Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, after it became clear Republican lawmakers were prepared to reject his nomination amid swirling sexual misconduct and drug allegations.
Thursday, November 21, 2024
How Trump abandoned his pledge to ‘drain the swamp’
In the closing weeks of that election, Trump led cheering supporters in chants of that slogan, promising that he would completely disrupt the culture of Washington. He warned of the power of lobbyists and political donors who he said effectively bought off elected officials. He told voters he was uniquely prepared to take on the issue, because he knew personally as a contributor how the system worked.
But during his four years in office, Trump has taken few steps to clean up Washington. He has instead presided over a norm-shattering expansion of private interests in government.
Trump Pick Linda McMahon Is Facing Her Own Sex Scandal
McMahon on Tuesday was tapped to lead the Department of Education as she and her husband, the embattled Vince McMahon, are embroiled in a sex scandal, something of a developing trend in the second Trump administration.
Haley raises concerns about Gabbard, RFK Jr.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5000955-haley-trump-cabinet-criticism/?tbref=hp
“This is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer,” she said, referring to the position of director of national intelligence, which “has to analyze real threats.”
“He’s a liberal Democrat, environmental attorney, trial lawyer who will now be overseeing 25 percent of our federal budget and has no background in health care,” Haley stated.
Rand Paul breaks with Trump on using military for mass deportations: ‘Huge mistake’
“I’m not in favor of sending the Army in uniforms into our cities to collect people,” Paul (R-Ky.) told Newsmax host Rob Schmitt on Tuesday. “I think it’s a terrible image and that’s not what we use our military for, we never have and it’s actually been illegal for over 100 years to bring the Army into our cities.”
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Jeffries: Republicans don’t have a mandate
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4998716-hakeem-jeffries-republican-mandate/?tbref=hp
“President Trump is looking for persons who will shake up the status quo, and we got a mandate in this election cycle to do that,” Johnson told reporters in the Capitol. “The status quo is not working for the American people. And so these are persons who will go in and bring real reform — significant reform — to the agencies that they lead.”
Elon Musk Overseeing a Department for Transparency and Accountability Is the Ultimate Troll | Opinion
In the Musk world view, transparency and accountability are entirely subjective. In March 2022, several weeks before launching his bid to buy Twitter, Musk declared himself a "free speech absolutist." Nine months later, after completing the acquisition, Musk began banning prominent journalists from the platform. Companies that took their advertising dollars elsewhere were not seen as exercising their free will. Musk sued them, describing the companies' decision as a "conspiracy" and a "boycott," and asking a federal court in Texas to prosecute them to the fullest.
To All Trump Voters: How Will You Measure His Success?
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-question-all-trump-voters-will-have-to-answer/
On the Israel side of things, Trump has promised to give Netanyahu a free hand to “get the job done.” What does that mean? Trump has already articulated his vision for what it looks like, stating that Gaza could be “better than Monaco.” What do you Trump voters think success looks like in the Middle East? During his first term, he promised that Jared Kushner would bring peace to the region.
Did that happen? Did moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem accomplish that task? Did the vaunted Abraham Accords? Or are people still slaughtering each other over a spit of land the size of New Jersey?
Do you Trump voters expect a two-state solution? A one-state solution? Trump’s first peace proposal for the region came out in 2020. Here’s how The New York Times described it: “The plan would discard the longtime goal of granting the Palestinians a full-fledged state. President Trump called it ‘a win-win’ for both sides; Palestinian leaders immediately rejected it.”
Trump Pentagon pick flagged in 2021 as potential insider threat for extremist-linked tattoo
As the AP reported in an investigation published last month, more than 480 people with a military background were accused of ideologically driven extremist crimes from 2017 through 2023, including the more than 230 arrested in connection with the January 6 insurrection, according to data collected and analyzed by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, or START, at the University of Maryland.
Though those numbers reflect a small fraction of those who have served honorably in the military — and Lloyd Austin, the current defense secretary, has said that extremism is not widespread in the US military — AP’s investigation found that plots involving people with military backgrounds were more likely to involve mass casualties.
Haredi minister slams: Judiciary holds a double standard
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399488
Speaking at the Knesset plenum, Porush said, "I don't understand what country I'm in, and what year I'm in. As far as I know, I am in the year 2024, in the same country I was in two years ago. In today's country, there is no problem deciding that the family of a person who didn't become a soldier should not be eligible for daycare [discounts]."
Such a person, he stressed, "is not a terrorist - his whole sin is that maybe he hasn't yet enlisted, or that he, as per the rabbis' instructions, is not going to enlist until there is an arrangement ensuring that people will not be able to harm yeshiva students."
Pope Francis Turns on Israel
Pope Francis has written a new book to mark the 2025 jubilee. In an excerpt from “Hope Never Disappoints” that has generated headlines, he proposes a “careful investigation” by international experts into whether Israel’s actions in Gaza meet “the technical definition” of genocide.
But don’t kid yourself. What matters here is not the prospect of some authoritative finding by a respected international body. With this call, the pope has taken a side in the Hamas-Israel war. The headlines all have “pope,” “Israel,” and “genocide” in them—a great victory for anti-Israel forces.
What to know about Dr. Oz, the TV physician Trump tapped to run Medicare
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/11/20/dr-oz-trump-cms-credentials-controversy/
In 2014, a study in the British Medical Journal found that more than half the recommendations made on “The Dr. Oz Show” were either not backed up by, or contradicted, scientific research.
Trump’s turn to bask in Musk’s reflected glory
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/20/politics/trump-musk-relationship-analysis/index.html
Conflicts of interest weren’t exactly taken seriously in the first Trump administration. But Musk’s ubiquity in Trump 2.0 as the standout ally in an emerging inner circle of billionaires, millionaires and Fox News anchors means they have officially become a joke.
Sell the Steal: How Michael Flynn built a business and MAGA following out of election denialism
Flynn – a retired Army lieutenant general who once led the Defense Intelligence Agency, and someone Trump has indicated he would include in a second administration – has been one of the biggest promoters of the same baseless voter fraud allegations that have spawned criminal investigations, a congressional inquiry and, in the case of Dominion, a $787 million defamation settlement from Fox News.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)