And they aren’t positive I never much cared for Mitt Romney over the years but I did admire his willingness to vote to impeach Trump and sign on to bipartisan legislation from time to time. That’s a pretty low bar but in GOP politics these days it makes him a unicorn. But in his new book he doesn’t hold back about his impressions of his fellow Republicans and I am here for it: Christie, Chris Mr. Romney’s advisers in 2012 suggested that he consider Chris Christie, then the governor of New Jersey, as a running mate, according to the book. But Mr. Romney had reservations about Mr. Christie’s “prima donna tendencies,” and worried that the governor was not “up to the physical demands” of being on the ticket and was plagued by “barely buried” scandals, Mr. Coppins writes. The two also came into conflict in 2016 after Mr. Christie became one of the first establishment Republicans to back Mr. Trump. “I believe your endorsement of him severely diminishes you morally,” Mr. Romney wrote in an email. He added: “You must withdraw that support to preserve your integrity and character.” Evaluating Mr.
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We’ll give you crazy Rudy says Biden is an Iranian spy: “He’s on Iran’s side and he’s on Hamas’s side. He is not on our side. He’s got a bunch of spies in his Admin. This guy is working for Iran. Why? Maybe because they’ve infiltrated his Admin the way the communists infiltrated FDR’s Admin.” pic.twitter.com/pBudDVycaM — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 22, 2023 This is the man the putative GOP nominee for president hired to represent him. Meanwhile, in MAGA: THIS WEEK IN THE REPUBLICAN PARTY Oct 14 – Oct 21, 2023 pic.twitter.com/9kR7YkCZmL — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 22, 2023
And no rules A law professor sent Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick a chilling note suggesting, she said, “if Jim Jordan won the speakership, he would simply never certify a Biden election win.” Erica Newland, formerly with the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice, did research on the matter for Protect Democracy. She concurs. If the current iteration of the GOP controls the House in January of 2025, there is no way they will certify a Democratic victory. Ian Bassin, Protect Democracy’s co-founder and executive director, tells Lithwick that on the bright side a handful of Republicans thwarted Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) bid for House speaker: And I think if that holds, and that’s a big if, this is one of the most important developments in this country over the last seven-plus years. And here’s why. I’m going to invoke another recent story in the news that I think is really important to pay attention to, which is the elections this past week in Poland.
This latest moral panic is even dumber than usual Greg Sargent on the latest: Kim Reynolds, Iowa’s Republican governor, signed a law in May that, among other provisions,requires schools to remove books that depict a “sex act.” That statutory phrase has now helped unleash a frenzy of book-banning across the state, one that illustrates a core truth about these types of censorship directives. Their vagueness is the point. When GOP-controlled state legislatures escalated the passage of laws in 2022 and 2023 restricting school materials addressing sex, gender and race, critics warned that their hazy drafting would prod educators to err on the side of censorship. Uncertain whether books or classroom discussions might run afoul of their state’s law, education officials might decide nixing them would be the “safer” option. What’s happening in Iowa right now thoroughly vindicates those fears. This week, the Iowa City Community School District released a list of 68 books that it removed from schools to comply with the law.
This is the test Ron Brownstein with a typically astute analysis of Biden’s current challenges and whether his long experience will now be seen as an asset: The escalating confrontation between Israel and Hamas is offering President Joe Biden a crucial opportunity to begin flipping the script on one of his most glaring vulnerabilities in the 2024 presidential race. For months, polls have consistently shown that most Americans believe Biden’s advanced age has diminished his capacity to handle the responsibilities of the presidency. But many Democrats believe that Biden’s widely praised response to the Mideast crisis could provide him a pivot point to argue that his age is an asset because it has equipped him with the experience to navigate such a complex challenge. “As you project forward, we are going to be able to argue that Joe Biden’s age has been central to his success because in a time of Covid, insurrection, Russian invasion of Ukraine, now challenges in the Middle East, we have the most experienced man ever as president,” said Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg.
Threatening the nation that protects them Sometimes in grazing the net, a theme appears in otherwise disconnected bits of internet flotsam. The current of electrons this morning delivered several random entries pointing toward the cultural degradation of the very people in this country who decry cultural degradation the loudest. This is the real American carnage, to borrow a phrase. The meme at the top is one example. The man who entered American carnage into the lexicon spoke of “Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities, rusted out factories, scattered like tombstones across the across the landscape of our nation, an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge.” His most ardent followers are working at this very moment to decimate public education, to proscribe what children can learn, and to ensure children remain in poverty. Violent crime is rampant, he suggested, and does to this day. People believe him. In fact, violent crime is down. Yes, property crimes are up, but along with hate crimes targeting Blacks, Latinos, and LGBTQ+ Americans. Antisemitic crimes are up as well.
Maybe they mean to repeat history When was America great the first time? Someone go ask Donald Trump. Maybe Jordan Klepper should query Trump rally attendees what “great again” means again. I’m guessing they really mean 1859. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man. Historian Seth Cotlar (Rightlandia) will be in Seattle on Tuesday interviewing Rachel Maddow about her new book Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism. Those who listened to her latest podcast, Ultra, know the basics. She traces the America fascist movement of the 1930s and 40s in more detail.
McCarthy: This is embarrassing for the Republican Party. It’s embarrassing for the nation pic.twitter.com/Mv8fc4PvoR — Acyn (@Acyn) October 22, 2023 EJ Dionne: The chaotic Republican-led House of Representatives has a rather poor sense of timing. The United States is in the midst of two international emergencies and faces the threat of a government shutdown next month. President Biden’s prime-time speech on Thursday pressing for aid to Ukraine and Israel underscored the exorbitant costs of the GOP meltdown. But the embarrassing exercise could prove to be a blessing because it’s exposing a crisis in our politics that must be confronted. The endless battle for the speakership is already encouraging new thinking and might yet lead to institutional arrangements to allow bipartisan majorities to work their will. The House impasse was precipitated by both radicalization and division within the Republican Party. Narrow majorities in the House have enabled right-wing radicals to disable the governing system.
First the Kraken lady, then Kenneth Chesebro As more dominoes fall, it might look something like this at Casa Insurrection. It won’t be Trump confessing, but one by one he’ll be seeing his friends evaporate. (I can dream, can’t I?) Clip borrowed from Dave (1993).
Joe Biden was a private citizen in 2018 Hold that thought (CBS News): House Republicans released bank records of President Biden’s brother, James Biden, Friday, that they argue raise more questions about whether President Biden personally benefited from his family’s business ventures. Bank records released by the GOP-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability revealed a $200,000 personal check paid to Mr. Biden from his brother, James Biden, and sister-in-law, Sara Biden. The personal check, which was labeled a loan repayment, was issued before Biden’s presidency, on the same date in 2018 when Americore Health LLC, a healthcare company that manages rural hospitals across the United States also wired a $200,000 loan into James Biden’s PNC bank account. In video remarks posted to X, Rep.