000 fine for every undocumented employee and the state could revoke their business license. Because of this, many construction workers who spoke to CBS News Miami say they are fearful of the future. “Many workers are leaving, thinking they’re going to be deported, so they’re going to other states,” says Jose, an employee. “Everyone is really uneasy…we just want to work to help our families.” I don’t think people realize how much the construction industry depends upon immigrant labor. It looks like Florida is about to find out. So is Kentucky: And then there’s this: DeSantis is doing everything he can to destroy Florida’s economy. Too bad about all the people who didn’t vote for him who will suffer for it.
No time for melting down Hats off to Digby. She will be along presently with a recap of last night’s CNN-sponsored, Donald Trump freak show. The excerpts were bad enough. The intertubes are full of it this morning, literally and figuratively. The extremist right is gleefully declaring that liberals are “melting down” over Trump’s demented display of sociopathy. Yup, that’s our guy, they cheer. Over at The Atlantic, Arthur C. Brooks examines the psychological impacts of working to make the world a saner, safer place. Fighting back can come at a cost. Activism can make you miserable. If you expect to sustain it, choose a variety that doesn’t. And work that doesn’t turn you into what you loathe and to us vs. them-ism. The reflex my generation had for taking to the streets (pointlessly, for the most part) continues among the latest generational cohort of activists. The mental health impacts are a mixed bag: Although nearly a third of the students believed that their advocacy work improved their well-being, 60 percent reported harm to their mental health.
All the president’s legal woes got worse last night The tsunami of lies in the town hall last night makes it hard to isolate all the atrocities. But you can be sure that prosecutors in all of his pending legal cases were taking meticulous notes of everything he said. Igor Derysh at Salon lays out the reactions of some of the TV lawyers to what Trump said last night. Former President Donald Trump may have provided additional evidence in multiple investigations during his CNN town hall event on Wednesday, legal experts say. Trump repeatedly lied during the town hall that the election was “rigged,” that Georgia “owed” him votes, that he had the right to take classified documents to Mar-a-Lago and that he does not know E. Jean Carroll — the writer who was awarded $5 million a day earlier after it found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. “All three ongoing criminal cases got new evidence tonight against Trump,” tweeted national security attorney Bradley Moss.
Time for a drink Have I mentioned that the GOP is shameless? House Republicans passed a symbolic bill Thursday that would clamp down on unemployment insurance fraud. And one of the bill’s sponsors, Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), demonstrated the need for the legislation by getting indicted for unemployment insurance fraud this week. You cannot make this stuff up.
On Monday of this week, Variety reported that Fox News is experiencing a burst of new advertising sales in the 8 o’clock hour formerly held by the recently fired celebrity Tucker Carlson. He had had the dubious distinction of having cable news’ top ratings for his time period but scaring away most respectable companies from buying time on his show. So it’s possible that despite the ratings slump the time slot has been experiencing since his departure, the network won’t actually suffer any more losses than they already did in their epic $787 million settlement with Dominion voting machines. They may also be saving a few dollars if it turns out that Tucker Carlson’s latest move results in his breaching the reported non-compete clause in his contract worth $25 million. Carlson posted a twitter video on Tuesday announcing that he’s going to resume his show on twitter as a way of striking a blow for free speech against all the rest of the lying media.
There has been an enormous amount of hand-wringing over a recent ABC news poll that showed Joe Biden losing to Trump if the election were held today. The keening, the crying, the rending of garments from otherwise reasonable people was astonishing considering that it was just one poll, we are a long way from the election and most of them are old enough to remember when Barack Obama was toast in 2011 when his numbers were underwater. And yes, back then there was a ton of nervous chatter about replacing him on the ballot with someone else, putting up a serious primary and all the rest. So this is something Democrats do and it’s one their most annoying traits. Anyway, here’s some news for you to chew on: As Democrats coalesce around him as their inevitable nominee, President Biden still narrowly leads former President Donald Trump in a 2024 general-election matchup, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll. Yet the results also expose significant vulnerabilities for Biden — including his advanced age and the widespread perception that his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, would not be “ready to assume the presidency” if necessary.