March 3, 2021

No Need to Compromise If You Have the Votes

March 3, 2021 at 8:12 am EST By Taegan Goddard

Jonathan Bernstein: “Many pundits (and Republicans, when they’re not distracted by the Muppets and Mr. Potato Head and Dr. Seuss) have put a lot of emphasis on the decision Democrats have made to pass the bill through the reconciliation process, which allows a simple majority to avoid filibusters that can stymie legislation commanding fewer than 60 votes.”

“But there’s no real mystery here. Assuming that (barely) all of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s ducks are in a row, all 50 Democratic senators are ready to vote for the bill, and Vice President Kamala Harris has the tie-breaker to get the job done. Parties that have the votes rarely make concessions to get additional, unnecessary votes! Bipartisan compromise happens when it’s needed, not for its own sake.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2021/03/03/no-need-to-compromise-if-you-have-the-votes/

March 3, 2021

Leaked video shows Alex Jones secretly disgusted with Trump: 'God, I'm sick of him!'

Printed article: https://www.mediaite.com/news/leaked-video-shows-alex-jones-railing-against-trump-god-im-fcking-sick-of-him/

March 3, 2021

Idaho Republican votes against using federal funds for early education, says it makes it 'easier...

Idaho Republican votes against using federal funds for early education, says it makes it 'easier for mothers to come out of the home'

Rep. Shepherd thinks this chance to help kids get ready for kindergarten would do damage to the family unit.

Author: Brian Holmes
Published: 5:46 PM MST March 2, 2021
Updated: 5:46 PM MST March 2, 2021

BOISE, Idaho — March is Women's History Month and on Tuesday, one Idaho state representative voted against accepting federal grants to help kids get ready for kindergarten because it "makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home."

Rep. Charlie Shepherd (R-Pollock) testified against House Bill 226, which would allow the State Board of Education to use nearly $6 million in federal grants to increase early childhood education in the Gem State by making it more available and accessible. But for the first-term Republican, he made it clear where he stands on bills such as this.

"I don't think anybody does a better job than mothers in the home, and any bill that makes it easier or more convenient for mothers to come out of the home and let others raise their child, I don't think that's a good direction for us to be going," he said.

The bill failed on a 29-41 vote, but it is expected to be reconsidered.

more + video
https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/208/idaho-republican-votes-against-education-funds-convenient-for-mothers-to-come-out-of-the-home/277-645ae7a7-601e-4557-9d7c-f8df5c22949c

March 3, 2021

Morning Joe rips 'insurrectionist' Josh Hawley: He doesn't 'want the FBI to aggressively investigate

Morning Joe rips 'insurrectionist' Josh Hawley: He doesn't 'want the FBI to aggressively investigate his crime scene'

Printed article: https://www.rawstory.com/josh-hawley-2650870957/

March 2, 2021

Major Christian adoption agency will stop rejecting LGBTQ parents

Source: LGBTQ Nation


Conservatives are "disappointed" that Bethany Christian Services is taking an "all hands on deck" approach to placing children in homes.

By Alex Bollinger Tuesday, March 2, 2021

One of the biggest adoption agencies in the U.S., Bethany Christian Services, has agreed to start working with LGBTQ parents to help place children in homes, after a previous policy statement that said they don’t work with potential parents who are same-sex couples.

“We will now offer services with the love and compassion of Jesus to the many types of families who exist in our world today,” said Chris Palusky, president of the organization, in an email to about 1500 staff members. “We’re taking an ‘all hands on deck’ approach where all are welcome.”

The Protestant adoption agency has long refused to work with same-sex couples, although their policy was only officially stated in 2007 when Bethany adopted a position statement that said, “God’s design for the family is a covenant and lifelong marriage of one man and one woman.” But in January, the organization adopted a new policy statement that says: “Christians of mutual good faith can reasonably disagree on various doctrinal issues, about which Bethany does not maintain an organizational position.” It also eliminated the 2007 statement.

The organization is huge, with offices in 32 states. It facilitated over 1100 adoption and 3400 foster placements in 2019.

Read more: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/03/major-christian-adoption-agency-will-stop-rejecting-lgbtq-parents/

March 2, 2021

FBI director says domestic terrorism cases have soared to 2,000 in recent months

Source: Washington Post


By Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky
March 2, 2021 at 11:46 a.m. EST

FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said Tuesday that his agents are pursuing roughly 2,000 domestic terrorism cases — a huge spike as the FBI tries to show it is taking the threat of such attacks seriously in the wake of January’s pro-Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol.

“We have significantly grown the number of investigations and arrests,” Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee, noting that the number of such cases has more than doubled since he became the FBI director in 2017. He had testified in September that the number of such cases was about 1,000. By the end of 2020, there were about 1,400 such cases, and after Jan. 6 the figure ballooned again, the director said.

Wray also defended the bureau’s handling of intelligence in advance of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, asserting that agents rapidly shared what they were learning with other law enforcement agencies, rejecting criticism that the FBI did not do enough to warn Capitol Police of the looming threat.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee chairman, pressed Wray on how the bureau shared a situation report, prepared by the FBI’s Norfolk field office a day before the riot, which warned of specific appeals for violence — including a call for “war” at the Capitol. At a hearing last week, the D.C. police chief and the former Capitol Police chief conceded their agencies had received the warning, but suggested the FBI should have more aggressively sounded the alarm.


Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/christopher-wray-fbi-capitol-riot/2021/03/01/a49d177a-7ae7-11eb-85cd-9b7fa90c8873_story.html

March 2, 2021

'First, they outlaw Dr. Seuss': Kevin McCarthy lies about Democrats on House floor

March 2, 2021

FBI Director Says No Evidence of Antifa on January 6

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1366775315633176578

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1366776858902208513

March 2, 2021

UPDATED: FBI Director Wray Tells Senate: 'Siege' on Capitol Was 'Domestic Terrorism'

Source: Mediaite

By Rudy TakalaMar 2nd, 2021, 11:02 am

FBI Director Christopher Wray told senators on Tuesday that he viewed January’s unrest in Washington, D.C. as “domestic terrorism.”

“I was appalled, like you, at the violence and destruction that we saw that day,” Wray said during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “I was appalled that you, our country’s elected leaders, were victimized right here in these very halls. That attack, that siege, was criminal behavior, plain and simple. And it behavior that we at the FBI, view as domestic terrorism. It is got no place in our democracy, and tolerating it would make a mockery of our nation’s rule of law.”

Wray, a holdover from former President Donald Trump’s administration, has led the FBI since 2017. However, he fell out of favor with Trump toward the end of his term in office for refusing to publicly agree with the former president’s claims of voter fraud.

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Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/news/fbi-director-wray-tells-senate-siege-on-capitol-was-domestic-terrorism/

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UPDATE:

FBI Director Says No Evidence of Antifa on January 6

March 2, 2021 at 11:04 am EST By Taegan Goddard

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked FBI Director Christopher Wray whether there was any evidence of antifa involvement in the Capitol insurrection, NBC News reports.

Responded Wray: “We have not to date seen any evidence of anarchist violent extremists or people subscribing to antifa in connection with the 6th.”

Wray later said that white supremacists make up “the biggest chunk of our domestic terrorism portfolio overall.”

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https://politicalwire.com/2021/03/02/fbi-director-says-no-evidence-of-antifa-on-january-6/


https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/1366779533257543686

March 2, 2021

Pelosi Says Trump 'Completely Made Up' Claim She Rejected National Guard Assistance

Source: Mediaite


By Rudy Takala Mar 2nd, 2021, 9:58 am

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is denying former President Donald Trump’s claim that she denied assistance from the National Guard during January’s unrest at the Capitol.

“I definitely gave the number of 10,000 National Guardsmen, and [said] I think you should have 10,000 of the National Guard ready,” Trump said in a Sunday interview with Fox News’ Steve Hilton. “They took that number. From what I understand, they gave it to the people at the Capitol, which is controlled by Pelosi. And I heard they rejected it because they didn’t think it would look good. So, you know, that was a big mistake.”

Responding to a question about the statement, Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill told The Washington Post, Trump’s claim was “completely made up.” National Guard troops arrived at the Capitol just before 6 p.m. on the day of the Jan. 6 uprising that led to the deaths of two people, including a Capitol Police officer. Unrest had mostly subsided prior to the Guard’s arrival, and has led to weeks of finger-pointing over the cause of the delay.

Paul Irving, the House sergeant-at arms, and Michael Stenger, the Senate sergeant-at-arms, resigned after the incident. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund told the Senate last week that he wasn’t aware at the time of an FBI report warning that protesters could bring “war” to Washington.

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Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/news/pelosi-says-trump-completely-made-up-claim-she-rejected-national-guard-assistance/