A surprise sixth Jan 6 Committee hearing took place on Tuesday June 28. This was truly jaw-dropping stuff – Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to Mark Meadows, dropped these bombshells …
- When Trump watched Barr on TV confirm that there was not a jot of evidence to support the stolen election lie, Trump had a major tantrum and threw his dinner at the wall. This resulted in ketchup dripping down it. Apparently Trump having hissy-fits like this was a regular occurrence and not a unique event.
- On Jan 6 Trump knew the mob were armed and insisted that they be allowed to keep their weapons.
- He also demanded to be taken to Congress to storm the capital with the mob, but the secret service refused, so he grabbed the wheel of the car and then wrestled with the secret service agent who refused his request. Normally we tend to think of the secret service as folks who protect the president from us. It turns on that the secret service was actually protecting us from the President that day.
This is how it was described …
“The president said something to the effect of ‘I’m the f-ing president. Take me up to the Capitol now,’ to which [Robert Engel, the head of the Secret Service detail] responded, ‘Sir, we have to go back to the West Wing.’ The president reached up towards the front of the vehicle to grab at the steering wheel. Mr. Engel grabbed his arm, said, ‘Sir, you need to take your hand off the steering wheel. We’re going back to the West Wing. We’re not going the Capitol.’ Mr. Trump then used his free hand to lunge towards Bobby Engel,” Hutchinson testified, and said Ornato motioned to his clavicles to describe a kind of choking motion.
- When told about the “Hang Mike Pence” rhetoric, Trump commented that he deserves it.
- Once Trump knew the rioters had stormed the capitol, Trump refused to take any action to stop them. Eventually somebody managed to get him to say something rather reluctantly.
In response to these revelations, Trump claimed that Cassidy Hutchinson was a nobody.
It’s rather weird for a “Nobody” to have an office a few feet from the Oval Office. He also claimed this was all “fake”. What he might not fully grasp is that the secret service are fully cooperating with the committee, and they will respond on the record to this. Informally the press has verified it, they confirm that Cassidy’s description is accurate.
Truly this was the most jaw-dropping stuff so far. He was not simply a passive fool, but very actively involved in it all and wanted to go with the mob to the Capitol.
The parting shot from the hearing was also a warning about attempts by Trump supporters to intimidate witnesses. They have evidence of multiple instances of this.
Moving on, below you will find my usual selection of some truly bizarre claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary. With my usual hat tip to my main source, Right Wing Watch, let’s dive in.
Enjoy.
Unintentionally self-critical
David Lane declares that “America currently lives in a state of perpetual gaslighting.”
- Indeed it does Mr Lane, indeed it does.
Roe V. Wade
America First streamer Matt Evans (aka “Beardson Beardly”) declares that the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade proves that “hating women is in fact an effective political strategy.”
- To be blunt … any woman who votes for Trump/ Republicans after this deserves whatever scorn and hate that they get
Shane Vaughn proclaims that “the plans of YAHWEH to overturn ROE V WADE needed THE Human abilities Of DONALD TRUMP to bring it to fruition.”
- He appears to be actually claiming that God needed help from Trump
- He also appears to be having trouble with his caps lock key.
Vincent James says overturning Roe does “not go far enough” and we need to start “rolling back the ‘rights’ of women over the past 100 years” because “there is a true rise of Christian nationalism in this country.”
- This is the guy that makes the Taliban look moderate and feminist
Fanatical Christian Nationalism
What does Christian Nationalism look like? It looks a lot like an auditorium full of right-wing Christians declaring they’ve “been given legal power from heaven” to ensure the executive, judicial, & legislative branches operate on biblical principles.
- “biblical principles” = just the stuff that this cult cherry picks. Other denominations who pick different “biblical principles” are deemed to be all Satanic heathens. This is literally setting the stage for a religious war. History reveals that never ever ends well.
- It’s not new, but instead is a very old idea. What we have here is the modern version of the utterly bizarre “divine right” belief. George III believed that he had a divine right to rule. I thought we settled this shit in 1776 … but apparently not.
- These same folks are the people who would literally crucify Jesus for espousing woke liberal ideas.
James Dobson urges parents to get their children “out of a godless educational setting quickly, before more spiritual and emotional damage could be done” and “think long and hard before sending my graduates to a godless university.”
- Yes indeed, education is terrible satanic stuff. Your kids will be far better off by being kept totally uneducated and ignorant. It make it a lot easier to indoctrinate and radicalise them if they don’t know anything.
- Other famous James Dobson hits include … “how to violently beat your kids into submission” …”teaching them that tolerance and diversity is evil” … and of course the usual Homophobia. A truly delightful guy. This 89 year old will one day make the world a far better place by leaving it.
Elijah Schaffer declares that women can’t possibly solve the world’s problems because those problems were created by men: “When women lead, it is a sign of a curse on a country.”
- Holy Shit … (That’s not an expletive. Instead, it is a fact-based description of this).
- Meanwhile over a New Zealand, a nation with a female leader – right about guns, right about COVID, and nailed it when they declared the Proud Boys a terrorist organisation.
Radical religious-right activist Mat Staver accuses companies that will provide coverage to employees who may now need to travel out of state to obtain an abortion of treating their employees like “slave labor.”
- The thing he calls “slave labor” we call “the underground railroad”.
- The guy who deems such freedom to be “Slave labor” really is promoting the concept of having “Slaves in labor”.
- He is literally treating women as if he is a slave-owner that has total control of what a woman can and cannot do with their body
Truly Bizarre
Regarding the SCOTUS ruling on Monday that permits a school coach to pray. The coach “offered his prayers quietly while his students were otherwise occupied,” wrote Justice Neil Gorsuch.
- Gorsuch lied. In her dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the prayers weren’t actually brief, quiet, or private. She also included visual evidence of the non-quiet, non-private prayers. Sotomayor dropping photographic evidence that Gorsuch lied in the middle of her dissenting opinion is some queen shit.
- Let that sink in. A supreme court Justice … lied … in order to promote a religious agenda. SCOTUS has gone completely lawless.
- Not too long ago Sotomayor commented as follows: “Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the constitution and its reading are just political acts?” she said. “I don’t see how it is possible.”
- I’m now looking forward to Church of Satan aligned coaches praying on the 50yd line … not because they actually worship Satan, but simply to cause the heads of Christ-o-fascists to explode.
Laruen Witzke, who was the Delaware GOP’s U.S. Senate nominee in 2020, has a message for Jews: “We are a Christian nation, founded by Christians, and YES- we should legislate our faith on you. If you don’t like it, get out.”
- To all those folks within the Jewish community who vote GOP, you might wish to pay a bit of attention to what is gaining traction.
- Folks boarded the Mayflower to get away from shit like this.
- Fact Check: “Founded as a Christian Nation by Christians” … nope, no seriously, just no. … but hey, since when did facts ever matter to the folks who deeply embrace fiction as “truth”.
Angry about being unable to own a gun because she is on a FBI watch list, Laura Loomer advocates forming militias: “We have a 2nd Amendment right to resist tyrannical regimes, and I would say that we are currently living under a very tyrannical regime.”
- Her name appears on the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as not cleared to purchase a firearm. Not really a surprise – she has faced arrest multiple time … public disturbance after storming on stage during a theatre production of “Julius Caesar.” … jumping the fence to Nancy Pelosi’s California home … climbing the fence to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s home while wearing a sombrero, … even banned from CPAC, etc…
- If she really wants a gun, then she can apply to join the National Guard … a well organised militia
Nick Fuentes says “there should only be Christian countries” and wants to see Christian nationalism imposed on the entire world: “Why should other countries be allowed to be wrong? … You are gonna become a Christian.”
- Almost every single religious belief is sure that only their specific belief is the true one and that all other beliefs are false.
- They all get that last part right.
The False Profit$
Mark Taylor warns that the “deep state” is “training False Profits and Pastors”: “It’s a Spiritual Coup against the King as well as we the people! High level Psychics disguised as Godly Prophets!”
- Psychics and “Prophets” simply deploy cold and hot reading to con people. So the question in my mind is this – How do you fake stuff that is already fake?
- Meanwhile … number of times that self-appointed “prophet” Mark Taylor has ever actually successfully predicted anything is exactly zero. Being 100% wrong 100% of the time is a rather impressive feat. Even guessing will occasionally get you a few right guesses.
- Mark Taylor famously claimed that he predicted a Trump win in 2016, but the only evidence for this claim comes from close to the 2016 election, a time when it was rather obvious to many what was about to happen.
Roger Stone proudly proclaims that he “believes in the prophecies of Robin Bullock.”
- He thinks that endorsement helps Robin Bullock. Instead it actually tells us a great deal about Mr Stone himself.
- Personally I’m not really convinced that an endorsement by a disinformation manipulator of a well-known con artist and grifter will help raise the standing of either of them.
Shane Vaughn fumes that Cassidy Hutchinson is a lying witch: “You are a rebellious Jezebel with your little lezzie spirit.”
- She is revealing the dystopian hellscape mashup of 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, and The Handmaid’s Tale that Shane deeply desires to see, and Shane is a tad pissed about that.
- One thing is certain, if Shane is pissed about somebody, then you can be damn certain that they are doing something good.
Interesting Articles
- Ian Millhiser @ Vox: The Supreme Court hands the religious right a big victory by lying about the facts of a case.
- Igor Derysh @ Salon: “He could have killed me”: Skepticism after video shows “slap” that made Giuliani cry “assault.”
- Alvin McEwen @ Holy Bullies: Right-wing pundit has a vulgar meltdown after seeing Pride flag.
- David Badash @ The New Civil Rights Movement: Clarence Thomas Rants Against SPLC’s ‘Hate Group’ Designation of Anti-LGBTQ Christian Church.
- Joshua Zeitz @ Politico: The Supreme Court’s Faux ‘Originalism.’
- Ben Jacobs @ Vox: 7 shocking revelations from a real bad afternoon for Donald Trump.
- Alex Griffing @ Mediaite: Trump Lawyer Warned Against Marching to the Capitol: ‘We’re Going to Get Charged With Every Crime Imaginable.’
- Igor Bobic @ HuffPost: ‘I’m The F-ing President’: Trump Got Into Physical Altercation On Jan. 6.
- Alan Feuer and Adam Goldman @ The New York Times: Federal Agents Seized Phone of John Eastman, Key Figure in Jan. 6 Plan.
- Will Sommer @ The Daily Beast: MAGA Media Warned of Post-Roe ‘Night of Rage’ That Never Happened.
- Zachary Petrizzo @ The Daily Beast: Indicted Election Denier Tina Peters Loses Her Own Election—and Denies She Lost.
- Caroline Kitchener and Devlin Barrett @ The Washington Post: Antiabortion lawmakers want to block patients from crossing state lines.
- Noah Gray and Zachary Cohen @ CNN: Accounts of Trump angrily demanding to go to Capitol on January 6 circulated in Secret Service over past year.