Top 10 Idiots

Top 10 Idiots's Journal

August 26, 2021

Top 10 Conservative Idiots Best Of #19: Delta Variant Labor Day Edition

Top 10 Conservative Idiots Best Of #19: Delta Variant Labor Day 2021 Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Oh… hello! I know, right? Well we’re tidying things up around here to get ready for our next round of tour dates. And normally we’d have a bigger pool of entries to draw from but I had to take a few weeks because the news was so intense and I needed a long break. But that said, I am so happy to be back on the road and we’ll continue to do so. Of course you must provide full proof of vaccination in order to come to our shows but that’s a small price to pay right now. Oh and I almost forgot – we have not one but two big announcements while you’re indulging us with this Best Of. And before I get to the announcements first things first – we are doing the east coast for our second half of the tour! Sorry southern states but you’ll have to wait a bit. And the second thing is that live music is finally coming back! Yay I am so happy about this. We’re starting on 9/9 with the almighty Weezer, who you can see out on tour as part of the Hella Mega Festival that includes Green Day and Fall Out Boy! We’ve also got a number of exciting guests lined up for the rest of the year and you can check the Top 10 Twitter feed @10Idiots for any and all official announcements. That said, *drum roll*, let’s get to the announcement of our second round of Idiots tour dates, shall we? And here they are!

- 10/7 – Long Beach, CA – Laugh Factory (make-up date from 8/27) (also: Holy Shit: The Sunday Sermons pilot episode taping!)
- 10/14 – Salt Lake City, UT – Zanies Comedy Club
- 10/21 – Seattle Washington – Comedy Underground (Holy Shit: The Sunday Sermons taping)
- 10/28 – Sacramento, CA – Punch Line (Halloween special!)
- 11/4 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Improv (Holy Shit: The Sunday Sermons taping)
- 11/11 – Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Improv
- 11/18 – Detroit, MI – Fillmore Theater (Holy Shit: The Sunday Sermons taping)
- 11/25 – Dark (Thanksgiving)
- 12/2 – Boston, MA – Laugh Boston (Holy Shit: The Sunday Sermons taping)
- 12/9 – New York, NY – Grammercy Theater (5th anniversary special!)
- 12/16 – Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room at Observatory, OC (2021 Year In Review, Season Finale!) (Holy Shit: The Sunday Sermons season finale taping)

And that’s it! As for musical guests be sure to watch the Top 10 for official announcements and we have some great stuff lined up in the coming weeks including bands like Rise Against and Lord Huron! So stay tuned! OK that’s enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to this week. But first Bill Maher is back and he spills the beans on what social media has really done to us:

So for this week we’re going to dip back into the viewer mailbag and answer your burning questions for this Best Of! In the number one slot, from Idiots #11-3, we take a look at when House Minority Leader and guy who somehow got elected, Kevin McCarthy (1) attempted to derail Nancy Pelosi’s 1/6 Commission by putting Jim Jordan on the committee. That’s pretty much like giving the alcoholic the keys to the liquor cabinet. In the number 2 slot, from Idiots #11-2, why does Florida Man and guy who probably should be kept 500 feet away from schools and playgrounds Matt Gaetz (2) care so much about Britney Spears? Well we’ve got theories! In the #3 slot, from Idiots #11-1 – that Former Guy (3) put out a hit on the DC Police Officer who shot and killed Ashlii Babbitt, but we have the real reason why she was killed, and he’s not going to like it! In the #4 slot this week from Idiots #10-7, we play a game of “Is It Racist” (4) after Papa John’s founder John Schnatter literally hired a therapist to rid himself from using the N word! Is it racist? Hell yes! In the number 5 slot, our formerly weekly investigative piece, Top 10 Investigates (5) takes a look at a small Facebook group that is gaining big influence in the anti-vaccine world, the Disinformation Dozen! In the number 6 slot this week, from Idiots #11-5 is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6) and this week our resident pastor takes a look at Australian Christian cult Hillsong and they’re in a whole lot of trouble! In the number 7 slot this week, from Idiots #10-13, our segment “This Fucking Guy” (7) takes a look at the reigning kings of UFC – Joe Rogan And Dana White, and they’re both equally deplorable! In the number 8 slot, our segment Conspiracy Corner (8) introduces you to a new phone that promises to be an alt right alternative to Apple and Samsung, but it’s really a colossal piece of shit! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week, also from Idiots #11-3, is our segment “I Need A Drink” (9) and this week we get drunk and take a look at the dueling pocket rockets from Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, minus the pocket! Finally this week from Idiots #11-6 (that was the most recent edition!), our segment on what the MAGA cult is up to in Red State Diaries (10) takes a look at the fallout from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]Kevin McCarthy
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From: Idiots #11-3

Amber H. from Camden, New Jersey writes:

“Hey Top 10, what’s the deal with Kevin McCarthy? He’s quite literally insane and the sooner he’s out of office, the better!”

We couldn’t agree more! And the fact that he put Jim Jordan on the committee is a testament to his insanity!

So while the Commission to investigate the Capitol Riot is going on, make no mistake that we’re currently under minority rule. And like most investigations I fully expect this to be dragged out as long as possible, with many surprise witnesses – each more surprising than the next! OK, channeling my inner Lionel Hutz there. But I fully expect this ending with Former Guy, aka Donald J. Trump, to go full OJ and attempt to spend the rest of his life finding the “Real Insurrectionists”. But that’s a good question – how is this going to end? Well we know how it’s not ending – and Kevin McCarhy (Q-Batshit) is not only attempting to derail this thing, he’s going to make sure that it gets dragged out as long as humanly possible! Here’s the latest.

A police officer who defended the US Capitol during a riot by Donald Trump supporters on 6 January has said he feared he would be crushed by the mob.

"This is how I'm going to die," a tearful Aquilino Gonell told a Congressional committee as an inquiry opened into the Washington DC attack.

Another officer, Harry Dunn, who is black, said he was racially abused.

At least 535 rioters have been arrested since the attack that left five dead, including one police officer.

Prosecutors have so far secured only a few convictions.

The assault led to the political impeachment and acquittal of Republican Mr Trump, who was accused by lawmakers of inciting the riot - a claim he has repeatedly denied.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57989578

Holy shit indeed! The same people who scream until they’re blue in the face that we need to support police officers are the same people who wanted to murder police officers on January 6th. So they support the police… until they don’t. Think of this like a movie… Joe wanted to be president, until a fiery powder keg called MAGA was lit and exploded in Congress. This is Joe Vs The MAGA Volcano! We’re so right up there with timely movie references, aren’t we? But isn’t the worst of it!

As pro-Trump insurrectionists poured into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, a Black Capitol Police officer passionately testified Tuesday that he faced racist epithets, the likes of which he had never heard while serving in uniform.

"You hear that, guys, this n***** voted for Joe Biden!" a woman in a pink MAGA shirt yelled toward Capitol Police Pfc. Harry Dunn, he recounted, after Dunn said he voted for President Biden.

"Boo! F****** n*****!" the crowd of about 20 yelled back, Dunn recalled.

Dunn said his story wasn't unique. He heard from another Black officer that insurrectionists yelled at that officer: "Put your gun down, and we'll show you what kind of n***** you really are!"

Dunn said he tries to keep politics out of the job, but in this instance one of the rioters, whom Dunn told to leave the Capitol, said then-President Donald Trump invited them to the Capitol — and that no one voted for Biden.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/27/1021197474/capitol-police-officer-testifies-to-the-racism-he-faced-during-the-jan-6-riot

Oh yeah sure, they just had an open invitation to come in and literally hurl shit at the walls and use Nancy Pelosi’s office as a toilet and threaten to murder people. All while the Former Guy sat in a bunker and grinned like an idiot at the destruction he had wrought. Oh and by the way for all you “support the police” people out there, there were police officers involved! And this guy from New York City is one of their ringleaders! Oh it gets way worse!

The F.B.I. agents showed Thomas Webster a wanted flier with a picture taken during the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. In the photograph, a middle-aged man is shouting angrily across a metal barricade with a pole in his raised right hand.

“That’s a picture of you, right, Mr. Webster?” an agent asked, according to a transcript of the interview.

He was a former New York City police officer, a decorated member of the force who once worked as an instructor at the firing range and with a detail that protected the mayor at public appearances and at Gracie Mansion. But on this afternoon in February, sitting across from two agents in an interrogation room in Lower Manhattan, he found himself on the other side of the law.

He looked at the picture. “Yeah,” he said, and tried to explain how it all began.

“I kept on saying to myself, ‘All right, Tom, this is your first protest’ — I’ve never been to one before,” he told the agents. “I said, ‘Stay behind the freakin’ barrier, don’t threaten anyone and keep the flagpole away from everyone.’”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/27/nyregion/capitol-riot-january-6.html

But make no mistake, my friends – we’re just in day one of this investigation. I’m sure that Nancy has plenty of material where that came from. This whole thing is like an onion – the more you peel back the layers, the more it stinks and the more likely you are to cry as a result. But that said, things are going to get mighty interesting in the coming months – and – it might just go all the way to the former president! I know, shocker, right?

More than 540 charged so far in Capitol riot case, while approximately 300 suspects remain unidentified

By Clare Hymes, Cassidy McDonald, Eleanor Watson

July 27, 2021 / 12:24 AM / CBS News

America watched as hordes of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6 — crushing through windows, pressing up stairways, and sending lawmakers and law enforcement running for their lives. The flood of protesters who streamed into the Capitol that day left federal authorities with an equally immense task: finding and charging those responsible.

According to a CBS News review of court documents, at least 543 defendants have been charged in connection with the January 6 attack. Six months after the siege, the FBI said they have yet to identify more than 300 individuals believed to have committed violent acts on the Capitol grounds, including over 200 who assaulted police officers.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said late last month, "This is far from over."

Prosecutors have called the case "unprecedented" in scale, and the government said in a March court filing that the Capitol attack "is likely the most complex investigation ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/capitol-riot-arrests-latest-2021-07-27/

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[font size="8"]Matt Gaetz
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From: Idiots #11-2

Brian J. from Tampa, Florida writes:

“Yo, Top 10! What’s the deal with Matt Gaetz and Britney Spears? Isn’t it weird that a wanted sex offender has the hots for her?”

Yeah it is weird and super creepy that a guy who’s wanted as a sex offender has the hots for someone who became famous for looking hot in a Catholic school girl outfit isn’t it?

You know we need some music for this entry!

Oops… I creeped out again. I went and did some creeping, and yes I am innocent! OK that didn’t really work. But the point is since the beginning of the Top 10 I have been saying that if you’re accused of doing something horrible, maybe don’t do that thing you’re being accused of (see: Top 10 #3-7 )! Yeah so if you’re trying to lose weight, maybe don’t eat that 12 scoop sundae topped with every topping that the ice cream store has! Just don’t do it, OK? Which brings me to Matt Gaetz. Yeah as you know, this perverted weasel is wanted for his bizarre sex crimes and one of the dumbest scandals in modern history. Which begs the question – what the hell was he doing outside a “Save Britney” rally? Is he trying to ask her out on a date or something?

Rep. Matt Gaetz showed up at a rally outside a Los Angeles courthouse Wednesday ahead of the latest conservatorship hearing for Britney Spears — and took the microphone to call the pop icon's father Jamie "a d---."

"Britney has been abused by the media, she has been abused by her grifter father and she's been abused by the American justice system," the Republican Florida lawmaker told the crowd of Spears' supporters.

Gaetz continued, "There's a lot that divides us. But one thing we can all agree on is that Jamie Spears is a d---."

"And he shouldn't make any more decisions regarding his daughter," Gaetz said of Jamie. [Britney] is nearly 40-years-old. She should make her own decisions."
https://www.insider.com/rep-matt-gaetz-britney-spears-conservatorship-hearing-insults-jamie-2021-7

You know here's the thing - if you are wanted as a sex offender, maybe I don't know, don't appear at a rally for a woman who became famous for looking hot in a Catholic school girl uniform. Just saying! Go on, eat this giant deep fried 5 lb cheeseburger, fatty! You know you want to! Also come on, isn’t the very thing that Matt Gaetz advocating what the conservatives refer to as “big government”? I am just throwing that suggestion out there!

Following Britney Spears’s devastating testimony last month on the abusive conservatorship under which she is forced to live, an array of politicians from both the Democratic and Republican parties aligned themselves with the #FreeBritney cause. The media narrative was to exclaim, with a dash of bemusement, that Spears’s struggle against conservatorship has provoked bipartisan agreement.

Spears’s high-profile case is well suited for both Democratic and Republican ideological projection. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has called for more oversight. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, used the pop star’s suffering as a grounds for his own fundraising, sending out texts that call Spears “a victim of toxic gov’t overreach & censorship.” The putrid Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is being investigated for possibly sex trafficking minors, turned up at a “#FreeBritney” rally in California, grabbing the mic and calling for Spears’s release from conservatorship.

If politicians’ cynical co-option of Spears’s struggle, particularly on the right, leads to concrete shifts in pernicious conservatorship law, a primarily state-based issue about which the federal government can only do so much, then all the better. As has been well noted, this is a disability rights issue in need of swift redress. The risk, however, is that conservatives jumping on this issue could distort a problem — grounded in capitalist exploitation, patriarchal control, and a national scarcity in truly supportive care for disabled and aging people — into one of state impingement on individual freedoms.
https://theintercept.com/2021/07/20/gop-britney-spears-matt-gaetz-ted-cruz/

Nah, but creepy white politicians like Ted Cruz and Matt Gaetz are trying to exploit you for personal benefit, and that’s what you should really be concerned about! But this brings up a rather curious debate – why has the Q Anon crowd latched onto the Free Britney movement? Well, if you answered “something creepy”, sir or madam, I can assure you that you are… 100% absolutely correct! They are up to something creepy!

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a firebrand Republican lawmaker who is currently being investigated for possible sex trafficking of minors, showed up at a California rally demanding that singer Britney Spears be released from her conservatorship.

The "Free Britney" rally was held outside a Los Angeles courthouse where a virtual hearing on Spears' convervatorship was taking place. Spears has said the conservatorship — controlled by her father Jamie — is abusive, and has compelled her to take birth control and other medications against her will.

A crowd gathered outside the courthouse holding "Free Britney" signs, and Gaetz, evidently hoping to seize on a popular movement once again, took the mic and addressed the crowd. It's not the first time Gaetz has traveled across the country for a political stunt, as he once went to Wyoming to whip up support in opposition to fellow Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, a critic of former President Donald Trump.
https://www.sfgate.com/national-politics/article/Matt-Gaetz-Free-Britney-Spears-rally-California-16316653.php

Damn straight! Of course why is a guy who should be on a registered sex offender and guy who should probably be kept 500 feet away from schools and playgrounds be so interested in this Free Britney movement? I mean doesn’t he have far more important things to do now that he’s a Congressman? Well I guess aside from keeping out of jail, which I assume is all the modern GOP does at the moment.

Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and a handful of other Republicans have invited pop star Britney Spears to testify before Congress about her conservatorship.

"You have been mistreated by America’s legal system. We want to help," Gaetz wrote in a letter to Spears dated Wednesday. "The United States Congress should hear your story and be inspired to bipartisan action. What happened to you should never happen to any other American."

Gaetz said he and fellow Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Burgess Owens (Utah) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.) have been following her conservatorship battle with “deep concern” and stand with the pop star.

Rumors about Spears' discontent with her conservatorship spread for years online and trended with the #FreeBritney hashtag. But last week, Spears spoke directly about the issue herself in court, describing her conservatorship as “abusive.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/01/gaetz-congress-britney-spears-497582

[font size="8"]Donald Trump
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From: Idiots #11-1

Justin V. from Eugene, Oregon writes:

“Why does that Former Guy want to know who killed Ashlii Babbitt so badly? Isn’t he responsible?”

Oh yeah! And things could have been way, way worse!

Yeah unfortunately now that most of the gears of society are starting to turn again, that means that we must talk about Loser 45 again. And you know what? I don’t even want to mention his name. So for the sake of this piece, we’re going to talk about him, and I will reference him as “The Former Guy”. If you’ve been following right wing social media like we have, you’ll know that there’s talk on the right about Trump possibly being reinstated by August. Of course, Mike Lindell, the Harley Quinn to Trump’s Joker, says that he’s got proof so definitive that the Supreme Court would have no choice but to vote 9-0 to reinstate Trump as POTUS. Which, that ain’t happening. And yes, there’s no way that’s happening.

The Justice Department said this week that former President Donald Trump's delusional claims that he'll be reinstated to the White House could fuel more political violence from his supporters.
Trump and some of his allies on the right-wing fringe have pushed the ridiculous theory that he could be reinstated as president next month. There is no legal or constitutional mechanism for that to happen, and Trump's claims of a "stolen" 2020 election have been fully debunked.
Federal prosecutors brought up Trump's rhetoric this week in one of the US Capitol riot cases.

The rioter, Marine Corps veteran Alex Harkrider, asked a judge to discontinue his GPS tracking and remove his ankle monitor. The Justice Department opposes this request, saying Trump's rhetoric could inspire Harkrider to become violent in the future. Harkrider has pleaded not guilty.

"Former President Trump continues to make false claims about the election, insinuate that he may be reinstalled in the near future as President without another election, and minimize the violent attack on the Capitol," prosecutors wrote in the filing. "Television networks continue to carry and report on those claims, with some actually giving credence to the false reporting."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/09/politics/justice-department-trump-warning/index.html

Yes, Trump is fucking crazy all right! In fact you know what he’s doing at his hidey-hole at Mar-A-Shithole? He’s literally channeling his inner Godfather and setting up a consigliere where people come and kiss his feet for his blessing. Yeah I mean seriously you can’t get much more Don than this, and since Fox News is acting like the Mafia, anyone who falls out of line with the Trump Party gets the cement shoes!

Since he left Washington in turmoil in January, Donald Trump has spent the bulk of his brief, contentious post-presidency holed up in what Karl Rove calls his “Fortress of Solitude”—Mar‑a‑Lago, his private club in Palm Beach. It’s an odd sort of isolation: Although he’s largely cut off from the outside world, Trump is hardly alone.

Tossed from the White House, banished from Facebook and Twitter, Trump has never seemed more distant from public consciousness. But while he can’t broadcast out, those same platforms offer a surprisingly intimate glimpse into his new life, thanks to the prolific posting of the club’s guests. At every moment of his day, Trump is bathed in adulation. When he enters the dining room, people stand and applaud. When he returns from golf, he’s met with squeals and selfie requests. When he leaves Mar-a-Lago, he often encounters flag-waving throngs organized by Willy Guardiola, a former professional harmonica player and anti-abortion activist who runs weekly pro-Trump rallies in Palm Beach. “Give me four hours and I can pull together 500 people,” Guardiola says. Trump recently invited the self-proclaimed “biggest Trump supporter in the country” for a private consultation at his club.

In this gilded Biosphere, Trump encounters no one who isn’t vocally gratified by his presence. When he speaks extemporaneously, so many guests post footage that you can watch the same weird scene unfold from multiple vantage points, like the Japanese film Rashomon. Trump seems so comfortable, the journalist and Instagram sleuth Ashley Feinberg has noted, that he’s taken to wearing the same outfit for days on end. Blue slacks, white golf shirt, and red MAGA cap are to the former president what the black Mao suit is to his old frenemy Kim Jong Un. Club members say his new lifestyle agrees with him. “Presidents when they finish always look so much older,” says Thomas Peterffy, the billionaire founder of Interactive Brokers LLC, who lives three doors down from Mar-a-Lago. “Not true for Trump.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-06-10/florida-s-trump-coast-near-mar-a-lago-houses-beating-heart-of-gop

Not sure if this is Al Pacino in Godfather or Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows. Maybe it’s an equal mix of each one. Actually maybe it’s more Danny DeVito in “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!”. Think of this as “Stop! Or My Former President Will Shoot!”. Thank you graphics department for that one! But that said, here’s where it gets scary. 30% of republicans think that Trump is going to be reinstated in August. I guess when you believe lies long enough they eventually become fact.

Even though the U.S. Constitution includes no mechanism that would allow the “reinstatement” of a president who lost an election, a new poll shows nearly a quarter of Americans — including 30% of Republican voters — believe it’s “likely” former President Donald Trump returns to the White House this year, a recent poll from The Hill/HarrisX shows.

While the former president looms large over the Republican Party and may run again in 2024, he will not be reinstated to office this year. Legal experts say the notion is pure fiction — a conspiracy theory promulgated by My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell that Trump has floated to confidants, according to The New York Times and The National Review.

But HarrisX’s survey of nearly 1,000 registered voters last week shows similar results to a Politico/Morning Consult poll that found nearly a third of Republicans say it’s likely Trump takes over for President Joe Biden sometime later this year.

The idea is linked to Trump’s repeated baseless claims that widespread election fraud or irregularities cost him the White House. In fact, Biden won by more than 7 million popular votes and bested Trump in the Electoral College 306 to 232. Congress certified the electoral count in January despite the failed, deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump followers.
https://www.masslive.com/politics/2021/06/30-of-republican-voters-agree-with-donald-trump-reinstatement-conspiracy-theory-poll-shows.html

Yeah probably! In fact the reinstatement theory is too far for some. In fact our old friend Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q – Batshit) thinks that people who believe the reinstatement theory are too far gone from society. Now when you’re too batshit for Marjorie Taylor Greene, or as I like to call her “Q Anon Barbie”, you’re pretty far gone! So yeah I would tell the Trumpers to let that one seep in because they already are too far gone. Yeah just like the Eagles song!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rejected the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump will be reinstated as president in August.

She dismissed it while speaking to Steve Bannon on his "War Room: Pandemic" show, hosted by the fringe right-wing network Real America's Voice.

"I want people to be careful in what they believe," the Georgia Republican said.

"It's going to be very difficult to overturn the 2020 election, and so I'd hate for anyone to get their hopes up thinking that President Trump is going to be back in the White House in August," she said. "Because that's not true."

The conspiracy theory that Trump will soon be reinstated as president has gained traction among prominent supporters including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and the lawyer Sidney Powell.
https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-rejects-trump-reinstatement-conspiracy-theory-2021-7

[font size="8"]Is It Racist?
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From: Idiots #10-7

Aisha H. from Athens, Georgia writes:

“Why do white boys always have to flaunt their racism in public?”

Well we don’t have an answer for that, but when guys like John Schnatter literally can’t help themselves, well, we expect it to get worse!

Hey everyone it’s time to play the hot new game that’s sweeping the nation!

And we always say that if you have to ask, it’s probably racist! And there’s plenty of it this week. I want to start with racist pizza. Note: do not call your new band “Racist Pizza”. But I’m of course talking about our old buddy John Schnatter. You know him best as the founder of Papa John’s Pizza. A company that has seen its’ brand turned from the preferred pizza of frat boy stoners everywhere to the preferred pizza of racist frat boys everywhere (see: Top 10 #3-21 ). Yes, Papa John’s may be the official pizza of the Alt Right, but that hasn’t stopped Papa John himself from being as batshit crazy as ever. He may have had a change of heart on the subject, but he’s really telling the wrong people that he’s had a change of heart on the subject.

John Schnatter, the founder and former chief executive of Papa John’s pizza, has been trying “to get rid of this N-word in my vocabulary” ever since he lost his role as the public face of the company for using it – more than two years ago.

Schnatter resigned as Papa John’s chairman in July 2018, after an explosive report by Forbes detailed a conference call in which he “used the N-word” and “reflected on his early life in Indiana, where, he said, people used to drag African Americans from trucks until they died”.

Earlier this month, Schnatter told far-right TV network OAN he was the victim of a targeted coup perpetrated by a left-leaning sports and entertainment entrepreneur, business rivals and board members looking to profit from his demise.

“I used to lay in bed just goin’, ‘How did they do this?’” he said. “And we’ve had three goals for the last 20 months: to get rid of this N-word in my vocabulary and dictionary and everything else, because it’s just not true; figure out how they did this; and get on with my life.”

He also suggested that the Papa John’s board took advantage of his problems, even though he said they knew he wasn’t a racist.

“All the stars were aligned perfectly with one motive,” he said. “And that is to get rid of me.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/09/papa-johns-founder-john-schnatter-n-word

How about this - you want to prove you're not a racist? Maybe don't go on OAN to tell people that you're not a racist! OAN: It's like what Fox News would be if it were run by your racist uncle! So yeah is it racist? Of course it fucking is! You might as well have a Confederate flag backdrop while telling OAN that you’ve been trying to stop using the N word! Next up – racist talk shows! Look, I will admit that I am a huge Ozzy Osbourne fan and I love Black Sabbath. But Sharon Osbourne has always been despicable – so the question is, IS IT RACIST??

CBS says its daytime show “The Talk” will stay on hiatus for another week after a discussion about racism involving co-host Sharon Osbourne went off the rails last week.

The network said in a statement that it is committed to “a process where all voices are heard, claims are investigated and appropriate action is taken where necessary.”

Osbourne reacted angrily last week during a discussion about British television personality Piers Morgan, who she describes as a friend. Morgan left the “Good Morning Britain” show after he said he didn’t believe Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, when she said in an interview that she had considered suicide when unhappy with her life in Britain’s royal family.

A fellow host, Sheryl Underwood, said to Osbourne on the show last Wednesday, “what would you say to people who may feel that, while you’re standing by your friend, it appears that you gave validation or safe haven to something that he has uttered that is racist, even if you don’t agree?” Underwood, like Markle, is Black.
https://apnews.com/article/the-talk-hiatus-sharon-osbourne-racism-cbs-15436d9b1d42a8793045815e4196618c

Well my fair virtual audience, I have to say… IS IT RACIST? And well yeah I think this one could easily qualify as racist, especially under my parameters! Next up – racist music! And while in this weird socially distant world in which we’re currently living, concerts are few and far between. But while conservatives are still railing on “cancel culture”, whatever that is, if you don’t want be canceled, maybe don’t put yourself in that position!

Flaw vocalist Chris Volz called out the sound engineers at a concert over the weekend while using the "N-word" and has since gone on to defend what he perceives as his right to do so in a social media post.

Metal Sucks posted video of the incident, which occurred this past Friday (March 12) at the WC Social Club in West Chicago, Illinois. In the video, it appears as though Volz is being yelled at from the audience before pointing out, "There's three of you N***As sitting right there. I'd like one of you to come up here. You're all white, so that's not racist."

During his onstage temper tantrum he went on to add, “One of you guys need to come up here. I want one of you to come up here and hear these center wedges before we finish, just so you know what I actually went through tonight and how badass it is that I actually had no wedges."

In response to their reluctance to join Volz onstage, he added, “Hey! I’m not fuckin’ around! One of you motherfuckers comes up onstage and listens to these wedges before we finish, otherwise you’re all getting rolled.”

Read More: Flaw Frontman Uses the 'N-Word' at Concert | https://loudwire.com/flaw-frontman-cancel-culture-criticism-using-n-word-concert/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Here’s the thing – maybe don’t use the N word, threaten to fight an audience member, then blame it on cancel culture. That’s entirely on you! You’re a racist! We don’t even have to guess at that one! Finally this week – racist reality shows! I’m of course talking about The Bachelor – which is inexplicably still on the air after what seems like 10,000,000 seasons. And when you’re on the air that long, and it’s unscripted, you’re probably going to say or do something that one might consider to be well, racist.

It’s impossible to watch the latest episode of "The Bachelor" without thinking about the explosion inside the franchise this past week.

Chris Harrison, the host of the franchise since its 2002 debut, announced Saturday he would be "stepping aside" from the show "for a period of time" and won't appear in Matt James' "After the Final Rose" special in March, following backlash for defending current front-runner Rachael Kirkconnell, who apologized last week for "offensive and racist" actions.

A deluge of prominent former franchise stars and contestants have since spoken out, pushing for Harrison's resignation, applauding Rachel Lindsay – the franchise's first Black star, who was interviewing Harrison when he made the comments – and calling for those who work on and watch the show to take greater action to fight racism.

All this offscreen controversy makes for a strange viewing experience, particularly in a later scene in which singer Aloe Blacc, an outspoken social justice activist, performs a private show for Kirkconnell and James.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/02/16/bachelor-recap-chris-harrison-rachael-racism-controversy-looms-aloe-blacc/4482782001/

[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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From: Idiots #11-5

Melissa H. from New Haven, CT writes:

“Hey Top 10, I can’t wait for the Holy Shit spinoff! This is very exciting! Maybe you’ll be as big as that church from Australia!”

Hey Melissa! We can’t wait for the Holy Shit spinoff either! We love your enthusiasm! We wish! Though one of the world’s biggest churches certainly isn’t with it’s share of problems!

Spin it to win it! Come on no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop! And it’s one of our patented clips without context!

https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1424730511658950659

And if you want to meet Jesus, all you have to do is follow Pastor Feuerstein’s advice! Spin it again! Oh hey it’s time for Holy Shit!

Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:

My fair congregation! You know religion is something that is global, and it is seen and heard around this great big world of ours. But even the most global of churches can hide a dark and sinister side. One of the most global churches is Hillsong Church out of Australia. They’re a group with a global following which includes sold out concerts and conferences, and multi-platinum albums, and even celebrity fans like Justin Bieber and Kanye West. But they are in a lot of trouble with the feds and it’s not good. Let’s face it – they are not so much a church as they are a full blown cult. So just how much trouble are they in? Well it’s not something that the good LAWRD JAYSUS would want, and it’s of course that they are supporters of the unholy, ungodly Dark One! But Hillsong is led by Brian Houston, a man who could be in some very deep trouble!

Hillsong founder Brian Houston has broken his silence and expressed devastation over allegations he concealed his father's sexual abuse of a young boy.

Houston, 67, was charged by police in his home state of NSW last Thursday, accused of concealing his dead father Frank's historic sexual abuse of a seven-year-old boy.

He has vowed to 'vehemently' defend the case in court but faces up to five years behind bars if found guilty.

Despite the serious charges, Houston remains in America where he hosted a series of church services in Springfield and Kansas City in Missouri on Sunday.

Houston briefly commented on the charges against him when he confronted by a reporter while leaving his hotel before dodging further questions.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9874741/Hillsong-founder-Brian-Houston-responds-allegations-concealed-fathers-sexual-abuse-boy.html

You know we’ve covered sex scandals and abuses on this program before so there’s nothing we can do to make fun of this. But we can make fun of the abusers right? Though I am reminded of what it says in the Good Book, you can count on that. Although “you’re ashamed”? That’s the best you could come up with, seriously? But guess what – Pastor Houston met with the unholy Dark One himself! That’s right you can’t make this stuff up folks!

The US journalist who broke the story of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's involvement in trying to secure an invitation to a 2019 White House dinner for Hillsong founder Brian Houston says sources described a "sphere of bad news" and "scandal" surrounding the controversial pastor.

They expressed no suspicions about Brian Houston personally.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse heard that Frank Houston, Brian's father, had admitted to sexually abusing a child decades earlier.

Last week, NSW Police charged Brian Houston with failing to report this alleged abuse to police.

Mr Houston has denied any wrongdoing, and said in a statement that the charge has come as a shock to him.

The police investigation into the pastor's alleged conduct began at around the same time as the Prime Minister was preparing for a state visit to the White House in September 2019.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-10/journalist-fleshes-out-white-house-state-dinner-scoop/100365402

Yeah so make no mistake that when you’re dealing with the Unholy Dark One, that you are making a deal with the Devil himself! But here’s the even more disturbing thing about this church – Pastor Houston was not the only pastor who was accused of abuse! There’s also this story out of Hillsong’s New York City chapter that also broke this year regarding the church! Which just begs the question – what kind of people are they looking for when they hire new pastors?

In mid-November 2020, a crisis manager from the public relations firm Sunshine Sachs took on a new client: Carl Lentz, former head of Hillsong Church’s four locations in the American Northeast. Hillsong is an Australia-based megachurch that averages more than 150,000 weekly congregants at satellites in 30 countries. It is also a multimedia conglomerate that produces documentaries, books, and chart-topping musical acts. After joining Hillsong as head pastor of the New York outpost in 2010, Lentz quickly became the church’s most recognizable face. Liberally tattooed, elaborately coiffed, and often dressed like a teenage hypebeast, Lentz, 42, achieved mild mainstream fame based on his proximity and access to the millennial celebrities in his flock: Justin and Hailey Bieber, Vanessa Hudgens, Kevin Durant, Selena Gomez. Tens of thousands of urban evangelical professionals followed Lentz for his soaring sermons at weekly services that resembled rock concerts.

But in late 2020, Lentz needed a new path. On November 4, Hillsong’s global senior pastor and founder, Brian Houston, publicly fired Lentz and his wife of 17 years, Laura, pointing to “leadership issues and breaches of trust, plus a recent revelation of moral failures.” On Instagram the next day, Carl Lentz paired a photo of his family decked out in formal attire at the Biebers’ wedding with a confession:

On November 9, Ranin Karim, a 34-year-old jewelry designer and actor with a septum piercing and her own sleeves of tattoos, described a monthslong tequila-drenched love affair with Lentz in interviews with The Sun, the New York Post, and others. She said Lentz introduced himself as a sports agent in Williamsburg’s Domino Park and called her his “Middle Eastern unicorn woman.” Laura Lentz discovered the affair after a Hillsong staffer saw Lentz’s messages on his office computer. With the tabloids feasting on his humiliation, Lentz’s new P.R. advisers believed his return began with three months out of public view, followed by a news cycle dominating mea maxima culpa—perhaps, as suggested for a time, in this magazine.
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/02/carl-lentz-and-the-trouble-at-hillsong

But that could be a lot of them, Reverend! For you see Hillsong has an abuse problem on its’ hands and it’s not going away any time soon. In fact there’s now a third scandal breaking out of Montclair, New Jersey and it’s another one worth keeping tabs on! But really what’s tempting the members of Hillsong that they keep finding ways to cheat on their wives and abuse people? I’m almost starting to think it’s a regular feature with this cult church!

Pastor Darnell Barrett of Hillsong Church resigned on Tuesday after sharing explicit photos to at least one of his followers, a woman, on Instagram, something he claims was a mistake and not an attempt to lure the woman.

The married creative director of Hillsong's Montclair, New Jersey, chapter is the latest pastor from the celebrity-loved mega church to resign amid a sex-related scandal.

In photos posted by Daily Mail, Barrett, 32, shared pictures two days in a row of him shirtless after a workout wearing Nike Pro Compression Tights that exposed him.

Barrett – who previously appeared on Steve Harvey's talk show – wrote that "depression and anxiety got the best of me in the last 30 hours" in text written over the pictures he posted to his Close Friends list on Instagram, saying the gym is what's been helping him get out of bed, the photos obtained by Daily Mail show.
https://people.com/human-interest/hillsong-pastor-darnell-barrett-quits-following-scandal-after-sharing-revealing-photos/

That was perfect for that! But yes… beware the cult of Hillsong for they are not to be trusted with their leadership! And let’s not forget that case of vaccine denial from Northern California this week. So they’ve got some problems and they’re not going away any time soon! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:

[font size="8"]This Fucking Guy: Dana White & Joe Rogan
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From: Idiots #10-13

Wes P. from Peoria, IL writes:

“You know the right wing gives colleges a hard time for being “indoctrination centers”. But everyone I know who follows UFC is a batshit crazy right winger. How come no one ever says UFC is an indoctrination center? Come for the fights, stay for the brainwashing!”

Ha ha ha ha ha!!! Good point! With guys like Dana White and Joe Rogan at the head of this organization, something tells me they should be investigated!

This week we’re profiling not one but two guys for the This Fucking Guy title crown this week. And those happen to be UFC head honcho Dana White and UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan. So while COVID seems to be waning and America is opening back up after being closed down for a year, this fucking guy Dana White has what one might call “the wrong idea” about how to do things. Yes we’re all desperate to get back to the way things were, but it’s not like we can turn a switch back on the same way we turned it off. But before we get to Joe Rogan, we have to talk about what UFC President Dana White is up to. And he’s certifiably batshit crazy. And I think it’s hilarious that the people who denounce politics in sports go on the most polarizing political talk shows to state their case.

Dana White—the Ultimate Fighting Championship president who spent the last four years campaigning for former President Donald Trump on a wide range of platforms—claims to dislike political messaging in sports.

Speaking to conservative talk show host and right-wing operative Candace Owens, White bemoaned the supposed politicization of sports leagues such as the NBA and the NFL while suggesting that the UFC would never participate in anything he deems “negative.”

“When you watch sports, you’re tuning in to get away from all the crap that’s going on in your life,” White told Owens in an interview for her show, “Candace,” on The Daily Wire’s video roster. “Whether it’s personal, professional, political, whatever’s going on in the world, that’s your time where you tune in. Never once did we talk about COVID, we didn’t talk politics, we didn’t talk about anything negative that was going on. When you come in and you watch two or three hours of our fights, you’re tuning in for fights. You’re coming in to watch a sport. You want to hear all that crap, watch any other channel.”

While White claims that his mixed martial arts league is an apolitical entity, his actions tell a vastly different story. The UFC president spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican National Convention, campaigned for Trump in his native Las Vegas, defended Trump’s controversial policies on UFC programming, produced a propaganda documentary titled “Combatant-in-Chief,” and hosted the former president at UFC events in the past. Despite White’s and the UFC’s overt relationship with Trump and his administration, White insisted that the UFC would not be pressured by the current political dynamics in the United States. Instead, he blamed so-called woke culture and cancel culture for the issues facing sports leagues.
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/pro-trump-ufc-president-appears-on-candace-owens-show-to-bemoan-politics-in-sports/

And you know what? Here’s the thing Dana – you’re so intent on keeping politics out of sports, yet you keep going on political talk shows to demean politics in sports! How about this? Maybe, I don’t know, don’t go on fucking Sean Hannity to promote your beliefs of politics in sports! That I believe is the textbook definition of insanity, am I right? Yeah no really this fucking guy… like really most of us don’t care, and then there’s Dana White who we think protests just a little too much.

UFC president Dana White told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he tries to keep his sport separated from politics.

Appearing on Hannity’s show Monday night, the UFC chief chalked up his sport’s recent success, in part, to his effort to keep mixed martial arts from getting political.

“One of the things that I really tried to do through this whole thing is stay out of politics,” White said. “When people tune in to watch sports, they don’t want to hear that crap. They don’t want to hear what your opinions are, or who you’re voting for, or what you’re doing. They want to get away from everything in their life, and they want to focus on [for] two, three, four hours, however long the sport is … throughout this pandemic, when you turned on the UFC, we never talked about Covid. We never talked about politics.”

White went on to note that he was not referring to individual fighters — as the UFC chief said it was not his aim to “muzzle” the athletes. Similarly, White, in his personal capacity, has not been shy about expressing his own opinions. In August, he spoke in support of then-President Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention.
https://www.mediaite.com/sports/ufc-president-dana-white-tells-fox-news-sean-hannity-i-try-to-keep-my-sport-out-of-politics/

But then Dana White wouldn’t be anything without this fucking guy – Joe Rogan. If you think Dana White going on political talk shows to denounce politics in sports is bad, wait until you see what his buddy Joe Rogan is peddling! Joe Rogan, this fucking guy. How does this fucking guy have millions of fans? And especially when he’s peddling such dangerous information about vaccines such as this. Is the UFC a sports competition league or is it a far right indoctrination center disguised as a sports league? Well if you’re Dana White and Joe Rogan, it’s a combination of both.

Joe Rogan, the host of one of the most popular podcasts in the world, is facing criticism after claiming that healthy young people shouldn't "worry about" getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Joe Rogan Experience host made his comments encouraging young listeners not to get a COVID-19 vaccine if they're "healthy" during a recent episode of his show, as Media Matters for America reported.

"If you're like 21 years old and you say to me, 'Should I get vaccinated,' I go, 'No,'" Rogan said. "Are you healthy? Are you a healthy person? ... If you're a healthy person and you're exercising all the time and you're young and you're eating well, I don't think you need to worry about this."

Health experts, in fact, have been urging adults of all ages to get vaccinated against COVID-19 regardless of whether they're in a high-risk group so that the United States can achieve herd immunity and end the pandemic. The CDC has noted that data suggests fully vaccinated people largely "do not carry the virus," meaning those at lower risk would be helping protect others from COVID-19 by getting a vaccine.
https://news.yahoo.com/joe-rogan-tells-massive-audience-202457655.html

Yeah really, don’t listen to this guy, especially when he’s creating new headaches for his employers at Spotify. In fact it’s sent lots of people into some serious damage control – even Dr. Fauci has said that Rogan’s comments are incorrect and we’ve pointed out how dangerous and stupid this kind of anti-vaccine misinformation can be (see: Top 10 #10-10 ). We cannot emphasize this enough people – take the damn vaccine! Even Joe Rogan himself was forced to walk back his own dangerous advice after being called out for it on social media and John Oliver’s show. I mean whew, this fucking guy!

"I am not a respected source of information," the Spotify podcast host said Thursday.

Joe Rogan on Thursday addressed comments he previously made on his popular Spotify podcast in which he said young, healthy people should skip the COVID-19 vaccination. The remarks came under fire, even being addressed by Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease doctor.

During the latest installment of The Joe Rogan Experience, the comic-actor said he was not a doctor and that he believes younger people should be vaccinated because even if they are not severely impacted by the virus themselves, they could still spread it to others who are not as fortunate.

"I am not an anti-vax person," Rogan said. "In fact, I said I believe they are safe and I encourage many people to take them. I just said if you're a young healthy person, you don't need it. Their argument was you need it for other people. But that's a different conversation. And yes, that makes sense."
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/joe-rogan-walks-back-covid-19-comments-i-am-not-an-anti-vaxx-person

Yeah so going on political shows to denounce politics in sports and peddling dangerous anti-vaccine information, and possibly hosting super-spreader events. That’s Joe Rogan and Dana White – this week’s:

[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner
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From: Idiots #11-2

Lisa K. from Buffalo, New York writes:

“I love you Top 10! When are you coming to New York again? Can you come up state soon? Also, why are the MAGAs so easily swindled? Thank you!”

We appreciate your support! Unfortunately COVID has kind of complicated our travel plans a bit but we are planning a return to upstate New York for season 12! To answer your question, we don’t know, but they do seem to fall for scammers, hustlers, and swindlers! Of course it’s a deep state conspiracy to them.

Welcome back to our segment that attempts to explain the unexplainable – Conspiracy Corner! We’re coming to you live from our underground doomsday bunker deep in the alkali flats of the New Mexico badlands – undisclosed location of course! Let me just adjust my trusty tin foil hat for maximum government interference – they are trying to read your thoughts you know! Well last week it was announced that a 22 year old bitcoin millionaire has come up with a communication device meant specifically for conservatives, MAGAs, and insurrectionists! But you know what? Why don’t I tell it in the form of an infomercial! Excuse me a minute… Tired of the same old $1200 smartphones and the app store that bans the apps that you want to use? Well why don’t you try… the Freedom Phone? It does everything your current phone does, except it has a crappier screen and is essentially a cheap Chinese knock off product with a 500% markup! Here’s more!

The Freedom Phone is a smartphone created by Erik Finman that claims to promote “free speech and privacy first,” according to the company’s website.

The phone has its own app store where no information is censored, allowing customers to read and watch whatever they want.

It also contains preloaded conservative apps, including ones that were banned by other app stores.

The freedom phone operates with its own software FreedomOS and has massive memory space, fast processors, front and back cameras, and all-day battery life.
What carrier does the Freedom Phone work with and how can I buy it?

The Freedom Phone works with major carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, & Sprint, and all other domestic & international ones.

The smartphone is available for purchase on the Freedom Phone’s website and will begin shipping in August of 2021.
https://www.the-sun.com/lifestyle/3284914/what-is-the-freedom-phone/

But wait there’s more! Sure you get your own operating system and a whole host of “unbannable” apps on the app store, but you know what else you get? A security nightmare! That’s right – the phone comes with an unsecured version of Android that poses risks to cyber security experts! So yeah once again the saying is true – if you fall for a con artist, don’t be surprised when you get conned! And that’s exactly what you get when you buy a Freedom Phone!

Ah, there’s nothing quite like the sweet smell of an easily debunked scam in the morning. Yesterday bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman unveiled the “Freedom Phone,” which he says is the “first major pushback on the Big Tech companies that attacked us - for just thinking different.” Turns out it’s just a super-cheap Android phone — and a security hellhole, at that.

The teaser video for Finman’s phone is so earnest it begins to read as a parody of itself before he’s even shown off the device. “The Big Tech overlords are violating your privacy and censoring your speech and I think that’s so wrong,” Finman narrates. “That’s why I created the Freedom Phone.”

Finman claims the Freedom Phone is truly the best phone in the world. He says it does everything your current phone does — except censor you and spy on you. It runs an operating system called “FreedomOS” and includes an app store called the “PatriApp Store.” (Are we sure this isn’t just a parody video?)

If it wasn’t clear from Finman’s cringey video, the Freedom Phone is a straight-up scam. And one that somehow manages to be worse at keeping your data secure than an average smartphone. Nice.
https://www.inputmag.com/tech/surprise-erik-finmans-freedom-phone-is-a-scam-a-privacy-horror

I mean come on, seriously! Was that a parody or what? And by the way if you’re one of those super paranoid Alex Jones types who thinks that the government is watching your every move, you might actually be right if you buy one of these! But yes, to quote Homer Simpson, this whole thing is a scam, or possibly scamola. But making money off the MAGA crowd is seriously like shooting fish in a barrel. But while it may be easy to make money off the MAGAs, it’s posing some security risks!

Security experts are raising concerns over the “Freedom Phone,” a new device touted by prominent conservatives as both secure and censorship-resistant.

Unveiled on Wednesday by Erik Finman, the world’s youngest bitcoin millionaire, the $500 Freedom Phone claims to offer a series of robust privacy features as well as an uncensorable app store.

Finman states the Freedom Phone runs on a custom Android operating system known as “FreedomOS” and provides access to apps such as Parler, the social media service which had previously been banned from app stores in the wake of the Capitol riot.

The phone’s launch also came alongside numerous endorsements from popular right-wing figures such as Jack Posobiec and Candace Owens, who both offered their followers discount codes for the device. It remains unclear whether either individual is receiving financial kickbacks for promoting the Freedom Phone.
https://www.dailydot.com/debug/freedom-phone-security-issues/

But wait there’s more! Buy the Freedom Phone now and you’ll not only get the security risks that come with it, but you’ll get apps loaded with porn spammers, malware, and hacking bots! Don’t be surprised when your credit card and identity are stolen if you buy anything through the apps! You know what? I’ll sleep easier at night knowing that I bought a phone that’s not a security risk. But here’s the thing- by paying $500 for a $130 phone, not only are you getting ripped off big time, you’re not really free from anything. But as PT Barnum once famously said – there’s a sucker born every minute!

It’s not every day that a new smartphone company pops up, claiming to offer a device that protects your “freedom of speech” from Big Tech. So, when Erik Finman, a self-proclaimed “Bitcoin millionaire,” announced the Freedom Phone yesterday, it piqued our interest. Finman claims that the Freedom Phone is “the first major pushback on Big Tech companies that attacked us [American conservatives],” and it features an “uncensorable app store” that will offer all the apps that have been banned on mainstream app stores. But is the phone actually all that Finman claims it to be? Let’s find out.

Before we talk about the phone itself, let’s establish some context. During the 2020 US Presidential Election run, Google removed the Parler app from the Play Store for lack of user-generated content moderation. On the other hand, Twitter permanently suspended former US President Donald Trump’s account for tweets that were “in violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy.” These two incidents, along with several others, led many right-wing people to believe that big tech companies like Twitter, Google, Facebook, and Amazon were biased against them and were violating their freedom of speech. According to Finman, the Freedom Phone will help users prevent such incidents, and his announcement video specifically mentions the Twitter ban on former US President Donald Trump as an inspiration for making the device.
https://www.xda-developers.com/freedom-phone-overpriced-smartphone/

[font size="8"]I Need A Drink
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From: Idiots #11-3

George C. from Mesa, Colorado writes:

“Hey Top 10, did you see where Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson had a penis measuring contest in space and everyone was making jokes about it on Twitter?”

Yes we did, although thanks to our good friend alcohol, we don’t remember much of it!

So of course you know by now that the idea behind this segment is that we have some drinks and while we’re drinking we talk about literally anything that’s not directly related to politics and/or coronavirus, because there’s a lot of dark shit out there. We take a look at the lighter side of the news here. This week, we’re going to talk about the Space Race. Those of you who are old enough will remember when we had a space race, it was between the USA and Russia. And guess what? We won! This week, it’s not quite the same. In one corner, we have Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. And in the other corner, we have Virgin Media CEO Richard Branson. And unlike the last space race, no matter who wins this time around, everybody loses! So tell me bartender, what goes well with a story about space? An anti-gravity cocktail? What’s in that? Eh, I’ll just have my usual Jack Daniels mixed with Jack Daniels. I call it the Double Jack. Anyways the Space Race 2021 isn’t so much an actual attribute to man kind’s quest to conquer the stars, so much as it is the world’s largest penis measuring contest.

Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft.

The Amazon founder was accompanied by a hand-picked group: his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas — the youngest and oldest to ever fly in space.

“Best day ever!” Bezos said when the capsule touched down on the desert floor in remote West Texas after the 10-minute flight.

Named after America’s first astronaut, Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket soared on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a date chosen by Bezos for its historical significance. He held fast to it, even as Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson pushed up his own flight from New Mexico and beat him to space by nine days.
https://apnews.com/article/jeff-bezos-space-e0afeaa813ff0bdf23c37fe16fd34265

That’s actual footage of the launch by the way! So whether you were team Blue Origin or Team New Horizons, basically you were rooting for chrome dick, or chrome plated dick. And by the way can we discuss those names for a minute? It’s like if you asked a marketing major who knows nothing about science fiction to come up with a name for something that sounds science-fictiony. But in case you’re wondering why Jeff Bezos’ rocket looks like that, we got an answer for that! Maybe.

Jeff Bezos’s 11-minute trip aboard a Blue Origin rocket to the edge of space on Tuesday left the world’s richest man feeling “unbelievably good” and his crew “very happy”. But afterwards, as he wondered aloud how fast he could refuel, the rest of the world was left pondering just why the New Shepard rocket had such a distinctive shape.

As social media erupted with innuendo, we contacted a few experts to find out why it looked, in the words of one astrophysicist, so “anthropomorphic”. At one major research institution, the press officer referred us to the gender studies department, but Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was able to shed some light on the topic.

As social media erupted with innuendo, we contacted a few experts to find out why it looked, in the words of one astrophysicist, so “anthropomorphic”. At one major research institution, the press officer referred us to the gender studies department, but Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was able to shed some light on the topic.

New Shepard consists of a mushroom-like crew capsule that flares out over a long shaft, called a booster. The rounded top appears more bulbous than that of many other rockets, but it’s not unique. “There’s a long history of what we call hammerhead rockets,” on which the capsule’s diameter is wider than the booster, said McDowell. “If you’re careful, it actually has perfectly fine aerodynamics.”
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/20/jeff-bezos-rocket-design-an-inquiry

Which begs the question – if you believe that space exploration is but a fevered pipe dream for the billionaire class – well, you’re absolutely 100% correct on this one! Because the New York Times calculated exactly how much an actual ticket on Virgin’s Virgin Orbit service will cost you, and you’d better have at least a cool million stashed if you’re going to blast off into space!

For the first flight, Blue Origin auctioned off one of the seats with the proceeds going to Mr. Bezos’ space-focused nonprofit, Club for the Future. The winning bid was $28 million, an amount that stunned even Blue Origin officials, far higher than they had hoped. Blue Origin announced it will distribute $19 million of that to 19 space-related organizations — $1 million each.

The 7,600 people who participated in the auction provided Blue Origin with a list of prospective paying customers, and the company has started selling tickets for subsequent flights.

Blue Origin has declined to say what the price is or how many people have signed up, but representatives of the company say there is strong demand.

“Our early flights are going for a very good price,” Bob Smith, the chief executive of Blue Origin, said during a news conference on Sunday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/science/cost-to-fly-blue-origin-bezos.html

Hey bartender! I need a refill! And in case you’re wondering just how deep this rivalry between two guys who have more money than ½ the world’s population does, well it’s much more than just a giant penis measuring contest. It’s also the quest to get likes on Facebook and Twitter. Because while you’re watching them measure their dicks, you’re also enabling them to say shit on social media while you’re working the graveyard shift at an Amazon warehouse. Yeah… think about it!

The battle of which billionaire-backed space company can fly higher is on.

As the suborbital spaceflight company Virgin Galactic counts down to the launch of its billionaire founder Richard Branson on Sunday (July 11), its biggest competitor Blue Origin, which will launch its own founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos on July 20, is ramping up its opposition marketing.

Blue Origin announced its launch date in May and auctioned off a ride to space from West Texas with Bezos for $28 million last month. On July 1, Virgin Galactic announced its own launch of Branson, three crewmates and two pilots. Their liftoff from the skies over New Mexico will be a full 9 days ahead of Blue Origin.

So it's no surprise if Blue Origin is a bit miffed to be beat.

On Twitter today (July 9), Blue Origin released an infographic taking swipes at the competition, focusing on matters such as the higher environmental impact of Virgin Galactic's Unity space plane, its smaller windows and lack of escape system. Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital capsule has huge windows, creates water vapor exhaust and has an escape system. (This was despite Branson denying on the Today Show just days ago that he was jousting with Bezos: "I know nobody will believe me when I say it, but honestly, there isn't [competition]," he said.)
https://www.space.com/blue-origin-throws-shade-at-virgin-galactic-ahead-of-launch

[font size="8"]Red State Diaries
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From: Idiots #11-6

Anna R. from Rapid City, South Dakota writes:

“Hey Top 10, I might be a rare democrat in South Dakota. But why do we have to put up with these right wing assholes every year?”

Well the Sturgis Biker Rally wasn’t a Gathering Of The MAGAs until COVID happened but now it’s a moron convention and a super spreader! Be afraid!

Welcome back to our ongoing exploration of what the MAGA cult has been up to since the 2020 election in Red State Diaries! Last week we told you about the many varieties of right wing social media that you can choose from, and there are many. And all have pretty much the same racist and hateful user base you’ve come to expect from the MAGA cult. This week we’re going to take a look at all of the crazy shit that went down in South Dakota at the annual Sturgis Biker Rally. Last year, the Sturgis rally got hijacked by the MAGA crowd and became an anti-COVID movement for right wing deplorables everywhere. And this year? They’re coming back for more! And I mean come on, is anyone really *THAT* surprised that vendors at Sturgis are selling NAZI branded merchandise? There’s no mistake that the MAGA brand and the NAZI brand have a lot in common. But yeah that happened!

Different symbols and flags like swastikas and confederate flags can be found around the rally at different vendors, but one vendor claims this is more about business and giving the cyclists what they want.

“A lot of bikers, you know, its freedom thing. A lot of bikers want to be free and voice their opinion and I like to cater to what they want. It doesn’t mean that I necessarily believe in everything but, you know, I like to please everybody,” said one vendor, Jenny Alonso.

Alonso said the history behind bikers and swastikas goes back to World War II when US soldiers would bring back Nazi memorabilia they won in the war to hang on their bikes.

“So, we’re kind of honoring that not necessarily that, you know, we believe in Nazis and Hitler, but it’s just kind of a special thing that the US military was able to go and win the war and bring things back as souvenirs and they would put them on their bike,” said Alonso.
https://www.kotatv.com/2021/08/10/freedom-speech-or-fostering-hate/

But here’s the thing – when you attract the worst of us and over 700,000 of the worst of us, you’re going to see some shit. The Sturgis rally used to be the world’s largest gathering of biker enthusiasts. But recently it’s been hijacked by deplorables and especially last year. This year it’s about the same, and don’t expect next year’s to be any better or worse. But that said, I’m absolutely shocked that there would be sex trafficking at the rally. Wait, isn’t that what the Q fans accuse us of? Oh fuck it’s hard to decipher their bullshit sometimes.

Every year, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally brings in hundreds of thousands of tourists to the Black Hills, and with the rise in tourists comes a rise in certain crimes.

During the Rally every year, multiple agencies throughout South Dakota conduct stings on sex trafficking operations. In 2021, nine men have been arrested and charged with a variety of offenses.

The mandatory minimum penalty upon conviction for Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet is 10 years up to life in federal prison; any term of years, not less than five, up to lifetime supervised release; $100 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund, and a $5,000 assessment if not indigent. Restitution may also be ordered.

The charges are merely accusations and all nine defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

https://www.newscenter1.tv/nine-charged-in-sturgis-rally-sex-trafficking-sting/

And then there’s the governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, who is a noted MAGA enthusiast, who is certainly not helping things. The other thing is that the MAGA crowd can make all of the comparisons to Lollapalooza they want. But the difference is that Lollapalooza was a success and a model for future festivals during this strange time that we live in. Whereas the MAGA crowd is reckless and stupid, and doesn’t care who they hurt along the way, as long as it makes liberals cry. Enough of that shit already!

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem praised the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that attracted hundreds of thousands of people, calling it "a fantastic event" as the Delta variant spreads across the state.

"I think it's interesting that this side, this political party, the Democrats, who embrace getting abortion on demand, are accusing us of embracing death when we're just allowing people to make personal choices and have personal responsibility over when they want to assemble, when they want to gather and spend time outdoors enjoying their way of life," Noem said on Friday in an interview with Fox News' Laura Ingraham.

"So we've had a fantastic event here in South Dakota," she said. "They're having a fantastic time. We're glad everybody made the trip to South Dakota."

The 10-day rally is set to end Sunday.

Meanwhile, the highly transmissable Delta variant continues to spread across the US alongside a spike in new cases reported in South Dakota, which has been adding hundreds of new cases per week over the last month.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/south-dakota-governor-calls-the-sturgis-rally-with-hundreds-of-thousands-of-attendees-a-fantastic-event-as-covid-19-cases-spike/ar-AANlziD

But you know what? Enough about the virus, I’m sure that everyone has had an assful of it and I know I have, believe me! But hey you know what, as long as Trump and MAGA friendly governors are at the helm guess what? It’s all about personal choices. Yeah? Well we’ll see about that three weeks from now, because as I mentioned with Lollapalooza, its’ done and we know the outcome. What’s the outcome going to be with this crowd? Anything like last year? Who knows?

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) defended
the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the state against critics who say it was irresponsible to have the event during a surge of COVID-19 cases.

“I think it’s interesting that this side, this political party, the Democrats, who embrace getting abortion on demand, are accusing us of embracing death when we’re just allowing people to make personal choices and have personal responsibility over when they want to assemble, when they want to gather and spend time outdoors enjoying their way of life,” Noem said Friday on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle.”

“So we’ve had a fantastic event here in South Dakota. The rally will end ... Sunday, I guess ... and they’re having a fantastic time.
We’re glad everybody made the trip to South Dakota,” she added.
(Now go home and spread the virus! )

Health officials expressed concerns about the rally becoming a superspreader event, with President Biden’s chief medical officer, Anthony Fauci, saying he was “very concerned” a surge of cases would come from the event.

"I mean, to me, it's understandable that people want to do the kinds of things they want to do. They want their freedom to do that. But there comes a time when you're dealing with a public health crisis that could involve you, your family and everyone else that something supersedes that need to do exactly what you want to do," Fauci said.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/567887-south-dakota-governor-defends-sturgis-rally-its-about-personal-choices

[font size="4"]Programming Note: [/font]

Folks, next week we’re taking a short unscheduled break so this will be our last Red State Diaries for a while because when we come back on 9/9 we’re going to switch gears for a couple of weeks with our new segment “Road To Recall” because we can’t stress enough how dire the California recall election is and how everyone must vote “NO” on the ballot! Red State Diaries will be back for our 10/9 edition! Fuck the hard right and their power grab attempt!

We’re taking a week off next week for Labor Day! See you in two weeks!

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August 19, 2021

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-6: Governors With Low Self Esteem Edition

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-6: Governors With Low Self Esteem Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! What’s up Las Vegas? Sin City! We are back! So how are you guys doing? You doing fucking good? Great! We’re very happy to be back in Sin City and it’s definitely been a while., I mean literally the last time we were here the world was on the verge of shutting down so it’s great to see things getting back up and running now, well at least sort of back up and running! And it was so great to have done the Wheel Of Corruption last week, man did I miss that! But we do have some great news – starting with our 9/9 edition we have live music back! And our first guest is none other than the almighty Weezer! That’s right – the Weez is stopping by to play from their new album “Van Weezer” which is great! And I don’t know if you saw our announcement on the Tweetsphere or not but when we come back on September 9th we are going to be temporarily dropping our exploration of the MAGA cult in “Red State Diaries” to bring you a new segment called “Road To Recall”. Folks, and especially those of you who live in California, I cannot stress enough how important it is to vote in this recall. Stop these fuckers from attempting a power grab in my great state. So we will be starting a 4 part series dedicated to the California recall and everything surrounding it. VOTE NO! It is important that we stop these fuckers in their tracks! OK enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first John Oliver is back and he discusses a very important cyber security issue:

**NOTE: Even though it is in the news right now we will *NOT* be covering the Andrew Cuomo story at least for the next couple of editions**

So where do we begin this week? Well in the number one slot this week is of course the Afghanistan SNAFU (1). Which is quite literally exactly what people predicted would happen several years ago. In the second slot this week is 2020 Election Conspiracy Theorists (2) because Dominion Voting Systems dropped the big one last week and right in the middle of Mike Lindell’s insane Cyber Symposium at that – and the lawsuits are allowed to proceed in full! Get the popcorn ready! In the number 3 slot this week is Ron DeSantis – and he’s rightfully earned the nickname Death Sentence (3), and also is a governor who is actually worthy of a recall election against him! Taking the number four slot is Congressional Trolls (4) which includes Marjorie Greene getting banned from Twitter, Rand Paul getting banned from Youtube, and a bonus – Rudy Guiliani is turning tricks on Cameo! Oh how the mighty have fallen! Taking the 5th slot this week, we have a new Top 10 Investigates (5) and this week – what’s up with Spirit Airlines? As the wheels of humanity start to turn again it’s wreaking havoc on the airline industry and low cost carriers are particularly feeling the pinch! In the number 6 slot this week is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6) and this week Christian pastors and churches are turning to historian David Barton – and this guy is peddling some absolutely dangerous misinformation about history to anyone who will listen. So who is he? We will tell you! In the number 7 slot this week is a new “Beating A Dead Horse” – Jeopardy has recruited a double round of hosts to replace the irreplaceable Alex Trebek – and fans aren’t happy about it one bit! Taking the number 8 slot this week is a new Conspiracy Corner (8) – how did Mike Lindell’s Cyber Symposium go? Well it went about as well as you might expect it would! In the number 9 (NEIN!!!) slot this week we have a new People Are Dumb, because of course they are! Finally this week we have a new edition of Red State Diaries (10) and what happened at the Sturgis Rally? Or as we’re now calling it the “Gathering Of The Deplorables”? Lots of insanity, that’s what! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]The War In Afghanistan: The End
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Those of us who lived through the George W. Bush years will remember what an absolute clusterfuck of a shit show the beginning of the War In Afghanistan over the 9/11 terrorist attacks were. Who knew we’d still be in it 20 years and trillions of dollars later? That’s right – we spent 20 years and 2 trillion dollars in an unjust war, and all we got was this lousy t-shirt. I actually wanted that as the title for this week’s edition but it was way too long. But anyway the end of the war is just as big of a clusterfuck as the beginning. And conservatives and Bernie Bros everywhere are eager to trash and slander Biden over this, but was it really his fault? Let’s take a look at the facts behind the withdrawl from Afghanistan and see where the real fault lies.

Joe Biden has said he could not see a way to withdraw from Afghanistan without “chaos ensuing”. In an exclusive interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, and the president’s first since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, President Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw troops when he did.

Ousted Afghan president Ashraf Ghani confirmed he was in the United Arab Emirates but said he was in “consultation” to return to Afghanistan.

Taliban militants attacked protesters in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday after they dared to take down their banner and replace it with the country’s flag, killing at least one person and fuelling fears about how the insurgents plan to govern.

A senior Taliban commander met a former Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, for talks on Wednesday, as the Taliban worked to establish a government in Afghanistan amid allegations of women and children being beaten and at least three protesters being shot dead.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/aug/18/afghanistan-live-news-updates-taliban-kabul-airport-deaths-afghan-crisis

Now you know here’s the thing – Fox News and conservatives are ready to rake Biden over the coals for Afghanistan but if you were to point out that the country’s president was in jail until Trump released him because reasons, they would cover their ears and go “la la la la la la la la”. Well there is some good news in the war on the Taliban – if you really want to fight someone, hit them where it hurts! And there’s no better place than in the pocketbook!

The Biden administration has frozen the Afghanistan government’s holdings in US banks, preventing the Taliban from accessing billions of dollars—a major, if indeterminate, part of the country’s foreign reserves.

Among the assets trapped in this freeze is a stash of gold bars deposited in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. According to figures published by Afghanistan’s central bank, the deposit amounted to roughly 22 tons of gold as of December 2020, the most recent date for which this data is available. At current prices benchmarked by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the gold is worth around $1.25 billion.

The gold represents more than a tenth of the reserves the Afghanistan government holds, in banks at home as well as in various countries including the US. The central bank, named Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), owned around $10 billion in reserve assets as of June, according to data published by the bank. In relative terms, this is a very significant figure for Afghanistan. By comparison, the country’s GDP in 2020 was roughly $20 billion, according to the World Bank.
https://qz.com/2049375/taliban-cant-touch-afghanistans-gold-stored-away-in-the-us/

Yeah so if you really want to fight a terrorist cell, don’t use missiles. Use PIN numbers! The thing is no matter which way you look at it, Afghanistan is an absolute mess right now and that always happens after a 20 year war and attempted regime change. But really in the grand scheme of things, there was no way an attempt at a peaceful withdrawl was going to happen. Chaos was always the plan, and Biden is the “remain calm, all is well” guy.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, and the president's first since the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, President Joe Biden stood firm in his defense of the United States' withdrawal, but asserted for the first time that he believes the chaos was unavoidable.

"So you don't think this could have been handled -- this exit could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes?" Stephanopoulos asked Biden.

"No, I don't think it could have been handled in a way that, we're gonna go back in hindsight and look -- but the idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens. I don't know how that happened," Biden replied.

* * *
"Now exactly what happened, I've not priced in," he said. "But I knew that they're going to have an enormous -- Look, one of the things we didn't know is what the Taliban would do in terms of trying to keep people from getting out. What they would do. What are they doing now? They're cooperating, letting American citizens get out, American personnel get out, embassies get out, et cetera, but they're having -- we're having some more difficulty having those who helped us when we were in there."

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/biden-says-he-did-not-see-a-way-to-withdraw-from-afghanistan-without-chaos-ensuing/ar-AANt9bm?ocid=msedgntp

But in case you’re wondering what Former Guy thought of the former Afghan president, well, let’s just say it’s exactly what you think that he would say. Actually it's even worse if you see the statements he's been putting out lately. Can we show that? Although here’s the thing – we don’t need that guy to go on Hannity and barf his brain about what *HE* would have done, because he always makes it about himself. Holy crap, I could have predicted he would be an unhinged lunatic and that Fox would go off the rails. Although we do have to roll that clip of Hannity plugging My Pillow, because that is fucking spectacular. But here’s what he said, and really, STFU Donny.

Republican former President Donald Trump has called Afghanistan's former President Ashraf Ghani "a total crook," adding, "He got away with murder."

Trump made his comments during a Tuesday night interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Hannity asked Trump about his dealings with Taliban leaders and the Afghan government as Trump prepared to withdraw U.S. military troops from the region.

First, Trump said that he negotiated with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, the Taliban's co-founder. Trump said he told the Taliban leader that the U.S. troop withdrawal was a "conditions-based agreement." If the Taliban harmed any Americans or allies, Trump said, the U.S. would retaliate by bombing the leader's home village as well as other parts the country.

"I wanted [the Taliban] to get a deal done with the Afghan government," Trump continued. "Now, I never had a lot of confidence, frankly, in Ghani. I said that openly and plainly I thought he was a total crook."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/donald-trump-calls-former-afghan-president-total-crook-says-he-got-away-with-murder/ar-AANrzta

Oh and here’s that clip for good measure – it’s pretty spectacular:

https://twitter.com/mmfa/status/1427740058891730946?s=20

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[font size="8"]Mike Lindell
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Hey look, we’ve already got an entire edition of Conspiracy Corner dedicated to Mike Lindell’s insane “Cyber Symposium” that was supposedly going to drop the big one that would cause the Supreme Court to rule 9 – 0 and reverse the 2020 election giving that guy power again. Well that didn’t happen, what we got was a whole lot of nothing. But what is real is the reason why Mike left the stage in the middle of the show when he said he wasn’t going to. Dominion Voting Systems dropped the big one against conspiracy theorists like Mike Lindell, Sydney Powell and Steve Bannon – their lawsuits are going to move forward! Yeah how about that! Let’s take these assholes down! And Dominion isn’t fucking around either – the charges against these kooks are very serious!

Three prominent allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump -Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell - on Wednesday lost a bid to dismiss multibillion dollar lawsuits saying their false claims about the 2020 presidential election defamed the Dominion voting equipment company.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington D.C. said in a written decision that lawsuits brought against the trio by Dominion Voting Systems should move forward. The company had said it was defamed because Trump and his supporters spread false claims that it rigged the election against him.

Nichols held that the First Amendment, which protects the right to free speech, offers "no blanket immunity" to Powell and Lindell in the lawsuits. Powell is a lawyer who later left the Trump campaign. Lindell is a conspiracy theorist who founded a pillow and bedding company.

The judge also rejected an argument by Giuliani, a former U.S. prosecutor and mayor of New York, that Dominion had not explained its request for money damages with enough specificity.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-allies-giuliani-powell-lose-bid-dismiss-dominion-lawsuits-2021-08-11/

Thank you Nelson! But now this has the conspiracy theorists hopping mad as they’ve counter sued Dominion for… reasons, and their asking price? A mere 4.3 billion. I can only imagine the judges either love this or hate this depending on who you talk to. At least Dominion has a legitimate case, the conspiracy theorists are just making noise and flinging their feces against the wall in the hopes that something sticks. Well it won’t stick but it definitely stinks!

One of Sidney Powell’s conspiracy-promoting pals deserves a fat paycheck—she thinks. A star “expert” for Powell’s election fraud argument before the Supreme Court—supposed former intelligence contractor, self-described “trained cryptolinguist,” podcaster, QAnon promoter, and alleged con artist Terpsichore Maras—has sued Dominion Voting Systems for $3.4 billion. Because she argues that, uh, Dominion didn’t prove her anonymous affidavit testifying that Dominion’s voting machines were vulnerable to tampering was actually wrong. In her eyes, this shows her case isn’t not untrue.

The Washington Post identified Maras by her preceding blog post which mirrored the affidavit. In December 2020, the court tossed aside findings by her and former Trump attorney Sidney Powell’s other supposed experts, stating that they “reach implausible conclusions often because they are derived from wholly unreliable sources.” In Dominion’s libel lawsuit against Powell, it claimed that Powell hadn’t even spoken to Maras before throwing up her testimony as fact, which Maras confirmed to the Washington Post.
https://gizmodo.com/sidney-powell-s-secret-intelligence-contractor-witness-1847508906

Yes cool! But first off what the hell is a “cyber linguist”? I swear they just make shit up. But there’s nothing really cool about this as it’s a colossal waste of time. But my favorite thing about this is that not only is Dominion going after conspiracy theorists like Mike Lindell and Sydney Powell, but they’re also going after pro-Trump news outlets like OAN and Newsmax for peddling “the big lie” about the 2020 election. Yup, shit just got real all right!

Dominion Voting Systems has filed billion-dollar lawsuits against two conservative television networks for their alleged spread of misinformation during the 2020 election, the company's latest move in an ongoing legal battle.

In a series of lawsuits filed Tuesday, the voting tech company accused right-wing networks Newsmax and One America News Network of spreading misinformation about the 2020 election by accusing Dominion of rigging the ballots in President Biden's favor via their voting machines. These lies have harmed the company, its employees and its customers; workers have been threatened, their offices vandalized, and the company has had to spend upwards of $600,000 on security for employees, the suit alleges.

Among other claims, OAN and Newsmax alleged that the Dominion voting machines, which were used in 28 states, deleted millions of votes for Donald Trump — a claim that has "no basis in fact or reality," the suits state.

Newsmax and OAN "knowingly and continuously sold the false story of election fraud in the 2020 presidential election with Dominion cast as the villain," a representative for Dominion told reporters this week.
https://www.npr.org/2021/08/10/1026509404/dominion-sues-conservative-media-oan-newsmax-2020-election

And that’s their bullshit for you – it is so pure! The purest ever! Nobody produces purer bullshit than they do! But if you want to know how pure their bullshit is, this might be my favorite part of the story and here’s where it gets weird, because you knew it was going to! One of my favorite parts of this story is that they are turning on each other! That’s right – Mike Lindell has accused Rick Wiles and True News of being a Media Matters plant. These guys don’t even trust themselves anymore!

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell hosted a three-day “cyber symposium” in South Dakota last week that he claimed would provide irrefutable proof that the 2020 presidential election was hacked by foreign actors and stolen from former President Donald Trump. Lindell was so confident that he boldly offered $5 million to anyone who could disprove the legitimacy of the data he presented while predicting that the evidence would be so overwhelming that Trump would be restored to office by August 13.

Needless to say, none of that happened, as Lindell’s symposium was such an utter debacle that even his own experts were forced to admit that they had no proof of anything that Lindell had been claiming.

Predictably, Lindell reacted to the fiasco by spreading new conspiracy theories alleging that left-wing reporters worked with “antifa” activists to sabotage his event, going so far as to accuse the far-right outlet TruNews of being an “antifa” front group funded by Media Matters.

TruNews—an anti-vaccine, anti-semitic, End Times conspiracy theory network—was among the media organizations granted credentials to cover Lindell’s event. TruNews was so sympathetic to Lindell’s claims of massive voter fraud that the network sent two correspondents to broadcast from the symposium and streamed the entire event live on its website for three days.
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/mike-lindell-accuses-trunews-of-being-a-fake-news-front-established-by-media-matters/

[font size="8"]Ron DeSantis
[br] [/font] [br]

In case you folks haven’t forgotten, we’re still in a raging pandemic! But in the last few months, the pandemic has taken a rather interesting twist – it’s currently favoring the unvaccinated and sending them to the hospital in record numbers! And it’s all thanks to the vehement denial coming from conservatives and anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists. That’s right – that killer virus is still out there and conservatives have pretty much downplayed its’ existence. One governor in particular is the reigning king of Florida Men and that’s Ron DeSantis (R – Obviously). And those of us who have been acting cautiously are rewarded with a somewhat functioning society again. But those of you who aren’t, well you’re left with this. But don’t let you think for a minute that we’re not letting Ron Death Sentence get away with this! Oh no! He’s in the spotlight for this one!

...One of the suits, filed by attorney Barry Silver, is on behalf of a father of three children living in Broward County. One of the children, who is too young to receive a Covid-19 shot, has a history of childhood asthma, the suit says.

"Florida is among the states with the highest number of Covid-19 victims in the country, and the number of afflicted people is growing rapidly. The danger to Plaintiff and his children and all others they come into contact with is severe, unreasonable, and growing by the day," the suit says.

The suit adds that the Florida Constitution says "adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools," and calls the governor's order unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs in the second lawsuit include parents who represent school-aged children from counties all over the state, including Miami-Dade, Orange, Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Alachua....

The second lawsuit argues several points, according to Gallagher, including that the Florida Constitution guarantees a safe school environment and gives counties the power to govern themselves. DeSantis' executive order attempts to strip the power away from school districts that are run by elected officials, Gallagher said....

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/06/us/florida-desantis-executive-order-school-masks-first-legal-challenge-constitutionality/index.html

Yeah well tell it to Ron, don’t tell it to the kid! But here’s how fucked up Florida is right now in terms of COVID numbers. Well for one thing, they simply do not give a shit. And two – people can easily get away with shit like this. Remember last year when we told you that people were abusing their PPP funds and buying Ferraris and other expensive crap with them (see: Top 10 #9-7 )? Well Florida is full of people like this, and the reason why we ain’t getting nice things.

A former accounts manager for a nonprofit affiliated with the University of South Florida’s medical school has pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $13 million, spending most of it at an adult website with some of it coming back to him.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Ralph Puglisi, 59, is facing up to 20 years in prison under the deal, which was recently filed in Tampa’s federal court. Puglisi had worked for the University Medical Service Association, which provides staffing and support for USF Health and other medical providers in the Tampa Bay area.

According to court documents, Puglisi spent almost $12 million at an adult website that allows users to subscribe to channels belonging to specific women, who disrobe and engage in sex acts on live video.

An investigation showed that Puglisi subscribed to a channel belonging to his stepson’s fiancee and they split almost $750,000 in profits, with Puglisi taking 60%.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-10de0f8f7f00bba5ba6939fa44bf7345

Well between people like this and governor Death Sentence at the helm, I assume that Florida will get this thing under control... 100 years from now. And that's assuming that some home grown Florida mutant doesn't escape and kill everybody first. Oh and don't think for a minute that won't happen because if there's one state that could be responsible for death of humanity, it's Florida. But this is more like Governors With Low Self Esteem… thank you graphics department! Yes, Ron is the first subject here!

As Florida contends with a massive surge in Covid cases, Governor Ron DeSantis seems devoted to making it more difficult to stop the spread in public schools.

On Monday, the day many Florida students headed back to school, DeSantis issued a statement making clear that any school administrator who imposes a mask mandate, in violation of his executive order banning such rules, could face financial consequences. Specifically, he suggested that “the State Board of Education could move to withhold the salary of the district superintendent or school board members, as a narrowly tailored means to address the decision-makers who led to the violation of law.”

Many Florida school districts have indeed imposed mask mandates, but most are unlikely to run afoul of DeSantis, since they provide carve-outs for parents who don’t want to comply. Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, said on Twitter that the penalties DeSantis were threatening wouldn’t apply to such schools. Those that require doctor’s notes to opt out, though, could be in the crosshairs.

In any case, multiple school administrators said they would ignore DeSantis’s threats. Alberto M. Carvalho, the superintendent of Miami public schools, said that “At no point shall I allow my decision to be influenced by a threat to my paycheck.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/ron-desantis-takes-his-hatred-of-mask-mandates-to-a-new-level/ar-AAN9ITI

That is a good point, sir! He really does suck! And in case you’re wondering just how dumb Ron Death Sentence is, he actually had to have Fox News walk him through how to hold a press conference once the vaccines became available. Talk about someone with some really low self esteem. And come on, having Fox News hold your hand on the vaccine issue is like putting the D student in charge of a master’s level class. You’re probably bound to flunk it, or at least not comprehend the information available to you.

An analysis of four months worth of emails from Ron DeSantis' (R) office reveals the Florida governor's myriad appearances on Fox News to be "carefully crafted" ahead of time — so much so, the network even helped the 2024 standout stage a vaccination news event back in January, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

DeSantis' office, attempting to paint a more flattering picture of Florida's confusing vaccine rollout and overshadow images of desperate seniors in long lines, pitched an appearance from the governor to Fox & Friends. The top-rated show's producers were thrilled, and a "plan came together in a flurry of emails and phone calls" over the next several days, per Tampa Bay.

The governor's team "provided a senior, a location, and the talking points," while Fox brought "the cameras and its audience." No other media was allowed in. The segment, which featured a 100-year-old veteran receiving his first shot while DeSantis cracked jokes and "boasted that Florida was leading the country in vaccinating older residents," aired on Jan. 22.

The event is just one instance of there being "few surprises" when DeSantis appears on Fox, writes Tampa Bay. Topics, talking points, and sometimes even graphics are reportedly shared in advance.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/fox-news-reportedly-helped-ron-162333445.html

[font size="8"]Conservative Online Trolls
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We always emphasize on this program that if you see trolling going on, don’t hesitate to use that report button! No, not on me! Them! Use it on them! It turns out that people are finally using that advice and telling Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube where the trolls are! Well the preferred Congresswoman of your creepy uncle – Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q – Batshit) was banned from Twitter yet again. What for this time you might ask? Well I answer you – because she was peddling dangerous conspiracy theories about the COVID vaccine. People we can’t emphasize enough – this virus is nothing to fuck with. Get the vaccine and take the necessary precautions you need to keep safe. But then again on the flip side there’s people like Marjorie Taylor Greene who it seems like they almost want the virus to win. Maybe it’s a bad case of Stockholm Syndrome, who knows? But anyway… you can’t fix stupid.

Twitter (TWTR) has suspended Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's account for one week following another violation of the platform's rules, the company said Tuesday.

Greene tweeted on Monday that the Food and Drug Administration "should not approve the covid vaccines." She also claimed the vaccines were "failing" and that they were ineffective at reducing the virus's spread.

In response, Twitter labeled the tweet as misleading and prevented Greene from tweeting for one week.

The tweet, a company spokesperson said, "was labeled in line with our COVID-19 misleading information policy. The account will be in read-only mode for a week due to repeated violations of the Twitter Rules."

Tuesday's suspension marks at least the third and toughest penalty Twitter has imposed on Greene for sharing misinformation. In January, Greene was suspended for 12 hours from Twitter for sharing conspiracy theories about the Georgia Senate runoff elections, a move that the company said violated its civic integrity policy. In July, Twitter suspended Greene again for 12 hours for sharing misinformation about Covid-19 and vaccines. (Greene was also temporarily suspended in March but was soon reinstated after Twitter said its automated systems had acted in error.)
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/10/tech/twitter-marjorie-taylor-greene/index.html

Thank you Nelson! You know if you’re not fit for Twitter, you’re probably not fit for Congress, either! We are just saying, that’s all! If that’s not enough, another one of our favorite senators, Kentucky’s Rand Paul (Q – Batshit) also got banned from Youtube in the same week! But you know the really scary thing with these assholes is? They’re wearing their “banned” label like it’s a badge of honor or something. I guess this is Alex Jones’ doing?

Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has been suspended from YouTube for seven days over a video claiming that masks are ineffective in fighting Covid-19, according to a YouTube spokesperson.

"This resulted in a first strike on the channel, which means it can't upload content for a week, per our longstanding three strikes policy," the spokesperson said. "We apply our policies consistently across the platform, regardless of speaker or political views, and we make exceptions for videos that have additional context such as countervailing views from local health authorities."

Paul criticized the decision by YouTube in a tweet on Tuesday.

"Leftwing cretins at YouTube banning me for 7 days for a video that quotes 2 peer reviewed articles saying cloth masks don't work," he wrote, calling the suspension a "badge of honor."

Paul's tweet included a link to watch the video on an alternate platform.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/tech/rand-paul-youtube-suspension/index.html

Damn straight! Hey Rand – it’s not “left wing cretins” who are responsible for you getting banned, it’s you! So I say this with every left wing cell in my body – go fuck yourself! But while conservatives are on the losing side of the argument, this might be my absolute favorite story of the week. Remember the guy who was once Trump’s lawyer and the mayor of the city of New York during one of the worst catastrophes in modern history? I’m of course talking about Rudy Guiliani. It turns out after getting banned to practicing law in New York, he’s now reduced to turning tricks on Cameo. Looking for that last minute gift for that special someone? Here ya go!

Rudy Giuliani, the staunch ally of Donald Trump who is facing a multi-million dollar defamation lawsuit related to his attempts to undermine the US presidential elections, has embraced a new potential earning stream.

Internet users, should they be inspired to do so, can now buy customized video messages from Giuliani, who has joined Cameo, a service that sells personalized videos recorded by celebrities.

“Hi. It’s Rudy Giuliani and I’m on Cameo” Giuliani says in a video posted on his Cameo page on Tuesday.

He goes on to say: “If there is an issue you want to discuss or a story you’d like to hear or share with me or a greeting that I can bring to someone that would bring happiness to their day, I would be delighted to do it. It can be arranged. We can talk through the magic of Cameo.”

The price? That starts at $199 (£140).
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/aug/11/rudy-giuliani-cameo-personalized-video-messages

That’s pretty much what getting a personalized message from Guiliani on Cameo is like. Maybe without less blood. But I do have one last story in the miscellaneous wingnut category – Stephen Segal. You might remember him from such movies as Under Siege and Under Siege 2. Well we at the Top 10 tracked down his whereabouts. And in a shocking (not) turn of events – Mr. America is now Mr. Kremlin and he’s about as hard right as it gets!

Hollywood actor Steven Seagal, who has Russian citizenship, has joined a pro-Kremlin political party.

The A Just Russia party backs almost all Kremlin initiatives and supports President Vladimir Putin but is a rival of the ruling United Russia party.

At a ceremony on May 29, Seagal posed for pictures next to one of the party leaders, Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin, who is associated with Russia-backed separatists that are fighting against Ukrainian government forces in eastern Ukraine.

Seagal, who has personal ties with Putin, was given Russian citizenship in 2016.
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-steven-seagal-joins-pro-kremlin-party-putin/31281188.html

[font size="8"]Top 10 Investigates: Spirit Airlines SNAFUs
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It’s time to investigate beyond the headlines! This is Top 10 Investigates!

As the gears of humanity are starting to grind again after being shut down for the majority of 2020, some things are having a hard time getting going again. One of those things is airlines, particularly the low cost carrier variety of airline. Many of them had to park their planes at logistics airports like in Victorville and Tuscon while humanity dealt with the harsh reality of COVID-19. Now that the worst of it seems to be behind us, some things are having a hard time getting back to normal. And one of the worst hit airlines seems to be Spirit. The Florida-based airline with cool-looking airplanes and heavy amounts of advertising was one of the worst hit as the gears of humanity are starting to turn again. But what will it take to get the air travel industry as we knew it to get back together again? Well it’s going to take a lot, starting with airlines like Spirit getting back on the grid again.

"We're sorry."

The subject line on the email from Spirit Airlines at 5:20 a.m. Friday scared me. I was due to fly from Las Vegas to Dallas in two hours and figured the flight was canceled, a victim of the budget airline's multiday meltdown.

It wasn't. The letter from Spirit was an apology, complete with a $50 voucher, for what happened on my "recent rip," though I had zero issues on two Spirit flights the day before.

The pilot on the Las Vegas to Dallas flight also apologized, even though the flight departed early.

"If you've been affected by delays and cancellations over the last week, we do apologize," he said before takeoff. "We understand your frustration. Thanks for hanging in there with us."

Spirit CEO Ted Christie has been on an apology tour, too, telling USA TODAY Saturday he will continue to say sorry after more than 2,000 flight cancellations in a week. The airline scrubbed as many as 60% of its flights on the worst days as it struggled to get flight crews where they needed to be.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2021/08/10/spirit-airlines-flight-cancellations-stranded-passengers-airline-apology/5515041001/

You know things are bad when the CEO is forced to go on an apology tour. But also “parade of incompetence” really is a highly suspect phrase. But rebooting humanity after it has to clear itself of a deadly virus is much like rebooting your computer, it will take time and patience and if it doesn’t work the first time, wait for the update and reboot again. Of course the latest update certainly didn’t help things but then again this is Spirit Airlines.

Spirit Airlines Inc. on Wednesday canceled hundreds more flights but said it is working to reset operations.

The low-cost airline canceled 60% of its flights Wednesday for the second day in a row, according to FlightAware. Spirit has been grappling with what it has described as “overlapping operational challenges” since Sunday, including bad weather, technology-system outages and staffing shortages.

Spirit said Wednesday that the airline was rebooting its network to help speed the process of reassigning crews and restoring flights. A spokesman said the airline expects the number of canceled flights to begin to fall Thursday and in the coming days.

“The last three days were extremely difficult for our Guests and Team Members, and for that we sincerely apologize,” the airline said in a statement. The airline said it had planned to learn from the problems and had identified ways to improve.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/spirit-cancellations-continue-as-airline-reboots-network-11628112404

Gee… you think? This has been a difficult time for all of us but, as Will Ferrell famously said in Old School, “we have to keep our composure!”. But if you lose out to one airline, complaining to another certainly isn’t going to help things. So what happens when one loses out on a Spirit Airlines flight and goes to complaint to another carrier like Frontier or Allegiant? Well the other airlines are not going to like it too much, that’s for sure!

All looked serene at the Frontier Airlines counter for part of the day. But Frank Ortiz and his family says for a part of the day, it was a scene of wall-to-wall people and much frustration.

“Understaffed. They had two people there. All type sof people in line. Super long line,” said Frank Ortiz, a Frontier passenger.

Salem resident Olga Rivera was trying to get her family to Orlando for her grandmother’s funeral. She says the Airlines didn’t have enough staff to handle everybody.

“This is outrageous,” said Rivera. “The line for the counter, all of this was full.”
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/08/05/this-is-outrageous-frontier-airlines-turn-away-booked-travelers-due-to-understaffing-issues/

That’s it this week for Top 10 Investigates. Good day.

[font size="8"]Holy Shit: David Barton
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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:

My fair congregation! You know we live in troubled times. There’s a plague, and wars still going on, and assholes attempting to rewrite history to cover up racism… and that’s what we’re here for today. We’re here for the latter. The next time your Christian right neighbors start spouting dangerous conspiracy theories and begin attacking education, you might want to learn the name of who’s peddling this misinformation to them. But that man’s name is David Barton. I don’t know if y’all are familiar with the works of Mr. Barton, but your real pastor might be! For this man is very dangerous because people listen to him. He is what one might call a “false prophet”. And he is a supporter of the unholy, ungodly Dark One – you know, I speak of a man so disgusting that his name shall not be spoken in my church! So what does Mr. Barton stand for you might ask? Well he’s attempting to whitewash history for starters!

Religious-right activist Chad Connelly appeared on the Truth & Liberty Coalition’s weekly livestream program Monday, where he announced that he and right-wing pseudo-historian David Barton will be launching a multi-week, 16-state, 40-city “American Restoration Tour” after Labor Day.

Connelly, a longtime GOP activist who now runs an organization called Faith Wins, said that Barton’s work has been “massively influential” to him, so he decided to take Barton to churches all around the country. the aim, he said, is to “teach Christians why God’s role in America is irreplaceable” and get them mobilized heading into the midterm elections in 2022.

A former chair of the South Carolina Republican Party, Connelly led faith outreach efforts for the Republican National Committee during the 2016 presidential election campaign.

“We’re going to do meetings of pastors, and churches, and activists, and people that care about our nation, and we’re going to make sure they get to hear from David Barton,” Connelly said. “We’re going to be all over the nation. We want to fill venues. … We want to put as many people as we can in front of David Barton so we get a renewed interest and understanding of how special America is and how God’s had his hand on America from the very beginning.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/david-barton-will-be-peddling-his-pseudo-history-in-churches-around-the-nation-in-preparation-for-the-midterm-elections/

Yes! Now if you’re wondering just how dangerous Mr. Barton can be he’s not only a historian who has a dangerous recollection of history and is trying to make it white supremacist friendly, he’s also vehemently anti-LGBT! And that’s not what the good LAWRD JAYSUS would want now, is it? Now again we talk about how the far right is cozying up to neo Nazi Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, and it’s a very dangerous ideology. But how dangerous is it? Well “very” is putting it lightly!

Earlier this month, Hungary’s National Assembly passed legislation banning portrayals of homosexuality or transgender individuals in any content aimed at those under the age of 18, a move that was heartily approved by religious-right pseudo-historian David Barton.

American religious-right activists have long admired Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, an anti-democratic strongman who has oppressed news media and civil society in the name of protecting “traditional values,” so it was no surprise to see Barton praise this latest crackdown.

“There’s five nations in Eastern Europe that were former Soviet bloc nations that we would describe as very young Christian nations,” Barton said during an appearance last Wednesday on The Victory Channel. “They’re heavily Christian, heavily influenced by Christian teaching values. You have Hungary, you have the Czech Republic, you have Romania, you have Ukraine, and you have Poland, and they are trying to have their policy line up with traditional biblical values. They believe that God will bless their nation if they do those things.”

“And so I applaud those guys for doing that,” Barton continued. “And quite frankly, most American Christians probably would not have stood with that because we’re so scared of getting beat up on by media and others. But that is a biblically correct position that you have; there are moral rights and wrongs and sexuality, and those are five nations in Eastern Europe that have been trying to uphold biblical standards on morality, and good for them.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/david-barton-praises-hungarys-latest-anti-lgbtq-crackdown/

But how long is that going to take? And I ask you my fair congregation – remember last year when the Dark One wanted to peddle his own “1776 Commission” to rival the New York Times’ 1917 Project? So when you put a dangerous man like Mr. Barton at the helm it could have the potential to backfire on you, so beware! And come on, when you run a podcast called “Wallbuilders” I think it should be pretty clear which side of the wall you’re on!

In November, President Donald Trump issued an executive order creating a “1776 Commission” for the purpose of “promoting patriotic education.” Alleging that liberals have hijacked the teaching of history by presenting “one-sided and divisive accounts [that] too often ignore or fail to properly honor and recollect the great legacy of the American national experience,” Trump’s commission aims to “provide America’s young people access to what is genuinely inspiring and unifying in our history, as well as to the lessons imparted by the American experience of overcoming great national challenges.”

This is exactly the sort of nonsense argument long made by prominent right-wing pseudo-historian David Barton of WallBuilders, whose entire enterprise is built on the false notion that the United States of America was founded as a Christian nation. As such, it was no surprise to learn that Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk of Georgia is circulating a letter to his fellow members of Congress urging Trump to name Barton as the chairman of the 1776 Commission.

Loudermilk, a longtime acolyte of Barton and his warped presentation of American history, announced the effort while introducing Barton at Roopville Road Baptist Church in Georgia Sunday.

“I have put a letter together trying to get as many members of Congress to sign on to this recommending David Barton to chair that national commission,” Loudermilk said. “So, I hope you join with me in praying that we can get that done because I think that would be huge.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rep-barry-loudermilk-wants-david-barton-to-chair-trumps-1776-commission/

And in case you’re wondering what qualifies Mr. Barton as a historian – he can’t even get the amendments right! Let’s also not forget that he wrote his own version of the Bible which calls for a Christian Nation to be established. That is some scary white supremacist talk. But my favorite thing is his bizarre interpretation of the third amendment. If you don’t know exactly what this means, I suggest that you need to relearn basic lessons on the founding of this country. Because that is what the good LAWRD JAYSUS commands!

While speaking at Cornerstone Church in Texas last weekend, right-wing pseudo-historian David Barton claimed that government overreach during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to wholesale violations of the Bill of Rights, including the Third Amendment, which prohibits the quartering of soldiers in private homes.

Barton made the comment in passing, so he never explained exactly how the Third Amendment had supposedly been violated in recent months. But while speaking at Crosspoint Community Church in Missoula, Montana, this Sunday, Barton made this claim again, and this time, he explained what he meant.

Not surprisingly, his argument was absurd even by his standards.

“The Third Amendment says, essentially, that the government can’t set up shop in your house,” Barton said. “And now we’ve seen, particularly in states like Virginia and elsewhere, ‘Oh, we’ve heard that you’ve been exposed to COVID. We’re going to put an ankle bracelet to make sure you can’t leave your house. We’re going to monitor everywhere you go, everything you do.’ No, that’s Third Amendment stuff. The government can’t set up shop in my house.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/david-barton-claims-the-use-of-ankle-monitors-violates-the-third-amendment/

So if your church starts boasting about this guy’s teachings, run away! In fact stay as far away as you can for this kind of thing is dangerous! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:

[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: Double Jeopardy
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You can’t associate the show Jeopardy without picturing its’ iconic host – the man, the myth, the legend that is the late, great Mr. Alex Trebek. Well let’s face facts – there is absolutely no one who could replace Mr. Trebek. The man is literally irreplacable. OK maybe I could see Will Ferrell replacing him and doing his Alex Trebek impression. That’s about it. Now let’s meet the new hosts – on one hand is the show’s executive producer, Mike Richards. No, not that Michael Richards, who you might know best as Kramer from Seinfeld. Not that guy. And on the other hand is former Blossom star and current neuroscientist Mayim Bialik.

When the new season of "Jeopardy!" debuts on September 13, executive producer Mike Richards will be behind the host lectern.

Richards was named the official new host on Wednesday, as expected, but Sony Pictures Television also announced a surprise: Mayim Bialik will be the host of occasional prime time episodes of the beloved game show.

Bialik will lead "primetime and spinoff series, including the upcoming all-new Jeopardy! National College Championship set to air on ABC next year, as the studio looks to extend the Jeopardy! franchise to new platforms," Sony said in a statement.

The Daily Beast was first to break the news.

Given the popularity of the daily syndicated show that was helmed by Alex Trebek for decades, it's only logical that Sony wants to keep trying to expand in new directions.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/11/media/jeopardy-hosts-mayim-bialik-mike-richards/index.html

So Jeopardy has new hosts for the first time in 37 years. And longtime fans aren’t happy one bit. And the reason why that is is because they left out one very popular host in all of the rotating list of guest hosts was La Var Burton. But he wasn’t picked. And that said, how can we not react to the controversy? I will tell you why: We still can’t travel like we used to, and we’re bored. Get how that works? So how did this all go wrong? Well it’s simple.

According to several entertainment industry reports, Mike Richards has been named the new permanent host of “Jeopardy!,” following in the footsteps of the late Alex Trebek. After the November death of Trebek, who had hosted the popular quiz show for more than 30 years, a series of guest hosts stepped in. The lineup included “Jeopardy!” “Greatest of All Time” champion Ken Jennings, TV veterans Katie Couric, Robin Roberts, Savannah Guthrie, Anderson Cooper, Bill Whitaker, George Stephanopoulos, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, NFL star Aaron Rodgers, actors Mayim Bialik and LeVar Burton, and more.

Richards, who is an also an executive producer of “Jeopardy!,” was one of the guest hosts, following the tenure of Jennings earlier this year. Though news has been circulating that Richards was in negotiations to take over as permanent host, controversy clouded that choice as reports emerged of women who filed discrimination lawsuits involving their appearance on “The Price is Right,” during the period when Richards was a producer of that show.

As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Brandi Cochran filed a discrimination lawsuit against CBS and FremantleMedia in 2010, alleging that after taking time off for her pregnancy, Cochran wasn’t invited to return to “The Price is Right,” where she had worked as a model. The case was eventually settled.
https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/2021/08/jeopardy-names-executive-producer-mike-richards-as-new-host-despite-controversy.html

Excuse me a minute… so yeah there’s no question that Mike Richards is a womanizing asshole and they’re apparently OK with it, which is why they hired Mayim Bialik to cohost the show with him. Why wouldn’t you appoint yourself as the host of a show… oh wait that’s exactly what we did! And you know what? We’re still here five years running! Oh yeah that’s because I have no controversy associated with my show! But let’s face it, this whole thing was fucked to begin with!

Replacing an icon on a beloved show is a daunting task. For Jeopardy!, it has become virtually a mission impossible as a legion of passionate fans, still grieving over the death of host Alex Trebek, has been measuring up potential successors against their idol.

The high stakes led to intense scrutiny where candidates’ present — and past — were put under a microscope as celebrities took turns behind the Jeopardy! lectern in what the audience assumed was an auditioning process. The thorough public vetting resulted in the search taking an early turn when past champion Ken Jennings’ tweets dented his chances, and it may again impact the race in its final stage as old discrimination lawsuits involving Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards are taking on a new life as he has been nearing a deal for the job.

Back in November, just two weeks after Trebek’s death, Jennings was announced as the first guest host for the venerable syndicated game show. Already a Jeopardy! legend with his record winning streak and a Greatest of All Time title, the popular — and likable — Jennings was considered a clear frontrunner and the one to beat as Trebek’s successor.
https://deadline.com/2021/08/jeopardy-host-controversy-mike-richards-ken-jennings-search-1234810536/

No I would think she wouldn’t! But what do the actual producers of the show think about this controversy? Well we can sit here and point fingers and engage in the circular firing squad all we want and we ain’t goin’ nowhere. But the truth of the matter is there’s no one who can replace Alex Trebek and whoever tanks the show might as well take the Jeopardy name with them. But we’ll keep watching as long as they keep making the shows!

Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards addresses the controversy surrounding reports of him becoming the show's permanent host. After the game show's longtime host, Alex Trebek, passed away last year, several guest hosts have stepped in to try and fill his shoes. Ken Jennings, the former Jeopardy! champion, was the first to appear on the show in Trebek's former role, followed by the Roots and Reading Rainbow star LeVar Burton, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and the controversial Dr. Oz.

Several cable news hosts have also stepped in to guest host Jeopardy!, including Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Robin Roberts, and George Stephanopoulos, but everyone knew a permanent host would eventually be named to succeed Trebek. Last week, Jeopardy! took a major step toward replacing him when Mike Richards, the show's executive producer and prior guest host, was reportedly in advanced negotiations to become the full-time replacement. This decision was immediately met with disappointment from those who wanted to see Burton named permanent host, who seems to be the most popular choice after an online petition went viral. This controversy was then compounded by some comments Richards made regarding a colleague's pregnancy during his time working on The Price is Right, which surfaced online.
https://screenrant.com/jeopardy-mike-richards-host-controversy-allegation-response/

[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner
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Welcome back to our segment that attempts to explain the unexplainable – Conspiracy Corner! We are of course coming to you live from our underground doomsday prepper shelter deep within the heart of the New Mexico badlands – undisclosed location of course! Just let me adjust my tin foil hat for maximum government interference – they are trying to read my thoughts after all! This week – the entire world watched in awe as the CEO of My Pillow, Mike Lindell, attempted to explain how the 2020 election was stolen. Well, maybe not so much the entire world, but a couple hundred people gathered in a stuffy South Dakota warehouse. And how did it go? Well it went about as well as you could possibly expect a gathering of only the most crazy and deluded of us to go.

Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, has launched a three-day “cyber symposium” aimed at providing incontrovertible evidence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump by an evil cabal of hackers and politicos.

Among the numerous rightwing figures in media, business, and GOP politics that have pushed the conspiratorial election fraud claims, Lindell stands out as one of the movement’s most prominent nutcases. Having apparently made it a mission to preach the gospel of Trump wherever he goes, Lindell has been promoting his weird event for weeks—even going on CNN, where he got into a heated argument with Drew Griffin about the validity of his dubious claims.

The cyber symposium, held in Sioux Falls, S.D. Aug. 10-12, is now being continuously live-streamed via the businessman’s buggy farce of a website, Frank, and is supposed to feature hard data that proves (once and for all!) that votes were manipulated in favor of Joe Biden last November.

The event has attracted a weird mix of attendees, including a who’s who of Trump’s most influential supporters. Steve Bannon, the alleged architect of the former president’s successful 2016 campaign, has been photographed around the event. Similarly, rightwing conspiracy theorist Ron Watkins (who has been pinpointed as the likeliest “Q” of QAnon), also video-streamed into the symposium to add his two cents. Even Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (an alleged Trump pal), for some reason showed up.
https://gizmodo.com/mypillow-ceos-cyber-symposium-is-already-a-deranged-cir-1847465431

So it was basically a gathering of conspiracy theorists to hear one of the key conspiracy theorists barf his brain for 72 hours. We’ve talked about how dangerous and crazy Mike Lindell is, and he’s really a snifter away from just going into a total cocaine induced burnout. So what happens when you literally sit on a stage for 72 hours and just talk about bullshit? Well a whole lot and it got really weird really fast, which is what most of us were expecting anyways.

Now here’s where it gets weird and you knew it was going to! So apparently at one point in this Bore-A-Palooza, Mike Lindell went off stage despite that he said he was going to be there the full 72 hours because they were protestin something. What that is we’re not exactly clear. But when he went off stage, it was presumably because he got the news that Dominion was coming for him. Guess what happened next? He was “attacked” by – and I’m quoting directly – “Antifa thugs”. I can’t even.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell appeared visibly shaken on Thursday as he discussed a physical "attack" he suffered during this week's "cyber symposium," the event at which he promised to share irrefutable evidence of industrial-scale voter fraud that would propel former President Donald Trump back into office.

"When I got to my hotel, I... I was attacked," Lindell said during an on-stage speech at the symposium, his voice audibly shaking. He immediately turned things over to one of his security professionals to outline how the event's "red team" had discovered agitators within the facility — but Salon was unable to find any evidence of those allegations.

Though the predicted Aug. 13 "reinstatement day" has now come and gone without any evidence to prove the widespread election tampering Lindell alleges, the pillow maven is now claiming that the assault he referenced on stage involved a fan squeezing his armpit just a little too hard while posing for a picture — a detail which has led a number of right-wing sites to speculate that the outspoken Trump supporter was the subject of a "martial-arts" style pressure-point attack.

According to an interview Lindell gave to right-wing blog "100 Percent Fed Up" Friday, the incident happened at the Sheraton hotel in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, late Wednesday night.
https://www.salon.com/2021/08/14/mike-lindell-shares-details-of-alleged-attack-during-cyber-symposium-photo-op/

But here’s where it gets even weirder – the “attacker” who wanted a picture of Lindell has a reputation of being a “selfie seeker”. Selfie Seekers by the way – saw them at the Troub, awesome band! And I mean come on really, what kind of depraved soul do you have to be to get a selfie with the guy who hawks crappy merchandise on late night TV? And I’m not talking about that other guy who once hawked cheap crap on late night TV, either!

Like his outlandish tales of baseless election fraud, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s story about being “attacked” in a South Dakota hotel by a mysterious member of antifa is getting weirder the more he talks about it.

Lindell claims he was confronted by an aggressive selfie seeker who poked him really hard, causing him pain, as they posed for a photo late Wednesday during his bizarre Cyber Symposium in Sioux Falls.

“I was attacked taking a picture,” he said Thursday on the conservative program “Flashpoint,” which runs on the social media platform Rumble.

Lindell said that two “guys kind of ran” toward him in his hotel, and one said, “Can I get a picture?’” But Lindell said the man wasn’t running “like a fan; it was just something different.”

Then the other guy “put his arm around and stuck his finger, it was so much pressure,” Lindell said, without specifying exactly where the finger was.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-lindell-my-pillow-antifa-attack-cyber-symposium_n_611724c2e4b07b9118ab2c27

[font size="8"]People Are Dumb
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Hit it!

Of course you know by now that people are people, and people are dumb. And this week we’re going to dedicate the entire thing to our good friend Florida Man. Yes now that the gears of society are starting to grind again, our old buddy from the Sunshine State is back to his usual tricks. And there’s some good ones this week. I’m not talking about the Florida Man who’s currently running the Sunshine State either, but there’s some good stories of just Florida Man being well, Florida Man. I want to start with this story out of Tampa. And let’s face it, everyone has had to deal with shady accounting managers at one point or another. But what do they spend it on? Well most people who steal this kind of money usually buy huge houses or supercars or whatever they want. This guy? Well he decided to pad his spank bank. Yes, you heard me!

A former accounts manager for a nonprofit affiliated with the University of South Florida’s medical school has pleaded guilty to embezzling almost $13 million, spending most of it at an adult website with some of it coming back to him.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Ralph Puglisi, 59, is facing up to 20 years in prison under the deal, which was recently filed in Tampa’s federal court. Puglisi had worked for the University Medical Service Association, which provides staffing and support for USF Health and other medical providers in the Tampa Bay area.

According to court documents, Puglisi spent almost $12 million at an adult website that allows users to subscribe to channels belonging to specific women, who disrobe and engage in sex acts on live video.

An investigation showed that Puglisi subscribed to a channel belonging to his stepson’s fiancee and they split almost $750,000 in profits, with Puglisi taking 60%.
https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-10de0f8f7f00bba5ba6939fa44bf7345

Next up – we go to this story out of Clearwater. And come on, can someone tell me what they’re putting in the water in Clearwater? I feel like we see at least one story per week from Clearwater. But look… here’s the thing. Buying a new car is exciting, am I right? I bought a new car last year, I know how it feels to get a new vehicle. But here’s a pro tip – if you go to a dealer expecting to test drive, maybe I don’t know, don’t steal the car first! Especially when they have your existing car and driver’s license info!

Police say a woman in Clearwater took a car for a test drive and never returned.

Investigators shared a photo of the woman they're looking for in the grand theft investigation.

The unidentified woman walked into a dealership on Monday to test a 2018 Honda Accord. She showed her ID to workers before leaving in the car.

Fortunately, police recovered the car on Wednesday.

Authorities believe she may have had help.

Police shared a photo of a man who came with her to the dealership.
https://cbs12.com/news/local/florida-woman-steals-car-after-test-drive

Must kill Moe! Wheee! Next up – again back to Clearwater. Seriously, what is it about that town? We could do an entire segment of People Are Dumb, just from Clearwater. It’s the Florida of Florida, that’s Florida squared! Well this one began as a dispute over dinner, and dinner party fights almost never end well. Just ask Jan and Michael Scott from the Office. At least we’re not trying to dupe people into buying scented candles. But when the food starts flying, don’t be surprised if the cops are called!

A Florida man and woman took a trip to the big house after a domestic altercation ended with the tossing of some saucy noodles.

According to police, 45-year-old Stephanie Lannas and 35-year-old Adolfo Rivera were in an argument that led to a physical confrontation.

Officers say that both suspects, and victims, which in the case the pair are both, shoved plates of spaghetti in each other’s faces.

When officers were called to the couple’s residence in Clearwater, they were both covered in spaghetti upon the officer’s arrival.

The arrest affidavit states that alcohol was a factor in the pasta mayhem.
https://www.tampafp.com/florida-man-and-woman-arrested-after-spatting-with-spaghetti/

Yeah so don’t go to their dinner parties. Next up – we go to Miami for this one. Anyway a professional runner – I didn’t know that was a thing – has made multiple attempts to run from Florida to New York in a homemade contraption (god… sound familiar? ). But this might require more planning in advance, especially on the matters of security!

A man inside a makeshift bubble floating along the Atlantic Ocean washed ashore in Florida Saturday.

It was the latest attempt by runner Reza Baluchi to run across the sea inside a cylindrical contraption he calls a “hydropod.” This time, he was headed from Florida to New York to raise money for first responders, sick children and people who are homeless, he said.

The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office reported that the Baluchi, 49, left St. Augustine Friday in his hydropod with the goal of reaching New York.

He had to turn back after discovering some of his safety and navigation equipment had been stolen. His belongings were eventually recovered, but they’re essential for his maritime journeys, he said.

The Sheriff’s Office wants the vessel off the beach, but rough weather in the area is complicating efforts.

It wasn’t Baluchi’s first time trying to set sail in Atlantic waters in a flotation device. In 2014, the Coast Guard rescued him while he tried to reach Bermuda from Florida in a homemade hydro pod. He has also ran from Los Angeles to New York twice, and once circled the U.S. perimeter in an 11,720-mile trek.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-florida-new-york-bubble-reza-20210725-fidbqontarguph2nk527ydvpwe-story.html

Finally this week – we go to the city of Jacksonville for this one. You ever been to the zoo? And you know how they have signs up that say “don’t stick your hand in the cage!”? Well this guy went against the sign’s advice and actually stuck his hand in the cage. So here’s the thing – human hand vs wild jaguar, who do you think is going to win in this case? My money is on the jaguar!

A man who jumped over a gate of the Range of the Jaguar exhibit at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens on Wednesday afternoon and stuck his hand into the pen was clawed by one of the big cats, employees and witnesses told News4Jax.

Jacksonville Fire-Rescue said the man, who was described as in his 20s, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

One witness said the man was egging on the jaguars in the exhibit before jumping the barrier. Another said she saw employees cleaning up a trail of blood while the man was taken out with his arm bandaged.

“This is an individual that wasn’t using his head,” deputy zoo director Dan Maloney said. “He stuck his hand in through the mesh that separates the jaguars from the outside.”

Maloney said if the jaguar had been able to latch on, “it would have been a very different story.”
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/07/28/man-who-jumped-into-jaguars-exhibit-at-jacksonville-zoo-hospitalized/

That’s it this week for:

[font size="8"]Red State Diaries
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Thank you Las Vegas! Unfortunately our show in Long Beach got canceled next week because of a scheduling conflict. So we will be moving up our Labor Best Of a week ahead of time and then we will be dark on 9/2.

See you in two weeks!

Initech Productions: Yes, We Got The Memo

August 12, 2021

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-5: Wheel Of Corruption: The Fast Saga Edition

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-5: Wheel Of Corruption: The Fast Saga Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! What’s up, Portland? How you guys doing? You doing fucking good? I hope the Proud Boys and Antifa didn’t kill each other over the weekend, because that would be a shame. Or would it? Whatever. Today is the big day! We have the Wheel Of Corruption dusted off, all the electronics hooked up, and we are good to go! Whew, man does it feel good to be back! And I’ve got another announcement – starting on 9/2, live music returns! Yes! And who do we have kicking off this glorious return? A little band called… Umphrey’s McGee! Yay! And we’ve got a lineup of exciting guests coming back for the rest of the year! Anyway do we have time for the thing? OK I love this story that broke about the Colorado Rockies. OK so you know how you hear something and you think “wow, that’s racist!”. Well the Colorado Rockies were playing the Miami Marlins. Battle of the last place, I know! Well here’s the thing – the Rockies fan was yelling something at Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson, who is black. But it turns out that wasn’t the case. Instead the fan was yelling “HEY! DINGER!” at the Rockies’ mascot – Dinger The Dinosaur. OK Rockies, maybe don’t name your mascot “Dinger the Dinosaur”, get it? And what makes this even funnier is that everybody – Rockies themselves – are doing their best Homer Simpson impression and backing into the bushes. OK enough of the intro – we have a lot of idiocy to get to. But first John Oliver is back and he sacks the Sackler family over opiods again!

Oh how I have waited for this day! The Wheel Of Corruption is back everybody!!! Whew!!! In the number one slot this week is the GOP (1). And the reason why is because our old buddy, former vice president Dick Cheney thinks that the GOP has gone too far, and when you’ve lost Dick Cheney, boy are you lost! In the second slot is Missouri governor Mike Parson (2). So we have to talk about two different pardons. The McCloskeys (remember those gun toting maniacs from last year?) inexplicably got a pardon, while innocent black man Kevin Strickland got nothing. Gee, I wonder why that is? Taking the third slot this week Is the Former Guy (3). And yes he’s back in the news but wait until you see what he’s offering this time! In the number 4 slot this week is the Capitol Rioters (4) and this week we’re going to tell you about the latest roundup of these dolts, and we presume it’s all because they started bragging about it on social media. In the number 5 slot is our old buddy Mike Lindell (5). Yes, the crazy pillow man keeps getting crazier and weirder, we think it’s time he get locked in the nuthouse. In the number 6 slot this week is our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” and we’re going to talk about Australian megachurch Hillsong United, which we previously explored in Top 10 #3-8 but this week they could be in some very serious trouble! Find out why! Taking the number 7 slot this week is a new “Beating A Dead Horse” (7) and this week conservatives just can’t stop talking about how “woke” the 2021 Olympics are, and Former Guy bashing the US Women’s National Team certainly isn’t helping things at all. In the number 8 slot this week is a new edition of Conspiracy Corner (8) and this week we’re going to don our tin foil hats and explore the 7 Mountains Theory – what’s the latest dominionist clap trap? It’s very insane and very real! In the number 9 (NEIN!) slot this week is a new “I Need A Drink” and this week we’re going to find out what’s up with the Washington Football Team (9) and they have some truly bizarre new rules for their new season as football teams start to welcome fans back. Finally this week, it’s time for Red State Diaries Ep. 5 (10) and this week we’re exploring right wing social media, of which platforms are plentiful and the crazy is turned way up! Pick your poison! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]Dick Cheney Returns
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Hey everyone say it with me: It’s time for the WHEEL OF CORRUPTION! YAY!!!!!

Oh how I have waited for this day! Of course you know the rules by now – I spin the wheel and we have to talk about whatever it lands on. Of course if it lands on the guacamole option, you know that it costs $1.50 extra. And the wheel is all new with lots of items on it! Here’s what is on the wheel this week:

- Guns
- Abortion
- Crime
- Poverty
- Capitol Riots
- Treason
- Buy A Vowel
- Whammy
- Food
- Elections
- The Border
- Donald Trump
- The GOP
- Clip Without Context
- Death
- Fox News
- COVID-19
- Something Random In The News
- ‘Merica!
- Chance
- 5,000
- Homosexuality
- The US Constitution
- COVID-19
- George Soros
- Top 10 Investigates
- Conspiracy Corner
- Morally Bankrupt
- Guacamole
- Holy Shit
- Beating A Dead Horse
- This Fucking Guy
- How Is This Still A Thing?
- Red State Diaries
- Intermission
- Double Whammy
- 10,000
- People Are Dumb
- I Need A Drink
- Infowars
- Go Directly To Jail
- T-Shirt Cannon
- Lightning Round
- Bonus Spin

Let’s get this going! Spin that shit! Come on no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… STOP!!! And it’s one of our patented clips without context!

https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1423697089549176840

Holy shit, there is some next level crazy in that clip. And none of it is true! Spin it again! And it lands on… The GOP! You know we live in some really scary times right now. There’s a killer virus that’s rapidly mutating and gaining steam, and conservatives are creeping closer and closer to going full blown fascist dictator on us. And a guy who’s more than familiar with that subject is none other than former Vice President and winner of the close range face shooting contest… what? Too soon? Dick Cheney. Sir, give it a chance, please. I just got up here! With calls for violence increasing in the wake of the conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election, and Fox News sucking up to far right dictators like Viktor Orban, things are going to get real dark really quickly if we don’t put a stop to it. In fact Dick Cheney had some choice words about the future of the GOP. And they aren’t pretty!

Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday said her father, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, is “deeply troubled” about the state of the Republican Party.

“My dad is deeply troubled about where our party is, deeply troubled about where the country is,” Cheney, R-Wyo., said at an event held by the Aspen Institute, adding that her father, who served with former President George W. Bush, is a “tremendous source of advice and guidance and wisdom.”

Liz Cheney has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and her Republican colleagues who have bought into what she calls Trump's "Big Lie," referring to his claims of election fraud. She was ousted from her role as House Republican Conference chair in May after repeatedly criticizing her party, and months later, joined the House special committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol against Republican House leadership’s wishes.

The three-term Republican congresswoman said Wednesday it would have been “preferable” to have a bipartisan commission as opposed to the select committee, appointed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which is investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. Such a measure was passed in the House but ultimately blocked by Senate
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/08/05/liz-cheney-says-father-dick-cheney-deeply-troubled-gops-state/5499764001/

Yes – holy shit! When you’ve lost Dick Cheney, you’re lost for good! I mean come on, Dick Cheney is the guy who shot the other guy in the face, and made that guy apologize to him for getting in the way of his shot. If that’s not the definition of “that guy has fucking balls”, then I don’t know what is! But that said, Liz Cheney really is the player who’s spending half time in the opponents’ locker room because the move to oust her is getting fierce.

Embattled Rep. Liz Cheney’s position on charges President Donald Trump played a role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot has not turned around her negative ratings back home in Wyoming, and now she’s on the verge of losing her reelection.

In polling data provided to Secrets, just 23% of regular primary Republicans plan to vote for her, 77% said they won’t.

And as bad, her image as a conservative like her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, has also been hurt. In the McLaughlin & Associates survey, 53% described her as liberal, and only 26% labeled her conservative.

The race has drawn national attention due to her feud with Trump, and Trump has promised to weigh in against her. Just today, he reiterated his call for the state Republican Party to trim the list of five challengers to one candidate, so the opposition isn’t watered down so much that it allows her to slip by.
https://news.yahoo.com/cheney-trouble-77-gop-not-191200652.html

Yeah Liz Cheney had an independent thought! And when you go against a deranged cult that’s taking over everything in its’ path, having an independent thought can be dangerous to both your health and career. Well health is definitely questionable. But as a conservative it can be a career killer. But even the MAGA king himself is looking to unseat Liz Cheney. But once again when the party you represent turns into a cult, here’s what you can expect!

Some local Republican Party officials in Wyoming have announced they will no longer recognize Liz Cheney as a party member because of her vote to impeach Donald Trump.

“In the immortal words of the 45th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump …’You’re Fired!’” read recent letters to Cheney from GOP officials in Park and Carbon counties.

Wyoming has 23 mainly rural counties and the officials in Park and Carbon counties voted unanimously over the last week in favor of the latest form of censure against Cheney.

In February, the state GOP voted overwhelmingly to censure Cheney for her vote to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
https://wgnradio.com/news/political-news/liz-cheneys-trump-vote-prompts-new-wyoming-censure-effort/

Yeah and you don’t want that! So just like in California where we’re facing this batshit insane recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom, the battle for Liz Cheney’s seat is going to get fierce and insane. I mean come on who’s going to represent Wyoming? Kanye? Elon? One of the other right wing billionaires who live in Wyoming now? Although one thing is for certain – if Former Guy is involved in the election, you can be certain that he’s going to lose! Like the loser he is!

Former President Donald Trump’s top political advisers have been holding quiet talks over the last several months with the primary challengers looking to take down his most prominent Republican nemesis: Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.

During phone calls and Zoom chats, the Trump advisers have pressed the candidates on their fundraising capabilities, their policy positions and the overall strength of their campaign organizations. The goal: to determine whether they have what it takes to unseat Cheney, the influential daughter of a former vice president, who served as the No. 3 House Republican until colleagues ousted her in the spring.

The talks will escalate next week, when Trump meets with two challengers at his Bedminster, N.J., golf club: state Rep. Chuck Gray and attorney Darin Smith. Trump’s son, Don, Jr., who earlier this year visited Wyoming to speak out against Cheney for supporting his father’s impeachment, is expected to be present at the meetings.

Trump is expected to sit down with other candidates before deciding whom to endorse, though advisers say that Gray and Smith have emerged as the two clear frontrunners. To prevent Cheney from winning renomination with just a plurality of the vote, they also say, Trump needs to back the strongest candidate and then elbow out others in the crowded field.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/23/trump-cheney-challenger-500599

[font size="8"]Tucker Carlson
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Let’s give it a good strong spin, shall we? And it lands on… no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop! Homosexuality! Yes I realize that’s random, but then again so is Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters playing the Bee Gees before their show in Bonner Springs, Kansas:

That’s why the Foo Fighters rule! Spin it again! Fox News! We report… and if you don’t join our cult you’re an outcast! You don’t get to decide when we are in charge! So make no mistake that Fox News is upping their war on “illegal immigrants” and turning the fearmongering and outright hysteria way past the 11 mark on the dial. And it’s no secret that Fox News hates anyone who’s even slightly to the left of Richard Nixon. Who do they like? Well, despite that they are turning up hysteria to Hitler in the 1930s levels, they seem to have latched on to Hungary. And Hungary is a nation where hate and white supremacy have risen to unheard of levels in the last 5 years, mainly thanks to prime minister Viktor Orban. Orban is hailed as a hero in right wing authoritarian circles, which is why it’s no surprise that Tucker Carlson is sulking up to him.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson is doing something rather unusual this week: He’s broadcasting his show from Hungary’s capital, Budapest. He’s also doing some high-profile cultural immersion while he’s there, having already met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Monday. On Saturday, he’s slated to attend a far-right conference and deliver a speech titled “The World According to Tucker Carlson.”

If you’re not familiar with the scene in Budapest these days, this might all seem kind of random. But unfortunately it’s just the opposite.

Orbán is an energetic right-wing authoritarian who has in recent years become a darling of right-wing populist movements growing across the West. And he has strived to cultivate Budapest’s emerging role as an intellectual and cultural center of right-wing nationalism in Europe. Carlson, one of the most popular hosts on American cable news, is very conspicuously strengthening ties with others in that scene during his visit — and inviting his millions of viewers to learn about it and admire it, as well. Carlson’s agenda seems quite clear: to encourage his followers to consider Hungary’s disturbing political model as a possible future for the U.S.

Experts who follow extremist behavior on the right tell me they’re concerned. Hannah Gais, a researcher at the Southern Poverty Law Center who studies right-wing extremism, said in an email that Carlson’s broadcasting in Hungary is particularly alarming given the tremendous platform he commands at Fox News.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/why-tucker-carlson-s-trip-budapest-bad-news-america-n1275881

Yeah well a few more election cycles and you might just get your wish there. Tucker Carlson’s visit to Hungary was no accident, it was purposefully planned and timed to get Fox News viewers interested in a fascist dictatorship. And if you’re wondering why Fox News is turning the anti-immigrant hysteria up to unheard of levels, just wait until you see what their end game is! One of Tucker Carlson’s stops included – wait for it – a high tech electric fence!

US guest of honour and Fox News host Tucker Carlson was granted a lightning visit by military helicopter to Hungary's 175km (109-mile) high-tech, high-cost razor-wire border fence with Serbia this week.

He liked what he saw. After praising the fence for being so "clean and orderly", in contrast to the "chaos" on the US-Mexican border, he told his viewers: "It doesn't require a GDP the size of the US, it doesn't require high-tech walls, guns, or surveillance equipment. All it requires is the will to do it."

And he praised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban for not allowing "this nation of 10 million people to be changed forever by people we didn't invite in and who are coming here illegally".

To make sure his US viewers understood his message, he contrasted Mr Orban's policies with those of US President Joe Biden.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58104200

You seriously expect that America could build a clean and orderly electric fence on the Mexican border to keep out immigrants? I mean come on, Trump couldn’t even build a wall without it blowing over into the country it was supposed to protect us from! So what’s the connection between Trump, Orban, and Fox News? You’d have to be a fool and a communist to believe there were any sort of lines between wannabe authoritarianism and actual authoritarianism! Move along, nothing to see here!

For the past few years, the Hungarian government under authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has overtly courted the American right, wooing the kinds of anti-democratic forces buoying former President Donald Trump. This past week, those efforts seemed to pay off. And Orbán, easily the most autocratic figure in the European Union, scored arguably his biggest coup to date — and showed precisely the direction the Trumpian base is ready to move in.

Fox News talking head Tucker Carlson — a regular promoter of everything from political and scientific disinformation to white nationalist talking points — arrived in Budapest on Monday, where he promptly began yukking it up with Orbán. According to Carlson, who broadcast from Budapest all week and is a speaker at a far-right conference over the weekend, his trip is all about shining a light on Orbán’s achievements over the past decade.

“If you care about Western civilization and democracy and families and the ferocious assault on all three of those things by the leaders of our global institutions, you should know what is happening here right now,” Carlson said on the show.
Want more articles like this? Follow THINK on Instagram to get updates on the week's most important political analysis

For anyone who’s followed Hungary’s trajectory under Orbán, Carlson’s paeans to the country’s supposed “democracy” are laughable. Under a decade of Orbán's rule, Hungary has transformed from a bright spot of political freedoms to a cautionary tale in how a right-wing authoritarian can dismantle a democracy, piece by piece, while helping his cronies profit along the way.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/connecting-fox-news-tucker-carlson-hungary-trump-ncna1276237

But this might be my favorite part of the whole exercise in fascism. Why does the right wing hate architecture so much? In fact they’re declaring war on it. But here’s the thing Tucker – American buildings are “ugly”? I’m sorry but have you seen this thing? That’s about the appropriate reaction for that too. But Tucker’s rants on building architecture in America make about as much sense as Trump’s unhinged rant on cars did a couple years ago.

On Monday, as part of his lengthy series championing the authoritarian right-wing government of Hungary as superior to the United States, Fox News' Tucker Carlson went on a rant attacking American architecture and claiming that "you're not allowed to say" how ugly U.S. buildings are.

"Looking at these buildings, which move me," he began. "Not simply because they're old, and some have bullet holes, which in my view are a very useful reminder, I wish I lived in a city with bullet holes in the buildings, because every morning you look at them and you think to yourself, it could be really bad because it's been really bad, there's a lot at stake, make wise, sober, long-term decisions or else you could wind up with more bullet holes — it's true, it's true."

Carlson went on to say that most Americans were naive about just how dangerous the rest of the world is.

"Americans have no sense of how bad things can get, that it actually could be a lot worse," continued Carlson. "Our physical isolation cuts us off from the history of the rest of the world. There's not a passion to study what happened before in a place that you're building anew. Right? Right. So we don't have a sense of that. So I love your bullet holes."
https://www.salon.com/2021/08/10/in-bizarre-rant-tucker-carlson-claims-were-not-allowed-to-call-american-buildings-grotesque_partner/

[font size="8"]Mike Parsons
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Let’s give that wheel a spin shall we? And it lands on… wait for it… something random in the news!

https://twitter.com/errongordon/status/1423541588547018753

I love that so much! Spin it again! Crime! Folks, crime doesn’t pay. Well, actually I think it’s time to update that age-old saying. Because apparently crime does pay if you happen to 1) be white, 2) be a conservative MAGA hero, and 3) live in a state where the governor also votes the same way that you do, and this is a tale of two pardons here. So remember last year during the year from hell, when we were introduced to these gun toting douchebags? Yes I am of course talking about Mark and Patricia McCloskey, two gun toting maniacs from St. Louis who famously flashed their pieces at protestors when the shit hit the fan with the George Floyd debacle. But of course leave it to the MAGA crowd to make the wrong decision every damn time. Sadly that does seem to be the world in which we live these days where right is wrong, black is white, good is bad, and so on. But here’s what happened. Don’t boo yet, save that for later in this entry!

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has issued pardons to Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple whose brandishing of guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in June 2020 catapulted them to conservative stardom and launched a bid for U.S. Senate.

The McCloskeys were among 12 pardons Parson issued last week. His office made the list of names public on Tuesday.

In May, Mark McCloskey entered the Republican primary for the Senate seat being vacated by Roy Blunt.

Parson promised soon after the incident that he would pardon the couple, who pointed a rifle and a pistol from their front lawn at several hundred protesters marching past their house on their way to the St. Louis mayor’s home. He has issued pardons on a roughly monthly basis since December to clear a backlog of about 3,000 cases that had accumulated from previous administrations.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article253235468.html

Hey! I told you not to boo yet! In case you’re wondering just how evil this is, take a look at Mark McCloskey’s track record. And it’s no secret that he got a call from Former Guy shortly after being pardoned. Well you know the old saying about how crooks of a feather flock together. And that is most definitely the case here. And it’s totally disgusting, but expect them to start going on right wing podcasts to talk about how they are the “real victims” here. Cue the epic facepalm.

Representative Cori Bush (D., Mo.) on Wednesday said it is “absolutely unbelievable” that the Missouri governor pardoned Mark McCloskey and Patricia McCloskey, the armed St. Louis couple who confronted Black Lives Matter protesters outside their mansion last year.

One day after Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, announced he had pardoned the couple, Bush called Mark McCloskey “an absolute liar” during an appearance on CNN.

“He has spat on my name,” said Bush, who was among the marchers in the McCloskeys’ neighborhood. “And because of that, his day will come. You will not be successful in all that you’re trying to do, when you are hurting the very people that are out trying to save lives … He can try it, but I will not stand by and allow him or our governor to hurt the very people that are doing the work that they should be doing.”

As Bush continued to rant about McCloskey, she looked off-camera to collect herself as she became emotional. Host Brianna Keilar thanked the “Squad” member for how “very strongly” she felt.
https://news.yahoo.com/squad-member-says-mark-mccloskey-211120183.html

Now remember don’t boo just yet! On the flip side of this, there’s Kevin Strickland – a long time Missouri inmate who’s spent most of his life behind the Missouri correctional facility system. So there is a campaign to get him released via pardon and which there is actual evidence that he was found not guilty. Which makes the McCloskey pardon even more puzzling because they were locked up for actual crimes. Mike Parson on the other hand…

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he is not convinced that Kevin Strickland is innocent, despite prosecutors and other supporters calling for Strickland’s exoneration for a triple murder that has kept him in prison for four decades.

Parson told KSHB-TV on Wednesday that he has looked at Strickland’s case several times but the “bottom line” is that no court of law has found Strickland innocent.

“I am not convinced that I’m willing to put other people at risk if you’re not right,” Parson told the station.

Parson said he is “more than likely” going to sign a new law that would provide Strickland with a new legal avenue toward release. The law would give local prosecutors the authority to ask judges to exonerate prisoners they believe are innocent.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker has sought Strickland’s release and said if Parson signs the new legislation, she will file a motion asking a Jackson County judge to exonerate Strickland at 9 a.m. Aug. 28, when it would become law.
https://apnews.com/article/mo-state-wire-michael-brown-fdaee252ca0799b16da00a276d1bf6fb

Eh… not really attempted murder. But the fact that he’s still behind bars despite that he’s been proven innocent time and time again is an absolute crime. But then again we keep saying time and time again on this program that elections have consequences. Elect an incompetent buffoon like Mike Parson and this is what you are going to get! So don’t be surprised that this will come up again. The only solution to that is to vote these sleazebags out of office! Now you may boo!

Kevin Strickland is still in prison, and Missouri’s shame grows.

Friday, Gov. Mike Parson’s office released the names of 18 people he pardoned earlier in the week. They appear to be low-level, nonviolent offenders: an underage beverage purchase, a DWI, illegal hunting.

Strickland’s name was not on the list. He remains behind bars, though prosecutors have said he’s innocent of the murder charges that sent him to the penitentiary more than 40 years ago.

Parson offered no immediate explanation for his decision to leave Strickland off the list, probably because it is inexplicable.

To review: Strickland, who is Black, was convicted as a teenager in the murders of three people in Kansas City. He was found guilty by an all-white jury, largely on the basis of testimony from one woman.
https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article252549853.html

[font size="8"]Former Guy

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Let’s spin it to win it! Come on no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop! And it’s time for another Clip Without Context! Hit it!

Well Dave if you don’t get the vaccine, that empty stadium is going to be your future! Assuming you live long enough to actually coach a game. Spin it again! Donald Trump. Do I really have to talk about that guy again? Oh right, that’s because he was in the news again last week. But for a completely ridiculous reason. Well, Donald Trump, who we have been referring to here as “Former Guy” needs some money and he needs it badly! So you know how you have reward cards for literally everything on the planet now? There’s airline rewards, there’s credit card rewards, fast food rewards, bank rewards, Windows rewards, I think the only thing that doesn’t reward me for using is my toilet, though expect that to change soon! Thank you graphics department! Well now Trump wants you to show your support by buying his own official membership cards! Wait, that’s not how being a member of a rewards program works!

Donald Trump wants his supporters to carry "Trump Cards."

Trump's PAC sent two emails on Wednesday asking supporters to get on board with carrying the red-and-gold cards, which look like credit cards and bear the former president's signature.

"The card you select will be carried by Patriots all around the Country," the first email said. "They will be a sign of your dedicated support to our movement to SAVE AMERICA, and I'm putting my full trust in you."

The Trump team said in a follow-up email, "We're about to launch our Official Trump Cards, which will be reserved for President Trump's STRONGEST supporters."

"We recently met with the President in his Florida office and showed him four designs," the email continued. "Originally we were planning on releasing just one design, but when President Trump saw the cards on his desk, he said, 'These are BEAUTIFUL. We should let the American People decide - they ALWAYS know best!'"
https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-wants-supporters-to-carry-trump-cards-2021-8

Yeah that’s some straight up Nazi shit right there! Yes, you too can now be a card carrying member of the Trump super fan club! And if you flash this thing while you’re out in public be prepared that someone might question where you were on January 6th. Hey o! But Trump’s biggest supporters always know best? Do they? Is that why so many of them are getting arrested because they post stupid shit about January 6th on Facebook? But as ridiculous as they are, they have a sinister agenda!

Former US President Donald Trump's PAC sent out two emails on Wednesday asking Trump supporters to choose a design for the "official Trump Card", US media reported. The email offered four options, one of which bears an insignia that is similar to the Nazi emblem with the open-winged eagle.

"The card you select will be carried by patriots all around the country," the first email read, according to the reports. "They will be a sign of your dedicated support to our movement to SAVE AMERICA, and I'm putting my full trust in you."

The email continued to recount that when the designs were shown to Trump, he said they were beautiful and they "should let the American People decide - They ALWAYS know best."
It is unclear what the Trump Card does for its holders.

Politicians and Democratic activists took to social media to express their outrage at the Nazi emblem on one of the cards, with Amy Siskid posting a picture of the card alongside the Nazi insignia and tweeting, "Trying to think where I have seen the new Trump Card insignia before."
https://www.jpost.com/international/trump-slammed-for-member-card-that-looks-like-nazi-insignia-676114

Yeah let that sink in for a minute! It is not clear what the card actually does. Does it give you buy 10 flags get one free at those Trump merchandise booths that you see on street corners? Does it give you a discount at the Trump buffet in Vegas? Or an early tee time at the Trump country club? Either way this just seems dumb and completely unnecessary! But this might be my favorite part of the whole thing – did you catch the typo?

The concept is still in the works but, in short, the official ‘Trump Card’ is “reserved for President Trump’s STRONGEST supporters”, as per the fundraising email.

Reportedly, Trump asked for the opinion of American people, in terms of the card design, because “they ALWAYS know best!”

A fundraising email sent out on Wednesday read: “We’re about to launch our Official Trump Cards, which will be reserved for President Trump’s STRONGEST supporters, and we have some very exciting news to share with you.”

Although, proving devotion to the former president apparently comes at a cost. When receivers of the email chose a card design, they were then taken to a donations page where asked to contribute at least £35 to the political action committee.
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/08/06/hilarious-trump-card-misspelling-has-twitter-in-stitches-did-you-spot-it/

Yeah so that might be my favorite new thing. It’s oficial, folks! And by the way in case you didn’t happen to catch – now professional troll Donald Trump Jr. is telling people that “our heads would explode if we required vaccination cards at polling places”. Actually, no, Donny, the official Top 10 stance is an easy one – we’re totally OK with that if it means we don’t have to stand next to idiot anti-vaxxers while we’re in line at the polling place!

In the absence of Donald Trump – who was permanently banned from Twitter at the start of the year following the Capitol insurrection on 6 January – social media users now have tweets from his son, Donald Trump Jr, to mock and ridicule instead.

On Saturday, author Ryan James Girdusky tweeted: “The left: you should have to carry a vaccine card to go anywhere in public.

“Also the left: you shouldn’t have to have an ID to vote.”

The post was then quote tweeted by Trump Jr, who proposed a combination of the two ideas.

“Someone should introduce a bill mandating that you have to show your vaccination card to vote and watch everyone on the Left’s brain malfunction and explode,” he wrote.
https://www.indy100.com/news/trump-jr-vaccine-card-voting-b1894601

[font size="8"]Capitol Rioters
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Let’s give the wheel a good strong spin, shall we? Come on no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop! Chance!

Nice! A get out of jail free card. I’ll just put that away for later. Spin it again! Capitol Riots. Folks the first round of hearings about the Capitol Insurrection wrapped up last week and while we didn’t learn a lot in the first go-round, other than republicans really want to derail this commission, we do know that conservative pundits like Former Guy ass kissers Sean Hannity and Ben Shapiro are desperately trying to rewrite history and whitewash the subject. But that said the news about the Insurrection is coming fast and furious and there’s plenty of it to go around. However, for this entry I want to round up some of my favorite stories that I’ve been seeing of average people getting arrested for participating – and there are a lot of them! And even scarier – they are all around us! I want to start with this story out of Texas, of course!

Washington (CNN)Five members of a Texas family were arrested on Tuesday for entering the US Capitol together during the January 6 insurrection.

Federal investigators pointed to extensive social media posts from many members of the family in order to make the arrests on Tuesday, in one of the largest single-day sweeps of defendants in one Capitol riot case to date.

The Justice Department said that Thomas "Tom" Munn had encouraged people on social media to travel to DC in the weeks before the riot. In a December Facebook post, Tom Munn wrote, "Our President has only asked two things from us, so far... #1 Vote #2 January 6, 2021." In another post cited in court documents, Tom Munn wrote "The time has come!"

The day before the riot, Tom Munn and what's described as his "nuclear family" -- including someone who appears to be his partner Dawn, and their children Kristi, Josh and Kayli -- drove from Borger, Texas, to Washington, according to charging documents used in a new federal criminal case against the five family members.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/13/politics/munn-family-texas-us-capitol/index.html

Dude, seriously – what kind of “family fun” involves going to Congress with the intent of murdering members of Congress? I don’t remember that in any of the kids programs I watched growing up! And of course they bragged about it on Facebook too. And of course it’s all fun and games until some felony assault is being committed. But the thing is – these are real people! They’re bartenders and gym owners and service people. And these are the kind of minds that Former Guy attracts, though!

A New Jersey gym owner and a Washington state man on Friday became the first people charged in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol to plead guilty of assaulting a law enforcement officer during the deadly siege.

There are dozens of other cases in which Capitol rioters are charged with attacking police as part of an effort to halt the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election.

An attorney for Scott Kevin Fairlamb, 44, a former mixed martial arts fighter who owned Fairlamb Fit gym in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, said prosecutors are seeking a sentencing guideline range of about 3½ to 4¼ years in prison. But the judge isn't bound by that recommendation.

Later Friday, the same judge in Washington, D.C., ordered Devlyn Thompson to be jailed in Seattle after he pleaded guilty of assaulting a police officer with a dangerous weapon, a baton. Thompson, 28, of Puyallup, Washington, had been free since his participation in the Capitol riot.
https://www.voanews.com/usa/2-capitol-rioters-enter-first-guilty-pleas-assaulting-charges

That’s not quite how it works! And I’m not even going to mention the growing number of threats against Nancy Pelosi. Here’s another story that broke just this week and I’m not at all shocked by this. But you know the old saying about playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes. It’s entirely true! Maybe if you’re going to do this next time, don’t give yourself away in public!

An unruly airline passenger was arrested for his involvement in the Capitol Riots after airport police matched him to video taken at the Capitol January 6. Wednesday afternoon, that man will plead guilty to criminal charges stemming from the insurrection.

According to court documents, a Delta flight crew decided to turn their plane around on the tarmac of Ronald Regan National Airport on January 8 and return to the gate because John Lolos, a passenger aboard that flight, would not stop yelling "Trump 2020!”

A Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department officer identified only as “Braddock” responded to the gate and watched Lolos get off the airplane, but according to court records, that officer did not plan on arresting or detaining Lolos.

Delta re-booked Lolos on a later flight. But about 45 minutes later, as Lolos waited at the gate, Braddock was scrolling through his personal Instagram feed and watched a video showing several people exiting a doorway from the East front of the Capitol Building during the insurrection. Court documents say the officer spotted Lolos in the group of rioters, wearing the same shirt he was wearing at the airport, holding a “Trump 2020 Keep America Great” flag hooked with an American flag.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/unruly-airline-passenger-arrested-for-capitol-riots-after-police-spot-him-on-instagram/65-655fed01-48eb-4da3-b18b-0365745aca92

But the scary thing is this could very well happen again. The MAGAts are out for blood and they want it bad! And there’s no mistake that the DHS is saying that there’s a possibility of violence relating to the conspiracy theory about the Former Guy’s reinstatement theory on August 13th. Get ready that’s this Friday and things could get really ugly. If that doesn’t work then get ready for Insurrection II: The Second One!

The former data chief for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign has announced a protest next month at the nation’s Capitol — to rail on behalf of so-called “political prisoners” charged in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“We’re going back to the Capitol, right where it started. And it’s going to be huge,” Matt Braynard told former White House strategist Steve Bannon as he announced the rally on Bannon’s podcast last week.

The protest, “Justice for J6,” has been set for Sept. 18 at the Capitol. It’s being orchestrated by the group Look Ahead America, headed by Braynard.

“As we continue to raise the profiles of these individuals” who have been arrested, it “makes it harder and harder for the left’s phony narrative about an insurrection to stick,” Braynard told Bannon. “We’re going to push back on the phony narrative that there was an insurrection.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-braynard-protest-capitol-riot_n_610c5c6be4b05f8157079a71?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004

[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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Spin it to win it! Come on no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop! And it’s one of our patented clips without context!

https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1424730511658950659

And if you want to meet Jesus, all you have to do is follow Pastor Feuerstein’s advice! Spin it again! Oh hey it’s time for Holy Shit!

Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:

[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: The “Woke” Olympics
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Let’s give that wheel a good strong spin shall we? And it lands on… wait for it… intermission! Let’s go ahead and take a short break here. Cue the music! I’ll just amuse myself with my phone while this is going on.

We’re back! Spin it again! And it’s time for Beating A Dead Horse!

We need some music for this one!

So the 2020 Olympics are officially in the books, 18 months after a raging pandemic shut them down and almost canceled them. And the USA won the most gold medals in the history of the modern Olympic games – which we needed in spite of all the bad news going on right now. But why does that have some folks hopping mad and actively rooting against their own country’s teams in the games? Because the Olympics got “woke”, that’s why. And because Fox News is calling the shots on this subject, being “woke” is now bad! And I never in my entire life thought I would see a country cheering against its’ Olympic athletes, but here we are! But one punching bag seems to fit the GOP just right and that’s openly lesbian soccer (football) star Megan Rapinoe. And why does she seem to drive the GOP particularly crazy? I can’t quite put my finger on it.

As American athletes compete on the world stage in the Tokyo Olympics, many on the right aren’t cheering them on. “The collection of whiny, overpaid social justice warriors are very hard to root for,” said Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield, adding that he took “pleasure” in Team USA’s basketball loss this month because of its players’ “woke” politics. “The team is filled with anthem kneelers, and I find it ironic they are willing to put USA across their chests, but in the not-so-distant past, they would kneel for the anthem.” In addition to taking pleasure in the men’s basketball team’s loss, Stinchfield also noted that he found himself “rooting against…Megan Rapinoe and her merry band of America-hating female soccer players.”

Stinchfield’s comments come on the heels of Donald Trump suggesting at a Phoenix rally last weekend that Team USA’s recent loss to Sweden was caused by the progressive politics of its athletes. “Wokeism makes you lose, ruins your mind, and ruins you as a person,” he said. “You become warped. You become demented.” Trump, who goaded the crowd into booing the U.S. women’s soccer team, went on to say that “Americans were happy” about the team’s defeat. (The former president’s son reiterated his father’s comments by heckling Rapinoe in a tweet. “Hey Megan…maybe [it’s] you!” wrote Donald Trump Jr. in response to the soccer player’s criticism of media coverage of women’s sports after her team’s loss.)
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/07/right-rooting-against-americas-olympic-athletes

So, let me ask you guys something – why do you hate America? Look we needed the Olympics right now to cut through the sea of extremely terrible and devastating news, and even worse since the 2020 Olympics didn’t have anyone cheering them on because of the virus. So what did we learn? We learned that nobody can be excited for anything because conservatives literally pour shit on just about anything they touch. So your favorite team won the gold, silver or bronze? Too fucking bad!

Very Patriotic Americans™ are, once again, celebrating a Team USA Olympics loss despite their devout loyalty to the greatest country in the world — as long as you don’t include the women’s football team, or anyone who’s ever knelt.

Team Canada defeated the U.S. football team in a 1-0 match in the Olympics semifinals, beating their southern neighbours for the first time since 2001. And, like clockwork, conservatives have taken to the keyboards to drag the team — along with football star Megan Rapinoe, who they really, really don’t like — through the mud for what they perceive as Rapinoe’s — and social justice’s (?) — personal failure.

“The US Women’s Soccer Team went WOKE and now they lost to Canada. That’s what happens when you put political propaganda before sport and hard work,” Brigitte Gabriel, best-selling author and founder of the conservative group “Act for America,” wrote on Twitter.

Lavern Spicer, who is currently running for Congress in Florida, was sure to reiterate that while American World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe is indeed “on” Team America, she is not “for” Team America. We eagerly await evidence to support this claim.
https://www.indy100.com/sport/americans-celebrate-usa-loss-megan-rapinoe-b1895425

Oh come on, after that, how can you hate Team America? But you know ever since Colin Kaepernick, conservatives have absolutely despised activism in sports. And activism in sports is nothing new – just look at the 1936 Olympics when Jesse Owens stunned the Olympic world and dominated the track and field competition, infuriating Adolf Hitler. See where I’m going with this? So yeah maybe don’t listen to dipshits like Ben Shapiro and just enjoy the games, OK?

A brigade of self-proclaimed "patriotic" group of right-wing pundits celebrated after the United States women's national soccer team fell to lower-ranked Canada on Monday in a nail-biter face-off. The match was a semifinal game that left conservative pundits pleased that their own nation's team lost.

"They're still the champions at kneeling though, which is the important thing," Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro quipped. Breitbart editor Joel Pollak added, "I'm guessing Canada didn't kneel for their anthem."

"Wow. The women's soccer team really blew it AGAIN. Losing to Canada? Probably SORE KNEES from all their KNEELING. I love it when America wins the Gold---but the "bronze" lining here is we won't see as much of the purple hair chick MEG [Megan Rapinoe] during the 'offseason,'" the self-parroting Newsmax host Greg Kelly wrote.

"The US Women's Soccer Team went WOKE, and now they lost to Canada," far-right activist Brigitte Gabriel tweeted. "That's what happens when you put political propaganda before sport and hard work."
https://www.salon.com/2021/08/03/cheering-against-america-conservatives-celebrate-us-losses-at-the-olympics/

Well you know the saying – if you’re woke, you’re broke! But that’s only if Fox News gets their way, and why wouldn’t they delight in seeing the Olympics ratings tank? Because just like the Former Guy, ratings are all they care about. It’s all about the ratings and the likes and whatever other bullshit comes with social media favorability. Because in the end that’s all conservatives really have anymore, and it’s why they continue to fight losing battles, and they really hate the cool kids.

In what is clearly a grasp at maintaining some modicum of relevancy, former President Donald Trump released an unhinged statement following the U.S. women’s national soccer team — perhaps the most beloved national team in America — winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Trump attributed the team winning bronze instead of gold to the fact that they are a “woke” group of “radical … Leftist Maniacs.” He claimed that “everything that is woke goes bad,” which includes “our soccer team.”

The former president also attempted to reignite his feud with Megan Rapinoe, disrespecting her by refusing to say her name, simply calling her “the woman with the purple hair.” And, in a very clear indication that Trump did not watch the bronze medal game against Australia, he accused Rapinoe of playing “terribly.”

But here’s the thing: The U.S. women’s national soccer team, and women’s soccer at large, consistently models sportsmanship at its most progressive and powerful. The players’ political engagement is a strength, not a weakness.
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-olympics-soccer-tirade-targets-u-s-canada-sweden-ncna1276136

[font size="8"]Conspiracy Corner: Mike Lindell Loses It
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Let’s spin it to win it!!! And it lands on… no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop! Oh it lands on guacamole! Unfortunately since we haven’t had the Wheel for so long, our long time sous chef Fernando left for greener pastures. So say hello to our new Top 10 sous chef Arturo! Come on out here, Arturo! Like most good chefs, we found Arturo working at a food truck parked next to a brewery and decided his skills were put to better use. So here’s your $1.50! Not too much onion… perfect! Look at that! I’ll just pair it with my plate of chips!

Yeah look at that! Spin it again! It’s time for a new Conspiracy Corner!

Welcome back to our segment that attempts to explain the unexplainable, Conspiracy Corner! And the conspiracies are out there and they are batshit crazy. We are of course coming to you live from our underground bunker deep in the New Mexico badlands – undisclosed location of course! This week, our old buddy Mike Lindell, you know him as the crazy unhinged lunatic behind the MyPillow company. And he’s back in the news because his “cyber symposium” where he is going to unleash his theory that the 2020 election has been stolen are ramping up! Just let me adjust my tin foil hat for maximum government interference… ah, here we go!

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell claimed on Tuesday that he was the victim of a cyber attack, resulting in a delay of the start of his "cyber symposium."

"The whole technology was attacked," Lindell announced to a live crowd gathered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to hear the symposium.

"We need to get the word out," he added, "because they blocked the thing. But this is part of what I'm going to talk about today. This is the cover-up. This is the absolute cover-up of the worst in history."
Newsweek Newsletter sign-up >

The three-day streaming event was scheduled to begin on Tuesday. The symposium is Lindell's latest effort to push his discredited conspiracy theories that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

The "cyber symposium," as he dubbed it, was set to be live-streamed for 72 hours straight on Lindell's new social media platform FrankSpeech.com. To help promote the event and FrankSpeech, Lindell offered a large sale on MyPillow products on the platform.
https://www.newsweek.com/mike-lindell-delays-cyber-symposium-after-saying-he-was-hacked-1618010

Uh… a little? What’s he going to say in 72 hours that he can’t say in 5 minutes? And who the hell is going to watch 72 straight hours of this crap? But here’s where he goes off the deep end with this crap – and it’s not like he has to jump very far – is that he thinks this is going to be “spiritual warfare” and “the greatest uniting of our country ever”. Except where you forget that Former Guy is the most unpopular president in history!

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell suggested on Wednesday that God had orchestrated former President Donald Trump's removal from the White House so that the nation could see the "evil" of the election system.

In an interview on Real America's Voice, host Steve Bannon asked Lindell if his so-called "cyber symposium" to prove Trump won the election was "spiritual warfare."

"100%" Lindell agreed. "It's all come to a head this year, this last year. This is a spiritual battle of epic proportions. When we get through this, even non-believers, there's going to be so many people coming to Jesus. This will be the biggest revival in history because you're going to see miracles unfold."

"This is the battle we're in and all these pieces when we look back on, you're going to be able to look back and say, 'Wow, this all had to happen to get to where we're going to, this glorious place,'" he continued.
https://www.salon.com/2021/08/05/mike-lindell-says-battle-to-get-trump-back-in-white-house-spiritual-warfare-_partner/

And you know what the really scary thing is? People watch and believe his shit. And here’s the thing you can go on and on forever and like Joseph Stalin said – you repeat the lie long enough and it eventually becomes fact! That’s exactly what Lindell is doing. And you know what? He’s doing exactly that – repeating the lie long enough to people who will listen. But keep going down that wormhole and it gets weirder, nuttier and creepier.

Since the presidential election, Christina Jensen says she's been stopped on the street several times by acquaintances who wanted to share troubling news: hackers from Beijing had switched nearly 24,000 votes for Donald Trump in their rural, GOP-leaning Wisconsin county.

Jensen, the Clark County clerk and a Republican herself, has patiently explained that the local election computer system isn't connected to the internet -- and the county has less than 17,000 registered voters overall.

But she finds herself unable to convince those constituents of the simple fact that the election wasn't stolen: "They are like, 'Well, Mike Lindell says this,'" Jensen said.

Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and a close ally of former President Donald Trump, has emerged as one of the most vocal boosters still pushing false claims about the 2020 election. In a series of so-called documentaries, Lindell has advanced an increasingly outlandish theory that foreign hackers broke into the computer systems of election offices like Clark County to switch votes -- in what he has described as the "biggest cyber-crime in world history."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/05/politics/mike-lindell-mypillow-ceo-election-claims-invs/index.html

So if bullshit sells, then who’s buying? Well apparently no one, but why am I not surprised that Mike Lindell and Alex Jones are fellating each other through promo codes? Yeah just let that image sink in for a bit! You’re welcome! But really people if they hawk this kind of bullshit, I can only imagine that the products they hawk are even worse! But that’s neither here nor there. So when you’re Mike Lindell and Fox cuts your ads, who do you complain to now?

Conservative cable outlet Newsmax this week sent a reporter to picket in front of Fox News over its refusal to air commercials from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, Salon reported.

Lindell's ads were for an upcoming event, scheduled for August 10 in South Dakota, where he said he would reveal new information about voter fraud in the 2020 election. An ally of former President Donald Trump, Lindell has been a leading voice in spreading conspiracies theories about the election being "stolen" despite no evidence of voter fraud.

"Newsmax is airing these ads," Newsmax host Grant Stinchfield said on Wednesday. "Apparently, free speech and pro-Trump messaging is considered fringe at Fox, but not here."

He added, "We've been airing Mike Lindell's ad, and when they refused, Fox, we sent out our Newsmax correspondent Mike Carter to ask the people why they think Fox News is so afraid of Mike Lindell."

Carter launched a one-man protest in front of the NewsCorp building.
https://news.yahoo.com/newsmax-reporter-pickets-fox-news-134517523.html

[font size="8"]I Need A Drink: The Washington No Names
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Let’s give the wheel a good strong spin, shall we? And it lands on… wait for it… oh it’s a clip without context!

Uh… I’m pretty sure that’s not how vaccines work, Rick! They’re supposed to prevent people from getting really sick and/or die, and that’s about it. Spin it again! Oh it’s time for “I Need A Drink!”! Hey everyone I don’t know about you, but I could really use a drink!

Of course you know the rule of this segment is that we get drunk and while we are drinking we talk about anything in the news as long as it doesn’t relate to politics. This week we’re talking some football which is making a huge comeback! Of course last year there were no fans because of COVID-19 but this year stadiums are welcoming them back with open arms! Tell me bartender, what drink goes well with a story about football? A Gridiron Ale? What’s that? No thanks, I don’t think a beer with stadium dirt brewed in it sounds appetizing. I’ll just stick with my usual Jack Daniels mixed with Jack Daniels. I call it the “Double Jack”. But this week, there’s one football team that is figuring out how to welcome fans back while shedding its’ old image – and that is the team currently known as the Washington Football Club. And they have some insane rules for welcoming fans back to the stands for the upcoming season.

The Washington Football Team, who have already dropped their mascot's name to be more inclusive, have made another major announcement. This announcement, however, is in regards to their fans and the dress codes they will be enforcing this preseason and regular season.
Washington Football Team fans will no longer be allowed to wear headresses

Fans weren't in attendance at FedEx Field in 2020, the first season with the team's new name, "Washington Football Team." This season, fans will be welcomed back in the stands this season, but there is something in particular that the team wants fans to come without.

The Washington Football Team announced that starting this week, with an open training camp practice, fans will not be permitted to wear anything that could be considered inconsiderate to the Native American community.

This includes Native American headresses, and face and body paint that fans sometimes adorned to show their loyalty to the team. Instead, the Washington Football Team would prefer fans to come in their team colors, burgundy and gold, to show support.
https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/what-new-stadium-rules-washington-football-team-ticket-holders

Ah that’s just what the doctor ordered! No dirty beers please! Clean ones only! So to recap – racist imagery at future Washington Football Club games are hereby banned, but orange and red is OK. Also no racist slurs, everybody got that? But that said the Washington Football Team is desperately trying to erase their former racist image and we don’t blame them one bit for it. But let’s not forget that the owner of the team is still one of the worst in football and that could explain why it’s taking so long to shed the team’s racist image.

As an organization, the Washington Football Team is in a transition period, while their team is beginning to show signs of turning the corner after winning its first division crown since 2015 and clinching just its fifth playoff appearance in the last 21 years.

The first move that confirmed the franchise was serious about this transition? When it announced the removal of its former team name and logo after decades of drawback from fans and the national media, who claimed it was offensive towards Native Americans.

Fans will remember owner Dan Snyder, who purchased the team back in 1999, being adamant about “never” changing the name, maintaining that it somehow honored Native Americans.

After facing pressure from fans and the community — plus prominent sponsors like FedEx, PepsiCo and Nike encouraging the move — Snyder, much to his chagrin, caved.
https://riggosrag.com/2021/08/07/washington-football-wft-disbands-former-name-latest-rule-change/

Ah that hit the spot! So what are they going to be called now? There’s been much speculation as to what the new team name is going to be called, and unfortunately it’s not going to be the Washington Warriors, so as to confuse them with the Golden State Warriors. And also too, racism. So what are they going to call themselves exactly? Because they can’t keep calling themselves “Washington Football Team” forever. That won’t look good on merchandising or an AM radio dial.

Warriors is not under consideration as a new name for the Washington Football Team.

In a blog post on the WFT’s website, team president Jason Wright explained that after discussions with several Native American groups, Warriors is not an acceptable option to be the new name of the Washington Football Team.

“Feedback from across communities we engaged clearly revealed deep-seated discomfort around Warriors, with the clear acknowledgment that it too closely aligns with Native American themes,” said Wright.

Wright indicated the team will not incorporate any Native American themes in its new name and logo.

The Washington Football Team began the process of a name change a year ago and its stated target is to unveil a new name and logo sometime in early 2022.
https://wtop.com/washington-football/2021/07/washington-football-team-rules-out-warriors-as-new-name/

More beer please! More Jack! More everything! It feels good to be drinking in front of a live audience again doesn’t it? So they’re not calling themselves the Washington Warriors or anything else but we do know that the colors are going to be the same. So what are they going to be called? And since we do encourage gambling here, we can tell you what the odds are and it’s a good bet that we won’t know just yet. But they are close to setting a date for the name reveal!

The Washington Football Team changed its name before the 2020 season, teasing the NFL world that a new logo and name would be released at a later date. While the current brand will remain in place for the upcoming season, we now have a date for the future reveal.

Daniel Snyder, who was recently fined $10 million following an NFL investigation into a toxic culture, relented after years of pressure and finally removed the franchise’s old name. Changing to the Washington Football Team was meant to be a temporary solution, buying time for the franchise to dedicate resources and research to a rebrand.

Jason Wright, president of the team, said in March that it would retain its current brand for the upcoming 2021 season. He also revealed that there was a real possibility everything stayed in place permanently thanks to growing support for the current name.

After nearly a year of deliberation, which included receiving input from fans, it seems the Washington Football Team will unveil everything next year.

Wright told The Washington Post this week that the club will unveil a new logo and team name early in 2022, well in advance of that NFL season.
https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/washington_football_team_new_name_reveal_date_set/s1_12680_35347157

[font size="8"]Red State Diaries
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Let’s give the wheel a final spin this week! And it lands on… come on no whammy no whammy no whammy no whammy… stop! Get out of jail? What??? NOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Oh wait, I’ve got that get out of jail free card! Sweet! I’m out! Spin it again! And hey it’s time for Red State Diaries!

Welcome back to the segment where we dissect all the things that led up to the 2020 election and where the future of the republican party are headed, Red State Diaries. Last week we brought you an update on right wing nutcase Mike Lindell and his plans to overthrow the 2020 election, which are going about as well as Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. But this week, with MAGA Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (Q-Batshit) getting banned from Twitter yet again for being a really horrible person, she , like all prominent conservatives, is going underground. So we’re going to give you a tour of right wing social media sites. But unfortunately we can’t bring you all the bile and garbage that gets posted on those sites. So instead we’re offering a brief summary of each one so you can see what the right wing is up to. Everyone knows about Parler, and we’ve covered that one extensively here, so we’re going to skip it. Here, we’re talking about lesser known social media platforms. We’re going to start with Gab. So what is Gab? Gab is an online platform that is becoming a far right version of Twitter – with all of the hateful and divisive content you’ve come to expect from these kooks.

Andrew Torba, the founder of the right-leaning social network Gab, has accused Republican former President Donald Trump of endorsing RINO candidates in exchange for financial kickbacks.

"RINO" is an initialism that stands for "Republican in Name Only." It's used as an insult for Republicans who allegedly don't represent the political party's values.

Torba made his comments on the far-right network TruNews.com, a site that has promoted promoting racist, homophobic, Islamophobic and antisemitic views. Torba's comments were highlighted by Right Wing Watch.

In his comments, Torba mentioned his rejection of a business proposal allegedly put forth by Trump in January. Referring to Trump's son-in-law, Torba said that "Jared Kushner's cronies" wanted to make money off of Gab's user data and its email list. Kushner also allegedly wanted Gab to change its user policies to "clean up" the social network's public image, Torba said.
https://www.newsweek.com/gab-founder-andrew-torba-claims-trump-endorses-rinos-financial-kickbacks-1599224

That’s pretty much what far right social media is. And the thing is we can ignore these people all that we want but that’s just going to make them madder. As evidenced with our next social media platform – Dlive! Dlive is a platform that’s equal parts Youtube and Twitter, but with far more racism involved. Like all the platforms that the far right flocks to bills itself as a “freedom of speech” platform. But like all far right platforms, even Dlive has its’ limits!

Growing interest among a host of violent extremists in a lesser-known livestreaming app—one that’s largely geared toward younger gamers—prompted U.S. intelligence officials in January to circulate warnings to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies only days after the violent siege at the U.S. Capitol.

Analysts charged with keeping tabs on violent extremist organizations warned of streaming service DLive’s rising popularity for “recruitment and propaganda distribution,” while pointing to the app’s use by pro-Trump insurrectionists who breached deep inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6.

On Jan. 15, federal and state officials in San Diego and Central Florida issued a joint intelligence bulletin, saying a host of far-right personalities known for their violent rhetoric were likely drawn to DLive after being banned from mainstream sites such as YouTube. The ability to fundraise using DLive’s micropayment system was likely a key factor.

According to the bulletin, DLive’s in-house currency, known as “lemons,” offered the “means to raise funds to further their extremist agenda,” analysts wrote.
https://gizmodo.com/u-s-intel-officials-eyed-dlive-as-recruitment-vehicle-1847307137

So yeah in case you’re wondering where your far right neighbor who works at a fast food job, yet owns an apartment, an F150, and enough weapons and ammo to take out a small army is getting his money from, look no further than these places! And the ability to monetize has the Feds, the DEA, the DHS, the NSA, and the ATF worried. Yes, when your gun toting neighbors start showing up on federal terrorist watch lists, blame Dlive. And now for our next social media app – the next one on the list is a relative newcomer, GETTR! GETTR is basically Twitter, but more racist.

Just weeks after its launch, the pro-Trump social network GETTR is inundated with terrorist propaganda spread by supporters of Islamic State, according to a POLITICO review of online activity on the fledgling platform.

The social network — started a month ago by members of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle — features reams of jihadi-related material, including graphic videos of beheadings, viral memes that promote violence against the West and even memes of a militant executing Trump in an orange jumpsuit similar to those used in Guantanamo Bay.

The rapid proliferation of such material is placing GETTR in the awkward position of providing a safe haven for jihadi extremists online as it attempts to establish itself as a free speech MAGA-alternative to sites like Facebook and Twitter.

It underscores the challenges facing Trump and his followers in the wake of his ban from the mainstream social media platforms following the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/02/trump-gettr-social-media-isis-502078

Yeah so actual terrorists started flooding a site used by MAGA terrorists. How about that? I am not surprised in the slightest! And then there’s also Telegram – another far right social media platform with servers based in Russia. Shocker! I know! But for our final free speech alternative we have Frank Speech – the free speech platform owned and operated by Mike Lindell. Yes, creepy Pillow Man, don’t think we’re not letting you get away with this one!

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell held a free rally Monday at Mitchell’s Corn Palace to promote his new website, FrankSpeech.com.

About 1,000 people showed up for the event. Some traveled hours to attend.

The rally featured guest speakers, including 1980s “Saturday Night Live” star Joe Piscopo. Attendees were given a free copy of Lindell’s autobiography, “What Are The Odds,” and his docu-movie, “Absolute Proof: Exposing Election Fraud and the Theft of America.”

Lindell started Frank Speech after he was kicked off Twitter and other platforms. He was banned for spreading conspiracy theories and baseless claims that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

“And that’s where we came up with, about, I don't know, six eight weeks ago now – I said so we've got to come up with a platform to bring the broadcasters over where we can put our voice out and not just me, but all of them -- all the ones that are kicked out of YouTube, the radio stations, the TV, the podcasts, they're all coming over to Frankspeech.com.”
https://listen.sdpb.org/post/mypillow-ceo-promotes-frank-speech-website-corn-palace

[font size="4"]Next Week: [/font]
We have a recap of all the right wing madness that went down in South Dakota including Mike Lindell’s insane Cyber Symposium!

Thank you Portland! We’re off to fabulous Las Vegas next! See you next week!

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August 5, 2021

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-4: What To Expect When You're Expecting An Insurrection Edition

Top 10 Conservative Idiots #11-4: What To Expect When You’re Expecting An Insurrection Edition

Welcome back to the Top 10 Conservative Idiots! Yooooooo! What the fuck is up, San Diego? How you guys doing? You doing fucking good? Yeah risking your life against the Delta Variant for our bullshit nonsense? Well at least we only let vaccinated people in our show. Yeah the unvaccinated can stay outside and fling their feces against the walls. So do we have time for the thing? Did anyone see the Lollapalooza stream on Saturday? Oh come on don’t boo. You’re here, right? So no complaining! I mean between this and Kanye holing himself up at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, so there’s that. But I do want to bring up Limp Bizkit. Yeah I know, the late 90s / early 2000s was a weird time for music. But that said there was something surreal about watching Limp Bizkit’s performance at Lollapalooza this weekend that was both equal parts comforting and frightening. I will admit I did love Limp Bizkit back in the day but I have moved on to much better music since then. I did actually them in the before times when they played a KROQ show that I went to. And it was fun. That sure did look like a good time in spite of all the bad news coming around. But we can all agree that Fred Durst did look like FATWA Larry David, am I right? OK enough of the intro, we have a lot of idiocy to get to, but first John Oliver is back and he discusses another victim of the pandemic – emergency medical services. Really people, thank your local EMT:

Where do we begin this week? In the number one slot this week is the Capitol Riots. We covered this a bit last week but now that the first round of hearings is over, we accomplished… Absolutely nothing. But there were plenty of plot twists and special guest stars along the way! Taking the second slot this week is also the Capitol Rioters (2). Are they really political prisoners like Martin Luther King Jr or Nelson Mandela? No! They’re crooks who got caught and can’t do the time! Taking the third slot this week is our old buddy Tucker Carlson (3). He along with some of the scarier parts of the right wing blogosphere are out to vilify possible gold medal winner Simone Biles, and I honestly can’t quite put my finger on the reason why. Nope, I really can’t! taking the fourth slot this week is Hobby Lobby (4). Remember their insane quest to build a billion dollar Bible Museum in Washington, DC with stolen artifacts? Well some of them got seized by the feds! Woo! Taking the 5th slot this week is the California Recall election (5) and folks I wish I had better news to report but this ain't looking too good for Newsom. Get out the vote now! Turns out… not very far and they got slapped with felony trespassing charges! In the 6th slot this week is of course our weekly visit to the Holy Church Of The Top 10 in “Holy Shit” (6) and this week, conservatives are upping anti-vaccine hysteria. Why is that? We have some theories and new information. In the number 7 slot this week we have a new edition of “Beating A Dead Horse” (7) and we are welcoming the return of live music with open arms, but that hasn’t stopped people from saying stupid things and that includes rapper DaBaby and SNL’s Michael Che. They got some ‘splainin to do! In the number 8 slot this week, we add Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson (8) to the ever growing list of People Who Somehow Got Elected after making bogus claims about a new virus threat. In the number 9 (NEIN!!) slot this week is a new People Are Dumb (9) because of course they are! Finally this week it’s episode 4 of our ongoing look at the people who voted for and inexplicably still support our 45th president – Red State Diaries (4)! This week we’re taking a look at Former Guy Supporter #1 – Mike Lindell and how he’s gaining influence in the conservative world! Is he a dangerous kook? Yes! Enjoy! And as always don’t forget the key!

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[font size="8"]Capitol Rioters
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So last week we talked about one of the dumbest people we’ve ever elected, and that’s House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Q-Batshit) and his plans to completely derail the investigation of the Capitol Riots that killed 6 people and caused Congress to panic. We also noted that they were only casually there to overthrow the government. Now that the first round of hearings are in the books, how did they go, you might ask? Well I might answer you – they went from “not well” to “extremely poor”. Well remember that movie “What To Expect When You’re Expecting”? Well think of this as “What to expect when you’re expecting an insurrection”. Excuse me a minute… Thank you graphics department! But that said, here’s how this went!

The stunning attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters roughly six months ago threatened lawmakers and came close to upending the process to certify the 2020 presidential election.

Most members of Congress decried the onslaught in the hours after the Jan. 6 insurrection, but since then the date has become a deeply polarizing moment on Capitol Hill.

After Senate Republicans blocked a bill to create an independent commission to investigate the attack, the House established a select committee to lead the probe.

The panel's first hearing on Tuesday was emotional as four law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol that day gave firsthand accounts of being overrun, assaulted, and harangued by rioters as "traitors." All described lingering physical and emotional trauma. Some rioters hurled racial epithets at African American officers.
https://www.npr.org/2021/07/28/1021113538/4-takeaways-from-the-emotional-1st-select-committee-hearing-on-the-capitol-attac

Sorry Mel, I don’t think it works that way! But that said, why were Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Greene storming a prison attempting to get an inside look at how these prisoners were treated? Well, rightfully so, they were very quickly shown the door. But that hasn’t stopped the conspiracy theories from coming in far and wide on this subject! And I love that they were very quickly shut down by protestors, and that’s exactly how you handle these lunatics!

The number of places that Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are welcome is dwindling. The little-liked trolls among the neo-conservative movement are even having trouble setting up in their own backyard. A press conference from the pair in Washington, D.C., about imprisoned alleged participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots was derailed entirely by protesters.

The presser and the protests come as the legislature is beginning its hearings into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol building. The demonstrators ruined shots of the conference by ambling into the background with accusatory signage. At the same time, a lone person loudly blew a whistle to drown out the speakers.

The protest came well into the conference, when a group carrying a massive Trump puppet and holding signs that said "Pedophiles for Trump" appeared on the scene. C-SPAN was carrying the conference live. Protesters showed up and ran the conference off at about the 16-minute mark.

The disruption comes shortly after Gaetz and Greene's rally was booted from a California venue after the owner pre-emptively put the kibosh it, saying that he wanted nothing to do with the congressional reps.
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/07/27/matt-gaetz-marjorie-taylor-greenes-press-conference-on-capitol-rioters-shut-down-by-protestors

They came to us with pitchforks and torches! TORCHES!!! The thing is we’re not making light of the shit show that went down on January 6th. It’s truly terrifying. And we may never know things like how many people were there, how far they got, what they were trying to accomplish, and who might have been helping the terrorists from the inside. This wasn’t just a mere riot, this was an attempted coup and crazy to think that we almost lost democracy that day.

Four police officers on Tuesday told lawmakers they were beaten, taunted with racial insults, heard threats including "kill him with his own gun" and thought they might die as they struggled to defend the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 against a mob of then-President Donald Trump's supporters.

Often tearful, sometimes profane, the officers called the rioters "terrorists" engaged in an "attempted coup" during a 3-1/2 hour congressional hearing in which they also criticized Republican lawmakers who have sought to downplay the attack.

"I feel like I went to hell and back to protect the people in this room," said District of Columbia police officer Michael Fanone, referring to lawmakers. "The indifference shown to my colleagues is disgraceful," Fanone added, slamming his hand onto the witness table.

It was a dramatic first hearing for a Democratic-led House of Representatives committee formed despite opposition by Trump's fellow Republicans to investigate the worst violence at the Capitol since the British invasion in the War of 1812.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/police-who-defended-us-capitol-testify-riot-probes-first-hearing-2021-07-27/

Yeah that’s kind of how I felt watching the horror unfold from Washington DC. And this is while we were off and were sitting and watching in horror. It’s totally insane what happened and even more insane to think about what could have happened. But the really sad and scary thing is that this will not change the minds of the MAGA loyalists no matter how many times you beat them over the head with it. Which is why it could happen again and it could get worse. We got lucky, but we might not be next time.

Some of Donald Trump's fiercest allies in Congress are continuing to downplay or ignore the January 6 insurrection, taking cues from the former President even after four police officers testified Tuesday, in front of the House select committee investigating the deadly Capitol attack, about their harrowing experiences that day.

Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas rejected the notion that lawmakers were downplaying the insurrection, only to then say that he thought it was an exaggeration to frame the riot as the worst attack since the Civil War.

"I don't know of anybody that's tried to downplay it other than, you know, their gross exaggeration that it's the worst attack on democracy since the Civil War. As Christopher Wray said, it's hard for those of us who were here for 9/11 to say 'Yes, this was worse than 9/11,' " Gohmert said Tuesday, paraphrasing testimony from the FBI director in June where he rejected a comparison between January 6 and 9/11. At that hearing, Wray called the insurrection "a very significant attack in its own right" and an "effort to disrupt a key part of our constitutional system and the peaceful transition of government."
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/politics/trump-republicans-hearing-reaction/index.html

[font size="8"]Capitol Rioters – Political Prisoners?
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With all of the Trump MAGAs going off to prison for their participation in the horrifying events of January 6th, they’ve begun their own Martin Luther King style letter writing campaigns. Come on, guys, you know the old saying – don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time! But for this segment rather than blaming conservatives and our former president for this – we’re going to take a look at a different angle of this story. The question being – are the Capitol Rioters political prisoners? And there is only one correct answer to this issue: NO!!! You’re crooks who committed vandalism, stole property, and assaulted and killed police officers. But that’s not the case here. However, as the GOP continues to rewrite history, we’re going to come after them!

A federal judge pushed back against the idea that incarcerated Capitol riot defendants are “political prisoners” on Wednesday during a sentencing hearing for a Michigan man who pleaded guilty of entering the Capitol.

Judge Amy Berman Jackson said it was clear from statements he made before and after January 6 that Karl Dresch, of Calumet, Michigan, didn’t travel to D.C. on January 6 to attend a rally – and that he wasn’t charged or jailed because of his political views.

“He is not a political prisoner,” Jackson said. “We are not here today because he supported former President Trump. He was an enthusiastic participant in an effort to subvert the electoral process.”

Dresch has been in custody since his arrest in January on multiple charges in connection with the Capitol riot, including obstruction of an official proceeding and disorderly conduct.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/national/capitol-riots/he-is-not-a-political-prisoner-judge-pushes-back-on-right-wing-talking-point-in-capitol-riot-sentencing-karl-dresch-michigan-donald-trump/65-0433a71c-8f08-46c0-a06e-9ec3d2c28e86

No no no no no no no no no no no! Let me make something perfectly clear here. You are not political prisoners of any kind! You know who was a political prisoner? Nelson Mandela! You know what you idiots are? A bunch of creepy guys in sky masks who threatened to murder the Vice President and led an insurrection against Congress. So yeah I might give you a heaping glass of “shut the fuck up”. And that’s what you get for listening to a con artist!

The recording is barely discernible, but amid the clangs and scratches it’s possible to make out a few male voices singing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Despite its poor quality, it’s become an object of veneration on the far-right: a recording of imprisoned Capitol riot suspects singing the national anthem.

“This breaks my heart,” tweeted Amy Kremer, the leader of Women for America First and a key organizer of the Jan. 6 Trump rally at the Washington Monument that preceded the U.S. Capitol riot.

The recording, published earlier this month on a conservative blog, has become the latest totem in an effort to cast the imprisoned riot defendants as patriotic political prisoners suffering behind bars. The Daily Beast was unable to verify the authenticity of the recording.

As Donald Trump and his allies on the right look to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, the riot suspects still in jail are being reimagined as victims of a vengeful deep state, imprisoned not because they’re awaiting trial for alleged crimes but because of their love of country and Trump.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/republicans-recast-jan-6-riot-defendants-as-political-prisoners

So once again, the cause of and solution to this problem lies squarely with Fox News. It’s no mistake that conservatives are trying to rewrite history. And not only that, they’re trying to up the American symbolism, or as I like to call it, American porn to levels way past 11. And really don’t ask this guy for his take on the subject. In all fairness he’s probably the last guy who you should ask for any opinions on anything MAGA related.

CNN anchor John Berman on Tuesday morning blasted Tucker Carlson for attempting to “suppress the memory” of what happened during the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, mockingly calling the far-right Fox News host’s show “Fantasy Island.”

Carlson, who has long played down the seditious riot as nothing more than “political protest that got out of hand,” took his revisionism a step further on Monday: He claimed “it’s a lie” that white supremacists were at all involved in the violence and said there was “no evidence” of an “armed insurrection” at the Capitol.

With the Senate holding hearings on the security breakdown during the deadly riot, Berman brought on Punchbowl News founder Anna Palmer and columnist Errol Louis to discuss the latest push by Republicans to memory-hole the events of Jan. 6.

“I don’t think this could come at a more important time because you are seeing a wave of revisionism among some Republican senators like Ron Johnson, who says it wasn’t an armed insurrection,” the New Day co-host noted, referencing Johnson’s recent downplaying of the riot.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/cnn-anchor-slams-tucker-carlsons-capitol-riots-revisionism-this-is-fantasy-island/ar-BB1dWHnC?li=BBnb7Kz

You know asking Tucker Carlson to provide fair coverage of the Capitol Riot is like buying a bottle of Coors Light Private Reserve. It's just a really fancy way of selling you a really shitty product! But you know it’s included in your DirecTV subscription that you probably pay hundreds for every month. That said, you know once again the cause of this problem is Fox News. But what’s to stop the MAGA crowd from attempting this again? This judge has the right idea!

A man who pleaded guilty to breaching the Senate chamber during the US Capitol insurrection was sentenced Monday to eight months in prison in a closely watched case that could influence how hundreds of other rioters charged with the same felony are punished.

Paul Hodgkins, a 38-year-old Floridian, is now the first Capitol rioter convicted of a felony to be sentenced. He pleaded guilty last month to obstructing congressional proceedings -- specifically, the counting of the electoral votes, which he helped delay on January 6. He spent about 15 minutes inside the Senate chamber, wearing a Donald Trump shirt and carrying a Trump flag.

The sentence is far less than the 1.5-year prison term that the Justice Department requested. At a hearing Monday, prosecutors argued that 1.5 years would deter future political violence and send a strong warning to "people who may be contemplating a second act" after January 6.

District Judge Randolph Moss departed from that recommendation. He said Hodgkins contributed to a grave offense against democracy but deserved some leniency because he pleaded guilty "exceptionally early," wasn't involved in violence and issued a "sincere" apology.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/19/politics/capitol-riot-felony-paul-hodgkins/index.html

[font size="8"]Simone Biles Trolling

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So usually when the Olympics are in full swing, it is supposed to unite people and countries cheering on their athletes to win the gold, silver, or even bronze medals. But this is the year 2021. And never in my life would I see people in America cheering against their own athletes, and in some cases actually wanting them to lose! Why? Because… wait for it… the Olympics are becoming “woke”! Can we please stop with this shit already? It was cute for maybe a minute in 2016 but really it’s fucking old now. Case in point – both Tucker Carlson and Bill Maher were both decrying the new “woke Olympics”. Come on, Bill, you’re supposed to be on our side!

Fans have slammed insensitive Simone Biles ‘quit’ memes circulating on social media after her decision to pull out of the Olympic team.

The American gymnast said that she needed to focus on her mental health after she withdrew from the women’s team final on Tuesday, July 27th.

“I know that this Olympic Games, I wanted it to be for myself,” Simone said. “I came here, and I felt like I was still doing it for other people. So that just hurts my heart that doing what I love has been kind of taken away from me to please other people.

According to reports, she has now decided to pull out of the individual all-around final on Thursday.

While fellow athletes have praised the four-time Olympic champion for prioritising her health, a number of insensitive memes have surfaced on social media.
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/07/28/simone-biles-meme/

Yeah that’s exactly what they deserve. Keep in mind trolls, not everyone is meant for a spotlight, and especially the way Ms. Biles was put on a global pedestal so quickly, I can only imagine that would make anyone freak out. It would be like if our crappy little program suddenly overtook Trevor Noah’s time slot. And yes I am not prepared for that! But that said it’s absolutely insane that Fox News and other right wing outlets are actually cheering against US Olympians. It’s disturbing to say the least!

There’s something about Simone Biles that apparently triggers the MAGA-verse.

After the world’s preeminent gymnast dropped out of Olympic competition this week, right-wing Trump ally Charlie Kirk lashed out at her as a “selfish sociopath” and a “shame to the country.”

“We are raising a generation of weak people like Simone Biles,” said Kirk, who appears in television ads for pain-relief supplements.

He was hardly alone.

“Sorry, Simone Biles, The Olympics Isn’t About You, It’s About Winning For America,” proclaimed The Federalist. Radio host Clay Travis insisted that “she should apologize to her teammates for quitting on them at the moment they needed her the most.” Piers Morgan felt the need to similarly pile on: “I don’t think it’s remotely courageous, heroic or inspiring to quit,” Piers wrote in the Daily Mail.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/29/simone-biles-and-the-magaverses-fetish-of-toughness-501515

Oh come on, you really want to know what triggers the MAGA crowd about Ms. Biles? Well I can put my finger on it, but I won’t directly say it. Thank you audience! But you know we applaud Ms. Biles for taking a stand on mental health and that’s something that should be done more, especially in this day and age when COVID is wreaking havoc on our social lives and our mental health. But you know what the underlying problem is? It ain’t mental health, it’s racism.

Abuse on social media is a growing issue for athletes and not just at the Olympics. There were 12,500 racist tweets and posts sent to three Black players on England’s football team after England lost to Italy in the Euro Championships final in July.

The abuse is often racist and Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, says her office’s work with the AFL monitoring abuse Australian football players cop online found Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people were three times more likely to receive targeted online hate and harassment.

The research found women were much more likely to receive misogynistic abuse that was sexualised and violent. “It’s not all out there in the open,” Inman Grant says. “In fact, a lot of the abuse goes directly to the players’ [direct messages] on Instagram and other places.”

The eSafety Commission is “certainly watching” what happens at the Olympics.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/entrepreneurship/a-really-ugly-playing-field-how-tech-is-tackling-online-trolling-of-athletes-20210728-p58dqo.html

But see here’s the thing – no matter what Ms. Biles had done – if she had won or lost the gold medal contest, she would have been subjected to endless scrutiny from the right because she wasn’t American enough. I’m looking at you, Tucker Carlson! Yes the guy who’s perhaps the right’s most loathsome commentator is unleashing his inner asshole at Ms. Biles for not being American enough. I mean come on guys, enough with this shit already!

Some of the usual professional trollers are criticizing Biles’ decision — middle-aged white guys such as conservative talk show host Clay Travis, Trump activist Charlie Kirk and Piers Morgan. Meanwhile, Fox News had on J.D. Vance, who is seeking the Republican nomination for Senate in Ohio next year, and teed him up to criticize the media for applauding Biles’ decision to prioritize her mental health. (Although, it should be noted that Fox News’ medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier supported Biles’ decision on “Outnumbered,” as did host Harris Faulkner and panelist Dagen McDowell.)

But, mostly, Biles seems to be getting support.

The headline on a smart Candace Buckner column in The Washington Post: “For exceptional Black women like Simone Biles, greatness is never enough.” Buckner wrote, “Whenever Biles pulls on her leotard, it’s as though she’s tightening a cape around her neck. She’s the hero tasked with saving a sullied sport, embodying some trite belief in American dominance — and also carrying a gender and an entire race. That’s a heavy cape, and it chokes. But it’s one that exceptional Black women, and women of color, are told to wear. Because simply being great isn’t good enough.”
https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2021/the-usual-professional-trollers-are-criticizing-simone-biles-decision/

[font size="8"]Hobby Lobby
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I talked about this a bit last week but I am loving this story so much because I remember we trashed the Hobby Lobby Bible Museum when it first opened (see: Top 10 #3-5 ). But now it seems that karma is coming back to bite them in the ass, and very hard I might add! Because 4 years later, it turns out that Hobby Lobby may have acquired the Epic Of Gilgamesh illegally! Shocker, I know! But you know here’s a rule that I think should apply to everybody and it’s a pretty simple rule. How about… don’t steal priceless, irreplaceable artifacts from 3rd world countries, OK? And yeah that’s the kind of thing on display at the Museum Of The Bible. Which surprisingly omits “thou shalt not steal”. But needless to say this pissed off the Iraqi government something fierce.

A rare and ancient tablet showing part of the epic of Gilgamesh, which had been acquired by Christian arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby for display in its museum of biblical artefacts, has been seized by the US government.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) alleges that the 3,600-year-old “Gilgamesh Dream Tablet”, which originated in a region that is now part of Iraq, was acquired in 2003 by an American antiquities dealer, “encrusted with dirt and unreadable”, from the family member of a London coin dealer. Once it had arrived in the US, and been cleaned, experts realised that it showed a portion of the Gilgamesh epic, one of the world’s oldest works of literature, in the Akkadian language.

The DoJ alleges that the dealer then sold the tablet with a “false provenance letter”, saying that it had been inside a box of ancient bronze fragments purchased in a 1981 auction. It was then sold several times before Hobby Lobby bought it from a London auction house in 2014, and put it on display in the Museum of the Bible. The museum was conceived by evangelical Christian Steve Green, the billionaire president of Hobby Lobby.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/28/ancient-gilgamesh-tablet-seized-from-hobby-lobby-by-us-authorities

Oh come on, you can’t wait 6 months? Well so Hobby Lobby stepped in it good. And this isn’t an isolated incident either! There were thousands of artifacts that have been stolen over the last few years from the country of Iraq. And come on they’ve been through a lot in the last 25 years. But looting in a time of war isn’t a new thing, it’s been around since, well, war. Even the Simpsons had an episode about stolen loot from World War II. But that said, Hobby Lobby is not alone here.

The United States has sent back more than 17,000 objects to Iraq. Hasan Nadhim, the Iraqi culture minister, said that the repatriation was “the largest in the history of Iraq.”

Among the objects repatriated to the country was a tablet from the epic of Gilgamesh that was owned by Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma-based craft store chain. U.S. authorities had been seeking its forfeiture since 2020.

The New York Times reported that cylinder seals, clay tablets, and more arrived in wooden crates in Iraq this week. More than 5,000 of the items that were sent back reportedly came from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, which has previously faced claims that it owns tablets looted from Iraq in the 1990s.

The Gilgamesh tablet was bought by Hobby Lobby in 2014 for $1.67 million with the hope of displaying it at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., whose founder and board chair is Steve Green, Hobby Lobby’s president. The tablet was seized from the museum in 2019 after federal prosecutors said they believed it was looted from Iraq. The museum said at the time that it supported returning the tablet.
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/us-returns-artifacts-iraq-hobby-lobby-gilgamesh-tablet-1234600115/

That seems about right! So how was this allowed to happen? Well it’s no secret how grossly incompetent the previous administration was on foreign affairs, and this is huge for the country of Iraq which really needs this kind of thing. But make no mistake here that we’re glad to see these priceless artifacts being returned to their rightful owner. And we didn’t get here overnight, this happened to be a decade in the making. How come Hobby Lobby knew more about this than the US government? That seems like a fact worth knowing!

The so-called “Gilgamesh Dream Tablet” has been at the center of an antiquities trafficking scandal stretching back over a decade.

Named because it’s inscription bears a portion of the legendary Epic of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian folk tale which is among the oldest recorded poems in human history, the clay tablet was first inscribed in the area of modern-Iraq some 3,600 years ago.

Ultimately the tablet found its way into the possession of Hobby Lobby, the U.S. based chain store whose evangelical Christian owners were bankrolling the Museum of the Bible in Washington D.C.

For years, the Green family, who owns the chain, had been buying up artifacts from across the near East, often with an unscrupulous disregard for provenance, to stock their new museum.
https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/14955-hobby-lobby-hands-over-legendary-tablet-to-be-returned-to-iraq

No I think it’s you who are wrong. But now here’s where the story gets interesting. Just how did Hobby Lobby acquire this ancient tablet when even the US government couldn’t track it down? Well the tablet was stolen from Iraq back in the 90s and it went on a global journey – from Iraq to Jordan to London and finally wound up in the hands of the same store that sells you glitter guns and cheap art décor. Yup, that’s all you need to know!

Prosecutors said the dealer believed the tablets could be of some value and paid $50,350 for them. They were reportedly shipped to the U.S. without filing a formal entry with U.S. Customs, as is required for items costing more than $2,000.

One of the tablets that had been illegible and covered with dirt was cleaned when it arrived in the U.S. That’s when they discovered it was part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, court filings state.

The tablet spent some time being studied by a professor in Princeton, New Jersey, before it was sold to two antiquities buyers for $50,000 in 2007, prosecutors said. At the time of its sale, the antiquities dealer who first purchased it in London created a fake provenance letter stating it had been bought at auction in 1981.

That letter “traveled with the tablet as it was sold several times in different countries,” prosecutors said.
https://www.mahoningmatters.com/local-news/hobby-lobby-bought-ancient-stolen-tablet-with-tale-of-gilgamesh-the-feds-seized-it-4181208

[font size="8"]California Recall: The Latest
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You know how something sounds so ridiculously insane that you can’t help but laugh at the possibility of it becoming a reality? Like say for instance a 95 pound woman beat a 250 pound man in a pie eating contest. And then you’re in absolute shock when the 95 pound woman eats 15 blueberry pies while the 250 pound man barely finishes a slice. That’s kind of what the California recall is shaping up to be. Yes, we have a recall election and it’s less than a month away. While we were laughing at this possibility, it’s quickly becoming no joke. Especially when you consider the people running this recall election are people who you wouldn’t trust to run an elementary school carnival. Well the California recall is unfortunately gaining in popularity and there is a serious possibility that Newsom could lose – and that’s something we should all be frightened about.

New polling data released this week found that voters are nearly evenly split over the recall vote for California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

The Emerson College - Nexstar poll found that 46 percent of voters were in favor of the recall vote against Newsom while 48 percent said they were opposed. The remaining six percent said they were undecided.

Emerson College noted that the percentage of undecided voters had fallen by three percent, while those in favor of the recall had risen by three percent.

The majority of Republicans and independents were in favor of recalling Newsom with 80 percent of 54 percent respectively saying they would vote to remove him.

A divide by educational levels was apparent in the results, as those without college degrees were largely in favor of the recall at 54 percent compared to the 39 percent who were against it. Among college-educated respondents, 36 percent said they were in favor of the recall while 59 percent were opposed.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/566291-new-poll-shows-dead-heat-in-california-recall-election

Yes that’s about what we’re experiencing here in California. We could lose and we could see Newsome replaced by some far right sycophant. But who? Who could possibly replace Newsom and become governor of my great state of California? Well right now the front runner is Larry Elder. That’s right – a fucking right wing radio host could replace a popular governor. But what’s fueling this latest in this nonsense election?

Like clockwork, we are suddenly blitz of ads, right wing segments, and a social media campaign attacking Newsom from the right and left using the same "liberal elite" talking points. "What about the emails?" has been replaced with "Remember the French Laundry!"

Never mind that the recall was driven and underwritten by Trump supporters. The fact of the matter is that Republicans cannot win a campaign on the issues. So, there are running a smear campaign complete with sock puppets in social media pushing right wing talking points without discussing the merits of the candidates. Likewise, we are seeing so-called "progressives" minimizing the impact of a recall, because we have the courts and the Legislature as a backstop.

Where have seen this playbook before? The question of whether Newsom should be recalled is not one in the abstract. The issue whether you want to vote for Newsom or a right wing alternative such as Elder/Cox/Jenner who will do their best to fan election conspiracies, push vaccine conspiracies, and deny the reality of global warming? We have seen the consequences of even one term with a right wing extremist as an elected, because with a recall, the replacement candidate just needs a plurality to win.

So, the choice is a Democratic governor who has done as good a job as any Governor of a large state during the pandemic versus a science denying right wing extremist who roll measures designed to save Californian lives.

Which candidate would you vote for to replace Gov. Newsom if he is recalled?
https://abc7news.com/larry-elder-gop-recall-candidates-wildfires/10923239/

Yeah really! And if you want to know some of Larry Elder’s greatest hits, just take a look at this where he says that there should be no minimum wage. And in case you doubt Mr. Elder’s MAGA credentials, he is literally taking a page from Former Guy’s book about the out of control fires in California that are getting worse each fire season.

California recall candidate Larry Elder 'not sure' climate change is reason for state's wildfires

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Conservative talk show host Larry Elder is currently leading the pack of Republicans hoping to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom in California's recall election.

A new poll from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found that among voters most likely to participate in the recall, Elder has the most support, followed by San Diego businessman John Cox, former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer and Assemblymember Kevin Kiley.

In an interview with ABC7 News this weekend, Elder made his pitch for governor, gave his position on vaccine and mask mandates (he's opposed to both) and addressed climate change and its impact in California.

According to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, 63% of Californians are very concerned about climate change, especially around the increasing severity of wildfires and drought.
https://abc7news.com/larry-elder-gop-recall-candidates-wildfires/10923239/

It’s not all doom and gloom in the California recall election though, there is some good news. Remember Caitlyn Jenner was running for governor? Well it turns out that – shocker – her campaign is broke! I mean come on , when you get in with the MAGA crowd that kind of thing is bound to happen. And I am laughing my ass off that she hired Trump’s campaign manager and is now flat broke. Guess even the MAGA bubble is about to burst! Where’s Nelson when you need him?

Caitlyn Jenner’s gubernatorial campaign has piled up debt, filings show, as the celebrity and former Olympian struggles to make headway in California’s recall race.

From the launch of Jenner’s candidacy through the end of July, the campaign raised about $747,000 and spent some $910,000, leaving her campaign with about $156,000 in unpaid bills and roughly $21,000 on hand for the race’s critical final stretch.

More than a quarter of that money has flowed to fundraising platform WinRed and to enlist the services of former Trump campaign hand Brad Parscale and former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer.

Jenner’s fundraising lags behind former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and radio host Larry Elder. All of the replacement candidates are well behind Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has raised more than $40 million to fight the recall and can collect donations without contribution limits.
https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2021/08/02/jenner-campaign-in-debt-as-california-recall-hits-homestretch-9426996

[font size="8"]Holy Shit
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Gather around my fair brothers and sisters! It’s time to take a seat in the pew and pass the collection plate, for the Holy Church Of The Top 10 has convened and it’s time to remind you that the holiest among us are the most full of:

My fair congregation! As I keep saying we live in some very dark times right now. There is a great plague among us. And I am not talking about the supporters of the Unholy, Ungodly Dark One who are still inexplicably walking among us. No, I’m talking about that other plague. The one that’s involving an actual virus, sent here by the DEVIL! I mean SAYTAN himself! But now we have the solution to stopping this horrid virus in its’ tracks! That solution is the vaccine! But people on the other side aren’t taking the vaccine. Now why is that? You know to understand this cause, I think we have to find the underlying root source of this nonsense. So what do supporters of the Unholy Dark One think is the root cause of this virus? Well the usual suspects.

End Times author William Koenig was a guest on Jan Markell’s “Understand The Times” radio program Sunday, where he claimed that the global COVID-19 pandemic was the judgment of God on the United States for its tolerance of the LGBTQ community.

Koenig has built a career out of chronicling the ways in which God supposedly sends natural disasters to America as punishment for failing to stand with Israel, which was precisely what he blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on last year. But on Sunday, Koenig asserted that the pandemic was now God’s judgment for American culture being “so pro-LGBT.”

When Markell said that LGBTQ activists are trying to get children to “question their sexuality so they can be groomed and be evangelized,” Koenig readily agreed.

“I really sense that COVID is part of the judgment,” Koenig said. “We had a national shutdown last summer. We had every major sports league that favored the LGBT agenda, that even took on states for their bathroom bills. When you think about Hollywood was shut down. We thought fashion was shut down. Retail was shut down. All these areas that were so pro-LGBT, the COVID shut them down, and I don’t know if they’ll ever recover.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/william-koenig-says-covid-19-is-gods-judgment-on-the-us-for-being-so-pro-lgbt/

Sorry, dude. You could have got away with this crap maybe in 2001, but you’re not getting away with it in 2021. But that said if you’re a member of the right wing conservative church group and you don’t get the vaccine, and you wind up with a terrible case of this virus, who do you blame? Because if there’s one thing I have learned about the conservative right, is that they always blame others. They never take responsibility for themselves! And that’s exactly what Rick Wiles did!

In May, radical right-wing conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles declared that he would never accept any COVID-19 vaccine because the vaccines were part of a plot to carry out “global genocide.” In June, Wiles spent several days in the hospital battling a COVID-19 infection that spread widely throughout his staff and family.

Upon recovering from the infection and returning to his nightly “TruNews” program, Wiles naturally began to spread conspiracy theories about how he been infected and continues to do so, using his program Tuesday night to blame people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 for his infection. The vaccines, he said, were “satanic serum.”

In Wiles’ telling, the highly contagious Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus does not really exist but is merely a cover for an illness that is being spread by those who have been vaccinated. In Wiles’ view, it was not his refusal to get vaccinated that resulted in his infection, but rather it was someone who got vaccinated that was responsible for spreading the infection to him.

“You’ve got people who are vaccinated who are shedding the virus, infecting other people, walking around thinking they are protected and yet they are the ones who are spreading the virus to other people,” Wiles said. “I don’t think that there is a variant called Delta. I think it’s a name that they gave the public to explain the explosion of infections caused by the vaccinated people.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/satanic-serum-rick-wiles-blames-other-people-getting-vaccinated-for-his-covid-19-infection/

Well with people like these at the helm, we really don’t! I kid… I kid! But really first off, Satanic Serum would make a great name for a death metal band! But no, another old friend of the show, our old buddy Dave Daubenmire just doesn’t know when to quit does he? But what he wants is not what the good LAWRD JAYSUS would want now is it? And correct me if I am wrong but I think this is literally their way of shooting the messenger now isn’t it?

Radical right-wing activist Dave Daubenmire spoke at a conference in his home state of Ohio last weekend, where he shared the stage with notorious anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Sherri Tenpenny.

Upon returning to his daily “Pass The Salt Live” webcast Monday morning, Daubenmire was fired up over vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions, which resulted in him having a screaming meltdown while accusing Dr. Anthony Fauci of working for Satan in an effort to destroy Christians.

Daubenmire spent a good portion of his program discussing “The Book of Giants,” an apocryphal biblical book supposedly written by prophet Enoch that purports to explain why God had to destroy the Earth with Noah’s flood. According to the Book of Giants, angels in rebellion against God had mated with human women, creating a race of giants known as the Nephilim, who were so wicked that God had no choice but to destroy the world.

Daubenmire, who is an ardent believer in the historical existence of the Nephilim, linked the current COVID-19 vaccines to the End Times by citing Jesus’ warning in Matthew 24 that “as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man,” asserting that the vaccines are modern-day demonic effort to corrupt humanity’s DNA akin to the mixing of DNA prior to the flood.
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/dave-daubenmire-says-dr-fauci-is-an-emissary-of-the-devil-sent-to-destroy-christians/

That is true, good Reverend! And I say this as a man of GAWD! Because that’s not something that the good LAWRD wants now is it? Is a bunch of conspiracy theory hawking nut jobs who don’t get the vaccine now is it? Make no mistake we’ve been in this thing in over a year and a half now and people are demanding answers. But that said this alarmism is concerning – where is it coming from and what is their end game with this? Well let’s just ask a supporter of the Dark One!

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested that if vaccinators go door to door in Alabama offering the COVID-19 vaccine, Alabamians are entitled to use their “Second Amendment rights,” a reference to the constitutional provision that protects the right of citizens, as part of a “well regulated Militia,” to keep and bear arms. In making those comments, Greene appears to be misrepresenting door-knocking community members who encourage people to get the vaccine as someone standing on your steps, needle in hand, coercing vaccinations. Alabama’s hospitals are currently overrun with COVID-19 patients, partly due to the low vaccination rate in the state.

The video, which was taken surreptitiously by someone in the crowd at a private event in Alabama on July 23, was provided exclusively to “The David Pakman Show,” a nationally broadcasted progressive TV and radio talk show. In it, the representative from Georgia tells the crowd that President Joe Biden might send “one of his police state friends” to Alabamians’ front door, and that Southerners love the Second Amendment rights and don’t like “strangers showing up at our front door.”

“You lucky people in Alabama might get a knock on your door because I hear Alabama might be the most unvaccinated state in the nation,” Green told the assembled crowd to cheers. “Well, Joe Biden wants to come talk to you guys. He’s going to be sending one of his police state friends to your front door, [they’re going to] knock on the door, write down your name, your address, your family members’ names, your phone numbers, your cell phone numbers, probably ask for your Social Security number, and whether you’ve taken the vaccine or not.”
https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/marjorie-taylor-greene-suggests-second-amendment-should-be-used-on-vaccinators/

Of course! Their solution to everything is the 2nd amendment! I thought their Bible said that “Thou shalt not kill”? But then again I would trust that they haven’t read it at all! Mass has ended, may you go in peace! That’s it this week for:

[font size="8"]Beating A Dead Horse: Celebrities saying stupid things
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So I have to admit – we’re excited about seeing people get back together on stage again, after nearly 18 months of silence and dead stages. Even with times as dangerous as these it’s so much better having live events with people aren’t they? I know if I had to live another year on Zoom I’d take a baseball bat to my web cam. But that said, the return of live performances and concerts has also brought back another phenomenon – people saying stupid shit on stage. That said let’s take a look at what happened when rapper DaBaby spent some time during his performance at Rolling Loud to say some horrible things about gay people. And not only did he say stupid things, he doubled down!

In the aftermath of his Rolling Loud controversy, DaBaby was removed from Lollapalooza's lineup, with the festival's social media accounts announcing that he would no longer play Saturday night, as their event was “founded on diversity, inclusivity, respect and love.”

DaBaby has dubbed himself the “Live Show Killa,” and he’s certainly gotten folks around the world talking about his recent set at Rolling Loud. During the performance, the Charlotte rapper born Jonathan Kirk not only brought controversial artist Tory Lanez on stage, but made some truly bizarre and offensive comments about queer people, as well as those living with HIV and AIDS.

“If you didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS, or any of them deadly sexually transmitted diseases that'll make you die in two to three weeks, then put your cell phone light in the air,” he said. “Ladies, if your pussy smells like water, put a cell phone light in the air. Fellas, if you ain’t suck a n-gga dick in the parking lot, put your cell phone lights in the air. Keep it fucking real.”

Though much of the initial scrutiny of DaBaby’s set centered around Lanez, whom Megan the Stallion accused of shooting her last year in a widely-publicized incident, discourse in the ensuing days has focused on Kirk’s homophobic comments.
https://www.gq.com/story/dababy-rolling-loud-controversy-explained

Well not literally but that’s neither here nor there. So almost immediately this split the hip hop community and social media down the middle with people supporting and despising DaBaby’s controversial comments. It also resulted in him getting dropped from several upcoming appearances like ACL Festival, the Roots Picnic, Day N Vegas, and Hot 97 Summer Jam. But my personal favorite reaction to him came from the Roots drummer Questlove.

Questlove isn't here for the recent homophobic comments DaBaby made during the Billion Dollar Baby Ent. CEO's Rolling Loud performance in Miami on Sunday (July 25).

In an Instagram post The Roots cofounder shared last night (July 28), Quest posted a photo of a list of names of a number of artists—The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, The Isley Brothers, Rihanna, Sade, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Hiatus Kaiyote, Sault—but DaBaby's name is crossed out.

For the caption, Questlove typed: "I was hypothetically asked if I was curating an updated version of #SummerOfSoul who would be my acts? I gave my dream list."

He continued: "And now I’m updating my list——because it’s 2021 & fuck the bullshit. I’m especially not here for any savagery (if you’re lost: Google the idiocy of the crossed out). I’m not trine be all performative smurf & create a social flogging or start some click bait headlines. That’s missing the point. But right is right & his actions are wrong. Somebody Gotta say it: Homophobia/Transphobia/Xenophobia/Misogyny/Racism——this should go w/o saying is morally wrong."

Read More: Questlove Calls Out DaBaby for His Homophobic Comments - XXL | https://www.xxlmag.com/questlove-dababy-homophobic-comments/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Yeah exactly what Questlove said there! But that said this has been quite the wild ride for DaBaby. And as they said on 30 Rock, the community that you never want to offend is the LGBT community, for they are the most vocal of the communities! But you also don’t want to go against fans of Megan Thee Stallion either, and they are loud and vocal. So yeah… maybe don’t side with the guy accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot.

DaBaby’s show at Rolling Loud Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens was part circus, part mob scene.

The rapper — whose hits include “BOP,” “Suge,” and “Vibez” — stunned festivalgoers with a surprise guest during his less than an hour show on the Ciroc stage. Directly following Megan Thee Stallion’s electric performance, he went on a homophobic and sexist rant and then brought out the man who allegedly shot her in the foot last July, Tory Lanez.

As the North Carolina native rapped his verse from Megan Thee Stallion’s “Cry Baby” record, a figure decked out in a mascot of him halted the set. DaBaby then told the crowd to guess who was in the costume.

“I’ll give somebody out here a million dollars if they can guess who in here,” he said as the head of the rapper’s mascot slowly came off revealing Lanez to rows of shocked faces and Megan Thee Stallion’s fans who had been hoping for a collaboration.
https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/miami-com-news/article253029763.html

Now keep in mind that the entirety of this story has been literally going on in the span of a week, but it feels like an eternity doesn’t it? But this is sadly the direction that the hip hop community seems to be going in is who can out troll who. And you know what? Fuck that shit. I want the music and I don’t care about any of the other shit that artists do in their free time. Fuck DaBaby, I’ll take Lupe Fiasco or The Roots any day of the week!

DaBaby has always been a troll of sorts. In 2017, the rapper showed up at the Austin music festival South by Southwest in a diaper, performing a publicity stunt that poked fun at his chosen rap persona. Now, four years from his introduction to the masses, DaBaby has taken his trolling to a more troubling realm.

During his set at last weekend’s Rolling Loud Festival in Miami, the rapper brought out controversial Toronto rapper Tory Lanez, who Megan Thee Stallion alleges shot her in the foot last year during an altercation. Lanez is currently under a restraining order barring him from even being within 100 yards from Megan, making DaBaby’s choice a clear effort to humiliate the Houston rapper. Meg and DaBaby recently had a public falling-out, not only over his choice to still work with Lanez in spite of his and Megan’s friendship and previous working relationship but also because the 29-year-old retweeted a post that made light of Megan getting shot.

In addition to featuring Lanez in his performance, DaBaby made homophobic and stigmatizing comments toward people with HIV and AIDS. He later doubled down, particularly on his homophobia, in an “apology” he posted on Twitter. He then tried to rectify the backlash from his post with a curiously-timed music video for his new song “Giving What It’s Supposed to Give,” which was released Wednesday afternoon. In the video, DaBaby inexplicably holds up a sign with “AIDS” written on the front. At the end of the video, rainbow-colored text appears onscreen: “Don’t Fight Hate With Hate.” Beneath the text is another half-assed apology. “My apologies for being me the same way you want the freedom to be you.”
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/dababy-troll-1204590/

[font size="8"]People Who Somehow Got Elected: Kay Ivey
[br] [/font] [br]

Politicians at the state and local levels who are so toxic, you wonder how they’re able to get away with the things they get away with. This is:

This week – Alabama governor Kay Ivey (R-Obviously). How did this insane woman get elected as the governor of Alabama? Well for one thing it is Alabama. But the other thing is, yes, it is also the state of Alabama. So we can’t exactly pinpoint the root cause of how people like Ivey get elected but we can guesstimate. But why is Gov. Ivey in the news this week? It’s for her inability to handle a crisis, and one especially of the magnitude of the public health crisis that we’re currently witnessing. And again, blame the people of Alabama who are firmly engrained in the Fox News and Q Anon cults for them to even begin to witness the devastation that Gov. Ivey is doing. But especially at a time when the emphasis is being put on vaccines and how well they stop the disease. And there’s some people who couldn’t give less of a shit.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued an impassioned plea for residents of her state to get vaccinated against Covid-19, arguing it was “time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks” for the disease’s continued spread.

“I want folks to get vaccinated. That’s the cure. That prevents everything,” Ivey, a Republican, told reporters in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday.

“Why would we want to mess around with just temporary stuff?” she said. “We don’t need to encourage people to just go halfway with curing this disease. Let’s get it done. And we know what it takes to get it done.”

Ivey went on to describe the shots as “safe” and “effective,” saying: “The data proves that it works. [It] doesn’t cost you anything. It saves lives.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/23/alabama-governor-covid-vaccinations-500638

Ah but you mis-underestimate the power of stupid and uncaring people there, governor, of which there are currently plenty! But now that conservatives are flipping to the side of “you need to get vaccinated” they are finally seeing the upside of just how important this is. And if you haven’t already, then what are you waiting for? Get the vaccine! And stop listening to people like the governor of Alabama.

Alabama’s Republican governor made an urgent plea for residents to get vaccinated to slow a surge in Covid-19 cases, becoming the latest top GOP official to step up calls for inoculations in the face of vaccine hesitancy among conservative voters.

“We’ve got to get folks to take the shot,” said Gov. Kay Ivey, whose state ranks poorly on Covid-19 vaccination rates. “Folks are supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” she told reporters Thursday. “Let’s get it done.”

Earlier in the week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) issued a stark warning: “I want to underscore in the strongest possible manner I can,” he said Tuesday. “These shots need to get in everybody’s arm as rapidly as possible.”

The forceful comments come as the Delta variant has rattled policy makers and markets. The slowing uptake of vaccinations has frustrated health experts and fueled charges from Democrats that the GOP hasn’t sufficiently embraced the inoculation effort or countered vaccine skepticism in its ranks.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/alabamas-governor-is-latest-gop-leader-to-implore-residents-to-get-covid-19-shot-11627063352

So even Mitch McConnell is turning a 180 and urging everyone to get the vaccine. But here’s what happens when you listen to idiots. As the late great Ronnie James Dio once said – “When you listen to fools, the mob rules!” and that may just very well be the case here. But here’s the thing, Gov. Ivey, you can’t be that surprised when the propaganda machine that elected you is also telling idiots not to get vaccinated because of political propaganda. You really can’t.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Thursday the people who haven't received the COVID-19 vaccine are risking death needlessly and are "letting us down."

When asked what it's going to take to get people vaccinated in the state, Ivey fired back in frustration over the state's vaccination rate, which is now the lowest in the nation.

"I don't know. You tell me," Ivey said. "Folks supposed to have common sense. But it’s time to start blaming the unvaccinated folks, not the regular folks. It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down."

Jefferson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Wilson said the coronavirus, including a new highly contagious delta variant, is spreading so rapidly that he believes public places should reconsider a return to requiring masks. Wilson said studies have shown the delta variant can spread between people in less than a minute.
https://www.wvtm13.com/article/alabama-gov-kay-ivey-frustrated-with-low-vaccination-rate/37112621

Now here’s the conundrum. Next year is going to be an election year and Gov. Ivey is up for a challenger, but who will step up? And we’re about to find out exactly where the voters of Alabama stand on the vaccine issue because one of the leading candidates who could become the Yellowhammer State’s next governor is an anti-vaccine nut job. And letting them loose in the Alabama governor’s office would be equivalent to giving the alcoholic the keys to the liquor cabinet. And that would be disastrous.

On July 22, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said: “It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” when asked why Alabama leads the nation in unvaccinated persons. “These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain. We’ve got to get folks to take the shot. The vaccine is the greatest weapon we have to fight COVID. There’s no question about that.”

Ivey’s strong stance in favor of the COVID-19 vaccine has not gone unnoticed by her political opponents, who accused her of shaming those Alabamians who have chosen not to get the vaccine.

State Auditor Jim Zeigler said: “What Gov. Ivey has forgotten – or never knew – is that those who are not vaccinated include a huge number who do not trust the government. A governor pushing so hard for vaccinations makes those distrustful of government even less likely to take the vaccine. Common sense is lacking here.”

Zeigler has said that he is exploring running for governor and will make a decision by Aug. 21.
https://www.alreporter.com/2021/07/30/vaccinations-becomes-an-alabama-gubernatorial-race-issue/

So leading the state with one of the lowest vaccination rates and telling people to get vaccinated, only to the possibility of losing to an insane anti-vaxxer. That’s Alabama governor Kay Ivey, yet another politician to add to the ever growing list of:

[font size="8"]People Are Dumb
[br] [/font] [br]

Hit it!

Of course you know by now that people are people, and people are dumb. And before we get into this week’s entries, I want to preface by saying – NO! We are not going to include stories of anti-vaccine idiots who go out and get COVID and nearly die. That’s not what we are here to do, though we may save that idea for a future edition. We’re just here for sheer, unfiltered idiocy. OK moving onto our first story – I want to start with this story out of the great state of Ohio, where this is politics taken to quite literal extremes. And while this is a shitty (ha!) story, people, don’t do this! This would be like drawing dicks on your neighbor’s Recall Newsom sign, and as tempting as this may be, don’t do it! This is a perfect example of People Are Dumb.

The self-described “Trump man” who repeatedly defecated and urinated in front of a neighbor’s home because the residents are Joe Biden-supporting Democrats has been found guilty and sentenced for his nasty antics, Ohio court records show.

Jerry Detrick, 70, was cited for littering in late-May after being caught in the act of relieving himself at 3:15 AM in front of the residence Matthew Guyette, 59, shares with his husband. Detrick and Guyette live near each other in Greenville, a western Ohio city.

Guyette called 911 after spotting a man squatting down near a privet hedge. Cops subsequently identified Detrick, a retired high school teacher, as a suspect in the May 30 incident. During police questioning, Detrick confessed and admitted to defecating on Guyette’s property "multiple times."

Pictured above, Detrick said he targeted his neighbor’s home because Guyette and his spouse "are Democrats and support Joe Biden.” Detrick described himself as a “Trump man,” leading cops to conclude that “this incident is politically motivated," according to a police report.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/trump-man-guilty-285930

Um… god I hope that isn’t how it works, Peter! Next up – you know what? We got lots of great Florida stories this week. Now that society is slowly starting to open back up after being closed for 18 months, we’re going to see some crazy shit. Starting with this story out of Daytona Beach. And you know this is one of those stories where you really don’t fuck with nature. Especially animals as dangerous as alligators. But in all the time we’ve been doing this, the sheer stupidity of Florida Man knows no boundaries!

A Florida man who stole an alligator from a miniature-golf course, swung it around by its tail and threw it into the air claimed he was teaching the reptile “a lesson,” according to the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety.

Police said they were patrolling on South Atlantic Avenue around 3:20 a.m. Thursday when they saw a man later identified as William Hodge attempting to throw a live gator onto the roof of a building.

Hodge, 32, grabbed the creature by its tail and hit it against a building awning, according to the affidavit. He’s also accused of slamming it onto the ground and stomping on it twice and throwing the alligator over his shoulder and then onto the ground.

Officers said they approached Hodge after seeing him throw the alligator and he immediately put his hands up to surrender and was taken into custody.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/07/15/florida-man-accused-of-stealing-gator-from-golf-course-threw-it-around-to-teach-it-a-lesson/#//

Yeah no it doesn’t quite look that way. Next up – sticking with the Sunshine State, or as it’s called, America’s Wang, by Homer Simpson. And this comes out of a town where a whole lot of crazy shit happens – Clearwater. This particular story, we’ve all been there – what to watch on TV? Do you watch cartoons or do you watch Monk reruns? I do love Monk and have watched the series multiple times, but I would never let it get to this point!

During a dispute over whether to watch cartoons or the show “Monk,” a Florida man struck his roommate at an assisted living facility over the head with his cane, according to cops who arrested the accused assailant on a felony charge. Investigators say that Glenn Hutchinson, 58, struck the 56-year-old disabled victim during a confrontation Sunday evening at the Midway Manor facility in Clearwater. Both men are residents there due to “a variety of physical conditions,” according to an arrest affidavit.

While his roommate sought to watch cartoons, Hutchinson preferred to view “Monk,” the police procedural starring Tony Shalhoub as an obsessive-compulsive sleuth. The pair’s argument over the TV turned violent when Hutchinson hit the victim, Edward Vance Davis, on the head with his aluminum cane.

Hutchinson told police that Davis “drove his motorized scooter into his leg,” prompting him to swing the cane in self-defense. Davis, who was left with a “visible mark” due to the cane blow, was not transported to a hospital.

Charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, Hutchinson was booked into the county jail, where he remains behind bars in lieu of $5,000 bond. A judge has ordered him to have no contact with Davis.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/buster/assisted-living/monk-cane-battery-149735

Uh… yes you are! Next up – you know we live in a country with more guns than people. And when stupid people get their hands on dangerous weapons, they’re bound to use them to do very stupid things! Case in point – and again, not shocking at all that this story came out of Florida – if you give an idiot a gun, don’t be surprised when they do something stupid with it! We go to the panhandle town of Pensacola for this story!

A man accidentally shot himself while showing off his gun at a bar in Florida, local reports say.

According to the Pensacola News Journal, the incident happened on Thursday night at O’Riley’s Uptown Tavern in Pensacola. Police told WEAR-TV the self-shooter is 28-year-old Carlos Feituuaki Tuifua, who survived and is recovering.

Surveillance video viewed by the Journal showed how the accident unfolded. At 11pm, Mr Tuifua was sitting at the bar talking to a man and a woman. About a minute later, he pulled out a handgun and showed it to them for a few seconds.

Then, the Journal reported, Mr Tuifua made a sudden gesture “as if he were putting the gun into an invisible holster” below his shoulder, but instead shot himself in the torso. .............(more)

https://news.yahoo.com/florida-man-shoots-himself-while-142143606.html

Finally this week – remember what I said in the beginning of this segment about not fucking around with nature? You know one place you should never test that theory? The zoo. Especially one that houses dangerous animals like jaguars and tigers and rhinos and bears? Yeah you should never think those animals are anything but dangerous. And for this story, I believe the technical term for this is “fuck around and find out”. Well, actions have consequences!

He must have been easy to spot.

A Florida man got clawed by a jaguar at the Jacksonville Zoo Wednesday, after he jumped over a safety barrier and stuck his arm into an enclosure, local reports said.

The man, who wasn’t publicly identified but is in his 20s, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, local outlet WJXT reported.

Witnesses told the station that the predatory park visitor had egged on the big cats before he hopped over a gate and into the “Range of the Jaguar” exhibit. ..........(more)

https://nypost.com/2021/07/28/florida-man-injured-after-sticking-his-arm-in-jaguar-pen-at-zoo/

That’s it this week for:

[font size="8"]Red State Diaries
[br] [/font] [br]

Welcome back to our ongoing survey of how the 2020 election has affected the country and all the crazy shit that the right wing has been up to since then! Last week we took a look at states where election recounts and audits are gaining momentum including Idaho and Pennsylvania! This week we’re going to take a look at some of the key players behind this mess. And if you want to overturn a major presidential election, maybe don’t hire these people to work for you. One such person is the CEO of MyPillow. Yes, that guy! So last week he attempted to air an “election special” on Fox News which is really just his way of promoting yet *ANOTHER* conservative friendly social media app. I mean come on, do we need any more of these? The market is already saturated enough with this crap, stop it already! But the scary thing is that Mr. Lindell is gaining big influence and that’s something that should be very worrying to people who aren’t firmly engrained in the MAGA cult. But here’s what happened exactly.

When you contemplate the end of democracy in America, what kind of person do you think will bring it about? Maybe you picture a sinister billionaire in a bespoke suit, slipping brown envelopes to politicians. Maybe your nightmare is a rogue general, hijacking the nuclear football. Maybe you think of a jackbooted thug leading a horde of men in white sheets, all carrying burning crosses.

Here is what you probably don’t imagine: an affable, self-made midwesterner, one of those goofy businessmen who makes his own infomercials. A recovered crack addict, no less, who laughs good-naturedly when jokes are made at his expense. A man who will talk to anyone willing to listen (and to many who aren’t). A philanthropist. A good boss. A patriot—or so he says—who may well be doing more damage to American democracy than anyone since Jefferson Davis.

I met Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, in the recording studio that occupies the basement of Steve Bannon’s stately Capitol Hill townhouse, a few blocks from the Supreme Court—the same Supreme Court that will, according to Lindell, decide “9–0” in favor of reinstating Donald Trump to the presidency sometime in August, or possibly September. I made it through the entirety of the Trump presidency without once having to meet Bannon but here he was, recording his War Room podcast with Lindell. Bannon has been decomposing in front of our eyes for some years now, and I can report that this process continues to take its course. I walked in during a break and the two men immediately gestured to me to join the conversation, sit at the table with them, listen in on headphones. I demurred. “Anne Applebaum … hmm,” Bannon said. “Should’ve stuck to writing books. Gulag was a great book. How long did it take you to write it?”
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/mike-lindells-plot-destroy-america/619593/

Pillow fight! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! But here’s the question on everyone’s mind who is watching from afar – is the pillow man a real danger to democracy, the future of the conservative party, or just a creepy weirdo who spends way too much time listening to conspiracy theories? We’re going to say the latter. Well the thing is despite gaining influence, he’s also considered an inherent danger to the United States and to the world at large.

One day in mid-May, after a rally in South Dakota to promote his new website, Mike Lindell, the pillow magnate and indefatigable election-conspiracy promoter, barreled into his company headquarters, sat himself down at a long table in a conference room he uses as a makeshift office and slid a dropper under his tongue.

The dropper was full of oleandrin, a plant extract that he touts—alarmingly, to scientists—as both a preventative and “miracle” cure for Covid-19. He squeezed.

“Look at this … I can never get the virus,” he said, near the beginning of the roughly six hours I spent with him over two days at MyPillow. “It’s impossible for me to get it.”

Lindell is 59, with the frenzied energy of an auctioneer, a lock of hair he alternately combs back or lets flop down in front of his forehead, and an assertive mustache that evokes a mid-1980s Mike Ditka. He speaks loudly and nonstop—“You need to listen,” he says—about oleandrin, in whose development Lindell has a business interest; about pillows; and about his absolute certainty that cyberattacks threw the November election to Joe Biden. Two assistants sat with us in his office, while MyPillow executives flowed in and out when he yelled for them, or waited to catch his attention from halfway through the door. He was often on his phone, in a series of conversations that at times could leave unclear who exactly he was speaking to.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/06/15/mike-lindell-mypillow-trump-election-conspiracy-494302

Ok so how would you best describe Mike Lindell to someone who has never heard of this raving lunatic before? I’d describe him as the Harley Quinn to Trump’s Joker. I mean this guy couldn’t have his lips more firmly placed on Trump’s ass if they were superglued on. But the scary thing is that the Trump world just can’t help themselves with conspiracy theories. And the deeper you go, the nuttier they get, and right now they are very far off the deep end!

Did you know that Joe Biden is probably going to resign as president sometime in the next month? Maybe, specifically, on August 13? While that's totally ridiculous -- Biden isn't resigning and, in fact, all signs point to him running for a second term in 2024 -- talk of Biden resigning has taken off among some of former President Donald Trump's most prominent supporters of late.

Here's MyPillow founder Mike Lindell in an interview Monday with none other than Steve Bannon:

"Once we have this symposium, how are the pathways of Donald Trump coming back? The first one would be, once we have the symposium, by the night of the 12th or the morning of the 13th, if everyone has seen it, including the administration that's in there now that didn't win, maybe, you know, Biden and Harris would say, hey, we're here to protect the country and resign!"

Lindell is hosting a cyber-symposium that ends on August 12 aimed at looking into various debunked theories about election fraud. And yes, he is trying to pump up interest in said symposium with these outlandish claims.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/politics/donald-trump-joe-biden-mike-lindell-ronny-jackson/index.html

But good lord is this guy atrocious. Shit these guys live in bizarro fantasy land. But as the denial of the 2020 election gets weirder and weirder – here’s one place where Mike Lindell is not welcome and that’s Fox News. Man, how toxic do you have to get to be banned from that channel? I mean come on their most popular hosts are Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson if that tells you anything! But Mike Lindell might be going full Bender here and starting his own channel if his cyber symposium doesn’t get picked up by someone.

[font size="4"]Next Week: [/font]

Next week we’re giving you a definitive guide to right wing social media! That’s right – all the trolls have started their own platforms!

Thank you San Diego! We’re off to Portland Oregon, next! See you next week!

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