Tom of Temecula
Tom of Temecula's JournalJen Psaki Accuses Trump Of Modeling Himself After Russia's Vladimir Putin
During a segment on her MSNBC show this weekend, former Biden administration official-turned-host Jen Psaki sounded an alarm about potential ramifications of the path that Donald Trump is envisioning for the potential second term as president that he is currently seeking.
In general terms, the former president-turned-continued front-runner for the GOP’s presidential nomination in 2024 has recently been expanding his affronts against the media, including with a recent rant on Truth Social in which he clamored for federal action in response to some of the coverage on MSNBC. “Our so-called “government” should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity. Much more to come, watch!” Trump said, discussing the network and complaining about their coverage he cast as a political operation.
“He’s threatening to use the power of the government against media he believes is being critical of him,” Psaki said. “Trump’s Truth Social post may have seemed unhinged and crazy and random and like you could ignore it,” Psaki said. “It was actually, though, a threat to the free press. A threat to democracy. […] Putin and Xi are models for Trump. We know that. Leaders who jail and silence journalists. Leaders who do not tolerate free speech. That’s what Trump is threatening. And if you don’t think he’s eager to use those tactics — if you don’t think he is dying to silence his critics in the media, think again.”
Even if it’s come with tentative caveats, Trump has repeatedly praised foreign authoritarians like the Russian and Chinese figures who she mentioned, characterizing them as intelligent — even though the actual results of their policies have frequently been repression and overt destruction like in the case of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Trump has also spoken about potentially pursuing the criminal prosecution of political adversaries if he regains the presidency and talked about restarting the Muslim-targeting travel bans from his earlier tenure.
https://bipartisanreport.com/2023/12/04/jen-psaki-accuses-trump-of-modeling-himself-after-russias-vladimir-putin/
https://twitter.com/InsideWithPsaki/status/1731367932309962954
Americans 'sleepwalking' as Trump plots his 'agenda of revenge and retribution'
Charlie Sykes, like other veteran journalists who write for The Bulwark, has spent much of his career promoting conservatism. From a policy standpoint, the Never Trumper has a lot in common with conservative Republicans of the past — including President Ronald Reagan, Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona).
But these days, Sykes — who supported President Joe Biden in 2020 — is sounding the alarm about 2024 presidential frontrunner Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, which he views as an authoritarian departure from traditional Reagan/Goldwater conservatism.In his December 1 column , Sykes laments that way too many Americans are acting like politics are normal in the United States when Trump and his loyalists are laying the groundwork for an authoritarian dictatorship.
On November 30, the Washington Post published a Robert Kagan op-ed with a troubling headline: "A Trump Dictatorship Is Increasingly Inevitable. We Should Stop Pretending." Sykes quotes Kagan's op-ed extensively in his column, arguing that many Americans — including Trump's critics — aren't nearly as worried as they should be.
Sykes writes , "Let's start with Robert Kagan's extraordinary warning: 'Would Trump be a dictator? And can he be stopped?' Spoiler: The answers are: (1) Yes, absolutely, and (2) Maybe not…. When he seals the nomination…. the GOP will fall into line behind a Trump 2.0 presidency. As Kagan notes, Trump is making no secret of his agenda of revenge and retribution." The Never Trumper goes on to say that Trump will be "largely unconstrained" if he returns to the White House but laments that "we seem to be sleepwalking toward a worst-case scenario."
https://www.alternet.org/2666430033/
Mehdi Hasan Exposes 'Undeniable' Danger Of Trump's Accidental Confession
MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan said Donald Trump inadvertently revealed the truth about his intentions during a campaign stop in Iowa this weekend. “Our very stable genius who brags about being able to read a prompter better than ‘Sleepy’ Joe Biden even ended up accidentally telling the truth about the threat he poses to American democracy when he misread his prompter,” Hasan said, then played a clip of the former president.
“We’ve been waging an all-out war on American democracy,” Trump said. “Yes! Yes, he has!” Hasan agreed. “And yet that fact ― that undeniable, unavoidable fact, that Trump has been waging a war on American democracy ― hasn’t been given the significance, and attention, and concern that it deserves,” he said.
MSNBC announced last week that it was canceling Hasan’s show, although he’ll remain with the network as an analyst and fill-in host. But for now, with his show still on the air, Hasan devoted a lengthy segment to giving that “undeniable, avoidable fact” attention, and called out those who are treating next year’s election like a normal political event.
“It’s dangerous, denialist madness,” he warned. “And I’m sorry, but it ends in only one place: The end of American democracy. Don’t take my word for it. For once, take Donald Trump’s.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mehdi-hasan-trump-danger_n_656d4baee4b066e398b7f473
https://twitter.com/MehdiHasanShow/status/1731483734984016307
Neal Katyal singles out worst news for Trump after his immunity defense left in ruins
According to former Solicitor General Neal Katyal, Donald Trump's loss on Friday in an appeals court ruling on his presidential immunity defense claim was bad for the former president but what made it worse was who signed off on blowing it out of the water.
Appearing on MSNBC with host Jonathan Capehart, the legal analyst joked that the assertions by Trump lawyers that the president could commit illegal acts with impunity was so ridiculous a "fourth grader" could see through it, before pointing out that an appointee on the appeals court panel that ruled against him used to be one of Trump's top White House lawyers. That, he noted, does not bode well for the future of the embattled ex-president as even more lawsuits loom.
Speaking with host Capehart, Katyal smirked and explained, "I think the average fourth grader can tell you attempting to overturn a lawful election doesn't exactly fall within the job description of the president. This appeals court yesterday made that important distinction official," he added. "And, Jonathan, notably, on that appeals court was a judge, Judge [Gregory] Katsas," he pointed out, "who is not just a Trump appointee, he was Trump's deputy White House counsel, you know."
"So [he was] the number two lawyer at the White House and Katsas ruled against Donald Trump," he continued. "So, that tells you all you need to know. Trump can try to spin this as a bunch of Obama judges, but no, these are Trump judges."
https://www.rawstory.com/trump-immunity-2666421034/
Trump Says He'd Win California and New York If Only Jesus and God 'Came Down' To Oversee Election
Gov. Ron DeSantis rival Donald Trump on Saturday said at a rally that he believes he would win California in a presidential election if Jesus and God came down to oversee the ballots.
The Nikki Haley opponent held a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as part of his 2024 campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination, and hit most of the topics he usually does, including claims that he actually won the 2020 election against President Joe Biden, who beat him in California among other states that clinched the election for Democrats.
Trump said the election was rigged, as he always says, and specifically that if it weren’t rigged in blue states like California or New York, he would win there too. “I actually believe that if they didn’t have rigged elections out there, if they didn’t have all the paper bal– you know, they send out like 36 million ballots and nobody knows where the hell they’re going to or coming from. I think a few people know where they’re going to and a few people know where they’re coming from,” said Trump about California.
“But I think if you had a real election and Jesus came down and God came down and said, I’m going to be the scorekeeper here, I think we would win there,” said Trump. “I think would win in Illinois, and I think it would win in New York, which is all places that, in theory –”
https://www.mediaite.com/news/trump-says-hed-win-california-and-new-york-if-only-jesus-and-god-came-down-to-oversee-election/
Dementia riddled Donald Trump appears to struggle with who Barron Trump is
Donald Trump keeps showing worsening signs of dementia and/or senility, including repeatedly getting confused about whether the current President is Obama or Biden, which Bush brother was President, how many World Wars we’ve had, and so on. Trump’s apologists keep trying to cover for it by suggesting that Trump’s gaffes are actually hints about Biden being an Obama puppet and such. But it’s getting easier and easier to see that Trump’s mind is fading.
Donald Trump was asked about his teenage son Barron in a new interview. Here’s what Trump had to say: “He’s a tall guy, very tall, six foot eight. He’s a great young man. Very good student. I think he’s doing a good job, Barron. I think he’s doing a very good job.” Keep in mind that Donald Trump is talking about his own son – and this is all he could come up with about him. Trump appears to remember that Barron is unusually tall, but that’s about it. Beyond that it’s all generic platitudes.
Some are suggesting that this means Donald Trump simply doesn’t know anything about his son to begin with. But we’ve all seen enough footage of them together to know that they’re at least spending some time together. It would be impossible for Trump to know this little about his son. It’s fairly obvious that Trump was instead struggling to remember what he does know about Barron, and struggling to remember who he is beyond the fact that he’s tall.
If you’ve had the misfortune to watch people around you go through dementia, you know that this is pretty much how it works. They end up speaking about family members and people close to them in generic terms, because they can’t remember much of anything about them. Donald Trump has now reached a stage of cognitive decline where he doesn’t seem to know who Barron is, beyond being a tall kid. It’ll only get worse.
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/dementia-riddled-donald-trump-appears-to-struggle-with-who-barron-trump-is/53424/
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1731048002729464201
Don Jr. Runs To George Santos's Defense Because Of Course He Did
Many Republicans weren't happy with former Rep. George Santos's expulsion from Congress. Ultimately, the vote came in at 311 to 114 to expel the Long Island fabulist. Among Republicans, 105 members voted to kick his lying ass to the curb, and 112 voted on keeping him like a weight around the neck of his party.
The top House GOP leadership, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, voted against the grifter's expulsion. So far, the Republican party's leader, Donald J. Trump, hasn't said much about it, but his son, Junior, sure did.
"Right, wrong, or indifferent as it relates to the George Santos expulsion, it seems America is getting very comfortable disregarding basic tenants of our constitution, namely these days it seems everyone is guilty until proven innocent and not vice versa… especially republicans!" Don Jr. posted on X.
Jinkies, I wonder if he's expressed that same concern for Hunter Biden. Probably not. Only Junior would defend a guy accused of stealing puppies. To be clear, it is not a right to serve in Congress. That human 8-ball has no concept of the law.
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/12/don-jr-runs-george-santoss-defense-because
https://twitter.com/Nostradonny/status/1730633575437926625
Walmart to pull all ads from Twitter as Elon Musk's website X plunges into crisis
Walmart said on Friday they will no longer be advertising on social media platform X, becoming the latest brand to drop the Elon Musk-owned site. "We aren't advertising on X as we've found other platforms to better reach our customers," a Walmart spokesperson confirmed.
They've become the latest in a series of companies that have dropped X, with the biggest exodus coming after Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic post in early November.
This latest advertising drama could cost Elon Musk's company a lot more than the $11 million they initially thought was "at risk" due to backlash over antisemitic content.
According to secret documents seen by The New York Times, X might lose "up to $75 million" as over 100 big brands like Airbnb, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, and Uber have stopped advertising, with "dozens" more thinking about it.
https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/breaking-walmart-pull-ads-twitter-218155
Obamacare popularity near all-time high despite Trump's calls for repeal
A new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that Americans' support for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — also known as Obamacare — is surging, making former President Donald Trump's recent call to repeal it even more politically risky.
Politico reported on the poll Saturday, which gauged Americans' support for the 2010 healthcare reform law along with other health-related topics, including Medicare, Medicaid and abortion. Kaiser found that Obamacare's popularity was not only big among both Democrats and independents, but that it was even growing on Republicans. The last time the ACA's popularity was surveyed, 26% of Republicans had a favorable opinion of it, compared to just 16% of Republicans supporting the law when Republicans unsuccessfully tried to repeal it in 2017 despite holding majorities in both chambers of Congress.
"Republican voters weren’t itching for [Trump] to come out and make a statement on the ACA," Ashley Kirzinger, the Kaiser Family Foundation's (KFF) director of survey methodology, told Politico.
Politico also analyzed previous KFF polling data and found that Americans' overall favorability for Obamacare is hovering just shy of 60%, with nearly all Democrats supporting it, and 62% of independents viewing the law in a positive light. That's its second-highest approval rating ever, with the ACA registering slightly higher numbers earlier in 2023. Democrats are far more eager to publicly debate the merits of the ACA, with 70% of Democratic-leaning respondents telling KFF in its latest poll that they felt it was "very important" for candidates to discuss it, with only 32% of Republican survey participants saying the same.
https://www.alternet.org/obamacare-popularity-trump-repeal/
Jesus Prime: How religion plays into Ron DeSantis' public image -- from 'armor of God' to a Bible ordered on Amazon
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made courting conservative evangelical voters a central part of his bid for president. He has invested considerable resources in Iowa, where those voters are a key part of the Republican base. And he has taken up the mantle of a culture warrior, signing a six-week abortion ban and leaning into social issues popular with the religious right. But his own faith has not played prominently in his public image, in contrast to some other politicians.
On Jan. 8, 2019, DeSantis stood onstage at Florida’s historic Capitol next to his wife, Casey, who had in her hand a King James Bible. He was set to officially become Florida’s 46th governor.Many elected officials choose to be sworn into office on a religious text with some sort of personal meaning.
But for DeSantis, this moment was preceded by scrambling by campaign and inauguration staffers caught off-guard when DeSantis, who is Catholic, told them his family did not own a Bible and he did not care whether he used one with historical significance, five former aides said. Each of the four other people sworn into office that day — Florida’s three Cabinet members and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez — had religious texts that had personal significance, inauguration records show.
Staff members for DeSantis had to buy a Bible for $21.74 on Amazon and have it shipped to the Republican Party of Florida headquarters less than a week before his inauguration, according to a receipt of the transaction shared with NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/religion-ron-desantis-catholic-amazon-bible-rcna126855
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