#Susan Collins (R-ME)

[simply-ivanka]

Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), John Cornyn (R-TX), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), John Thune (R-SD), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN)

VOTE THESE PIECES OF SHIT OUT OF CONGRESS.

#Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) #Bill Cassidy (R-LA) #Susan Collins (R-ME) #John Cornyn (R-TX) #Joni Ernst (R-IA) #Chuck Grassley (R-IA) #John Thune (R-SD) #Thom Tillis (R-NC) #Roger Wicker (R-MS) #and Todd Young (R-IN)

[stop-ugly]

I finally watched the ballad of songbirds and snakes and I don't like it sending the message that being hot is an excuse for any crime 😕

#the hunger games #susan collins #the hunger games ballad of songbirds and snakes #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus snow #lucy gray baird #do try to tell me it's not about it #it is in people minds #look at you being i love with a dictator #being dictator is not a romantic love story with a pretty broken boy #that's why people don't cancel popular hot men even if they are terrible #irl so many people r fans of REAL CRIMINALS just coz they r good looking #i feel like you would justify Putin if he'd be younger and handsome #that's not what story should be about #we should be disgust by them and scared and hate them

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Dennis Draughon, CBC

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 2, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 03, 2024

Almost six months have passed since President Joe Biden asked Congress to appropriate money for Ukraine in a national security supplemental bill. At first, House Republicans said they would not pass such a bill without border security. Then, when a bipartisan group of senators actually produced a border security provision for the national security bill, they killed it, under orders from former president Trump. 

In February the Senate passed the national security supplemental bill with aid for Ukraine without the border measures by a strong bipartisan vote of 70 to 29. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) cheered its passage, saying: “The national security bill passed by the Senate is of profound importance to America’s security.”

The measure would pass in the House by a bipartisan vote, but House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has refused to take it up, acting in concert with Trump. 

On March 24, on Washington Week, foreign affairs journalist Anne Applebaum said: “Trump has decided that he doesn’t want money to go to Ukraine… It's really an extraordinary moment; we have an out-of-power ex-president who is in effect dictating American foreign policy on behalf of a foreign dictator or with the interests of a foreign dictator in mind.” 

On Thursday, March 28, Beth Reinhard, Jon Swaine, and Aaron Schaffer of the Washington Post reported that Richard Grenell, an extremist who served as Trump’s acting director of national intelligence, has been traveling around the world to meet with far-right foreign leaders, “acting as a kind of shadow secretary of state, meeting with far-right leaders and movements, pledging Trump’s support and, at times, working against the current administration’s policies.”

Grenell, the authors say, is openly laying the groundwork for a president who will make common cause with authoritarian leaders and destroy partnerships with democratic allies. Trump has referred to Grenell as “my envoy,” and the Trump camp has suggested he is a frontrunner to become secretary of state if Trump is reelected in 2024. 

Applebaum was right: it is extraordinary that we have a former president who is now out of power running his own foreign policy. 

For most of U.S. history, there was an understanding that factionalism stopped at the water’s edge. Partisans might fight tooth and nail within the U.S., but they presented a united front to the rest of the world. That understanding was strong enough that it was not for nearly a half century that we had definitive proof that in 1968 Republican presidential candidate Richard Nixon had launched a secret effort to thwart incumbent president Lyndon Baines Johnson’s peace initiative to end the Vietnam War; Nixon had tried very hard to hide it. 

But the era of hiding attempts to undermine foreign policy ended in 2015, when 47 Republican senators openly warned Iranian officials that they would destroy any agreement Iran made with then-president Barack Obama, a Democrat, over nuclear weapons as soon as a Republican regained the White House. At the time it sparked a firestorm, although the senators involved could argue that they, too, should be considered the voice of the government.

It was apparently a short step from the idea that it was acceptable to undermine foreign policy decisions made by a Democratic president to the idea that it was acceptable to work with foreign operatives to change foreign policy. In late 2016, Trump’s then national security advisor Michael Flynn talked to Russian foreign minister Sergey Kislyak about relieving Russia of U.S. sanctions. Now, eight years later, Trump is conducting his own foreign policy, and it runs dead against what the administration, the Pentagon, and a majority of senators and representatives think is best for the nation.  

Likely expecting help from foreign countries, Trump is weakening the nation internationally to gain power at home. In that, he is retracing the steps of George Logan, who in 1798 as a private citizen set off for France to urge French officials to court popular American opinion in order to help throw George Washington’s party out of power and put Thomas Jefferson’s party in. 

Congress recognized that inviting foreign countries to interfere on behalf of one candidate or another would turn the United States into a vassal state, and when Logan arrived back on U.S. shores, he discovered that Congress had passed a 1799 law we now know as the Logan Act, making his actions a crime. 

The law reads: “Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”

Trump’s interference in our foreign policy is weakening Ukraine, which desperately needs equipment to fight off Russia’s invasion. It is also warning partners and allies that they cannot rely on the United States, thus serving Russian president Vladimir Putin’s goal of fracturing the alliance standing against Russian aggression.  

Today, Lara Seligman, Stuart Lau, and Paul McLeary of Politico reported that officials at the meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday are expected to discuss moving the Ukraine Defense Contact Group from U.S. to NATO control. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group is an organization of 56 nations brought together in the early days of the conflict by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and then–Joint Chiefs chair General Mark Milley to coordinate supplying Ukraine. 

Members are concerned about maintaining aid to Ukraine in case of a second Trump presidency. 

Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon and NATO official, told the Politico reporters: “There’s a feeling among, not the whole group but a part of the NATO group, that thinks it is better to institutionalize the process just in case of a Trump re-election. And that’s something that the U.S. is going to have to get used to hearing, because that is a fear, and a legitimate one.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richarson #NATO #foreign policy #history #MAGA Republican #authoritarianism #war in Ukraine #Putin #Russian aggression #trump interference in foreign policy #trump undermining us foreign policy #Logan Act

[1americanconservative]

These 28 GOP Senators voted for continued funding to Ukraine, even though we are $33 Trillion in debt, and face a Gov shutdown. Some real shockers in this group!

1. John Barrasso (WY)

2. John Boozman (AR)

3. Shelly Capito (WV)

4. Bill Cassidy (LA)

5. Susan Collins (ME)

6. John Cornyn (TX)

7. Tom Cotton (AR)

8. Kevin Cramer (ND)

9. Mike Crapo (ID)

10. Joni Ernst (IA)

11. Lindsey Graham (SC)

12. Chuck Grassley (IA)

13. John Hoeven (ND)

14. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R)

15. John Kennedy (LA)

16. James Lankford (OK)

17. Mitch McConnell (KY)

18. Jerry Moran (KS)

19. Markwayne Mullin (OK)

20. Lisa Murkowski (AK)

21. Mitt Romney (UT)

22. Mike Rounds (SD)

23. Marco Rubio (FL)

24. Dan Sullivan (AK)

25. John Thune (SD)

26. Thom Tillis (NC)

27. Roger Wicker (MS)

28. Todd Young (IN)

[posttexasstressdisorder]

As United States Postal Service letter carriers face increasing violence and assaults on the job, the police officers who could protect them have been sidelined by the government, a new Raw Story investigation revealed.

With letter carrier robberies skyrocketing by 543 percent between 2019 and 2022, the issue has spurred a bipartisan group of Congress members to introduce legislation aimed at providing more secure mailbox equipment and better protecting letter carriers.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), who introduced the Protect our Letter Carriers Act last week, said Raw Story's investigation should urge Congress to turn the bill into law.

“The concerns highlighted in this story only increase the urgency needed in Congress to pass the bipartisan Protect our Letter Carriers Act," Fitzpatrick said in a statement to Raw Story. "The United States Postal Service must have the resources to update its outdated arrow keys and harden mailboxes. We must also increase the prosecution and lengthen sentences of individuals arrested for assaulting and robbing letter carriers. I will do whatever is necessary to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass this crucial piece of legislation.”

A 2020 statute reinterpretation by the Postal Service curtailed uniformed postal police officers' ability to patrol the streets where mail crimes typically occur, restricting them to working on postal property such as post offices and distribution centers. Meanwhile, the number of postal police officers overall has shrunk from a high of more than 2,600 in the 1970s to about 450 officers today.

In a phone interview with Raw Story, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) said mail theft is "rampant" in her district and is an issue she's heard about across the country from her colleagues. Postal police officers aren't currently "doing any good being confined to postal property," Norton said.

"The spike in mail crime only reinforces my notion that we need to have postal police go wherever the crime is," Norton said.

If postal police officers began patrolling the streets again, there would be "a better chance of restricting crimes for the Postal Service," said Norton, who is a co-sponsor of the House version of the Postal Police Reform Act alongside Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), Ken Calvert (R-CA) and Bill Pascrell (D-NJ).

Calvert himself lost nearly $10,000 in campaign cash last year because of mail theft, Raw Story first reported.

"I think the bill has a good chance of passing not only because of what we're experiencing in the district but because this issue is nationwide," Norton said.

There's a Senate version of the Postal Police Reform Act, as well, introduced by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Susan Collins (R-ME), along with 10 other co-sponsors, including Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).

“Postal carriers routinely deliver lifelines to Marylanders and others across the country. They should not be left vulnerable to dangerous situations that leave them and mail recipients in potential danger – from theft and the lost items," Cardin told Raw Story in a statement. "This is a growing problem that Congress should address, preferably in partnership with the USPS.”

Read Raw Story's full investigation: Letter carriers face bullets and beatings while postal service sidelines police

[cyarskj1899]

Darnella Frazier Focuses on Healing After George Floyd's Death, Porsha Williams Shares Wedding Plans, and Vivica Fox Says Being 'Breadwinner' Contributed to Divorce

Porsha Williams gears up for a three-part wedding, Vivica Fox sheds light on what ended her brief marriage, Darnella Frazier reflects on the death of George Floyd, and more in The Daily Rundown.

Darnella Frazier Still 'Trying To Heal' In Wake Of George Floyd's Death

In a reflective post shared on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder, Darnella Frazier, the teen who filmed his fatal arrest, said that her life has been changed forever. “It’s a little easier now, but I’m not who I used to be. A part of my childhood was taken from me," Frazier wrote in a Facebook post. "Having to up and leave because my home was no longer safe, waking up to reporters at my door, closing my eyes at night only to see a man who is brown like me, lifeless on the ground.” While many have dubbed her a hero for capturing the video, which played a key role in the conviction of Derek Chauvin, Frazier says that “behind the publicity, I’m a girl trying to heal from something I am reminded of every day.”

Kristen Clarke Confirmed As First Black Woman To Lead DOJ Civil Rights Division

Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Kristen Clarke making her the first Black woman to lead the Justice Department as the civil rights chief, USA Today reports. Clarke was confirmed in a 51-48 vote, with just one Republican, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voting in favor of her confirmation. 

Porsha Williams Shares Elaborate Wedding Plans

Porsha Williams intends to go all out for her upcoming wedding. In fact, the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star shared during a recent episode of Dish Nationthat she intends to have three weddings. One ceremony will be a traditional American wedding, one will be a native law and custom ceremony in Nigeria, and the other will take place at a home that her fiancé, Simon Guobadia, owns outside of the country. Williams announced her engagement to Guobadia earlier this month.

Vivica Fox Says Money Issues Contributed To Her Divorce

Actress Vivica A. Fox says that her short-lived marriage to Christopher Harvest ended in 2002 because she did not wish to be the "breadwinner" in the relationship. “He didn’t go out and then pursue things with the same drive that I had for my career,” Fox said in an interview with Vlad TV. “You know, a woman doesn’t like paying all the bills all the time. I can only ask for help so many times before I had to come to the conclusion that I didn’t want to be the breadwinner in this family. My mother didn’t raise me to take care of a man. And that was the deciding factor.”

Roxane Gay Launches Publishing Imprint

Roxane Gay wears many hats and the best-selling author, professor, and editor is about to add another title to her resume—publisher. According to the New York Times, the social commentator recently announced the launch of her new book imprint, Roxane Gay Books, through which she will release three titles per year. The imprint, which will focus on underrepresented voices, is in partnership with Grove Atlantic and will publish titles from other authors in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, and memoirs.

Sights, Sounds and Style at Afrochella 2022

Sent from my iPhone

[unitedstatessenate]

The New York Times

United States Senate Grills TikTok CEO and Former Under-Secretary of Defense on National Data Security

Earlier this afternoon, the Senate spent gruelling hours questioning TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew on the safety of American users’ data, and its affiliation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Bytedance. Senators were seen to lose order in the Congressional Hearing Room on live television, as Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) centred his questions around Mr Shou’s employment as CEO and its links to Chinese-owned company Bytedance.

Despite having already held a Senate Hearing months ago where many security concerns surrounding TikTok were already addressed, many Senators hit Mr Shou with questions similar to ones already previously answered. Mr Shou was seen to be mildly exasperated as he consistently reiterated how TikTok is a purely American company independent of Bytedance. Focusing on American-based companies like Oracle, Mr Shou maintained a strong stance on the lack of connections and data made available to the Chinese government. However, Senators appeared to lack focus on measures like Project Texas and its progress and instead on personal affiliations, with Maria Cantwell (D-WA) calling Mr Shou a “Bytedance puppet”.

Meanwhile, to Michelle Flournoy, former Under-Secretary of Defense on National Data Security and Founder for the Center for a New American Security, Senators sought advice on improvements to the RESTRICT Act, including the types of restrictions and her thoughts on blanket policies, amongst others. Many Senators, particularly Republicans, affirmed their appreciation towards Ms Flournoy’s contributions towards national security and acknowledged her role in assisting the Senate with the current debates surrounding the RESTRICT Act.

In addition, Ms Flournoy raised a Right to Reply against Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) for “misrepresenting (her) as an idiot, through the manipulation and twisting of my words”, after the Senator suggested that the witnesses had little understanding of the issues. 

Following this major hearing, we have launched a public survey to gauge voter confidence. Due to the content covered, there was a general decrease in voter confidence. In particular, youths have expressed great disapproval for the Senators, claiming that they are “not caught up with the modern day”. 

However, we have also noted the following trends; Senator Bluementhal has received greater approval ratings from liberal voters. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) loses confidence from liberals. Senator Susan Collins  (R-ME) received greater approval ratings from conservatives. Ben Shapiro personally commented on this, stating that the liberals have “gotten Rekt”.

[fictionadventurer]

Hello! I was just wondering what your favorite books are. I noticed that you seem to post about books I really like but no one around me has ever read (like The Blue Castle), so I was just curious if we had other book favorites in common!

Sincerely,

Sirius:)

I don't know if I can narrow it down to a top 20 or anything, but I can provide a list of a few of my favorite authors and the books of their I most love. My taste isn't terribly obscure--most of the more obscure books were recommended to me by people here on tumblr--so it's likely we share several favorites.

Jane Austen: Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, The Watsons, Emma, Lady Susan, Sense and Sensibility (Bonus: Sanditon, completed by Marie Dobbs)

Wendell Berry: Bringing It to the Table: Writings on Farming and Food

G.K. Chesterton: Orthodoxy, Manalive, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, Tremendous Trifles, The Innocence of Father Brown, The Wisdom of Father Brown

Nina Clare: Beau Brown

Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay

Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White

Allie Condie: Matched

Kenley Davidson: Goldheart, The Countess and the Frog

Charles Dickens: A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations

Heather Dixon: Entwined

Regina Doman: The Shadow of the Bear, Black as Night, Waking Rose, The Midnight Dancers, Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyberthieves, Rapunzel Let Down

Tim Downs: Shoofly Pie, Less Than Dead

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Amanda Dykes: Yours is the Night

Elizabeth Gaskell: Wives and Daughters, North and South, Cranford, My Lady Ludlow

Jean Craighead George: The Tarantula in My Purse

Rumer Godden: The Kitchen Madonna

Elizabeth Goudge: Pilgrim's Inn/The Herb of Grace

Ben Hatke: Zita the Spacegirl

Georgette Heyer: A Civil Contract, The Grand Sophy, The Talisman Ring

Caryll Houselander: The Reed of God

Gail Carson Levine: Ella Enchanted

C.S. Lewis: The Chronicles of Narnia, but especially The Silver Chair and The Magician's Nephew; A Grief Observed, Surprised by Joy, The Problem of Pain

Therese of Lisieux: Story of a Soul

George Macdonald: The Light Princess

Emily B. Martin: Woodwalker

Robert K. Massie: Nicholas and Alexandra

C.J. Milbrandt: Meadowsweet, Harrow and Rakefang

L.M. Montgomery: The Anne of Green Gables series, especially Anne of Green Gables, Anne of the Island, Anne of Windy Poplars, Anne's House of Dreams, and Rilla of Ingleside; The Blue Castle; Jane of Lantern Hill

Pope Pius VI: "Humanae Vitae"

Mollie E. Reeder: The Electrical Menagerie

Kate Stradling: Brine and Bone

Dorothy L. Sayers: The Lord Peter Wimsey Mysteries, but especially The Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night, and Murder Must Advertise; The Man Born to Be King, The Mind of the Maker, Creed or Chaos?

Noel Streatfeild: Skating Shoes, Traveling Shoes, Ballet Shoes

Emily Stimpson: These Beautiful Bones, The Catholic Table

Matthew Stover: Novelization of The Revenge of the Sith

Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time

Meriol Trevor: The Crystal Snowstorm, Following the Phoenix, Angel and Dragon

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Letters from Father Christmas

John R. Tunis: The Kid from Tomkinsville, The Kid Comes Back

Megan Whalen Turner: The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings

Jules Verne: Around the World in 80 Days

Maisie Ward: Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Little House on the Prairie series

P.G. Wodehouse: The Psmith series: Mike and Psmith, Psmith in the City, Psmith Journalist and Leave It to Psmith

#answered asks #books #siriusfan13 #naturally some of these are more 'favorite' than 'good' #and some i haven't read in a long while #but this is most of the ones that were important to me and that i think have held up #throw on the american girl books too cuz i think they hold up but i'm too lazy to look up authors #and mr. popper's penguins which was a staple of my childhood #i would have put it on there but it would have started the list which felt wrong

[infinitemonkeytheory]

On Thursday, Congress sent The Respect for Marriage Act to President Joe Biden's desk. It enshrines protections for same-sex and interracial marriage.

[…]

The legislation protects the right to same-sex and interracial marriage by requiring states to recognize legal marriages regardless of “sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin.”

It passed Congress with a 258-169 vote, according to the AP. Thirty-nine Republicans, including Susan Collins (R-ME) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), voted alongside Democrats to pass the bill.

The bill is a major relief for the hundreds of thousands of same-sex couples who’ve been married since the 2015 Obergefell decision. Concerns over whether the Supreme Court could overturn the right-to-marriage decision have been rampant since the court reversed Roe v. Wade.

#marriage equality #good news

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Christopher Weyant :: @ChristophWeyant

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 22, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

MAR 23, 2024

As expected, Trump’s team has reorganized the Republican National Committee’s donation system, arranging for maximum donations to go first to Trump’s presidential campaign, then to Trump’s Save America political action committee, and finally to the RNC to elect down ballot candidates. The Save America PAC pays Trump’s legal bills. So far in 2024 it has spent $8.5 million on them. In essence, this new flow means Trump is using the RNC to raise money that is then diverted to him. 

This morning, conservative lawyer George Conway suggested that “we should stop defiling the memory of the party of Lincoln by referring to the current organization” as the Republican Party.

Midnight tonight was the deadline for the continuing resolution that was funding much of the government, and the House finally passed the necessary appropriations bills this morning, just hours before the deadline, by a vote of 286–134. Democrats put the bill over the top, adding 185 yea votes to the 101 Republicans voting in favor of the bill. In a blow to House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), 112 Republicans joined 22 Democrats to vote against the measure.. 

As soon as the bill passed, Johnson recessed the House until April 9.

Because the deadline to prevent a government shutdown was so tight, the Senate needed to take the House measure up immediately. But Senate rules mean that such a quick turnaround needs unanimous consent, and right-wing senators refused to give it. 

Instead, Republican senators Ted Budd (NC), Mike Lee (UT), Ted Cruz (TX), and Rand Paul (KY) demanded votes on extremist amendments to try to jam Democrats into a bind before the upcoming election. If the amendments passed, the government would shut down for the purely mechanical reason that the House can’t consider any amendments until it gets back to work in April. So the Democrats would certainly vote against any amendments to keep the government open. But this would mean they were on record with unpopular votes in an election year. 

The demand for amendments was partisan posturing, but the delay was particularly nasty: Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), who was a key negotiator of the bill, needed to get back to Maine for her mother’s funeral. 

In the House, the passage of the appropriations bill and the recess prompted significant changes. Representative Kay Granger (R-TX) announced she is stepping down from chairing the Appropriations Committee. 

Another Republican representative, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, announced he will leave Congress early, stepping down on April 19. Gallagher is chair of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and has voiced frustration with the current state of his party. His absence will shave the Republican House majority to just one vote, and the timing of his departure means he will not be replaced this session. Wisconsin law leaves any vacancy after the second Tuesday in April until the general election.

Representative Ken Buck (R-CO) announced last week that he, too, was leaving Congress early, complaining that “[t]his place has just evolved into…bickering and nonsense.” Today was his last day in the House. Before he left, he became the first Republican to sign on to the discharge petitions that would bring Ukraine aid to the floor even without House speaker Johnson’s support.

Despite the frustration of their colleagues, extremist Republicans are not backing down. After the appropriations measure passed, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) told reporters she has filed a motion to vacate the chair to punish Johnson for permitting the bill to pass without more extremist demands. Her threat will hang over the two-week break, but it is not clear what the House will do with her motion; they might simply bottle it up in committee. 

Greene might not push a vote on the speaker right now in part because of pressure from her colleagues to cut it out. They understand that the extraordinary dysfunction of the House under Republicans’ control is hurting them before the 2024 election, and another speaker fight would only add to the chaos. There is also the reality that with such a small majority, Johnson would have to rely on Democrats to save his speakership if it were challenged, and a number of them have suggested they would vote to keep him in the chair if he would agree to bring a vote on aid for Ukraine to the floor. 

Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told CNN that he would “make common cause with anybody who will stand up for the people of Ukraine, anybody who will get desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and anybody who will work for a two state solution. I’m up for conversations with anybody.” 

The cost of Johnson’s withholding of assistance for Ukraine is mounting. Last night, Russia launched the largest barrages of missiles and drones since its war began at Ukraine’s power grid, leaving more than a million people without power and degrading Ukraine’s energy sector. The Institute for the Study of War assessed today that “continued delays in Western security assistance…are reportedly expected to significantly constrain Ukraine‘s air defense umbrella,” leaving Ukrainian forces unable to defend against missile attacks. Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky once again begged for aid, saying: “Russian missiles do not suffer delays in the way aid packages to our country do. Shahed drones are not affected by indecision like some politicians are.”

Ukraine has been using drones to attack Russia’s oil refineries, but Russia had a new problem today as a deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall claimed at least 60 lives. The Islamic State's Afghan branch, known as ISIS-K, which advocates for civilian mass-casualty events to weaken governments, claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Letters From An American

Heather Cox Richardson

#Letters From An American #Heather Cox Richardson #aid to Ukraine #dysfunctional Congress #broken House of Representatives #stand up for Ukraine #broken Republican Party #dysfunctional RNC #TFG's piggy bank #election 2024

[cultml]

[nodynasty4us]

#susan collins #reproductive rights #aggressive water soluble writing

[unitedstatessenate]

The Daily Wire - Your Morning Coffee

The United States Senate held a rather controversial, but largely successful Senate Hearing session this morning regarding the SAFE TECH Act. Senators were seen split directly between party lines, with the Republican-registered witness Bradley A. Smith simultaneously grilled by the Democrats on his reliability as a witness and showing his ardent support for Republican senators during the hearing.

Mr. Smith passionately riled the Republican senators as he questioned them on their beliefs and opinions on the freedom of speech and First Amendment. The Republicans were seen to react strongly to this, particularly with Susan Collins (R-ME) displaying large hand and body gestures such as thumbs-up. The lines of questioning in which the Republicans brought to the witnesses did, however, satisfy their voters significantly  

As of now, exactly 40% of our respondents have identified themselves with the Republicans, 40% with the Democrats and 10% have chosen neither. In Senator Sullivan’s recent political rally, he has noticed significant support in his speech. Senator Heinrich, following the rough interview before, has opted to go on a nation-wide tour to increase his popularity. #ILOVEMANCHIN has gone viral on X for the past few days, with over 700,000 posts made using the tag. 

In the recent Democrat’s Party Rally, Senator Hickenlooper was, interestingly, not present at the event. Senator Baldwin has made a speech in commemoration of the lasting Democrat victory in the Senate, and voters have expressed confidence that the Democrats are set to win the next election. The Republican Party Rally has been delayed due to unexplained reasons.

President Joe Biden has personally commended the efficiency of the United States Senate in his recent press conference, citing this as “evidence towards the unrelenting force of the United States, and the unwavering spirit of the American people”. While he made attempts to further commend the individual Senators, he trailed off in a series of “umms” and “ahhs”, before hurriedly heading off. 

[pashterlengkap]

Late night hosts eviscerate Speaker Mike Johnson: Our long national nightmare is finally different

After weeks of Republican infighting that left Congress paralyzed, the anti-LGBTQ+, election-denying Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was voted Speaker of the House on Wednesday, and late night hosts wasted no time in reading the virulently anti-LGBTQ+ lawmaker for filth. “Our long national nightmare is finally different,” Stephen Colbert said on Wednesday night’s episode of The Late Show. Related: Speaker Mike Johnson wanted to criminalize sodomy & called gay marriage the “harbinger of chaos” He also said that gay people should not be a protected class because they “are capable of changing their abnormal lifestyles.” “Johnson was just elected this afternoon, getting votes from all 220 Republicans. Finally, a man who appeals to all factions of the Republican Party: the MAGA faithful, the social conservatives, the white nationalists, and the horny Beetlejuice goblins,” he joked, flashing a photo of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). Get the Daily Brief The news you care about, reported on by the people who care about you: Subscribe to our Newsletter After joking about how few people seem to have ever heard of Johnson, Colbert advised not to let the new Speaker’s “apparent blandness fool you,” noting that Johnson played a leading role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Colbert also quoted a newspaper editorial in which Johnson called homosexuality an “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle” that could destroy “the entire democratic system.” “‘And destroying the entire democratic system is my job!’” Colbert joked, imitating Johnson. “‘Did you know the 2020 election was rigged by gender fluid space lasers?’” “He checks off all the important boxes,” Jimmy Kimmel said of Johnson on his ABC show. “He’s anti-gay, anti-choice, pro-conspiracy theory. He seems terrific.” The host took shots at Johnson’s generic-sounding name: “You could go to the middle of the phone book and pick any of the hundreds of Mike Johnsons — each one would be a better choice for speaker, because not one of them tried to overthrow the presidential election in the House he now represents,” he said. “Instead Republicans swiped way right on this Mike Johnson who looks like a kid dressed up as a congressman for Halloween.” “I think they’re trying to bore everyone into forgetting how extreme he is,” Seth Meyers said of Johnson on Late Night. Meyers went on to rib the new speaker for being so obscure that even other Republican lawmakers didn’t know who he was. Noting that Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told a reporter that she would have to google him, Meyers joked, “Mike Johnson is such a common name, most of us went to school with one. My Mike Johnson played baseball. This Mike Johnson played a key role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election results.” On The Daily Show, guest host Desus Nice also ribbed Johnson for being a relative unknown. “Now, if you don’t know Mike Johnson, don’t worry. Nobody else does,” Nice joked. “But what we do know is that he wants nationwide limits on abortion, he wants to criminalize gay sex, and he even wants to ban reggaeton. All right, I’m lying on the last one, but that seems like his vibe, cause he comes off as a d**k.” “Let’s just say if speaker nominees were Star Wars characters, he’s their Jar Jar,” Jimmy Fallon joked on The Tonight Show. “That’s right, the new speaker of the House is Mike Johnson, and if that name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s on every fake ID.” Fallon said he’d read that Johnson is the most inexperienced speaker in modern history and that his resume is “lacking.” “George Santos is like, ‘I can help you out with that… Just say that you were president, yeah.’” the host joked. Nice, Kimmel, and Meyers also had a field day with North Carolina congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R), who yelled at a reporter to “shut up” when she asked about Johnson’s role in trying to overturn the 2020 election at a press conference Wednesday. “All right, someone… http://dlvr.it/Sy0Vhl