DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Republican Cra Cra Again Part.... Aw, who the hell can keep count...

Thanks.

Maybe. I know we lost the easy checks and balances, but I know the left will fight Trump’s worst moves. I also know some things will happen that they can’t stop.

And there is a faction of the left that will try to twist crap Trump wants into a win for dems. Obstruct, delay, and defend while being loudly outraged and publicly disgusted about everything bad for us that Trump tries. Being powerless and whiny worked for citizen Trump.

There are things that are likely wide open for an EO but others would get shut down pretty quickly. For instance the dissolution of FDIC. This would take an act of Congress, an EO would not be effective. If he tried to use an EO it would be challenged and enjoined pretty quickly. It would be obvious that an EO is no legal to dissolve FDIC. He could change policies for FDIC, but I am not sure what that would accomplish towards any agenda he might have.

I'm certainly not going to try and predict how this will all play out. But on paper I don't see this being good for many sectors of our society. On a personal level I don't believe that most of it will negatively impact me as an individual as much as it will many of the marginalized in our country. Let's face it, I'm an older white man living in a heavily red state. I understand that puts me at a huge advantage. I do however think he along with other Republicans will come after cuts in Social Security. Once again it won't impact me as much as it will many. I never expect or trust our government to live up to their end of the bargain on anything.

I'm in my mid 60's. In the grand scheme of things many of the issues facing us today doesn't pertain to me. My time on this planet is limited. When I vote it isn't about me. It's about the future for my grandchildren, great grandchildren and the generations to come. I would like to hope when I leave this world I will have in some small way have helped make it a better planet for them. But it's an uphill battle.

I don't doubt some of his EO's would be challenged in court the same way they were in his first term. I agree with you that there are limitations to just how far he can go with EO's. I agree that some of them would be defeated in court. But it may not be done as quickly as you seem to indicate.

The thing about the legal process is that you can appeal a decision to a higher court. That process can sometimes work its way all the way up to the SCOTUS. So there are two scenarios which could play out here. One is that his EO's could remain in place pending a final legal outcome or a court could put a hold on the EO pending that outcome. I'm in a wait and see pattern as to how that will play itself out.

And no doubt he'll whatever is possible to get it changed. When he does, it will be challenged, end up at SCOTUS and he'll win again because the lips of 6 justices are firmly attached to his butt.

Another sign of a NAZI state.

At least you got to say NAZI again.

There is already a thread in the Everything Else forum about the drones but this is simply too political to post in that forum.

The Cra Cra has taken the lead in this one as has been expected..........................

What is the Project Blue Beam drone conspiracy theory?

As drones become more visible across New Jersey and New York, conspiracy theories continue to spread.

Project Blue Beam is a conspiracy theory dating back to the 1990s, but some believe the current drone sightings are a sign of it coming to fruition.

What is Project Blue Beam?

Canadian journalist Serge Monast is credited with coming up with the theory of Project Blue Beam, wherein there is a plot to engender a dictatorial, universal government that abolishes Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam) in favor of a new world order.

In theory, this totalitarian state would be achieved through staged futuristic NASA technology that pretends to be proof of alien presence or attacks.

Monast claimed NASA and the U.S. were collaborating to abolish Abrahamic religions to establish a “New Age” religion with the Antichrist as the figurehead.

Who is talking about Project Blue Beam?

Several prominent figures have discussed how they believe continued drone sightings and Project Blue Beam are intertwined.

Actress Roseanne Barr posted on X Sunday: “Now you see why I mention Project Blue Beam every week on my podcast….”

Alex Jones also discussed the topic, sharing a 2021 interview with ufologist and former physician Dr. Steven Greer in which the latter suggested a “hoax cosmic threat” would soon be coming into effect.

A fan page of influencer Charlie Kirk shared an image of a post from a Reddit “conspiracy” thread on X, purportedly written by a “25-year radar operator for a major [government] agency” that echoed similar rhetoric to Jones.

On Sunday, Jones quote-tweeted footage of drones appearing in New Jersey, describing their presence as “part of a larger psychological warfare operation ahead of major events.”

Experts’ opinions on drone sightings

University of Pennsylvania mechanical engineering professor Vijay Kumar told Newsweek he does not believe the drones are a foreign state actor but rather a U.S. government initiative.

“Firstly, it’s not a coincidence, I think, that all these sightings have been near military bases. I’ll just leave it at that,” Kumar told the outlet. “If I was an adversary, I would take great trouble to conceal what I was doing. So that leads me to believe that it’s not a military power that’s trying to attack the U.S.”

Missy Cummings, director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center at George Mason University, suggested to Newsweek they may not be drones at all.

“It is highly unlikely these are large drones as you describe, and if they are drones, they likely would be controlled by line-of-sight, so possibly from the water but probably not miles out to sea,” she said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/project-blue-beam-drone-conspiracy-180415355.html

Trump chooses Kari Lake as director for Voice of America

By Faris Tanyos
Updated on: December 11, 2024 / 10:42 PM EST / CBS News

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he has tapped Kari Lake as director of the government-funded Voice of America, the nation's largest international broadcaster.

The move comes after the 55-year-old Lake lost her Arizona Senate bid to Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in November.

"She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon," Trump said in a post to his Truth Social platform.

Lake, a former longtime TV news anchor in Phoenix, is a fierce Trump loyalist who also lost her campaign for Arizona governor in 2022. During her campaigns, she often echoed Trump's false claims about the 2020 election.

Voice of America, which is part of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, broadcasts news internationally in 49 languages on radio, television and online to an audience of an estimated 354 million people per week, according to its website.

It first began broadcasting in 1942. It has about 2,000 employees and an annual budget of approximately $260 million. USAGM is considered an independent federal agency.

In a social media post Wednesday night, Lake wrote that she was "honored" to have been tabbed for the role, adding that "under my leadership, the VOA will excel in its mission: chronicling America's achievements worldwide."

Lake's appointment must still be confirmed by the Senate.

During Trump's first term in 2020, USAGM's editorial independence came into question after Trump named Michael Pack — a conservative filmmaker and close ally of one-time Trump adviser Steve Bannon — its CEO.

Pack subsequently made the decision not to renew the visas of 10 VOA journalists and dozens of others who work at networks under USAGM, increasing concerns by members of Congress and the international community alike over the potential of diminished editorial independence of the VOA news outlet.

John Lippman is currently the acting director of VOA, a post he's held since October 2023, while Amanda Bennett is CEO of USAGM.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-chooses-kari-lake-director-for-voice-of-america/

Tokyo Rose the Trump version.

House rejects Trump-backed plan on government shutdown, leaving next steps uncertain

LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING
Updated Thu, December 19, 2024 at 8:29 PM EST
6 min read
ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON (AP) — A day before a potential government shutdown, the House resoundingly rejected President-elect Donald Trump's new plan Thursday to fund operations and suspend the debt ceiling, as Democrats and dozens of Republicans refused to accommodate his sudden demands.

In a hastily convened evening vote punctuated by angry outbursts over the self-made crisis, the lawmakers failed to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for passage — but House Speaker Mike Johnson appeared determined to reassess, before Friday's midnight deadline.

“We're going to regroup and we will come up with another solution, so stay tuned,” Johnson said after the vote. The cobbled-together plan didn’t even get a majority, with the bill failing 174-235.

The outcome proved a massive setback for Trump and his billionaire ally, Elon Musk, who rampaged against Johnson's bipartisan compromise, which Republicans and Democrats had reached earlier to prevent a Christmastime government shutdown.

It provides a preview of the turbulence ahead when Trump returns to the White House with Republican control of the House and Senate. During his first term, Trump led Republicans into the longest government shutdown in history during the 2018 Christmas season, and interrupted the holidays in 2020 by tanking a bipartisan COVID-relief bill and forcing a do-over.

Hours earlier Thursday, Trump announced “SUCCESS in Washington!” in coming up with the new package which would keep government running for three more months, add $100.4 billion in disaster assistance including for hurricane-hit states, and allow more borrowing through Jan. 30, 2027.

"Speaker Mike Johnson and the House have come to a very good Deal,” Trump posted.

But Republicans, who had spent 24 hours largely negotiating with themselves to cut out the extras conservatives opposed and come up with the new plan, ran into a wall of resistance from Democrats, who were in no hurry to appease demands from Trump — or Musk.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats were sticking with the original deal with Johnson and called the new one “laughable.”

“It's not a serious proposal,” Jeffries said as he walked to Democrats' own closed-door caucus meeting. Inside, Democrats were chanting, “Hell, no!”

All day, Johnson had been fighting to figure out how to meet Trump's almost impossible demands — and keep his own job — while federal offices are being told to prepare to shutter operations.

The new proposal whittled the 1,500-page bill to 116 pages and dropped a number of add-ons — notably the first pay raise for lawmakers in more than a decade, which could have allowed as much as a 3.8% bump. That drew particular scorn as Musk turned his social media army against the bill.

Trump said early Thursday that Johnson will “easily remain speaker” for the next Congress if he “acts decisively and tough” in coming up with a new plan to also raise the debt limit, a stunning request just before the Christmas holidays that has put the beleaguered speaker in a bind.

And if not, the president-elect warned of trouble ahead for Johnson and Republicans in Congress.

“Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,” Trump told Fox News Digital.

The tumultuous turn of events, coming as lawmakers were preparing to head home for the holidays, sparks a familiar reminder of what it's like in Trump-run Washington.

For Johnson, who faces his own problems ahead of a Jan. 3 House vote to remain speaker, Trump's demands left him severely weakened, forced to abandon his word with Democrats and work into the night to broker the new approach.

Trump’s allies even floated the far-fetched idea of giving Musk the speaker’s gavel, since the speaker is not required to be a member of the Congress. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., posted she was “open” to the idea.

Democrats were beside themselves, seeing this as a fitting coda after one of the most unproductive congressional sessions in modern times.

“Here we are once again in chaos,” said House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, who detailed the harm a government shutdown would cause Americans. “And what for? Because Elon Musk, an unelected man, said, ‘We’re not doing this deal, and Donald Trump followed along.’”

As he left the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "Now it’s time to go back to the bipartisan agreement.”

The debate in the House chamber grew heated as lawmakers blamed each other for the mess.

At one point, Rep. Marc Molinaro, who was presiding, slammed the speaker’s gavel with such force that it broke.

The stakes couldn't be higher. Trump was publicly turning on those who opposed him.

One hardline Republican, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, drew Trump’s ire for refusing to along with the plan. Roy in turn told his own GOP colleagues they had no self-respect for piling onto the nation’s debt.

“It’s shameful!” Roy thundered, standing on the Democratic side of the aisle and pointing at his fellow Republicans.

The slimmed-down package does include federal funds to rebuild Baltimore’s collapsed Key Bridge, but dropped a separate land transfer that could have paved the way for a new Washington Commanders football stadium.

It abandons a long list of other bipartisan bills that had support as lawmakers in both parties try to wrap work for the year. It extends government funds through March 14.

Adding an increase in the debt ceiling to what had been a bipartisan package is a show-stopper for Republicans who want to slash government and routinely vote against more borrowing. Almost three dozen Republicans voted against it.

While Democrats have floated their own ideas in the past for lifting or even doing away with the debt limit caps — Sen. Elizabeth Warren had suggested as much — they appear to be in no bargaining mood to save Johnson from Trump — even before the president-elect is sworn into office.

The current debt limit expires Jan. 1, 2025, and Trump wants the problem off the table before he joins the White House.

Musk, in his new foray into politics, led the charge. The wealthiest man in the world used his social media platform X to amplify the unrest, and GOP lawmakers were besieged with phone calls to their offices telling them to oppose the plan.

Rep. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican and senior appropriator, said the bipartisan bill's collapse signaled what's ahead in the new year, “probably be a good trailer right now for the 119th Congress.”


https://www.yahoo.com/news/government-shutdown-risk-trumps-demands-162543907.html

Trump’s Rage at Liz Cheney Takes a Dark Turn—and Wrecks a Big GOP Lie
Greg Sargent
Thu, December 19, 2024 at 6:00 AM EST5 min read


Barely moments after Donald Trump announced that he’d chosen loyalist Kash Patel as FBI director, Republicans stampeded forth to insist that this in no way means Trump will unleash law enforcement on his enemies, even though Trump himself has threatened to do so. Senator John Cornyn suggested such threats were only for “public consumption.” Senator Rick Scott said Trump is “not gonna do it.” And Representative Dan Meuser scoffed that the very idea is “nonsense.”

These lawmakers should take a moment to consult Trump’s Truth Social feed. At 3:11 a.m. on Wednesday, demonstrating characteristic emotional balance, Trump posted this reaction to a new report from a House subcommittee chaired by GOP Representative Barry Loudermilk, which recommends that the FBI investigate former GOP Representative Liz Cheney over her role in the House’s January 6 inquiry:

Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that “numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI.” Thank you to Congressman Barry Loudermilk on a job well done.

Note the trademark mobspeak here: Cheney could be in a lot of trouble for federal lawbreaking, Trump declares, as if he’s merely a passive observer remarking on the danger she faces, rather than someone who will control the nation’s sprawling federal law enforcement apparatus in just over a month. Trump has been raging at Cheney for years and has amplified suggestions that she should face televised military tribunals.

Now, in a dark turn in this whole farcical saga, Trump is pretending that House Republicans have given him a legitimate basis for prosecuting Cheney, when in fact their claims were cooked up in bad faith for precisely that purpose.

Indeed, read this way, Trump’s new missive actually wrecks the spin from Republicans that there’s no reason to fear that Patel will improperly wield law enforcement against his political enemies, even though Patel has vowed to do exactly that. It clearly signals that this is exactly what Trump expects from him.

For starters, the House GOP report’s claim that Cheney “likely” broke federal laws is “likely” entirely baseless. The report argues that as vice chair of the House committee that investigated Trump’s insurrection on January 6, 2021, Cheney may have violated statutes barring witness tampering and the subornation of perjury. But legal experts tell me the allegations are extremely thin.

The witness-tampering claim is based on the charge that Cheney improperly communicated with Cassidy Hutchinson—a Trump White House aide who delivered damning testimony against Trump—without her lawyer’s knowledge. But as Cheney and Hutchinson have already detailed in their books—and the report itself recounts—Hutchinson is the one who initiated direct contact with Cheney, apparently without that lawyer’s knowledge, asking Cheney to recommend new attorneys she might choose from to replace him.

The GOP report insists that such a consultation behind a lawyer’s back was nonetheless unethical in an attorney (Cheney is also a lawyer). But law professor Jonathan Turley—not exactly a Resistance liberal—has noted that Cheney was functioning as a member of Congress in doing this, not as a lawyer, and that in pursuing the matter with Hutchinson, she was doing her congressional duty to pursue a witness.

Nor does the report demonstrate that what Cheney did do was witness tampering, said national security lawyer Bradley Moss. “For this to be criminal tampering, Cheney would have to work to get Hutchinson to change her testimony to provide knowingly false information,” Moss told me. “The report does not provide anything remotely sufficient to substantiate that.”

The same goes for the claim that Cheney may have unlawfully gotten Hutchinson to commit perjury, Moss said. The report details what it insists are Hutchinson’s falsehoods to the January 6 committee. But Moss argues that the findings don’t show that Hutchinson knowingly made false claims, and regardless, the GOP report “produces zero evidence that Cheney herself instructed Hutchinson to provide knowing false statements.”

“This is political cover for what Trump really wants: An excuse to prosecute Cheney,” Moss concluded.

Kristy Parker, counsel at Protect Democracy and a former federal prosecutor herself, agrees that the GOP report is exceedingly weak. “The FBI has very strict guidelines for when they can open investigations,” Parker said. “The GOP report does not provide any information that would credibly justify a criminal inquiry.”

Many of the headlines about the House GOP report and Trump’s endorsement of it treat this moment as akin to a conventional political battle. “House Republicans call for Liz Cheney to be investigated over Jan. 6 committee role,” blared The New York Times. NBC News told readers that “Republicans say Liz Cheney should be investigated.”

Meanwhile, a CNN headline read that the House GOP is siding with Trump against Cheney “after investigating January 6,” as if the GOP probe was merely another good-faith effort to gather facts about that day. Politico went with “Trump: Liz Cheney ‘could be in a lot of trouble’ over Jan. 6 committee,” treating Trump’s comment as a conventional statement from a politician about Cheney’s legal situation. Casual readers of these headlines might come away believing we’re having a real debate over whether Cheney did break federal laws and that Trump has a genuine, public-spirited interest in determining whether that legitimately happened.

But the real story here is the public conduct of Trump and Republicans, not that of Liz Cheney or what Trump supposedly “believes” about it. Trump is demonstrating that he’s eager for Cheney’s prosecution to proceed regardless of whether there’s any legitimate basis for it.

The story is that House Republicans are abusing their public roles to create a phony pretext for something that Trump already intended to do anyway: wield law enforcement as a weapon against his enemies with no serious legal predicate. And Senate Republicans appear willing to confirm Patel while knowing full well that Trump has expressly chosen him to carry out this extraordinary and degenerate abuse of power.

All of that is the story. How is it conceivable that the media is treating this as a conventional political moment? Trump’s veiled threat toward Cheney should prompt the press to revisit those reassurances from Republicans. GOP senators should be hounded mercilessly by reporters on whether they’ll knowingly support Patel now that Trump has made the corrupt reality of the situation so inescapably, alarmingly clear.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-rage-liz-cheney-takes-110000032.html

We having’ fun yet MAGA? Seems like the crap Trump is pulling is already hurting everybody. And since when was it legal to call the shots from the cheap seats? Don’t we have laws about obstructing congress? One POTUS at a time? Or did all the go the way of keeping insurrectionists and their leaders out of office? Trump wipe’s his ass on the constitution every day. My prediction from see the MAGA circus in transition is that the economy will be crashed no later than June 26 under Trump. It could happen within days of his inauguration and I wouldn’t be surprised.

And he’s going to cut spending two trillion, going to get the deficit down, going to stop Government waste… then why the hell is he demanding that the debt ceiling be abolished BEFORE he takes office? Does a little donny CON require that to get those trillions in the pockets of the donor class? Smfh, it’s obviously a heist. I think he sold the presidency to Elon on the DL. You can’t make this crap up.

Looks like I may be going without a paycheck next pay period. Merry Christmas to me!! Honestly, I'll be fine, but I can't say that for every federal employee, especially this time of year.

President Musk - er I mean Trump - really wanting to set a lot of fires.

You had it right. It's King Trump and President Musk..............................

Trump says any shutdown ‘is a Biden problem to solve’

The president-elect has insisted that any funding package include an extension, or elimination, of the debt limit.

President-elect Donald Trump worked Friday morning to foist the blame for any potential government shutdown onto the current White House, insisting that the funding fight on Capitol Hill “is a Biden problem to solve.”

Lawmakers had seemed on track earlier this week to fund the government with time to spare, settling on a bipartisan stopgap spending bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, that would extend government spending into March and included a lot of add-ons to appease Democrats and others. But that plan quickly drew the ire of Trump ally Elon Musk, followed by the president-elect and Vice President-elect JD Vance, tanking that bill. Still, with government funding set to run out at midnight on Friday, Trump insisted that it is President Joe Biden who should be held responsible for any shutdown. “If there is going to be a shutdown of government, let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th, under ‘TRUMP,’” the president-elect wrote on Truth Social. “This is a Biden problem to solve, but if Republicans can help solve it, they will!”

Of particular interest to Trump amid the ongoing spending negotiations is an increase, or outright removal, of the government’s debt limit. The president-elect has insisted that any funding package include such a provision, an especially tough pill to swallow for conservatives who have for years forced painful debt limit fights on Capitol Hill.

“Congress must get rid of, or extend out to, perhaps, 2029, the ridiculous Debt Ceiling,” Trump wrote on Truth Social just after 1 a.m. Friday morning. “Without this, we should never make a deal. Remember, the pressure is on whoever is President.”

Lawmakers have so far struck out on legislation that would meet Trump’s demands. A hastily brokered deal to fund the government and extend the debt limit collapsed on the House floor — with 38 Republican defectors — Thursday night. Speaker Mike Johnson worked through the night Thursday into Friday on a “Plan C” after ditching the original bipartisan deal and failing to pass the new bill on the House floor. Johnson and Trump are both weighing the pros and cons of a government shutdown.

Speaking to reporters, Johnson said the House will vote on a funding bill Friday morning.

“We’re expecting votes this morning. So y’all stay tuned. We’ve got a plan,” he said. Asked if they had reached a new agreement, he added: “We’ll see.”

Johnson is balancing Trump’s demands with the reality that any deal will require Democratic support in both the House and the Democratic-controlled Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is asking to return to the original bipartisan deal that Trump and Musk killed.

“It’s a good thing the bill failed in the House, and now it’s time to go back to the bipartisan agreement we came to,” Schumer said Thursday.

Like Trump, Vance is already working on shutdown messaging, telling reporters Thursday that Democrats are to blame for the looming shutdown. “They’ve asked for a shutdown and I think that’s exactly what they’re going to get,” he told reporters.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/12/20/trump-shutdown-biden-problem-00195574

How odd it must be to claim you're the party of fiscal responsibility, having refused to pass any annual budget because you want to install a debt ceiling to reduce the budget deficit........ Then suddenly trump comes along and demands you do away with any attempt to create a debt ceiling. Now why would he be against a debt ceiling when he claims he is going to reduce spending? "Things that make you go hmmmm for $500 Alex."

Musk and trump derailed a bipartisan agreement that had been reached now to only blame democrats for the situation we're in. When the fact is 38 members of their own party voted against the latest bill trump approved. Their own party can't get its act together and still refuse any responsibility for it. Murica!

It’s a Goper’s mess and they don’t know how to clean up their own messes. Oh well Murica!

If they can't raise the deficit they can't hand out huge tax cuts mainly geared to help the wealthy the most and they can't have that.

Tech billionaires flock to Mar-a-Lago before Trump inauguration

https://www.wpbf.com/article/florid...-lago-before-trump-inauguration/63206273

I can see bigger union strikes and boycotts in the future for these billionaires. Something in me says workers paying a higher tax percentage then their billionaire boss just won’t sit well.

In a previous PP post, I profiled the people who stormed Capitol Hill as being the same people who will eventually storm the next regime, as well. The discontent is real, and it will be aimed at whomever is in power.

If the new administration fails them, they will be just as angry, disaffected and bloodthirsty as they were in 2021.
Expect similar behavior in the future, regardless of who's in charge.

Trump got'em whipped up in 2015, and they're still in a froth.
If 47 doesn't deliver, he'll feel it like anyone else in his position. He won't be immune.

Will he sic the National Guard on those who voted him into office? He's already on record as expressing such inclinations regarding public demonstrations ("can't we just shoot'em in the legs?").
I can easily foresee a situation much like this, in the not-too-distant future.

America voted for this potentiality.
I'll wait to see how she responds, if such things come to pass.


Regardless of outcome, I'll be able to sleep knowing that I voted for something other than that.


.02

Like me, it doesn't seem you sleep all that well...lol

You are a musician. Maybe you have a side gig throwing down the cello notes in some ELO tribute band. No dis intended. Grab the green when you can for as long as you can.

I applaud that. My dad was a sax player. Before he settled on what he did, he did some sit in work with Harry James. Most don't know him, but you do. I have a couple of old 78's somewhere that he played on.

Cleb would have voted for Maxine Waters if she ran. It's not saying much.

And you would have voted for David Duke if he ran.

I get home from work between 10 and 11PM. Late nights are the norm.
Played with ELO about 20 years ago. They were guests in our Pops series. Put on a good show. I'd forgotten how many memorable hits they'd waxed.

ELO is fantastic and Jeff Lynne is a genius. It still amazes me just how underrated they are in the grand scheme of things.

I never performed on the professional level you do. But when I did sing in bands I know it often times would take me several hours after a gig for the adrenaline to subside.

Yeah, you can't come home and go straight to bed. That would be like someone who works a 9 to 5 coming home and going to bed at 6-7 PM.

Not possible.

And they still can't let it go........

Court sides with state over Pennsylvania county’s handling of voting machines after 2020 election

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania court on Tuesday ruled 6-1 that the secretary of state has the authority to direct counties not to allow “unauthorized third party access” to voting machines or risk having those machines decertified and unable to be deployed for elections.

The Commonwealth Court said the Department of State does not have to reimburse counties when they decertify machines, a defeat for Fulton County in a dispute that arose after two Republican county commissioners permitted Wake Technology Services Inc. to examine and obtain data from Dominion voting machines in 2021.

That led the state elections agency to issue a directive against such third-party access based on concerns it could compromise security. Fulton’s machines were decertified as a result of the Wake TSI examination and the secretary of state was sued by the county as well as Republican county commissioners Randy Bunch and Stuart Ulsh.

Fulton had argued it had broad authority over the voting machines, while the secretary of state said that “would mean that every county board of elections can do whatever it wants” with electronic voting systems under their authority to inspect elections, “an absurd and unreasonable result,” wrote Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer for the majority.

She said a 1937 state election law gave county election boards broad power, but state lawmakers amended it “to give the secretary an important role in ensuring statewide consistency and safety” regarding electronic voting systems. The state and local power balance over elections and voting equipment, the majority said, helps “protect and provide for free and fair and secure elections.”

“There is no conflict between those provisions, and it is entirely possible — indeed necessary — for county boards of elections to fulfill their powers and duties while heeding the secretary’s report and directives,” Jubelirer wrote for the majority.

The Department of State issued a statement saying it was pleased with the decision and that the adminstration of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro “is committed to ensuring the free and secure administration of elections, and today’s decision recognizes that the secretary is empowered to keep voting systems secure from unauthorized third-parties seeking to undermine confidence in Pennsylvania’s elections.”

The Fulton County board, through chief clerk Stacey Shives, declined comment about the decision. Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for Fulton County’s lawyers, Tom Carroll and Jim Stein.

The officials in Fulton, a 15,000 population county in rural central Pennsylvania, brought in Wake TSI and allowed another outside inspection as part of an effort to find the sort of election fraud that then-President Donald Trump falsely claimed existed after his 2020 reelection loss. Fulton heavily supported Trump in all three of his presidential campaigns. Ulsh is no longer an elected county commissioner.

Fulton replaced the voting machines, which were impounded by the court during the dispute over allowing others to access them.

https://apnews.com/article/pennsylvania-voting-machines-fulton-2020-7f2130b82d582aab34afd504b444dc0c

Rudy Giuliani held in contempt in case brought by two former Georgia election workers he defamed

A federal judge on Monday held Rudy Giuliani in contempt for failing to turn over information to two former Georgia election workers he defamed after the 2020 presidential election, as they continue to try to collect $150 million in damages.

The sanctions add to a pile of significant consequences the former New York mayor, US attorney and Donald Trump attorney has faced in court in recent years.

It comes less than two weeks before a scheduled trial where Giuliani will fight to keep ownership of a $3.5 million Palm Beach, Florida, condo he says he lives in. He was accused of failing to respond to requests for information from election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss as they prepare for the trial.

Judge Lewis Liman said Giuliani’s noncompliance was willful and accused him of “running the clock” to stall until the trial date.

The judge said he put very little weight on Giuliani’s “self-serving” testimony claiming any noncompliance was innocent.

“He has testified that he did not respond because he suspected the motives of plaintiff’s counsel. That is not an excuse for violating the court’s orders,” Liman said in court Monday.

“More important, as the court informed the defendant, if there was reason to believe the plaintiff’s counsel misused discovery or would misuse discovery, he could raise that with the court. It was not an excuse to take the law into his own hands,” the judge added.

Giuliani had been delaying paying or handing over his valuables, including by entering into bankruptcy for several months, but began the process of turning over some of his assets to Moss and Freeman after Liman ordered him to do so in October. Though he turned over some of the items he owed, including more than a dozen luxury watches, furniture and baseball memorabilia, and began the process of transferring ownership of his $6 million New York apartment to them, not all of the transfers are complete.

For instance, he gave Moss and Freeman the 1980 convertible Mercedes itself, but not the car’s title. Giuliani testified Monday that he turned over the title to his Mercedes over the weekend and that he couldn’t find it earlier.

He admitted on the stand that he’s held on to his grandfather’s pocket watch. He waved the pocket watch in the camera during his virtual appearance Monday, telling the court he will give it to the lawyers who he hopes will keep it safe.

Giuliani has also been ordered to relinquish a collection of sports memorabilia but has insisted he cannot find a signed Joe DiMaggio jersey that once hung over the mantle in his New York City apartment.

“The only one I’m having difficulty with is the Joe DiMaggio jersey because I do not know where it is and it’s hard to re-create who took it,” Giuliani testified. “I am personally conducting my own investigation.”

Giuliani on his podcast Monday evening criticized the judge’s decision to hold him in contempt. The former mayor slammed the ruling, saying, “I’ve already been deposed for hours on this case. I’ve given him and them hundreds and hundreds of pages of discovery. It’s literally this high, but they want more. And they want me held in contempt because I haven’t given them enough.”

Giuliani argued on the podcast it was a waste of time for him to testify, claiming the judge “had already made up his mind.” He also argued the court’s request for information in the case was “enormously burdensome.”

Giuliani’s spokesperson, Ted Goodman, responded to the judge’s contempt finding by attacking Freeman and Moss’ attorneys, whom Goodman said “might be happy to fight to take away Mayor Giuliani’s most cherished personal belongings, including his signed baseball jersey of his childhood hero and his grandfather’s pocket watch, but they can never take away his extraordinary record of public service.”

More than four years ago, Giuliani defamed Moss and Freeman while working for Trump after the 2020 election, when he repeatedly and falsely claimed they had switched votes to hurt Trump in Atlanta, in a state where the then-president lost the popular vote.

A jury in Washington, DC, decided a year ago that the former mayor’s statements about Moss and Freeman harmed them so much, he should owe them $150 million.

Moss and Freeman are also trying to have Giuliani held in contempt of court for failing to turn over assets that he was ordered to months ago.

In his ruling Monday, the judge limited defense arguments and evidence Giuliani can use at trial – penalties that could make it more difficult for him to keep his Florida condo.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/06/politics/rudy-giuliani-contempt-hearing/index.html

Dictator news headlines for Tuesday January 6th 2025......

In a press conference from Mar-A-Largo Tuesday trump refused to rule out military action against both Greenland and Panama to take over the Panama Canal.............


Stated he will take drastic measures to bring Canada under U.S. control...........


In his deranged brain he claimed Jack Smith wanted to "execute everybody"........


Made an obvious threat that the U.S. may get involved in the Middle East war.......


Elaborated how he will wage war against green energy...............


https://www.politico.com/news/2025/...nland-oil-middle-east-takeaways-00196901

Trump also said he will change the name of The Gulf of Mexico to The Gulf of America.....................


https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/01/07/congress/gulf-of-america-00196858

trump states the change in Facebook policy was probably due to his threats against Zuckerberg........


https://www.barrons.com/news/trump-...-probably-response-to-his-threats-c5c592

George Orwell is sad.

In other global dictator news for Tuesday Jan. 6th 2025.....

Kim Jong Un banned hot dogs in North Korea...................


https://www.vice.com/en/article/kim-jong-un-just-banned-hot-dogs-in-north-korea/

Man at the center of Washington DC 'Pizzagate' killed during North Carolina traffic stop

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-welch-killed-kannapolis-nc/77592172007/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tuberville-says-california-doesn-t-001709889.html

Tuberville says California doesn’t ‘deserve’ funding after wildfires unless it makes ‘some changes’
Tara Suter


Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Monday that California doesn’t “deserve” funding after wildfires unless they “make some changes.”

“If you go to California, you run into a lot of Republicans, a lot of good people, and I hate it for them, but they are just overwhelmed by, by these inner-city woke policies with the people that vote for them,” Tuberville said on Newsmax’s “The Chris Salcedo Show,” in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.

“And it … you know, I don’t mind sending them some money. But unless they show that they’re [going to] change their ways and get back to building dams and storing water, doing the — the maintenance with the brush and the trees and everything that everybody else does in the country, and they refuse to do it, they don’t deserve anything, to be honest with you, unless they show us they’re [going to] make some changes,” he added.

The recent Los Angeles-area fires have devastated the region, destroying property en masse and leaving a death toll in the double digits in their wake.

On Sunday, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) predicted “that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved” for Los Angeles-area fire aid.

“Do you expect, though, that Congress and Republicans will still help these Americans in need, even if they don’t like their local politics in the party?” CBS News’s Margaret Brennan asked Barrasso on “Face the Nation.”

“I expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved, and it has to do with being ready the next time, because this was a gross failure this time,” the Wyoming Republican responded.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) raised concerns in an interview that aired Sunday about the chance of President-elect Trump withholding federal disaster aid to the Golden State during the deadly fires.

“He’s done it in Utah. He’s done it in Michigan, did it in Puerto Rico. He did it to California back before I was even governor, in 2018, until he found out folks in Orange County voted for him and he decided to give them money,” Newsom said in the interview.

https://www.wkrg.com/alabama-news/heres-how-much-each-state-depends-on-federal-money/

TLDR: Tuberville is a clown and [gasp] should prolly worry a little more about his own state.

I saw an interview that summed this up pretty well when it comes to "being ready". A fire chief explained that there were 800 homes on fire at the same time. He said that to combat those fires would require three fire engines at the scene of each one of those homes. That's 2400 fire engines. And that no city of that size has the fire engines to respond to all of those fires. He also stated that no city of that size has anywhere close the fire engines or water supply to fight all of those fires at the same time.

But who would not have expected the usual suspects of trying to make a political football out of such a tragedy?

Tuberville has always been disgusting. Same as it ever was.

dumbass tuberville probably doesn't even know or is being deliberate in his ignorance that the largest owner of the 100.2 million acres of California land is the federal government-owning about 47.7 percent of all of Cali's land between the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and the Department of Defense.

And if he is going to tie strings to relief, maybe before hurricane season gets here, he could start leaning on all the the coastline states from the Chesapeake Bay down to the Keys and around the gulf to Texas to start addressing all of their issues from hurricanes.

We are getting what we deserve- there is little depth to any point- all the actors are living for their instant highlight......our incoming President is tweeting/texting at all hours of the day about his enemies and how he'll fix things----NYT reporter stated our situation excellently- ""We live in a social media/cable TV country," he writes. "In our culture you don’t want to focus on boring policy questions; you want to engage in the kind of endless culture war that gets voters riled up. You don’t want to focus on topics that would require study; you focus on images and easy-to-understand issues that generate instant visceral reactions. You don’t win this game by engaging in serious thought; you win by mere attitudinizing — by striking a pose. Your job is not to advance an argument that might help the country; your job is to go viral."

Give us quick sound bites which reinforce stupidity-- soon we'll have clowns at President, DOD, and running our medical industry----WOW, blessings coming.

Vivek Ramaswamy to leave DOGE and launch a run for Ohio governor

Henry J. Gomez
Mon, January 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM EST3 min read

WASHINGTON — Vivek Ramaswamy will launch a campaign for governor in Ohio early next week and is parting ways with President Donald Trump’s incoming Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, two sources familiar with his plans told NBC News.

Ramaswamy’s interest in seeking office in his home state is not a surprise. But his decision to leave DOGE now removes him from the high command of a federal spending watchdog group that he was supposed to run with Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla CEO and owner of X.

“He’s leaving DOGE. He’s going to announce early next week for governor,” said one of the sources, who was granted anonymity to discuss preparations for a campaign that has not officially launched. “It became increasingly clear over the last week that pursuing the governor’s race and running DOGE was not compatible. He’s leaving on good terms with Trump, Elon and the team.”

A post on X issued Monday morning around the time that Ramaswamy's departure from DOGE became public, underscored how abruptly he was pivoting away from one of Trump's top priorities.

"A new dawn," Ramaswamy posted alongside a photo of him with Musk.

In a statement, Trump transition spokesperson Anna Kelly praised Ramaswamy for having played a "critical role" in establishing DOGE.

"He intends to run for elected office soon, which requires him to remain outside of DOGE based on the structure that we announced today," Kelly added. "We thank him immensely for his contributions over the last 2 months and expect him to play a vital role in making America great again!”

Ramaswamy, a wealthy biotech entrepreneur, briefly challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination last year before he became one of his most visible and vocal allies. He had said he was putting his Ohio political ambitions on hold to help lead the DOGE effort.

At the time, Ramaswamy was taking himself out of the running for the appointment to the Senate vacancy in Ohio left by Vice President-elect JD Vance. But Ramaswamy resurfaced as a late contender for that job, meeting last week with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who eventually selected Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.

That move quickly upended the 2026 race for governor, as Husted was considered a leading candidate to succeed DeWine, a fellow Republican, who is term-limited. Two other GOP officials with statewide name recognition — state Attorney General Dave Yost and state Treasurer Robert Sprague — were already plotting their own bids for governor. And Ramaswamy’s signals last week that he was about to join them only accelerated their preparations.

Ramaswamy mingled with Ohio Republicans at their inaugural ball here Sunday night. But he left conspicuously early, according to three attendees, who were granted anonymity to share details of a private event. His appearance struck these Republicans as unusually perfunctory for someone about to launch a campaign for governor.

“He can’t bother to spend more than 45 minutes with 1,400 of the most influential Republicans in Ohio,” a GOP leader in the state said. “It’s next-level arrogance.”

A Ramaswamy adviser did not respond to a question about his appearance.

On the Democratic side, Amy Acton, a physician who was DeWine’s health director during the early days of Covid, has declared her candidacy for governor.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/vivek-ramaswamy-leave-doge-launch-190310455.html

Lauren Boebert & Nancy Mace confront woman they thought was trans in ‘predictable’ Capitol bathroom incident

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lauren-boebert-nancy-mace-confront-135559995.html

i already got second hand embarrassment from these two and their actions, but then i thought about something:


I can't imagine how ticked off and insecure that woman must feel being called a man by two crazies in the bathroom. you're literally doing nothing wrong except existing, and out of nowhere comes two elected officials acting like a teenage lynch mob, implying that you aren't a woman.

Well, here we go again. Looks like I’m in the crosshairs even more so.

https://www.govexec.com/pay-benefit...urity/402495/?oref=ge-featured-river-top

Not like it’s my livelihood or anything.

It's great to see them stand up for the working man.