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crickets
crickets's Journal
crickets's Journal
March 31, 2021
The video isn't showing up for me, but I also found this:
https://www.pnj.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/10/matt-gaetz-says-if-roy-moore-allegations-true-he-shouldnt-free-walking-among-us/853156001/
All righty then.
Oh, poor guy. He's handling the situation with remarkable grace.
Meanwhile... great link to the Independent article. Snagged this tidbit:
Video of Gaetz saying Roy Moore should have “no place” in Republican party amid allegations he had sex with a minor reemerges
A video in which US Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for alleged child sex trafficking, condemns former US Senate nominee Roy Moore for sexual assault allegations include two from people who were minors at the time, has resurfaced.
In the video, Mr Gaetz said “If these [sexual] allegations are true, Roy Moore has no place in the Senate and no place in the Republican party.”
A video in which US Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under investigation for alleged child sex trafficking, condemns former US Senate nominee Roy Moore for sexual assault allegations include two from people who were minors at the time, has resurfaced.
In the video, Mr Gaetz said “If these [sexual] allegations are true, Roy Moore has no place in the Senate and no place in the Republican party.”
The video isn't showing up for me, but I also found this:
https://www.pnj.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/10/matt-gaetz-says-if-roy-moore-allegations-true-he-shouldnt-free-walking-among-us/853156001/
Rep. Matt Gaetz weighed in on the Alabama Senate race Friday morning during an appearance on CNN from downtown Pensacola.
Gaetz said he agreed with other Republicans that if the allegations made in a Washington Post report about former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore were true, he shouldn't be in the senate or the Republican party.
"I absolutely agree that if the allegations are, they are hideous," Gaetz said. "They are disgusting, and Roy Moore should step aside. And frankly, shouldn't be free walking among us."
Gaetz said he agreed with other Republicans that if the allegations made in a Washington Post report about former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore were true, he shouldn't be in the senate or the Republican party.
"I absolutely agree that if the allegations are, they are hideous," Gaetz said. "They are disgusting, and Roy Moore should step aside. And frankly, shouldn't be free walking among us."
All righty then.
March 31, 2021
Ted Lieu makes a good point. Following up with another good point:
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1377072540938432515
Ted Lieu: Rep Matt Gaetz should be taken off the House Judiciary Committee
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1377033542215999490Ted Lieu @tedlieu
Rep Matt Gaetz should be taken off the @HouseJudiciary Committee until the @TheJusticeDept investigation is completed. He should not be sitting on a Congressional Committee with oversight over the DOJ while the Department is investigating him.
Quote Tweet
Michael S. Schmidt @nytmike
EXCLUSIVE: Matt Gaetz, Trump's close ally, is being investigated by DOJ over whether he had a sexual relationship w/17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him. Investigation was opened in the final months of Trump admin under Barr. w/@ktbenner https://nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/politics/matt-gaetz-sex-trafficking-investigation.html
7:02 PM · Mar 30, 2021
Rep Matt Gaetz should be taken off the @HouseJudiciary Committee until the @TheJusticeDept investigation is completed. He should not be sitting on a Congressional Committee with oversight over the DOJ while the Department is investigating him.
Quote Tweet
Michael S. Schmidt @nytmike
EXCLUSIVE: Matt Gaetz, Trump's close ally, is being investigated by DOJ over whether he had a sexual relationship w/17-year-old girl and paid for her to travel with him. Investigation was opened in the final months of Trump admin under Barr. w/@ktbenner https://nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/politics/matt-gaetz-sex-trafficking-investigation.html
7:02 PM · Mar 30, 2021
Ted Lieu makes a good point. Following up with another good point:
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/1377072540938432515
Ted Lieu @tedlieu
Why would Rep Matt Gaetz go on national TV and volunteer a new derogatory allegation about himself that hadn’t appeared in the press articles?
Quote Tweet
Aaron Rupar @atrupar
Gaetz mentions that someone has alleged there's photos of him with child prostitutes. He claims such pictures don't exist. [video of FOX interview]
9:37 PM · Mar 30, 2021
Why would Rep Matt Gaetz go on national TV and volunteer a new derogatory allegation about himself that hadn’t appeared in the press articles?
Quote Tweet
Aaron Rupar @atrupar
Gaetz mentions that someone has alleged there's photos of him with child prostitutes. He claims such pictures don't exist. [video of FOX interview]
9:37 PM · Mar 30, 2021
March 31, 2021
John Bolton had a hand in it as national security advisor. Because of course.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/14/21177509/coronavirus-trump-covid-19-pandemic-responseWhen Bolton became Trump’s national security adviser in 2018, he quickly moved to disband the White House National Security Council’s Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, which President Barack Obama set up after the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak to lead federal coordination and preparation for disease outbreaks.
In April 2018, Bolton fired Tom Bossert, then the homeland security adviser, who, the Washington Post reported, “had called for a comprehensive biodefense strategy against pandemics and biological attacks.” Then, that May, Bolton let go the head of pandemic response, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, and his global health security team. The team, the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, was never replaced.
At the time, the Trump administration and Bolton argued the cuts were needed to streamline the National Security Council.
In April 2018, Bolton fired Tom Bossert, then the homeland security adviser, who, the Washington Post reported, “had called for a comprehensive biodefense strategy against pandemics and biological attacks.” Then, that May, Bolton let go the head of pandemic response, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, and his global health security team. The team, the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, was never replaced.
At the time, the Trump administration and Bolton argued the cuts were needed to streamline the National Security Council.
March 29, 2021
Here's an idea to go along with that:
Give the insurance industry firearms insurance to replace the revenue from health insurance. Then overhaul health insurance, giving them little to no wiggle room for crying poor.
March 25, 2021
A picture is worth a thousand words... at least. Amy Klobuchar is all of us in this one.
Get yourself a Senator who looks at Ted Cruz like this
https://twitter.com/timjhogan/status/1374908615853740033A picture is worth a thousand words... at least. Amy Klobuchar is all of us in this one.
March 25, 2021
https://www.ajc.com/politics/all-georgia-adults-will-be-eligible-for-coronavirus-vaccines-on-thursday/S2TLG4G3CBDNJBUPPRROV5ROSI/
All Georgia residents 16+ are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.
https://twitter.com/GaDPH/status/1375047358203977737GaDeptPublicHealth @GaDPH
All Georgia residents 16+ are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Learn the facts about the safe, tested, and effective vaccines and register for your appointment at http://dph.ga.gov/covid-vaccine, http://myvaccinegeorgia.com, or http://vaccinefinder.org
[image]
7:30 AM · Mar 25, 2021
All Georgia residents 16+ are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Learn the facts about the safe, tested, and effective vaccines and register for your appointment at http://dph.ga.gov/covid-vaccine, http://myvaccinegeorgia.com, or http://vaccinefinder.org
[image]
7:30 AM · Mar 25, 2021
https://www.ajc.com/politics/all-georgia-adults-will-be-eligible-for-coronavirus-vaccines-on-thursday/S2TLG4G3CBDNJBUPPRROV5ROSI/
All Georgia adults can receive coronavirus vaccines beginning Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp said as he announced a dramatic expansion of eligibility in a state still facing challenges in distributing the lifesaving doses.
The expansion, which will cover Georgians age 16 and over, comes less than two weeks after the state expanded eligibility to people age 55 and older and those suffering from “high risk” medical conditions — a category defined so broadly it encompasses more than two-thirds of the state’s adult population. [snip]
About 1.1 million Georgians are fully vaccinated in a state of nearly 11 million people, according to state data, and more than 2 million have received at least one dose, including roughly three-quarters of Georgia’s senior citizens. [snip]
In a major step, the federally supported mass vaccination site at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will start working Wednesday to administer 6,000 shots a day, and it is offering evening hours to reach more people.
[more]
The expansion, which will cover Georgians age 16 and over, comes less than two weeks after the state expanded eligibility to people age 55 and older and those suffering from “high risk” medical conditions — a category defined so broadly it encompasses more than two-thirds of the state’s adult population. [snip]
About 1.1 million Georgians are fully vaccinated in a state of nearly 11 million people, according to state data, and more than 2 million have received at least one dose, including roughly three-quarters of Georgia’s senior citizens. [snip]
In a major step, the federally supported mass vaccination site at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta will start working Wednesday to administer 6,000 shots a day, and it is offering evening hours to reach more people.
[more]
March 25, 2021
1. Treason (18 U.S.C. § 2381) [snip]
2. Rebellion/Insurrection (18 U.S.C. § 2383) [snip]
3. Seditious Conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 2384) and Criminal Conspiracy (Ala. Code § 13A-4-3)
Rep. Brooks may have committed Seditious Conspiracy when he and at least one other
person within the jurisdiction of the United States of America conspired to delay the execution of
any U.S. law or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States of America
without due authority.138 Sometime in October 2020, or soon after, Rep. Brooks worked with
activist Alexander Ali, Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ), and Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ) to delegitimize the 2020
General Election, urge U.S. citizens to reject the election results, and encourage citizens to halt the
certification of Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021.139 Rep. Brooks and others made
inflammatory speeches at Mr. Alexander’s “Save America Rally,” which in turn galvanized
thousands of citizens to invade the U.S. Capitol and successfully delay Congress’ certification of
Electoral College votes won by then-President-elect Joseph Biden. Rep. Brooks and his
collaborators also galvanized the invading protesters to temporarily take physical possession of
the U.S. Capitol and its contents, all of which are owned by the United States of America.
Seditious Conspiracy is a Class B felony140 punishable by fine, imprisonment of not more
than twenty years, or both.141
4. Advocating Overthrow of Government (18 U.S.C. § 2385) [snip]
[continues]
Lots more reading to do, but the intro page, TOC, and first few pages of Appendix A are stellar.
Wow. Impressive. Go get 'em, SPLC!
From Appendix A of the Complaint:
1. Treason (18 U.S.C. § 2381) [snip]
2. Rebellion/Insurrection (18 U.S.C. § 2383) [snip]
3. Seditious Conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 2384) and Criminal Conspiracy (Ala. Code § 13A-4-3)
Rep. Brooks may have committed Seditious Conspiracy when he and at least one other
person within the jurisdiction of the United States of America conspired to delay the execution of
any U.S. law or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States of America
without due authority.138 Sometime in October 2020, or soon after, Rep. Brooks worked with
activist Alexander Ali, Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ), and Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ) to delegitimize the 2020
General Election, urge U.S. citizens to reject the election results, and encourage citizens to halt the
certification of Electoral College votes on January 6, 2021.139 Rep. Brooks and others made
inflammatory speeches at Mr. Alexander’s “Save America Rally,” which in turn galvanized
thousands of citizens to invade the U.S. Capitol and successfully delay Congress’ certification of
Electoral College votes won by then-President-elect Joseph Biden. Rep. Brooks and his
collaborators also galvanized the invading protesters to temporarily take physical possession of
the U.S. Capitol and its contents, all of which are owned by the United States of America.
Seditious Conspiracy is a Class B felony140 punishable by fine, imprisonment of not more
than twenty years, or both.141
4. Advocating Overthrow of Government (18 U.S.C. § 2385) [snip]
[continues]
Lots more reading to do, but the intro page, TOC, and first few pages of Appendix A are stellar.
March 25, 2021
Much more in the article; great read.
True. Not only that, Stacey Abrams is going to Texas to try to do it again.
She has a good chance of pulling it off.
This Is Why Texas Is the Next Georgia
https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/texas-georgia-elections-democrats/
Texas at the start of this decade is actually even more promising than Georgia was at the start of the last decade. The Lone Star State has the second-largest pool of nonvoting people of color of any state in the country (second only to already-blue California), and the number of potential voters of color far exceeds the margin of difference in statewide elections. Joe Biden lost Texas by 631,221 votes, and despite the record turnout on both sides, 4.5 million eligible people of color still did not vote, according to exit polls and Census data. In 2018, Beto O’Rourke lost his Senate bid by 215,000 votes in an election in which 5.4 million people of color didn’t cast ballots. The still-untapped potential in Texas is enormous, which is exactly why the conservatives work so hard to suppress the vote there.
Much more in the article; great read.
March 24, 2021
My point in going over all of this is to illustrate how powerful a photograph can be in showing the public the reality of a situation. If properly handled with consent of the families, photos of the aftermath of a shooting could go a very long way toward showing people just what kind of real life, not part of a screenplay butchery guns are capable of.
There's a reason every war since Vietnam has been sanitized on the news. I grew up seeing the photos, the magazine covers, and the news clips as a child. It's no wonder that the majority of the US citizenry had no stomach for that war after seeing, night after night on the news, what their young men were going through.
With permission from families, and given the stakes involved, I'm pretty sure you can find some who are willing to allow the photos to be shown. Show them. Show them in vivid color. Those cut down in mass shootings deserve for everyone to understand just how they were murdered in cold blood, and how their deaths might have been prevented with better gun legislation. Yes, gun legislation can work to stem violence.
https://fortune.com/2018/02/20/australia-gun-control-success/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/23/mass-shootings-response-other-countries-gun-laws/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/11/08/thousand-oaks-shooting-australia-no-mass-shootings-since-1996/1934798002/
I know that other countries are not the same as the US, are not so steeped in gun culture, but the point is that the effort does work given proper programs put in place, and given time. There is a strong will for change in this country regarding gun laws, in spite of the small but loud minority who continue to resist, and in spite of many in Congress beholden to the NRA. Regardless of the "nothing will happen" crowd who crop up every time to pooh-pooh, it is possible to do something about this. We just have to DO IT.
The photo of Gerri Santoro was mishandled.
She was treated as an anonymous victim; no one really thought at the time of the toll it could take on her loved ones. It should not have been published without the family's permission, yet it likely would never have been published if permission had been sought then. Times have changed, and the family has since altered their stance about the photograph.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerri_Santoro (warning-graphic)
https://www.wbur.org/artery/2019/12/03/leonas-sister-gerri-storytelling-abortion-debate
Over the years, Joannie and Leona came to see the image as a necessary tool in the fight for equality and bodily autonomy. Gillooly said that every woman involved in the film told her about their own abortion stories. She chose to keep the focus on Gerri with one exception. Gerri’s oldest daughter, Judy Blare, who had an abortion as a teenager and now regrets it. In the film she said she says she’s a pro-life Christian who doesn’t agree with abortion anymore, but that others should still have a choice.
“We have a God given right for lack of anything better to call it, that’s why we’re given a brain,” Blare says in the film. “Certainly I would never want someone to tell me what I could or couldn’t do.”
“We have a God given right for lack of anything better to call it, that’s why we’re given a brain,” Blare says in the film. “Certainly I would never want someone to tell me what I could or couldn’t do.”
My point in going over all of this is to illustrate how powerful a photograph can be in showing the public the reality of a situation. If properly handled with consent of the families, photos of the aftermath of a shooting could go a very long way toward showing people just what kind of real life, not part of a screenplay butchery guns are capable of.
There's a reason every war since Vietnam has been sanitized on the news. I grew up seeing the photos, the magazine covers, and the news clips as a child. It's no wonder that the majority of the US citizenry had no stomach for that war after seeing, night after night on the news, what their young men were going through.
With permission from families, and given the stakes involved, I'm pretty sure you can find some who are willing to allow the photos to be shown. Show them. Show them in vivid color. Those cut down in mass shootings deserve for everyone to understand just how they were murdered in cold blood, and how their deaths might have been prevented with better gun legislation. Yes, gun legislation can work to stem violence.
https://fortune.com/2018/02/20/australia-gun-control-success/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/23/mass-shootings-response-other-countries-gun-laws/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/11/08/thousand-oaks-shooting-australia-no-mass-shootings-since-1996/1934798002/
I know that other countries are not the same as the US, are not so steeped in gun culture, but the point is that the effort does work given proper programs put in place, and given time. There is a strong will for change in this country regarding gun laws, in spite of the small but loud minority who continue to resist, and in spite of many in Congress beholden to the NRA. Regardless of the "nothing will happen" crowd who crop up every time to pooh-pooh, it is possible to do something about this. We just have to DO IT.
March 24, 2021
My reaction to hidden media on Twitter is usually, "Oh, please. I'm an adult."
I was not expecting the image I saw. It was a punch to the gut. It is disturbing and awful and people do need to see it. With the permission of family members, I think any and all of the images should be shown over and over again until people realize just how horrible these shooting sprees are. I don't think it would take very long. There will always be the callous among us who pretend to be unmoved, but the majority of the American people would absolutely clamor for gun legislation. The majority already want it, they just haven't been loud enough to drown out the NRA money. If this country had a real look at the dead, many of them children, that would be quite enough to get people off their couches again. No amount of NRA money could stem that tide.
These are the members of Congress with the most NRA donations (2018)
https://www.businessinsider.com/nra-political-contributions-congressional-candidates-house-senate-2018-2
Which Senators have taken the most money? (career totals)
https://elections.bradyunited.org/take-action/nra-donations-116th-congress-senators
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHometown: Georgia
Member since: 2002
Number of posts: 25,969