Friday, February 14, 2025

Black history

Let me start with this from Reverend Irene Monroe's piece at LGBTQ Nation:


However, I am reminded of the tenacity of Mildred Loving, who died in 2008. Mildred Loving, the Black female plaintiff in the landmark 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case of Loving v. Virginia, is often overlooked in the pantheon of African American trailblazers celebrated in February during Black History Month.

She gained notoriety when the court decided in her favor that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional. Her crime was this country’s racial and gender obsession at the time— interracial marriage. Married to a white man, Loving and her husband were indicted by a Virginia grand jury in October 1958 for violating the state’s ‘Racial Integrity Act of 1924.”

Loving understood the interconnection of struggles and supported the same-sex marriage fight. LGBTQ+ couples carry on her tradition in proving the tenacity of love.

On June 12, 2007, Freedom to Marry joined with several of the nation’s leading civil rights organizations to hold a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, a decision for affirming the freedom to marry as a “basic civil right” of every American. 

Lending her support to the commemoration, Mrs. Mildred Loving wrote, “When my late husband, Richard, and I got married in Washington, DC in 1958, it wasn’t to make a political statement or start a fight. We were in love, and we wanted to be married. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the ‘wrong kind of person’ for me to marry.” 

Loving continued, “I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. I am proud that Richard’s and my name are on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving and loving are all about.” 

We’re in the season for Trump 2.0, but love is always worth the fight. Since the beheading of St. Valentine in Rome in the year 270 A.D., marriage has been controlled by heads of the church and the state — and not by the hearts of lovers. When Emperor Claudius II issued an edict abolishing marriage because married men hated to leave their families for battle, Valentine, known then as the “friend to lovers,” secretly joined them in holy matrimony. While awaiting his execution, Valentine fell in love with the jailer’s daughter, and in his farewell message to his lover, he wrote, “From your Valentine.”

Happy Valentine’s Day!


Important moment in history.  Of course, Donald Chump wants to erase it.  "Donald Chump hates Black people" and he hates LGBTQ+ people and if you're Black and a lesbian like me?  He really hates me.  He wants to erase us all.  Just like the Nazis because that is what Chump and Alien Musk are -- Nazis. See Ann's "Our tax payer money flies a NeoNazi around with his boyfriend Pete Hegseth" and read JD Wolf's MTN report:


MeidasTouch has uncovered a pro-Hitler ad being served on social network X, the platform currently owned by Elon Musk. The unelected head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) recently appeared with Trump in the Oval Office to defend his slashing of federal contracts and agencies. The ad served by X contains a picture of Nazi leader Adolph Hitler smiling with children while wearing a Nazi uniform with a swastika. 

Before Elon Musk's purchase, Twitter had policies in place that moderated pro-Nazi content and didn't allow account like this to purchase ads. The X ad from a blue check verified account named Nixon Groyper, an account that contains a slew of racist posts and was created after Musk's purchase of Twitter, admonishes viewers to reconsider supporting Hitler while pushing Holocaust denialism: 

  

Rashida Tlaib, when you're ready to apologize to the country for your lies and attacks on Kamala Harris, I might consider forgiving you.  I might not.  In the meantime, f.u. for screwing over our country.


Aaron Parnas (MTN) reports:


Overnight, the second largest city in Massachusetts, Worcester, voted to become a sanctuary city for transgender and gender-diverse people. 

Worcester has now become one of the first cities in America to be labeled this designation. The "sanctuary" designation is typically given to cities that pass legislation to protect undocumented immigrants living within the city. 

But, Worcester has taken a different approach, ensuring that transgender and gender-diverse residents are safe within city limits. The resolution is not legally binding, but it does recognize that there is necessary access to transgender health care and issues a pledge that the city will not work with any federal or out-of-state authorities to diminish trans rights for those living within Worcester. 


We need safety cities now for LGBTQ+ people, thanks, Rashida. 


Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"



Friday, February 14, 2025.  Chump's disapprovals increase even more as he and his minions set out to wreck the United States and fleece the public of every dime they can.


Convicted Felon Donald Chump has thus far eluded accountability, responsibility and justice.  As a result, he seems to think that breaking the law is meaningless.  So he did a deal with corrupt NYC Mayor Eric Adams.  As a trail for him loomed for bribery, a crook got into the White House and a deal was reached.  Suddenly bribery and foreign money didn't matter --  not to Chump.  And Chump wants charges dropped against Adams to stop the scheduled April trial.  This has created a major problem for the Dept of Justice.  Rachel Maddow explained it last night on MSNBC.



Rachel was covering events last night.  Yesterday afternoon, when Alisa Chang discussed the issue with Ryan Lucas NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, only three were known to have objected to the move to drop charges against Eric Adams -- since Rachel's broadcast the number has risen to eight:


LUCAS: So first off, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, has resigned. She's a veteran prosecutor with a conservative legal pedigree. She clerked, for example, for the Supreme Court Justice - the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who, of course, is a legal icon on the right. The Trump administration had tapped Sassoon to lead the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan last month on an interim basis, but then three days ago, the acting No. 2 official in the Trump Justice Department, Emil Bove, directed her in a memo to drop the corruption case against Eric Adams, a New York City mayor.

Now, Bove said in his memo that this decision wasn't based on the evidence in the case. Instead, he alleges that the case against Adams, who is a Democrat, was politically motivated, even though it was brought during the Biden administration. The memo also says the case should be dropped because it interferes with Adams' ability to help the Trump administration with immigration enforcement.

Now, it is highly unusual for department leadership to interfere like this in a case. Former prosecutors say that it's shocking. Sassoon says in a letter to the attorney general that the law doesn't support dropping the case. She cannot, in good faith, move to do so, and so she has decided to quit over it.

CHANG: Wow. OK. Has the Justice Department said anything about any of this?

LUCAS: The Justice Department, I contacted. They did not respond, but I did obtain an 8-page letter from Bove to Sassoon in which he says that he accepts her resignation. He also accuses her of losing sight of her oath by suggesting that she has the discretion to interpret the Constitution in a way that is inconsistent with the policies of the attorney general and a democratically elected president.

Now, in this letter, Bove also says that two of the prosecutors who worked the Eric Adams case are being placed on leave. He says that those two prosecutors and Sassoon will be investigated by the Office of the Attorney General and the department's internal unit that handles allegations of misconduct. Just an aside here, one of those line prosecutors is a U.S. Army veteran and a winner of two Bronze Stars.


Donald Chump and his minions want to circumvent the law.  They think is they threaten and bully, they can get their way.  Chump, it might have worked on your wedding night but no one following this story is in love with you and willing to endure marital rape.  Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) explains:


Reacting to the explosive legal drama playing out in New York where an acting U.S. attorney resigned rather than drop corruption charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams, a former member of Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it could have a major ripple effect across the country.

Late Thursday, interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon and five other officials resigned when pressured by the acting No. 2 official at the Justice Department, Emil Bove, to drop the case.

That set off explosive accusations of a quid pro quo deal between Donald Trump's DOJ and Adams' lawyer that has the legal community reeling.


Lawrence O'Donnell addressed the issue last night. 




Let's note some reaction on BLUESKY.


















Convicted Felon Donald Chump does not want -- or know -- how to make America great.  He only knows how to turn it into Chump land how to steal from the American people and hand the money over to his fellow grifters.  


Did someone say Alien Musk? 


I'm not really big on foreigners -- triple citizenship makes you a foreigner -- slamming our system and our processes.  Especially when, every time they open their mouths, they demonstrate how they never bothered to learn a damn thing about the third country they decided to pretend was home.  Yes, we are talking about Alien Musk.  Alex Woodward (INDEPENDENT) reports:



Bates granted a temporary restraining order this week following a lawsuit from a group of physicians and healthcare providers who warned that the abrupt removal of websites and data sets from federal public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration posed a “serious threat” to public health.

The removal of public health data created a “dangerous gap in the scientific data available to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, halt or hamper key health research, and deprive physicians of resources that impact clinical practice,” plaintiffs wrote.

On Tuesday, Bates — who was appointed by President George W. Bush — ordered the restoration of those websites and blocked the administration from making changes.



Alien Musk is thrilled to steal as much US taxpayer money as possible.  That doesn't make him an expert on this country or on our legal system.  He will always be the bastard who spent two decades learning racism in his home land of South Africa -- a country he only fled when the apartheid system began to crumble.  The thought of Black people having the same legal rights was enough to send Alien fleeing from his own country. 

Someone needs to tell the flamboyant gentleman that no one elected him.
 

Nobody elected that freak to anything.  And he is a freak.  He is has no power base.  That's why Steve Bannon can -- and does -- wipe the floor with him.  MAGA's not keen on the man who spreads his seed.  In fact, there are jokes MAGA tells about how Alien Musk has to use artificial insemination to spread that seed. Somehow, imagine that, Christian MAGA doesn't see Alien as one of them what with all the kids with all the different mothers.  Don't be an idiot like Pam Bondi and overestimate Alien's appeal (see Ruth's "").  


This week saw Chump abuse the country repeatedly including with the confirmation of his unqualified nominees.  Trashy Garbage is now the DNI and Junior is now the Secretary of Health and Human Services.  Neither are qualified.  Ruth observed:

If you missed it, Convicted Felon Donald Chump has added both Trashy Garbage (Tulsi Gabbard) and Little Junior (Bobby Kennedy) to his rouge's gallery which he tries to pass off as an administration.  It has been just one idiot after another.  Remember that if we have a terrorist attack on domestic soil.  Remember that Mr. Chump was not interested in qualifications.

Sorry!  That is not true.  He is interested in qualification.  Mr. Chump has only one requirement an applicants needs to meet:  White skin. 



On Junior's confirmation, Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following:

Washington, D.C. – Following Senate Republicans voting to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released the following statement:

"Putting Kennedy in charge of the nation’s public health is a huge mistake. When dangerous diseases resurface and people can’t access lifesaving vaccines, all Americans will suffer. And thanks to his serious, unresolved conflicts of interest, RFK Jr.’s family could continue getting richer from his anti-vaccine crusade while he’s in office.”

###




Join Entertainment Tonight co-hosts Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner for an inspiring celebration of Black excellence in television. Stars from beloved series like The Neighborhood, NCIS, and S.W.A.T. share personal stories and reflections, while honoring the trailblazing pioneers who transformed the entertainment landscape. Discover the remarkable journey and enduring impact of Black artists who continue to shape the future of television.                


Back to Chump's awful nominees.  Otis the town drunkard is apparently whom Pete Hegseth has wanted to cos play his entire life.  Sadly, Chump instead nominated him to be the Secretary of Defense and, even sadder, the US Senate confirmed him.


Ann noted him on Wednesday:

So the US military does not want you . . . if you're Black.  That really is the message and, Donald Chump, we hear you loud and clear.  And we know drunk Pete Hegseth just heard the reaction of the people loud and clear. Courtney Kube (NBC News) reports:


The demonstrators at the short protest repeatedly chanted “DEI,” apparently in a reference to the recent ban Hegseth has placed on some books in defense department schools. Hegseth last week ordered the restriction of learning materials covering subjects that included psychology and immigration in DOD schools.

He hates Black people.  We apparently scare him when he's drunk out of his mind.  He should be scared.  Our ancestors are coming for him in his dreams.  Enjoy the torment, Hegseth. Emilia Randall (Irish Star) reports:

The base’s original namesake, Gen. Braxton Bragg, was a Confederate general from Warrenton, North Carolina, who was known for owning slaves and losing key Civil War battles, contributing to the Confederacy’s downfall.

Hegseth must be drinking wine before beer because things are just not going his way.  As Ann noted, he was protested in Germany -- by US military families.  Things did not get batter after that.  MB Mack (LATIN TIMES) reports:




Chump's cratering in the polls because people see what he's doing.  Ewan Palmer (NEWSWEEK) reports:



Trump made significant gains among young and first-time voters in the 2024 election compared to 2020. This was cited as a potential ideological shift for the youth vote. The poll results suggest Republicans cannot rely on this historically Democratic-leaning voting bloc for support in future elections.


Chump keeps pushing unpopular policies and unpopular people.  And they think that 'messaging' will save them.  No.  The American people did not vote to destroy the country.  That was the plan and why Chump had to lie and say he knew nothing of Project 2025.

Some idiots believed him.  These are the idiots who didn't vote for Kamala Harris so we shouldn't be surprised they believed Trump.  If they weren't going to vote for Kamala, they certainly weren't going to listen when Taraji P. Henson warned them.

And remember, it was Taraji that made this a national issue.  The press had it and some reported on it but it took Taraji standing on stage and addressing it to get the press' attention and to make it part of the national conversation. 


As they grow increasingly unpopular, Chump and his administration continue their attacks as well as their ridiculous statements.  Holly Patrick (INDEPENDENT) reports:


AP's Executive Editor Julie Pace said the decision violates the constitution's First Amendment.


What country does the administration think they're living in?  It's not the United States -- you can tell that just by their actions and statements.  Tommy Christopher (MEDIAITE) reports:




 
Has Chump followed the law?  Oh, Maggie, no one's allowed to ask a question like that or to point out that the emperor has no clothes on.


Tulsi and Junior were lucky to be confirmed this week.  Morgan Music (LATIN TIMES) explains, "Gabbard was confirmed in a 52-48 vote, with only one Republican, Senator Mitch McConnell, breaking ranks to oppose her. The former Hawaii congresswoman's confirmation came despite opposition from nearly 100 former U.S. national security officials, as well as vocal criticism from figures like former National Security Adviser John Bolton."  Next week, Chump might have lost enough luster to cause more Republicans in the Senate to find a spine -- s it was, only Mitch McConnell took seriously his oath to the Constitution.   Amanda Marcotte (SALON) observes:



A couple weeks into Elon Musk's rampage through the federal bureaucracy, we finally have an answer to whether congressional Republicans mind that he's usurped their main source of authority, the power of the purse: No, they do not care. If anything, accepting Musk's self-appointed role frees up their time from troublesome decision-making tasks, allowing them more time to go on TV and make excuses for letting a private citizen conduct what looks very much like a coup. Still, while lying to cable news hosts is a pleasurable way for congressional Republicans to spend their time, it hardly amounts to a full-time job. Senate Republicans, at least, still have Donald Trump's Cabinet appointees to rubber-stamp. But how else will Republican representatives in the lower chamber spend their days, now that they've handed their main job duties over to an unelected megalomaniac?
Readers will be unsurprised to learn that the answer is thuddingly stupid. On Tuesday, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., announced that he's forming a "Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets." That sounds very official and important, but, as with anything Comer does, it's a clown show. Reading beyond headlines, one quickly realizes the only purpose of this "task force" is to give an unjustified air of legitimacy to various conspiracy theories that have warped American minds at an increasing rate over the past few decades. The task force will allegedly reveal information on "the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK," Comer declared. They'll also pretend to unearth information about UFOs, COVID-19 conspiracy theories, whether 9/11 was an inside job, and, of course, Jeffrey Epstein's client list — no doubt sans anyone currently in GOP leadership or is, like Epstein when he was alive, a friend of Donald Trump's. 

There's no word yet on if the task force will investigate the nation's most pressing mystery: whether birds are real. But the silliness of the initiative was immediately reinforced by the announcement that the task force would be led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., whose "questions" about her life story only flew under the radar because her competitor in biography-fluffing was former congressman George Santos, who pled guilty to fraud. While taking questions during the announcement, Luna explained that she plans to interview "attending physicians" from President John F. Kennedy's deathbed, as well as members of the Warren Commission, which investigated the assassination in the '60s and '70s. The problem is that they're all dead, which any fool could have guessed since Kennedy was killed 61 years ago. 


Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following on another one of Chump's dangerous nominees:

***WATCH: Senator Murray questions Education Secretary nominee Linda McMahon***

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), pressed Linda McMahon, President Trump’s nominee to serve as Education Secretary, on how she would approach the job of leading our nation’s Department of Education as President Trump calls the Department a “con job,” says he wants it closed “immediately”, hopes McMahon will “put herself out of a job,” and as Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE have already begun illegally gutting the Department.

Senator Murray began by pressing McMahon on whether she will ensure enacted funding gets out to serve students as directed and on DOGE staffers setting up camp at the Department of Education, where they have reportedly fed sensitive personal and financial data from the department into artificial intelligence software. “They’ve already been given access to highly-sensitive student data, and have already started holding back money that Congress decided, on a bipartisan basis, was needed to help our schools and students,” Murray said.

“We are also hearing, as you know, about an Executive Order coming any day that will seek to dismantle the Department of Education. These are bipartisan laws–you indicated that you understood that… if confirmed, do you commit to getting every dollar we have invested in our students and schools out to them?”

McMahon responded that the DOGE staffers were “doing an audit,” to which Murray pressed further: “I understand an audit. But when Congress appropriates money, it is the administration’s responsibility to put that out as directed by Congress, who has the power of the purse. So what will you do if the President or Elon Musk tells you not to spend money Congress has appropriated to you?”

McMahon said at first that the Department would “certainly spend” money Congress passed, before immediately following up with: “But I do think it is worthwhile to take a look at the programs before money goes out the door. It’s much easier—it is much easier to stop the money as it’s going out the door than it is to claw it back.”

Murray made clear in response: “The process by law is that you look at that, you make recommendations to Congress. …. So, I mean the question really is–who decides how much federal funding public schools get in Seattle, where it’s already been allocated… Elon Musk or Congress?”

Murray continued her questioning by asking Ms. McMahon about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), bipartisan legislation to rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act that Murray negotiated while Ranking Member of the Senate HELP Committee. The legislation gave states more flexibility in using federal education funds, eliminated one-size-fits-all mandates, and established strong federal guardrails to hold states and schools accountable. Murray argued that the Department of Education must do more to implement the law—pointing out that less than 42 percent of schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement had a plan that met all requirements of the law, and the recent National Assessment of Educational Progress showed that our lowest-performing students continue to fall furthest behind and exacerbate pre-pandemic achievement gaps.

“What specific actions will you take to implement the ESSA law?” Murray asked. “Can you name a couple of the requirements that are in that law that you will make sure are implemented?”

When McMahon declined to name a single requirement of ESSA, Murray pressed on: “Do you know what the requirements are? Do you know about the requirements for targeted support and improvement schools, or the annual report card requirement? Can you name any of the requirements?”

When McMahon demurred, Murray asked again about any provisions she could name.

McMahon responded, “No, I want to study it further and get back to you on that.”

Next, Murray asked about reports that Elon Musk and his DOGE staff have been given access to the personal information of students and their families—including their Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, date of birth, and what college they are enrolled in. While DOGE’s access is temporarily paused due to litigation, Murray noted, “There is a real potential for that kind of information to be abused, or for students’ privacy to be placed in jeopardy if the courts end up ruling against the students. And we know that DOGE could use that highly personal information to then target students and target their families or cut off access to Pell Grants for students at a college that someone perceives opposes, maybe, President Trump’s policies.”

“So I want to ask you, do you believe that DOGE employees should have access to private student data?”

When McMahon suggested that DOGE employees are operating “under certain restraints,” Murray pressed on: “I have to tell you it is deeply concerning that we have DOGE staffers—we don’t know who they are, they’re not held accountable—getting access to students’ private information. I think that should frighten everyone.”

A senior member and former chair of the HELP Committee, Senator Murray has championed students and families at every stage of her career—fighting to help ensure every child in America can get a high-quality public education. Among other things, Senator Murray negotiated the bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), landmark legislation that she got signed into law, replacing the broken No Child Left Behind Act. As a longtime appropriator, she has successfully fought to boost funding to support students and invest in our nation’s K-12 schools, and she has secured significant increases to the Pell Grant so that it goes further for students pursuing a higher education. Senator Murray also successfully negotiated the FAFSA Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to reform the financial aid application process, simplify the FAFSA form for students and parents, and significantly expand eligibility for federal aid.

###


Let's wind down by noting that Joy Reid interviewed House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries yesterday on MSNBC.





The following sites updated:


Thursday, February 13, 2025

Two losers

2daddies

 


Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS   "I Have Two Daddies"  is one of two comics he did last night.  


Now let's move over to the disgusting Donald Chump.  

“The end result of all this is a chilling effect,” Tapper told viewers. “It's not really about whatever the AP wants to call the gulf. It's about whether a president should punish reporters because they're not doing what he wants and not calling things what he wants.”

Tapper added that “this can swing both ways.” He used as a hypothetical example Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (R-NY) becoming a future president and banning news outlets from the Oval Office “because they don't use her terminology for whatever issue – trans-Americans, farmers, the border crisis – whatever.”

All Chump knows to do is to stomp his feet and throw hissy fits.  He has no respect for the press -- not even the idea of a free press.  He's just a dumb idiot who never learned anything of value.

Greg Owen (LGBTQ Nation) reports on another piece of garbage:


A Utah man has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two patients during so-called “conversion therapy” sessions that he conducted to cure them of their homosexuality.

Ex-therapist Scott Dale Owen, 66, is also a former Mormon bishop and was the men’s ecclesiastical leader.

His guilty plea covers three charges of first-degree felony forcible sodomy. Owen admitted that he sexually abused the two male patients “using his position as a therapist” and led them to believe that sexual contact was part of their therapy.


That's the reality of these conversion types.  It's why, when we see Mike Johnson, we think, "Who does she think she's fooling?"  Because, Mike Johnson, you're not fooling anyone. 


Here's C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Thursday, February 13, 2025.  What the press missed about Chump's announcement in front of King Abdullah II, DSA's gunning for Hakeem Jeffries (and lying again), Jill Stein's campaign has been revealed as the fraud we all knew it was, and much more.


Let's start this morning with the campaign of known grifter Jill Stein. 



It was all performative.  It was all pretense.  And now that they've put Chump back in the White House, they admit to it and see it as a success.

.  

They had so much help . . . from non-Democrats.  Remember when Kyle and Krystal were pimping Jill Stein?  THE VANGUARD boys.  Amy Goodman


So many, many more.  In fact, you just have to look at who trashed Medhi Hasan for asking actual questions in the interview he did with Jill and little "Butchy" Ware -- I forget his real first name but so has he.


Immigrants are suffering now, LGBTQ+ people are suffering now, the country is suffering now and it's only going to get worse but the Green Party, via Jill's campaign manager, has made clear that they did the right thing --- what they'd planned to do all along -- by putting Chump back into the White House.


They are not your friends. 


THE VANGUARD's blowing sloppy kisses to Saagar.  


That's how they're helping the country?


A known homophobe and transphobe and they're blowing kisses to him.


I remember when nut job Marianne Williamson went on Bill Maher's podcast as part of her never ending and always failing bid to be the 2024 presidential nomination.  


I do not watch trash TV.  That's how I have never stumbled across Bill Maher on any network -- not COMEDY CENTRAL, not ABC, not HBO.


But THE VANGUARD boyz watch Bill and they did some clips of Marianne's visit to Bill's podcast and praised her.


For?


When Bill Maher started trashing trans people, Marianne did the right thing.


That's what Zac and Gavin insisted.


The wrong thing?

To defend trans people.  No, Marianne stayed silent and "focused" and ignored it and just made the points she wanted to make.


Zac and Gavin, I try to be kind due to your young age but surely even you now realize that Marianne was never, ever going to get the nomination and that it was surely more important for Marianne to stand up to transphobia in that moment in time.


If she had, she might have even got some support. 


Ava and I covered this at THIRD -- see "Media: Marianne's campaigning for right wingers, Cornel's trying to destroy The Green Party."  How her 2020 effort found her embracing LGBTQ+ rights and doing it over and over -- including on Twitter -- but how in her campaign for 2024, she wasn't just silent in the face of attacks on trans people, she was also silent on Twitter and every platform.  


Let's be really clear that after her actions during the AIDS crisis, Marianne will always have a lot to answer for.  


But she went to Krystal and Kyle's wedding and that's all that mattered, right?


The Green Party has now made clear that the whole point of Jill Stein's campaign was to get Chump back in the White House.


That should lead to outrage.  People should be outraged over the soft ball interview that Amy and Juan conducted with Jill and Little Butchy.

Her whole goal -- as many of us pointed out in real time -- was to hand the White House to Chump.  Her own children who opposed her run noted that was her goal.  Now her campaign manager has admitted it as well.


A lot of people have to answer for that.  


And again don't come at me with numbers.  I hate the stupid idiots who think they understand campaign politics.  How many campaigns have you been a part of?  How many classes did you take in campaign politics (international relations and campaign politics were the two fields of poli sci I emphasized for my undergraduate and my graduate work).  Jill was there to poison perception -- the same thing Amy Goodman did every day on DEMOCRACY NOW!


As I have noted repeatedly: We have the numbers.  Forget the Greens, forget the closet Socialists.  We have the numbers.  We can elect Democrats.  But we have to turn out.


That's why the GOP, every damn year, is focused nation-wide and state-wide on how to reduce our access to the ballot.  Because we have the numbers.


That's why, if we turn out, we win.


Jill Stein's garbage and Rashida's and all the closet case Socialists was about defeating Kamala.  They had to create the perception that she wasn't worth voting for to try to keep some people home.  Voting's hard for a lot of people.  There are those with children -- not just young children, trying having middle school kids in sports and other school activities -- there are those who can't drive themselves, there are those who work the graveyard shift.  There are so many things so many people are dealing with.  


And if I've stayed up all night in the hospital with a loved one and I can now go home to sleep right away or I can go vote?  I'm tired, I'm drifting off and if you're giving me any reason to think my vote doesn't matter or the person's not going to fight for me, I'm going home to sleep.


That's what they did, they poisoned the well.  They screwed with perception.  And still Chump didn't get 50% of the vote.  Because Kamala ran a great campaign and I'm not in the mood for a closet case named Sam Seder to say otherwise.  


Yesterday's snapshot led to whining in the public e-mail.  "So we can't even criticize Hakeem Jeffries?"


If you're asking me, what you can't do is read.  I don't know why that is?  Could be a learning disorder (I'm dyslexic) or maybe you're just too damn lazy.  But clearly you can't read:


You don't think Hakeem is doing all you want?


You're probably right.  So pressure him.

He's in a spot that no one's been in for decades.  Nancy Pelosi is probably on her way out the door and that's probably why he went to Silicon Valley.  He's got to walk.  She can't carry him.  For over two decades, Nancy pulled in the big money.  That's why she ascended to leadership to begin with.  That and some well timed and played blackmail.  (A former Texas House Rep still feels the sting from where she burned him.)  Minority Leader or Speaker of the House, they have to reassure donors.  'We don't need big donors!'  Yes, we do.  As 2024 demonstrated, we really can't count on 'the left.'  Democrats can only count on Democrats currently.  And we need to grasp that and move forward.  


I like Chuck Schumer.  I don't even know Hakeem.  But I like Chuck.  That said, I haven't stepped in to try to defend Chuck.  Chuck has been doing his job for years and I am extremely disappointed with what he's doing currently. I'm also aware that no one's coming to rescue us.  We're going to have to rescue ourselves.  So I don't slam Chuck out of rage.  But, again, he's done the job for years and should know what's needed now.  Hakeem is getting ready to solo.  If Nancy has a popular challenger, she will announce she's not running for re-election in 2028.  (I don't see her dropping out in 2026, but I could be wrong.)  So if you want to make demands on Hakeem, do so.  But I'm not grasping the hatred and I'm certainly recognizing an organized campaign from outside the Democratic Party.


And before 2024, I would've just shaken my head and focused on other things.  But what those who hide in the shadows did to us in 2024 will not be forgotten or forgiven.  We are living under Donald Chump's threats and abuses because of DSA and their trickery.  


We were calling out the trickery that the usual con artists were pulling.  They couldn't attack Hakeem with the truth so they selectively edited a statement from a public press conference.  And this is how stupid the DSA thinks Americans are -- a public press conference.  They didn't expect that anyone would pull it up to see what they done.  Tabitha did right away.  And she documented on camera which is why we put her video in there.


In a minute, we'll be noting an issue regarding Gaza that apparently everyone missed.  My excuse is that I don't cover it anymore.  But every day there's so much to cover.  Yesterday, what I missed was how useless DSA is.


Yes, I noted their edit but I was on the phone with a friend discussing it last night when I talked about how wasteful DSA is (he's a former DSA-er, by the way) and how they distract from real issues and pointed out what a waste of time attacks on Hakeem were.  And how Hakeem is not losing his job and --


Yeah, that's what I forgot in my rush yesterday.


Hakeem is the Minority Leader.  That vote already went down.  They're trying to bloody him -- the DSA is -- and they're pretending that they can take him down.


No, they can't.


And their notion seems to be that AOC then replaces him.


No.


The Democratic Party, bound and determined to win the 2026 mid-terms, is not going to put AOC in charge of the House Democrats.  She's a Socialist.  She and DSA are having problems but she remains a Socialist.  And I'm so sorry for the Ed Wood crowd of the left but Socialism doesn't get votes.


That's your fault if you are a DSA-er because you hide and lie.  It's your job to educate the American people on Socialism, not mine.  You hide and you lie and you trick.  


Again, the SEP doesn't hide in a closet.  Other Socialists don't hide in closets.


But this is one more example of what a waste of time DSA is.  They decided to selectively edit Hakeem speaking to make him look bad and sew dissension and told the idiots stupid enough to believe them that it was time for Hakeem to go!!!!


Hakeem's not going anywhere.  He's the Minority Leader. That could change in a year or two.  But he's the leader.


There's so much that we need to work on to save our country.  Instead, we've got the DSA conning people into believing they can knock Hakeem out and replace him with a Socialist like AOC or Rahsida or Greg Casar. 


And we noted Greg all the time.  The minute Rashida ran into trouble we posted everything her office issued.  When Cori Bush ran into trouble, the same.  


The difference now is that DSA actively worked to destroy to Kamala's campaign.


If they'd done that to Hillary (and to a degree, they did), I would've just shrugged and focused on the next election.  But this wasn't an unknown.  We knew it was Chump or Kamala, we knew Chump was a convicted criminal who led an insurrection against the country and who would rule out of hate and fear and try to destroy our country.


That's the difference now.  I love the Michigan Green Party but I've ignored everything they've sent in the last two weeks.  I'm just not in the mood.  


I was happy to promote all on the left.  Up until you worked to destroy our country.


Chump was not an unknown.  He was a very real threat and when we needed to pull together?  A number of you worked instead to put him back in the White House.


That's unforgivable.  


What you have done to this country is unforgivable.  The lives that are being destroyed because of your actions and lies is unforgivable.


This is not "Oh my preferred candidate didn't win!"  This is: You actively worked to put this country into a dangerous situation that could lead to our destruction.


That is not forgivable. 


Some e-mails to the public account say that Hakeem's got to go because he's complaining in private about pressure being put on him.


Oh, the horror!


He's complaining?


I feel so insulted!!!!


Of course he's complaining.  We're his boss.  We're on his ass.  We're demanding he get to work.


I don't know what kind of Frank Capra lunatic world you live in (one that lets you overlook the fact that Capra was a government snitch, for one thing) but politicians complain about the people they represent all the time.  And that's fine.  As long as they get that we're the boss, not them.


This isn't, 'Hey, if you can, stay about 15 minutes late and try to get three or four calls done.'  This is: You work for us, start defending us.


And if he's pissed -- he may not be, that's an anonymouse story -- great.  And work to get him more pissed so he knows he has to answer to us.  That is politics. 


Let's note Rachel Maddow from last night on MSNBC. 



I'm trying to let the Gaza Freaks cover Gaza.  I did my part and I'm not really in the mood these days.  But I was on the phone last night with a friend (news producer -- not at MSNBC) and he was asking my thoughts on a recent event.  I shared my take.  He said no one covered that.  A huge event at the White House and no one covered it.  So I said I'd mention it here (he's a TV producer, the moment has passed, they've moved on as TV does).  

Pablo R. Suanzes (EL MUNDO) reports:


The US President insists that it is easy, "and two million people is a small number," while Abdullah avoids committing but also contradicting him to avoid losing $1.5 billion in annual aid.

Faces of circumstance, uncomfortable silences, and evasions. King Abdullah II of Jordan traveled to Washington this week, met with Donald Trump at the White House, and has a lot at stake. And that's why the situation could not have been more uncomfortable when the President of the United States, in response to journalists' questions, insisted on his plans for the Gaza Strip, which include Jordan, an important ally in the region, voluntarily or involuntarily hosting millions of Gazans, who would be illegally expelled from their land forever, as Trump said this past weekend, without considering their right to return.

Trump reiterated on Tuesday that Washington will take control of Gaza and will not back down. With what authority will all this be done? "With that of the United States," he stated. "It's not something complex to do. And with the United States in control of that piece of land, a fairly large piece of land, we will have stability in the Middle East for the first time," Trump declared from the Oval Office.

When pressed, given that he described it in terms of real estate operation, if it was part of his plans to do business personally, the President stated that it was not because "I have had a great career in the real estate sector," he said laughing. "We are not going to buy, there is nothing to buy. It is a devastated place. We are going to take control, manage [Gaza], preserve it, and give it value. It could be a diamond," he added, attacking Hamas, whom he described as "bullies and weak" and reiterating that they have a clear ultimatum to continue releasing the Israeli hostages from October 7.

Blah blah blah bulls**t and then some writing about foreign aid money.

Is that how this was covered?
 

I've met and spoken with the current king -- Abdullah the second -- but I actually knew his father.  And I know Queen Noor -- Abdullah II's step mother. So when I saw the footage of Chump's hideous meeting and saw the look on Abdullah's face, I assumed the press would be covering this as the international incident it was.

What Chump did was appalling.

I'm not just talking about his idiotic plan to take over Gaza and expel the Palestinian people.  That's bad and would have been bad with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud seated next to him or Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi seated next to him.

But King Abdulla II? 

Queen Rania of Jordan.  Does no one get it?

She's Palestinian.

It was bad for Chump to make those insulting remarks with any Middle East leader sitting beside him.  But it was a huge and grave insult to make those remarks when it was King Abdullah II sitting beside him.

If that's not been covered by the US and the international press -- going by the call last night and  e-mails, it hasn't -- that's a huge glaring error and they need to up their game tremendously.

When I saw the footage on TV, my thoughts were, "He's trying to humiliate the King."  And I thought that because of Rania's parents (both Palestinians). It was also an insult to the four children he and Rania have. 

The plan itself is offensive, impractical and built upon hate and greed.  Steven Bennen (MSNBC) reports:


It’s been about a week since Donald Trump surprised much of the world by announcing that he wants the United States to take a “long-term ownership position” over Gaza. As the president described it, Americans would both “take over” and “own” the area, and when asked about the possibility of deploying U.S. military forces to Gaza, the Republican added, “We’ll do what is necessary.”


While we're talking about how Chump's destroying US relations with other countries, we can't forget South Africa.   At RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT, John Matisonn writes:


President Donald Trump’s attack on South Africa has brought relations between Washington and Pretoria to their lowest point since sanctions were imposed on the previous apartheid government in 1986.

It is also likely to reduce or eliminate White House participation in this year’s G20 meeting, hosted by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Johannesburg in November. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last week that he will not attend the G20 foreign ministers’ preparatory meeting in protest.

In South Africa, this row comes seven months into a coalition government that is testing the ability of the former liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC), to work with its partner, the strongly pro-Western Democratic Alliance (DA), which represents about 90% of white voters.

Ramaphosa’s ANC chose the DA over the third and fourth largest parties, which are black, anti-Western breakaways from the ANC that accuse the president of failing to address historic black land claims. Under this intense political pressure, the ANC produced an Expropriation Act it hoped would satisfy all sides.

The coalition government’s success depends on whether it can restore economic growth and reverse rising joblessness after 15 years of stagnation.

The spat began when Trump charged that “terrible things are happening in South Africa, they’re confiscating land and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.” At the same time, U.S. billionaire and the head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, has accused Pretoria of doing little to stop a “genocide” of white farmers.
Oh, is that how we're going to tell the story?


How about we get real?  How about we note -- as Ava and I did on Sunday in "Media: OWNED finds Eoin Higgins owned by bad journalism" -- that it's not just Alien Musk.  David Sacks -- another huge Chump donor -- also grew up in South Africa and unlike some idiots write -- especially in bad books -- neither man left South Africa to go to college.  They did leave.  They did go to college.  But the issue was why they left.  Because they were Whites who had benefitted -- as had their entire families -- from the racism of apartheid.  They feared that if they stayed in South Africa, the Black people would rise up against them.  No one with a brain would have blamed a single Black person if that had taken place.  But it didn't.  But as apartheid began to crumble, White boys like David  and Alien ran out of the country as fast as they could.  But we're not done yet.  Peter Thiel is also a huge Chump donor who also spent some formative years in South Africa as he enjoyed being White in a country that actively attacked and discriminated against Black people.

As Ava and I noted:

If anyone feels noting the above three stories on South Africa  is 'a little much,' maybe they went to school with Eoin Higgins?


Because the above is not minor.  His whole attitude reeks of White privilege. Such as when he's failing to grasp that Thiel's support of Ron Paul was not despite of Paul's well known racism but actually because of the politician's well known racism.  Equally true, he never notes the racist connection of rich supporters of Donald Chump to South Africa.  Or that,  for example, Elon leaves South Africa because apartheid is falling.  Instead, he -- and Thiel -- just happen o leave South Africa, the country that has allowed them to benefit their entire life from their White skin while discriminating against Black people.  The attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is briefly noted in terms of when Musk took over Twitter and was appalled by the diversity he sees in the company's work force. Higgins treats it as a quirk when, in fact, it's a built-in factory feature of three White men (Musk, Thiel and Sacks) spending their formative years in an apartheid state that fed and deepened their bigotry and hate. 



This is what happens when racists throw a ton of money at a whore.  The whore ends up doing their bidding.   .This is not a coincidence so stop treating it like it is.  This is planned and planned due to racism. .

Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

Murray: “If you think RFK Jr. will change who he is, you are lying to yourself… If you do not draw a line somewhere, you will cross every line you could ever imagine. You will be pushed further and further into accepting things you never thought you would—things you never thought you could.”

ICYMI: In Senate Hearing, RFK Jr. Refuses to Say HPV Vaccine is Safe to Sen. Patty Murray, Pressed on Credible Accusation of Sexual Assault

Murray, a longtime congressional leader on health care who has led hearings on addressing vaccine hesitancy, has been a leading vocal opponent of RFK Jr.’s nomination—speaking out on the Senate floor, holding events, raising the alarm after meeting with him

*** VIDEO of Senator Murray’s floor speech HERE***

Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, took to the Senate floor to warn of the very real dangers that lie ahead if Republicans insist on confirming RFK Jr. as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and urge her colleagues to “show some courage… show some conscience” and vote against this nomination.

Murray laid out the many ways RFK Jr. could undermine vaccines as HHS Secretary—as well as so much else that’s at stake with his confirmation. Murray pointed out that, if confirmed, there will be nothing stopping RFK Jr. from firing the CDC’s entire vaccine advisory committee—responsible for making recommendations about vaccines and indirectly determines which vaccines must be covered by insurance—and replacing them all with vaccine skeptics. RFK Jr. will also oversee FDA, another agency he has repeatedly tried to discredit and attack—and where he has said he plans to fire hundreds of scientists on Day One.

“My colleagues should know better. They do know better,” said Murray on the Senate floor. “But they are looking the other way. They are choosing to pretend like it is in any way believable that RFK Jr. won’t use his new power to do exactly the thing he has been trying to do for decades—undermine vaccines.”

Murray spoke about how RFK Jr. will also have jurisdiction over NIH, where he could redirect funds away from promising cures, or make good on his plan to fire hundreds of researchers and pause infectious disease research. Pointing to Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s’ recent attacks on NIH biomedical research funding, Murray said: “At a time when lifesaving research like this is already under attack from the President and the richest man in the world, no one who truly values medical research should vote to install one of the biggest attackers of medical science as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.”

Murray also spoke about health insurance—another huge responsibility for HHS. “Last time Trump was in office, we saw millions of people lose their health coverage,” Murray said. “The uninsured rate went up after years of hard-won progress, and we all know he still wants to rip up the Affordable Care Act—driving up costs and kicking people off their coverage. And there’s no reason to think Mr. Kennedy will stand up to that effort. Indeed, there is no reason to think he has the experience and understanding of the system to do so. During his committee hearings, RFK Jr. confused Medicare and Medicaid—basic stuff—and failed to describe the components of Medicare.”

Murray also hammered how RFK Jr. poses an enormous risk to reproductive health care in America—pointing out that not only did RFK Jr. confess to having no real understanding of the Department’s role in enforcing Americans’ right to emergency care, but he showed he will be totally open to Republicans’ efforts to rip away access to medication abortion nationwide.

Also noting the danger of putting RFK Jr. in charge of pandemic threats, Murray emphasized that “We cannot take this man at his word—something he has changed and gone back and forth on time and again. But we can take him at his record—which is that he has consistently undermined vaccine confidence and even profited from it.”

“I cannot tell my colleagues enough: this isn’t a game, this is not a political role without consequence, the Health Secretary has real power over whether Americans can get basic information and care that impacts whether they live or die,” Murray continued.

“So if my colleagues are feeling the pressure from President Trump or if they are feeling the weight of the richest man in the world on their backs, I would warn them: this will certainly not be the last test we face here in the Senate… If you do not draw a line somewhere, you will cross every line you could ever imagine. You will be pushed further and further into accepting things you never thought you would—things you never thought you could.

“I think most of my colleagues know what is really at stake here. I think most of my colleagues know what sort of man RFK Jr. is and what sort of damage he could do if confirmed. There are political realities, we all get that—but there is also right and wrong… So, I urge all my colleagues to show some courage. I urge them to show some conscience. I urge them to join me in voting NO on RFK Jr.’s nomination,” Murray concluded.

When President-elect Donald J. Trump first announced his intention to select Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of HHS, Murray immediately and forcefully condemned the move—and she has consistently spoken out and laid out for her colleagues the case against his nomination since, including in a lengthy Senate floor speech earlier this month—VIDEO HERE. Murray met with RFK Jr. on January 15th and released a statement afterward reiterating her opposition to his nomination and urging her colleagues, “to be honest with themselves about the stakes of putting one of the anti-vaccine movement’s loudest, proudest champions in charge of HHS and join me in opposing RFK Jr.’s nomination.” In December, Murray held a roundtable discussion at UW Medicine on the importance of scientific research and vaccines—especially for children—and spoke about how having RFK Jr. lead HHS would threaten Americans’ health and safety. At the hearing on his nomination before the Senate HELP Committee, Senator Murray pressed RFK Jr. to acknowledge that the HPV vaccine was safe and effective—he would not—and respond to credible accusations of sexual assault.

As a longtime appropriator and former Chair of the Senate HELP Committee, Murray has long fought to boost biomedical research, strengthen public health infrastructure, and make health care more affordable and accessible. Over her years as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, she has secured billions of dollars in increases for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health, and during her time as Chair of the HELP Committee she established the new ARPA-H research agency as part of her PREVENT Pandemics Act to advance some of the most cutting-edge research in the field. As Chair of the HELP Committee, Murray was also instrumental in crafting the American Rescue Plan Act, including its landmark investments in public health and health care. Senator Murray was also the lead Democratic negotiator of the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act, which delivered a major federal investment to boost NIH research, among many other investments. Murray is also the lead sponsor of the Public Health Infrastructure Saves Lives Act (PHISLA), legislation to establish $4.5 billion in dedicated, annual funding for a grant program to build up and maintain the nation’s public health system across the board. 

In 2019, Senator Murray co-led a bipartisan hearing in the HELP Committee on vaccine hesitancy and spoke about the importance of addressing vaccine skepticism and getting people the facts they need to keep their families and communities safe and healthy. Ahead of the hearing, as multiple states were facing measles outbreaks in under-vaccinated areas, Murray sent a bipartisan letter with former HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN) pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director and HHS Assistant Secretary for Health on their efforts to promote vaccination and vaccine confidence.

Senator Murray’s full remarks on the Senate floor, as delivered are below and HERE:

“Mr. President, the American people are watching now with alarm—because the vast majority of people know: vaccines are safe, they’re effective, they are lifesaving.

But we are now on the verge of confirming, as our nation’s highest health official, a man who has spent considerable time, money, and effort undermining that basic fact.

“A man who has abused his platform by refusing to acknowledge the well-established science that shows that vaccines arenot linked to autism. Fear about that point—fueled by RFK Jr. and others peddling misinformation—is a leading reason that parents do not get their kids vaccinated against preventable, dangerous diseases.

“That’s why elevating a man like RFK Jr. to lead HHS would be so dangerous. Just giving him any platform to spread vaccine doubt is dangerous. But to give him one of the biggest megaphones in the world? It is truly shameful that we even are debating this.

“My colleagues should know better. They actually do know better. They are looking the other way. They are choosing to pretend like it is in any way believable that RFK Jr. won’t use his new power to do exactly the thing he has been trying to do for decades—undermine vaccines.

“Never mind the fact that CDC has already modified webpages with information about vaccines and other vital public health information—which a federal judge has now ordered the Trump Administration to restore.

“Never mind that the Trump administration is also, reportedly, planning widespread and significant layoffs—layoffs—at CDC and across HHS.

“This is how RFK Jr. substitutes his own beliefs for science. So, when the vaccine conspiracies start swirling—and RFK Jr. turns HHS into ground zero for misinformation—‘I had no idea’ is not going to be an excuse for confirming him.

“Because at the HELP Committee hearing, the Chair pressed him repeatedly about the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism. And when RFK Jr. said he needed to ‘see the evidence,’ he was shown the evidence. But, to no one’s surprise, he did not keep his word, admit he’d been wrong, and spread the good news that vaccines do not cause autism.

“He has had two weeks since that hearing to look at the same settled science as everyone else—crickets. But he won’t hesitate to quote the latest anti-vax conspiracy. He is totally up to speed on that front.

“Are my colleagues really buying this guy will take an impartial look at the science?

“If you think RFK Jr. will change who he is, you are lying to yourself. He has given no evidence to suggest that—and all the evidence in the world to the contrary.

“Given his long, and growing track record, we cannot just pretend if RFK Jr. finally gets power to undermine vaccines—a cause that he has dedicated a considerable amount of time and effort to—that he’ll just give it up. That is not believable.

“And I know I’ve been talking a lot about vaccines—because it is so obviously alarming—but the responsibility he would have goes far beyond that.

“So, let’s break some of this down—both the ways he could undermine vaccines as HHS Secretary, and the other responsibilities that would be at stake.

“To start with, the CDC is under HHS. That means that the Secretary directly appoints people to CDC’s vaccine advisory board. That board is responsible for making recommendations about vaccines—and it is those recommendations that determine whether or not certain vaccines have to be covered by insurance.

“So, simply put: changing those recommendations will change what vaccines millions of Americans, including kids, will be able to get from their health care provider.

“If he is confirmed, there would be nothing stopping RFK Jr. from firing the entire board and replacing them all with vaccine skeptics.

“After all, he has said many times, and in many ways, he thinks CDC is corrupt and bought by pharma—as usual, by the way, without any evidence.

“RFK. Jr. would also oversee the Food and Drug Administration; that is another agency he has repeatedly tried to discredit and attack—where he says he plans to fire—fire!—hundreds of scientists on Day One. And an agency that plays the crucial role of making sure our drugs and our treatments—including vaccines—are safe and effective.

“Not only would Mr. Kennedy have a key perch from which he could undermine vaccines on a scale like never seen before, he could also use his platform to peddle quack treatments with no basis in science.

“RFK Jr. would also have jurisdiction over NIH. That alone means influence over billions of dollars in medical research—research that is responsible for a significant portion of our economy, and more importantly, research that patients are desperately hoping will help them find cures. 

“But RFK Jr. could redirect those funds to promote his favorite pet conspiracies instead of promising cures.

“Or he could make good on his plan to fire hundreds of researchers and pause infectious disease research—for eight years. It should go without saying: viruses aren’t going to take a break.

“And here’s the thing—the attacks on medical research are now already happening under Trump. From his day one Executive Orders, President Trump has already been threatening medical research.

“Suddenly, all of our grants are at risk because they are looking at addressing ‘barriers to care’ or understanding why Black and Native American women have higher maternal death rates.

“And now—President Trump also is trying to illegally, arbitrarily, and suddenly change NIH guidelines to set an unrealistically low cap on indirect cost rates. That would mean researchers are laid off, studies canceled—including lifesaving clinical trials—and kids are not able to get the treatment they need.

“All because President Trump and Elon Musk don’t seem to understand how we actually fund important research, and couldn’t even be bothered to find out before taking an axe to medical research labs.

“At a time when lifesaving research like this is already under attack from the President, and the richest man in the world, no one who truly values medical research should vote to install one of the biggest attackers of medical science as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“And, M. President, insurance is another huge portfolio for HHS. Last time Trump was in office, we saw millions of people lose their health care coverage. The uninsured rate went up after years of hard-won progress, and we all know he still wants to rip up the Affordable Care Act—which will drive up costs and kick people off their coverage.

“There’s no reason to think Mr. Kennedy will stand up to that effort. Indeed, there is no reason to think he has the experience and understanding of the system to actually do so.

“During his committee hearings, RFK Jr. confused Medicare and Medicaid—this is basic stuff! He failed to describe the components of Medicare. 

“And yes, Mr. President, I also absolutely have to talk about abortion care. This is of grave importance—especially right now.

“In his hearings, not only did RFK Jr. confess to having no real understanding of EMTALA—that is a law which requires patients have access to lifesaving emergency care including, in some cases, abortion care—he also showed that he will be totally open to Republicans’ fact-free efforts to rip away access to medication abortion.

“Like so many other issues that RFK Jr. is simply wrong about, the science on that has been settled for many years now.

“Mr. Kennedy made clear though, he is very open to revisiting access to the abortion pill, based on a Republican argument against the science that basically boils down to: ‘Nuh uh, nuh uh!’

“Putting up barriers to accessing the abortion pill—or ripping it off the market completely, as Republicans have made very clear they want to do—would be absolutely devastating.

“And let’s not forget about pandemic threats. The lies that RFK Jr. spread during the last pandemic already make clear he is not the man to do this job. But if that weren’t enough, when there was a pandemic threat response planning session for this new Administration—he skipped it! He didn’t go! It would almost be comical if this wasn’t so serious.

“Mr. President, everywhere you look, everything about this nominee is so concerning.

“We cannot take this man at his word—something he has changed and gone back and forth on time and time again. But we can take him on his record—which is that he has consistently undermined vaccine confidence and, by the way, note: he even profited from that.

“And we can take the threat of what he might do seriously, especially given the alarming things that are already happening.

“If RFK Jr. gives you his word of honor, that he won’t freeze research—well guess what? We are already seeing the Trump Administration totally upend medical research. Thanks to the Trump funding freeze, NIH hasn’t issued any grant awards in weeks!

“If RFK Jr. swears that he is not going to take down information about vaccines, that he is not going to silence experts, well don’t look now—but the Trump Administration has already taken down or changed CDC pages about vaccines. They have already silenced public health experts.

“If RFK Jr. pinky promises you that he won’t undermine medical science or studies, and he won’t ignore global health threats, well, you might want to sit down for this—but President Trump has completely demolished our global health aid work. He has already completely demolished it.

“The fallout is utterly heart wrenching. Already we know of a woman who died—because the USAID-supported hospital she went to for oxygen was forced to discharge her because they got a ‘stop-work’ order from the Trump administration.

“It is not clear if she was the first death caused by Trump’s complete freeze, but there is no question, she will not be the last.

“And Mr. President—let me make a really important point here: it is not just people across the world who will be affected by this.

“There was a study being done on a new HIV treatment with thousands of volunteers, a study being done already having a thousand volunteers doing the treatment. But now, without their regular injections, which are cut off because of Trump’s move, there is going to be too little of the drug in their system to protect those people from HIV—but enough of the drug that if they contract HIV, it could mutate to become drug resistant.

“So, for all the absolutely unhinged conspiracies we have heard about medical research from RFK Jr. and the like, where is the concern for this actual risk, in this actual study, happening right now all because President Trump cut off foreign assistance?

“RFK Jr. has been silent about that risk, silent about how wrong that is—and so, even as he is making these empty promises on one hand to some of our colleagues, he is already standing by as President Trump breaks them on the other hand.

“Oh, and here’s one more—if RFK Jr. says he is going to consult you on health care personnel, please do not be fooled.

“Look, I don’t know why my colleagues need me to tell them this—I like to think we have some pretty smart people around here—but this vote, RFK Jr.’s own nomination, this is your consultation on health care personnel. Not some made up promise for later. This is the point you have the most power.

“Whatever he might say, you don’t get to choose who RFK Jr. will appoint to this or that—heck, he doesn’t get to choose who President Trump appoints. 

“The decision you get to make, all of us on this floor get to make, is the decision on this floor before us right now. You get to choose who you vote to confirm. And you will have to live with that decision.

“And, if you ignore the warning signs, and confirm RFK Jr.—then, when the wheels fall off the wagon, you may try to tell yourself you were lied to, but you knew who you were dealing with. You knew who you were dealing with. You knew what he has said before, and what he has refused to say.

“You had all the knowledge you needed to do the right thing.

“I cannot tell my colleagues enough: this is not a game, this is not a political role without consequence. The Health Secretary has real power over whether Americans can get basic information and care that impacts whether they live or die.

“As I have tried to drive home throughout this process—vaccines save lives. That is not a question. It is not a slogan. It is a fact.

“If, when parents look to you, worried about their newborn, wanting to do what is best for their baby, and trusting your advice as a public health leader—if you cannot tell them the same truth that centuries of science and experience tells us, which is that vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving, then you have absolutely no business leading the Department of Health and Human Services. None. 

“And so, just as I did at the hearing, I want to warn all of my colleagues: by merely voting to confirm Mr. Kennedy, we would be telling our constituents he is worth listening to on vaccines. That alone will get people killed—before he even lifts a finger.

“Because he does not even need the levers of power to get people killed—all he needs is a megaphone.

“To affirm his views by voting to confirm him as our highest health official—let’s not mince words about what that will mean.

“When babies die from whooping cough because parents weren’t sure the vaccine was safe—will you be able to look them in the eye? When the flu sweeps our nursing homes, when measles sweeps through our communities—will it be worth it?

“Mr. President, I will end on this—I’m sure there are plenty of members who know perfectly well just how dangerous it would be to confirm RFK Jr. They don’t need to hear it from me—in fact, some of them may even know the danger better than I do.

“But here’s what I do know: conscience is a muscle. Courage is a muscle. The less you use them, the more they fade away.

“So if my colleagues are feeling the pressure from President Trump or if they are feeling the weight of the richest man in the world on their backs on this vote, I would warn them: this will certainly not be the last test we face here in the Senate.

“Giving into pressure now won’t make it go away. It won’t soften the pressure you face later, and it will not strengthen your resolve when the stakes are higher. It will just show: pressure works.

“If you do not draw a line somewhere, you will cross every line you could ever imagine. You will be pushed further and further into accepting things you never thought you would—things you thought you never could.

“I think most of my colleagues know what is really at stake here. I think most of my colleagues knowwhat sort of man RFK Jr. is, and what sort of damage he could do if confirmed.

“There are political realities, we all get that—but there is also right and wrong. There is also fact and fiction.

“There is people staying healthy, and people dying pointlessly—kids dying pointlessly—from diseases that we can prevent, because they thought Congress took its job vetting our health secretary seriously.

“So, M. President, I urge all my colleagues to show some courage. I urge them to show some conscience. I urge them to vote NO on RFK Jr.’s nomination.”

###


 Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Lincoln Hater" and "I Have Two Daddies" went up last night.   The following sites updated: