All posts tagged: Republicans

Death in Nogales | S. C. Cornell

Death in Nogales | S. C. Cornell

Published by skeptic

On January 30, 2023, a forty-eight-year-old Mexican man named Gabriel Cuen Buitimea made his way into the Sonoran desert a few miles east of Nogales, Arizona, where the thirty-foot-high metal beams of the border wall abruptly drop into sawhorses and cattle fencing.1 Around noon Cuen Buitimea and a group of men hopped the sawhorses, set foot in the United States, and ran north. Some time later they heard what sounded like a Border Patrol car and fled in various directions. At 2:30 PM Cuen Buitimea was walking south with a Honduran man named Daniel Ramirez; they intended to return to Mexico and try to cross again later. They were on the Vermilion Mountain Ranch, a 170-acre property owned by Wanda and George Alan Kelly, retirees in their seventies. The border wall was visible on the horizon. The ranch house was 115 yards away, behind a thicket of bare mesquite trees. Ramirez later said he did not notice it, though he did see the Kellys’ skinny red horse in a nearby pasture. As the two men …

Trump Tries to Sideline Congressional Republicans

Trump Tries to Sideline Congressional Republicans

Published by skeptic

Trying to grasp quite what is going on as Donald Trump assembles his new administration is difficult. His early picks for top roles reinforce that he is deadly serious about both mass deportation and revenge, two of the main themes of his campaign, but one of the strangest and most ominous signs is the president-elect’s posture toward Congress. When Trump fulminates against his enemies, he tends to cite Democrats or the permanent federal bureaucracy, but Trump is actually laying the groundwork to bypass Republicans to enact big parts of his agenda. The juxtaposition is superficially mysterious. Yesterday, networks called enough races to confirm that Republicans will hold majorities in both the House and Senate. That gives the GOP power on Capitol Hill, at the White House, and in effect in the Supreme Court as well, where six of the nine justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Yet Trump has spent the past few days demanding the power to appoint people to top roles without Senate approval and discussing how to make major spending decisions without …

Democrat Says It’s Time For The Left To Rebrand

Democrat Says It’s Time For The Left To Rebrand

Published by skeptic

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory, many Americans, especially those aligned with the Democratic Party, found themselves feeling dejected, angry, pessimistic, and even fearful about the future. Many looked for someone to blame and found themselves pointing fingers at the Republican party and all who voted for it. However, one Democrat online shared a different perspective, highlighting the flaws of the left-leaning party that resulted in the loss of the election and the trust of the American people. A registered Democrat said it’s time for the left to ‘rebrand.’ Like many of us, Horace Gold woke up Wednesday morning feeling disappointed by the election night turnout and results, and he’s been doing some soul-searching since. While navigating his emotions of grief and despondence, Gold came to the realization that while the Republican Party certainly has its imperfections, the Democratic Party is not innocent either. The truth is that Trump won the popular vote with a hefty 73 million votes, while Kamala Harris received 69 million. As challenging as it may be for some …

Jimmy Kimmel Makes Plea to Republicans Ahead of Election

Jimmy Kimmel Makes Plea to Republicans Ahead of Election

Published by skeptic

Jimmy Kimmel kicked off his latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a message directly for moderate Republicans. Ahead of the show, the host posted on social media, asking for people to “ask a Republican you love” to watch Wednesday night, as he has a “special monologue” for them. “I assume you’re watching this because you care about the person who asked you to watch it, or maybe you’re just open-minded and not afraid to hear somebody who might not agree with you speak,” Kimmel said to kick off the show. “Either way, thank you for giving me 15 minutes of your life to talk about Donald Trump. Maybe you love him, and you’ll vote for him no matter what he says or what he does. Maybe you hate the other side so much you’ll look past anything he says or does. Or maybe there’s a little voice in the back of your head saying, ‘I might not want this guy driving the bus.’” The host continued, “But what I’m asking you to hear isn’t …

Republicans Call for Investigation Into Elon Musk Paying Swing State Voters

Republicans Call for Investigation Into Elon Musk Paying Swing State Voters

Published by José

A cohort of former Republican advisors, law enforcement officials, and legislators have signed a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland urging for an investigation into billionaire Elon Musk’s million-dollar payments to swing state voters, The Washington Post reports. The letter, a copy of which was obtained by WaPo, was sent from the desk of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Attorney General Michelle Henry and signed by Republican operatives whose careers date back to the Nixon and Reagan administrations, all the way through father and son Bush presidencies — and, yes, the Trump Administration. Together, they call for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to examine whether payments made from Musk’s newly-founded America PAC violate federal voting laws — marking bipartisan opposition to Musk’s handouts, which are unprecedented in modern politics. Beginning on Saturday, the billionaire started handing out one million dollars every day to a swing state voter who signed a petition in “support” of free speech and the right to bear arms. But as the PAC’s offer only extends to registered voters, some legal experts have argued that Musk’s …

Last Rites | Jack Hanson

Last Rites | Jack Hanson

Published by skeptic

On September 24 at 6:01 PM—still business hours for many Americans—Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, fifty-five, having been led in chains to a room and strapped to a table, was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital, a barbiturate that, at lower levels, induces sleep, treats seizures, and calms anxious patients before surgery. It is also used to euthanize pets. Williams was accompanied by his imam, while his son and attorneys watched from an adjoining room. He was declared dead nine minutes later.  The execution took place at Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, Missouri, the state where Williams, a Black man, had been incarcerated for twenty-one years for the 1998 killing of Felicia Gayle, a former journalist who was stabbed to death in her home. He had always maintained his innocence, and his trial had been obviously deficient. A racist jury selection process that reduced the number of Black jurors from seven to one (the prosecutor Keith Larner said that one prospective juror and Williams “looked like they were brothers”), unreliable and incentivized witnesses, …

This Race Is Kamala Harris’s to Lose. Here’s Why.

This Race Is Kamala Harris’s to Lose. Here’s Why.

Published by Sam

In these waning stages of the late Trump era, everything and nothing is a surprise. We’ve become immune. I mean, when you have the nominee of a major political party mentally unplugging during a town hall, stopping answering questions, and swaying along to his own Spotify playlist for 39 interminable minutes—and no one seems to blink—we’re out of surprises. There’s no big last debate. No tentpole events likely to shake up the race in these dwindling days. Yes, a full-on war could break out in the Middle East. Or another hurricane could blow ashore, wreaking havoc—and Category 5 conspiracy theories. But the reality is that if nothing or everything happens between now and November 5, it’s unlikely to change the outcome. This sucker is baked. I’m going to make a bold prediction. Kamala Harris is going to win. Maybe easily. And what does that mean? Well, first of all, there aren’t really any undecided voters. If you haven’t figured this one out by now, chances are you’re sitting it out. In effect, the oldest cliché …

Even Republicans alarmed by new Georgia election rules — but experts worry “nothing will be done”

Even Republicans alarmed by new Georgia election rules — but experts worry “nothing will be done”

Published by Sam

Even Republicans are ringing alarm bells about the last-minute changes Georgia’s State Election Board is making to election procedures in the state. Despite a multiple challenges to the new rules — which could sow chaos in the election — many are doubtful that any action will be taken to clarify the state’s rules before Election Day. Earlier this week, a group of Republican and independent attorneys and interested parties penned a letter to Governor Brian Kemp, Attorney General Christopher Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger expressing concern about the recent rulemaking of Georgia’s State Elections Board. The board is an unelected five-member body charged with ensuring “the fair, legal, and orderly” administration of elections across Georgia as well as keeping uniform electoral procedures across the state’s 159 counties. This year, however, a three-member pro-Trump majority consisting of Rick Jeffares, Janice Johnston and Janelle King, passed a spate of new election rules that even has Republicans concerned. The two rules that have raised the most eyebrows are the “reasonable inquiry” rule, passed in August, and a hand-count rule passed …

The Republicans’ Candidate-Quality Problem – The Atlantic

The Republicans’ Candidate-Quality Problem – The Atlantic

Published by José

What Mark Robinson reveals about the GOP Courtesy of Washington Week With The Atlantic September 21, 2024, 10:30 AM ET Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here. Republican leaders are scrambling to avoid a government shutdown after the House failed to pass a funding bill this week. These events have led to renewed questions about Speaker Mike Johnson’s leadership and his ability to keep his party members in line. Facing pressure from the Freedom Caucus, Johnson put forward a bill to fund the government for the next six months alongside an additional bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. Now his speakership may be under threat: Johnson’s “political headaches aren’t going away,” Zolan Kanno-Youngs said last night on Washington Week With The Atlantic. Beyond Washington, Republicans are facing a candidate-quality issue. A CNN report this week said that North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson has …

Desperate Republicans Using AI to Generate Fake Photos of Donald Trump Saving Kittens

Desperate Republicans Using AI to Generate Fake Photos of Donald Trump Saving Kittens

Published by José

The official account of the Republican House Judiciary Committee today posted an AI-generated photo of presidential candidate Donald Trump submerged chest-deep in water, shutting his eyes while embracing a duck and kitten. “Protect our kittens and ducks in Ohio!” the elected officials wrote above the image. Though the influential Republican committee — one of the House of Representative’s most esteemed assignments — didn’t explicitly denote or watermark the image as AI-generated, it certainly doesn’t look real; the former president’s features are oddly smooth, as are those of the cartoonishly calm-looking cat and duck. Influential Trump supporter and X owner Elon Musk reshared the picture, captioning it with a smiling-face-with-hearts emoji. But the image wasn’t created to make Trump, who famously doesn’t care for pets, look cuddly. It was created to reinforce the false story that Haitian immigrants flooding to the US are killing and eating their neighbors’ pets — an inflammatory partisan rumor based on largely debunked “reports” and murky social media hearsay that, according to actual law enforcement officials, have no merit. And in a …