February 7, 2023
President Biden will make his State of the Union address at 9:00 pm ET.
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
CBS Boston News: "Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh is leaving the White House for the NHL. Walsh, who is the current US labor secretary under President Joe Biden, is set to become the next executive director of the NHL Players' Association. He'll be formally installed in his new gig in the coming days, according to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. The league's executive board will still have to vote on Walsh's appointment, and 18 of the 32 player reps will have to vote in favor of Walsh for him to become the next executive director. But the Daily Faceoff is reporting that Walsh is expected to be unanimously approved."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden plans to challenge the new House Republican majority on Tuesday night to raise taxes on the wealthy, extend more social aid to the needy and rule out cuts to Social Security and Medicare as he opens an era of divided government. In his first State of the Union address since his fellow Democrats lost control of the House, aides said Mr. Biden would call on lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to rally around his economic agenda, even as the newly empowered opposition gears up to try to force him to change direction. No one expects the Republicans now running the House to embrace Mr. Biden's legislative program, nor is the president likely to agree anytime soon to the other side's demands for deep spending cuts in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling. But the speech and the G.O.P. response will frame the terms of debate heading into the coming year, even as Mr. Biden prepares to announce a campaign for re-election this spring." ~~~
~~~ The White House announces the First Lady's guests at the State of the Union address. ~~~
~~~ SNL Alert! Marie: I plumb forgot about this: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Ark.) will deliver the Republican rebuttals to the SOTU speech. David Siders of Politico writes about that.
Eileen Sullivan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, federal border officials began testifying before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. The hearing is the latest piece of an aggressive push to scrutinize [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas that some Republicans have said should result in his impeachment. The panel is led by Representative James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky, who has already made up his mind that Mr. Mayorkas, 63, should be removed for his handling of the record number of unauthorized crossings at the southern border since President Biden has been in office. Even though the spike in illegal entries is part of a global migration trend, Mr. Mayorkas has become the face of the intractable problem, particularly for Republicans who see failures at the border as a winning political strategy...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: In the few snippets I've seen of Comer speaking, he strikes me as the pre-Alpha version of a Gym Jordan clone: as nasty as Jordan, but dumber and uglier.
Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has subpoenaed top Justice Department officials, supposedly to investigate the department's suppression of information about the persecution of conservative parents.... Democrats should make these hearings about what Republicans did. This entails using spectacle to show what happened to educators as a result of Republicans systematically smearing them with hateful propaganda.... The country deserves a real debate about the real consequences of our culture wars, not one that unfolds strictly in the information universe Republicans are manufacturing." MB: I get the idea from Sargent's post that Democrats on the committee have not organized any kind of response. They need to get their act together.
France. They Paved Paradise to Put Up a Solar Plant. Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "French parking lots could soon generate as much electricity as 10 nuclear power plants, after a law is expected to win final passage on Tuesday requiring canopies of solar panels to be built atop all substantial lots in the country. The plan makes France a world leader in efforts to cover as many surfaces as possible with solar panels, a step advocates say will be crucial in broader plans to phase out fossil fuels in the coming years. The expansion could add as much as 8 percent to France’s current electrical capacity."
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Trump's Team Was Asleep at the Wheel. Julian Barnes, et al., of the New York Times: "The top military commander overseeing North American airspace said Monday that some previous incursions by Chinese spy balloons during the Trump administration were not detected in real time, and the Pentagon learned of them only later. 'I will tell you that we did not detect those threats, and that's a domain awareness gap,' said Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, the commander of the Pentagon's Northern Command. One explanation, multiple U.S. officials said, is that some previous incursions were initially classified as 'unidentified aerial phenomena,' Pentagon speak for U.F.O.s. As the Pentagon and intelligence agencies stepped up efforts over the past two years to find explanations for many of those incidents, officials reclassified some events as Chinese spy balloons.... In 2021, the intelligence agencies announced an intensified effort to collect more and better data on unexplained incidents near military bases and exercises.... 'We enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect,' said [White House National Security Advisor Jake] Sullivan, speaking at an event hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.... Mr. Trump, on his social media site..., called the claims of intrusions during his administration 'fake disinformation,' and his last director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, has also denied it." The article includes more administration remarks about U.S.-China diplomatic relations. ~~~
~~~ Zachary Cohen of CNN: "White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan also said on Monday that past surveillance balloons were discovered at the beginning of the Biden administration because [President] Biden directed the intelligence community 'to increase both our vigilance and the assets that we were deploying to be able to detect Chinese efforts to spy against the United States.' 'Because the intelligence community made this a priority at the direction of President Biden, we enhanced our surveillance of our territorial airspace, we enhanced our capacity to be able to detect things that the Trump administration was unable to detect,' Sullivan said. 'And were also able to go back and look at the historical patterns. And that led us to come to understand that during the Trump administration..., there were multiple instances where the surveillance balloons traversed American airspace and American territory,' he added." ~~~
~~~ Biden to Offer Remedial Classes to Trumpies. The Washington Post story, by Alex Horton & others, is here: "The Biden administration has 'reached out to key officials from the previous administration and offered them briefings on the forensics we did' on Chinese balloon flights that took place when Trump was in office, John Kirby, the National Security Council strategic communications coordinator, said earlier Monday." MB: I wonder if they "reached out" to Fake Disinformation Guy. As Akhilleus pointed out the other day, "fake disinformation," translated, is "real information." Apparently Trump doesn't understand the concept of double negatives.
Note to Gym Jordan. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "A Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that Americans, by and large, don't think the ... purpose [of Republicans' subcommittee on weaponization of the government] is legitimate. Americans say, by a margin of 56 percent to 36 percent, that the committee is 'just an attempt to score political points,' according to the poll."
The Day George Santos Told the Truth. Beth Harpaz & Jacob Kornbluh of the Forward: "When Rep. George Santos marked Holocaust Remembrance Day on the House floor by saying that the grandmother of one of his staff members had survived Auschwitz, some were skeptical.... But the unnamed woman Santos saluted in Congress on Jan. 27 is real. And her story deserves to be known -- not only to counter those who deny that the Holocaust happened, but also to honor a woman who was deported to Nazi death camps at age 14, then rebuilt her life after the war with fortitude and joy. Her name is Eva Lipsky. She's 92, was born in Hungary, and survived both the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. Her granddaughter Gabrielle Lipsky was press secretary for Santos' campaign and now works in his Washington office. In a two-hour testimony recorded in 1997 by the USC Shoah Foundation, the organization founded by Steven Spielberg, Eva Lipsky told of being forced out of her home in 1944 with her mother and four siblings. (Her father, a Hungarian soldier, had disappeared earlier in the war.)"
About that Pet Charity. Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: George "Santos ran a pet charity that he claimed saved 2,500 animals. But several people questioned the way he handled funds that were raised to benefit the pets.... Few public records exist to corroborate [Mr. Santos' claims], and Friends of Pets United's operations appear to have centered on a Facebook group that is now defunct. Only traces of the organization remain on public social media posts and GoFundMe campaigns, and Mr. Santos's campaign biography no longer mentions it.... Several people said Mr. Santos assured them he was operating a registered nonprofit, but no records exist to confirm that.... They said the group rescued far fewer pets than the more than 2,500 animals that Mr. Santos claimed it saved. The group was not registered as a rescue organization in New York State, and there was no record that it was authorized to take dogs from New York City shelters. And several people took issue with how Mr. Santos handled his group's funds,saying they never received the thousands of dollars he raised on their behalf, often through GoFundMe." GoFundMe eventually kicked Mr. Santos off the site. (Also linked yesterday.)
Rachel Weiner & Jasmine Hilton of the Washington Post: "A neo-Nazi leader recently released from prison has been arrested again and accused of plotting an attack on the Maryland power grid with a woman he met while incarcerated.Brandon Russell, 27, and Sarah Clendaniel, 34, are expected to make their first appearance Monday in Baltimore and Florida federal courts on a charge of conspiring to destroy an energy facility, which carries up to 20 years in prison.... According to prosecutors, their plan was to attack with gunfire five substations that serve the Baltimore area. The charges come after similar attacks on the power grid in North Carolina and Oregon that remain unsolved...." An ABC News story is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge in Washington, D.C., suggested Monday that there may be a constitutional right to abortion baked into the 13th Amendment -- an area she said went unexplored by the Supreme Court in its momentous decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade. In a pending criminal case against several anti-abortion activists, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization concluded only that the 14th Amendment included no right to abortion but stopped short of definitively ruling out other aspects of the Constitution that might apply.... Kollar-Kotelly noted that there is some legal scholarship suggesting that the 13th Amendment -- which was ratified at the end of the Civil War and sought to ban slavery and 'involuntary servitude' -- provides just such a right. She is asking the parties in the criminal case, which involves charges of blocking access to abortion clinics, to present arguments by mid-March." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Don't get your hopes up. According to Wikipedia, in 1975 and 1993, the Supreme Court rejected the involuntary servitude argument applied to unwanted pregnancies. The Wiki article references the cases.
Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "Eric Trump has been touring with antisemitic conspiracy theorist Scott McKay, who claims that many Jewish people are working 'under the cover of this religion called Judaism' to carry out a massive and evil conspiracy. In McKay's telling, these fraudulent Jewish people have perpetrated 9/11; set up banking systems 'in exchange for the child blood sacrifices'; and engineered presidential assassinations, among many other crimes. McKay has also praised Hitler as a like-minded ally. In his narrative, Jewish people supposedly 'created' and 'built' Hitler to profit from war, but 'Hitler broke away' from his Jewish creators and their evil banks by trying to create 'a banking system for the people and the free world.... Hitler was actually fighting the same people that we're trying to take down today,' McKay claimed last year.... McKay, who is also a QAnon conspiracy theorist, has begun to gain more prominence because of his featured speaking role on the ReAwaken America tour, which was founded by Clay Clark and Michael Flynn.... In addition to McKay, its 'featured speakers' include Charlie Kirk, Kash Patel, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Peter Navarro, Mike Lindell, and Alex Jones.... Donald Trump Jr. has also spoken on the tour." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post: "Harry Whittington, the prominent Texas lawyer and Republican operative whom Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot with a 28-gauge shotgun during a 2006 quail hunting trip, leaving over two dozen birdshot pellets lodged in his body, died Feb. 4 at his home in Austin. He was 95." ~~~
~~~ Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Harry Whittington didn't want to be known as The Man Dick Cheney Shot.... Whittington ... never blamed Cheney for nearly killing him, nor the White House for distorting the events of that late afternoon in 2006.... It was nearly five years after the fact that he opened up about what happened that day. He didn't assign blame but he did sketch out circumstances that clearly suggested Cheney had been careless, at best. His account suggested that much of what had been reported -- and much of what the White House wanted reported -- was wrong, or at least shaded in terms favorable to the vice president.... Though Whittington wouldn't say so explicitly [in an interview with Farhi], his description suggested that Cheney had violated two fundamental safety protocols. First, in wheeling on a bird winging from the scrub, Cheney had fired without checking if his line of fire was clear. Second, he'd aimed downward, ignoring a rule obliging bird hunters to observe 'blue sky' before firing.... The injuries he'd suffered were far worse than initially reported." We are left to assume Cheney never apologized.
Presidential Race 2024
Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: Joe "Biden has been a great president. He's made good on an uncommon number of campaign promises. He should be celebrated on Tuesday. But he should not run again.... The arguments for sticking with Biden are not trivial. In addition to his successful record, he has the benefit of incumbency.... It's hard to ignore the toll of Biden's years, no matter how hard elected Democrats try. In some ways, the more sympathetic you are to Biden, the harder it can be to watch him stumble over his words, a tendency that can't be entirely explained by his stutter.... Chances are good that Biden's competitor will be someone much younger [than Donald Trump], like Ron DeSantis, who will be 46 in 2024.... Barring some radical shift in the national mood, the candidates will be vying for leadership of a deeply dissatisfied country desperate for change. For Democrats, the visual contrast alone could be devastating.... But Democrats have a deep bench, including politicians who've won in important purple states, like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia." ~~~
~~~ Marie: As someone who is near Biden's age, I agree with Goldberg. I am constantly amazed at the things I can't do. Things I didn't even think about several years ago I now do with difficulty. Or don't do at all. Obviously, not everyone suffers the same effects of age, and my limitations are different from Biden's. He is a great president, and I think he should be on Mount Rushmore, if only for putting up with Republican lies. Goldberg points out many of his accomplishments. But Americans are ready for a younger generation to take the helm, and heaven forbid it be anyone in the GOP lineup, and that includes the less rabid potential candidates like Larry Hogan & Chris Sununu, both of whom said they would vote for Trump if he were the nominee. That's disqualify, all by itself. And that doesn't begin to speak to the authoritarians any Republican president would put on the bench. As for Biden, he should keep pretending he will run again to avoid being a lame duck while encouraging candidates he likes to get into the game.
Michael Bender of the New York Times: "The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group that spent nearly $150 million in the past two election cycles, has invited a half-dozen potential Republican presidential candidates to its annual donor retreat next month -- but not Donald J. Trump. In a meeting with reporters on Monday, David McIntosh, president of the group, said that Republican chances of winning back the White House next year would be diminished if Mr. Trump were once again at the top of the ticket and that he hoped to introduce Republican donors to other possibilities."
Beyond the Beltway
Florida. I'm Going to DeSantis World! Steve Contorno of CNN: Florida's "Republican lawmakers on Monday unveiled a bill to turn over control of Disney's special taxing district, called the Reedy Creek Improvement District, to a five-member board chosen by [Gov. Ron] DeSantis. The proposal also comes with a rebrand; Reedy Creek would become the 'Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.' The move to take over Reedy Creek is the latest step in a yearlong spat between DeSantis and Disney over a bill to restrict certain classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity. DeSantis signed the bill into law over the objections of Disney's then-CEO Bob Chapek.... Democrats criticized the legislation, which was introduced in a special session called in part to address Reedy Creek's future, while stopping short of endorsing Disney's unique arrangement in Central Florida.... State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, said of the bill: 'Disney still gets perks but they're now a political prisoner of the governor.'" One purpose of the bill is to get around a "debt bomb" to local taxpayers who might have been liable to pay Reedy Creek's $1BB debt under DeSantis' plan last year to dissolve Reedy Creek altogether.
Mississippi. If Only They Had a "Coloreds Only" Playground. Kristin Hunt of the Washington Post: In April 1970, Mississippi's "all-White [State Commission for Educational Television] ... decided Mississippi was 'not yet ready for it,' according to one member, because 'Sesame Street' showed Black and White kids playing together. In a 3-2 vote, the commission banned 'Sesame Street' from broadcasting on the state-run ETV network.... None of the board's members would speak on the record about the ban.... In the aftermath of the Mississippi decision, letters poured into ETV, protesting the ban.... WDAM, a local station based in Laurel, Miss., urged the commission to reverse the vote and offered to air 'Sesame Street' itself if ETV wouldn't.... ETV scrambled to lift the ban, promising viewers on May 23 that 'Sesame Street' would air in a matter of weeks. The show appeared on local TV listings by June 8, and that fall, the board sponsored a special episode."
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Tuesday is here: "Ukrainian forces still hold the city of Bakhmut, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address, days after telling the world that the battlefield situation was 'very difficult' in eastern Ukraine. Russian forces are still trying to surround the city, he said Monday evening, but Ukraine is 'countering them.'... U.N. Secretary General António Guterres expressed concern that the war in Ukraine could escalate into a broader global conflict in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday. 'The Russian invasion of Ukraine is inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people, with profound global implications,' he said. 'I fear the world is not sleepwalking into a wider war. I fear it is doing so with its eyes wide open.'"
News Ledes
Washington Post: "Charles Silverstein, a psychologist who helped achieve one of the most significant victories of the gay rights movement by persuading the American Psychiatric Association in 1973 to declassify homosexuality as a mental illness, died Jan. 30 at his home in New York City. He was 87." Read on.
Ohio. New York Times: "A rail operator on Monday released toxic fumes from several derailed train cars that it said were at risk of exploding in East Palestine, Ohio, after the authorities ordered residents on both sides of the state's border with Pennsylvania to evacuate to avoid a deadly threat. The train derailed on Friday night, with 50 of its 100 cars running off the tracks, igniting a fire that left much of the town in smoke and prompted repeated calls for evacuation. 'We are ordering you to leave,' Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio said on Monday at a news conference. 'This is a matter of life and death.' He added that there was 'grave danger' of inhaling fumes from chemicals produced by the release, which the authorities identified as phosgene and hydrogen chloride. In high concentrations, both chemicals can cause severe and life-threatening respiratory issues."
Turkey. New York Times: "Rescue teams hunted for survivors in freezing temperatures on Tuesday as the deat toll in a pair of earthquakes rose above 4,800 in Turkey and Syria, one of the deadliest natural disasters this century. The death toll is almost certain to rise significantly. Almost 50 countries offered to send aid to the region already burdened by a refugee crisis, war and the skyrocketing cost of living. In Turkey, many survivors sought shelter in cars while others stayed outdoors and lit bonfires to keep warm, refusing to go indoors because they feared buildings still standing could collapse any minute. In Syria, some people scarred by the civil war first thought they were under attack again.... The cold weather, with snow in the forecast, threatened to complicate rescue efforts, which were already hindered by power cuts and blocked roads. More than 9,000 search and rescue personnel have been deployed in Turkey, according to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with foreign teams expected to join in." This is a liveblog.
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Reader Comments (13)
The story (linked above) recalling the fear and trepidation on the part of an all white educational television board in Mississippi concerned about that state’s citizens seeing (horrors!) black and white kids playing peacefully together, having fun, and learning how to count, how to read, and unAmerican shit like racial equality, on Sesame Street is extremely disheartening.
Not because the board, reacting to public pressure, finally allowed such horrible stuff to be shown on the same televisions where black and white marchers in Selma were shown bring bitten by attack dogs and beaten by police, and where noble son of the South, George Wallace, was screaming “Segregation forever!”. But because the same shit is happening right now more than half a century later.
I’m its day, Sesame Street was what today, Republican racists would be calling “woke”.
And now we have another southern governor and an entire political party worried about the dangers of black and white kids learning about those events from the past, together, in a classroom.
And he could easily be the next president. George Wallace had no chance back then. Ron DeSantis has a very good chance today.
AK: "Ron DeSantis has a very good chance today." You bet he does! and the reason I agree with Goldberg about Biden running again. Like Marie who mentions how there are roadblocks that rise up as we get older–– I can attest to that; I am amazed at what I accomplished as a much younger self that now I couldn't possibly do. As good a job as Biden has/is doing he needs to hand the baton to someone else who will energize the base and get those votes from all those who are luke warm about Biden.
Regarding the trump crime family, it seems to me that it's like the
more crimes one can commit the more one can get away with. You
do hundreds of illegal or immoral acts and no one can decide
which ones to charge him on 'cause they don't want to lose cases
and look bad, or get threats from the mob.
Most of us would be in jail after only a fraction of what the trumps
get away with.
@Marie: Yeah, aging isn't a lot of fun. I keep making notes to myself
but then can't find the notes. When someone asks me what that plant
is I always say call me tomorrow, it'll come to me by then.
Why do so many Republicans have dry skin? It's because the lotion
says 'Apply Liberally'.
I would certainly agree that Biden is, at this point, finding it difficult to do some things. The renal gaffes are cringey. The fact that he still maintains a schedule most of us (even people in their 40s) would find challenging, is amazing. For one thing, he’s a real president. He’s not a lazy lard ass who watches TV all morning, waddles into the Oval around noon and quits by 4:00, not bothering to read anything or do much, saving his energy for his four day golf weekend,
But here’s what concerns me. Who would run in his place? Whitmer? Warnock? Yeah, we know who they are, but by definition, we’re all political junkies. The average voter is a low information person who has never heard of these people, couldn’t name more than two Supreme Court justices, and thinks “constitution” refers to one’s general health condition.
And I’m talking about normal, decent people, not the screaming mimis or the droolers.
I suppose few people knew who Obama was before he threw his hat in the ring. Frankly, I don’t see Kamala Harris as a great candidate. It’s not that she’s unqualified, it’s just that she hasn’t really taken off as a political figure. I suppose that’s the nature of the VP’s job, but…if she’s up for it, I’d certainly support her. Man, a black-Asian WOMAN in the White House…the traitors would have to be tied down!
Well, if anyone thinks they’d like to go for it, they have to start soon. But that means Biden has to call it, one way or the other. I’m afraid that a Democratic candidate without name recognition would empower the traitors to go all out on stealing the election.
It’s a tough call either way.
All that being said, a younger, more dynamic Democrat in the White House, especially a woman or a minority, would do wonders for jump starting the party, and American politics in general. And might also help to shove the traitors further down the authoritarian rat holes they call home.
Yes, Forrest—. That is pretty much what Mark Pomerance (?) said last night on Rachel. So many crimes, so little time. Thanks, NY…
@Forrest Morris: I don't know whether or not you're a dad, but you just proved you're dadgummed good at dad jokes.
@Marie: Not a dad in the biological sense but we seem to have a
knack for attracting stray cats and stray men. One has treated us
like parents for over 30 years, doing odd jobs around the house and
bringing desserts which we don't need.
At our last yard sale a guy bought a few things and came back the
next morning and said 'I want to be your friend' so come to dinner
tonite because you two have been working too hard. Before he left
for PV in December he brought 3 huge boxes of frozen meats and
stuff to get us through the winter, he said.
The cats have all gone to cat heaven. No more cats if we can help it.
Any bets on who is going to be the first to show their ass tonight? Will it be Bobert, Gaetz, Jordan, or some newcomer?
Bonny Lee: Alito to place. I suspect My Kevin will be stretching for the win.
Old news, not so old news to me news, and those sons a bitches.
Researching a bit for the next sermon and came across this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy
Not only did the Obama administration cave on the 2013 IRS campaign funding controversy when the R's had the congressional upper hand, but the criminal administration that followed actually paid the crooks off with my money.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy
I’m guessing the Traitor supremes will be shaking their heads or doing an O’Kavanaugh face scrunch, to place or show, but it will be one of the thug traitors (BoBo, Gym, or MTG )who may win. My Kevin is a pusillanimous pus ball who doesn’t have the cojones (or the ripping stupidity) to go full Joe Wilson, but he will certainly suck up to any of the fascists who do their best Himmler/Gingrich impersonation.
Don’t forget, the Party of Traitors is not about policy or governance. It’s all performative for them. Whoever makes the biggest ass of themself will be hailed as heroic by the Trump underwear sniffers. I realize that the Kochs and others on the jittery, self-serving, billionaire right see Trump as a liability (which they didn’t before), but Fatty is the party’s Judas goat. He has led the stoopid and the Nazi sheep into a pen of hatred, racism, and ignorance from which they can’t escape.
Unless, of course, they continue to get help from the MSM. Which they will.
Magnetometers or not, I hope the Capitol Police will bring in some TSA experts to pat down the usual suspects.
While most Republicans will merely scowl or smirk, Gym Jordan will make exaggerated funny faces & thumb his nose. My Kevin, from his post behind the President, will make devil's horns with his fingers over Biden's head as he grins & giggles about his ever-so-funny stunt. It's George Anthony Devolder Santos' turn to yell, "You lie." And surely Matt Gaetz & his girl Margie will unfurl a huge banner featuring a salacious screenshot purportedly from Hunter Biden's laptop. And they'll all forget to wear their clown suits.