Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Iraq snapshot

 Tuesday, December 10, 2024.  Satan Trump and the bad people he wants to install in his administration.


mama hegseth


That's  Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Mama Hegseth" and it went up yesterday.  Mommy Hegseth is on the world stage defending her baby boy because he can't fight his own battles.  Grasp that, because the world does.  No one has ever seen anything like it.  A nearly 50 year old man hiding behind Mommy's skirt. 


I think we last noted this issue in Thursday's "Iraq snapshot" but it's only gotten worse.


How much of an adult are you if you're hiding behind your Mommy?  And is he on a bender now?  He clearly has serious issues with, at best, problem drinking.  Being the joke of the entire world, is that pushing him to drink?  


 Robert McCoy (THE NEW REPUBLIC) notes:

Hegseth is currently facing a raft of scandals: He was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in 2017. (Hegseth was not charged but paid the woman a financial settlement.) His drinking habits as a co-host of Fox & Friends reportedly concerned his Fox News colleagues. The New Yorker recently covered a whistleblower report detailing Hegseth’s excessive drinking and financial mismanagement while running a veterans nonprofit.

“Yeah, look. I think that Pete is a good man,” Marshall said. “He is a man of integrity now. He absolutely has my support. I think that these anonymous character assassinations by the media are way over-reported—”

“But some of them weren’t anonymous,” Roberts cut in. “Well, the ones that I’ve seen are anonymous,” said Marshall, before diverting the topic away from Hegseth’s scandals.

 Marshall’s emphasis on the anonymity of the accusations echoes similar defenses of Hegseth by Senators Lindsey Graham and Rick Scott, who last week attempted to minimize the allegations plaguing Hegseth by pointing to their anonymous sources.

Pushing back against this, MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin wrote a blog post last week, noting that anonymous sources are integral to the functioning of the free press. The identities of anonymous sources are, after all, “known to the journalists reporting them,” and the accusations are independently verified or corroborated.

“And, of course,” Rubin wrote, “at least one of the anonymous people featured in reporting about Hegseth isn’t anonymous to Hegseth: The Jane Doe who has accused him of rape and with whom he signed an agreement.”

Not all of the revelations against Hegseth are anonymously sourced, either. As The New York Times reported last month, Hegseth’s mother in 2018 called her son “an abuser of women,” whose “abuse over the years to women (dishonesty, sleeping around, betrayal, debasing, belittling) needs to be called out,” in a private email to him that she now disavows.

 

Lawrence O'Donnell addressed the nomination last night on MSNBC.





Meanwhile how to combat crazy?  Supporting free speech.  Illinois's legislature and Governor JB Prtizker have already taken steps to protect free speech from book bannings and now another state is stepping up.   Lexi Lonas Cochran (THE HILL) reports:


New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) signed a law Monday prohibiting book banning in state libraries and schools. 

The law says school boards and the governing boards of public libraries need to create standards for how books are removed from shelves and how complaints are addressed.

Books will not be allowed to be removed based on “+the origin, background, or views of the material or of its authors,” nor can books be censored based “on a disagreement with a viewpoint, idea, or concept, or solely because an individual finds certain content offensive, unless they are restricting access to developmentally inappropriate material for certain age groups.” 

The governor is also providing legal protections for librarians from civil or criminal lawsuits around book banning.  

“The Freedom to Read Act cements New Jersey’s role on the forefront of preventing book bans and protecting the intellectual freedom of our educators and students. Across the nation, we have seen attempts to suppress and censor the stories and experiences of others. I’m proud to amplify the voices of our past and present, as there is no better way for our children to prepare for the future than to read freely,” Murphy said in a statement.


One of the biggest opponents to free speech is hate merchant Tulsi Gabbard whom Satan Trump has announced he wants to be the Director of National Intelligence -- that would put the unqualified crackpot over 18 agencies and over our national intelligence. 


At LGBTQ NATION, Daniel Villarreal does a look at Tulsi Gabbard's record on LGBTQ+ issues.  I'm not really impressed.  He calls it a "mixed record" and based on his sources it is.  Her record is far worse than he grasps.  He did a good survey out of existing articles on this topic.  Most people have ignored her as she's become nuttier and nuttier.  Imane Khelif is the female boxer that the fright-wing spread lies about a few months back.  Over a month after the lie was exposed as a lie -- lies that Imane was not born a woman -- Trashy Garbage was Tweeting the lie -- after it was known to be a lie.  She does crap like that all the time now, for over two years, while the media has ignored her hatred and her garbage.  She's a trashy whore who has spent her life lying about who she is.  She lied that she was anti-war.  She's not.  Iraq Veterans Against the War?  An anti-war group.  Tulsi throughout 2019 posed as anti-war.  And she tricked a lot of people.  But someone who's anti-war?  They'd take a moment or two to note the Iraqi people and how they suffered in the illegal war.  We pointed this out about the liar back in 2019.  


She's a trashy liar.  And her freaky life includes not just the fact that she's in a cult but also that she keeps sticking her nose into parents' business.  She wants to tell parents what they can and can't do.  This single woman with no kids.  She's obsessed with America's children.  Makes me wonder if the cult she's in has a history of sexually abusing children.


Many cults do and you'll usually find members of such cults pretending to want to 'save' children -- but the reality is that they're sexually abusing them.


She's 43 and she has no kids.  But she's obsessed with kids.  Obsessed.  What's going on there, Tulsi?

 

Lauren Sforza (NEW JERSEY ADVANCED MEDIA) notes Bret Stephen's most recent NYT Column:


Trump has been quickly announcing his picks for his second administration, causing a stir among GOP lawmakers who believe some of his picks are controversial and underqualified. Stephens said in a new column published Monday that the “gold medal” for the worst Trump pick so far goes to Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic lawmaker who was tapped last month to be Trump’s Director of National Security.

In his weekly conversation with The New York Times’ Gail Collins, Stephens labeled Gabbard as the “director of national idiocy” if she is to be confirmed.

“Tulsi Gabbard is my gold medalist. Nominating an apologist for former Syrian dictator and current Russia resident Bashar al-Assad as director of national intelligence means that if confirmed in the job, we’d need to rename her job title “’director of national idiocy,’” he said.

Gabbard has been under fire for weeks after Trump revealed his pick for the top role. She has especially been criticized amid the ongoing conflict in Syria, where the government of Bashar Assad has collapsed in recent days. She has faced backlash for her 2017 meeting with Assad, who is backed by Russian, Iranian and Iranian-allied forces.







VoteVets highlights this statement from retired Maj Gen Paul Eaton:

 

“Putting Tulsi Gabbard in charge of our intelligence, which keeps Americans safe here and abroad, is dangerous and reckless. In Gabbard, Trump has a complete and total loyalist who will use and wield our intelligence to Trump’s benefit, not to protect America and our Constitution.

“In combination with many of Trump’s other appointments and nominations, we see a picture coming together of an administration made up of unqualified, marginal zealots who will constantly be trying to please their leader rather than fulfill their oath to put the Constitution and the safety of the American people above the president’s ego. Many warned that Trump would dispense of all guardrails in a second term, so every whim of his would be carried out without question or protest. We are now seeing exactly what that looks like.”


She is a security risk.  Rhian Lubin (Independent) reports:




Ex-Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger joked that Tulsi Gabbard could offer ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad “safe harbor” in her home.
Kinzinger, who made the jibe the day before Assad’s regime fell, has been outspoken about Donald Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence following a 2017 visit to Syria, where she met with the tyrant when she was a Democratic House member.
“Wonder if @TulsiGabbard will offer Assad safe harbor at her house?” the former Illinois representative quipped on X. “They are great friends.”

When Assad’s whereabouts were unknown after he fled, Kinzinger said: “Someone check @TulsiGabbard[’s] house.”

After Assad’s 50-year regime was toppled on Sunday, Kinzinger claimed that it was “Tulsi’s nightmare scenario.” “Her hearing for DNI will be BRUTAL and she won’t get in,” he said in another post.


And then there's Junior.  Satan wants to install Junior as the Secretary of Health Human Services.  Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following regarding that announcement. 



Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care who has led hearings on addressing vaccine hesitancy, spoke out forcefully against RFK Jr.’s nomination

***PHOTOS and BROLL of the roundtable HERE**

Seattle, WA —Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, held a roundtable discussion at UW Medicine on the importance of scientific research and vaccines—especially for children—and spoke about how Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would threaten Americans’ health and safety. As Murray made clear, RFK Jr. has expressed countless views that run counter to basic truth, facts, and scientific evidence—and there is much he could do as HHS Secretary to create total chaos and cause real harm to families, from firing top scientists and researchers, to ripping away the approval—or insurance coverage—of all kinds of vaccines and medicines, to ending our focus on infectious disease research, as he has threatened to do.

Participants at the roundtable included: Dr. Beth Ebel, professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, attending physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and adjunct professor in the Department of Epidemiology; Dr. Helen Chu, a UW Medicine physician and professor of Medicine and Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and an adjunct assistant professor of Epidemiology; Dr. Marion Pepper, Chair of UW Medicine’s  Department of Immunology; and Samantha Kunze Garcia, a mom and nurse at Intergalactic Pediatrics. Prior to the roundtable, Murray also toured the Cell Analysis Facility at UW Medicine.

“Thanks to vaccines, policies that require insurance to cover vaccines, and programs that make sure children can get vaccinated at no cost, we have saved countless lives. But dangerous misinformation and conspiracies have led to backsliding in recent years,” Senator Murray said. “If we don’t stop the misinformation and ensure people trust vaccines we have used for years, we will see more outbreaks. But in DC, we are seeing trust in vaccines become political—and we are seeing anti-vax conspiracy theorists be nominated to some of our most critical public health posts.”

“Elevating RFK Jr. to Health Secretary won’t just give dangerous anti-vaccine conspiracies an unprecedented platform, it will give him real power to undermine vaccines. He could rip away approval for medicines, including vaccines—and directly influence the board that decides which vaccines must be covered by insurance. He has threatened to end crucial infectious disease research.  He plans to fire top scientists and researchers—setting lifesaving cures back decades. And could empower political appointees who share his dangerous views,” Murray continued. “We can’t let the conspiracy theorists drive this debate and undermine public health. That’s why I want to make sure the conversation includes the voices of parents in Washington state who don’t want to see vaccine access undermined, and experts who can speak to how vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving.”

When President-elect Donald J. Trump announced his intention to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of HHS, Murray immediately and forcefully condemned the move. As a longtime appropriator and member of the Senate HELP Committee, Murray has long fought to boost biomedical research, strengthen public health infrastructure, and make health care more affordable and accessible. Over her years as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, she has secured billions of dollars in increases for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, and during her time as Chair of the HELP Committee she established the new ARPA-H research agency as part of her PREVENT Pandemics Act to advance some of the most cutting-edge research in the field. As Chair of the HELP Committee, Murray was also instrumental in crafting the American Rescue Plan including its landmark investments in public health and health care. Senator Murray was also the lead Democratic negotiator of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which delivered a major federal investment to boost NIH research, among many other investments. Murray is also the lead sponsor of the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act (PHISLA), legislation to establish $4.5 billion in dedicated, annual funding for a grant program to build up and maintain the nation’s public health system across the board. 

In 2019, Senator Murray co-led a bipartisan hearing in the HELP Committee on vaccine hesitancy and spoke about the importance of addressing vaccine skepticism and getting people the facts they need to keep their families and communities safe and healthy. Ahead of the hearing, as multiple states were facing measles outbreaks in under-vaccinated areas, Murray sent a bipartisan letter with former HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director and HHS Assistant Secretary for Health on their efforts to promote vaccination and vaccine confidence.

###


Those are three people that Trump wants to see approved.  This follows the failure of the Matt Gaetz and Mike pointed out how Gaetz punked Trump on that:



In news of another Trump would be, THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS' editorial board offers:


Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress last month after representing the Florida Panhandle for eight years in order to forestall the House Ethics Committee from publishing a likely damning report about his behavior involving a sexual relationship with an underage girl and for paying for sex. That Donald Trump said he wanted Gaetz to be the U.S. attorney general (a truly horrible idea) was just a convenient way for Gaetz to stop the report.

The ethics panel report still must be published and two failed close votes on the House floor Thursday evening only means we still have to wait.

The explanation of Gaetz’s departure comes from former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who went on national TV Wednesday. McCarthy, who Gaetz toppled from power, has no love for Gaetz, but says he’s not alone, as “I don’t know who really likes him.”

The ex-speaker said Gaetz “wanted an excuse to resign” as the bipartisan ethics panel was due to release its findings on Nov. 15, a Friday: “I blame Matt for lying to the president because Matt needed to get out of Congress before the ethics report came out on Friday. I don’t believe he told President Trump that.”

Trump tapped Gaetz two days before, on Wednesday, Nov. 13, and Gaetz immediately submitted a letter of resignation. Neither his hasty exit from Congress nor having his AG nomination explode should stop the publication of the report.



I thought the report should have been released.  I'm not surprised he managed to trick Donald Trump but the fact that he did means the report should be released.  Joanne Haner (THE HILL) adds:


Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) of lying to President-elect Trump about an unreleased report about him compiled by the House Ethics Committee.  

“No one thought that [the nomination] would pass,” McCarthy said Sunday on Fox News. “I blame Matt Gaetz for lying to the president about his ethics report. People know that. That’s why he made the motion against me. People know.” 


Guess MAGA only pretends to care about Trump.  Gaez punks Trump and gets Trump off to a bad start and MAGA rolls over like the dog they really are and refuse to demand Gaetz face punishment by Congress releasing the report.


The following sites updated: