DonOLD Trump Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden shows people leaving in videos

Whatever happened to Lindsey Graham❓ . He said "whaaaaa❓"  Lindsey Graham urges voters to "reject" generals' critical views of Trump

Madison Square Garden in 1939

Ahead of Donald Trump's campaign rally at Madison Square Garden in New York one GOP strategist Doug Heye critiqued the former president for holding one in a state where he trails Vice President Kamala Harris by double digits, calling it "wasted time." (Published in Newsweek by Natalie Venegas) 

As Election Day quickly approaches, the race between Trump, the GOP nominee, and Harris, the Democratic nominee, remains extremely tight, with the outcome largely depending on swing states, as both candidates continue campaigning across the country.

While New York is a reliably blue state, and Democratic candidates typically win statewide easily because of massive margins in New York City, Trump has continued to campaign there as he has held several other campaign events including rallies in the Bronx and Nassau County on Long Island.

"Whether you're talking about Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, I'd say time spent out of the seven key states that are the swing states that could turn this election by and large is wasted time. 

Your time is better spent in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada, Arizona et cetera than it is in Texas or in Washington, D.C. or in New York," Heye, a former communications director for the Republican National Committee (RNC), said on Sunday in an interview with CNN's Rahel Solomon.

Heye explained that while the rally will likely get coverage, it may fall short of reaching young male voters, a group Trump has recently aimed to reach.

"But with this Trump event yes, it's gonna get a lot of coverage––although a lot of people, especially young males, who Trump wants to win with big margins, will probably be watching football 🏉...Every political campaign that you're on, there's always some event that makes staff sort of scratch their heads 😖and say 'Why are we doing this in this way❓" and the answer is always to scratch that itch that a candidate has."

Lies told by dumb and dumber- Perdue and TFG

"Senator Lindsey Graham has advice, and a warning, for #TFG Donald Trump: Focus on the future and making peoples’ lives better, and drop the constant 2020 election claims. But the former president doesn’t appear to be listening," quote published in Roll Call.

Nevertheless, this opinion echo by Eugene Robinson, describes the current regressive political situation, in The Washington Post:

Maine Writer opinion:  "David Perdue is dumb and dumber!"

Perdue and Trump bookends "dumb and dumber".

How did David Perdue become so dumb? In fact, Perdue's father, a Democrat, was the elected superintendent of schools for Houston County, Georgia, from 1961 to 1980, where he oversaw the desegregation of the school system.

“First off, folks, let me be very clear tonight. The election in 2020 was rigged and stolen.”

That bald faced lie was former senator David Perdue’s opening line Sunday in a primary debate against the fellow Republican whose job he is trying to take, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. The shocking thing about this falsehood is that nobody should be particularly shocked. It would have been more surprising if Perdue had told the truth.
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The GOP has made clear that it intends to run a “post-truth” campaign in the November elections. No Republican who goes along with this abominable strategy — no Republican who doesn’t publicly denounce it — deserves your vote. Not a single one of them.

It is no exaggeration to say that what the onetime Party of Lincoln is doing constitutes a dire threat to the very idea of democracy. A contest between liberal and conservative philosophies is healthy. An asymmetrical clash between one party grappling with nuanced reality and another party deliberately spewing paranoid fiction is dangerously corrosive to the fabric of the nation.

If the warp of our differences is no longer held together by the weft of an agreed-upon chronicle of events and a bipartisan encyclopedia of facts, there is no basis for meaningful political discourse. We can only speak past, not to, one another.

It must be acknowledged, because it is the simple truth, that this is not a “both-sides-are-to-blame” crisis. The Democratic Party is engaged in politics as usual, with the customary pull and tug between its progressive and centrist wings. The GOP has gone rogue in a way that is un-American and without modern precedent.

Republicans tolerated TFG Donald Trump’s litany of lies, for years. But this tendency to excuse mendacity shifted from bad habit to mortal sin with the party’s embrace of that “big lie” about the election Trump lost to Joe Biden. Perdue was especially brazen in the way he trumpeted the proven falsehood. But no less guilty are the many other Republicans who perpetuate it by mumbling about “irregularities” in the 2020 vote — or by remaining silent. Their complicity in the lie is not excused by the fact that Trump will try his best to end their careers if they dare speak the truth. They know the difference between right and wrong, and they are opting for personal gain over public service. They should be ashamed of themselves.

TFG: Adolf Hitler reincarnated!

The stolen-election lie is just the beginning, though. It establishes a post-truth ethos in which other lies become not just acceptable but also routine. Last week, for example, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) flatly denied a New York Times report that he had told GOP colleagues, in a phone call after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, that he planned to advise Trump to resign. Those who were on that call knew he was lying. None came forward publicly to say so.

When the Times and MSNBC released a tape recording of the Jan. 10, 2021, call — in which McCarthy says he will tell Trump, “It would be my recommendation you should resign” — the only public GOP criticism of McCarthy came from Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who has already broken with the leadership and serves on the House Jan. 6 committee, and Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who accused McCarthy of insufficient fealty to Trump. 

Most mainstream Republican members of Congress said nothing at all.

Democrats, understandably, were less constrained. “Kevin McCarthy is a liar and a traitor,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Sunday. “This is outrageous. And that is really the illness that pervades the Republican leadership right now — that they say one thing to the American public and something else in private.”

Warren did not exaggerate. The whole GOP campaign for the fall elections promises to be built on lies — about critical race theory, about gay and transgender people, about purported attempts to “cancel” conservative voices. I know from private conversations that there are prominent Republicans who are deeply concerned about what their party is doing — but say nothing publicly. The party’s aim is to regain power, and truth is mere collateral damage.

The Democratic Party can be messy, disorganized, clumsy, starry-eyed and overly wonkish, prone to showing up at a political knife fight with a sheaf of briefing books. However, right now, the Democrats are the nation’s only hope for getting our democracy back on the rails. My personal views are obviously on the progressive side, but I believe journalists must stand, above all else, for truth, no matter where on the political spectrum it comes from. The Republican Party no longer acts as if truth matters.

And this state of affairs can’t be blamed entirely on Trump. Republican elected officials have a choice and are (horribly and unethically!) choosing to lie. 

Voters must choose to send the liars home.

Who is Kevin McCarthy's ventriloquist?

Opinion echo letter published in the Bakersfield Californian Bakersfield.com

Rep. Kevin McCarthy might as well be controlled by a #Cult45 ventriloquist

Kevin McCarthy rents a penthouse in Washington, D.C., from one of his billionaire political donors. He’s very much out of touch with his average constituent here in California. His two-faced approach to politics is revolting. One day he says something and, if Trump doesn’t like it, he’s back-peddling and double talking, stumbling and fumbling like some circus hack.

Most real Republicans don’t want to listen to the insane conspiracy rantings of Marjorie QAnon Greene or other Big Lie repeaters like McCarthy, spineless Lindsey Graham and many other of their ilk. I find the great majority of Republicans to be hard-working, humble and honest people. Until the leadership of the GOP returns to these values, our Democracy is in jeopardy.

Whatever happened to Lindsey Graham?

— Steve Bass, Bakersfield, California

Republicans should try the truth serum experiment - opinion echo

Ohio echo opinion published in the Cincinnati Enquirer: Truth serum for Republicans (Cincinnati.com) by Phil Heimlich

Unique experiment ~ conducted by the U.S. Department of Satire, Parody and Other Endangered Resources. 

Three leading members of the Republican Party were given a truth serum, which caused them to speak honestly and openly about the current political situation. Audio recordings were made of their comments, which have been transcribed below.

(WARNING: Satire can cause confusion, anger and outbursts of profanity among people who have an untreated humor deficiency or who suffer from degenerative partisan myopia.)

Satire serum response from Ohio Senator Rob Portman:

"I’ve got to find a way to sneak into the Capitol today without reporters seeing me. They have absolutely no conscience about asking me over and over why I have no conscience. How dare they describe me as spineless for not speaking out every time the president tells a little fib. Sure, I voted to impeach President Clinton for lying about sex, but Trump’s impeachment is different – all he did was offer a teeny-weeny bribe to the president of Ukraine – and for that they call me a hypocrite? Well, I resemble that remark. I’m not afraid to criticize the president. I have spoken out numerous times in a very loud whisper about his conduct. When Trump sided with Vladimir Putin against our intelligence agencies, I used tough words like 'inappropriate' to express my deeply held convictions. If I can just keep ducking into elevators or behind stairwells, they’ll be back to calling me a statesman again in no time."

Satire serum response from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham:

"My greatest fear is that people can rise from the dead, because if my old pal John McCain ever comes back to life, he’ll kill me. I can hear him now: 'How can you suck up to that corrupt blowhard? You bootlicker – don’t you have any principles?'

Well, I have a simple answer to that question: NO.

Question for Senator Susan Collins:  What would Senator John McCain do? 

Listen, when you’re given a ride on Air Force One by the commander-in-chief, it’s a hell of a lot more fun than being a cranky, bitter old 'maverick.' And the ecstasy of 18 rounds on the links at Mar-a-Lago with the leader of the free world – it’s better than body-slamming Congressman Adam Schiff. Well, almost. I’m up for reelection next year and every time my special buddy in the White House sends out one of those catchy tweets to the base, I get shivers down my spine (not to mention lots of calls from the un-fake news at Fox). And when I come up with some creative excuse for one of Trump’s boneheaded foreign policy ideas to buy North Korea or move the White House permanently to Mar-a-Lago, he pats me on the head and says, 'Good job, Lindsey.' God bless America, it doesn’t get any better than that."

Satire Serum from Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan (#GymJordan):

"Did you see me at those hearings? My rope-a-dope* makes Muhammad Ali look like a punch-drunk loser with two left feet. I tied those witnesses up in pretzels like my opponents when I won the NCAA wrestling title. Donald Trump could get caught trading Ukraine to Putin for Hillary’s missing emails, and we’d let him off. They say when the facts are against you, argue the law; and when the law is against you, argue the facts – but when the facts and the law are against you, that’s when you call Jim Jordan. Just don’t call me consistent. I hope nobody at CNN finds those old news clips of me demanding the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for – get this – withholding documents from Congress and failing to comply with congressional subpoenas. Back then, impeachment fit like my trademark rolled-up shirtsleeves – I called it 'the indispensable power that Congress has for holding government officials accountable to the American people.' But now that shirt does not fit and we must acquit."

Opinion of Phil Heimlich is a former assistant prosecutor, Cincinnati City councilman and Hamilton County commissioner, and currently a legal adviser to Republicans for the Rule of Law. @philheimlich

*...boxing tactic of pretending to be trapped against the ropes...

Minnesota echo opinion - impeach those who lie to America

Echo opinion published in the Minnesota newspaper Pine and Lakes Echo Journal

Republican U.S. Attorney General William Barr lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee, run by Republican Lindsay Graham. 

What happened to Lindsey Graham?

Moreover, Barr lied about what Special Counsel Republican Robert Mueller thought about Barr's "summary" letter, which attempted to exonerate Republican Donald Trump, current occupant of the White House.

In fact, the attorney general's job is to represent the interests of the U.S. people, not whoever's in our White House! 

We the people most definitely need someone who speaks for us. Because corporations and the wealthy took over so much of how our democratic government is run, by using the Republican Party, the people have too little voice these days. It's why so many of us are frustrated.

Donald Trump wants only one thing from anyone he hires: total and complete loyalty. When I lived in New Jersey in the '60s, this was the rule of the mafia; the mob. But, Trump gives no loyalty in return, but is clever enough with his mouth to string people along well past the time when they've hurt their own lives or ruined their reputations.

Moral character or job qualifications mean nothing to Mr. Trump. Do what you want, he tells them.

Trump tried to get out of paying his own attorney, using the White House Attorney Don McGahn instead. 

But the White House attorney answers to the people, not the president, so there is no client-attorney privilege!

No one told Trump, or in his arrogance and hubris he didn't listen, so he ended up telling McGahn a lot of things he wished he hadn't.

A. Martin, Merrifield, Minnesota

Amidst Grief - What Went Right in Boston: Post Marathon Blog Debriefing

We Got Him! But, now the debriefing begins - also known as "Monday Morning Quarterbacking".  

In the haste of some to create even more mayhem out of the incident are at least two Republican politicians (John McCain and Lindsey Graham), who should be focused on productive governing, but who are deflecting energy away from real questions raised by this tragedy, that turned into a multiple critical incident event.  Instead of debating what kind of legal trail the surviving terror suspect should receive, these politicians should be asking (a) How did two brilliant young immigrant men of Chechen origin become radicalized against America and (b) how did the two gain access to weapons and materials to make terrorist bombs? 

As a former Emergency Medical Services (EMS) administrator, an extension of my profession as a registered nurse, there's no doubt in my mind that post Boston bombing debriefings will be intense.  Everyone, virtually all who were involved, will be examining what went right and how to improve the public response to the April 15th horrific and evil Patriot's Day Marathon incident.  

What began on the third Monday in April was concluded five days later, bringing the daunting terror to an end- but not the Monday morning quarterbacking (MMQ).  For example, was a lockdown security measure on the entire Boston community necessary?  What constitutes "terrorism", anyway?  Moreover, do terrorists have Miranda rights, especially if they're also American citizens?

During the 5 days of mayhem, four innocent people were killed, as well as the terror suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, the brother of the captured suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,19, who was found hiding in a shrink wrapped boat in a Watertown, Mass. back yard.  

Innocent lives cut tragically short as a result of this terror included:
1.  Martin Richard, 8, of Dorchester MA who was at the Boston Marathon to cheer his father across the finish line.

Martin Richard 8 killed while watching his father cross the  Boston Marathon finish  line

2.  Krystle Campbell, 29, a Medford,Mass., native and Medford High School graduate living in Arlington, MA, was killed. In Medford, Mayor Michael McGlynn said he spoke with Campbell’s father, William, on Tuesday. "My daughter was a dream daughter. She was just what every father wanted,” McGlynn said.

3.  Lu Lingz, was a Chinese graduate student studying mathematics and statistics and scheduled to receive her graduate degree in 2015. Lu was at the finish line of the race with two friends.

4.  Sean Collier, 26, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus police, was fatally shot on Thursday while sitting in his police cruiser as events began to unfold that led to the death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, and the apprehension of his brother Dzhokhar, 19, after a massive manhunt.

These four innocent victims should have their pictures pasted on the walls of all debriefing sessions related to the Boston Marathon
bombing.  

Those who MMQ by suggesting the Boston security lockdown was an overreach should consider what it must have been like to witness body parts being blown around chaotic Boylston Street.  Politicians who waste time criticizing the legal proceedings for the living Tsarnaev suspect should, instead, consider how their failure to pass gun control might impact on the rights of other innocent people in the future, who will be caught in harms way, like officer Collier. No one should be given access to guns that put our public safety people at risk!  Second amendment rights created in the year 1789 were never written with the intention of bringing harm to innocent people!

Obviously, a great deal will be learned by the multiple post Boston debriefing sessions, at all levels.  Most important, this incident will be documented to prevent other critical and tragic incidents. Information will be used to prevent seditious groups from plotting their own misplaced outrage of unknown origin.

Meanwhile, in our national grief, the outcome of "Boston Strong" emerged as a victorious theme against all terrorism.  Let's hope the mantra is copyrighted by Boston and never replicated by any other location.  

MMQ must keep in mind how public safety comes before political grandstanding and should trump Second Amendment gun rights, allowing people to own weapons for the purpose of killing innocents.  

What went right in the aftermath of the Boston terror attack includes (a) there were no hostage taking incidents by the suspects because they were rapidly pursued before they could think up more carnage and (b) Americans have shown extraordinary support for the city where our nation's freedom began.

Now, we must move forward to prevent further evil from obstructing our hard earned freedoms.