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Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis Wants To Have A Bourbon With GOProud’s Barron

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The Daily Caller’s Matt K. Lewis really wants to have a shot of Bourbon with gay Tea Party Republican group GOProud’s chairman Chris Barron. Or so he says in yet another gushing, fawning profile published today. Lewis, fresh from publishing what appears to be a flawed exposé of Marcus Bachmann’s gas expenses on the campaign trail, writes, “It’s 11:03 in the morning and Chris Barron, chairman of the gay conservative group GOProud, is handing me a bottle of bourbon. The fact that Dick Cheney’s face is on the bottle tempts me to take a swig. But I’m a professional; I drink coffee.”

Really? It’s the Daily Caller, the rag that failed faux journalist and conservative pundit Tucker Carlson — the man whose credibility was toast the day Jon Stewart handed him his bow tie on CNN’s Crossfire in 2004 — heads, Matt, not Rolling Stone.

“We are in the stylish basement offices of GOProud… A Gadsden flag hangs proudly from the wall behind me — next to a “Rudy!” yard sign,” Lewis writes.

Make no mistake, folks, the next time one of you challenges my description of GOProud as a Tea Party group.

“They are anxious to talk because, for a long time, they have been silent. Even after news broke about CPAC, they simply issued a short statement. ‘We did everything we could to avoid a fight,’ says GOProud executive director Jimmy LaSalvia. ‘It’s been like Neville Chamberlain around here. It’s been appease, appease, appease, appease’.”

That’s Jimmy LaSalvia, a full-time media attention addict and anti-hate crime law activist, aka GOProud’s co-founder.

And you know how GOProud appeases. Repeatedly.

Lewis writes, “Half of our membership is not gay,” says Barron. As if that’s a plus. (And, how would he know?) Barron, given what some describe as their “self-​loathing,” might be thrilled if 100% of their membership were not gay.

Consider this.

Long-time LGBT activist and recent recipient of an NGLJA journalism award, Michelangelo Signorile, in May, wrote in an Advocate op-​ed, “First off, denialists and elitists who believe they are superior to other gays — even if the attitude masks a pitiful self-​loathing — are clearly as prevalent as ever in the LGBT movement, except that they can now be out of the closet. Perversely, the fact that we can find such people in GOProud is a measure of our success.”

Signorile wrote that GOProud “supports outspokenly anti-​equality public figures — from Ann Coulter, who was paid to speak to the group, to Donald Trump, who is opposed to any gay unions — and targeted gay congressman Barney Frank during the 2010 election with an ad that called him ‘catty,’ chalking it up it — including GOProud’s ‘self-loathing’ — to ‘a desire to be close to power; a hunger for attention and GOP approval; a selfish devotion to Republican ‘fiscal’ policies over civil rights; and a belligerence toward gay activists, whom they seem to detest.”

Signorile added, “GOProud is opposed to the proposed Employment Non-​Discrimination Act and the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is now law,” and that GOProud and co-​founder Chris Baron, “support House speaker John Boehner defending section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in federal appeals court after President Obama announced he believed the law is unconstitutional — though Barron himself is legally married to a man in Washington, D.C. Barron’s husband, to whom he refers a lot in his tweets, is a D.C. teacher who wrote a piece in MetroWeekly about how kids learn to be bullies from adults who bully one another. But there couldn’t possibly be a better example of an adult bullying other adults than Barron tweeting this: ‘The gay left = the American Taliban. Hateful, angry and dumb as shit.’ He’s also tweeted that Andrew Sullivan is ‘fat,’ ‘pathetic,’ and ‘self-​important’ and that Meghan McCain is ‘intensely stupid’.”

Back to Lewis, who quotes Barron bragging, “Dick Cheney has a more progressive position on marriage than GOProud does.”

Lewis adds, “Privately, some conservatives who might have been open to the possibility of working with GOProud tell me they doubt the group’s sincerity. As evidence, they note that Barron (who is a media consultant, a self-described practicing Catholic, and a Herman Cain donor) worked for Planned Parenthood in 2005. This is an inconvenient truth.”

As are so many things about GOProud.

 

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Trump Desperate to Keep Any Possible Criminal Evidence From Supreme Court: Legal Expert

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March 25, 2023

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Donald Trump’s decision to allow one of his lawyers to speak before a grand jury on Friday morning, instead of appealing all the way to the Supreme Court, may have been made out of fear of what the justices on the nation’s highest court might see if they reviewed the case.

According to MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, under normal circumstances, the former president would have dragged out a legal fight over attorney-client privilege that would have kept attorney Evan Corcoran from testifying under oath about Trump’s possession of government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort that led to the FBI showing up with a warrant.

As Rubin notes, the fact that Trump let Corcoran testify over three hours raised eyebrows.

“For one, yes, it is indeed unusual, if not unheard of, for a lawyer to be litigating against a party one day and then testifying under court-ordered examination by that same party the next one,” she wrote before suggesting Trump and his legal team were looking at the long game when he might need the predominantly conservative Supreme Court to lend him a helping hand.

RELATED: Revealed: Emails show how Trump lawyers drove Michael Cohen to turn on the president

Writing, “Trump has made clear he believes this Supreme Court — controlled by conservative justices, three of whom he appointed — owes him one,” she added, “My hunch is that Trump’s team let Corcoran’s testimony happen because of what’s likely involved in any request to pause, much less, review a crime-fraud-related ruling: the evidence.”

“Put another way, if Trump had petitioned the Supreme Court to stay Corcoran’s testimony and document production, the justices would have seen some, if not all, of what Judge Howell and the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit have already reviewed: proof that Trump misled Corcoran and engaged in criminal conduct,” she elaborated.

Rubin went on to note that Trump would likely appeal any conviction to the Supreme Court, writing, “And for someone whose one last hope, if he is ultimately charged or tried by any of the multiple entities now investigating him, is that same Supreme Court, letting the justices see evidence of his alleged crimes now would be a bridge too far.”

“Trump can’t afford to lose the Supreme Court yet,” she suggested.

You can read more here.

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No TX Congressional Republican Will Say If They’re Attending Trump’s Rally in Waco – Will He Have Trouble Filling Seats?

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1 day ago

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March 24, 2023

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Donald Trump‘s Saturday campaign rally in Waco, Texas, falls during the 30th anniversary of the 51-day siege that community is known for, when 86 people died after a failed ATF raid on an anti-government religious cult suspected of illegally stockpiling firearms amid allegations of sexual abuse, statutory rape, and polygamy.

Experts have been warning for a week that Trump’s choice of Waco, synonymous with violent anti-government extremism, was no accident. His rhetoric this week, including most recently Friday when he warned of “potential death & destruction” should he be indicted, has been seen as encouraging violence.

NCRM was among the first news outlets to report experts’ concerns over Trump’s choice to hold a rally in Waco during the 30th anniversary of the deadly siege.

Not a single congressional Republican from Texas will say they are attending, nor has the town’s GOP mayor, according to a report from Insider, which contacted over two dozen Republican lawmakers and other elected officials.

“None of the 30 Texas Republicans Insider contacted about the event said they were going,” Insider reveals.

“Most of the 30 GOP members contacted about Donald Trump’s inaugural visit to the site of a 30-year-old standoff between cult leader David Koresh and federal authorities did not respond to requests for comment about whether they intended to rally with the scandal-plagued candidate and perhaps say a few kind words,” Insider reports.

“Rep. Pete Sessions, a Waco native who now represents the surrounding 17th congressional district, praised Trump for shining a light on his hometown but said he’d have to miss the spectacle,” Insider adds. “Aides to Rep. Troy Nehls, one of the four House Republicans from Texas who have formally backed Trump’s 2024 run, told Insider he wouldn’t be heading to Waco because of a prior commitment in Washington, DC, this weekend.”

READ MORE: ‘Utter Cowardice’: Jim Jordan Blasted for Telling Reporter He Can’t Read Trump’s Violence-Threatening Post Without Glasses

Meanwhile, in addition to guest list challenges – the campaign refused to tell Insider who the guest speakers will be – Trump may have trouble filling seats.

Mary Trump, the ex-president’s niece who opposes him, has been running a campaign to get anti-Trump Americans to “sign up” for tickets to the Saturday rally, in the hopes of being able to turn away supporters.

“Donald has a rally in Waco this Saturday,” she also said via Twitter. “It’s a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI. Scores of people died. He wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice.”

“But we can stop him. If we book the 50,000+ venue, we can make sure most of the seats are empty when the traitor takes the stage,” she said. “We can no longer fail to hold powerful men accountable for their crimes against our country.”

Image via Shutterstock

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‘Utter Cowardice’: Jim Jordan Blasted for Telling Reporter He Can’t Read Trump’s Violence-Threatening Post Without Glasses

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2 days ago

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March 24, 2023

By

Countless GOP lawmakers over the years have professed ignorance over Donald Trump’s tweets as reporters ask them to respond, often claiming they hadn’t read them, but House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan took that performance to a whole new level Friday afternoon.

NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur asked the Ohio Republican congressman to weigh in on Trump’s social media post threatening “potential death & destruction” if he gets indicted.

“Jordan said he hasn’t seen Trump’s post,” Kapur said via Twitter. “When I showed [it] to him on my phone, he said he can’t read well without his glasses.”

“He added he’s reviewing DA Bragg’s letter,” Kapur added.

READ MORE: ‘Big Shoe Drops’: Bad Day for Trump on Multiple Fronts in Special Counsel’s Grand Jury Probes

Jordan, who didn’t need glasses to appear on Fox Business just two days ago (photo) is getting blowback.

VICE News Deputy DC Bureau Chief Todd Zwillich explained the progression.

“The stages of ignoring incitement,” he tweeted. “2016: I don’t respond to tweets —> 2018: I havent seen the tweet —-> 2023: I literally can’t see the tweet.”

“Utter cowardice,” declared former GOP Congressman Joe Walsh. “Not at all the @Jim_Jordan I knew & served with in Congress 10 yrs ago. Or…maybe it is.”

“The sheer dishonesty and cowardice of these people,” lamented MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan, echoing Walsh’s remarks.

Government watchdog group Citizens for Ethics said the “extent to which Trump’s backers in Congress are going to not condemn [his] calls for violence are ludicrous.”

RELATED: Ninth Wrestler Comes Forward to Say Jordan ‘Snickered’ When He Complained of Sexual Abuse: Report

Some tied Jordan’s inability to see the post to his apparent inability to see or remember all the Ohio State wrestlers who say they complained to Jordan when he was their assistant coach, about being sexually harassed or assaulted by the team doctor. To this day despite numerous reports and people publicly coming forward, Jordan denied it ever happened.

“Apparently, Jim Jordan is unable to see wrestlers being sexually abused or Donald Trump social media posts,” attorney and Republican turned Democrat Ron Filipkowski tweeted.

“Well, @Jim_Jordan has shown before that he has trouble seeing threats right in front of his nose, so this checks out,” tweeted historian Kevin M. Kruse.

But Jordan’s Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee may have served up the best response: “Why do you need your glasses to condemn violence @Jim_Jordan?”

READ MORE: ‘Pits Parents Against Parents’: House Republicans Pass Anti-LGBTQ Florida-Style K-12 ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’

 

 

 

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