Five myths about Robert E. Lee

 https://reevesjw.medium.com/five-myths-about-robert-e-lee-d9d6fa331aa

The belief that the Confederate leaders didn’t really commit treason is widely held in America today. In 2017, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said of Lee, “He was a man that gave up his country to fight for his state, which 150 years ago was more important than country. It was always loyalty to state first back in those days.” Lee himself made a similar argument in 1866, when he said, “Virginia, in withdrawing herself from the United States, carried me along as a citizen of Virginia, and her laws and her acts were binding on me.”

Regardless, of Lee’s and Kelly’s view of the matter, it was always the position of the United States Government that Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and the other Confederate leaders had committed treason, as defined in Article III of the Constitution. On June 7, 1865, Robert E. Lee was indicted for treason by a federal grand jury in Norfolk, Virginia. He faced death by hanging if convicted.

A Current Officer’s Thoughts on Robert E. Lee

 https://angrystaffofficer.com/2017/09/01/guest-post-a-current-officers-thoughts-on-robert-e-lee/

Lee’s Army killed or wounded 1,100 Union Soldiers during the 7 Days Battle, Lee’s first as the Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. From there, the Union suffered over 1,600 casualties at Second Manassas, 11,100 (2,100 killed) at Antietam, 12,600 casualties at Fredericksburg, 17,000 casualties at Chancellorsville, 23,049 (3,155 killed) at Gettysburg, and the list goes on through the 1864 campaigns against General Ulysses S. Grant, the siege of Petersburg (4,200 losses estimated), and Lee’s final surrender at Appomattox. (See: McPherson, James and James Hogue, Ordeal by Fire: The Civil War and Reconstruction.)

So should Lee’s statue be removed? The simple removal of a statue does not equate to destroying our common American history. It simply sends the message that Americans will not tolerate the honoring of such an intolerant man who was responsible for the deaths of so many Americans. A statue is not “history” in and of itself, but simply a reflection of how we Americans remember our past. Those who see this as a removal of history may be surprised to discover books, perhaps a better means of learning history than a statue.

The Meaning of Oaths and a Forgotten Man

 https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a24208/what-an-oath-means/

"I think that Robert E. Lee, as a traitor and betrayer of his solemn oath before God and the Constitution, was a much greater terrorist than Osama Bin Ladin… after all, Lee killed many more Americans than Bin Ladin, and almost destroyed the United States. What do you think?"

The oath I, and all modern officers swear, runs this way: "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

DNA analysis solves mystery of bodies found at bottom of medieval well

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/30/europe/medieval-well-mystery-bodies-scn/index.html

The identity of the remains of the six adults and 11 children and why they ended up in the medieval well had long vexed archaeologists. Unlike other mass burials where skeletons are uniformly arranged, the bodies were oddly positioned and mixed -- likely caused by being thrown head first shortly after their deaths.

To understand more about how these people died, scientists were recently able to extract detailed genetic material preserved in the bones thanks to recent advances in ancient DNA sequencing. The genomes of six of the individuals showed that four of them were related -- including three sisters, the youngest of whom was five to 10 years old. Further analysis of the genetic material suggested that all six were "almost certainly" Ashkenazi Jews.

THE MYTH OF THE KINDLY GENERAL LEE

 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/06/the-myth-of-the-kindly-general-lee/529038/

The myth of Lee goes something like this: He was a brilliant strategist and devoted Christian man who abhorred slavery and labored tirelessly after the war to bring the country back together.

Lee was a slave owner—his own views on slavery were explicated in an 1856 letter that is often misquoted to give the impression that Lee was some kind of abolitionist. In the letter, he describes slavery as “a moral & political evil,” but goes on to explain that:

The argument here is that slavery is bad for white people, good for black people, and most important, better than abolitionism; emancipation must wait for divine intervention. That black people might not want to be slaves does not enter into the equation; their opinion on the subject of their own bondage is not even an afterthought to Lee.

Lee’s cruelty as a slave master was not confined to physical punishment. In Reading the Man, the historian Elizabeth Brown Pryor’s portrait of Lee through his writings, Pryor writes that “Lee ruptured the Washington and Custis tradition of respecting slave families” by hiring them off to other plantations, and that “by 1860 he had broken up every family but one on the estate, some of whom had been together since Mount Vernon days.” The separation of slave families was one of the most unfathomably devastating aspects of slavery, and Pryor wrote that Lee’s slaves regarded him as “the worst man I ever see.”

A Pennsylvania Lawmaker and the Resurgence of Christian Nationalism

 https://www.newyorker.com/news/on-religion/a-pennsylvania-lawmaker-and-the-resurgence-of-christian-nationalism

Doug Mastriano, a Republican state senator from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and parts of neighboring counties, was a little-known figure in state politics before the coronavirus pandemic. But, in the past year, he has led rallies against mask mandates and other public-health protocols, which he has characterized as “the governor’s autocratic control over our lives.” He has become a leader of the Stop the Steal campaign, and claims that he spoke to Donald Trump at least fifteen times between the 2020 election and the insurrection at the Capitol, on January 6th. He urged his followers to attend the rally at the Capitol that led to the riots, saying, “I’m really praying that God will pour His Spirit upon Washington, D.C., like we’ve never seen before.” Throughout this time, he has cast the fight against both lockdowns and Trump’s electoral loss as a religious battle against the forces of evil. He has come to embody a set of beliefs characterized as Christian nationalism, which center on the idea that God intended America to be a Christian nation, and which, when mingled with conspiracy theory and white nationalism, helped to fuel the insurrection. “Violence has always been a part of Christian nationalism,” Andrew Whitehead, a sociologist and co-author of “Taking America Back for God,” told me. “It’s just that the nature of the enemy has changed.”

"Robert E. Lee and Me

Donald Trump’s latest excuse for losing doesn’t quite add up

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/10/25/donald-trumps-latest-excuse-for-losing-doesnt-quite-add-up/

At a rally Monday, Donald Trump added a new piece to the "rigged election" puzzle. He said the polls are rigged against him — which he's said before. Then he added another layer: The rigged polls were themselves a form of voter suppression.

In Facebook video, Doug Mastriano thanked pro-Confederate armed men for supposedly defending Gen. Lee statue

 https://www.mediamatters.org/diversity-discrimination/facebook-video-doug-mastriano-thanked-pro-confederate-armed-men-supposedly

The Gettysburg incident is another example of how Mastriano, who is a right-wing commentator and Republican gubernatorial nominee, has been connected to social media-fueled extremism. He has promoted QAnon; he has a “special relationship” with an online “prophet” who pushes violence-filled conspiracy theories; he has shared anti-Muslim content; he has posted an image claiming Roe v. Wade is “so much” worse than the Holocaust; and he has paid social media platform Gab $5,000 for “consulting” work. He also participated in the January 6 insurrection, which was fueled by social media and right-wing media falsehoods. 

Democrat Josh Shapiro receives additional support from Republicans in Pennsylvania gubernatorial race

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/democrat-josh-shapiro-receives-additional-support-republicans-pennsylvania-gubernatorial-race

"Although I am a long-standing Republican, I am deeply troubled by Doug Mastriano’s embrace of dangerous extremism," Chertoff added. "Josh Shapiro, on the other hand, is a staunch defender of our democratic institutions and will lead Pennsylvania with honor and integrity. I am proud to support his campaign for Governor."

What Is With These GOP Candidates Fawning Over the Confederacy and Saying Other Horrible Things?

 https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/08/republican-candidates-doug-mastriano-blake-masters-gop-confederacy.html

On Monday, Media Matters reported that in 2020, Mastriano live-streamed himself going to the site of the Gettysburg battle and saluting a group of Confederate flag-waving armed members of the public, who were ostensibly there to prevent an Antifa flag burning. (This was, according to the Washington Post, a social media hoax.) Maybe Mastriano just didn’t see the giant Confederate flag waving from the back of the truck when he went up to the group and told them: “Friends, thanks for being here. I’m Sen. Mastriano. … It’s good to see you guys.” Then again, that same day he posted a similar salutation to a man wearing a half-American flag, half-Confederate flag on his back near Robert E. Lee’s statue at Gettysburg, telling him: “You’re looking good there, man. I can’t think of a better cape.”

Pennsylvania candidate Mastriano posed in Confederate uniform at Army War College - a real Trumpian American

 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/exclusive-pennsylvania-candidate-mastriano-posed-confederate-uniform-army-war-2022-08-26/

PHILADELPHIA, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Three years before retiring from the U.S. Army in 2017, Donald Trump-backed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano posed in Confederate uniform for a faculty photo at the Army War College, according to a copy of the photo obtained by Reuters.

GOP Leaders Endorse Democrat for Pennsylvania Gov. After Republican Candidate Seen Wearing Confederate Uniform

 https://people.com/politics/republican-leaders-endorse-democrat-pennsylvania-governor-after-gop-nominee-scandal/

Several Republicans in Pennsylvania are throwing their support behind a Democratic candidate for governor after photos surfaced of far-right GOP nominee Doug Mastriano wearing a Confederate military uniform.

At least 16 Republican leaders have announced their endorsement for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro, days after Reuters reported that Mastriano posed for a photo wearing a Confederate uniform in 2014, while he was an instructor at the US Army War College.

Trump team likely sought to conceal classified docs at Mar-a-Lago, DOJ tells judge

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/30/trump-justice-department-filing-warrant-00054319

 

Prosecutors obtained a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate after receiving evidence that there was “likely” an effort to conceal classified documents there in defiance of a grand jury subpoena, a new Justice Department court filing released Tuesday night said.

Trump Slams FBI in Truth Social Posts After Special Agent Leaves Bureau - more fake news from Trump

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-slams-fbi-truth-social-posts-after-special-agent-leaves-bureau-1738031

Fox News said that, contrary to Trump's assertion, Thibault was not involved in this month's FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago "at any level."

The network also reported he retired, and was not fired as the former president has said.

Trump FBI raid: DOJ files response on possible 'special master' appointment for Mar-a-Lago docs

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-fbi-raid-doj-files-response-possible-special-master-appointment-mar-a-lago-docs

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Tuesday filed its response opposing the appointment of a "special master" to review documents seized from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, saying classified documents were likely "concealed" at the residence in violation of a grand jury subpoena.

Before prosecutors obtained a search warrant, Trump's lawyers claimed that all of the records from the White House that remained at Mar-a-Lago were in a secure storage room on the premises.

But the filing said documents were likely "concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation."

The warrant was obtained after "the government developed evidence that a search limited to the Storage Room would not have uncovered all the classified documents at the Premises."

Commission calls for stripping Robert E. Lee of honors at West Point

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/29/commission-calls-for-stripping-robert-e-lee-of-honors-at-west-point-00054100

The congressional commission reviewing Pentagon property honoring the Confederacy is recommending renaming facilities and removing depictions dedicated to Robert E. Lee and other leaders at West Point and the U.S. Naval Academy.

Yad Moshe Hebrew just reprinted

 Just received the update that Yad Moshe Hebrew printing finished]

That should mean it will be back in stock in America in a week or two

English version still available from Amazon

Contact Shanky's for copies in Israel 

Berman and Levitz carry it in New York

Yeshiva University Requests Stay on Order to Recognize LGBTQ Club from Supreme Court

 https://yucommentator.org/2022/08/yeshiva-university-requests-stay-on-pride-alliance-case-from-united-states-supreme-court/

Yeshiva University filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court Monday, asking the court to grant a stay on an earlier court’s decision that ordered YU to immediately recognize the Pride Alliance as an officially sanctioned club until its appeal to the New York State Appellate Division is decided. 

Coming a week after the lower court rejected YU’s appeal for a stay, YU is presenting its argument to the Supreme Court on grounds of its First Amendment rights to religious freedom.

Online creators are de facto therapists for millions. It’s complicated.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/08/29/mental-health-tiktok-instagram/

Instagram in June launched a pilot called the Well-being Creator Collective, which it says provides funding and education to about 50 U.S. creators to help them produce “responsible” content on emotional well-being and self-image. The program is guided by a committee of outside experts, the company says.

How The Cruelty Is The Point Of Trump's Presidency

Joe: If Any Official Took This Many Documents, They Would Be In Jail

Inside Israel's Closed Off Ultra-Orthodox Communities | Foreign Correspondent

'It's a spy's dream': Andrew McCabe on security threats at Mar-a-Lago

Republicans who blast FBI's Trump search are prepping to snag Joe in a Hunter Biden probe

 Republicans who blast FBI's Trump search are prepping to snag Joe in a Hunter Biden probe

Conversations Tuesday with more than a half-dozen House Republicans revealed deep concern about constituents panicked and infuriated by the FBI’s daylong Mar-a-Lago search.

“The base has lost its mind. If Trump decides to call them to arms, then I think he could get another Jan. 6,” one senior House Republican said in an interview, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Graham predicts ‘riots in the streets’ if Trump prosecuted over classified docs

 https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/3619050-graham-predicts-riots-in-the-streets-if-trump-prosecuted-over-classified-docs/

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Sunday warned of “riots in the streets” if former President Trump is prosecuted for his handling of classified materials found when the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home. 

“If there’s a prosecution of Donald Trump for mishandling classified information, after the Clinton debacle… there’ll be riots in the streets,” Graham told former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy, who now hosts Fox News’ “Sunday Night in America.”

Message to Trump: This is why you lost the election

 https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/557723-message-to-trump-this-is-why-you-lost-the-election/

A number of Republicans with whom I’ve spoken believe that Trump’s bombastic, bullying, unpresidential antics probably cost him as much as 10 percent of the vote. Let’s give Trump the benefit of the doubt and say it was only 1 percent. That still equals about 1.5 million votes. And, again, he lost Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona by a total of just more than 42,000 votes.

Nobody likes a bully, and few people like an insult comic as a president. It’s quite logical to imagine that Trump’s churlish, unpresidential demeanor caused at least 1 percent of the electorate to flip its votes. 

2020 Election Analysis: How Donald Trump Lost America

 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-11-07/2020-election-analysis-how-donald-trump-lost-america

Trump never had the support of most Americans. He lost the popular vote in 2016. His approval rating never topped 50%. On his signature issues of trade and immigration, public opinion moved firmly against him. Although he inspired undying passion among a vocal minority of fierce supporters, the election showed that feelings about Trump ran deepest in those who despised him.

Therein lies the GOP’s existential dilemma. To move ahead, Republicans leaders will ultimately have to decide whether to remain true to Trump and his supporters, or try to do what voters just did -- send him packing.

Trump lost, and he lost for so many reasons

 https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2021/07/trump-lost-and-he-lost-for-so-many-reasons-opinion.html

In the end, a majority of Americans voted against Donald Trump because they were sick of this toxic man and his dysfunctional presidency.

COVID-19 is not a hoax to eliminate Trump

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-covid-hoax-eliminate-trump-idUSKBN27S31E 

A video falsely claiming that COVID-19 was planned to remove U.S. President Donald Trump from office has been circulating online.

False. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic was not planned to overthrow Trump. Some experts agree the virus originated in nature, not in a laboratory, and there is no evidence of mass electoral fraud in the US election.

21 House Republicans Wave the Pink and Blue Flag

 https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/11/21-house-republicans-wave-the-pink-and-blue-flag/

The Fairness For All Act (FFAA), an all-Republican bill that would make SOGI a federally protected class in return for certain “right to discriminate” carve-outs for dissenting religious institutions, was originally introduced in 2019 by Representative Chris Stewart of Utah. Stewart, whose district went for Donald Trump by 16 points in 2020 — up two from 14 points in 2016 — reintroduced the bill at the outset of the 2021 congressional session with the backing of such well-known Republicans as Elise Stefanik, Nancy Mace, and Burgess Owens. This is the full list of the FFAA’s co-sponsors:

Republicans Go Radio Silent After Affidavit Release

 https://www.politicususa.com/2022/08/27/republicans-silent-affidavit.html

But even more to the point, Trump is now the guy who loses elections for Republicans. Trump helps Republican candidates win primaries, but in any purple state or district, Trump is now an anchor. Every minute that the Republicans spend defending Trump and his files is a minute that they’re not spending talking about inflation or Biden.

Implications Of Mar-a-Lago Search Warrant Affidavit Quiet Trump Cheering Section

Watch The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell Highlights: Aug. 26

Far-Right Trump Supporters Call For Mar-a-Lago Tapes After Redacted Affidavit Released

'Terrifying' That Imposter, Secret Files Both at Mar-a-Lago: Ex-CIA Agent

 https://www.newsweek.com/stephen-l-hall-cia-agent-mar-largo-classified-secret-files-comment-1737503

Numerous commentators have highlighted the apparent lack of security at Mar-a-Lago following the release of a heavily redacted affidavit describing a swath of classified material that was improperly secured within the Trump estate. Some of those documents were designated "NOFORN," meaning they were explicitly not to be accessed by any foreign nationals.

Five takeaways from the Mar-a-Lago search affidavit

 https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3617301-five-takeaways-from-the-mar-a-lago-search-affidavit/

Despite numerous redactions necessary to protect “a broad range of civilian witnesses,” according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the document does shed some light on the search.

In particular, it indicates Trump had a much larger collection of classified documents than previously known, including some of the most sensitive secrets careful storage of records is designed to protect.

Trump’s narrative takes big hit with affidavit’s release

 https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3617635-the-memo-trumps-narrative-takes-big-hit-with-affidavits-release/

Trump has pushed the narrative that he and his lawyers were cooperating with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) inquiries about documents from his time in the White House. This, he claims, means that the Aug. 8 raid on his Florida estate was gratuitous.

But the affidavit that persuaded a judge to grant the search warrant tells a different story.

Even in heavily redacted form, the affidavit points out that there was a prolonged process lasting around seven months in 2021 before Trump’s team coughed up any documents at all.

Trump affidavit drops clues on scale of FBI investigation

 Trump affidavit drops clues on scale of FBI investigation

This is a serious criminal investigation. It's not just about who gets to keep some presidential mementoes and souvenirs, it concerns the security of closely guarded US government secrets - ones involving human intelligence gathering, foreign surveillance and perhaps even court-authorised surveillance of US citizens.

Palestinian brutality funded by Britain

 https://www.thejc.com/news/world/palestinian-brutality-funded-by-britain-4wfpYD7gPZcu3RdmjubQSf

Palestinian thugs who beat a leading critic of Mahmoud Abbas’s regime to death were members of a security force trained by the British Army at taxpayer’s expense, a JC investigation has revealed.

Dr. Oz shifts strategy as campaign ails

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/26/dr-oz-campaign-fetterman-00053810

On Tuesday, the campaign took it to another level, with spokesperson Rachel Tripp saying, “If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke.”

Bill Barr says he's 'pretty tired of' the Right's 'constant pandering to outrage' while discussing FBI raid

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/bill-barr-pretty-tired-rights-constant-pandering-outrage-while-discussing-fbi-raid

"Well, what's the alternative?" Barr shot back. "You know, something I'm pretty tired of from- from the Right is the constant pandering to outrage and people's frustrations. And picking and picking and picking at that sore without trying to channel those feelings in a constructive direction. In my opinion, Ronald Reagan was a great populist not because he followed, you know, the frustrated instincts and the outrage of the people that many people who supported him but because he channeled it and was constructive about it." 

Alert: '2020 Loser' Donald Trump Pushing Authoritarians In 2022 Races

Tapper: Republicans take credit for bills they opposed

‘Mr. Trump Went Through The Boxes Himself’

Bill Barr Lied About Considering Charging Trump With Obstruction Of Mueller, Court Says

Andrew Weissman: New Unredacted Memo From Trump DOJ Officials Is ‘A Doozy’

Unredacted Barr memo details DOJ rationale for not charging Trump

 https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/3614681-unredacted-barr-memo-details-doj-rationale-for-not-charging-trump/

CREW President Noah Bookbinder called the memo “a breathtakingly generous view of the law and facts for Donald Trump.”

“It twists the facts and the law to benefit Trump and does not comport with a serious reading of the law of obstruction of justice or the facts as found by Special Counsel Mueller,” Bookbinder wrote on Twitter.

“The memo is premised in large part on the argument that there was no underlying criminal conduct and that it’s hard to charge obstruction without an underlying crime. Of course that’s not what Mueller actually found. … Mueller found there was not sufficient evidence to charge Trump and others with conspiring with Russia. He didn’t find no crime, just not enough evidence for charges,” he added.

House oversight subcommittee report says Trump officials had pressure campaign on hydroxychloroquine, other FDA issues

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/24/health/hydroxychloroquine-trump-fda-pressure-committee-report/index.html

Trump administration officials had a "crusade against (the US Food and Drug Administration that) resulted in damaging consequences for the coronavirus response," the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, led by Democrats, said in a report released Wednesday.

The report revealed that Navarro, who is not a medical doctor, and Steven Hatfill, an adjunct assistant professor at George Washington University whom Navarro brought to the White House in January 2020 as a volunteer on Covid-19 research, were fighting with FDA officials including Hahn on the effects and effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine -- which has since been found to not work against Covid-19 and potentially cause heart problems and even a greater risk of death -- and other drugs throughout the height of the pandemic.

Jared Kushner: If Trump acted like a 'normal person' he probably wouldn't have been president

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/jared-kushner-trump-acted-normal-person-probably-president

JARED KUSHNER: I think that people are always speculating on what Trump is like, and I always say the truth is hiding in plain sight. But what I wanted people to say, and another criticism people give of him is they'll say: OK, I love his policies, but I wish he would act like a normal person. I always say if he acted like a normal person, he probably, A, wouldn't have been president. And I think that he probably wouldn't have been as successful as a president if he was.

JARED KUSHNER: DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU READ MY FATHER-IN-LAW HAD MORE THAN 300 CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS AT MAR-A-LAGO

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/08/jared-kushner-donald-trump-classified-documents

 Do you a) tell anyone asking that this is an ongoing investigation and we should allow the FBI and Justice Department the space to do their jobs; b) urge your father-in-law’s supporters to cease any and all attacks on law enforcement immediately; or c) claim that the government and the media are a bunch of snakes whose lies will soon be revealed? If you’re Jared Kushner, you apparently gotta go with C.

Jared Kushner Squirms After ‘Fox & Friends’ Host Asks One Tough Question

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/jared-kushner-squirms-after-fox-and-friends-host-steve-doocy-asks-one-tough-question

Kushner seemed taken aback by Doocy’s simple, legitimate question: “Why would the former president have that many classified things at Mar-a-Lago?”

“So I’m not familiar with what exactly the contents were,” Kushner replied, distancing himself from his father-in-law before turning around to defend him. Then, continuing to dodge Doocy’s question, he embarked on an extended tangent about the “secret backchannel” he denies trying to set up with Russia during the transition period following the 2016 election and acknowledged that this is not the first time his family has been accused of committing “treason.”

COVID-19 Vaccination Doesn’t Increase Miscarriage Risk, Contrary to Naomi Wolf’s Spurious Stat

https://www.factcheck.org/2022/08/scicheck-covid-19-vaccination-doesnt-increase-miscarriage-risk-contrary-to-naomi-wolfs-spurious-stat/ 

And yet, social media has been abuzz with the false claim that during Pfizer’s main clinical trial, 44% of the pregnant women who were vaccinated miscarried.

“Massacre: Nearly Half of Pregnant Women in Pfizer Trial Miscarried,” reads an incorrect headline from an Aug. 16 story from the conservative website the Florida Standard. A screenshot of the article was shared on Instagram and received more than 12,000 likes in two days.

False accusations of election fraud prompt some election workers across the US to quit ahead of Election Day

 https://abcnews.go.com/US/us-false-accusations-election-fraud-prompt-election-workers/story?id=88739763

Since the 2020 election, states across the country have seen a slow exodus of election officials prompted by an unprecedented level of misinformation, harassment and threats, according to election experts and officials.

And now, with only three months until Election Day, election offices in at least nine states including Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and New Jersey have seen a new wave of departures and early retirements, ABC News has learned.

Archives says documents were not returned even though White House lawyer said Trump should hand them over

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/24/politics/national-archives-email-cipollone-trump-documents/index.html

Trump-era records were not returned to the government during the waning days of Donald Trump's presidency despite a determination by one of his lawyers that they should be, an attorney at the National Archives said in an email reviewed by The Washington Post.

"It is also our understanding that roughly two dozen boxes of original presidential records were kept in the Residence of the White House over the course of President Trump's last year in office and have not been transferred to NARA, despite a determination by Pat Cipollone in the final days of the administration that they need to be," Gary Stern, the National Archives and Records Administration's chief counsel, wrote in an email to members of Trump's legal team in May 2021, according to the Post.

GOP's Midterm 'Red Wave' Risks Becoming Ripple, Post-Dobbs Voting Suggests

 https://www.newsweek.com/gop-midterm-red-wave-post-dobbs-voting-suggests-1736658

But the bigger story, the data suggests, is increasingly anemic turnout among the rural Republican base in a number of key races around the country, signaling potential a potential enthusiasm gap among Republicans entering the final months of the midterm elections.

Justice Department releases unredacted Barr memo detailing decision not to charge Trump with obstructing Russia probe

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/24/politics/barr-mueller-report/index.html

Mueller concluded that there were several incidents with strong evidence of obstruction by Trump. But Barr's deputies argued that Trump mostly "attempted to modify the process under with the Special Counsel investigation progressed," but didn't try to "intentionally alter evidence," which would be more serious and could be criminal.

Russia's Ex-Chief of Human Rights Says Ukraine War Provides World Security

 https://www.newsweek.com/russia-human-rights-ukraine-war-konstantin-dolgov-state-tv-world-security-1736381

"Security guarantees for the Ukrainians, the population of Ukraine, our soldiers are creating these security guarantees as well as our officers and the militia in Donbas. " Dolgov said, according to the video's English subtitles.

"These are the security guarantees for the people of Ukraine, I am absolutely certain of everything I just said.

"These are the security guarantees from Nazism, from provocateurs, big and small, the security guarantees from atomic radiation."

Far-Right Activist Laura Loomer Refuses to Concede, Sobs About Voter Fraud

 https://www.newsweek.com/far-right-activist-laura-loomer-refuses-concede-sobs-about-voter-fraud-1736325

Far-right activist and congressional candidate Laura Loomer broke into tears as she claimed without evidence that she was illegally robbed of a Republican primary victory on Tuesday.

Loomer, a self-described "proud Islamophobe" and white nationalist who backed former President Donald Trump's false claims of a "stolen" 2020 presidential election, had been endorsed by prominent far-right figures such as conservative commentator Michelle Malkin and received an early endorsement from Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.In addition to being a political candidate, Loomer is a contributor to Alex Jones' far-right conspiracy media platform Infowars. She has previously pushed conspiracy theories that falsely claim mass shootings, including the 2018 shooting at Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, were faked.

‘Donald kept our secret’: Mar-a-Lago stay saved Giuliani from drink and depression, book says

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/24/donald-trump-secret-mar-a-lago-stay-rudy-giuliani-drink-depression-wife-andrew-kirtzman-book

Giuliani has repeatedly denied having a drinking problem. But reports of his drinking while fulfilling his late-career role as Trump’s personal attorney are legion, whether regarding his behavior around reporters or in his presence at the White House on election night in 2020, when he exhorted Trump to declare victory before all results were counted.

Meet the hi-tech man who manages to combine work with his Orthodox lifestyle

https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/tech-and-start-ups/article-715385

“I think that workplaces that try to push one agenda on the opposite side are making a mistake. At the very beginning of my career I encountered such a place, and I only stayed there for two months. The secret to success is that everyone in the company understands that we share a common goal – that the business will succeed, and that’s what matters.” (Maariv)

Team Trump leaks National Archives letter, hurts its own cause

 https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/team-trump-leaks-national-archives-letter-hurts-cause-rcna44432

I have no idea why someone from Team Trump would voluntarily show this to the public. It not only bolsters damaging reporting about the Mar-a-Lago scandal, it also makes the former president look worse, not better.

Indeed, the NARA letter confirms that Trump took highly classified national security materials to his glorified country club. It confirms that the Republican’s haul was extensive and wasn’t limited to a handful of documents. It confirms that the National Archives was amazingly accommodating, accepting multiple delays in the hopes that the former president would eventually cooperate and return the secrets he wasn’t supposed to have.

Wait, Why the Hell Did Trump’s Own Buddy Release the ‘Extraordinarily Damning’ National Archivist Letter?

;https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-the-hell-did-trumps-buddy-john-solomon-release-extraordinarily-damning-letter

National security lawyer Bradley Moss said it was ironic that “Trump’s media guy shows how NARA was bending over backwards for Trump before it finally gave the FBI access to the classified records,” wondering if Solomon realizes “how bad that letter is for” the ex-president.

Trump defiance of DOJ on classified docs comes into sharper focus

 https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3612830-trump-defiance-of-doj-on-classified-docs-comes-into-sharper-focus/

Meanwhile, the letter from Archives came into the public domain after John Solomon, one of Trump’s representatives to the National Archives and a former columnist with The Hill, released it on his conservative news site, Just The News. Archives confirmed its authenticity Tuesday afternoon.

Observers have questioned the decision to publish a letter that shows not only the breadth of classified information held by Trump, but also publicizes the extent the Trump team sought to block the FBI’s work.

“Every single piece of evidence that shows that DOJ tried literally everything they could to get these records back short of the search warrant punctures another hole in the theory that they were just on a witch hunt. They went above and beyond to accommodate an unreasonable individual.”

The Fauci Boogeyman

 https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/02/fauci-gain-of-function-wuhan.html

At the Senate hearing, Fauci responded to Paul with what the NIH has maintained is a technically correct answer: that the institute never funded gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

But there remained one big sticking point. The experiment that was indirectly funded could actually have been classified as gain-of-function, according to several experts. That doesn’t imply that the research was bad or that EcoHealth experiments were necessarily too risky. It was a disagreement about terminology. But the flames of a conspiracy theory were fanned.

Right-wing commentators seized on the technical argument over a scientific definition to reach an absurd conclusion: that the NIH had directly funded the source of the pandemic, and that Fauci lied to the American public. Or as Tucker Carlson so incorrectly and ridiculously put it on Fox News in May: “The guy in charge of America’s response to COVID turns out to be the guy who funded the creation of COVID.”

Again, I must repeat: This is untrue.

Why they hate him: Dr. Fauci triggers the right because he reveals their deepest insecurities

 https://www.salon.com/2021/12/22/why-they-hate-him-dr-fauci-triggers-the-right-because-he-reveals-their-deepest-insecurities/

Dr. Fauci has been the favorite target of "who does he think he is"-style rants by pretty much every right-wing pundit and politician out there for over a year now. He's easily the most reliable hate object they've had since Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Those three are some readers — and that reliably triggers the bullying response in the Jesse Watters types. Despite all of their chest-thumping bravado, this knee-jerk hostility to those perceived as intellectually curious evinces a deep insecurity driving right-wingers.

Trump's Surgeon General Calls Hateful Reaction to Fauci Retirement 'Scary'

 https://www.newsweek.com/anthony-fauci-stepping-down-niaid-ted-cruz-jerome-adams-1736103

Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general from 2017 to 2021, tweeted on Monday: "Scary to see so many just truly hateful comments about Dr. Fauci in the wake of news of his retirement.

"Scary because what does the world look like when hard working, nation loving, and well-intended people say, 'nope—not gonna do public service... not worth the vitriol!'?"

Against this background, Fauci has been a Republican target throughout the pandemic. On the news of Fauci's upcoming departure, Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz tweeted: "Never in our nation's history has one arrogant bureaucrat destroyed more people's lives." He did not reference any examples.

Fox News Says Jesse Watters’ Words Were ‘Twisted Completely Out of Context’ After Dr. Fauci Calls For His Firing

 https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/dr-fauci-calls-on-fox-to-fire-jesse-watters-network-says-hosts-words-have-been-twisted-completely-out-of-context/496448/

“Now you go in for the kill shot,” Watters said, suggesting how members in the audience could confront Dr. Fauci and film the encounter. “The kill shot? With an ambush? Deadly. Because he doesn’t see it coming. This is when you say: Dr. Fauci, you funded risky research at a sloppy Chinese lab. The same lab that sprung this pandemic on the world. You know why people don’t trust you, don’t you?”

Lara Logan, who compared Fauci to Mengele, says Fox News pushed her out

 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/apr/09/lara-logan-fox-news-mengele-fauci-remark

The former CBS reporter Lara Logan, who compared Dr Anthony Fauci to the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, has claimed she was “pushed out” at Fox News because the conservative network does not want “independent thinkers”.

The Problematic Position of Rage and Anger in Freud's Thoughts on Aggressivity

  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301717213_The_Problematic_Position_of_Rage_and_Anger_in_Freud%27s_Thoughts_on_Aggressivityhttps://www.researchgate.net/publication/301717213_The_Problematic_Position_of_Rage_and_Anger_in_Freud%27s_Thoughts_on_Aggressivity

Freud basically interprets rage and anger as expressions of hate towards the father figure - a hate he defines in terms of the sadistic component of the libido

Social pressure to sin?

 Shabbos (118b) R. Jose also said: I have never disregarded the words of my neighbor's. I know of myself that I am not a priest, yet if my neighbors were to tell me to ascend the dais, I would ascend it. R. Jose also said: I have never in my life said anything from which I retracted.

Darchei Moshe (Orach Chaim 128:1)

כתבו התוס' פרק כל כתבי (שבת קיח:) לא ידעתי מה איסור יש בזר העולה לדוכן אם לא משום ברכה לבטלה שלכהנים אמרה תורה לברך עכ"ל. ומצאתי כתוב ע"ז ולפ"ז יכול הישראל לעלות עם הכהנים והם יברכו לרוב עם הדרת מלך מה טוב אכן לא נהגו באולי אשר אף בלא כהנים יעלו עכ"ל ועל דברי התוס' קשה לי דהא איתא בהדיא בכתובות פרק שני (כד:) דזר הנושא את כפיו עובר בעשה ואפשר דר"י לא קאמר אלא כשעולה עם כהנים אחרים אכל לבד הוא עובר בעשה וצ"ע:

'Threats to Democracy' Overtake 'Cost of Living' as Voters' Top Issue: Poll

 https://www.newsweek.com/threats-democracy-overtake-cost-living-voters-top-issue-poll-1735490

For the first time in recent months, registered voters in the U.S. say that the top issue on their minds is the threat facing democracy, according to a poll from NBC released Sunday. Previous NBC polls in March and May showed that the top issue on the minds of those surveyed was cost of living.

Vote for Lawler?!

BS"D

Aug. 23, '22
Rabbosai, and all,

ONE flyer (attached), with the endorsement of the pro-To'aiva Log 

Cabin Republicans for [incumbent Assemblyman] Mike Lawler 

for Congress - with a little explanation in English/ Yiddish -

 IF PROPERLY distributed in time - could potentially turn the 

election against Lawler - 

especially in the Conservative Party Primary - 

if our experience years ago with our campaign against

 (subsequently disgraced) Assemblyman Ryan Scott Karben is any indicator.

Lawler had the temerity to post it himself -

 in the midst of a republican PRIMARY(!) - 

itself a testimony to the decrepit state of republican affairs:

https://www.lawlerforcongress.com/endorsements

Of course, Lawler earned his Log Cabin
endorsement, 

via his hard work for their cause:

http://aschaper1.blogspot.com/2022/08/election-2022-ny-17-reject-lgbt-rino.html?m=1

Most people don't understand that the primary battle here is 

not for a seat in Congress, it's for the soul of the Republican Party. 

THAT is a battle we can win, G-d willing,, regardless of the outcome of this particular race, IF the GOP understands that we will not vote for their transgenderist, Trojan Homosexualist candidates. 

We always have alternatives, even it's a protest vote.

Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,

Executive Director,

Help Rescue Our Children

NathanAdvisors@gmail.com / personal account

USA: 845-642-1679* «» 

* for calls and texts, but not WhatsApp

Trump's PAC will fund his Smithsonian portrait, in an unusual move

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/22/trumps-pac-smithsonian-portrait-00053204

The $650,000 donation last month from the Save America PAC — an organization controlled by Trump himself — was unprecedented, as no other political action committee has funded a presidential portrait in the past, Smithsonian spokesperson Linda St. Thomas said. An additional $100,000 was given by an undisclosed donor to support the portraits, she said.

The funds, which total $750,000, will go to the artists, events and other fees associated with the two Trump portraits.

Donald Trump's 'Delay Tactic' on Mar-a-Lago Likely Doomed: Prosecutor

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-delay-tactic-mar-lago-likely-doomed-prosecutor-1735862

In addition to Aronberg, Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe has suggested that the chances of Trump's suit being successful are slim, describing the motion as "very strange" during an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid on Monday. Tribe said that the former president was "asking" to be prosecuted while pointing out that the motion was filed on behalf of "President Donald J. Trump" rather than on behalf of Trump as a private citizen.

"One of the amazing things that I agree with [in the filing]... President Trump—he still calls himself President Trump—should not be treated differently from any other citizen," said Tribe. "Finally, he gets that right. Any other citizen who took top-secret material to not just a private home but a resort, like Mar-a-Lago... would be prosecuted... he is sort of asking [Attorney General] Merrick Garland to prosecute him."

Tribe also said that the two-week delay in filing the motion was "quite strange" and echoed Aronberg's conclusion by saying "it's sort of too late to ask for some new special master."

‘We got rolled’: How the conservative grassroots lost the fight with Biden because it was focused on Trump

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/22/conservative-grassroots-biden-trump-00052983

In years past, it would have been a political Waterloo moment for Republicans: President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats racing frantically to finalize sweeping legislation to hike taxes on corporations and spend trillions on climate change and health care subsidies.

But instead of mounting a massive grassroots opposition to tank or tar the Inflation Reduction Act, conservatives and right-wing news outlets spent the past week with their gaze elsewhere: the FBI’s search of Donald Trump’s Palm Beach mansion.

Why Trump is the most pro-gay president in U.S. history

 https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-brett-trump-pro-gay-president-20200127-qz62atj34jcezj66elpfip7ige-story.html

Without a doubt, President Donald Trump is the most pro-gay president in history. As a matter of fact, Trump has been more openly supportive of gay rights than former President Barack Obama was when he was first elected in 2008, or President Bill Clinton during his eight years in office.

Log Cabin Republicans chair: LGBT Americans belong in Donald Trump's Republican Party

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/08/20/donald-trump-lgbtq-lgbt-gay-rights-republican-equality-column/5605491002/

It hasn’t always been this way. For years, the GOP generally stood against the inclusion of gay and lesbian conservatives. As one of the Republican National Committee's first openly gay members, and a longtime leader of Log Cabin Republicans, I've worked tirelessly alongside many friends and colleagues to pull the party into the future. Today, thanks in large part to the leadership of President Donald Trump, the party has delivered meaningful policy victories for gays and lesbians.

The Republican revolt against democracy, explained in 13 charts

 https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/22274429/republicans-anti-democracy-13-charts

The Republican Party is the biggest threat to American democracy today. It is a radical, obstructionist faction that has become hostile to the most basic democratic norm: that the other side should get to wield power when it wins elections.

A few years ago, these statements may have sounded like partisan Democratic hyperbole. But in the wake of the January 6 attack on the Capitol and Trump’s acquittal in the Senate on the charge of inciting it, they seem more a plain description of where we’re at as a country.

But how deep does the GOP’s problem with democracy run, really? How did things get so bad? And is it likely to get worse?

Lapid will be the first prime minister to participate in an LGBT event in Israel

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/358540

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid is expected to participate on Saturday evening in an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the "Israel Gay Youth" organization, thus becoming the first Prime Minister in office to participate in an official LGBT event.

In the LGBT organizations, Prime Minister Lapid's participation in the LGBT event is considered nothing less than historic. "This is how history is made, in action," said the organization's CEO Ofer Neuman on Ynet

Ivermectin among drugs that failed avoiding hospitalization for COVID-19 patients - study

 https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/article-715162

Ivermectin, the popular controversial COVID-19 drug, was roundly disavowed for treatment of the coronavirus by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). According to the FDA website, Ivermectin is used to treat or prevent parasites in animals and can be used to treat parasitic worms, lice and other skin conditions in humans. The formulations for animals are chemically distinct from those meant for humans.

The Fact And Fiction Of ‘Rigged Election’ Claims - prior to 2016 election

 https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2016/10/18/election-2016-trump-rigged-election-fraud

Donald Trump warns that if he loses the election, it’s because it’s rigged. Trump claims that dead people will vote, that illegal immigrants are voting. It’s an unprecedented move by a presidential candidate: to claim a stolen election before it even happens. What does that mean for our democracy? And why do Trump’s claims resonate with so many of his supporters?  This hour On Point, Trump, rigged elections, clean elections and democracy. — Jane Clayson

POLITICO: Trump lashes out at Republicans for not buying election rigging line — "Donald Trump on Monday morning lashed out at Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, who have pushed back against the GOP nominee’s message that the election is being rigged against him. 'Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day. Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!' Trump tweeted."

Trump and the Truth: The “Rigged” Election

 https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/trump-and-the-truth-the-rigged-election

“The election is going to be rigged—I’m going to be honest,” Donald Trump said to a rowdy crowd in August, at a rally in Columbus, Ohio. “People are going to walk in and they’re going to vote ten times, maybe,” Trump told an interviewer later. A few days afterward, in Pennsylvania, where Trump was then lagging by nine points in the polls, he warned supporters that “the only way we can lose . . . is if cheating goes on.” That week, a new page appeared on his campaign Web site, inviting concerned citizens to volunteer to be “Trump Election Observers” so that they could “help me stop Crooked Hillary from rigging this election!”

Trump has longstanding history of calling elections 'rigged' if he doesn’t like the results

 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-longstanding-history-calling-elections-rigged-doesnt-results/story?id=74126926

On election night in 2012, when President Barack Obama was reelected, Trump said that the election was a "total sham" and a "travesty," while also making the claim that the United States is "not a democracy" after Obama secured his victory.

Trump even wrote on Twitter, "We can't let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!"

Florida GOP Candidate Says He'd Have Sent FBI Home 'In a Body Bag'- party of Law and Order

 https://www.newsweek.com/florida-gop-candidate-says-hed-have-sent-fbi-home-body-bag-1735400

"When they turned up at Mar-a-Lago and raided the home of President Trump, that was an assault on every one of the 75 million people that voted for Donald Trump. It was a assault on democracy," Hyde said.

"These people would stop at nothing. I wish they'd turn up at my home 'cause they'd have gone home in a body bag," he said.

US election 2016: Trump says election 'rigged at polling places'

 https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37673797

Donald Trump has claimed for months that the election was rigged - but that message is now at the centre of his campaign just as his poll numbers begin to slump. And in doing so he hits at the very heart of American democracy - the idea that elections are free and fair.

How Donald Trump Lost Powerful Media Conservatives

 https://www.newsweek.com/how-donald-trump-lost-powerful-media-conservatives-1735129

Just this week both Fox News host Laura Ingraham and Infowars host Alex Jones signaled they had distanced themselves from Trump, though Jones was more direct in endorsing one of Trump's potential political rivals.

Talmud vs esoteric wisdom

 Zohar (1:27a) The study of the Talmud is bitter compared with that of the esoteric wisdom, of which it is said, “And God showed him a tree” this is a tree of life, and through it “the waters were sweetened”. Similarly of Moses it is written, “And the staff of God was in his hand.” This rod is Metatron, from one side of whom comes life and from the other death. When the rod remains a rod, it is a help from the side of good, and when it is turned into a serpent it is hostile,

This is from Soncino [Note: The Hebrew text of this page does not correspond entirely to the English translation.]

וְאִי עָבַר עַל אוֹרַיְיתָא אִתְשַׁקְיָין מִמְּרִירוּ דְאִילָנָא דְּרַע דְּאִיהוּ יֵצֶר הָרָע. וְכָל אֵבָרִין דְּאִנּוּן מֵד' יְסוֹדִין אִתְּמָר בְּהוֹן (שמות א׳:י״ד) וַיְמָרַרוּ אֶת חַיֵּיהֶם וְגו' וַיְמָרַרוּ בִּמְרִירוּ דְּמָרָה. וּלְגַבֵּי אֵבָרִין קַדִּישִׁין דְּגוּפָא דְּאִנּוּן מִסִּטְרָא דְטוֹב עֲלַיְיהוּ אִתְּמָר (שמות ט״ו:כ״ג) וַיָּבוֹאוּ מָרָתָה וְלֹא יָכְלוּ לִשְׁתּוֹת מַיִם מִמָּרָה וְגו'. כְּגַוְונָא דָא אָמְרוּ מָארֵי מַתְנִיתִין וַיְמָרַרוּ אֶת חַיֵּיהֶם בַּעֲבוֹדָה קָשָׁה בְּקוּשְׁיָא. בְּחוֹמֶר בְּקַל וָחוֹמֶר. וּבִלְבֵנִים בְּלִבּוּן הִלְכְתָא. וּבְכָל עֲבוֹדָה בַּשָּׂדֶה דָּא בָּרַיְיתָא. אֶת כָּל עֲבוֹדָתָם וְגו' דָּא מִשְׁנָה.

Pro-Trump wins in blue states leaves moderates skeptical of red wave

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pro-trump-wins-blue-states-leaves-moderates-skeptical-red-wave

Trump’s endorsement has catapulted several Republican candidates to primary wins across the country during the midterm cycle and he remains wildly popular with GOP voters but some Democrats and media outlets have claimed that putting him on the ballot in general elections gives Democrats a better chance of keeping control of Congress.

Self actualiztion - in Israel

Devarim (7:: 14.) You shall be blessed above all people; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

Netziv עקר ועקרה. אנשים שאין בהם תועלת לעולם:

Pro-Trump wins in blue states threaten GOP hopes in November

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/pro-trump-wins-in-blue-states-threaten-gop-hopes-in-november/

“It can’t continue,” said former Connecticut US Representative Christopher Shays, a moderate Republican and Trump critic, referring to the GOP choosing pro-Trump candidates. “One of the things that will happen is that a lot of the Trump candidates who won the primary will lose the general election. And there are a lot of unhappy Republicans who hold office now who believe that the Senate now is in jeopardy of staying Democratic.”

Lock Trump Up Video Viewed More Than 1 Million Times

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-fbi-raid-lock-him-viral-video-meidastouch-1734805

"On political corruption, we are going to restore honor to our government," Trump said. "In my administration, I am going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law."

‘Never in a Million Years’: Arizona Republicans Grapple with the Rising Fringe

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/08/18/trumps-man-in-arizona-might-get-the-last-laugh-00052519

None have any political experience. But they have the main qualification that matters to the former president: They repeat the lie that the Arizona election was rigged against him. Every winning Republican candidate said they wouldn’t have certified the 2020 election. That means that as Trump gears up for a possible third run for the presidency, Arizona is facing the prospect of a slate of statewide officials who could steal the election for him. (Indeed, another victim of a Trump-backed primary was Rusty Bowers, the soft-spoken leader of the Arizona House who rebuffed Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn the state’s 2020 election results and testified to the January 6 committee.)

McConnell admits Democrats may hold the Senate, and the data backs it up

Wall Street Journal warns Liz Cheney's 'revenge' tour could 'divide' GOP and ruin Trump's 2024 chances

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/wall-street-journal-warns-liz-cheneys-revenge-tour-could-divide-gop-ruin-trumps-2024-chances

The board, however, did not go so far as to praise Cheney. It acknowledged she lost for a fair reason; her willingness to embrace the partisan January 6 Committee. Though it also maintained the lawmaker "is a conservative by any measure and she has the courage of her convictions."

The Wall Street Journal opened the column by summing up its nuanced perspective on Cheney, writing, "Liz Cheney lost her Republican primary in Wyoming Tuesday because she bravely stood up to the stolen-election falsehoods of Donald Trump. Liz Cheney lost the primary because she alienated too many Republicans by making common cause with Democrats like Rep. Adam Schiff."

Joe: I Plead With Republicans, Please Call Out Conspiracy Theories Against IRS

First Republicans attacked the FBI. Look who they're coming for now

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/17/opinions/irs-taxes-funding-increase-inflation-reduction-87000-michel/index.html

Republicans have been making the scurrilous claim that the Biden administration aims to deploy a ramped-up "army" of IRS agents to target middle-income workers and small businesses. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig -- who was appointed by former President Donald Trump -- said earlier this month that the agency will only be increasing audits of the wealthiest Americans.

THE GOP IS TRYING TO CONVINCE AMERICANS THE IRS IS COMING TO KILL THEM

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/08/gop-irs-agents-fear-tactics

Apparently not content to stop at unleashing paranoia-fueled violence on the Capitol and FBI agents doing their jobs, Republicans would now like people to believe that the number-crunchers at the IRS are going to start knocking down the middle class’s doors and murdering them for not paying taxes. As a result of the $80 billion in additional funding the Internal Revenue Service will receive as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Yes, we wish we were joking. No, incredibly, we are not.

The new IRS employees: An 'army' or harmless programmers?

 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republicans-call-it-an-army-irs-hires-will-replace-retirees-do-it-says-treasury-2022-08-19/

But the actual net staff increase would be far lower, as the IRS expects over 50,000 employees to retire over the next five years alone, said Natasha Sarin, Treasury counselor for tax policy and administration.

Claims that all 87,000 would be auditors, criminal enforcement agents or armed are "deeply dangerous nonsense - and false," Sarin told Reuters.

"The speed and voracity with which (Republicans) are coming at this is really a testament to how important these resources are going to be - because there are many wealthy tax evaders that stand to lose a lot," Sarin said.

If You Like the IRS, You’ll Love the Global Revenue Service

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-like-the-irs-youll-love-the-global-revenue-service-janet-yellen-treasury-inflation-reduction-act-tax-american-businesses-sovereignty-code-revenue-constitution-11660754243?mod=opinion_lead_pos7

As the Internal Revenue Service prepares to spend its $80 billion gift, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is working on global tax rules that would require a global revenue service. The overwhelmingly complex plan, which includes the global minimum tax, amounts to a new global tax code.