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Top 10 Idiots

(592 posts)
Thu Jul 29, 2021, 05:03 PM Jul 2021

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-3: Joe Vs The MAGA Volcano Edition


Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-3: Joe Vs The MAGA Volcano Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Yo what’s up San Diego? How you guys doing? You doing fucking good? Man it’s good to be back and back on the road! We spent what, 15 months in front of that blank blue void in the back room of a Burbank comedy club! Finally time to have some fun and in two editions – the Wheel Of Corruption is back! YAY!!!!! You know we tried an electronic wheel but it didn’t work out so well. But now we got the real thing back from its' slumber, polished, well oiled, and dusted off for your entertainment! In fact you can see what the wheel looks like over at our official Twitter feed, which you should be following @10Idiots! You do follow us already, don't you? Do we have time for the thing? OK so we're going back to one of the very first Top 10s we ever did for this one – see Top 10 #1-13. Remember when we used to make fun of Pharma Douchebag Martin Shkreli? That piece of festering garbage that somehow resembles a human? Well we have some great news this week. Now that we have a competent DOJ in charge, they have been getting busy arresting or trying some of Trump’s criminal buddies. Among the things that the DOJ has been doing include seizing some assets. One of those assets was the Epic Of Gilgamesh that was stolen by Hobby Lobby for their insane Bible Museum (see: Top 10 #3-5 ). But guess what? They finally got it back! Yeah how about that! And they also sold off the copy of the Wu Tang’s album Once Upon A Time In Shaolin. Though part of me still wants to see the Wu-Tang Clan go through with their clause of the contract that says they can pull a heist and steal the album back. 5 years later. I know, it’s kind of sad, isn’t it? But that's the kind of thing we watch out for here so you don't have to! OK that’s enough of the intro. We have a lot of idiocy to get to, but first John Oliver is back in front of the blue void and discusses the subject of housing discrimination:



So where do we begin this week? Well in the number one slot this week is Kevin McCarthy (1). Last week we told you about his plans to derail the 1/6 commission. Well this week it’s a whole lot worse than anything you could imagine! Taking the #2 slot this week is Fox News (2). They are going all in on the concept of Critical Race Theory, probably only because they got nothing else left. And the scary thing is they are rewriting history as the end result! What is going on there? Taking the third slot this week is Ron DeSantis (3). A startling new CDC survey has said that Florida is responsible for over 20% of active COVID cases in the US, so what does Florida Governor do? Make some horrible merchandise mocking the victims, among other atrocities! Taking the 4th slot this week is Madison Cawthorn (4) who is leading the charge against Dr. Fauci, and the war on him is getting quite insane. The GOP wants to quite literally shoot the messenger on this one. In the number 5 slot, we have a new Top 10 Investigates (5)! This week after AG Merrick Garland announced that he’s going to Chicago to address growing concerns about the city’s gun violence problem, we’re going to do a deep dive on the subject! At slot #6 this week is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6) and this week conservative churches are riling up the “patriot” crowd and telling them to take over! What’s fueling the fire and what can be done to stop it? We have some theories! In the 7th slot this week is Eric Clapton (7), and after announcing going full anti-vaxxer, we’re asking “Eric Clapton’s Career: How Is This Still A Thing?”. Taking the #8 slot this week is a new edition of Conspiracy Corner (8) and this week, did you know that the FBI set up a tip line on Brett Kavanaugh prior to his confirmation hearing and it was flooded with tips? Yeah that happened! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week is a new “I Need A Drink” (9) and this week we’re going to get drunk and talk about dueling penis-shaped rockets from Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson. Who got the closest to being in space? Advantage Blue Origin! Finally this week it’s the 3rd installment of our series visiting the red states, Red State Diaries (10)! This week we’re taking a look at yet another possible election audit brewing in Pennsylvania. That’s right – the MAGAs are so furious that they don’t even know what they are mad at anymore! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]Kevin McCarthy
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So while the Commission to investigate the Capitol Riot is going on, make no mistake that we’re currently under minority rule. And like most investigations I fully expect this to be dragged out as long as possible, with many surprise witnesses – each more surprising than the next! OK, channeling my inner Lionel Hutz there. But I fully expect this ending with Former Guy, aka Donald J. Trump, to go full OJ and attempt to spend the rest of his life finding the “Real Insurrectionists”. But that’s a good question – how is this going to end? Well we know how it’s not ending – and Kevin McCarhy (Q-Batshit) is not only attempting to derail this thing, he’s going to make sure that it gets dragged out as long as humanly possible! Here’s the latest.

A police officer who defended the US Capitol during a riot by Donald Trump supporters on 6 January has said he feared he would be crushed by the mob.

"This is how I'm going to die," a tearful Aquilino Gonell told a Congressional committee as an inquiry opened into the Washington DC attack.

Another officer, Harry Dunn, who is black, said he was racially abused.

At least 535 rioters have been arrested since the attack that left five dead, including one police officer.

Prosecutors have so far secured only a few convictions.

The assault led to the political impeachment and acquittal of Republican Mr Trump, who was accused by lawmakers of inciting the riot - a claim he has repeatedly denied.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57989578




Holy shit indeed! The same people who scream until they’re blue in the face that we need to support police officers are the same people who wanted to murder police officers on January 6th. So they support the police… until they don’t. Think of this like a movie… Joe wanted to be president, until a fiery powder keg called MAGA was lit and exploded in Congress. This is Joe Vs The MAGA Volcano! We’re so right up there with timely movie references, aren’t we? But isn’t the worst of it!

As pro-Trump insurrectionists poured into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, a Black Capitol Police officer passionately testified Tuesday that he faced racist epithets, the likes of which he had never heard while serving in uniform.

"You hear that, guys, this n***** voted for Joe Biden!" a woman in a pink MAGA shirt yelled toward Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn, he recounted, after Dunn said he voted for President Biden.

"Boo! F****** n*****!" the crowd of about 20 yelled back, Dunn recalled.

Dunn said his story wasn't unique. He heard from another Black officer that insurrectionists yelled at that officer: "Put your gun down, and we'll show you what kind of n***** you really are!"

Dunn said he tries to keep politics out of the job, but in this instance one of the rioters, whom Dunn told to leave the Capitol, said then-President Donald Trump invited them to the Capitol — and that no one voted for Biden.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/27/1021197474/capitol-police-officer-testifies-to-the-racism-he-faced-during-the-jan-6-riot




Oh yeah sure, they just had an open invitation to come in and literally hurl shit at the walls and use Nancy Pelosi’s office as a toilet and threaten to murder people. All while the Former Guy sat in a bunker and grinned like an idiot at the destruction he had wrought. Oh and by the way for all you “support the police” people out there, there were police officers involved! And this guy from New York City is one of their ringleaders! Oh it gets way worse!

The F.B.I. agents showed Thomas Webster a wanted flier with a picture taken during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. In the photograph, a middle-aged man is shouting angrily across a metal barricade with a pole in his raised right hand.

“That’s a picture of you, right, Mr. Webster?” an agent asked, according to a transcript of the interview.

He was a former New York City police officer, a decorated member of the force who once worked as an instructor at the firing range and with a detail that protected the mayor at public appearances and at Gracie Mansion. But on this afternoon in February, sitting across from two agents in an interrogation room in Lower Manhattan, he found himself on the other side of the law.

He looked at the picture. “Yeah,” he said, and tried to explain how it all began.

“I kept on saying to myself, ‘All right, Tom, this is your first protest’ — I’ve never been to one before,” he told the agents. “I said, ‘Stay behind the freakin’ barrier, don’t threaten anyone and keep the flagpole away from everyone.’”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/27/nyregion/capitol-riot-january-6.html




But make no mistake, my friends – we’re just in day one of this investigation. I’m sure that Nancy has plenty of material where that came from. This whole thing is like an onion – the more you peel back the layers, the more it stinks and the more likely you are to cry as a result. But that said, things are going to get mighty interesting in the coming months – and – it might just go all the way to the former president! I know, shocker, right?


More than 540 charged so far in Capitol riot case, while approximately 300 suspects remain unidentified

By Clare Hymes, Cassidy McDonald, Eleanor Watson

July 27, 2021 / 12:24 AM / CBS News

America watched as hordes of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — crushing through windows, pressing up stairways, and sending lawmakers and law enforcement running for their lives. The flood of protesters who streamed into the Capitol that day left federal authorities with an equally immense task: finding and charging those responsible.

According to a CBS News review of court documents, at least 543 defendants have been charged in connection with the January 6 attack. Six months after the siege, the FBI said they have yet to identify more than 300 individuals believed to have committed violent acts on the Capitol grounds, including over 200 who assaulted police officers.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said late last month, "This is far from over."

Prosecutors have called the case "unprecedented" in scale, and the government said in a March court filing that the Capitol attack "is likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/capitol-riot-arrests-latest-2021-07-27/





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[font size="8"]Fox News
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OK so we’ve largely been avoiding this issue because it’s something that is impossible to joke about, but now I feel like we can no longer avoid it. You know, ever since Fox News lost the 2020 presidential election, they are doing everything in their power to keep us fighting with each other. And they will attack everything and everything to keep us from talking about their boy who lost the 2020 presidential election and his crimes including storming the capitol. The latest Fox News point comes in the form of our education system. You may have noticed the rhetoric coming from your right wing friends attacking teacher’s unions. Well that’s not all they’re attacking, they’re attacking something called “critical race theory”. And before we get into the meat of the issue here, let’s do a little bit of briefing on the subject for those like me who know nothing about education.

Is “critical race theory” a way of understanding how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits people of color against white people? Liberals and conservatives are in sharp disagreement.

The topic has exploded in the public arena this spring—especially in K-12, where numerous state legislatures are debating bills seeking to ban its use in the classroom.

In truth, the divides are not nearly as neat as they may seem. The events of the last decade have increased public awareness about things like housing segregation, the impacts of criminal justice policy in the 1990s, and the legacy of enslavement on Black Americans. But there is much less consensus on what the government’s role should be in righting these past wrongs. Add children and schooling into the mix and the debate becomes especially volatile.

School boards, superintendents, even principals and teachers are already facing questions about critical race theory, and there are significant disagreements even among experts about its precise definition as well as how its tenets should inform K-12 policy and practice. This explainer is meant only as a starting point to help educators grasp core aspects of the current debate.
https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-is-critical-race-theory-and-why-is-it-under-attack/2021/05


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So yeah… the people who actually know something about education are getting shit from the least educated among us on this subject. Really, guys, turn off Fox News and go live in the real world. This is a problem that affects 0.00000001% of the population but affects 99.999999% of Fox News viewers. With a +-0.00000001% margin of error, of course. But why is Fox News going all in on this subject? Why it’s to rile up their white supremacist fan base of course!

Viral videos of impassioned parents denouncing critical race theory at school board hearings have become a cornerstone of the movement to ban its teaching.

In one such video, a mother declares critical race theory (CRT) to be “a tactic used by Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan on slavery very many years ago to dumb down my ancestors so we could not think for ourselves”. In another, a woman calls CRT “the American version of the Chinese cultural revolution”. A third mother says she has proof that her local school board is “teaching our children to go out and murder police officers”.

The videos, and their spread online, are emblematic of the way the campaign to ban CRT has combined genuine grassroots anger, institutional backing, and a highly effective rightwing propaganda machine to propel critical race theory from academic obscurity to center stage in the US political debate.

That movement has gained tremendous ground at great speed. Legislation seeking to limit the teaching of CRT has been introduced in at least 22 states this year, and enacted in six: Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Statewide resolutions against CRT have also been passed in Florida, Georgia and Utah.
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/jun/30/critical-race-theory-rightwing-social-media-viral-video




Uh………… a little racist? It was extremely racist! I mean if you’re against schools teaching about the history of racism to kids, you might as well put the KKK robes on and get it over with. But if you go over to Fox News’ website, there’s literally a thousand articles on critical race theory. You might think they might have other things to talk about? And of course the people who complained that we weren’t supporting the troops enough are now against the troops because… wait for it – wokeness!

Top military leaders and Pentagon officials undermine the U.S. military by forcing critical race theory on America's men and women in uniform, said former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Service members shouldn't be concerned about the race of the person next to them, Gingrich said. Instead, it is imperative to recognize they are on a mission to defend their country.

"It's been said that soldiers don't fight for some general theory; they fight for the person next to them," he said. "CRT, which causes us to see each other through the lens of race and the oppressor versus the oppressed, is the antithesis of this cohesion."

Critical race theory and other closely related ideologies hold that the United States is inherently racist and that skin color is used to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between white and nonwhite people. Critics claim it relegates all white pe
https://news.yahoo.com/gingrich-asks-china-think-critical-153500218.html




Oh come on, don’t go dragging Oprah into this. Do we really need to drag Oprah into this? Ok fine. But that said in case you’re wondering who is leading the charge against CRT being taught in schools, guess who is leading the charge? Why it’s none other than the Klan’s favorite Congressman Josh Hawley (Q – Batshit)! Shit, he doesn’t have anything better to do or talk about? And by the way Josh, we already have all of these things in education. It’s called “8th grade history class”. Which you probably either failed or slept through.

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley will introduce new legislation Monday aiming to promote patriotism and fight against anti-American classes.

According to a press release, the new legislation dubbed the Love America Act would require all schools and school districts that receive federal funding to ensure students are able to read and recite America’s founding documents and bar federal funding from schools that teach those documents are the products of white supremacy or racism.
Top Stories – Police exodus: Officers leaving SLMPD in droves – why?

According to Sen. Hawley’s news release, his goal is to fight against Critical Race Theory classes in K-12 education. Earlier this month, Governor Mike Parson took to social media to voice his opposition to

He said in part, “Critical Race Theory has no business being taught in Missouri classrooms, but the vast majority of our schools are not doing that. Our state has a long history of valuing local control, and that is why local schools districts have statutory authority over curriculum.”

Sen. Mike Moon (R-Ash Grove) drafted a letter and had it signed by other Republicans asking Gov. Mike Parson to issue an executive order banning the teaching of critical race theory (CRT) and the “1619 Project” in schools. He wants it done before students return in August.
https://fox2now.com/news/politics/josh-hawley-to-introduce-legislation-to-fight-against-critical-race-theory-classes/





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[font size="8"]Ron DeSantis
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There seriously must be a contest between Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott to see who can kill the most of their constituents. But right now it looks like DeSantis (Q – Batshit) is leading that charge by leaps and bounds. And not only that, he has an added advantage over Abbott in that he really doesn’t seem to give a shit about that, either. So while conservatives thought it was funny to “own the libs” by not getting the vaccine, it’s resulted in – shocker – many of them dying needlessly horrible deaths! But never mind, Florida needs a real asshole as its’ governor. And while the fuck heads have made Dr. Fauci public enemy #1, make no mistake that they’re actively trying to make the situation that much worse. And shit like this certainly isn’t helping!

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is hawking campaign merchandise that calls out Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, as well as the mask guidelines that were rolled out across most of the country last year to slow the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

The gear includes $21 T-shirts and $12 drink koozies that say, “Don’t Fauci My Florida.” Some pieces include the tagline “Keep Florida Free.” There’s also a beverage cooler that reads, “How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?” — which is a quote from DeSantis, himself.

Meanwhile, the Sunshine State has been experiencing a spike in new COVID-19 cases, and recording almost four times the average number of daily cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., according to The Washington Post. What’s more, the death rate from COVID-19 in Florida is almost double the national average, and the state ranks fourth in the number of COVID hospitalizations. There have been more than 2.4 million coronavirus cases reported in Florida, and more than 38,000 deaths.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/gov-ron-desantis-sells-dont-fauci-my-florida-merch-as-his-states-covid-19-cases-spike-11626287447




Merchandising! Merchandising! That's where the real money from the disease is made! Never mind that people are getting sick or dying, tell your friends you don't want a vaccine by spending $35 on this trashy t-shirt! Let 'em know where you stand! But that said, while conservatives are *FINALLY* starting to see the light on getting vaccinated, they’re also doing some serious flip flopping. Too late assholes, the damage has already been done!

Coronavirus rates are climbing in Florida, with the latest data showing Florida's current seven-day average of new daily Covid-19 cases is by far the highest in the nation.

But Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is up for reelection in 2022 and has long been rumored as a possible presidential candidate in 2024, remains steadfast in his more laissez faire response to the virus, dismissing ongoing criticism from Democrats and medical officials.

He argued on Wednesday that the recent spike is all part of the seasonal fluctuations in the virus, even as he urged Floridians to get vaccinated. He touted data that shows if you are vaccinated, your chance of becoming seriously ill or dying is "effectively zero." And his spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, noted that DeSantis has been arguing for months that he "anticipated cases rising in Florida and other southern states this summer, as there was a seasonal increase last summer in these states."

"It's a seasonal virus and this is the seasonal pattern it follows in the Sun Belt states," DeSantis said earlier this week, before adding that he believes the cases will drop in August.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/politics/ron-desantis-florida-covid/index.html




August? Dude, do you see the same WHO news that we do? That’s not what they are saying at all and I think you might want to check your sources again. But then again, we listen to actual news outlets, not OAN and some creepy guy who lives in a cheap panel van covered with Trump stickers tells us. But if you’re shocked that DeSantis is hurting Florida more than he is helping, well, I’ve got a warehouse full of red hats made in China to sell you!

Since President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were sworn in, we’ve seen unprecedented economic growth. More than 3 million jobs were added to our economy in the past six months and companies are giving workers raises across the nation.

We are witnessing the highest rate of growth in almost 40 years.

The Biden-Harris administration has worked around the clock since taking office to fulfill its promise of building back better. And it has been successful, delivering support for Americans in need due to hardship fueled by the pandemic with the American Rescue Plan.

Vaccines are the driving force behind our swift and strong economic recovery. And with 162 million Americans fully vaccinated, workers and consumers have been able to stay safe and healthy.

But on Monday, the market was pummeled. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw its worst drop since October 2020. As new COVID cases rise, business leaders are worried that the variant’s spread will reduce spending and harm supply chains.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2021/07/24/gov-desantis-anti-science-stance-damaging-florida/8080288002/





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[font size="8"]Conservatives Vs Fauci
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The question is – are we or are we not on the tail end of the pandemic? Well that’s quite a complicated issue and even the WHO doesn’t think so. But one thing is for certain – now that we’ve had to give up over a year of our lives and social activities because of this virus, everyone is now demanding answers to what happened. And when I say “everyone” I really mean batshit crazy conservatives. They are hopping mad and they want to vilify Dr. Fauci, the one guy who warned us from the beginning what was coming, and now he’s the one guy they want to make a martyr. In this case, this is literally shooting the messenger here, and that’s what all the hate and rhetoric against Dr. Fauci, who should be hailed a national hero, instead is getting feces thrown at him from the right. First let’s go back to two weeks ago, this got lost during CPAC.

Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday said he found it “horrifying” that an audience at CPAC loudly cheered anti-vaccine comments during a panel discussion earlier in the weekend conservative gathering being held in Dallas.

A Saturday panel, titled “Are the leftovers from the pandemic here to stay?” featured author Alex Berenson, who has long criticized coronavirus vaccines and Fauci’s response to the virus on social media.

“They were hoping —the government was hoping — that they could sort of sucker 90% of the population into getting vaccinated,” Berenson said to cheers, “and it isn’t happening. Younger people are well aware of what the risks really are and are well aware of the side-effect profile of the vaccine ... so there is going to be more pressure.”

President Joe Biden had set a goal for 70% of American adults to receive at least one dose of the vaccine before the July 4 holiday — a goal that was narrowly missed. As of Sunday, 67.6% of American adults ― about 174 million people ― have received at least one dose.

Fauci on Sunday called the crowd’s reaction “horrifying.”
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2021/07/11/fauci-cpac-crowd-cheering-anti-vaccine-remarks-is-horrifying/




Seriously, do you want to die? Because that’s how you get dead. Really if you don’t take the vaccine your chances of winding up in the ER, or on a ventilator, or dead, are that much worse if you do not take the vaccine. What have we been saying since this started? Take the damn vaccine! And also, don’t shoot the messenger! Which is exactly what conservatives are doing. First they erode trust in our officials, then they attack the messenger.

When Rand Paul again locked horns with Dr. Anthony Fauci at a Senate committee hearing this week, the instant reactions were as standard as the menu at The Cheesecake Factory.

The left cheered that Fauci had shut down Paul, repeatedly sharing the clip of President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser telling Kentucky’s junior senator he didn’t know what he was talking about.

“Rand, you lost already,” tweeted Democratic Senate candidate Charles Booker, adding music to video of Fauci’s retort for dramatic effect.

Just as fervently, the right rallied to Paul and heaped praise on him as a warrior who had the guts to call out the lies of such a popular figure.

For political purposes, the feud looks advantageous for Paul, who is up for re-election next year in a state that hasn’t voted for a Democrat for U.S. Senate since 1992.
https://www.kentucky.com/news/politics-government/article252934408.html




Ooh pass the popcorn! Them’s fighting words! Come on Rand, keep digging your political grave because that’s what is happening. And plus we could use the Senate seat! But make no mistake the war to discredit and possibly arrest Fauci is gaining steam, and conservatives want to make an example of him for… reasons. And also they’re quite insane. But on the sliding scale of conservative insanity, this one ranks astonishingly high!

A decadelong debate over pandemic preparedness that has divided some of the world’s leading biologists into opposing camps, for and against so-called gain-of-function research — in which deadly pathogens that could cause pandemics are artificially enhanced for study in the lab — has all but ground to a halt in the past week, thanks to Sen. Rand Paul.

That’s because the Republican senator from Kentucky politicized the argument last week, by cherry-picking expert opinions from critics of the research who call it too risky to pursue, to publicly accuse Dr. Anthony Fauci of lying to Congress, when he said that his National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases had never funded gain-of-function studies at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

Paul’s made-for-television broadside against Fauci thrilled Fox News hosts and colleagues like Rep. Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who has also pushed the debunked conspiracy theory that research financed by Fauci’s agency, which some experts describe as gain-of-function, could have led to the development of SARS-CoV-2, the deadly coronavirus that causes the disease Covid-19, in the Wuhan lab. Fauci rejected Paul’s claim that research carried out in Wuhan before 2017 with some support from the NIAID met the definition of gain-of-function and pointedly explained that it was impossible to make SARS-CoV-2 from the coronavirus used in that study.

Almost as soon as the heated exchange concluded, the senator’s staff uploaded a truncated version of the video on his YouTube channel under the headline, “Dr. Fauci Caught Lying about NIH Funding in Wuhan.”
https://theintercept.com/2021/07/27/covid-anthony-fauci-rand-paul-research/




Yeah where is Biff when you need him? But that aside, while I have said that conservatives want to literally shoot the messenger, they may actually get away with it! And this is where conspiracy theories run berserk. And can have dangerous, real world consequences. They’re not just the paranoid fantasy ramblings of a mad man. Because they’re coming from our elected officials. And if we don’t stop this, they will come for you, and me. And to Rand, we say “good luck with that!”.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made good on his threat to refer Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden and director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to the Justice Department for allegedly lying to Congress about funding gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

As Changing America previously reported, Fauci said that the National Institutes of Health “has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology” in response to Paul’s unsubstantiated claims to the contrary during a May hearing.

Last Tuesday, Paul asked Fauci if he would like to retract a previous statement, saying “as you are aware it is a crime to lie to Congress.”

Fauci said he would not retract the statement and was adamant that he has never lied before Congress.

“You do not know what you’re talking about, quite frankly, and I want to say that officially. You do not know what you’re talking about...If anybody is lying here, senator, it is you,” Fauci said.
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/564803-rand-paul-sends-official-criminal-referral-on





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[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: Chicago Gun Violence
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines! This is Top 10 Investigates!



A popular talking point among conservatives and especially among white supremacists is the escalating gun violence in Chicago. And while this is a topic of grave concern, it should be reported about as accurately as possible. But it isn’t. In fact the reporting on gun violence is so mismanaged that it caused our new attorney general Merrick Garland to pay a visit to the Windy City. So what did the Attorney General find on his visit? Well the conservatives are half right. The violence in Chicago is one of the worst problems in the entire country. And while a lot of it is greatly exaggerated, there’s a lot more that could be done to accurately report on the numbers. But there’s no way we would say that the white supremacists are right on this subject. In fact they’re a long way off.

The launch of a new federal effort to combat gun violence across the country brought Attorney General Merrick Garland back to his native Chicago, where he called gun violence an ongoing tragedy Thursday and said, “I feel it particularly in my hometown.”

Garland’s first official visit as attorney general to Chicago came in the wake of three mass shootings in a single day. One of them took place just down the street from St. Agatha Catholic Church, where Garland met with community members Thursday and talked briefly with reporters.

Shortly before Garland arrived at the church, a police chase erupted outside.

“Here, today, the threat of violent crime, particularly gun crime is a tragedy that is just ongoing. I feel it particularly in my hometown here,” said Garland, who was raised in north suburban Lincolnwood and graduated from Niles West High School in Skokie.

It’s the second time this month such a visit has been marred with gun violence. President Joe Biden arrived in Chicago on July 7 right after a Chicago police officer and two federal agents were shot while working undercover.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/7/22/22589604/garland-gun-violence-strike-force-chicago-ongoing-tragedy-straw-purchasers-lori-lightfoot-atf




Yes, just like most tragedies this one could easily be prevented. But how? In a world where people are increasingly losing their trust in law enforcement, mainly due to the events of last year, you have to rebuild that trust. Well, the City Of Chicago is moving in the right direction in that it is finally going to start overseeing the police force. But this is something that has been a long time coming, and should have been enacted sooner than later.

The Chicago City Council gave its blessing to a new civilian commission Wednesday overseeing the Chicago Police Department, a move that, in principle, has been decades in the making while aimed at improving transparency and rebuilding a trust frayed by episodes of misconduct.

Creating the seven-member panel is a product of years of frustrations and heartache etched into the public's mind with victims like Laquan McDonald and Anjanette Young, and cops such as Jon Burge and Ronald Watts, who abused their authority.

“If the communities do not trust [police] because they’re not legitimate to them, they will not be effective in their most core mission — which is serving and protecting every single resident of the city,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in an impassioned speech that wrapped up two hours of testimony on the proposal.

Passage of the police-oversight ordinance is a feather in the mayor's cap, who for years has talked about civilian oversight — even if she pulled back on an earlier version of the proposal.

The ordinance passed the same day the council gave a nod to a massive redevelopment project on the old Michael Reese Hospital site, an area that was once seen as a site for the 2016 Olympics, which Chicago lost out on. Those council actions, plus the recent hike in the minimum wage in Chicago, will surely fuel Lightfoot’s expected re-election bid.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2021/07/22/historic-police-reform-ag-garland-visiting-chicago-to-gamble-on-gambling-493693




So now what’s the solution? Well since the former president left the ATF in shambles and without a leader, Garland has been busy rebuilding the department with trustworthy leaders. And it’s going to be a while before America can trust its’ law enforcement again. But with people getting increasingly hostile, and domestic terrorists increasing in numbers we need a police force that can keep up with it. And go after the right people.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday he hoped the Senate would confirm the head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, to help front the federal effort against gun violence.

The nomination of David Chipman has been stalled as Republicans and the National Rifle Association work to sink it. Chipman is a two-decade veteran of the ATF who served as an adviser to a major gun control group and would be the first formal leader since 2015.

“As you all know, ATF is on the front lines of our efforts to battle gun violence,” Garland said during a visit to the agency’s headquarters. “We are very hopeful that the Senate will soon act.”

Garland and Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco met with agents before traveling to Chicago to launch an effort there and in four other cities to reduce spiking gun violence by addressing illegal trafficking and prosecuting offenses that help put guns in the hands of criminals.
https://www.dailyfreeman.com/2021/07/22/garland-to-help-combat-gun-violence-confirm-atf-leader/




So for those of you who are wondering – no, this is not going to be a quick fix, and it most certainly isn’t going to happen overnight. There’s no secret society running things like you see in movies like Hot Fuzz, but the root of the problem also lies with America’s gun problem. That’s right – don’t blame the city, blame the guns. But it’s going to take a long time to undo this damage and it will always get worse before it gets better. And only in America is a story about a shooting but a mere footnote in a story about the gun violence problem.

Attorney General Merrick Garland arrived in Chicago Thursday as the Department of Justice formally launched a "strike force" to combat gun trafficking.

"The threat of violent gun crimes is a tragedy that just keeps ongoing, I feel particularly in my hometown here," Garland said during his visit.

The strike force will focus on corridors trafficking guns to Chicago and four other cities: New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington D.C.

8 shot in Old Town drive-by, marking Chicago's 3rd mass shooting in 6-hour span, CPD says

"We are learning from the past," Garland explained. "This is a tactic which is to work on networks of gun trafficking, which are bringing the guns into the city. Take those down."
https://abc7chicago.com/chicago-shooting-merrick-garland-news-mass/10903315/




That’s it this week for Top 10 Investigates. Good day.




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[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:



My fair congregation! You know we live in some very dark times. And it could get even darker if certain groups of people get their way in future elections. But we must stop them! We managed to stop the unholy, ungodly Dark One in his tracks. And you know who I am talking about – a man so foul, vile, and disgusting that his name not be spoken in my church! But supporters of this ungodly man are fired up and they are mad as hell! But I will say this – beware those who say that they are “patriots” for they seek to do great harm to those who they oppose politically, and our society at large. However, our churches and houses of GAWD on the right are certainly not helping things! I need a vacation after doing this one, seriously!

Thousands of right-wing activists gathered at Influence Church in Anaheim, California, over the weekend to hear a cavalcade of election, COVID-19, and QAnon conspiracy theorists speak at the latest installment of Clay Clark’s “ReAwaken America” tour.

Among the speakers this time around was “apostle” Leon Benjamin, a Virginia-based pastor who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2020. Introduced as “a former spiritual adviser for the Trump administration,” Benjamin used his time on stage to declare that the church should “rule and reign” over America while promoting Seven Mountains Dominionism. Seven Mountains Domonionism is grounded in the belief that right-wing Christians are to “do whatever is necessary” to take control of each of the seven main “mountains” that shape our culture—education, government, media, business, arts and entertainment, family, and religion—in order to implement the will of God throughout the nation and the world.

“The church was meant to rule and reign in the Earth,” Benjamin declared while proclaiming that the church needs modern “apostles,” such as himself, to guide it properly. “What happens when the church is not apostolically uniformed? We don’t have the true mission of what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19, which was, ‘Go ye out into all the world’—go ye into government, go into education, go into economy, go into sports and entertainment, go into media, go into a religion—’and teach all nations and baptize them.’ That means we should be baptizing presidents!”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/right-wing-pastor-leon-benjamin-tells-conspiracy-rally-we-are-the-next-president-of-the-united-states/




And yes he does for supporters of the unholy Dark One are furious and they are coming after us because they lost their power. That’s not what the good LAWRD JAYSUS would want now, is it? Because these people are addicted to their power and they’re not going to let it up. And I’m pretty sure that Pastor Benjamin does not have that quite right. For you see the church is run by man, not by GAWD. But the holy war is escalating, my friends!

Jonathan Wichmann, a small business owner who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in Wisconsin, spoke at a “Faith and Freedom Rally” in the state last month, where he explained that he decided to run for office because “we need good Christian patriots to take over.”

“I’m not a politician. I’m a patriot. I want to make that very clear,” Wichmann said. “I got in the fight last year because I saw [something] really evil coming across this land, especially in Wisconsin—the lockdowns. I’ve been following politics for 13 years. I volunteered for Ron Paul’s campaign when he ran, for his presidential bid, and what I noticed is that everything kept deteriorating. No matter if we had a Democrat or Republican in office, it didn’t seem to quite matter up until Donald Trump. Thank God for President Trump, who is still the president, by the way. We all know that.”

“Looking at the political scene, I knew we were in trouble,” he continued. “There are no truth tellers anymore in this country at the political level. We need to change that. We need good Christian patriots to take over and run for office, and that’s what I intend to do.”

Following his remarks, Wichmann took a question from the audience regarding a bill passed by the Republican controlled state legislature that would ban businesses or government entities in the state from requiring people to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. Wichmann said he supported the bill and urged the audience to refuse to comply with any law that they believe violates their conscience, declaring that “if they try to press their luck, we have the Second Amendment.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/wisconsin-gubernatorial-candidate-jonathan-wichmann-says-good-christians-patriots-must-take-over/




Well make no mistake, the holy war is going to be huge and it is going to be intense, and it is not going away anytime soon. See, since the Dark One lost like the proverbial loser that he is, they are getting louder and angrier! Like for instance, who do they think the DEVIL is? Well it’s not who they think it is because their definition of SAYTAN and SAYTANISM is not the same as what we have, and it is very dark and disturbing!

Mike Pompeo, a former Republican member of Congress who served as director of the CIA and secretary of state during the Trump administration, spoke at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills church in California Sunday, which was founded by right-wing pastor Jack Hibbs.

Following Pomepo’s remarks during the early Sunday service, he and Hibbs sat down for a short conversation. Then, to close out the service, Hibbs laid hand upon Pompeo and led the congregation in praying for his future. (Pompeo is widely expected to run for president in 2024.)

During the prayer, Hibbs begged God to forgive the state of California for electing “people with antichrist worldviews,” specifically citing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“God, we pray that you would do something now—Jesus, please—in our nation’s capital,” Hibbs prayed. “We do not wish ill upon Joe Biden whatsoever. We pray that you would heal him, that you would save him, that you’d open up his eyes to your saving grace, and the fact that it is Jesus who died on the cross for his sins and ours and rose again from the dead. It is the gospel of the living God that can cause all men and women to be changed.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jack-hibbs-asks-god-to-forgive-california-for-electing-people-with-antichrist-worldviews-cites-nancy-pelosi-and-kamala-harris/




Now what are their qualifications? What are they looking for in candidates? Now they’re certainly not looking for anyone to actually do their job. Instead they run on fear, hate, and misinformation and they will be using that plenty. We’re still a year out from the 2022 midterm elections which could change the course of the country for better or worse. They have obviously chosen worse, because with friends like these, who needs enemies?

Jonathan Wichmann, a small business owner who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor in Wisconsin, spoke at a “Faith and Freedom Rally” in the state last month, where he explained that he decided to run for office because “we need good Christian patriots to take over.”

“I’m not a politician. I’m a patriot. I want to make that very clear,” Wichmann said. “I got in the fight last year because I saw [something] really evil coming across this land, especially in Wisconsin—the lockdowns. I’ve been following politics for 13 years. I volunteered for Ron Paul’s campaign when he ran, for his presidential bid, and what I noticed is that everything kept deteriorating. No matter if we had a Democrat or Republican in office, it didn’t seem to quite matter up until Donald Trump. Thank God for President Trump, who is still the president, by the way. We all know that.”

“Looking at the political scene, I knew we were in trouble,” he continued. “There are no truth tellers anymore in this country at the political level. We need to change that. We need good Christian patriots to take over and run for office, and that’s what I intend to do.”

Following his remarks, Wichmann took a question from the audience regarding a bill passed by the Republican controlled state legislature that would ban businesses or government entities in the state from requiring people to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. Wichmann said he supported the bill and urged the audience to refuse to comply with any law that they believe violates their conscience, declaring that “if they try to press their luck, we have the Second Amendment.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/wisconsin-gubernatorial-candidate-jonathan-wichmann-says-good-christians-patriots-must-take-over/




That’s it this week for:




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[font size="8"]How Is This Still A Thing: Eric Clapton’s Career
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It’s time once again to ask:



This week – Eric Clapton’s career – how is this still a thing? You might remember Eric Clapton from his work with Cream or the Yardbirds, or even his signature radio tune “Layla”. But what you might not remember Eric Clapton for is his extreme far right politics. That’s right – he’s a hardcore racist and supporter of ultra far right politics, hardcore racism, and of course online conspiracy theories. While we’re on the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic and can squash it depending on how many people get vaccinated, there’s people like Eric Clapton who are on the opposite end of the spectrum and telling people *NOT* to get vaccinated. And these are the people who you really shouldn’t be listening to at this point in history.

Eric Clapton said he will not perform at any venues that require attendees to prove that they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19.

Clapton issued his statement in response to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement on Monday, July 19th, that vaccine passes would be required to enter nightclubs and venues. Clapton’s statement was shared via the Telegram account of film producer and architect Robin Monotti, who has also been skeptical of the Covid-19 vaccine and expressed other doubts about the U.K. government’s response to the pandemic. (Clapton previously shared a message about his “disastrous” health experience after receiving the Covid-19 vaccine on Monotti’s Telegram page.)

“Following the PM’s announcement on Monday the 19th of July 2021 I feel honor-bound to make an announcement of my own,” Clapton said. “I wish to say that I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present. Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show.”

The message was accompanied by a link to Clapton’s anti-lockdown song with Van Morrison, “Stand and Deliver.” Representatives for Clapton did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eric-clapton-not-play-vaccine-shows-1200257/




Yeah that’s right – Eric Clapton won’t play venues if they require a proof of vaccine. So that’s what, every venue everywhere? No venue owner wants to be ground zero for a potential super spreader event, so guess he’s going to be stuck playing livestream concerts from home for the rest of his career, good luck ever seeing an audience again! Oh and in case you’re wondering, it’s precisely on brand for Mr. Clapton, a guitar virtuoso who got beat by young upstart prodigy James Marshall Hendrix.

Legendary musician Eric Clapton announced he will not perform at any venues that require fans to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Clapton’s statement is in response to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that proof of vaccination would be required to enter nightclubs and venues.

“Following the PM’s announcement on Monday the 19th of July 2021 I feel honor-bound to make an announcement of my own,” Clapton said. “I wish to say that I will not perform on any stage where there is a discriminated audience present. Unless there is provision made for all people to attend, I reserve the right to cancel the show.”

Clapton’s next scheduled shows in the UK are in May 2022, with two dates booked at Royal Albert Hall in London. He has a handful of North American shows scheduled for September 2021.
https://www.wsmv.com/news/us_world_news/eric-clapton-says-he-wont-play-at-any-venues-that-require-fans-to-be-vaccinated/article_a57bf521-7543-546e-86c5-4278dfa88b6d.html?block_id=1003744




So the bottom line here is if you want this horrible pandemic to end and get back to the life we had in 2019, then you know what you have to do? Get the vaccine! That’s all it takes. Just go to your nearest pharmacy, roll up your sleeves and tell them to insert the needle! But of course there’s people who are like Mr. Clapton and are making this go on as long as humanly possible. And in fact it’s split even his most devoted fans and friends right down the middle.

The musician opened up in a recent interview with a YouTube channel about it. “I just don’t hear from them anymore. My phone doesn’t ring very often. I don’t get that many texts and emails anymore. It’s quite noticeable, I was ostracized,” the musician says. “And I could feel that everywhere.”

Clapton has been a vocal opponent of lockdowns and has expressed some skepticism about vaccines. He says he was vaccinated and had a terrible adverse reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine that made him question their safety. “I feared I would never play again,” the musician said about the side effects.

“I suffer from peripheral neuropathy and should never have gone near the needle,” Clapton says. “But the propaganda said the vaccine was safe for everyone.” Eric Clapton has also expressed doubts that lockdowns were necessary to help control the spread of COVID-19.

Clapton says it’s been hard to bite his tongue with what he knows. But that hasn’t stopped him from announcing a new tour for 2021. Both Eric Clapton and Van Morrison will play at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida as live music shows return.
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/06/16/eric-clapton-vaccines-lockdowns-interview/




By the way did you notice that most of his tour dates are in the hardcore anti-vaxxer states? Good luck playing Staples Center or Madison Square Garden anytime soon. But fans and friends aside, Clapton’s anti-vaxxer rhetoric has also split actual musicians right down the middle. In fact we would expect Mr. Clapton’s career to start pulling a Spinal Tap relatively soon. Expect him to open up for petting zoos relatively shortly since he won’t be getting proper gigs anywhere.

Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick and The Wildhearts’ Ginger shared new tweets on their accounts today and reacted to Eric Clapton’s recent words about vaccination requirements of his upcoming events.

You may remember from our recently published article that Eric Clapton made a controversial announcement last week and stated that he will not perform on any stage where the vaccine is required. Clapton also declared that unless there is a provision made for all people to attend, he may cancel his upcoming events.

Upon Eric’s statement, an actress and Wolf Van Halen’s mother Valerie Bertinelli shared the news with a rare photo that features Clapton, the late legend Eddie Van Halen and Valerie herself saying, ‘Once a d*ck, always a d*ck.’

Recently, Testament’s Skolnick and Ginger Wildheart slammed Clapton upon his controversial words by posting new tweets on their official Twitter pages. While Ginger admits that he will celebrate Clapton’s death just like he did Mary Whitehouse, Margaret Thatcher, and his stepfather, Alex supported Valerie by saying she has first-hand knowledge about Clapton.
https://metalheadzone.com/testaments-alex-skolnick-and-the-wildhearts-ginger-blast-eric-clapton-over-his-decision-on-vaccination-requirements/




So deep division and controversy over vaccine rhetoric that’s resulted in a lackluster tour schedule now that touring is being allowed again. That’s enough to make you ask – Eric Clapton’s Career: How Is This Still A Thing?




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[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner
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Welcome back to our segment that does a deep dive into the darkest corners of both the internet and government! This is… Conspiracy Corner! We are of course coming to you live from our underground doomsday bunker deep in the alkali flats of the New Mexico badlands. Undisclosed location of course, but you already knew that! Or did you? Let’s adjust our tin foil hats accordingly! This week, there might be an actual conspiracy brewing against a sitting SCOTUS judge. But when you dismiss that it was probably about 99% bullshit, well you are probably correct. But that’s what they want you to think… OR IS IT? So here’s what happened – the FBI setup a tip hotline just for one suspect, and that suspect happened to be SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh. It was flooded with more than 45,000 tips suggesting that – shocker, he might be a crook!

The FBI disclosed that it received more than 4,500 tips on a phone line in 2018 as part of a background investigation into then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and provided "relevant" ones to former President Donald Trump's White House counsel.

The exact number of tips was disclosed in a June 30 letter released by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse on Thursday. The letter was in response to a two-year-old request from Senate Democrats seeking more information about the handling of the investigation.

The revelation reignited fierce accusations from liberals who say that the FBI and the Trump White House did not sufficiently examine allegations against Kavanaugh in the wake of accusations from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford that he had sexually assaulted her at a party in the Maryland suburbs when they were both in high school.

The allegations nearly derailed his confirmation, and Kavanaugh has always fiercely denied them. Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed by a vote of 50-48.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/22/politics/fbi-kavanaugh-ford-investigation/index.html




Yeah so ever notice how the watchers are really not doing that much watching? Us too! Because this is quite an insane story about a SITTING JUSTICE ON THE SUPREME COURT getting that much criminal activity being reported against him. And guess what? The FBI actually did well… nothing. In fact they did less than nothing! So why did it take over 3 years for all this mess to be sorted out? Well when you’re judging the supreme law of the land, things tend to get a little… complicated.

In recent days, we learned that the 4,500 tips reported to the FBI about Brett Kavanaugh's suitability to serve as a Supreme Court justice largely went uninvestigated. Worse, the FBI handed the tips over to President Donald Trump's White House, the administration determined to get Kavanaugh confirmed by pretty much any means necessary.

Needless to say, presidents get to nominate whomever they want to the Supreme Court. But once the nominee is selected, the normal rules of governmental convention typically kick in: The FBI does a background investigation; the American Bar Association rates the nominee on a scale from "fully qualified" to "not qualified"; the Senate goes about fulfilling its constitutional "advice and consent" responsibilities; etc.

On July 9, 2018, Trump nominated Kavanaugh to the highest court in the land. First reactions were predictable: Republican praise and Democratic condemnation. But over and above the usual partisan political wrangling, something else was brewing. Kavanaugh's nomination became intensely controversial because, in part, of allegations of misconduct in his personal life and some unusual financial arrangements involving disappearing debts. (Kavanaugh repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.)

With multiple women alleging some kind of past misconduct, the FBI decided to set up a tip line for people to provide information that might touch on Kavanaugh's suitability to serve on the court. This was the first time the FBI had created this kind of a tip line for a Supreme Court nominee.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/fbi-didn-t-investigate-brett-kavanaugh-we-deserve-know-why-n1275066




Yeah I’d keep that thing on because what we have brewing here is an actual, bonafied conspiracy here and that’s exactly what you get when you put guys who listen to way too much AM radio for their own good in charge. But you know, that Former Guy, he always puts the best people in charge, doesn’t he? I mean his people can do no wrong! Because he’s going to drain the swamp! And when you drain the swamp, and replace them with ass kissers, what could go wrong?

The FBI acknowledged receiving more than 4,500 tips during its background investigation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, prompting a new wave of criticism from Senate Democrats who have long questioned the bureau's vetting process.

Though the Senate confirmed Kavanaugh by a narrow majority (50-48) three years ago, the process was defined by the emotional testimony of California university professor Christine Blasey Ford and Kavanaugh's angry denials that he sexually assaulted her in the early 1980s.

In a June 30 letter made public by lawmakers Thursday, Assistant FBI Director Jill Tyson does not elaborate on the substance of the tip information.

Tyson, responding to inquiries from Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Chris Coons, D-Del., said Kavanaugh's nomination marked the first time that an FBI tip line had been established to receive information during a Senate confirmation inquiry.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/07/22/brett-kavanaugh-review-sparked-4-500-tips-fbi/8057810002/




So when you have conspiracy theorists running the government, you’re going to turn the entire government into an actual conspiracy! And careful who you report to, because this government might go all the way to the president! I heard that somewhere. Now the question on the table is where did all of those tips that were sent to the FBI go? Did they set them on fire or flush them down the toilet or use them as toilet paper? Well, we may never really know the answer to that. Because that’s what Former Guy does.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has spent nearly three years attempting to understand the nature of the FBI’s “supplemental investigation” of claims that emerged against Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearings in the summer of 2018. The senator’s attempts to get answers from either the Trump White House or the FBI were largely unsuccessful while Trump was still in office. But Whitehouse kept trying—almost as soon as Merrick Garland was sworn in as attorney general, Whitehouse asked him to help facilitate “proper oversight” by the Senate into questions about how serious the FBI supplemental investigation really was.

Whitehouse asked Garland to explain why there was no mechanism for witnesses to report their accounts to the FBI, and why, after the FBI decided to create a “tip line,” nobody was ever told how the tips were evaluated. In his March letter to Garland, Whitehouse described that tip line as “more like a garbage chute, with everything that came down the chute consigned without review to the figurative dumpster.” Whitehouse asked Garland to explain “how, why, and at whose behest” the FBI conducted a “fake” investigation that violated standard procedures. Whitehouse also asked Garland to probe into the tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt that mysteriously vanished from Kavanaugh’s life in 2016.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/07/kavanaugh-fbi-investigation-tips.html





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[font size="8"]I Need A Drink
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So of course you know by now that the idea behind this segment is that we have some drinks and while we’re drinking we talk about literally anything that’s not directly related to politics and/or coronavirus, because there’s a lot of dark shit out there. We take a look at the lighter side of the news here. This week, we’re going to talk about the Space Race. Those of you who are old enough will remember when we had a space race, it was between the USA and Russia. And guess what? We won! This week, it’s not quite the same. In one corner, we have Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. And in the other corner, we have Virgin Media CEO Richard Branson. And unlike the last space race, no matter who wins this time around, everybody loses! So tell me bartender, what goes well with a story about space? An anti-gravity cocktail? What’s in that? Eh, I’ll just have my usual Jack Daniels mixed with Jack Daniels. I call it the Double Jack. Anyways the Space Race 2021 isn’t so much an actual attribute to man kind’s quest to conquer the stars, so much as it is the world’s largest penis measuring contest.

Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft.

The Amazon founder was accompanied by a hand-picked group: his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas — the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space.

“Best day ever!” Bezos said when the capsule touched down on the desert floor in remote West Texas after the 10-minute flight.

Named after America’s first astronaut, Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket soared on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a date chosen by Bezos for its historical significance. He held fast to it, even as Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson pushed up his own flight from New Mexico and beat him to space by nine days.
https://apnews.com/article/jeff-bezos-space-e0afeaa813ff0bdf23c37fe16fd34265




That’s actual footage of the launch by the way! So whether you were team Blue Origin or Team New Horizons, basically you were rooting for chrome dick, or chrome plated dick. And by the way can we discuss those names for a minute? It’s like if you asked a marketing major who knows nothing about science fiction to come up with a name for something that sounds science-fictiony. But in case you’re wondering why Jeff Bezos’ rocket looks like that, we got an answer for that! Maybe.

Jeff Bezos’s 11-minute trip aboard a Blue Origin rocket to the edge of space on Tuesday left the world’s richest man feeling “unbelievably good” and his crew “very happy”. But afterwards, as he wondered aloud how fast he could refuel, the rest of the world was left pondering just why the New Shepard rocket had such a distinctive shape.

As social media erupted with innuendo, we contacted a few experts to find out why it looked, in the words of one astrophysicist, so “anthropomorphic”. At one major research institution, the press officer referred us to the gender studies department, but Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was able to shed some light on the topic.

As social media erupted with innuendo, we contacted a few experts to find out why it looked, in the words of one astrophysicist, so “anthropomorphic”. At one major research institution, the press officer referred us to the gender studies department, but Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was able to shed some light on the topic.

New Shepard consists of a mushroom-like crew capsule that flares out over a long shaft, called a booster. The rounded top appears more bulbous than that of many other rockets, but it’s not unique. “There’s a long history of what we call hammerhead rockets,” on which the capsule’s diameter is wider than the booster, said McDowell. “If you’re careful, it actually has perfectly fine aerodynamics.”
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/20/jeff-bezos-rocket-design-an-inquiry




Which begs the question – if you believe that space exploration is but a fevered pipe dream for the billionaire class – well, you’re absolutely 100% correct on this one! Because the New York Times calculated exactly how much an actual ticket on Virgin’s Virgin Orbit service will cost you, and you’d better have at least a cool million stashed if you’re going to blast off into space!

For the first flight, Blue Origin auctioned off one of the seats with the proceeds going to Mr. Bezos’ space-focused nonprofit, Club for the Future. The winning bid was $28 million, an amount that stunned even Blue Origin officials, far higher than they had hoped. Blue Origin announced it will distribute $19 million of that to 19 space-related organizations — $1 million each.

The 7,600 people who participated in the auction provided Blue Origin with a list of prospective paying customers, and the company has started selling tickets for subsequent flights.

Blue Origin has declined to say what the price is or how many people have signed up, but representatives of the company say there is strong demand.

“Our early flights are going for a very good price,” Bob Smith, the chief executive of Blue Origin, said during a news conference on Sunday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/science/cost-to-fly-blue-origin-bezos.html




Hey bartender! I need a refill! And in case you’re wondering just how deep this rivalry between two guys who have more money than ½ the world’s population does, well it’s much more than just a giant penis measuring contest. It’s also the quest to get likes on Facebook and Twitter. Because while you’re watching them measure their dicks, you’re also enabling them to say shit on social media while you’re working the graveyard shift at an Amazon warehouse. Yeah… think about it!

The battle of which billionaire-backed space company can fly higher is on.

As the suborbital spaceflight company Virgin Galactic counts down to the launch of its billionaire founder Richard Branson on Sunday (July 11), its biggest competitor Blue Origin, which will launch its own founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos on July 20, is ramping up its opposition marketing.

Blue Origin announced its launch date in May and auctioned off a ride to space from West Texas with Bezos for $28 million last month. On July 1, Virgin Galactic announced its own launch of Branson, three crewmates and two pilots. Their liftoff from the skies over New Mexico will be a full 9 days ahead of Blue Origin.

So it's no surprise if Blue Origin is a bit miffed to be beat.

On Twitter today (July 9), Blue Origin released an infographic taking swipes at the competition, focusing on matters such as the higher environmental impact of Virgin Galactic's Unity space plane, its smaller windows and lack of escape system. Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital capsule has huge windows, creates water vapor exhaust and has an escape system. (This was despite Branson denying on the Today Show just days ago that he was jousting with Bezos: "I know nobody will believe me when I say it, but honestly, there isn't [competition]," he said.)
https://www.space.com/blue-origin-throws-shade-at-virgin-galactic-ahead-of-launch





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[font size="8"]Red State Diaries: Pennsylvania Election Audit
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Welcome back to our ongoing exploration of the states that voted for the Former Guy and why they did what they did! This is Red State Diaries! Last week we took a look at the batshit crazy audit that’s going on in Arizona’s Maricopa County and what that could mean for the 2020 election, even though this audit is being run by people who you wouldn’t trust to run a McDonald’s. This week – we’re taking a look at yet another red state and yet another talk of an election audit. But wait – didn’t that guy win, you might ask? Well I answer you – the answer is yes! Now you might also ask – why? Well that answer is starting to get a bit more complicated, but I think the main reason is because the fuck heads in charge of the right are getting restless that they lost and aren’t leaving things alone.

Republican Pennsylvania state Sen. Dan Laughlin on Thursday came out against the GOP-backed audit of the 2020 election results in his state, becoming the party's first statewide-elected official to do so.

Speaking to Reuters, Laughlin said that the efforts to investigate President Biden's November victory in Pennsylvania are being made "absent credible evidence of fraud" and will not change the outcome.

"The current attempt to discredit the 2020 election results runs headlong into an unmistakable truth," Laughlin said. "Donald Trump lost Pennsylvania because Donald Trump received fewer votes."

Last week, voting machines in Pennsylvania's Fulton County were decertified following an election audit. Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Veronica Degraffenreid said in a letter that the audit itself, conducted by software company Wake TSI, had compromised the machines, adding that the process was “not transparent or bipartisan.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/565419-pennsylvania-republican-election-audit-happening-without-credible




Um……… wrong election. But that’s kind of what it feels like. But even prominent conservatives are not only questioning this nonsense, they’re getting fed up with it. When your party turns into a cult that worships one guy and said guy has some extremely shady people working for him, I guess these things happen don’t they? But make no mistake that the conservatives are going after voting machines and the companies that make them, and they won’t stop.

One of the Pennsylvania counties targeted in a Republican lawmaker's "forensic investigation" into the 2020 election has beefed up security around its courthouse following threatening posts on social media, one of its commissioners told Reuters.

The incendiary Facebook posts appeared targeted at members of Tioga County's all-Republican board of commissioners after they decided not to comply with the lawmaker's request to turn over their voting machines, Commissioner Erick Coolidge said.

One individual, in an apparent reference to the county's three commissioners, called them traitors and said there were "plenty of trees" in a nearby gorge to "hang ropes from," according to a post viewed by Reuters on a Facebook page.

In response, the law enforcement presence was strengthened around their offices at the courthourse in the town of Wellsboro, Coolidge said, without providing details. The Tioga County sheriff's office did not reply to a request for comment.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/threats-rattle-pennsylvania-county-targeted-election-audit-2021-07-22/




Don’t tell me because I don’t want to know! And this whole thing is getting certifiably insane. So the county decommissions voting machines after they find no fraud and now they’re getting threats. Come on, this is 2021 isn’t it? Everyone gets threats these days. It’s the sad and disturbing times that we live in created by social media, unfortunately. But that said don’t expect this talk of audits to go away anytime soon, in fact some people keep this going because… reasons.

Democrats in Pennsylvania have derided a highly unusual GOP effort to audit counties’ election processes as a fool’s errand, but there are signs that top Republicans, who control the legislature, are taking it seriously.

Behind-the-scenes talks are ongoing in Harrisburg to figure out how to proceed, GOP Senate sources confirmed to WHYY News.

A number of key Republicans support some kind of audit, but the process for preparing to issue subpoenas for counties’ election data — and preparing for the court case that would almost certainly follow — is complicated.

The audit plan is spearheaded by Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Adams), one of the legislature’s biggest purveyors of false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
https://whyy.org/articles/pa-republicans-are-taking-election-audits-seriously-heres-what-to-know-about-their-plan/




Yeah me too! But unfortunately it isn’t going to. And while the audits have been mostly about as partisan as an audit can get – mostly in favor of Former Guy. But the fact that these guys are easily swayed by bullshit conspiracy theories only makes this all the more dumbfounding. Is there any possible scenario in which the Former Guy could somehow magically gain power? Hell no! But that won’t stop the certifiably crazy people from trying!

GOP State Sen. Doug Mastriano announced plans this month to conduct a “forensic investigation” of Pennsylvania’s 2020 general election and 2021 primary election results. To do so, Mastriano made a sweeping request to three Pennsylvania counties requesting – under threat of subpoenas – access to voting machines, ballots, software, computer logs, security tokens and a whole lot more.

Mastriano is an ally and supporter of former President Donald Trump, who has peddled misinformation and conspiracy theories since losing to President Joe Biden last year. Mastriano wrote in an op-ed that the investigation is being conducted to “restore faith in the integrity of our system,” while state Democrats have panned the proposed investigation as an “unlawful witch hunt.”

But what exactly would his audit mean for Pennsylvania? City & State reached out to three elections experts on the impacts Mastriano’s review could have: Will Adler, senior technologist in Elections & Democracy at the Center for Democracy & Technology in Washington, D.C.; Chris Deluzio, policy director at the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security; and Gowri Ramachandran, senior counsel in the Election Reform Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. These responses have been edited for length and clarity.
https://www.cityandstatepa.com/content/what-would-partisan-election-review-look-pennsylvania




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The Atlantic says that My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell is the man who could destroy democracy. We take a look at the places where he’s actually gaining influence.




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