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Thursday Reads

Posted: December 22, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: just because |17 Comments

Good Morning!!

This will be an abbreviated post, because I’m down with a bad chest cold–at least it isn’t Covid.

Top stories in the news today: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s speech to Congress last night, Trump’s taxes and the IRS, the January 6 Committee, and Republicans in disarray, including an incoming Congressman whose backstory seems to be completely fictional.

Reactions to Zelensky’s Speech

The New York Times: U.S. Aid Is ‘Not Charity,’ Zelensky Tells Congress as a Lengthy War Looms.

The Washington Post: In Washington, Zelensky seeks to rally support for grueling war with Russia.

Toluse Olorunnipa at The Washington Post: Zelensky’s visit yields remarkable moment for two presidents.

Cathy Young at The Bulwark: Putin’s Useful Idiots: Right Wingers Lose It Over Zelensky Visit.

Mediaite: Tucker Carlson Rips Zelensky Speech, Says It’s ‘Humiliating’ for Congress to Give Aid to a ‘Ukrainian Strip Club Manager.’

Trump’s Taxes and the IRS

The New York Times: Trump’s Taxes: Red Flags, Big Losses and a Windfall From His Father.

The New York Times: I.R.S. Routinely Audited Obama and Biden, Raising Questions Over Delays for Trump.

Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent at The Washington Post: How the release of Trump’s taxes blows up a big GOP myth.

https://twitter.com/petestrzok/status/1605770416122777600?s=20&t=ddq3_RbYDklDTn-NUtSgBA

January 6 Committee News

Vox: Read the January 6 committee’s damning summary of Trump’s election subversion efforts.

NBC News: Faces of the Investigation: Through televised hearings and rare Republicans willing to publicly criticize Donald Trump, the House Jan. 6 committee tried to get accountability for the Capitol attack.

George Santos and Republicans in Disarray

The Daily Beast: ‘Openly Gay’ Rep.-Elect George Santos Didn’t Disclose Divorce With Woman.

K File at CNN: Incoming congressman’s claims his grandparents fled the Holocaust contradicted by genealogy records.

Insider: Incoming GOP congressman George Santos reportedly lied about his employment, his education, losing four employees in the Pulse shooting, his residence, and his religious background.

That’s my brief summary of today’s news. Please share your thoughts and links in the comment thread and have a nice Thursday!

17 Comments on “Thursday Reads”

  1. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
    December 22, 2022 at 12:26 pm

    Jan. 6 committee reveals Paul Gosar was texting with ‘Stop the Steal’ group while locked down in Capitol.

    https://www.rawstory.com/paul-gosar-2658997666/

    On Wednesday, transcripts released by the House Select Committee on January 6 revealed, in an interview transcript with Donald Trump ally Alexander Bruesewitz, that far-right Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), an ardent ally of the former president, texted with a “Stop the Steal” group while he was locked down in the Capitol.

    Asked about this, Bruesewitz declined to give any details, and invoked his constitutional rights.

    “Can we pull up exhibit 9 again which is the Stop the Steal DM chat, and let’s go to page 62,” said investigators in the transcript. “So we’re still on January 6, and it looks like at 5:15 p.m. eastern time. Again, Representative Gosar sends the group a direct message that says, ‘We’re still on lockdown in the congressional office.’ And he sends it to the entire Stop the Steal group. So were you in communications with Representative Gosar throughout January 6th?”

    “I respectfully plead the Fifth,” replied Bruesewitz.

  2. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
    December 22, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    I hope you feel better!!! I’m running around to secure the water from the 27 degrees F tonight. We’re getting several hard freezes in a row, so I have to wrap the faucets outside and also cover the veggies and herbs in the beds. I think I stay inside for quite a few days at this rate, except for brief dog walks.

  3. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
    December 22, 2022 at 12:51 pm

  4. NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
    December 22, 2022 at 1:44 pm

    BB, I hope you feel better soon. Respiratory infections appear to be higher this year compared to the last two winters, likely due to less people masking and so more people spreading more viruses through the air.

  5. dakinikat's avatar dakinikat says:
    December 22, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    Why the Jan. 6 Committee Let Ginni and Clarence Thomas Off the Hook
    When you’re a justice, they let you do it.
    BY DAHLIA LITHWICK

    https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/12/january-6-report-summary-clarence-thomas-ginni-ethics.html

    In thinking about the vast ethical sucking noise that’s consumed virtually all of the federal government, it’s easy to feel hopeless as 2022 grinds to an end. Donald Trump’s taxes, years ahead dedicated to Benghazi-style hearings, Supreme Court justices partying with election deniers—bah, humbug, rinse, repeat.

    That’s why the criminal referrals lobbed at Trump this week from the Jan. 6 committee are heartening and tangible. The committee’s decision to state that Trump and his most lawless supporters have committed actual crimes laid down a powerful historical marker and put important pressure on the Justice Department for future accountability.

    And yet there is something that feels entirely unsatisfying about celebrating this as a landmark win. Two years after we watched the crime happen in plain sight, and the criminals fêted and enriched, we now see criminal charges humbly suggested, for a handful of people?

  6. minkoffminx's avatar JJ Lopez aka Minkoff Minx says:
    December 22, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    I hope you feel better soon Ann

  7. NW Luna's avatar NW Luna says:
    December 22, 2022 at 11:16 pm

    Report “recommended” Congress “consider” banning Trump from holding office again. Just ban the traitor and lock him up!

    Jan. 6 report recommends Congress ban Trump from running again

    The report recommended that Congress consider banning Trump from holding office again, citing the 14th Amendment, which bars those who have “engaged in an insurrection” or “aid and comfort to the enemies” of the Constitution.

    “The central cause was one man,” the report’s authors wrote, adding that “none of the events … would have happened without” Trump.

    Trump’s advisers first discussed the Jan. 6 march on Dec. 29, offering evidence that the march was premeditated.

    On Monday, the panel voted to refer four criminal charges against Trump to the Justice Department. The panel also voted to refer four Republican lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with the investigative committee’s subpoenas.
    …
    The House committee requested “full funding” for important security procedures U.S. Capitol Police aspire to implement. In the report, the committee recommended the government aid the police in its ambitions to improve and organize joint hearings that feature testimony from the Capitol Police Board.

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