There is really only one signature legislative “achievement” from Donald Trump’s time in the White House: The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He did other things while in office—bungling the pandemic, wrecking relationships with allies, insulting veterans—but when it comes to bills pushed through Congress and collecting Trump’s signature, there’s only one thing that stands out. A tax bill that emptied the nation’s coffers to pay off billionaires and corporate bosses.
Even at the time, it was clear that the bill would be extremely costly. Republican leaders claimed that the tax bill would generate growth and lead to “$1 trillion in additional revenue.” But the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would actually cost the government $1.9 trillion before its cuts expired in 2025.
Now the CBO is back with a new estimate of what it would cost to keep Trump’s tax cut in place over the next decade, and that estimate is more than double the original cost. Keeping Trump’s tax cuts would cost a whopping $4.6 trillion and send the nation on a path to a level of deficit only seen during the Great Depression, World War II, and … Trump’s bungling of the pandemic.
Trump’s tax cuts are slated to expire in 2025, meaning that the winner of this election is going to determine whether the nation puts an end to this gravy train for billionaires, or extends it at a crushing cost to the average American. At his fundraiser that supposedly made $50 million in April, Trump told wealthy donors exactly what they wanted to hear: He plans to extend the tax cuts.
Not only has Trump’s plan generated a crushing deficit that only gets much worse over time, but it has also failed to stimulate economic growth as Trump and Republicans promised. A National Bureau of Economic Research study shows that the bill produced only a small fraction of the promised benefits. Far from generating revenue, as Republicans promised, corporate tax revenue dropped by $100 to $150 billion per year.
These effects are similar to what a Brookings analysis predicted in 2018: a small, short-term stimulus effect followed by negligible long-term benefits and a significant reduction in federal revenues.
What we know now is exactly what was projected then:
- Trump’s tax cut is heavily skewed to benefit a specific group of the extremely wealthy.
- Far from increasing tax revenues, or being revenue neutral, it has generated enormous deficits that threaten to drown the nation in debt.
- Despite having “jobs” in the title, the bill did not generate the waves of new investment that Trump promised.
President Joe Biden has already made it clear that he would not extend Trump’s plan and its crushing deficit. Instead, he has proposed a package that would see increases for those making over $400,000 a year, while cutting taxes for lower income Americans. Biden’s plan includes:
- Requiring billionaires to pay at least 25 percent of income in taxes.
- A corporate minimum tax of 21 percent that would end corporations paying nothing.
- Denying corporate tax breaks for multi-million-dollar executive compensation.
- Quadrupling the tax that corporations pay when they buy back their own stock.
The conservative American Enterprise Institute prepared an analysis of Biden’s plan in advance of the 2020 election and found that, rather than costing another $4.6 trillion, as Trump’s plan would, Biden’s changes would result in $3.8 trillion in revenue increases. It would also make the tax system more fair and progressive.
There are many reasons to reelect Biden in the fall; so many that tax policy may not be getting as much attention as it usually receives. But that $8.4 trillion difference in revenue over the next ten years is the difference between a government that is capable of responding to issues like the climate crisis and other new threats as they arise, and one that is designed only to set back and provide a constant stream of cash for those who need it least.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.
- Biden Economy Surpasses Goals Set By Trump ›
- 'Work Till You Drop Dead': GOP Budget Torches Social Security -- And IVF ›
- Five Shockingly Stupid (And Dangerous) Things Republicans Now Believe ›
- Florida Governor Lavished Trump Tax Break On Superyacht Marina ›
Start your day with National Memo Newsletter
Know first.
The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning
Rep. Jim Jordan
Since both Republicans and Democrats blocked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) motion to vacate the speakership Wednesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is safe — for now.
The Georgia lawmaker has not been the only Republican House member plotting on Johnson's removal, according to a Thursday, May 9 Axios report.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) has plans of his own to takeover his Louisiana colleague's position in 2025.
Per Axios, several sources said that "Jordan privately told colleagues what he would be doing differently than Johnson during the recent fight over foreign aid funding."
Additionally, the Ohio GOP leader "has been noticed handing out more campaign checks to colleagues," according to some of his colleagues, and one Republican told the news outlet "that Jordan previously said it was 'not his job' to help vulnerable members. His shift has raised his peers' eyebrows."
Jordan was vying for the speakership last year after Rep. Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) ouster, but failed when "25 Republicans refused to vote for him on the House floor on his final ballot."
The Ohio lawmaker has not given up hope.
According to Axios, "Jordan has hit the trail for a bevy of Republicans in recent months, including vulnerable Republicans and" McCarthy allies.
Axios' full report is available here.
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
- Why Nobody Can Slut-Shame Boebert And Greene: They're 'Gun Chicks' ›
- Hannity Producer Texted Meadows To Push ‘Proof’ Of 2020 Election Fraud ›
- What Is The Deal With Republicans And All These Russian Spies? ›
Former President Donald Trump speaking at an oil field
Bombshell reports from The Washington Post andPolitico are fueling concerns over the promises 2024 Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump reportedly has been making to “Big Oil.”
“What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign,” is the Washington Post’s headline.
“Donald Trump has pledged to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, as well as other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry,” the Post reported.
“You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.”
“Giving $1 billion would be a ‘deal,’ Trump said, because of the taxation and regulation they would avoid thanks to him, according to the people,” the Post added.
“Political contributing is often a type of legalized bribery,” The Bulwark’s Marc Caputo remarked. “But the way Trump is so explicit about making a ‘deal’ is going to raise eyebrows.”
It has.
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, an attorney and University of California-Berkeley professor of public policy, issued this warning:
“Trump asked Big Oil execs to give him $1 billion for his campaign. He promised lower taxes and a rollback of Biden’s climate regulations and clean energy programs in return. Trump is literally willing to take bribes in exchange for the destruction of the planet. Be warned,” Reich wrote.
Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) also issued a warning: “Donald Trump is saying the quiet part out loud. Re-electing him will guarantee ‘deals’ that work against our climate future. He cares more about campaign donations from oil tycoons than the fate of future generations and the health of our planet. Take him at his word.”
“We cannot believe this,” wrote government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “Donald Trump essentially told a room full of oil executives ‘raise a billion dollars for me and I’ll get rid of the regulations that you want.’ This is blatantly corrupt behavior.”
Former Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Weinstein called it, “Bribery straight up.”
“Wow,” exclaimed Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), “a report today finds donald trump demanded a straight up billion dollar bribe from oil executives. Republicans want to sell you out to big oil to line their pockets.”
Liberal Super PAC American Bridge 21st Century wrote: “New reporting uncovered Trump is already planning to sell the White House to the highest bidder. He’s demanding a $1 billion bribe from oil execs in exchange for massive tax cuts and the repeal of environmental protections and clean energy investments.”
Josh Dorner, a communications executive, responded to the Washington Post’s Heather Long’s summation of the paper’s report, by writing: “Bribery, how does it work?”
Marketing executive Jason Karsh, also responding to Long’s post, wrote: “How cool is it to have a presidential candidate so broke and so corrupt that he’s asking for bribes out in the open. I mean, he’s a Republican so nothing will happen, but this is so clearly what the founders intended, it’s just … *wipes a tear*”
California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom commented, “Big Oil is literally writing up Executive Orders for Trump to sign on Day 1 — with the promise of $1 billion in return. He’s giving away our planet in return for cash. Have we just accepted this as the new norm??”
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Laurie Garrett in a lengthy social media thread reached back into history and compared Trump’s alleged billion-dollar request to the Teapot Dome scandal. “Until now, it was the biggest presidential corruption case in US history,” she wrote.
“The Teapot Dome Scandal was, in the 1920s, the greatest threat to the integrity of the US Presidency the Nation had experienced. Not only was Big Oil bribery unfolding, but Harding, a golfer and womanizer, & had a child out of wedlock,” she noted in one post.
See the social media posts above or at this link.
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
- Former Trump Aide Cassidy Hutchinson: 'Everybody Vote For Biden' (VIDEO) ›
- Corruption Or Incompetence? With Judge Aileen Cannon, Maybe Both ›
- Why Corrupt Public Officials Have Less To Fear From Trump ›
Judge Aileen Cannon
Okay, it’s a complicated case, but this is getting ridiculous. I read the five-page order by Judge Aileen Cannon delaying Donald Trump’s classified documents case, so you don’t have to. You may not be able to remember back far enough to recall what this criminal prosecution is about, so here’s a brief summary.
Donald Trump literally had a Hertz rental truck pulled up next to the White House on January 20, 2021 so he could have his aides load dozens of boxes of documents he was taking with him to Mar-a-Lago in violation of the Presidential Records Act, which makes all records and documents produced during a president’s time in office the property of the government.
When later that year, the National Archives contacted Trump and demanded the return of the documents, he stalled, making all sorts of claims that the documents were his private property. The National Archives had to threaten to go to the Department of Justice for Trump to turn over 15 boxes of presidential records in January of 2022. In the 15 boxes, the National Archives found a trove of top-secret documents, and going through them, determined that it was likely that more classified documents were missing and demanded those, too.
Trump stalled again, finally agreeing to turn over some classified documents to lawyers for the DOJ in June of 2022. But before the DOJ lawyers arrived at Mar-a-Lago, Trump had his “body man” aide, Walt Nauta, move boxes of classified documents all around the Palm Beach property so (1) his own lawyer couldn’t find them when he did a “due diligence” search, and (2) the DOJ couldn’t find them when they showed up in June to collect the few documents Trump was turning over.
The DOJ analyzed the top-secret documents in the stash Trump turned over, and they interviewed witnesses from Mar-a-Lago, and determined that there were likely more documents stored there. They got a warrant and searched the place on August 8, and discovered more than 100 additional top-secret documents, some of them regarding secrets about the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed to investigate Trump, and in the summer of 2023, Trump was indicted on 40 felony charges of stealing and mishandling government documents, including national security information.
The case was assigned to Judge Cannon, and she started stalling, issuing several bogus rulings on motions by the defense that were overturned on appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Then she continued to stall, as Trump’s lawyers filed one motion after another to delay the case.
Now here we are in the spring of 2024, more than four years after the National Archives demanded the return of the documents Trump stole, and Judge Cannon, with legal shovel in hand, has dug yet another trench in the warfare that she and Trump’s lawyers have been waging against Special Counsel Smith. They’re trying to wait out the campaign season, so Trump doesn’t go to trial before the election and get convicted, because they know the evidence is against them. He did take the top-secret documents. He did store them in a ballroom and bathroom and inside his own office at Mar-a-Lago. He did move some of them to his golf club in New Jersey. They’ve got the documents, they’ve got video taped evidence of the movement of the boxes within Mar-a-Lago, they’ve got testimony by Mar-a-Lago employees that they were acting on Trump’s orders.
They’ve got him.
But they’ve also got Judge “I’m just a little ‘ole MAGA girl from Florida” Cannon, and she issued an order today that’s a doozy. She is going to hold a hearing on every single motion Trump has filed right up to and including a request to go to the bathroom. Here are some of the hearings Cannon says must take place before she can even schedule a trial date:
Resolution of Pending Seal Requests May 20
Non-Evidentiary Hearing on Defendant Nauta’s Motion to Dismiss for Selective and Vindictive Prosecution May 22
Non-Evidentiary Hearing on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Indictment for Insufficient Pleading May 22
Discovery Status Reports (Special Counsel; Consolidated Defense) May 31, 2024
Defendants’ Rule 16 Expert Disclosures June 10
CIPA § 5 Notice as to All Defendants June 17
Non-Evidentiary Hearing on Motion to Dismiss Indictment Based on Unlawful Appointment and Funding of Special Counsel June 21
Partial Evidentiary Hearing on Defendants’ Consolidated Motions to Compel Discovery and to Define Scope of Prosecution Team June 24-26
Special Counsel’s Supplemental Expert Disclosures (if any) July 9
Special Counsel’s CIPA § 6(a) Defense Reciprocal Discovery July 10
Defendants’ Combined Speedy Trial Report July 19
Status Conference July 22
Supplemental CIPA § 4 Hearing (Sealed/Ex Parte) July 22
Now listen to her: “The Court also determines that finalization of a trial date at this juncture—before resolution of the myriad and interconnected pre-trial and CIPA issues remaining and forthcoming—would be imprudent and inconsistent with the Court’s duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pre-trial motions before the Court…Finally, the Court has evaluated the statutory factors set forth in the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B), including the public’s interest in the efficient administration of justice. Upon such review, the Court finds that the ends of justice served by this continuance, through the last deadline specified in this Order, July 22, 2024, outweigh the best interest of the public and Defendants in a speedy trial.”
Got that? Judge “I had to use spellcheck on the word ‘speedy’” Cannon has allowed Trump and Nauta and any wino wandering in off the street in Fort Pierce, Florida, to file any motion they wanted for more than a year, and now she has determined that Donald Trump won’t go on trial until a fucking rooster crows somewhere on an icy peninsula in Outer Mongolia because…uh…let me check my first year law school notes here…“the ends of justice” command it so.
I’ve got two words for you: Mitch McConnell. He’s the right-wing double-dealing backstabber who put two justices on the Supreme Court by violating rules he, himself, had set, and he’s the Federalist Society sock puppet who put AI bots like Aileen Cannon on the federal bench so she could look after the interests of the Republican Party and any flaming asshole they decided to run for president, right up to and including Donald “Excuse me while I expel a fart and pee in my diaper” Trump.
Benjamin Franklin said we’ve got a Republic if we can keep it. This isn’t what Franklin had in mind. This is throwing everything generations of Americans have fought and lost their lives to defend out with the trash.
Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist, and screenwriter. He has covered Watergate, the Stonewall riots, and wars in Lebanon, Iraq, and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels. You can subscribe to his daily columns at luciantruscott.substack.com and follow him on Twitter @LucianKTruscott and on Facebook at Lucian K. Truscott IV.
Please consider subscribing to Lucian Truscott Newsletter, from which this is reprinted with permission.
- Stephen Miller's Latest Loony Claims Of Trump's Immunity From Prosecution ›
- #Endorse This: Colbert Roasts Trump's Pet Judge With Tuneful Parody ›
- 'Disgraced' Judge Cannon Initially Assigned To Trump Case ›
- 'Wow': Trump Openly Extorts Billion-Dollar Bribe From Big Oil - National Memo ›
A recent Marist poll for NPR and PBS NewsHour surveyed Americans' biggest concerns for the country's future, finding that "the rise of fascism and extremism" topped the list, at 31 percent of U.S. adults.
The partisan breakdown, as usual, was illuminating, with a plurality of Democrats and independents choosing the rise of fascism and extremism, at 47 percent and 32 percent respectively, as their primary concern.
The issue dominated with Democrats—nothing else even broke 20 percent. But among independents, "a lack of values" came in second at 24 percent with "becoming weak as a nation" just behind at 23 percent.
Republicans’ top two concerns were "a lack of values," at 36 percent, and "becoming weak as a nation," at 30 percent, while the rise of fascism was a distant third at 15 percent.
Notably, 35 percent of those who cited rising fascism and extremism as their top concern said they are "definitely voting in November's election." Meanwhile, a lack of values and the nation becoming weak stayed static among “definite” voters at 24 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
Simply put, the rise of fascism and extremism is the most concerning to Americans, particularly those who are "definite" voters, and the feeling is most pronounced among potential Democratic voters (i.e. Democrats and independents). On the other hand, it is not a primary motivation for Republican voters.
Additionally, the survey's findings suggest that abortion could be a more powerful issue than some analysts suggest because of GOP abortion bans sweeping the South. These bans serve as a real-life example of the loss of freedoms and autonomy associated with fascists and autocratic regimes.
While attendees of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference are outright welcoming "the end of democracy," the GOP’s quashing of abortion care in an entire region of the country serves as a tangible reminder of what an end to democracy means.
Among analysts, the economy and immigration are often touted as the two main policy issues driving the election, with abortion lagging, polled separately, or even excluded from the issue polling.
That was also the case in the 2022 midterms, when Democrats were supposed to be swept away by a red wave but instead wildly outperformed expectations.
In October 2022, a Civiqs poll showed exactly why analysts misread the issues that would dominate the election. While 58% of voters overall chose the "economy/jobs/inflation" as their top issue, the partisan breakdown of issues showed that 52% of Democrats chose abortion as their No. 1 issue while 43 percent said "fair elections/democracy" was their No. 2 issue.
These two issues proved to be decisive and incredibly motivating among Democratic voters' and some independents who turned out to beat back the red wave.
The latest Marist polling suggests that anyone who underestimates them in this election does so at their own peril.
Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.
- Trump Lickspittle Kash Patel Says The Fascist Part Out Loud ›
- To Win, Democrats Should Stop Talking Down -- And Start Speaking Up ›
- The Supreme Court's 'Immunity Club' And The Advent Of Fascist Jurisprudence ›
- 'Handmaid Of Fascism': Ronna McDaniel's New NBC Gig Provokes Fury ›
- New Poll Shows Republicans (And Trump) Losing Badly On Abortion ›
Trump's Project 2025 Is 'Blueprint For Soft Coup' -- Like Orban's Hungary
Hungarian President Viktor Orban
With Project 2025, former President Donald Trump's allies in the Heritage Foundation lay out a game plan for radically overhauling the United States' federal government if he defeats President Joe Biden in November and returns to the White House in January.
The idea behind Project 2025 is to fill the federal government with Trump loyalists who are fully committed to the MAGA agenda, including Christian nationalism. According to CNN, Heritage's Project 2025 and the America First Policy Institute — another group promoting ideas for a second Trump term — are looking to far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as an authoritarian role model.
During an early May segment, MSNBC's Ali Velshi discussed Project 2025's goals with two Trump critics: conservative Republican Olivia Troye (a former aide to ex-Vice President Mike Pence) and liberal Vanity Fair journalist Molly Jong-Fast.
Velshi told viewers, "The threat that Project 2025 poses to our democracy cannot be overstated…. Probably the most troubling aspect of Project 2025 is its plan to grant Donald Trump unchecked power over the executive branch…. Project 2025 is ultimately a blueprint for a soft coup, one that replaces our age-old system of checks and balances with cronyism."
Jong-Fast shares Velshi's views on Project 2025, warning that much of the Republican Party has embraced "authoritarian Trumpism."
The Vanity Fair writer told Velshi and Troye, "One of the things that I think is the top line here is that every single government agency will be politicized. So, that means that from the FDA to the DOJ to the EPA, every single part of the federal government will be serving Trump and his Republican Party. And if you think about that, that's actually really terrifying…. Now, imagine an entire federal government that serves as a campaign arm to Donald Trump."
Velshi noted that the Heritage Foundation, historically, has been a "fairly mainstream conservative think tank" that "was once associated with Reaganism" — and the conservative Troye agreed with Velshi that Project 2025 is a "radical plan by the far right."
Troye told Velshi, "This is not a conservative plan. It is the more extreme arms of conservatism that you are seeing reflected in here. And I think it goes to show the complete transformation of the Heritage Foundation — a group that actually, for a long time, has been long-respected."
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
- 'Portrait In Cowardice': Chris Sununu Bends The Knee To 'Crazy Loser' Trump ›
- Why Democrats Shouldn't Fear A Comparison Of Biden And Trump ›
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The same coalition of groups that drove center-right group No Labels to abandon its efforts to run a 2024 presidential candidate has now identified its next target: Anti-vaccine activist-turned independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
According to Politico, a collection of outside groups and super PACs are now mobilizing to educate a specific subset of voters about RFK Jr. through a coordinated information campaign. Matt Bennett, who is president of the center-left group Third Way, said they're specifically zeroing in on younger voters they call "double haters," who dislike both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. And they're specifically aiming to engage with voters in swing states where the son of celebrated former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy has met qualifications for ballot access. This includes Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire and North Carolina. RFK Jr. has also qualified for ballots in California, Nebraska and Utah, though those states are seen as less competitive.
"One of our biggest concerns is ensuring that this subset of voters absolutely positively understands who this person is and who he is not," Bennett said.
"He is not his father. His numbers reflect his dad’s popularity," he added. "He is a right-wing crank. People really do not understand that yet."
Democratic-aligned group MoveOn, which has 10 million members on its list, has shifted resources aimed at stopping No Labels toward its anti-RFK Jr. campaign. Another group taking part in the effort is Clear Choice, which is a super PAC focusing on driving down voter turnout for third-party candidates like RFK Jr., along with Jill Stein and Cornel West, who are running on the Green Party and independent ballot lines, respectively. Pro-Democratic super PACs Future Forward and American Bridge have also joined in on the campaign.
The groups are running on the message that, according to a League of Conservation Voters (LCV) official, "a vote for RFK is a vote for Donald Trump." LCV senior vice president of campaigns Pete Maysmith told Politico that he wants to reach out to "voters who aren’t paying full attention yet and reminding them that "voting for Kennedy is throwing your vote away."
"What we’re seeing so far is that when voters hear even just a little about his extreme positions, they are a lot less interested," Maysmith said.
However, Democrats aren't the only ones who want to turn voters away from RFK Jr., In April, a Quinnipiac poll showed that former President Trump's narrow lead over President Joe Biden grows when RFK Jr.'s name is removed from consideration. After that poll was released, Trump tore into the environmentalist-turned-conspiracy theorist and alleged he was only running to help Biden.
"His Views on Vaccines are FAKE, as is everything else about his Candidacy," Trump said. "Let the Democrats have RFK Jr. They deserve him!"
As for RFK Jr.'s campaign, his New York state director, Rita Palma (who previously canvassed for Trump in 2016 and 2020), previously suggested that their main goal wasn't to win, but to "get rid of Biden" and "block Biden from winning the presidency."
"Two hundred seventy [Electoral College votes] wins the election," Palma said in April. "If nobody gets to 270 then Congress picks the president, so who are they gonna pick if it's a Republican Congress? They'll pick Trump, so we're rid of Biden either way."
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
Former President Donald Trump and Gen. Mark Milley, retired
According to the New York Times' veteran political reporter Peter Baker, the number one topic of discussion at Washington dinner parties and receptions these days is “Where would you go if it really happens?”
“It” being Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House following the November 2024 election.
Canada, some say. Others mention Portugal, Australia, even the United Arab Emirates. “The range and seniority of people who talk about it is striking,” Baker writes. “They include current and former White House officials, cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, agency directors, intelligence and law enforcement officials, military officers, political strategists, and journalists.”
Trump’s vows of retribution against his political enemies he has called “vermin,” his stated intention to prosecute pretty much everybody who has offended him, and his loose talk about disobedient generals deserving the death penalty have got a lot of people wondering if it can indeed happen here.
“It” being an overt fascist dictatorship.
One former Trump administration official turned critic told Baker, “People are feeling that it’s very obvious if a second Trump term happens, it’s going to be slash and burn.”
As for me, to put it in Arkansas vernacular, “I ain’t going nowhere.” First, because I’m too old to think about relocating to a foreign country, which is a difficult thing to do—even if you can afford it. Second, because while I yield to nobody in my contempt for Trump, I’m too obscure to persecute.
Besides, my wife and I could never agree about where to go. Chances are, for example, that I could qualify for an Irish passport, given that all eight of my great-grandparents were born there. Not long after we married, Diane was surprised to see tears in my eyes for the first time at the tomb of my great literary hero Jonathan Swift in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. (Swift died in 1745, but lived on in my imagination.)
I have always felt at home in that country, which welcomes immigrants unlikely to become a burden on the public. The Irish are great talkers and listeners. They want to hear your story and tell you theirs. Now that they’ve quit killing each other over religion, the Republic of Ireland is one of the most peaceful countries on earth, and among the friendliest.
I’ll never forget how emotional I got seeing that rapscallion Bill Clinton with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on TV from Belfast announcing the Good Friday Accords. I thought I’d left all that Irish business behind when I followed an Arkansas girl home from school all those years ago. But no, there it was, deeply embedded.
But here’s the problem. I’ve always been a weather-maven. So here’s my summary daily weather report for Dublin over the next ten years: High, 56; Low, 42. Rain. At least 250 days every year fall within those parameters. Chilly, wet and windy. I don’t think I could fool myself into being happy with that.
The Arkansas girl’s people emigrated from France into South Louisiana by way of Cuba. (Her parents met at Louisiana State U, where he was a ballplayer.) She thinks France is the most beautiful and fascinating country in the world, with the best cuisine. The food is great even in the airport. When we’ve visited there, she’s frequently been stopped on the street by people asking directions. She has to haltingly explain that, appearances notwithstanding, she doesn’t actually speak the language.
So France is out. Even if we could afford it. Besides, she’d never leave Arkansas unless the entire Gang of Four—her closest girlfriends for forty years—agreed to come too. Me, I don’t know how I’d get along without my daily Boston Red Sox broadcast, or Arkansas Razorback basketball for that matter. Somebody’s got to load up the pack for their daily outing at the dog park, and it’s pretty much got to be me.
No matter. Because while I fear that the several months following the November 2024 election will be filled with turmoil and foreboding—Trumpist loudmouths have made it clear they will accept nothing but victory and will resort to violence if denied—I believe that Trump is not going to be inaugurated come January 2025.
The exact sequence of events is impossible to predict, but in terms the former Apprentice star would understand, the Trump Show is about to be cancelled. He has zero chance of winning the popular vote. None. The public is heartily sick of him. Just seeing his scowling face and listening to his endless boasting and whining have become almost unendurable.
For that same reason he has little chance of running the table in the so-called “swing” states. Also, this time around no amateur insurrection will take the authorities by surprise. Trump’s attempts to summon a mob to disrupt his New York trial have fallen flat.
So never fear, it’s almost over.
Gene Lyons is a former columnist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a winner of the National Magazine Award, and co-author of The Hunting of the President.
- Normalizing Trump, Network News Shows Ignore His Dictatorial 'Immunity' Claim ›
- 'Handmaid Of Fascism': Ronna McDaniel's New NBC Gig Provokes Fury ›
- The Children's Hour: Why So Many Proto-Fascists Are Also Pedophiles ›
- The Supreme Court's 'Immunity Club' And The Advent Of Fascist Jurisprudence ›
- Trump Lickspittle Kash Patel Says The Fascist Part Out Loud ›
National Enquirer covers smearing Hillary Clinton in 2016
Back in the antediluvian era of American politics, perpetrating dirty tricks was considered proof of bad character and potentially disqualifying for public office, depending on circumstances.
But as with so many other aspects of public life, the rise of former President Donald Trump heralded a steep decline in political ethics and the way that campaigns are run. And now, after nearly a decade of Trump-style politics, the sleazy conduct exposed in sworn testimony at his New York trial is dismissed with a shrug — especially by Republicans who ask nothing better of their leaders.
Leave aside for a moment the dubious practice of paying off women — an adult movie star and a former Playboy model — to ensure their silence about illicit trysts with Melania Trump's husband. (Having promised a spot on his Celebrity Apprentice TV show to porn actress Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump seems to have been paying at both ends.) Evangelical Christians who used to proclaim their indignation about licentious sexuality have discredited themselves thoroughly, which should not surprise anyone who has observed their antics over the past few decades.
What Trump did to silence Daniels and Karen McDougal was unsavory, and his effort to conceal it was probably illegal, but the truly dirty conspiracy involved the smearing of his political opponents.
According to the testimony of David Pecker, his friend and coconspirator who ran the National Enquirer tabloid, Trump and his henchman attorney Michael Cohen promoted the publication of scurrilous lies about his rivals on its front page.
At the same moment that Trump bestowed the nickname "Lyin' Ted" on Ted Cruz, his final opponent for the 2016 Republican nomination, he and his crew were overseeing the publication of outrageous lies about the Texas senator. In spring 2016, the Enquirer featured an absurd story, complete with a doctored photo, claiming that Cruz's father Rafael, an ordained minister, had been consorting with Lee Harvey Oswald just before Oswald assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
Insane as that accusation was, Trump used it to distract Republican voters from criticism of him by Cruz. On Fox News, he declared that "Cruz's father, you know, was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's, you know, being shot. ... What was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald, shortly before the death? Before the shooting? It's horrible." What's horrible, of course, is that Trump knew he was spouting an invented story, because it had been invented to benefit him.
The Enquirer went on to publish more fabricated tales about Cruz, including a claim that he had engaged in at least five extramarital affairs — again, while the tabloid was covering up Trump's actual and lengthy history of adultery.
After Cruz had been dispatched, and then prostrated himself cravenly to endorse Trump, the Enquirer moved on to smearing Hillary Clinton, a hobby pursued by the disgusting Pecker with gusto for years before Trump entered politics.
"The desperate and deteriorating 67-year-old won't make it to the White House — because she'll be dead in six months," the paper blared, insisting that the Democratic nominee suffered from brain cancer, strokes, alcoholism, multiple sclerosis and various forms of mental illness, all somehow concealed from the public and press. None of those mythical ailments actually afflicted the former secretary of state, who is still alive and well — and fighting to defeat Trump.
Much of the fake news published by the tabloid about Clinton was pitched by Steve Bannon, the Trump adviser who swindled thousands of donors to his "Build the Wall" charity — and only evaded prison thanks to a corrupt pardon. Naturally, Bannon is back and, like Trump, has endured no opprobrium for his amply proven crimes. Instead, he is a powerful influence on the far right and in Republican circles.
Back when Trump and his cronies oversaw the publication and broadcasting of all those falsehoods, he said repeatedly that he had nothing to do with the Enquirer and its raging defamations. He seemed to sense there was some shame in that kind of sick deception. But he and his attorneys no longer need to deny any of it, because on the American right, the worst kinds of deceit are accepted and even acclaimed, while their perpetrator is idolized.
And still, they will lecture the rest of us about "morality."
Reprinted with permission from Creators Syndicate
Joe Conason is founder and editor-in-chief of The National Memo.He is also editor-at-large of Type Investigations, a nonprofit investigative reporting newsroom formerly known as The Investigative Fund, and a senior fellow at Type Media Center. His forthcoming book, The Longest Con: How Grifters, Swindlers and Frauds Hijacked American Conservatism, will be published by St. Martin's Press in July.On
Ryan Walters
Visitors to Oklahoma’s State Schools Superintendent’s personal social media page will notice a post vowing to “ban Critical Race Theory, protect women’s sports, and fight for school choice,” a post linking to a Politico profile of him that reads, “Meet the state GOP official at the forefront of injecting religion into public schools,” a photo of him closely embracing a co-founder of the anti-government extremist group Moms for Liberty, and a video in which he declares, “Oklahoma is MAGA country.”
This is Ryan Walters, a far-right Republican Christian nationalist who is making a national name for himself.
“God has a place in public schools,” is how Politico described Walters’ focus.
Last week the Southern Poverty Law Center published an extensive profile of Walters, alleging “hateful rhetoric toward the LGBTQ+ community, calls to whitewash curriculum, efforts to ban books, and attempts to force Christian nationalist ideology into public school classrooms.”
“Walters is superintendent of public instruction, and public schools are supposed to serve students of all faiths, backgrounds and identities,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, told SPLC.
Walters is supporting new legislation in Oklahoma that follows in Texas’ footsteps: allowing untrained, unlicensed, uncertified, and unregulated religious chaplains and ministers to be hired as official school counselors.
“We heard a lot of talk about a lot of those support staffs, people such as counselors, having shortages,” Rep. Kevin West, a Republican, said, KFORreports. “I felt like this would be a good way to open that door to possibly get some help.”
Walters praised West, writing: “Allowing schools to have volunteer religious chaplains is a big help in giving students the support they need to be successful. Thank you to @KevinWestOKRep for being the House author for this bill. This passed the House yesterday and moves on to the Senate where @NathanDahm is leading the charge for this bill.”
As several Oklahoma news outlets report, there’s a wrinkle lawmakers may not have anticipated.
“With the Oklahoma House’s passage of Senate Bill 36, which permits the participation of uncertified chaplains in public schools, The Satanic Temple (TST) has announced its plans to have its Ministers in public schools in the Sooner State. If the bill advances through the Senate, this legislation will take effect on November 1, 2024. State Superintendent Ryan Walters, a vocal advocate for religious freedom in schools, has endorsed the legislation. The House approved SB 36 by a 54-37 vote on Wednesday,” a press release from The Satanic Temple reads. “The Satanic Temple, a federally recognized religious organization, has expressed its dedication to religious pluralism and community service.”
Walters responded on social media to The Satanic Temple’s announcement.
“Satanists are not welcome in Oklahoma schools, but they are welcome to go to hell,” he wrote.
Former Lincoln Project executive director Fred Wellman served up an equally colorful response.
“Hahahaha!!! You are an idiot,” Wellman wrote. “How did you not see this coming? Satanists, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Pastafarians…come one come all! After all you’re not trying to establish Christianity as the state religion are you? We had a whole ass revolution about that. There are history books about it…oh…right. Not your thing. What a fool.”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) served up a warning.
“The state of Oklahoma cannot discriminate against people or groups based on their religious beliefs,” the non-profit group wrote. “Walters’ hateful message shows, one again, that he only believes in religious freedom for Christians and that he is unfit to serve in public office.”
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was strongly criticized Wednesday after promoting a historically and biblically false, antisemitic claim while declaring antisemitism is wrong.
As the House voted on an antisemitism bill that would require the U.S. Dept. of Education to utilize a certain definition of antisemitism when enforcing anti-discrimination laws, the far-right Christian nationalist congresswoman made her false claims on social media.
“Antisemitism is wrong, but I will not be voting for the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 (H.R. 6090) today that could convict Christians of antisemitism for believing the Gospel that says Jesus was handed over to Herod to be crucified by the Jews,” Greene tweeted.
The definition of antisemitism the House bill wants to codify was created by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Congresswoman Greene highlighted this specific text which she said she opposes: “Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.”
What Greene is promoting is called “Jewish deicide,” the false and antisemitic claim that Jews killed Jesus Christ. Some who adhere to that false belief also believe all Jews throughout time, including in the present day, are responsible for Christ’s crucification.
Greene has a history of promoting antisemitism, including comparing mask mandates during the coronavirus pandemic to “gas chambers in Nazi Germany.”
Political commentator John Fugelsang set the record straight:
“If only you could read,” lamented Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Esq., CEO and Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center. The Antisemitism Awareness Act “could not convict anyone for believing anything, even this historical and biblical inaccuracy. It only comes into play if there is unlawful discrimination based on this belief that targets a Jewish person. Do you understand that distinction @RepMTG ?”
“Not surprising,” declared Jacob N. Kornbluh, the senior political reporter at The Forward, formerly the Jewish Daily Forward. “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has been accused in the past of making antisemitic remarks — including her suggestion that a Jewish-funded space laser had sparked wildfires in California in 2018, voted against the GOP-led Antisemitism Awareness Act.”
Jewish Telegraphic Agency Washington Bureau Chief Ron Kampeas, an award-winning journalist, took a deeper dive into Greene’s remarks.
“Ok leave aside the snark. The obvious antisemitism is in saying ‘the Jews’ crucified Jesus when even according to the text she believes in it was a few leaders in a subset of a contemporary Jewish community. It is collective blame, the most obvious of bigotries.”
“The text she presumably predicates her case on, the New Testament,” he notes, “was when it was collated a political document at a time when Christians and Jews were competing for adherents and when it would have been plainly dangerous to blame Rome for the murder of God.”
“Yes,” Kampeas continues, “that take is obviously one that a fundamentalist would not embrace, but it is the objective and historical take, and *should* be available to Jews (and others!) as a means of explaining why Christian antisemitism exists, and why it is harmful.”
CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere also slammed Greene, saying she “is standing up for continuing to talk about Jews being responsible for the killing of Jesus. (John & Matthew refer to some Jews handing over Jesus to Pilate,not Herod. But also: many, including Pope Benedict, have called blaming Jews a misinterpretation)”
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
- Evidence Of GOP Complicity In Kremlin Assault On America Is Now Overwhelming ›
- Margie Rips Fellow Republicans And 'Sold Out' Speaker On Bannon Show ›
- Twitter Finally Kicked Marjorie Taylor Greene To The Curb ›
- CPAC Promoted Virulently Anti-Semitic Conspiracist As Featured Speaker ›
- Far-Right 'Daily Wire' Finally Dumps Raving Antisemite Candace Owens ›
