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GOP Intellectual Malpractice: Syrian Refugees And Paris Attacks Edition

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Opinion: 25 GOP governors now illegally refusing refugees, and all based on a fake Syrian passport. 

The level of Republican inhumanity and stupidity, and refusal to look for facts has reached new heights.

Remember George W. Bush and the lies he and his administration told in the run up to the Iraq War? 

Bush didn’t look for facts, and when confronted with them, he dismissed them. You’re seeing today by Republicans that same level of intellectual malpractice, a lack of curiosity about facts, a pandering to the base and an almost viral race to the bottom of the barrel of stupidity.

At least 25 of America’s 31 Republican governors today (and sadly, Democratic governor Maggie Hassan) have issued press releases, tweets, and executive orders mandating – and boasting – their state will not accept any Syrian refugees. Unfortunately, it appears none of them bothered to actually check if they have the authority to refuse refugees here legally, though an extremely rigorous federal process.

And, of course, these “pro-life” “conservative Christian” governors, it turns out, do not have the authority to refuse refugees.

But what they do have is the ability to grandstand and to turn the tide of public opinion against the very people running from terrorists, and have Americans see them as terrorists, so when they do get to America (insert obligatory “land of the free, home of the brave” quote here) many will likely become victimized by a pathetically ignorant, Fox News watching populace that equates “Muslim” with “terrorist.”

To be clear, even France has called the murder of 129 people in the Paris attacks, not to mention the hundreds who have suffered injuries, “an issue of internal domestic security.”

Or, to be even more clear, as ThinkProgress reports, “All of the attackers from Friday’s massacre in Paris so far have been identified as European Union nationals, according to a top EU official.”

That story about one of the terrorists having a Syrian passport is either fake, or his passport was.

Here’s the list of Republicans who have stated America should refuse Syrian refugees, or have stated they will not allow them in their state, all based on a false story about a Paris attacks terrorist with a fake Syrian passport.

Republican Governors:

Robert Bentley of Alabama
Doug Ducey of Arizona
Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas
Rick Scott of Florida
Nathan Deal of Georgia
Butch Otter of Idaho
Mike Pence of Indiana
Terry Branstad of Iowa
Bruce Rauner of Illinois
Sam Brownback of Kansas
Bobby Jindal of Louisiana
Paul LePage of Maine
Charlie Baker of Massachusetts
Rick Snyder of Michigan
Phil Bryant of Mississippi
Pete Ricketts of Nebraska
Chris Christie of New Jersey
Pat McCrory of North Carolina
John Kasich of Ohio
Mary Fallin of Oklahoma
Nikki Haley of South Carolina
Bill Haslam of Tennessee
Greg Abbott of Texas
Scott Walker of Wisconsin
Matt Bevin, governor-elect of Kentucky

GOP Presidential Candidates:

Donald Trump
Ben Carson – no religious test, but an “ideological” one
Marco Rubio
Ted Cruz
John Kasich
Rand Paul 
Jeb Bush – only Christian refugees
Carly Fiorina
Chris Christie – no Syrian refugees, “not even 5-year-old orphans“
Lindsey Graham
Mike Huckabee
George Pataki
Rick Santorum

Image by Mike Licht via Flickr and a CC license

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'DEEP STATE' RUDY

Giuliani Returns to White House, Denounces ‘Deep State,’ Calls BLM ‘Marxist’ Just Days After Trump Fired SDNY Chief

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11 hours ago

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July 1, 2020

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It’s been less than two weeks since President Donald Trump fired the U.S. Attorney heading the once-independent Southern District of New York (SDNY) Office. Geoffrey Berman was conducting a criminal investigation of the President’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and his actions regarding Ukraine. Berman had already indicted two of the former New York City mayor’s associates.

And it’s been months since Giuliani has been seen at the White House – though just 12 days since Attorney General Bill Barr first announced Berman was “stepping down,” and just ten days since Trump fired him, forcing his resignation.

Giuliani, himself once the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was very talkative when he spoke with reporters from the White House lawn, in front of a building in which he does not work and has no authority for. In fact, Giuliani has not been elected to any public office in over two decades, since 1997.

It is unknown why he was there.

He did, however, manage to put on a show.

The 76-year old former mayor called the Black Lives Matter movement a “Marxist organization,” and claimed it “has been planning to destroy the police for three years.”

There is no evidence of that.

“They’ve finally gotten stupid Democrat mayors to agree with them,” he added.

“Right now murder is up 58 percent under the regressive Democrat mayor who is typical of Democrat mayors all over the country,” Giuliani claimed. (NCRM has not verified that claim.)

“They are a disaster. They are a danger to their people,” the former NYC mayor told reporters. What he neglected to say is NYC murders have dropped dramatically since he was mayor, but are not as bad as they were when he was mayor.

He also slammed the person, currently unknown, who leaked information to The New York Times on which the paper based its story that Russia is paying the Taliban to murder U.S. soldiers. Counting on his fingers he called the leaker “some kind of a felon in the federal government,” and a “deep state criminal.”

Giuliani claimed the information that was leaked was “actionable intelligence,” despite the Trump administration claiming the president was not briefed on it because it was not. Also, it’s unclear how or why Giuliani, who is not a federal government employee, would know anything about the intelligence – which the Trump White House says is a “hoax” and does not exist.

“I can’t think of a worse crime,” Giuliani, the personal attorney for President Trump actually claimed. “It’s not treason, but it comes close.”

 

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LOL – SERIOUSLY?

‘Doing It Wrong’: Internet Explodes as Trump Says He’s OK With Wearing a Mask and Would Look ‘Like the Lone Ranger’

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14 hours ago

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July 1, 2020

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After top Republicans this week declared they support mask-wearing to help control COVID-19 infections President Donald Trump, six months into the coronavirus pandemic has finally decided to say he’s “all for masks.”

“I’m all for masks. I think masks are very good,” Trump said in a Fox News interview Wednesday afternoon.

The President refused to issue an executive order requiring mask usage, something experts say would significantly reduce the spread of the deadly virus and help the declining economy.

The vain President quickly added, “People have seen me wearing one.”

“I sort of liked the way I looked,” he added, “like the Lone Ranger.”

Not surprisingly, many were quick to mock the President, not only for being late to even just slightly support mask wearing but also for how he’s contributed to the deaths of 130,000 people in the U.S.

 

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IS IT TREASON YET?

Busted: Taliban Commanders Admit Russia Is Paying to Murder US Soldiers as Trump Calls Cash-for-Killings a ‘Hoax’

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15 hours ago

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July 1, 2020

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President Donald Trump, the Director of National Intelligence, the former acting Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the White House press secretary, and other Trump-appointed administration officials all have offered varying denials that Russia is paying terrorists in the Taliban to kill American soldiers, and that President Trump was briefed on the bounty program as far back as March of 2019.

Those who are not denying that Russia is paying the Taliban to kill American troops?

The Taliban.

Two current Taliban commanders and one former Taliban commander have confirmed to Business Insider “that Russia pays extremists in Afghanistan to attack US soldiers.”

“The Taliban sources were clear that this took place, and said Iran and Pakistan do it too,” Business Insider, a right-leaning news site, adds in its report.

Russia is not only paying cash – via wire transfers as The New York Times reports – to the Taliban to kill Americans, but “Taliban commanders have confirmed” Russia has also offered “material support to its members in exchange for attacking US forces in Afghanistan.”

The former Taliban commander, now a refugee in Greece, explains that the Russians “did not spend the money because we are friends. They spent it to kill their American enemies.”

Trump, as recently as Wednesday morning, has denied that the Russian cash-for-killings bounty program exists, and that he was ever briefed on it. As with many things that are true, Trump labeled it a “hoax.”

Image by US Army via Flickr
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michael L. Casteel

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