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THIS IS WHAT FASCISM LOOKS LIKE

White House Releases Rules for Press Conferences – Designed to Make It Easier to Revoke Even More Press Passes

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The White House has just released a set of rules to rein in reporters at press conferences or other events with the President, and it’s clear they are designed to allow the Trump administration to revoke even more press passes.

Last week with no notice or discussion, at President Trump’s order the White House revoked the hard pass of CNN’s Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta. A federal judge ordered the pass reinstated for 14 days to allow the White House time to review their decision. The judge’s ruling suggested Acosta’s First and Fifth Amendment rights, including due process, had been violated.

President Trump, last week also, suggested more passes may be revoked, making it clear his goal ultimately is to only allow news organizations who deliver favorable reports access to the White House.

Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple posted the new White House rules. Key among the short list is that reporters get to ask only one question. Asking a follow-up, which is standard practice, and important in the effort to gain the truth, can get a reporter’s press pass revoked.

“A journalist called upon to ask a question all ask a single question, and then will yield the floor to other journalists,” the rule, which was sent to Acosta directly, states.

A follow-up question “may be permitted,” it says, but only at “the discretion of the President or other White House official taking questions.”

Failure to “abide by” the rules can result in suspension or revocation of the journalist’s pass.

The White House adds that “a more elaborate and comprehensive set of rules might need to be devised.”

The Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale, who has chronicled every one of the President’s false statements since he took office, makes clear that the White House is “specifically saying that asking an unapproved follow-up question may result in the suspension or revocation of a reporter’s White House pass.”

He adds:

Former Obama NSC spokesperson Tommy Vietor responds by calling the threat off revocation “crazy,” and says the White House Correspondents’ Association “shouldn’t go along with it.”

The White House has backed away from its threat earlier today that it would automatically be revoking Acosta’s press pass when the judge’s restraining order expires in two weeks.

 

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THIS IS WHAT FASCISM LOOKS LIKE

Draft Memo Reveals Trump Had Plan to Order Defense Secretary to Seize Voting Machines

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1 year ago

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January 21, 2022

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A draft executive order obtained by the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack reveals President Donald Trump had a plan, which he did not enact, to order the Secretary of Defense to seize voting machines in an attempt to stay in power after the January 20, 2021 inauguration of President Joe Biden.

There was also a plan for Trump to deliver a  speech titled “Remarks on National Healing.”

“I hereby order,” reads the draft executive order, dated December 16, 2020 and published Friday by Politico. “Effective immediately, the Secretary of Defense shall seize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records required for retention,” citing a federal law.

Politico adds that “the draft order would have given the defense secretary 60 days to write an assessment of the 2020 election. That suggests it could have been a gambit to keep Trump in power until at least mid-February of 2021.”

The author of the executive order is unknown, with at least one expert suggesting it was likely written by someone outside the administration.

This is a breaking news and developing story. This article has been updated.

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THIS IS WHAT FASCISM LOOKS LIKE

Trump Supporters Have New ‘Ambitious Plan’ to Have Loyalists Oversee Elections Across America: Report

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2 years ago

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November 29, 2021

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Donald Trump and his supporters are enacting an “ambitious plan” to place loyalists in key positions overseeing elections after his unsuccessful efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which was won by Joe Biden.

“In Michigan, local GOP leaders have sought to reshape election canvassing boards by appointing members who expressed sympathy for former president Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 vote was rigged. In two Pennsylvania communities, candidates who embraced election fraud allegations won races this month to become local voting judges and inspectors,” The Washington Post reported Monday. “And in Colorado, 2020 doubters are urging their followers on conservative social media platforms to apply for jobs in election offices.”

The report comes as Trump continues to push his “Big Lie” of election fraud, releasing a Sunday statement falsely claiming the “2020 Election was rigged and stolen.”

“Citing the need to make elections more secure, Trump allies are also seeking to replace officials across the nation, including volunteer poll watchers, paid precinct judges, elected county clerks and state attorneys general, according to state and local officials, as well as rally speeches, social media posts and campaign appearances by those seeking the positions,” the newspaper reported. “If they succeed, Trump and his allies could pull down some of the guardrails that prevented him from overturning Biden’s win by creating openings to challenge the results next time, election officials and watchdog groups say.”

READ: Trump has a plan to make it easier to ‘subvert the will of the voters’ in 2024: CNN

There are QAnon-linked candidates running for secretary of state to oversee elections, including Rachel Hamm in California, Jim Marchant in Nevada, Kristina Karamo in Michigan, Mark Finchem in Arizona, and Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) in Georgia.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) warned how the focus has shifted from overturning the last election to overturning future elections.

“The attacks right now are no longer about 2020,” Griswold explained. “They’re about 2022 and 2024. It’s about chipping away at confidence and chipping away at the reality of safe and secure elections. And the next time there’s a close election, it will be easier to achieve their goals. That’s what this is all about.”

Read the full report.

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THIS IS WHAT FASCISM LOOKS LIKE

Watch: Right Wing Voters Pledge Allegiance to Flag From Jan. 6 at Bannon-Hosted GOP Rally

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2 years ago

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October 14, 2021

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She backed a different Republican candidate for governor of Virginia earlier this year but pro-Trump “folk hero” and GOP activist Martha Boneta was on stage Wednesday night to emcee a rally for far right Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin, and other GOP candidates.

The highlight of the evening was supposed to be when Donald Trump called in to motivate supporters at the Steve Bannon-led event, but it appears the crowd was quite taken with a flag Boneta said “was carried at the peaceful rally with Donald Trump on January 6,” and they pledged allegiance to it.

It’s unclear if that “peaceful rally” was the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that has already resulted in about 650 arrests, or the insurrection incitement rally where Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Rep. Mo Brooks, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, Katrina Pierson, Amy Kremer, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump, Eric Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, all “riled up the crowd at the now-infamous ‘Stop the Steal’ rally,” that led to the insurrection.

Wednesday night Trump told the crowd, “We won in 2016. We won in 2020 — the most corrupt election in the history of our country, probably one of the most corrupt anywhere. But we’re gonna win it again.”

Here’s how the conservative crowd responded when the flag, now a “talisman” as some are commenting, was trotted out as a revered symbol of insurrection:

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe did not hold back in condemning the “pledge”:

On social media some commented on the disturbing symbolism, including the parallels to Nazi Germany:

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