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“Death To America.”

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The net result of one political party which lost big and finds itself leaderless, coupled with another political party which finds its leader lost, is mayhem and chaos, which spirals into hate and villianization. And, possibly, violence.

Welcome to what’s left of the red-state white-hot summer of hate, homophobia, racism, bigotry, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and any other “-ism,” “-ia,” and “-y,” you can place atop your particular personal prejudices, or, “theirs.”

Today, the nine-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, America finds itself more polarized, divided, angry, and on the brink of a national nervous breakdown than we were when the twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania all fell victim to the worst attack on U.S. soil — that wasn’t self-inflicted during our civil war. Or, from the British during our Revolutionary War.

How did we get here?

Well, here are the Cliff notes.

Decades ago, conservatives forgot what being a conservative was really about.

They abused their power and spent our money like it was, well, our money. And not theirs.

The Democrats were born without a spine and spent far too many of the Bush 43 years pretending what Republicans were saying was true. Especially about Democrats. And, you know Saddam Hussein. And WMD. And deregulation. And housing. And Iran. And oil.

George W. Bush sucked.

America let him.

(Probably because they all wanted to have a beer with him. Go figure.)

The mainstream media helped.

The economy melted down.

A lot of people saw their savings, 401k’s, and jobs go up in smoke, thanks to the unmitigated greed of a few people called “bankers,” “financial analysts,” “brokers,” and “money managers.”

Some of those people who saw their savings, 401k’s, and jobs go up in smoke realized they shared the blame for allowing politicians to let all this happen. But a few didn’t want to take the blame, so they got angry and formed a “Tea Party” because it’s really easy to blame some young black guy who has more smarts in his pinky finger than they do in their, um, pinky fingers. Collectively.

The Tea Party bosses got lots of money from scary capitalists like the Koch Brothers, even though the Tea Party members didn’t know it.

Because stupid people think it’s OK to say and do stupid things, the Tea Party started to say and do stupid things, like calling the president names, like “socialist,” “marxist,” “communist,” using the “N” word, making really bad signs, carrying guns, and getting together at rallies with folding picnic chairs, and yelling racial and sexual slurs. A lot.

Then, almost a year after it was front page news, the Tea Party realized a group of peaceful Muslims wanted to live the American dream of owning real estate and putting a really big building on a really small piece of land, which they owned and were in the process of adding on to, and this got the Tea Party people really scared, because it happened to be in “New York City,” two blocks from where “those people” bombed us nine years ago. (Never mind the fact that “New York City” isn’t part of the “real America.”) And those Tea Party folks thought it felt good to blame innocent people with names they didn’t like but sounded like their president’s name, (“Barack HUSSEIN Obama!”) whom they also didn’t like, and, well, everybody else in their klan was doing it so, hey, why not?

Deposition of Pastor Terry Jones

While all this was happening, Terry Jones, a so-called “preacher” with an eBay furniture business he operates out of his church, who uses members of his congregation for unpaid labor, who preaches family values yet won’t talk to his own daughter, decided it would be cool to be on the T.V. like those other big ministers, and so his god “told” him that Florida sounded like a great place to hold an international event. Since he didn’t like Muslims he decided their holy book was an easy target and he could make some money and become famous by burning books, and even though he had never even read the Koran, it must be “of the devil,” just like that old-time religion of 1.5 billion Muslims. He thought he heard his god say this to him, so he decided to throw a book-burning party and name it, “International Burn A Koran Day.”

And, what better day to use than 9/11?

So, that’s how we got here.

Any questions?

Oh, yeah, as to “Death To America?”

Deposition of Pastor Terry Jones

It’s what the radical folks in the Middle East say, because they hear megalomaniacs like some Florida preacher say he’s going to burn their holyist of holy books. It’s what the radical folks in the Middle East say, because we invade their countries, kill their families and rape their women and children, claim they have weapons of mass destruction, torture them, say their religion is “of the devil,” yet we claim we are civilized, but show no regard for them as human beings.

It’s what the radical folks in the Middle East say. Just like what a radical preacher in a tiny Florida town says about them. Just like what radical American politicians, like Michele Bachmann, who, about Islam, say, “Not all cultures are equal. Not all values are equal.” Or radical American politicians, like John McCain, who say, “Bomb, bomb Iran.”

“Bomb, bomb Iran.”

“Death to America.”

What’s the difference?

“Death To America,” if it comes, will be self-inflicted. It will come not at the hands of those outside America, but at the hands of all those in America, who claim to love their country, yet hate most everyone in it.

The people who attacked America on 9/11 will have won when we have become hateful and scared. But ask yourself, when we threaten to burn Korans, have we become hateful and scared? When we try to stop a religious community center from being built because it’s Islamic, yet welcoming of all faiths, have we become hateful and scared? When a radical Christian church that explicitly hates Muslims, Mormons and gays is launched, also two blocks from Ground Zero, yet goes unnoticed, have we become hateful and scared?

This is an old, old story. We are merely the latest players in this war as old as “our” Bible — and we will never be able to end it if we don’t stop threatening to burn theirs. We are never going to end it if we continue to invade and occupy other countries, treat Islam as if it’s “of the devil,” and treat Muslims as if they are “of the devil.” We are never going to end it if we protest their right to build a mosque, or a community. We are never going to end it if we don’t stop acting like Americans, and start acting like America.

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News

Fox News Host Suggests Trump ‘Force’ Court to Throw Him in Jail – by Quoting Him

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13 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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The Fox News host who targeted a juror serving on Donald Trump’s criminal New York trial is now suggesting the ex-president should violate his gag order and “force” the court to throw him in jail, by quoting the Fox News host.

Jesse Watters came under fire earlier this week for profiling juror number two, sharing possibly identifying information published by a myriad of reporters but then using that information to pass judgment on her ability to serve.

“I’m not so sure about juror number two,” Watters concluded on Fox News.

Jurors, at the judge’s direction, were to remain anonymous, for their protection and the protection of the trial.

The judge excused her, after she said she felt she was not able to be impartial because friends and family were calling her asking if she had been chosen to serve on the Trump trial, after the media blitz.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan admonished the press for reporting the information, but some news outlets appeared to ignore his warning.

Watters on Wednesday “did a segment with a jury consultant, revealing details about people who had been seated on the jury and questioning whether some were ‘stealth liberals’ who would be out to convict Trump,” the Associated Press reported.

READ MORE: Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

Trump later posted Watters’ quote on his Truth Social platform, leading some, including New York prosecutors, to ask the judge to cite him for allegedly breaking his gag order.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to not mention witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff, CNN has reported.

New York prosecutors told Juge Merchan Trump has violated the gag order at least ten times.

“Prosecutor Christopher Conroy described the ‘most disturbing’ example as a social media message Trump posted on Wednesday evening quoting a Fox News host as saying, ‘They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,'” Politico reports.

That host was Jesse Watters.

RELATED: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

Friday afternoon, Watters appeared to egg Trump on, urging the ex-president to violate the gag order.

“I would make them put me in jail,” Watters said on Fox News. “I would have a tweet about something perhaps I said on ‘The Five’ or ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ and I would force them to throw me in jail.”

Watch Watters’ remark below or at this link.

 

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Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

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14 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says some of his fellow House Republicans would “take a bribe” to throw the razor-thin GOP majority to the Democrats if a far-right faction calls up a motion to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, allowing Democrats to hand the gavel to the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. he warned if that happens, Democrats would immediately declare Trump ineligible to be President, pack the U.S. Supreme Court, and pass numerous laws like the American Rescue Plan.

“I do believe in a one seat majority there could be one or two or three of my colleagues who would take a bribe in one form or another in order to deprive the Republicans of a majority at all,” Gaetz said Friday on his podcast (video below.)

He added, “the risk that one or two of my corrupt Republican colleagues might take a bribe, take a walk, feign an ailment and flip this thing to the Democrats is a risk that is too high for me at this time.”

Gaetz’s fellow far-right Florida Republican member of Congress, Anna Paulina Luna, told listeners, “I heard that when, if and when the motion vacate is introduced, that there will be immediate resignations of a couple of more moderate members of Congress. And in the event that that happens, that ultimately means it does go to a Democrat speaker.”

RELATED: Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last month filed a “motion to vacate,” which she can use at any time to force a vote to oust the GOP Speaker, Mike Johnson. U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY) and just today, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has signed on as co-sponsors.

Congressman Gaetz told listeners if Democrats do take the House through a force vote to remove Johnson, Democrats would “be declaring Donald Trump an insurrectionist and setting up a barrier to him being able to become the president United States.”

“That’ll be their leadoff hitter, and then the chaser to that shot will be a massive spending package that looks a lot more like the American Rescue Plan. They will blow past every concept of every cap ever imagined. You’ll be looking at Universal Basic Income, you could be looking at packing the Supreme Court.”

Watch a short clip of Gaetz’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

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Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

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17 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed Friday the majority of Democrats will support Republicans’ Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza foreign aid legislation as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson lost support of another member of his conference to a faction determined to oust him.

“Democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding Israel, humanitarian assistance, Ukraine, and our allies in the Indo Pacific,” Minority Leader Jeffries said. “It remains to be seen what Republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the American people, but it was important for House Democrats to ensure that the national security bills are going to be considered.”

Despite Republicans having a one-vote majority, more Democrats on Friday voted to move the critical and long-awaited foreign aid bills forward than did Republicans.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

The 316-94 vote included 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting yes, and 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke posted the list of Republicans voting against their party’s legislation.

Calling it a “rare” moment in modern congressional history to have to rely on opposition party votes to pass legislation, BBC News reports Speaker Johnson’s “hold on power is tenuous, and the legislators who oppose him – and his bid to provide aid to Ukraine – occupy some key positions within the House’s power structure.”

Amid the procedural vote to move the foreign aid funding bills forward, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican of Arizona, announced he is joining Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Congressman Tim Massie (R-KY) in formally announcing their will vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

Gosar, like Greene, is reportedly a Christian nationalist. In 2022 CNN reported his “lengthy ties to White nationalists, [a] pro-Nazi blogger and far-right fringe received little pushback for years.”

RELATED: ‘Repercussions’: Democrats and Republicans Stand Against ‘Pro-Putin’ House GOP Faction

“We’ve been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning,” Jeffries on Friday also declared. “At the appropriate time as House Democrats, we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical motion to vacate.”

“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and Gosar are quite a group. But central to our conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

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