Given his narcissism and predilection for lying, it was unseemly but not surprising when Trump, peddling fantastical theories about massive voter fraud, refused to accept defeat, despite a cascade of contrary court decisions.
Fear does strange things to a man
But he isn’t alone in ensuring that the presidency Biden will claim on Jan. 20 is a poisoned chalice.
Top congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnellof Kentucky and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, have acquiesced in Trump’s disinformation campaign, hiding behind pious statements about counting every legal vote.
As Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro noted in his devastating response, the Supreme Court “should not abide this seditious abuse of the judicial process, and should send a clear and unmistakable signal that such abuse must never be replicated.”
Here is a list of the Republican Representatives who, on behalf of Donald Trump, attempted a coup. They voted to commit treason. They tried to destroy our democracy by canceling the votes of millions of Americans, to make Donald Trump the dictator.
We fought the Revolutionary War to overthrow a dictator and to install a democracy, and today, after 240 years, the Republican party has become so corrupted by Trump, it is attempting to undo the sacrifices of previous generations.
Russia, China, North Korea et al, would like nothing better than for our democracy to fail. Fortunately, despite the efforts of America’s enemies, our democracy has survived this blatantly right-wing extremist effort.
Not only have dozens of Republican judges rejected all of Trump’s lawsuits, but the Republican-dominated Supreme Court refused even to consider this unconstitutional effort.
There is only one word that aptly describes these lawmakers, and that word is “traitor.”
Keep this list handy for the next election, coming in only two years. It will help you vote for democracy and against treason.
(We would be remiss if we didn’t add Senator Ted Cruz to the list of traitors, as Cruz hungrily begged to be the lead lawyer prosecuting the suit).
Mike Johnson, Fourth Congressional District, Louisiana
Gary Palmer, Sixth Congressional District, Alabama
Kevin McCarthy, Twenty-Third Congressional District, of California
Steve Scalise First Congressional District, Louisiana
Jim Jordan Fourth Congressional District Ohio
Ralph Abraham, Fifth Congressional District, Louisiana
Robert Aderholt, Fourth Congressional District, Alabama
Rick W. Allen, Twelfth Congressional District, Georgia
Jodey Arrington, Nineteenth Congressional District, Texas
Brian Babin Thirty-Sixth Congressional District Texas
James R. Baird, Fourth Congressional District, Indiana
Jim Banks Third Congressional District Indiana
Jack Bergman, First Congressional District, Michigan
Andy Biggs Fifth Congressional District Arizona
Gus Bilirakis Twelfth Congressional District Florida,
Dan Bishop Ninth Congressional District North Carolina
Mike Bost Twelfth Congressional District Illinois
Kevin Brady Eighth Congressional District Texas
Mo Brooks Fifth Congressional District Alabama
Ken Buck Fourth Congressional District Colorado
Ted Budd Thirteenth Congressional District North, Carolina
Tim Burchett, Second Congressional District, Tennessee
Michael C. Burgess, Twenty-Sixth Congressional District, of Texas
Bradley Byrne, First Congressional District, Alabama
Ken Calvert Forty-Second Congressional District California
Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, First Congressional District, Georgia
Ben Cline Sixth Congressional District Virginia
Michael Cloud, Twenty-Seventh Congressional, District Texas
Doug Collins Ninth Congressional District Georgia
Mike Conaway, Eleventh Congressional District, Texas
Rick Crawford, First Congressional District, Arkansas
Dan Crenshaw, Second Congressional District, Texas
Scott DesJarlais, Fourth Congressional District, Tennessee
Mario Diaz-Balart, Twenty-Fifth Congressional District, of Florida
Jeff Duncan Third Congressional District South Carolina
Neal P. Dunn, M.D., Second Congressional District, Florida
Tom Emmer Sixth Congressional District Minnesota
Ron Estes Fourth Congressional District Kansas
A. Drew Ferguson, IV, Third Congressional District, Georgia
Chuck Fleischmann, Third Congressional District, Tennessee
Bill Flores Seventeenth Congressional District Texas in
Jeff Fortenberry, First Congressional District, Nebraska
Virginia Foxx, Fifth Congressional District North, Carolina
Russ Fulcher First Congressional District Idaho
Matt Gaetz First Congressional District Florida
Greg Gianforte, At Large Congressional District, Montana
Bob Gibbs Seventh Congressional District Ohio
Louie Gohmert, First Congressional District Texas
Lance Gooden, Fifth Congressional District, Texas.
Sam Graves Sixth Congressional District Missouri
Mark Green Seventh Congressional District Tennessee
H. Morgan Griffith, Ninth Congressional District, Virginia
Michael Guest, Third Congressional District, Mississippi
Jim Hagedorn, First Congressional District, Minnesota
Andy Harris, M.D., First Congressional District, Maryland
Vicky Hartzler, Fourth Congressional District, Missouri
Kevin Hern First Congressional District Oklahoma
Jody Hice Tenth Congressional District Georgia
Clay Higgins Third Congressional District Louisiana
Trey Hollingsworth, Ninth Congressional District, Indiana
Richard Hudson, Eighth Congressional District, North Carolina
Bill Huizenga, Second Congressional District, Michigan
Bill Johnson Sixth Congressional District Ohio
John Joyce Thirteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania
Fred Keller Twelfth Congressional District Pennsylvania
Mike Kelly Sixteenth Congressional District Pennsylvania
Trent Kelly First Congressional District Mississippi
Steve King Fourth Congressional District Iowa
David Kustoff, Eighth Congressional District, Tennessee
Darin LaHood, Eighteenth Congressional District, Illinois
Doug LaMalfa, First Congressional District, California
Doug Lamborn, Fifth Congressional District, Colorado
Robert E. Latta, Fifth Congressional District Ohio
Debbie Lesko, Eighth Congressional District, Arizona
Billy Long Seventh Congressional District Missouri in
Barry Loudermilk, Eleventh Congressional District, Georgia
Blaine Luetkemeyer, Third Congressional District, Missouri
Kenny Marchant, Twenty-Fourth Congressional, District Texas
Roger Marshall, M.D., First Congressional District, Kansas
Tom McClintock, Fourth Congressional District, California
Cathy McMorris, Rodgers Fifth Congressional District, of Washington
Dan Meuser Ninth Congressional District Pennsylvania
Carol D. Miller, Third Congressional District West, Virginia
John Moolenaar, Fourth Congressional District, Michigan
Alex X. Mooney, Second Congressional District West, Virginia
Markwayne Mullin, Second Congressional District, Oklahoma
Gregory Murphy, M.D., Third Congressional District North, Carolina
Dan Newhouse, Fourth Congressional District, Washington
Ralph Norman, Fifth Congressional District South, Carolina
Steven Palazzo, Fourth Congressional District, Mississippi
Greg Pence Sixth Congressional District, Indiana
Scott Perry Tenth Congressional District Pennsylvania
Bill Posey Eighth Congressional District, Florida
Guy Reschenthaler, Fourteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania
Tom Rice, Seventh Congressional District South Carolina
Mike Rogers Third Congressional District, Alabama
John Rose Sixth Congressional District, Tennessee
David Rouzer, Seventh Congressional District, North Carolina
John Rutherford, Fourth Congressional District, Florida
Austin Scott Eighth Congressional District, Georgia
Mike Simpson, Second Congressional District, Idaho
Adrian Smith, Third Congressional District, Nebraska
Jason Smith Eighth Congressional District, Missouri
Ross Spano Fifteenth Congressional District, Florida
Pete Stauber Eighth Congressional District Minnesota in
Elise Stefanik, Twenty-First Congressional District, New York
W. Gregory Steube, Seventeenth Congressional District, New Jersey
Glenn “GT” Thompson, Fifteenth Congressional District, Pennsylvania
Tom Tiffany Seventh Congressional District, Wisconsin
William Timmons, Fourth Congressional District, South Carolina
Jeff Van Drew, Second Congressional District, South Carolina
Ann Wagner Second Congressional District Missouri
Tim Walberg Seventh Congressional District Michigan
Mark Walker, Sixth Congressional District North, Carolina
Jackie Walorski, Second Congressional District, Indiana
Michael Waltz, Sixth Congressional District, Florida
Randy Weber, Fourteenth Congressional District, Texas
Daniel Webster, Eleventh Congressional District, Florida
Brad Wenstrup, Second Congressional District, Ohio
Bruce Westerman, Fourth Congressional District, Arkansas
Roger Williams, Twenty-Fifth Congressional District, of Texas
Joe Wilson Second Congressional District South Carolina
Rob Wittman, First Congressional District, Virginia
Ron Wright Sixth Congressional District, Texas
Ted S. Yoho Third Congressional District, Florida
Lee Zeldin First Congressional District, New York
And soon will come the riots by enemies of America (posing as patriots) who haven’t the slightest notion about what a democracy is. They don’t believe the voters. They don’t believe the judges. They don’t believe the media.
They believe only Donald Trump, he of the 22,000+ lies, and his sycophants.
There is a penalty for their ignorance. Sadly, America’s democracy will have to get through this, somehow.
Gap Psychology describes the common desire to distance oneself from those “below” in any socio-economic ranking, and to come nearer those “above.” The socio-economic distance is referred to as “The Gap.”
Wide Gaps negatively affect poverty, health and longevity, education, housing, law and crime, war, leadership, ownership, bigotry, supply and demand, taxation, GDP, international relations, scientific advancement, the environment, human motivation and well-being, and virtually every other issue in economics.Implementation of Monetary Sovereignty and The Ten Steps To Prosperity can grow the economy and narrow the Gaps:
Let’s review two pieces of news from the last week. First, the American coronavirus pandemic is entering its worst stage yet, with cases and deaths skyrocketing across the country. Last Thursday saw over 3,000 deaths — more than 9/11 or Pearl Harbor — and with ICU beds at or near capacity in most of the country, absent serious change it is possible there will be double or even triple that number per day in a matter of weeks.
We may yet top the deadliest day in American history, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 that killed an estimated 8,000 people, very soon.
President Trump is doing precisely nothing about this.
Second, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is under investigation for bribery and abuse of office, filed a baldly seditious lawsuit calling for the Supreme Court to overturn the election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and hand their electoral votes to Trump.
It was flatly an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, end constitutional government, and install Trump in power.
Before the Supreme Court threw the suit out Friday night, 17 other Republican state attorneys general had joined him, along with 126 members of the Republican caucus in the House, while Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has agreed to represent Trump. And this is just one of dozens of attempts that Republicans at all levels of government have concocted to overturn Trump’s loss.
In short, material conditions in this country have not been this bad since 1932 at least, and the political situation has not been this bad since 1860. The logical endgame of the rapidly-accelerating Republican attempt to destroy democracy while the country burns would be civil war — if it weren’t for the high probability that Democratic leaders would be too cowardly to fight.
But it’s worth thinking about what a party seriously committed to preserving democracy would do when faced with a seditious opposition party — namely, cut them out of power and force them to behave. Democrats could declare all traitors ineligible to serve in national office, convene a Patriot Congress composed solely of people who have not committed insurrection against the American government, and use that power to re-entrench democracy.
The reasoning here is very simple. All members of Congress swear an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, which establishes a republican form of government. The whole point of a republic is that contests for power are conducted through a framework of rules and democratic elections, where all parties agree to respect the result whether they lose or win.
Moreover, the premise of this lawsuit was completely preposterous — arguing in effect that states should not be allowed to set their own election rules if that means more Democrats can vote — and provides no evidence whatsoever for false allegations of tens of thousands of instances of voter fraud.
Indeed, several of the representatives who support the lawsuit were themselves just elected by the very votes they now say are fraudulent. The proposed remedy — having Republican-dominated legislatures in only the four states that gave Biden his margin of victory select Trump electors — would be straight-up election theft.
In other words, this lawsuit, even though it didn’t succeed, is a flagrant attempt to overturn the constitutional system and impose through authoritarian means the rule of a corrupt criminal whose doltish incompetence has gotten hundreds of thousands of Americans killed.
It is a “seditious abuse of the judicial process,” as the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin jointly wrote in their response to Texas trying to steal their elections.
The Constitution stipulates that insurrectionists who violate their oath are not allowed to serve in Congress.
Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, written to exclude Confederate Civil War traitors, says that “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress … who … having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same[.]”
How the Supreme Court ruled, or whether Republicans actually believe their lunatic claims, is irrelevant. It’s still insurrection even if it doesn’t work out.
Democrats would have every right, both under the Constitution and under the principle of popular sovereignty outlined in the Declaration of Independence, to convene a traitor-free Congress (also including similar acts committed by Republican senators like Lindsey Graham, David Perdue, Kelly Loeffler, and others), and pass such laws as would be necessary to preserve the American republic.
That might include a national popular vote to decide the presidency, ironclad voting rights protections, a ban on gerrymandering either national or state district boundaries, full representation for the citizens of D.C. and Puerto Rico, regulations on internet platforms that are inflaming violent political extremism, a clear legal framework for the transfer of power that ends the lame duck period, and so on.
States would be forced to agree to these measures before they can replace their traitorous representatives and senators. If the Supreme Court objects, more pro-democracy justices can be added.
This wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened, either. Immediately after the Civil War, the Radical Republican Congress refused to seat delegations from the former rebellious states until they were satisfied with the progress of Reconstruction. Southern states were forced to ratify the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments — which guaranteed due process and universal male suffrage — before their congressional delegations would be seated. (As a consequence, those delegations included numerous Black representatives, until Reconstruction was overthrown.)
But it’s not hard to see where the current conservative trajectory is headed. While elected Republicans have tried to overturn the election using increasingly blatant methods, top conservative pundits are mulling the idea of secession, as their treasonous fire-eater forebears did 160 years ago.
The lie that Biden stole the election is now official GOP dogma. By the same token, it is not a coincidence that the Republican Party is ignoring the deadly pandemic (if not actively spreading the virus) while they try to overturn the Constitution. They feel they can safely ignore the welfare of the American people, because they are not accountable to them.
“Since Election Night, a lot of people have been confusing voters by spinning Kenyan Birther-type, ‘Chavez rigged the election from the grave’ conspiracy theories, but every American who cares about the rule of law should take comfort that the Supreme Court— including all three of President Trump’s picks—closed the book on the nonsense,” Sasse said in a statement Friday.
A Fox News pollshowed that 42% of respondents said that they felt history would judge Trump as one of the worst presidents; 22% said that he would be judged one of the greatest. Other respondents fell somewhere in between.
Do you realize if MS was voted in, all of a sudden a lot chickens would grow a pair? Trump would be thrown out quickly. MS is all about much, much more than money.
#Monetary Sovereignty - Mitchell 
The Constitution has an answer for seditious members of Congress
By Ryan Cooper
Let’s review two pieces of news from the last week. First, the American coronavirus pandemic is entering its worst stage yet, with cases and deaths skyrocketing across the country. Last Thursday saw over 3,000 deaths — more than 9/11 or Pearl Harbor — and with ICU beds at or near capacity in most of the country, absent serious change it is possible there will be double or even triple that number per day in a matter of weeks.
We may yet top the deadliest day in American history, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 that killed an estimated 8,000 people, very soon.
President Trump is doing precisely nothing about this.
Second, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is under investigation for bribery and abuse of office, filed a baldly seditious lawsuit calling for the Supreme Court to overturn the election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, and hand their electoral votes to Trump.
It was flatly an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, end constitutional government, and install Trump in power.
Before the Supreme Court threw the suit out Friday night, 17 other Republican state attorneys general had joined him, along with 126 members of the Republican caucus in the House, while Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has agreed to represent Trump. And this is just one of dozens of attempts that Republicans at all levels of government have concocted to overturn Trump’s loss.
In short, material conditions in this country have not been this bad since 1932 at least, and the political situation has not been this bad since 1860. The logical endgame of the rapidly-accelerating Republican attempt to destroy democracy while the country burns would be civil war — if it weren’t for the high probability that Democratic leaders would be too cowardly to fight.
But it’s worth thinking about what a party seriously committed to preserving democracy would do when faced with a seditious opposition party — namely, cut them out of power and force them to behave. Democrats could declare all traitors ineligible to serve in national office, convene a Patriot Congress composed solely of people who have not committed insurrection against the American government, and use that power to re-entrench democracy.
The reasoning here is very simple. All members of Congress swear an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, which establishes a republican form of government. The whole point of a republic is that contests for power are conducted through a framework of rules and democratic elections, where all parties agree to respect the result whether they lose or win.
Moreover, the premise of this lawsuit was completely preposterous — arguing in effect that states should not be allowed to set their own election rules if that means more Democrats can vote — and provides no evidence whatsoever for false allegations of tens of thousands of instances of voter fraud.
Indeed, several of the representatives who support the lawsuit were themselves just elected by the very votes they now say are fraudulent. The proposed remedy — having Republican-dominated legislatures in only the four states that gave Biden his margin of victory select Trump electors — would be straight-up election theft.
In other words, this lawsuit, even though it didn’t succeed, is a flagrant attempt to overturn the constitutional system and impose through authoritarian means the rule of a corrupt criminal whose doltish incompetence has gotten hundreds of thousands of Americans killed.
It is a “seditious abuse of the judicial process,” as the states of Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin jointly wrote in their response to Texas trying to steal their elections.
The Constitution stipulates that insurrectionists who violate their oath are not allowed to serve in Congress.
Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, written to exclude Confederate Civil War traitors, says that “No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress … who … having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress … to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same[.]”
How the Supreme Court ruled, or whether Republicans actually believe their lunatic claims, is irrelevant. It’s still insurrection even if it doesn’t work out.
Democrats would have every right, both under the Constitution and under the principle of popular sovereignty outlined in the Declaration of Independence, to convene a traitor-free Congress (also including similar acts committed by Republican senators like Lindsey Graham, David Perdue, Kelly Loeffler, and others), and pass such laws as would be necessary to preserve the American republic.
That might include a national popular vote to decide the presidency, ironclad voting rights protections, a ban on gerrymandering either national or state district boundaries, full representation for the citizens of D.C. and Puerto Rico, regulations on internet platforms that are inflaming violent political extremism, a clear legal framework for the transfer of power that ends the lame duck period, and so on.
States would be forced to agree to these measures before they can replace their traitorous representatives and senators. If the Supreme Court objects, more pro-democracy justices can be added.
This wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened, either. Immediately after the Civil War, the Radical Republican Congress refused to seat delegations from the former rebellious states until they were satisfied with the progress of Reconstruction. Southern states were forced to ratify the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments — which guaranteed due process and universal male suffrage — before their congressional delegations would be seated. (As a consequence, those delegations included numerous Black representatives, until Reconstruction was overthrown.)
But it’s not hard to see where the current conservative trajectory is headed. While elected Republicans have tried to overturn the election using increasingly blatant methods, top conservative pundits are mulling the idea of secession, as their treasonous fire-eater forebears did 160 years ago.
The lie that Biden stole the election is now official GOP dogma. By the same token, it is not a coincidence that the Republican Party is ignoring the deadly pandemic (if not actively spreading the virus) while they try to overturn the Constitution. They feel they can safely ignore the welfare of the American people, because they are not accountable to them.
=======================================================================================================================================================================================================
GOP Senator Sasse Reacts to SCOTUS Decision on ‘Nonsense’ Election Reversal Bid
Mili Godio
“Since Election Night, a lot of people have been confusing voters by spinning Kenyan Birther-type, ‘Chavez rigged the election from the grave’ conspiracy theories, but every American who cares about the rule of law should take comfort that the Supreme Court— including all three of President Trump’s picks—closed the book on the nonsense,” Sasse said in a statement Friday.
======================================================================================================================================================================================================
A Fox News poll showed that 42% of respondents said that they felt history would judge Trump as one of the worst presidents; 22% said that he would be judged one of the greatest. Other respondents fell somewhere in between.
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Do you realize if MS was voted in, all of a sudden a lot chickens would grow a pair? Trump would be thrown out quickly. MS is all about much, much more than money.
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