Uber-Conservate Cheneys Gonna Vote For Harris

First there's the former member of the House, Liz Cheney: 

Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney will vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November, she said during remarks at Duke University, according to audio obtained by CNN.

The former Wyoming congresswoman noted the importance of voting for Harris in states like North Carolina, where she appeared on Wednesday.

“I think it is crucially important for people to recognize, not only is what I just said about the danger that Trump poses something that should prevent people from voting for him, but I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” Cheney said.

She made the announcement in North Carolina specifically because it is a battleground state, according to a source close to Cheney.

“And as a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this, and because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” she continued. 

Then there's her dad, the former Vice President: 

First, the statement itself:

In our nation’s 248-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump. He tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.   

As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.

For those who perhaps don't remember Dick, here's the Times' one paragraph bio:

Mr. Cheney served as White House chief of staff under President Gerald Ford; secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush and vice president under President George W. Bush, when Mr. Cheney was the architect of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He was viewed by Democrats as such a force of darkness that he earned the nickname Darth Vader.

This is how far into teh crazie Trump's MAGA party has become. It's too dangerous even for the guy who okayed this:

It is now well established that following the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operated a global, state-sanctioned program in which it abducted scores of people throughout the world, held them in secret detention—sometimes for years—or “rendered” them to various countries, and tortured or otherwise ill-treated them. While the program officially ended in 2009, the cover-up of these crimes appears to be ongoing.

Many detainees were held by the CIA in pitch-dark windowless cells, chained to walls, naked or diapered, for weeks or months at a time. The CIA forced them into painful stress positions that made it impossible for them to lie down or sleep for days, to the point where many hallucinated or begged to be killed to end their misery. It used “waterboarding” and similar techniques to cause near suffocation or drowning, crammed detainees naked into tiny boxes, and prevented them from bathing, using toilets, or cutting their hair or nails for months. “We looked like monsters,” one detainee said of his appearance while in CIA custody.

Dick Cheney thinks Donald Trump is such a threat to democracy that he's now voting for VP Kamala Harris.

 

It Was TWENTY YEARS AGO Today!

Check this aht.

That's the first blog post at this here blog.

Check aht the date:

September 6, 2004.

Twenty years ago today. 

This blog is officially twenty years old.

As such, I'd like to wish the OPJ a happy bloggerversary.

And for those of you who don't know the genesis story of this blog, I'll do my best to tell you what I remember.

It was early 2004 and I was, as they say, between jobs.  I'd met Maria a few months before - we were both volunteers with the local Howard Dean folks.  Anyway, there's only so many resumes you can send out a day when you're unemployed and so I had a lot of time on my hands and so I spent way too much of it watching TV. Enough said.

On local cable (PCNC, to be precise) there was a morning program called "Honsberger Live!" It was an hour long program hosted by the late Fred Honsberger, he of KDKA radio in the afternoons.  The program ran from 10am to 11am and Fred was a local version of Rush Limbaugh - right wing talk show host.

Maria and I had been emailing back and forth and she let me know that she was the "Maria" who called in frequently to Fred's show.  I figured that as I had the time and a phone, I'd do the same.

Our first blog "Honzman is a liar" was born out of fact checking Fred Honsberger.

It lasted through that summer and Maria started this blog as she wanted to write about something other than what Fred was spinning.  So early September, 2004 she set up this blog and started writing on more general, national topics. 

My first blog post here was on Sept 9. More on that in a few days.

Happy Bloggerversary!!

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

 

Something very important happens tomorrow.

Fulton County, PA IN THE NEWS!

From CNN this weekend:

A Pennsylvania judge has determined that three 2020 election deniers must pay nearly $1 million in fees as the result of a years-long legal dispute with state officials over voting equipment used during the last presidential race, according to recent court filings.

Recommendations from the judge, who was appointed to serve as a special master overseeing the case, attach a dollar figure to sanctions previously imposed by the state’s Supreme Court against two Republican county commissioners and their attorney for allowing an outside firm to examine voting equipment after the 2020 election – despite a court order prohibiting them to do so, according to the new filings. 

The case, which dates back to 2021, involves actions taken by two Fulton County, Pennsylvania, commissioners – Stuart Ulsh and Randy Bunch – who sought to have Dominion voting equipment examined by a third-party after the 2020 election. Many of former President Donald Trump’s allies falsely blamed Dominion’s software for his election defeat. 

Uh-oh.

We wrote about this some time ago - 11/21/2022.

In writing that piece we found this from Reuters: 

Pennsylvania's top election official has decertified the voting equipment of a rural county that participated in an audit of the 2020 election requested by a Republican state lawmaker and staunch ally of former President Donald Trump.

Acting Secretary of State Veronica Degraffenreid said on Wednesday that Fulton County violated the state election code by giving a third party access to its election databases and other certified equipment in an audit of the 2020 results.

 

The audit was conducted in December at the request of Republican state Senators Doug Mastriano and Judy Ward, who asked county officials to allow Wake Technology Services Inc to probe the county's results, according to media reports.

 Does Doug Mastriano have any comment on the million in fees his co-conspirators are now facing?

RE-Indicted! Trump was RE-INDICTED

 From The New York Times:

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday issued a pared-down version of an indictment accusing former President Donald J. Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, stripping out some charges and tweaking others to help the case survive the Supreme Court’s recent ruling granting former presidents broad immunity.

The revised indictment, issued in Federal District Court in Washington, represented an attempt by prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, to preserve the bulk of their case against the former president while bringing the allegations into line with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that former presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for many official acts taken while in office.

You can read it here. 

Some interesting parts.

In a list of co-conspirators, we find:

Co-Conspirator 6, a private political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.

Pennsylvania was one of those states.

And in the "Manner and Means" section, we find this:

The Defendant and co- conspirators organized fraudulent slates of electors in seven targeted states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin), attempting to mimic the procedures that the legitimate electors were supposed to follow under the Constitution and other federal and state laws. This included causing the fraudulent electors to meet on the day appointed by federal law on which legitimate electors were to gather and cast their votes; cast fraudulent votes for the Defendant; and sign certificates falsely representing that they were legitimate electors. Some fraudulent electors were tricked into participating based on the understanding that their votes would be used only if the Defendant succeeded in outcome-determinative lawsuits within their state, which the Defendant never did. The Defendant and co-conspirators then caused these fraudulent electors to transmit their false certificates to the Vice President, in his capacity as President of the Senate, and other government officials to be counted at the certification proceeding on January 6.

We'll note the change in the text of Pennsylvania's "fake elector" certificate. 

This is what it looked like:

WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, on the understanding that if, as a result of a final non-appealable Court Order or other proceeding prescribed by law, we are ultimately recognized as being the duly elected and qualified Electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America from the State of Pennsylvania, hereby certify the following...

I bolded/italicized what was added.

Then there's this:

The Defendant and co-conspirators attempted to enlist the Vice President, in his ceremonial role as President of the Senate at the January 6 certification proceeding to fraudulently alter the election results. First, using knowingly false claims of election fraud, the Defendant and co- conspirators attempted to convince the Vice President to use the Defendant's fraudulent electors, reject legitimate electoral votes, or send legitimate electoral votes to state legislatures for review rather than counting them. When that failed, on the morning of January 6, the Defendant and co-conspirators repeated knowingly false claims ofelection fraud to gathered supporters, falsely told them that the Vice President had the authority to and might alter the election results, and directed them tothe Capitol to obstruct the certification proceeding and exert pressure on the Vice President to take the fraudulent actions he had previously refused.

And, as we all know, this happened.

The White House switchboard logs show that Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano spoke on the phone with Donald Trump on the night of January 5.  After that call, Trump instructed the switchboard to notify the Vice President's office that they should expect a call from Mastriano.

Then there's this:

On November 25, the day after Pennsylvania's Governor signed a certificate of ascertainment and thus certified to the federal government that Biden's electors were the legitimate electors for the state, Co-Conspirator 1 orchestrated an event at a hotel in Gettysburg attended by state legislators. Co- Conspirator 1 falsely claimed that Pennsylvania had issued 1.8 million absentee ballots and received 2.5 million in return. In the days thereafter, a Campaign staffer wrote internally that Co-Conspirator 1's allegation was "just wrong" and "[t] here's no way to defend it." The Deputy Campaign Manager responded, "We have been saying this for a while. It's very frustrating."

That "event" at that Gettysburg hotel was Doug Mastriano's event.

The hearing on election irregularities in Gettysburg was historic. @PASenateGOP @SenatorArgall pic.twitter.com/DouU5fbkLs

— Senator Doug Mastriano (@SenMastriano) November 26, 2020

Does Doug Mastriano have any comment on Trump's re-indictment?

More Republicans Speak Out Against Trump

From USA Today:

More than 200 Republicans who previously worked for either former President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president in an open letter Monday obtained exclusively by USA TODAY.

The letter from alums of the three Republican presidential nominees prior to former President Donald Trump comes on the heels of a Democratic National Convention last week in Chicago that showcased Republican detractors of the GOP nominee. At least five former aides to former President George H.W. Bush also signed the letter, which has 238 signatures in all.

A similar group of about 150 anti-Trump former staffers of Bush, McCain and Romney pledged support for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

In case you missed the link above, you can read the letter here. 

From the letter:

At home, another four years of Donald Trump’s chaotic leadership, this time focused on advancing the dangerous goals of Project 2025, will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions. 

Abroad, democratic movements will be irreparably jeopardized as Trump and his acolyte JD Vance kowtow to dictators like Vladimir Putin while turning their backs on our allies. 

We can’t let that happen.

The USA Today, a few paragraphs later, added:

Over the weekend, a dozen prominent Republican attorneys who worked for former President Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush endorsed Harris for president. The group included conservative former federal appellate Judge Michael Luttig, who plans to vote for a Democratic president for the first time.

Following the links you get to this at Fox:

A dozen Republican White House lawyers who served in the administrations of then-Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris in her race against GOP nominee former President Donald Trump.

"We endorse Kamala Harris and support her election as President because we believe that returning former President Trump to office would threaten American democracy and undermine the rule of law in our country," the lawyers wrote in a letter that the signatories shared first with Fox News Digital.

That must've made so so many people happy at Fox "News."

 

Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster on Donald Trump

From CNN:

Until now, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster has held his fire about his stint in the Trump White House. McMaster served with distinction in key American conflicts of the past decades: the Gulf War, the Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan, but as McMaster recounts in his new book, “At War with Ourselves: My Tour of Duty in the Trump White House,” in some ways, his most challenging tour as a soldier was his last one: serving as the national security adviser to a notoriously mercurial president.  

In his blistering, insightful account of his time in the Trump White House, McMaster describes meetings in the Oval Office as “exercises in competitive sycophancy” during which Trump’s advisers would flatter the president by saying stuff like, “Your instincts are always right” or, “No one has ever been treated so badly by the press.” Meanwhile, Trump would say “outlandish” things like, “Why don’t we just bomb the drugs?” in Mexico or, “Why don’t we take out the whole North Korean Army during one of their parades?”

And:

...McMaster writes that in the aftermath of his 2020 electoral defeat, Trump’s “ego and love of self… drove him to abandon his oath to ‘support and defend the Constitution,’ a president’s highest obligation.” McMaster adds, “The attack on the US Capitol stained our image, and it will take a long-term effort to restore what Donald Trump, his enablers, and those they encouraged took from us that day.

And from CBS:

His first real business meeting with Trump was a presidential daily brief, an intelligence briefing that all presidents get. McMaster said, "I have a distinct impression of that meeting of being really not very effective for the president. President Trump plays to an audience, and it was too big of an audience in the Oval Office."

Martin asked, "And would the audience play to him?"

"The audience would play to him. I describe the environment as an environment of competitive sycophancy," McMaster replied.

"Did he want advice, or did he want flattery?"

"The president wanted advice; he also wanted flattery. He really likes the adulation. In many ways he's kind of addicted to adulation from his political base, from people around him."

 A very stable genius, indeed.

VP Harris' Speech

You can read a transcript of the speech here.

President Biden's Speech

You can read it here.

Meanwhile, Outside

More sciency stuff from the scientivists at NOAA:

July 2024 was the warmest July on record for the globe in NOAA's 175-year record. The July global surface temperature was 1.21°C (2.18°F) above the 20th-century average of 15.8°C (60.4°F). This is 0.03°C (0.05°F) warmer than the previous July record set last year, and the 14th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures. This breaks the longest record warm global temperature streak in the modern record (since 1980) previously set from May 2015—May 2016. July 2024 marked the 48th consecutive July with global temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average.

Climatologically, July is the warmest month of the year. As the warmest July on record, July 2024 was more likely than not the warmest month on record for the globe since 1850.

But probably not for long, sadly.

And now the chart:

Yep. It's still getting warmer out there.

Dave McCormick Is Lying About...Dave McCormick

 I caught this ad on the TEEVEE yesterday:

Classic career politician. Dishonest, weak, and unwilling to take responsibility for his destructive actions.

Here's the truth:

Bob Casey owns the greatest illegal immigration crisis in our nation's history—and it's killing thousands of Pennsylvanians with fentanyl. https://t.co/kMbeNfxaBL pic.twitter.com/ebYKA9J9vw

— Dave McCormick (@DaveMcCormickPA) August 11, 2024

And here's how the Connecticut resident starts:

At Westpoint we had a code: Cadets don't lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do. 

Bob Casey is lying about me and I won't tolerate it. I never made any investments in the makers of illegal fentanyl. Ever.

Did you catch the weasel word?  I'll reprint that last part to emphasize it:

I never made any investments in the makers of illegal fentanyl. [Emphasis added.]

See it now?  By adding the modifier, Dave has given away the game. He just hopes you won't notice.

And this is what I mean: By saying he never invested in the makers of illegal fentanyl, he's all but admitting he invested in the makers of legal fentanyl.

Now let's go take a look at what Dave's complaining about. In the tweet (are they still called tweets??) linked there's this text from the Casey campaign:

In 2021, we lost over 4,000 Pennsylvanians to fentanyl. 

That same year, my opponent invested in China’s main producer of fentanyl.

 Over at The Keystone, Sean Kitchen had the receipts:

However, federal tax forms show that Bridgewater Associates invested in China’s largest fentanyl producer, Humanwell Healthcare, when McCormick served as CEO of Bridgewater Associates.

In 2021, seven Bridgewater Associates hedge funds held close to $1.7 million in stock in Humanwell Healthcare, which is traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. 

A 2022 Rand Corporation report on comparing the production of opiates stated that Humanwell Healthcare produces 90% of China’s fentanyl. 

So the hedge fund did invest in China's main producer of fentanyl, right?

So Dave McCormick is lying by saying that Casey accused him of investing in illegal producers of fentanyl, right?

So what about that cadet code, Dave?

And how about applying the code to the guy you're supporting for president. Donald Trump owes nearly a half billion in fines for committing real estate fraud and for defaming a woman he sexually assaulted.

Note to Dave: "Fraud" is cheating and "defamation" is lying. And do I need to explain the sexual assault part?

Doug Mastriano's Former "Senior Counsel" In The News!

From The Washington Post:

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) reached a cooperation agreement Monday with Jenna Ellis, who was a legal adviser to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign and was one of 18 defendants indicted in April on felony charges related to alleged efforts to try to subvert President Biden’s victory in the state four years ago, according to prosecutors.

The attorney general has agreed to drop nine felony charges against Ellis in exchange for her full cooperation with the investigation into the GOP plan to try to deliver Arizona’s 11 electoral votes to Trump instead of the rightful winner, Biden.

She was also connected to PA State Senator Doug Mastriano's campaign for governor:

Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania’s Republican nominee for governor who has pushed Donald Trump’s election lies, said Monday that he had appointed Trump’s former campaign lawyer as a senior legal adviser to his own campaign. 

In case you've forgotten.

Anyway, you can find the plea agreement here. 

The important section seems to be this one:

Jenna Ellis shall waive the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and shall provide truthful information in any and all interviews given to representatives of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, and shall testify completely and truthfully at any time and any place requested by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, including at any state or federal grand jury proceeding, forfeiture proceeding, bond hearing, pretrial hearing, civil and criminal trial, retrial or post-trial hearing. Jenna Ellis agrees to answer all questions on direct, cross-examination and redirect examination truthfully and completely.

And there's also this:

All such information and testimony from Jenna Ellis shall be truthful, honest, candid, and complete with no knowing material false statements or omissions. Such information and testimony shall include all criminal activity known to Jenna Ellis.

And this:

Jenna Ellis shall neither attempt to protect any person or entity through false information or omissions nor falsely implicate any person or entity.

I realize the Arizona AG is looking for information regarding the Arizona fake elector scheme, but what do you think the chances are the Pennsylvania's fake elector scheme might also come up in any of those conversations?

Let's review.

The New York Times reported:

As they organized the fake elector scheme, lawyers appointed a “point person” in seven states to help organize those electors who were willing to sign their names to false documents. In Pennsylvania, that point person was Douglas V. Mastriano, a proponent of Mr. Trump’s lies of a stolen election who is now the Republican nominee for governor.

But even Mr. Mastriano needed assurances to go along with a plan other Republicans were telling him was “illegal,” according to a Dec. 12 email sent by Ms. Bobb that also referred to Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City.

“Mastriano needs a call from the mayor. This needs to be done. Talk to him about legalities of what they are doing,” she wrote, adding: “Electors want to be reassured that the process is * legal * essential for greater strategy.”

Jenna Ellis has already admitted to lying about the 2020 election:

Jenna Ellis, a lawyer who represented President Donald J. Trump after his loss in the 2020 election, admitted in a sworn statement released on Wednesday that she had knowingly misrepresented the facts in several of her public claims that widespread voting fraud led to Mr. Trump’s defeat.

The admissions by Ms. Ellis were part of an agreement to accept public censure and settle disciplinary measures brought against her by state bar officials in Colorado, her home state. Last year, the officials opened an investigation of Ms. Ellis after a complaint from the 65 Project, a bipartisan legal watchdog group.

And Rudy Giuliani was disbarred for it: 

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, federal prosecutor and legal adviser to Donald Trump, was disbarred in New York on Tuesday after a court found he repeatedly made false statements about Trump’s 2020 election loss.

The Manhattan appeals court ruled Giuliani, who had his New York law license suspended in 2021 for making false statements around the election, is no longer allowed to practice law in the state, effective immediately. 

And that's who the Trump campaign sent to convince Doug Mastriano of the "legality" of the fake elector scheme.

Any comment from Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano regarding these latest events?

 

 

The Donold Goes Full Racist

From The Washington Post:

Former president Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Vice President Harris of once hiding Black heritage she has routinely highlighted in her career, escalating his attacks on her racial identity in a combative interview with Black reporters.

Trump drew audible gasps and disbelieving laughter over the roughly 35-minute sit-down session as he berated a Black reporter who pressed him about past offensive comments, falsely claimed that undocumented immigrants were “taking” attendees’ votes, and suggested Harris “was Indian all the way” before “all of a sudden she made a turn” and “became a Black person.”

And so on.

And from TalkingPointsMemo:

Shortly after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his pick for Democratic nominee, Republican leadership in Congress quickly put out some guidance to lawmakers about how to message around Harris, the first Black, Asian American, woman vice president.

Perhaps aware of conference members’ worst impulses when presented with the platform to go after a woman of color presidential nominee, Republican leadership hurried to urge lawmakers to avoid commenting on Harris’ race when criticizing her. But the guidance was also an effort to course correct — some members of Congress had begun referring to Harris as a “DEI hire” almost immediately after Biden tapped her as his pick.

“This election will be about policies and not personalities,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told reporters after a closed door meeting with the Republican conference last week, during which Johnson and National Republican Congressional Committee chair Richard Hudson asked their colleagues to stick to attacking Harris over her Biden administration record.

“This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” he added, “and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.”

Perhaps no one gave Donald Trump the memo.

Evidently not. 

As for Donald's "all of a sudden" stuff, let's look at the record:

NBC News from November 8, 2016

Kamala Harris, California’s Attorney General, made history Tuesday night, becoming only the second black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Facebook from February 18, 2016:

 And so on.

Racist Don.

The Prosecutor and The Felon

We approve this message pic.twitter.com/Kd1zKlqFmp

— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) July 25, 2024

This.

pic.twitter.com/RMIRvlSOYw

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024

And some Pennsylvania endorsements:

Governor Josh Shapiro:

The contrast in this race could not be clearer and the road to victory in November runs right through Pennsylvania – where this collective work began.

I will do everything I can to help elect @KamalaHarris as the 47th President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/sqCkiAmCV7

— Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) July 21, 2024

Senator Bob Casey:

“With women’s rights, workers’ rights, and voting rights on the line, the stakes of this election for Pennsylvania and the Nation couldn’t be higher,” said Casey. “Vice President Harris has been leading on those fights and as a former prosecutor, she will draw a clear contrast between herself and former President Trump. She is prepared to be Commander-in-Chief and is the best person to meet this moment. I’m proud to endorse her candidacy for President.

Representative Summer Lee:

My statement on President Biden stepping aside and my endorsement of Kamala Harris for President: pic.twitter.com/wTFbWLdYZU

— Summer Lee (@SummerForPA) July 21, 2024

Mayor Ed Gainey:

I am proud to endorse @KamalaHarris to be our 47th President of the United States of America.

Kamala has the passion, energy, and experience to win this race and deliver for the people of Pittsburgh. I look forward to joining her on the campaign trail soon. pic.twitter.com/PzrNBYz4du

— Ed Gainey (@gainey_ed) July 21, 2024

I know the list is incomplete. I know the list will grow over time.

Some things for all of us to remember:

• 34 Felony convictions
• Half a billion in fines for real estate fraud and for defaming a woman he sexually abused
• Bragged about overturning Roe v Wade

Rinse, later and repeat.

• 
  

Fact-checking Trump's Convention Speech

The Washington Post:

Former president Donald Trump’s 92-minute speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination on the final night of his party’s national convention rambled, often incoherently, through a hit parade of his favorite falsehoods, many of them ad-libbed instead of drawn from his prepared remarks.  

CNN:

Former President Donald Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday with the most dishonest speech of the four-day Republican National Convention, making more than 20 false claims by CNN’s count. 

ABC News

TRUMP CLAIM: Trump argued there was "a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land."

FACT CHECK: This is false. There is no evidence of a major surge in crime caused by recent arrivals, and Trump's claims ignore the fact that crime is down across the country overall.

 NBC News:

Did Democrats ‘use Covid to cheat’ in the 2020 election?

“The election result, we’re never going to let it happen again. They used Covid to cheat," Trump said.

This is false.

Trump is referring to changes made during the Covid pandemic, largely to make it easier to vote by mail or absentee, as congregating at the polls posed a health risk. Democrats embraced the changes and turned out many voters by mail, while Trump slammed mail voting. There is no evidence the changes led to fraud, even though Trump and his allies filed more than 50 lawsuits challenging some facet of the 2020 election. All were denied, dismissed, settled or withdrawn, including multiple that made it to the Supreme Court.

CBS News:

Former President Donald Trump says he oversaw the "best economy in the history of our country, in the history of the world:" False

What we know: It is not true that Trump oversaw the best economy in the history of the U.S. by many of the metrics used to judge economic performance.

GDP

The claim struggles when looking at GDP. If the 2020 pandemic is excluded, growth after inflation under Trump averaged just over 2.5%, according to figures from the World Bank. Including the time period after COVID spread, that average drops by almost a percentage point. By comparison, Growth between 1962 to 1966 ranged from 4.4% to 6.6%. In 1950 and 1951, GDP ranged between 8.7% and 8%.

Under Mr. Biden, annual GDP growth is averaging 3.4%, according to the World Bank.

AP:

TRUMP: “We had the greatest economy in the history of the world.”

THE FACTS: That’s far from accurate. The pandemic triggered a massive recession during his presidency. The government borrowed $3.1 trillion in 2020 to stabilize the economy and Trump left the White House with fewer jobs than when he entered.

But even if you take out issues caused by the pandemic, economic growth averaged 2.67% during Trump’s first three years, which is pretty solid. But it’s nowhere near the 4% averaged during Bill Clinton’s two terms from 1993 to 2001, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In fact, growth has been stronger so far under Biden than under Trump.

Trump did have the unemployment rate get as low as 3.5% before the pandemic, but the labor force participation rate for people 25 to 54 — the core of the U.S. working population — was higher under Clinton. The participation rate has also been higher under Biden than Trump.

There you go. One stop shopping for the fact-checking.

 

 

Meanwhile, Outside

Science from the scientists who study the climate over at NOAA:

June 2024 was the warmest June on record for the globe in NOAA's 175-year record. The June global surface temperature was 1.22°C (2.20°F) above the 20th-century average of 15.5°C (59.9°F). This is 0.15°C (0.27°F) warmer than the previous June record set last year, and the 13th consecutive month of record-high global temperatures. This ties with May 2015-May 2016 for the longest record warm global temperature streak in the modern record (since 1980). June 2024 marked the 48th consecutive June with global temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average.

There it is. 

And then there's this:

The January–June global surface temperature ranked warmest in the 175-year record at 1.29°C (2.32°F) above the 1901-2000 average of 13.5°C (56.2°F). According to NCEI's statistical analysis, there is a 59% chance that 2024 will rank as the warmest year on record and a 100% chance that it will rank in the top five.

Science. 

And yet, our friends at the Heritage Foundation see things differently:

Downsize the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. 

OAR provides theoretical science, as opposed to the applied science of the National Hurricane Center. OAR is, however, the source of much of NOAA’s climate alarmism. The preponderance of its climate-change research should be disbanded. OAR is a large network of research laboratories, an undersea research center, and several joint research institutes with universities. These operations should be reviewed with an aim of consolidation and reduction of bloat. 

Why would they want to do that?

This is why:

Together, these form a colossal operation that has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.

Whereas some men just want to see the world burn, others would let it for the sake of profit.

Text of President Biden's Address

From The The Whitehouse:

My fellow Americans, I want to speak to you tonight about the need for us to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies.  We’re neighbors.  We’re friends, coworkers, citizens.  And, most importantly, we are fellow Americans.  And we must stand together. 

Yesterday’s shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania calls on all of us to take a step back, take stock of where we are, how we go forward from here. 

Thankfully, former [President] Trump is not seriously injured.  I spoke with him last night.  I’m grateful he’s doing well.  And Jill and I keep him and his family in our prayers. 

We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed.  Corey was a husband, a father, a volunteer firefighter, a hero, sheltering his family from those bullets.  We should all hold his family and all those injured in our prayers.

Earlier today, I spoke about an ongoing investigation.  We do not know the motive of the shooter yet.  We don’t know his opinions or affiliations.  We don’t know whether he had help or support or if he communicated with anyone else.  Law enforcement professionals, as I speak, are investigating those questions. 

Tonight, I want to speak to what we do know: A former president was shot.  An American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing. 

We cannot — we must not go down this road in America.  We’ve traveled it before throughout our history.  Violence has never been the answer, whether it’s with members of Congress in both parties being targeted in the shot, or a violent mob attacking the Capitol on January 6th, or a brutal attack on the spouse of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, or information and intimidation on election officials, or the kidnapping plot against a sitting governor, or an attempted assassination on Donald Trump.

There is no place in America for this kind of violence or for any violence ever.  Period.  No exceptions.  We can’t allow this violence to be normalized. 

You know, the political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated.  It’s time to cool it down.  And we all have a responsibility to do that. 

Yes, we have deeply felt, strong disagreements.  The stakes in this election are enormously high. 

I’ve said it many times that the choice in this elect- — that we make in this election is going to shape the future of America and the world for decades to come.  I believe that with all my soul.  I know that millions of my fellow Americans believe it as well.

And some have a different view as to the direction our country should take.  Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy.  It’s part of human nature.  But politics must never be a literal battlefield and, God forbid, a killing field.

I believe politics ought to be an arena for peaceful debate, to pursue justice, to make decisions guided by the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.  We stand for an America not of extremism and fury but of decency and grace. 

All of us now face a time of testing as the election approaches.  And the higher the stakes, the more fervent the passions become.  This places an added burden on each of us to ensure that no matter how strong our convictions, we must never descend into violence. 

The Republican convention will start tomorrow.  I have no doubt they’ll criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country.  I’ll be traveling this week, making the case for our record and the vision — my vision of the country — our vision. 

I’ll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box, no violence on our streets.  That’s how democracy should work. 

We debate and disagree.  We compare and contrast the character of the candidates, the records, the issues, the agenda, the vision for America. 

But in America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box.  You know, that’s how we do it, at the ballot box, not with bullets.  The power to change America should always rest in the hands of the people, not in the hands of a would-be assassin.

You know, the path forward through competing visions of the campaign should always be resolved peacefully, not through acts of violence.

You know, we’re blessed to live in the greatest country on Earth.  And I believe that with every soul — every power of my being.  So, tonight, I’m asking every American to recommit to make America so — make America what it i- — think about it.  What’s made America so special? 

Here in America, everyone wants to be treated with dignity and respect, and hate must have no safe harbor. 

Here in America, we need to get out of our silos, where we only listen to those with whom we agree, where misinformation is rampant, where foreign actors fan the flames of our division to shape the outcomes consistent with their interests, not ours.

Let’s remember, here in America, while unity is the most elusive of goals right now, nothing is more — more important for us now than standing together.  We can do this. 

You know, from the beginning, our founders understood the power of passion, and so they created a democracy that gave reason and balance a chance to prevail over brute force.  That’s the America we must be, an American democracy where arguments are made in good faith, an American democracy where the rule of law is respected, an American democracy where decency, dignity, fair play aren’t just quaint notions, but living, breathing realities.

We owe that to those who come before us, to those who gave their lives for this country.  We that — we owe that to ourselves.  We owe it to our children and our grandchildren. 

Look, let’s never lose sight of who we are.  Let’s remember we are the United States of America.  There is nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.

So, God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops. 

The address:

No, Let's NOT "Both Sides" It

Before we do too many "both sides do it" with the overheated political rhetoric, let's recall what CNN posted on 08/09/2016:

It’s come to this. Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his opponent Hillary Clinton “wants to abolish, essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks.” Trump followed his claim, which was not supported by any source or proof, with a not-so-veiled suggestion, adding, “although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is.”

Gee, I wonder what Trump meant by that?

8 years ago he was calling for one of those "Second Amendment people" to shoot Hillary Clinton.

 

GOP types were repeating the need for "Second Amendment solutions" back then, remember? 

What do you think they meant by that??

No Political Violence.

 

Political violence must always be condemned.

No political violence.

An Open Letter To Leaders Of The Democratic Party

Dear Dem Leaders;

I am not a member of the party, though I have recently donated money to it.

I was a member but that was more than a decade ago. I left the party in, I believe, 2010.

All that being said, I realize that my one voice probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. I'd like to think, though it may just be wishful thinking, that my feelings in this matter may be independently shared by many of us on the non-politically connected left.

I am writing, of course, on the current tension in the party over Joe Biden's candidacy for presidency.

For god's sake, resolve this matter. 

Now.

I am a big fan of President Biden. I think he's done a great job as president, cleaning up the mess of the twice impeached Trump.

I also watched, in horror, his performance at that first debate.  At the very least Joe had a bad bad superbad night. It was so bad it pulled all the pundits' attention away from Trump's near complete dishonesty that night.

To paraphrase Mary McCarthy on Lillian Hellman: Every word he said was a lie, including "and" and "the."

As I am not a member of the party, I will not push for any particular resolution in this matter, only implore you to resolve it - either way. Resolve this.

Here's why:

Every Democrat in every speech should be pointing out at least these three things;

• He has 34 Felony Convictions
• He owes half a billion in fines for real estate fraud and for defaming a woman he sexually assaulted
• He brags about ending Roe v. Wade

Any day a democrat can not point these things (because he or she has to answer a question about Joe Biden) is an opportunity lost.

Our form of democracy is on the line.  One way or another, resolve this fucking thing.

July 4

July 4

Rudy Giuliani DISBARRED - And A Pennsylvania Connection!

We'll start here:

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor and personal attorney to Donald Trump, was disbarred Tuesday in New York over his false statements about the 2020 election.

“The seriousness of respondent’s misconduct cannot be overstated,” a state appeals court said in a ruling, adding that Giuliani “baselessly attacked and undermined the integrity of this country’s electoral process.”

And so now let's dig into that ruling, shall we? 

Scrolling down somewhat, we find this:

Wherefore, it is Ordered that the motion by the Attorney Grievance Committee for the First Judicial Department to confirm the Referee’s report and recommendation pursuant to 603.8-a(t)(4) and 22 NYCRR 1240.8(b)(2) is granted, and respondent Rudolph W. Giuliani, admitted as Rudolph William Giuliani, is disbarred from the practice of law, effective immediately, and until the further order of this Court, and his name stricken from the roll of attorneys and counselors-at-law in the State of New York...(p.30)

And so on.

Inside the ruling we can find things like this:

The Referee found that on November 25, 2020, in violation of rules 4.1, 8.4(c), 8.4(d), and 8.4(h), respondent falsely and dishonestly claimed to Pennsylvania state legislators that in Philadelphia during the 2020 Presidential election, many thousands of votes were cast in the names of dead people. 

Respondent stipulated that “[m]any thousands of votes were not cast in the names of dead people in Philadelphia during the 2020 election.” Further, the Referee found that respondent knew, or should have known, that on November 11, 2020, Philadelphia Commissioner Al Schmidt, a Republican, made a televised statement in which he criticized the allegations of fraud as having no basis in fact and specifically concluded that the investigations regarding dead voters had led nowhere. (p.5)

Look at the date.

That would be PA State Sen Doug Mastriano's "hearing" on the 2020 election.

This "hearing" shows up a couple more times:

The Referee found that respondent falsely and dishonestly asserted that in Philadelphia there occurred “an extraordinary number of voter fraud convictions that stood as evidence of endemic election fraud in that city.” Respondent made the alleged offending statement four times: first, during the November 7, 2020 press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping; second, during a November 17, 2020 appearance in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, in violation of Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct rules 3.3(a)(1), 4.1,and 8.4(c), which controlled under New York rule 8.5(b)(1); third, on November 25, 2020 before Pennsylvania state legislators; and fourth, on December 14, 2020 before Missouri state legislators, while testifying under oath, in violation of New York rules 4.1, 8.4(b), 8.4(c), 8.4(d), and 8.4(h). (p. 8)

And:

The Referee found that, in violation of rules 4.1, 8.4(b), 8.4(c), 8.4(d), and 8.4(h), respondent falsely and dishonestly asserted that in Michigan, trucks delivered ballots in garbage receptacles and paper bags. Respondent made the alleged offending statements during the November 19, 2020, press conference at the Republican National Committee Headquarters, during his November 25, 2020 appearance before Pennsylvania state legislators, during his December 3 and December 10, 2020 appearances before Georgia state legislators, and in his April 14, 2021 affidavit filed with this Court in opposition to the AGC’s interim suspension motion. (p. 17)

So, in part, the lies Rudy told at Doug's little hearing got Rudy disbarred. 

When will Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano offer up any sort of explanation/apology for setting up the venue in which Donald Trump's lawyer (and a man once known as "America's Mayor") spread lies bad enough to be disbarred?

With Fear For Our Democracy, I Dissent

Today

Steve Bannon's going to prison today.

Thou Shalt Not...And Another

We'll start in the same place as Friday:

Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation on Wednesday requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in Louisiana, making the state the only one with such a mandate and reigniting the debate over how porous the boundary between church and state should be.

And from the legislation we read that this is one of the Commandments commanded to appear in all school rooms in Louisiana:

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

So what does "bearing false witness" even mean?

Dictionary.com:

1. knowingly state as fact that which is untrue; begin or perpetuate a rumor by lying about a person, thing, or event:

   [snip]
   

2. knowingly give untrue testimony, as in a court of law; commit perjury

CBN:

Outside the context of the courts, it is termed slander.

And:

Starting lies about someone or spreading them is bearing false witness, a terrible offense in the sight of God.

That was an excerpt from a book by Pat Robertson, BTW.

So we have a pretty good idea of what the Commandment means.

So do I need to remind anyone of this:

Former President Donald Trump must pay $83.3 million in damages for defamatory statements he made denying he sexually assaulted the writer E. Jean Carroll, a federal jury ruled Friday, handing down a stunning verdict after less than three hours of deliberation.

The jury awarded Carroll $18.3 million in compensatory damages, and $65 million in punitive damages. The compensatory amount included $11 million for repairing her reputation, and $7.3 million for emotional harm.

Donald Trump broke that Commandment, too. 

In other news, Donald Trump is a convicted felon, a criminal.

The Cruelty IS The Point In Trump's Post-Dodds America

Watch this

Thou Shalt Not...And Here's Another One

We'll start in the same place as Friday:

Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation on Wednesday requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in Louisiana, making the state the only one with such a mandate and reigniting the debate over how porous the boundary between church and state should be.

And from the legislation we read that this is one of the Commandments commanded to appear in all school rooms in Louisiana:

Thou shalt not steal.

Does everyone know about Trump University (to be more precise Trump "University")? 

From ABCNews in 2018:

A federal judge in the Southern District of California on Monday finalized a $25 million settlement to be paid to attendees of the now-defunct real estate seminar called Trump University.

And:

New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman called the settlement a victory for Trump U. "victims."

"Judge Curiel's order finalizing the $25 million Trump University settlement means that victims of Donald Trump's fraudulent university will finally receive the relief they deserve," he said in a statement, adding that the amount surpassed the initial number the class-action suit initially negotiated.

"This settlement marked a stunning reversal by President Trump, who for years refused to compensate the victims of his sham university," the statement added. "My office won't hesitate to hold those who commit fraud accountable, no matter how rich or powerful they may be."

Donald Trump stole from all those people who "enrolled" in Trump "University." 

It was a scam - a "massive" one, according to this article in the conservative National Review.

The NR called it a bait and switch, quoting the NY State lawsuit:

The free seminars were the first step in a bait and switch to induce prospective students to enroll in increasingly expensive seminars starting with the three-day $1495 seminar and ultimately one of respondents’ advanced seminars such as the “Gold Elite” program costing $35,000.

At the “free” 90-minute introductory seminars to which Trump University advertisements and solicitations invited prospective students, Trump University instructors engaged in a methodical, systematic series of misrepresentations designed to convince students to sign up for the Trump University three-day seminar at a cost of $1495.

 Trump stole money from people who wanted to learn how make money in real estate.

Thou Shalt Not...Pass A Law Respecting An Establishment Of Religion...

From The NYTimes:

Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation on Wednesday requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in every public classroom in Louisiana, making the state the only one with such a mandate and reigniting the debate over how porous the boundary between church and state should be.

Setting aside the question of the legislation's constitutionality (it's not, but given the Trump SCOTUS, all bets, sadly, are off), let's look at the Commandments themselves, as spelled out in the legislation.

It contains (of course) this Commandment:

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Do I need to remind everyone that convicted felon Trump:

• Cheated on his first wife with the woman who became his second wife
• Cheated on his second wife with the woman who became his third
• Cheated on his third wife with an adult film actress.
• Sexually assaulted another woman and then lied about her.
  

And that's only one broken commandment (with a bit of "Thou shalt not bear false witness" thrown in").

Hey, Look! Pennsylvania Is Mentioned TWICE

Doug Mastriano at about 1:25 in and Dave McCormick at about 5:50.

Hey, did you know that God sent Trump's mob to storm the Capitol?

Today's GOP.

Meanwhile, Outside

Science, from the climate scientists at NOAA: 

The May global surface temperature was 1.18°C (2.12°F) above the 20th-century average of 14.8°C (58.6°F), making it the warmest May on record. This was 0.18°C (0.32°F) above the previous record from May 2020. May 2024 marked the 48th consecutive May (since 1977) with temperatures at least nominally above the 20th-century average.

And, of course, the chart:

There was also this from down the page:

The January–May global surface temperature was the warmest in the 175-year record at 1.32°C (2.38°F) above the 1901-2000 average of 13.1°C (55.5°F).

It's getting warmer out there.

I was also going through my old stuff and found this from 2009 (that's 15 years ago): 

A comprehensive review of key climate indicators confirms the world is warming and the past decade was the warmest on record. More than 300 scientists from 48 countries analyzed data on 37 climate indicators, including sea ice, glaciers and air temperatures. A more detailed review of 10 of these indicators, selected because they are clearly and directly related to surface temperatures, all tell the same story: global warming is undeniable.[Emphasis added.]

Undeniable. 15 years later, still undeniable.

 

This.

Mitch McConnell knows Trump provoked the violent attack on our Capitol and then “watched television happily” as his mob brutally beat police officers and hunted the Vice President. He knows Trump refused for hours to tell his mob to leave and “even then with police officers… pic.twitter.com/iOiT3E7rbs

— Liz Cheney (@Liz_Cheney) June 13, 2024

Of course if you replace the words "Mitch McConnell" with the words "The GOP" you get this:

[The GOP] knows Trump provoked the violent attack on our Capitol and then “watched television happily” as his mob brutally beat police officers and hunted the Vice President. [The GOP] knows Trump refused for hours to tell his mob to leave and “even then with police officers bleeding…he kept repeating his election lies and praising the criminals.” [The GOP] knows Trump committed a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” and is a danger to our Republic. Trump and his collaborators will be defeated, and history will remember the shame of [The GOP] who enabled them.

Just a little tweak - but still absolutely true.

Justice Alito, In A Nutshell

This, from Rolling Stone:

[Lauren Windsor, a liberal documentary filmmaker] goes on to tell Alito: “People in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that — to return our country to a place of godliness.”

“I agree with you. I agree with you,” replies Alito, who authored the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which reversed five decades of settled law and ended a constitutional right to abortion.

In the event you were wondering how she got the quote:

Windsor attended [the Supreme Court Historical Society’s annual dinner on June 3] as a dues-paying member of the society under her real name, along with a colleague. She asked questions of the justice as though she were a religious conservative.   

Back to Justice Alito. It's not his job to "return our country to a place of godliness." What sort of place would that be, anyway?  Which definition of "godliness" is the right one? Who decides on that?

Justice Samuel Alito should not be deciding cases on the US Supreme Court.

Today - What's In Store For Felon Trump

From The NYTimes:

Former President Donald J. Trump, who was convicted last month on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, is expected to have a virtual interview with a New York City Probation Department official on Monday, three people with knowledge of the matter said.

Convicted on 34 felony counts.  I will never get tired of writing that.

Anyway, here's a bit more from the AP:

The usual purpose of a pre-sentencing probation interview is to prepare a report that will tell the judge more about the defendant, and potentially help determine the proper punishment for the crime.

Such reports are typically prepared by a probation officer, a social worker or a psychologist working for the probation department who interviews the defendant and possibly that person’s family and friends, as well as people affected by the crime.

So there's that.

But then there's this from MSNBC (this summary from Huffington Post):

One of the questions that Trump will be asked is “whether he is associating with criminals,” Weissmann, a legal analyst for MSNBC, told former Biden White House press secretary-turned-network anchor Jen Psaki.

“It is sort of remarkable,” he declared.

Trump will have to “discuss whether he still coordinates with Roger Stone, Paul Mannafort, Steve Bannon,” Weissmann pointed out. “Remember, all of those people have been found guilty by a jury and are felons themselves so that’s another area where the probation department could ask questions and it’ll be interesting to see what Donald Trump has to say about that.”

Yea, it'll be very interesting. 

Donald Trump is a convicted felon, a criminal.

 

 

Steve Bannon is Going To Jail - July 1

From The NYTimes:

A federal judge on Thursday told Stephen K. Bannon, a longtime adviser to former President Donald J. Trump, to surrender by July 1 to start serving a four-month prison term for disobeying a congressional subpoena.

Mr. Bannon was sentenced in October 2022 on contempt of Congress charges after he refused to give testimony to the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Judge Carl J. Nichols, who has overseen the case, allowed him to remain free while he appealed. Last month, however, Mr. Bannon lost the first round of that challenge as a three-judge panel of a federal appeals court in Washington decided that his guilty verdict on charges of ignoring the House committee’s demand for his testimony was proper.

Bannon's going to jail.

Hmm. I wonder: Are there any Pennsylvania connections to Bannon?

Of course there are - ah, the joys of an old blog.

There's this.

On the night that The House of Representatives voted to hold Bannon in contempt, he was guest of PA the Adams County Republican Committee at their annual Eisenhower Banquet. 

PA State Senator Doug Mastriano was there as well.  Did they discuss the contempt vote?  Why won't anyone ask Doug this?

But wait, there's more.

From the York Daily Record: 

Before the event, Bannon spoke with Adams County GOP Chair Charlotte Shaffer for his "War Room" news show.

The pair spoke about the 3 November movement, a Trump-centered Republican movement seeking to prove election fraud.

“One of the reasons I accepted the gracious invitation of Charlotte Shaffer, the chairman, was that this was the railhead of where 3 November started, the counter reaction, the great conference,” Bannon said on War Room.

Bannon was referring to an event in Gettysburg at which former Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani publicly protested the election results. Mastriano organized that event as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate Majority Policy Committee.

Rudy Giuliani was at that event in Gettysburg. He's now facing disbarment for having "violated Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct" representing Trump in a case in PA that sought to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss.

BTW, Rudy told many many lies at Doug's Gettysburg event.

Can't someone (anyone??) ask Doug about Rudy's current tough times?

Then there's this.  Mastriano was on Bannon's podcast:

Senator Mastriano is speaking with Steve Bannon. Bannon is currently under indictment (two counts) for Contempt of Congress. He was also indicted for wire fraud. The case was dismissed because he was pardoned by Donald Trump on the latter's last day of office.

And as we all know, PA State Senator Doug Mastriano has been subpoenaed by the same committee that issued the subpoenas that led to Bannon's contempt indictment.

Hey, remember when PA State Senator Doug Mastriano was subpoenaed?  I certainly do. 

In any event, Dougie and Stevie discussed Trump's one-time SecDef, Mark Esper and how he would have committed treason by not following Trump's order (were Trump to give one) to have members of the military to shoot protesters in the legs. 

Can someone please ask Doug Mastriano for a comment regarding Steve Bannon's upcoming jail time?