GOP Operatives - Actions and Issues
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Yesterday, House Republicans delivered on another promise and convened the first meeting of the Committee to Investigate the Weaponization of the Federal Government Against Americans.
Chair Jim Jordan began the meeting stating the following list of remarkable facts:
Representative Jordan explained it’s not just a handful of good FBI agents. The Committee says it has “dozens and dozens” of FBI whistleblowers, and even more evidence of never-before-seen levels of federal overreach:
☕️ MITIGATED AND WEAPONIZED ☙ Friday, February 10, 2023 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
Weaponization Committee kicks off with a bang; FBI caught infiltrating mainstream religious groups; Russia prepares for the real war; no tanks for Ukraine; Musk pulls Starlink and gets investigated.
www.coffeeandcovid.com
A BILLIONAIRE-FUNDED WEBSITE WITH TIES TO THE FAR RIGHT IS TRYING TO “CANCEL” UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS
Within days, Hatemi’s email to the student was published on Campus Reform, a conservative website that bills itself as the “#1 Source for College News” and whose stated mission is to expose “liberal bias and abuse on the nation’s college campuses.” The article accused Hatemi of having “lashed out” at the student and “responded harshly” to his request. Quotes from Hatemi’s email also appeared in right-wing publications like The Federalist, The Blaze, and the Post Millennial, and they spread on social media, where they were manipulated and stripped of context. A deluge of hate mail followed, directed at Hatemi as well as at his university’s administration. Some of it threatened violence, prompting campus police to intervene, though Hatemi declined to comment on the details. The university did not respond to a request for comment.
Kara Zupkus, a spokesperson for YAF, wrote in an email to The Intercept that the group “has regularly condemned white nationalism, mob violence, and extremism.” She also referred to a statement the organization issued shortly after the incident involving Hatemi.
“It is Penn State YAF’s constitutional right to exist on campus – whether this professor likes it or not,” the group wrote then. “To attack all conservative students and YAF by accusing them of supporting riots and violence with no evidence is disgraceful and unbecoming of a professor at an institution of higher education.”
Campus Reform is published by the Leadership Institute, a nonprofit that has trained conservative activists for four decades through the generous funding of billionaire donors like the Koch family. The institute reported more than $16 million in revenue in 2018 alone. Over the last several years, Campus Reform has targeted hundreds of college professors like Hatemi, leading to online harassment campaigns, doxxing, threats of violence, and calls on universities to fire their faculty. Professors featured in Campus Reform stories have felt isolated and confused as they came under attack, often over public statements they made but sometimes over things they said in class or even academic research they published. Campus Reform stories have regularly been picked up by a host of established conservative outlets, from Breitbart to Fox News, amplifying outrage and unleashing abuse in a manner that observers of the site note mirrors how far-right extremists attack their targets online.
“The effects of Campus Reform stories can be similar to the online harassment often deployed by white supremacists,” said Isaac Kamola, an assistant professor at Trinity College who studies the politics of higher education and closely monitors the site.
Kamola has tracked more than 1,570 stories posted on Campus Reform since 2020 and surveyed the 338 individuals they targeted, many of whose official profiles and contact details were linked to in stories about them. The survey, the results of which will be published by the American Association of University Professors’ Academe magazine, found that at least 40 percent of respondents received “threats of harm” following a Campus Reform article, mostly via email and social media but also often by phone, text message, or postal mail. One professor reported receiving thousands of emails, many of them laced with violent, racist, and sexist comments, Kamola said. In the most extreme cases, he added, online trolls published the professors’ personal information online, forcing them to change their phone numbers, leave their homes, and retain security. Less than half the people surveyed by Kamola reported receiving support from their universities’ administrations, and more than 12 percent reported facing disciplinary action as a result of a Campus Reform story. Three people said they lost their jobs.
Congress takes first shot at federal censorship: a moratorium on DOJ payments to social media
The ELON Act, introduced this month by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and backed by nine other cosponsors, would impose a one-year moratorium on taxpayer payments from the Justice Department to social media firms as well as require an audit on how much money changed hands since the start of 2015 between DOJ and Big Tech firms.
The legislation comes weeks after the blockbuster revelation that the FBI paid more than $3 million to Twitter to compensate that firm for handling a large number of censorship requests dating to the 2020 election.
"Who would ever have thought that the FBI would be paying Big Tech companies, you know, for their 'advice' or their counsel to the tune of millions upon millions of dollars?" asked Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) in an interview with Just the News.
"What they're doing is what the government cannot do directly," he added. "And that is they are doing government by proxy, or censorship by proxy. And this is 100% a violation of the Constitution."
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley is a Republican who voted against the Omnibus legislation. Moreover, he’s watching as the Democrats completely shrug off the crisis going on in East Palestine, Ohio. Like everyone else, Hawley is likely looking at the complete lack of leadership surrounding the disaster with disgust, and addressing his own party on Twitter, he showed them two paths.
“The Republican Party can be the party of Ukraine and globalists or the party of East Palestine and working Americans. Not both,” tweeted the Senator.
“The Republican Party can be the party of Ukraine and globalists or the party of East Palestine and working Americans. Not both,” tweeted the Senator.
As long as those working Americans can not hold up the supply chain. Especially before Christmas.
RNC chair says requiring loyalty pledge for participation in GOP presidential debates is a ‘no-brainer’
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said Sunday that she expects 2024 GOP presidential contenders will have to sign a pledge to back the party’s ultimate nominee in order to participate in primary debates.
“We haven’t put the criteria out, but I expect a pledge will be part of it. It was part of 2016. I think it’s kind of a no-brainer, right? If you’re going to be on the Republican National Committee debate stage asking voters to support you, you should say, ‘I’m going to support the voters and who they choose as the nominee,’” McDaniel told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” in her first interview since winning a contentious race for a fourth term as RNC chairwoman.
“As RNC chair, if I said I wouldn’t support the Republican nominee, I would be removed from office,” she said.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/27/politics/ronna-mcdaniel-republican-rnc-chair/index.html
Ronna McDaniel’s pathetic bid to ‘unite’ the Republican Party in 2024
Once again displaying her total obliviousness, Republican National Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced Sunday that 2024 presidential candidates will likely have to pledge to support the winner in the general election, or they’ll be kept out of the primary debates. Who cares?
This is nothing but a lame attempt to paper over the party’s stark divisions over ex-President Donald Trump, one of three declared candidates so far. The simple fact is that many GOP voters won’t support him if he’s the nominee, and some of his voters likely won’t show for any other Republican.
And all GOP politicians will jump whichever way they think serves their interests best. That includes the candidates themselves: Coming up with excuses to break your most solemn pledge is Politics 101, all across the spectrum.
The real questions turn on what, if any, third-party challenge the loser(s) mount, and who’s peeved enough to spend the general election dumping on the winner.
Prepare yourself for a good laugh. Yesterday, Newsweek ran a story headlined, “Florida Lawmaker Introduces Bill to ‘Cancel’ State’s Democratic Party.” What on Earth, you are probably asking yourself. Well, get ready.Yesterday, Florida Republican State Senator Blaise Ingoglia filed SB 1248, titled “Political Parties (The Ultimate Cancel Act).” If passed, the law would immediately de-certify any political party that previously advocated for slavery or involuntary servitude in their party platform. Any registered voters affected by this de-certification would automatically become "non-party affiliated" (NPA) voters.
Guess what? Coincidentally, the Democrat Party has adopted pro-slavery positions into its platform, not once, but FOUR TIMES: during the conventions of 1840, 1844, 1856, 1860, and 1864. Democrats kept on doing it right up until Republican President Abraham Lincoln made slavery illegal.
Bwahahahahaha! Oh my gosh! It’s brilliant! Kick them while they’re down! Hoist them on their own petard! And so forth! Imagine the rhetorical spaghetti democrats will need to defeat this bill. Will corporate media be able to leave this story alone? What with the mean Republicans viciously attacking their beloved democrats? I sure hope it won’t. This story needs a lot of airtime.
Newsweek reported the State Democrat Party’s response:
☕️ JUMPING THE SHARK ☙ Wednesday, March 1, 2023 ☙ C&C NEWS 🦠
A packed and delicious roundup with tons of good news, including the craziest, most wonderful new bill in Florida. And Zelensky probably just jumped the shark. Plus LOTS more.
www.coffeeandcovid.com
First, Hawley called out a post Shogan made in February 2022 complaining about the fact that mask mandates had been lifted for children under the age of five. He then asked if such an overtly political statement was characteristic of her Twitter feed. “My social media is in my personal capacity,” Shogan responded.
“Answer my question, please, because you’ve testified under oath that you only posted about your dog, and sports teams and novels, and you also said you wouldn’t give this committee any of your public posts,” Hawley fired back. But Shogan again refused to own up to the posts. Hawley pressed her again. “You are under oath before this committee, and I have to say, you have placed this issue squarely in record by repeatedly refusing to answer,” he said.
Next Hawley pointed out a post that Shogan retweeted calling for an assault weapons ban. He also pointed to a Twitter post she made in 2021 in which she said that Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz “ought to stay in his lane and not worry about what’s going on in Pittsburgh,” apparently in reference to investigations into the 2020 election. He then pointed to a post from December 2020 wishing that former President Trump would have his vetoes overridden and calling him a “weak policy president.” He also pointed to another post on January 5, 2021, claiming Trump would pardon himself for trying to overturn the election.
In another post Hawley pointed out, Shogan replied to a user complaining about religious flags on the grounds of the Library of Congress, and gave advice on how to complain and have the posts taken down. In every case, Shogan simply averted her eyes and repeated that her Twitter account was in her personal capacity.
An exasperated Hawley finally gave up. “I have to say, I have been here for four years in the Senate,” he said. “I have never seen a witness stonewall like this before. Never. And I’ve seen a lot. This is extraordinary. … I mean, this is unbelievable, and you want to be the archivist of the United States. You lied to us under oath, you lied to us in your [Questions for the Record], you just lied to me a second ago under oath, and now you’re sitting here stonewalling, not answering questions about public posts that you’ve made.”
www.dailywire.com
“Answer my question, please, because you’ve testified under oath that you only posted about your dog, and sports teams and novels, and you also said you wouldn’t give this committee any of your public posts,” Hawley fired back. But Shogan again refused to own up to the posts. Hawley pressed her again. “You are under oath before this committee, and I have to say, you have placed this issue squarely in record by repeatedly refusing to answer,” he said.
Next Hawley pointed out a post that Shogan retweeted calling for an assault weapons ban. He also pointed to a Twitter post she made in 2021 in which she said that Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz “ought to stay in his lane and not worry about what’s going on in Pittsburgh,” apparently in reference to investigations into the 2020 election. He then pointed to a post from December 2020 wishing that former President Trump would have his vetoes overridden and calling him a “weak policy president.” He also pointed to another post on January 5, 2021, claiming Trump would pardon himself for trying to overturn the election.
In another post Hawley pointed out, Shogan replied to a user complaining about religious flags on the grounds of the Library of Congress, and gave advice on how to complain and have the posts taken down. In every case, Shogan simply averted her eyes and repeated that her Twitter account was in her personal capacity.
An exasperated Hawley finally gave up. “I have to say, I have been here for four years in the Senate,” he said. “I have never seen a witness stonewall like this before. Never. And I’ve seen a lot. This is extraordinary. … I mean, this is unbelievable, and you want to be the archivist of the United States. You lied to us under oath, you lied to us in your [Questions for the Record], you just lied to me a second ago under oath, and now you’re sitting here stonewalling, not answering questions about public posts that you’ve made.”
‘Never Seen A Witness Stonewall Like This’: Hawley Goes Off On Biden Nominee Who Refuses To Own Up To Her Social Media Posts
Republican Missouri Senator Josh Hawley grilled the Biden administration’s national Archivist nominee on Tuesday over her overtly partisan tweets. In a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee Tuesday, Hawley took to task the nominee, Dr. Colleen Shogan, over tweets she wrote blasting...
No-Nonsense California GOP Mayor Eliminates Homelessness in His City With Simple, Logical Approach
And therein lies the key, which is ignored by Democrat-run cities throughout the no-longer-Golden State, and the rest of the country. The best part (or worst, depending on one’s predisposed political views) doesn’t take a proverbial rocket scientist to understand. Check it out, as Bailey explained to Fox News.
Stop the tape. How dare evil Republican Mayor Bailey be so cruel (and “racist”)?
The brutality of prohibiting public drunkenness, urinating, and defecating, is inhumane enough, but prohibiting encampments on city sidewalks in front of businesses? Oh, the humanity! What’s next? Banning people from walking out of stores with carts full of stolen groceries — and whatever else?
And here’s the best part from Mayor Bailey; again, with simple logic (emphasis, mine):