Category: Republican Reality

New Poll: ‘Sizable Majorities’ Favor Voting Rights And Oppose GOP Suppression

A new poll finds that many of the provisions within a voting rights bill congressional Democrats are looking to pass are widely popular with Americans — a sign that GOP outcry against the legislation has not worked.

The Pew Research Center survey found that “sizable majorities favor several policies aimed at making it easier for citizens to register and vote,” with 61 percent of voters supporting automatically registering eligible citizens to vote, 63 percet saying anyone should be able to vote absentee without an excuse, 70 percent supporting giving people their voting rights back after serving their felony sentences, and 78 percent supporting two weeks of in-person early voting.

All of those provisions are within the “For the People Act,” which House Democrats passed in March, and Senate Democrats are now rallying behind. Continue reading.

Republicans Target Voter Access in Texas Cities, but Not Rural Areas

New York Times logo

In Houston, election officials found creative ways to help a struggling and diverse work force vote in a pandemic. Record turnout resulted. Now the G.O.P. is targeting those very measures.

HOUSTON — Voting in the 2020 election presented Zoe Douglas with a difficult choice: As a therapist meeting with patients over Zoom late into the evening, she just wasn’t able to wrap up before polls closed during early voting.

Then Harris County introduced 24-hour voting for a single day. At 11 p.m. on the Thursday before the election, Ms. Douglas joined fast-food workers, nurses, construction workers, night owls and other late-shift workers at NRG Arena, one of eight 24-hour voting sites in the county, where more than 10,000 people cast their ballots in a single night.

“I can distinctly remember people still in their uniforms — you could tell they just got off of work, or maybe they’re going to work; a very diverse mix,” said Ms. Douglas, 27, a Houston native. Continue reading.

The fading GOP establishment moves to support Cheney as Trump attacks and McCarthy keeps his distance

Washington Post logo

Following her vote to impeach Donald Trump, Rep. Liz Cheney has received a groundswell of financial support from the most powerful figures in traditional GOP politics and the corporate world.

Inside her nearly $1.6 million haul in three months, Cheney (R-Wyo.) secured financial backing from dozens of alumni of both Bush administrations, including a couple of Cabinet members and, not surprisingly, her parents, Richard and Lynne Cheney. More than 10 current and former members of the House cut checks to her campaign, including former speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and a handful of other Republicans who voted to impeach the former president during the Jan. 13 vote.

Five GOP senators donated to Cheney, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Continue reading.

Historian: The real patriots invaded the nation’s capital fifty years ago

AlterNet Logo

They called their trip to Washington, D.C., an “invasion.” Vowing not be “deterred or intimidated by police, government agents, [or] U.S. marshals,” they arrived outfitted for war in fatigues and jungle boots with weapons and gas masks firmly in hand. Calling themselves “concerned citizens” and “patriots,” they announced their intention to “protect the flag” by “stop[ing] all business as usual, until the government recognizes and responds positively to our demands.” 

No, these were not the self-professed patriots who stormed the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

This was back in 1971 when President Richard Nixon claimed to be fulfilling his campaign promise of “peace with honor” by lowering the number of American ground troops in Vietnam. Much to the horror of thousands of recently returned GIs, the civilian branch of the most vocal and sustained antiwar movement in American history took the bait and stopped protesting. Continue reading.

‘Stop the Steal’ fan conducting audit of Arizona ballots with pens that can nullify ballots: report

Raw Story Logo

The report came from the Arizona Republic‘s Jen Fifield, who tweeted Friday that she witnessed the pen issue and mentioned it to Doug Logan, the leader of the firm “Cyber Ninjas” handling the audit.

There’s now a concern that the Cyber Ninjas could have used their pens to change the votes on the ballots that they’re proposing to “audit.”

Laurie Roberts, who wrote a piece exposing Cyber Ninjas for the Republic spoke to Hayes about the company being given a blank check by the state’s officials to do whatever they want. Continue reading.

Democrats warn Waters censure move opens floodgates

The Hill logo

House Democrats are warning that Republicans are opening a Pandora’s box after forcing a vote on censuring Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) this week. 

Multiple Democrats have introduced resolutions in recent months to censure or even expel Republicans, primarily over inflammatory rhetoric making false claims about election fraud ahead of the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

After Republicans forced the party-line vote on Waters this week, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) circulated a letter renewing his effort to expel Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from Congress and urging more fellow Democrats to sign onto his resolution. Continue reading.

MSNBC’s Tiffany Cross nails GOP as ‘weird, creepy white guy party’ of abusers, rapists and Matt Gaetz

Raw Story Logo

Former President Donald Trump released a statement attacking NBA player Lebron James. Evidently, the former president “came out of hiding,” MSNBC’s Joy Reid said, because he was so triggered by James posting a photo of the police officer who shot and killed a 16-year-old girl in Ohio this week.

Fellow MSNBC host Tiffany Cross, whose show “The Crossfire Connection” airs on weekend mornings, flatly said, “Who cares what Trump has to say.” James, she explained was expressing his feelings as a Black man in pain for his community. Trump’s pain is still election-related or related to being called impotent on Fox News ads. 

“Speaking of bums,” Reid interjected. “Matt Gaetz is begging for money. He says he wants to run some ads to try to help himself. There is an interesting piece in ProPublica that talks about the fact all of these far-right figures like Matt Gaetz, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, et cetera, Josh Hawley. They all sort of go out and make it seem like every time there is a controversy, they are raising tons of money. But it’s not really clear that that’s happening. These organizations, that are gleaning money from sometimes small donations from, you know, Republican donors. A lot of the time, they are keeping most of the money. And the fundraising isn’t really real. It’s kind of smoke and mirrors. Do you think that we, in the media — you wrote a great book, ‘Say It Louder,’ Tiffany Cross, about the media. Do we need to maybe take a step back before touting everything crazy they do is major fundraising? Because sometimes, it’s really not true.” Continue reading.

GOP-backed recount of Maricopa County ballots appears on track to move forward after initial pause ordered by Arizona judge

Washington Post logo

An extensive effort to recount ballots from the November election moved forward in Phoenix on Friday as a private vendor hired by Republicans in the Arizona Senate began reviewing nearly 2.1 million ballots cast in the state’s largest county.

The recount of the ballots from Maricopa County was sought by Senate Republicans to examine unsubstantiated claims that fraud or errors tainted President Biden’s win.

Election officials and the courts have found no merit to such allegations, and the GOP-led county board of supervisors has objected to the recount. Continue reading.

Ted Cruz maintains ties to right-wing group despite its extremist messaging

Washington Post logo

On Aug. 4, 2019, the day after a gunman who had posted a hateful diatribe against Hispanics fatally shot 23 people at an El Paso Walmart, a leader of a tea party group in Texas said on Facebook: “You’re not going to demographically replace a once proud, strong people without getting blow-back.”

His wife, the founder of the group, in the Fort Worth suburbs of Tarrant County, added in a comment: “I don’t condone the actions, but I certainly understand where they came from.”

Ten days later, amid a brewing backlash over the comments by Fred and Julie McCarty, the Northeast Tarrant Tea Party posted an undated testimonial from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) wishing the group a happy 10th anniversary as it rebranded itself as True Texas Project. Continue reading.

Trump-loving insurrectionist couple arrested for attacking Capitol police after leaving evidence all over Facebook

Raw Story Logo

Mark and Jalise Middleton, a husband and wife from rural Texas, have been arrested on charges that include “engaging in physical violence” against police officers at the January 6 Capitol riot.

The Middletons, from Forestburg TX, are accused of having made a couples’ activity out of assaulting officers on the front line of the Capitol insurrection. Here’s some of the description from the FBI complaint, citing footage from police body cams:

“Officers begin struggling against rioters who are refusing repeated orders to step back from the barricade and are attempting to breach the police line. As the struggle ensues, a male individual wearing a red, white, and blue “Trump” beanie hat, red and white scarf, gray or silver jacket, blue jeans, red and white “Nike” shoes, and gray backpack with a red logo on the back—later identified as Mark Middleton— pushes against the barricades and the police line with his body. As officers repeatedly order (him) and other rioters to “get back,” (he) is heard yelling “fuck you!” as he continues pushing against the barricade. Continue reading.