Thursday Reads

Good Morning!!

This is the week that the GOP crazies are really coming out of the woodwork. On Tuesday, we saw them heckle the President Biden during his State of the Union Address. Then yesterday the House Oversight Committee held an insane hearing on supposed Twitter persecution of Republicans. And today the subcommittee on the “weaponization of government” will meet for the first time. I can’t watch these GOP clown shows, but fortunately, Aaron Rupar does watch post video clips of them on Twitter. 

Reactions to the SOTU

I really liked this piece by Jennifer Bendery at HuffPost: The Best Part Of Joe Biden’s SOTU Address Happened After It Was Over.

Biden certainly seems energized. What a contrast to whiny old man Trump! I think Republicans should be worried about 2024.

This is an interesting take from Josh Barro: Biden’s State of the Union Was a Feisty Return to ’90s Politics. Republicans Should Be Afraid.

One of the implicit promises of the Biden presidential campaign was to turn back the political clock to a more normal time, before Donald Trump made everything weird. COVID delayed that process, but I think we’re finally getting there, and last night’s State of the Union address was a demonstration of that. What I did not anticipate was how far back we would go.

Biden’s speech was right out of the ‘90s in a way that I think was very politically savvy for the president and his team, and it previews how they are likely to run a re-election campaign against Gov. Ron DeSantis, if he is the Republican nominee.

Here’s what was so ‘90s about Biden’s speech.

After Clinton stepped on a rake with his health care plan and lost both houses of Congress in the 1994 midterm elections, he got himself to an eight-point re-election victory 1996 by running on two key themes:

1. Republicans are right-wing lunatics who want to cut your Social Security and Medicare, and I will never let them do that.

2. Here’s a bunch of popular, small-bore ideas that I can work to implement on a bipartisan basis with those Republican lunatics.

Biden’s speech yesterday had a lot from column 1 and a lot from column 2. I’m going to save the bipartisanship talk for tomorrow’s newsletter. Today, let’s talk about entitlements, and Biden’s effective and Clintonesque sowing of fear, uncertainty and doubt about Republicans’ stewardship of popular benefit programs.

Biden noted that while many Republicans say they are officially committed to protecting Social Security and Medicare, there are some who have been talking about undermining the programs. Republicans booed and jeered that this was a lie — ensuring that the accusation would be at the center of today’s news coverage of the speech.

And today, as Biden has been out campaigning, he read from a brochure from last cycle’s NRSC chair, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, about Scott’s plan to sunset all government programs — including Social Security and Medicare — every five years.

Barro goes on to discuss Ron De Santis’s arguments against Social Security. Read it at the link.

The Washington Post’s Isaac Arnsdorf has another take on the Social Security issue: GOP hopefuls’ past positions on Social Security loom over 2024 primary.

GOP heckling at the SOTU

https://twitter.com/brianrayguitar/status/1623552642000764931?s=20&t=FRQJHHc9Lh4ATyvwDGie4w

Republicans who have clearly opposed Social Security, Medicare, and other social programs were outraged that President Biden had the nerve to call them out. Hence the unprofessional heckling that Biden used to his advantage.

The Hill: GOP divided over whether heckling Biden hurts them.

House Republicans are divided on whether the raucous heckling of President Biden during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night was inappropriate — or whether it helped them effectively communicate their position to the American public.

Many Republicans thought the uproar in response to Biden’s comment accusing Republicans of wanting to sunset Social Security and Medicare was justified, blaming the president for “instigating” a desired reaction that would put Republicans in a bad light. But some expressed doubts about the rowdiness that followed.

The claim about Social Security was the first to draw such an audible reaction from Republicans, who are fighting for spending cuts as a condition of raising the debt ceiling and seeking to sell those cuts to the American public. 

“He started off, I thought, wonderfully. … But then you can’t stand up there and blatantly lie,” Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.) said. “So as much as I wish we had had more decorum, OK, you are instigating that behavior. So it starts with the leader.”

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) also put the blame on Biden. 

“The president was trying to goad the members, and the members are passionate about it,” McCarthy said on Fox News Wednesday morning. “But the one thing that the president was saying was something that he knew was not true.”

Though Republicans have sought for decades to privatize Social Security and cut Medicare — and Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) released a proposal last year to sunset all federal programs after five years — McCarthy has repeatedly said that cuts to entitlement programs are “off the table” in debt ceiling talks, which he launched with Biden last week.

Is this hate speech? I hesitated to post it but…. HuffPost: James Carville Attacks GOP, Marjorie Taylor Greene As ‘White Trash’

https://twitter.com/KwikWarren/status/1623461444271411200?s=20&t=FRQJHHc9Lh4ATyvwDGie4w

https://twitter.com/brianrayguitar/status/1623556609917227008?s=20&t=FRQJHHc9Lh4ATyvwDGie4w

I have to wrap up this post, because I have a virtual doctor’s appointment soon. But here are some interesting reads on the wacky House hearing yesterday on how Twitter supposedly allowed the FBI to control their treatment of the Hunter Biden laptop story and the one coming up today about “weaponization of the government.”

Rolling Stone: Twitter Kept Entire ‘Database’ of Republican Requests to Censor Posts.

The Guardian: Ex-Twitter exec details ‘homophobic and antisemitic’ abuse over handling of Hunter Biden story.

The Washington Post: GOP lawmakers allege Big Tech conspiracy, even as ex-Twitter employees rebut them.

NBC News: New House committee on ‘weaponization’ of government to hold first hearing.

Roll Call: House ‘Weaponization’ hearing to take aim at Justice Department.

Have a great Thursday, Sky Dancers!!

Tuesday Reads: State of the Union

Good Morning!!

I can’t understand how it happened, but I’m sick again with the same symptoms I had a few weeks ago. I’m coughing so much that my stomach muscles are sore. It hurts every time I cough. This started out with a sore throat that lasted three days, and then the coughing began. I’m also going through Kleenex at an unbelievable rate. I didn’t have a single cold for about two years during the pandemic, but now I keep catching things. I don’t know how either, because I stay home most of the time. The only explanation I have is that other people in my building are not taking as many precautions as before. Almost no one wears a mask anymore. Anyway, this may not be much of a post.

As everyone knows, the State of the Union address is tonight. It will begin at 9PM. I’m still worried about whether there will be adequate security for President Biden. Will anyone be checking to make sure none of the insane House members bring guns with them?

From Raw Story: Christianity ‘has devolved into a rabid tribe’: Lauren Boebert bashed for praying for Biden’s death.

Speaking to a church audience, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) told the crowd to pray for Joe Biden: “May his days be few and another take his office.”

It isn’t the first time she’s made such a “prayer.” She’s been using the line “may his days be few” since 2022, when she spoke to the Charis Christian Center Family Camp Meeting in Colorado.

It once again caused an uproar among those on social media who saw the video.

“THIS is the self-proclaimed party of Jesus Christ,” tweeted political commentator Lindy Li. “This is the self-appointed party of Christianity SHAME ON YOU! This is why church pews are emptying at a ferocious rate. Why increasing numbers of Americans now say they are religiously unaffiliated. Christianity in America has devolved into a rabid tribe of Talibangelicals and gun-totin Y’all Qaeda fanatics.”

Others noted that her so-called “sermon” included her promoting her legislation to impeach the president and argued that bringing politics into church pews is yet another reason that churches should lose their tax-exempt status.

Another called it a federal crime to threaten the president, which Boebert has gotten away with in the past because she’s not asking activists to actively kill, but rather praying for death.

I just hope that Boebert and Marjory Taylor Greene and the rest of the crazies will be frisked on the way in.

Here’s a preview of the speech at The Guardian: Biden set to highlight economic gains in State of the Union address – live.

State of the Union addresses are usually a pretty big deal – it’s a major opportunity for the president to set the tone for the year in front of the most important people in Washington. This year, the stakes for Joe Biden are even higher. The 2024 presidential election is already looming on the horizon, and while Biden has yet to officially launch a reelection campaign, he is expected to do so in the next few weeks.

Biden has been prepping for his speech for weeks and is expected to lay out an underlying theme of unity, angling for stable leadership over one drenched in partisan disarray. He is expected to speak at length about the achievements of the last two years, including the passage of the $1.2tn Bipartisan Infrastructure bill that was passed in 2021 and invests in repairing America’s roads and bridges, among other investments. He will also touch on recent good news around the economy, including a low unemployment rate and the decreasing inflation rate.

Republicans are already readying up their punches in response to tonight’s address as the party tries to make their own case to Americans that Democrats have failed while in power…..

It’s been less than a year since Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address on March 2 of last year, but a lot has changed over the last year. Top of mind for many Americans has been the economy, with inflation rising to decades-high level over the summer. Republicans gained a slim majority in the House during the midterm election. One thing has not changed: The war in Ukraine is still rattling on.

In last year’s 62-minute speech, Congress was largely unified in support of Ukraine, with the invasion having taken place just a week prior. Both Democrats and Republicans were wearing yellow and blue in solidarity with Ukraine, and some held small Ukrainian flags.

This year, First Lady Jill Biden has invited Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova to be her guest to the address for the second year. Markarova received a standing ovation when she was introduced during Biden’s speech last year.

Biden is expected to ask for bipartisan support in sending more aid to Ukraine as the anniversary of the invasion approaches. Yesterday, NBC News reported that Biden is expected to travel to Poland later this month for the anniversary, though the trip has not been confirmed.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is doing the GOP rebuttal to the speech.

SOTU rebuttals are often the kiss of death for the speaker’s career. Remember the ones by Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio? I hope that holds true for Sanders. For old time’s sake you can check out these NYT articles:

Governor Jindal, Rising G.O.P. Star, Plummets After Speech.

My Fellow Americans … I’m Thirsty.

Here’s another preview from the AP:

From the article: What to Watch: New political vibes this State of the Union.

Look for new faces and fresh political dynamics as President Joe Biden delivers this year’s State of the Union address, coupled with attention to some old problems brought back into painful focus by recent events.

The president on Tuesday night will stand before a joint session of Congress for the first time since voters in the midterm elections handed control of the House to Republicans. Biden, like presidents past, will make the case that the nation is strong and that better days lie ahead. But he finds himself in choppy waters as he passes the halfway mark of his term.

After a series of legislative victories during the first two years of Biden’s term, Republicans are looking to undo some of his early wins. Recent mass shootings and a police killing in Memphis, Tennessee, have brought renewed focus to the issues of gun violence and excessive police force. And on the foreign policy front, Biden faces the formidable task of keeping a Western alliance — and the American electorate — united behind Ukraine in its effort to repel Russia’s ongoing invasion. He’s also dealing with fallout from the U.S. downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that floated across the U.S. last week. On top of all that, a special counsel is investigating how classified information from Biden’s days as vice president and senator ended up at his Delaware home and former office.

Read the AP’s suggestions of what to watch for in the speech at the link.

Storeis

From the White House website: The White House Announces Guest List for the First Lady’s Box for the 2023 State of the Union Address.

A few of the guests, from Twitter:

Thursday Reads: Groundhog Day in the Year of the Rabbit

Good Afternoon!!

Marc Chagall, The Dream (the Rabbit) 1927

Today is Groundhog Day, and it looks like we are in for 6 more weeks of winter. CNN: Punxsutawney Phil left his burrow for his annual prediction. Here’s how much longer winter will last according to the legend, by CNN Meteorologist Monica Garrett

Punxsutawney Phil – the legendary groundhog weather watcher – woke up and saw his shadow Thursday morning, calling for six more weeks of winter.

Each February 2, on Groundhog Day, the members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club make the pilgrimage to Gobbler’s Knob, Phil’s official home.

The group waits for Phil to leave his burrow and, legend has it, if he sees his shadow we’re in for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, we get to bask in an early spring.

Scientifically speaking, winter will officially come to an end on the equinox on March 20, regardless of what Phil predicts. But Mother Nature doesn’t always follow the timetable, and neither does Phil….

Phil’s track record is not perfect. “On average, Phil has gotten it right 40% of the time over the past 10 years,” according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which manages “one of the largest archives of atmospheric, coastal, geophysical, aNend oceanic research in the world.”

Where I am, in Greater Boston, this winter has been very mild so far, but this weekend we are expecting record-breaking freezing cold temperatures. CBS Boston: Bitter cold sub-zero temperatures coming Saturday could be historic.

The WBZ Weather Team has issued a NEXT Weather Alert for a brutally cold Friday and Saturday.

We have a legit, Arctic front headed our way early on Friday. Behind it, the coldest air not only of this season, but perhaps, in several years or even decades!

The high temperature for the day on Friday will go into the books somewhere around 32 degrees. But, this comes early, just after midnight. The Arctic front rolls in after sunrise and temperatures will crash through the day.

By the evening commute, most of southern New England is in the single digits.

Overnight, we bottom out with most of the area dipping below zero.

There is potential for actual air temperatures to drop as low as -10 to -20 degrees by Saturday morning.

If the city of Boston were to hit -10, that would be the coldest reading recorded in over 60 years – since January 15, 1957! The low temperature record for the date on Saturday is -2 degrees (set way back in 1886), I would say odds are very high of beating that.

Combine that with the potential for wind gusts of more than 20 mph early on Saturday and wind chill readings are absolutely ridiculous. Worst-case scenario, parts of the area north and west of Boston could have feels-like temperatures between -20 and -30 degrees!

Franz Marc, Two sleeping rabbits, 1911

Yikes! It’s a good thing I just got my new air heat pump system installed yesterday. My town’s housing authority is changing over to the heat pump system in its 60-plus apartment buildings. We already had electric heat, but this system is supposed to be more efficient and therefore good for the environment. It will also provide us with air conditioning in the summer, so I won’t need to install my own air conditioner anymore. From The Washington Post, Dec. 13, 2022: What is a heat pump, and should I get one?

If you’ve been hearing a lot about heat pumps but you still don’t really understand what one is, you’re not alone. In places such as Sweden and Switzerland, they’ve long been a common option for controlling the temperature of homes. But heat pumps have only recently gained traction in the United States thanks to a global energy crisis and rising awareness that the all-electric systems are more efficient than typical furnaces and air conditioners. Their profile also got a boost in the summer with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes incentives for adopting them….

Despite their name, heat pumps can both heat and cool a space. They work by transferring heat rather than creating it. In cold weather, they pump heat from outside your home to the inside to warm your interior. An outdoor unit extracts warm air, then sends it traveling through a refrigerant line connected to an indoor unit. The air gets compressed along the way, which heats it up even more before it gets pushed into the home. In warm weather, the system does the reverse: sucking up warm air from inside and pumping it outdoors (which is also how a typical air conditioner works).

Of course, this all raises an obvious question: In the winter, where does the heat pump find warmth outside to bring indoors? As it turns out, even when it’s tremendously chilly, there’s still thermal energy in the air and ground. (Heat energy is present as long as the temperature remains above absolute zero.) [….]

Heat pumps are more energy efficient than fossil-fuel-reliant furnaces and air conditioners because they run solely on electricity. And they don’t actually generate heat — remember, they just move it from one location to another — so they use less energy than other electric-powered heating and cooling systems, too.

Unfortunately, the new heating device takes up quite a bit of wall space, so two tall bookcases needed to be moved. Thank goodness, my brother and sister-in-law took care of that. It pays to have much-younger siblings! But enough about my boring life. Here are some news stories that piqued my interest today:

There’s another follow-up to the blockbuster NYT article about the failed Durham investigation of the origins of the FBI’s investigation Trump and Russia. Charlie Savage at The New York Times: Lawmakers Call for Inquiry Into Durham’s Review of Russia Investigation.

Two House Democrats urged the Justice Department’s independent inspector general on Wednesday to open an investigation into the special counsel review of the Russia inquiry, citing “alarming” disclosures in a recent New York Times article.

The article, which showed how the special counsel’s review became roiled by disputes over prosecutorial ethics, “reveals possible prosecutorial misconduct, abuse of power, ethical transgressions and a potential cover-up of an allegation of a financial crime committed by the former president,” the lawmakers wrote. In a four-page letter to the inspector general, Michael E. Horowitz, they asked that he scrutinize whether the special counsel, John H. Durham, or the attorney general who appointed him, William P. Barr, “violated any laws, D.O.J. rules or practices, or canons of legal ethics.”

Happy Easter, by Michael Sowa

Because Democrats are in the minority in the House, the two lawmakers — Representatives Ted Lieu of California and Dan Goldman of New York — lack the power to convene their own oversight hearings into the matter. But on Monday, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, suggested that he would hold oversight hearings into Mr. Durham’s inquiry along with other aspects of how the Trump administration handled the Justice Department.

The report is “but one of many instances where former President Trump and his allies weaponized the Justice Department,” Mr. Durbin said in a statement, adding that his committee would “do its part and take a hard look at these repeated episodes, and the regulations and policies that enabled them, to ensure such abuses of power cannot happen again.”

Mr. Barr assigned Mr. Durham to scour the Russia investigation for any wrongdoing in the spring of 2019 and later bestowed special counsel status on him, entrenching him to stay in place after Donald J. Trump lost the 2020 election. Mr. Durham developed two cases centered on charges of false statements, both of which ended in acquittals, and he is completing a report about his investigation, which has lasted four years.

Read more at the NYT.

Here’s another important story by Adam Goldman and Alan Feuer at The New York Times: Bias and Human Error Played Parts in F.B.I.’s Jan. 6 Failure, Documents Suggest.

Days before the end of the 2020 presidential race, a team of F.B.I. analysts tried to game out the worst potential outcomes of a disputed election.

But of all the scenarios they envisioned, the one they never thought of was the one that came to pass: a violent mob mobilizing in support of former President Donald J. Trump.

The team’s work, which has never been reported, is just the latest example of how the Federal Bureau of Investigation was unable to predict — or prevent — the chaos that erupted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Apparently blinded by a narrow focus on “lone wolf” offenders and a misguided belief that the threat from the far left was as great as that from the far right, the analysis and other new documents suggest, officials at the bureau did not anticipate or adequately prepare for the attack.

The story of the F.B.I.’s missteps in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 was touched upon, but not fully explored, by the House select committee investigating Jan. 6 and may involve a mix of legal hurdles, institutional biases and simple human error….

There was no single failure. Agents ignored warning signs flashing in the open on social media and relied on confidential sources who either knew little or failed to sound the alarm. Still, even recently, bureau officials have played down not preventing the worst assault on the Capitol since the War of 1812.

“If everybody knew and all the public knew that they were going to storm Congress, I don’t know why one person didn’t tell us,” Jennifer L. Moore, the top intelligence official at the F.B.I.’s Washington field office at the time, told congressional investigators. “Why didn’t we have one source come forward and tell me that?” [….]

Now, the F.B.I. is conducting an internal review of what happened on Jan. 6 to assess what it describes as lessons learned and to “make improvements in communication and in the collection, analysis and sharing of information.” The Justice Department’s inspector general is also scrutinizing the bureau’s preparation and response.

There’s much more at the NYT link.

Henri Rousseau, Rabbit, 1908

House Republicans have been planning more ridiculous investigations as well as idiotic legislation, but they haven’t made a lot of progress yet. NBC News: Congress is off to a spectacularly slow start, and members fear it won’t get better.

The House, paralyzed for days, struggled to elect a speaker.The Senate is holding symbolic votes just to pass the time. America’s most powerful lawmakers have been twiddling their thumbs, unable to hold hearings because committees aren’t set up.

Welcome to the Seinfeld Congress. It’s a show about nothing.

One month in, the 118th Congress is off to a spectacularly sluggish start, frustrating some lawmakers and foreshadowinga messy two years of divided government in a presidential election cycle where very little is expected to get done.

Forget making historic laws. It’s not even clear the new Congress can agree to keep the government functional or prevent a self-imposed economic meltdown.

“I have very low expectations,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said in an interview. “I would predict — and I hope I’m wrong — this will prove to be one of the least productive congresses in modern history because of the dysfunctionality of an unstable majority.”

The Senate isn’t accomplishing much either, according to the article.

The Democratic-controlled Senate voted only three times in the entire month of January. During the first month of 2017, the Senate voted 35 times; in 2015, it voted 46 times….

Last week, the Senate held a vote on a measure to designate January as “National Stalking Awareness Month” — which faced no opposition and could have been adopted instantly. But the chamber apparently had nothing to do that day and needed to fill the time.

On Tuesday, usually one of the busiest days of the legislative week, the Senate didn’t vote at all. And on Wednesday, the Senate voted on a resolution declaring January as “National Trafficking and Modern Slavery Prevention Month.” The vote was 97 to 0, indicating again that a recorded vote was unnecessary; the chamber could have approved it by unanimous consent….

On Wednesday, six days after Senate Democrats announced their committee assignments, Senate Republicans followed suit. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday the delay was because the GOP committee process was “a little more cumbersome than ours” and that he’s “very hopeful” that the committees can be officially put together on Thursday.

Another huge problem for the Republicans in the House has been newly elected, scandal-ridden Rep. George Santos. Here’s the latest:

Politico: Feds probing Santos’ role in service dog charity scheme.

FBI agents are investigating Rep. George Santos’ role in an alleged GoFundMe scheme involving a disabled U.S. Navy veteran’s dying service dog.

Two agents contacted former service member Richard Osthoff Wednesday on behalf of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, he told POLITICO.

Osthoff gave the agents text messages from 2016 with Santos, who he says used his plight to raise $3,000 for life-saving surgery for the pit bull mix, Sapphire — then ghosted with the funds, as first reported by Patch.

Mark Bryan, Mo Bunny, Mo Problems

“I’m glad to get the ball rolling with the big-wigs,” Osthoff said in an interview Wednesday. “I was worried that what happened to me was too long ago to be prosecuted.”

The alleged fundraising scheme is one of many scandals plaguing the freshman Republican, who has refused to leave office despite a series of allegations of lying and fraud that first came to light in December shortly after he won a swing seat on Long Island.

New York Democratic Reps. Ritchie Torres and Daniel Goldman, who called for a Federal Election Commission investigation into Santos’ campaign finances last month, welcomed the news that the Eastern District investigation is proceeding at a serious clip.

“Only the U.S. attorneys are capable of moving at the speed that’s necessary,” Torres said in an interview.

“There’s no one that poses a greater threat in Congress than Santos. It’s undeniable that he’s broken the law. We have to protect Congress from George Santos, who threatens it from within,” Torres said.

Kakzynski provides an interesting timeline of Santos’ transformation to political activist and then candidate. Check it out at CNN.

Renaissance Rabbit, David Henderson

More on House happenings from NBC News: Fireworks in House after Democrat says ‘insurrectionists’ should be banned from leading Pledge of Allegiance.

A routine House committee meeting erupted into a heated, nearly hourlong debate Wednesday over the Pledge of Allegiance, with one Democratic lawmaker saying that “insurrectionists” who backed former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election should be banned from leading it.

The fiery back-and-forth took place in a House Judiciary Committee meeting where members set rules for the current Congress. It began after Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., offered an amendment that would give the committee the opportunity to begin each of its meetings with the Pledge of Allegiance. He said the rule would give members “the ability to invite inspirational constituents” to be able to share and lead in the pledge.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the committee’s ranking member, immediately objected, arguing that House members already recite the pledge on the floor every day. “I don’t know why we should pledge allegiance twice in the same day to show how patriotic we are,” he said.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., noted that many Republicans on the committee voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election on Jan. 6, 2021. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., then said he was introducing an amendment to Gaetz’s amendment that clarified that the pledge cannot be led by anyone who has supported an insurrection against the United States in any way.

“This pledge is an affirmation of your defense of democracy and the Constitution,” Cicilline. “It’s hard to take that claim seriously if in fact, an individual in any way supported an insurrection against the government.”

Gaetz began sparring with Cicilline, saying that he was concerned the Democrat’s proposal would make many Democrats on the panel ineligible to lead the pledge, too, because of previous elections when some in their party objected to electors.

“I’m concerned that you may be disqualifying too many of your own members,” Gaetz said, as the two of them yelled over each other.

“I’m talking about elected officials who swear an oath to the Constitution of the United States, who in any way participated, supported, facilitated, encouraged the insurrection against the United States,” Cicilline said. “That’s not too hard a standard.”

LOL

One more before I wrap this up. Hunter Biden is finally fighting back. The Washington Post: Hunter Biden’s lawyers, in newly aggressive strategy, target his critics.

Hunter Biden’s lawyers, in a newly aggressive strategy, sent a series of blistering letters Wednesday to state and federal prosecutors urging criminal investigations into those who accessed and disseminated his personal data — and sent a separate letter threatening Fox News host Tucker Carlson with a defamation lawsuit.

The string of letters, which included criminal referrals and cease-and-desist missives aimed at critics and detractors, marked the start of a new and far more hard-hitting phase for the president’s son just as House Republicans prepare their own investigations into him.

Abbe Lowell, a recently hired lawyer whom Biden enlisted about a month ago, sent lengthy letters to the Justice Department and Delaware’s attorney general requesting investigations into several key players who were involved in disseminating data from a laptop that Biden is said to have dropped off at a repair shop in Wilmington, Del.

Bryan M. Sullivan, another lawyer now representing Biden, sent a separate communication to Carlson and Fox News demanding that they correct falsehoods from his recent show or risk a possible defamation lawsuit.

And in another letter, Lowell wrote to the Internal Revenue Service challenging the nonprofit status of Marco Polo, a group that is run by conservative activist Garrett M. Ziegler. Lowell provided 36 pages as evidence that the group is engaging in political activity in violation of its nonprofit status.

Taken together, the actions represent the boldest and most aggressive moves to date from Biden, who has often heeded the advice of those who urged him not to make public waves. Those close to President Biden and the White House have preferred a more conservative approach, but some individuals around Hunter Biden have wanted to be more assertive in telling his side of the story and going more directly after his opponents.