Mike's Blog Round Up

In March 2024, Tulsi Gabbard, the former Democratic congresswoman and failed presidential candidate whom Donald Trump has tapped to be director of national intelligence, created a political action committee called Defend Freedom, Inc. The group posted a bare-bones website featuring photos of Gabbard and declared it “was organized to elect patriots who will fight to defend America’s Peace, Security, Prosperity, and Freedom.” It asked for donations of up to $5,000 to “make an impact across America.” Tens of thousands of people contributed to Gabbard’s PAC.

Advisers to Bob Kennedy reached out to the HHS Department several times after El Cheato selected him to lead the agency, hoping to jumpstart coordination before his takeover in late January. They were rebuffed. Guess why? Via Politico: Kennedy’s inability to communicate with the agency he may soon manage, confirmed by an administration official with knowledge of the episodes granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations, is just one consequence of the president-elect’s continued foot-dragging on signing the standard trio of ethics and transparency agreements with the federal government — something his team pledged to do shortly after the election. The Trump transition’s unprecedented delay in signing the agreements has so far prevented the incoming administration from having any formal contact with federal agencies, including sending in groups of policy advisers known as “landing teams.” It also means they can’t access cybersecurity support or secure email servers for transition-related work, or request FBI background checks for their nominees. Both the Trump transition and the White House confirmed to POLITICO that negotiations on the agreements are still underway.

Sorry Reince, but Trump doesn't deserve any "peace" over these dangerous and unqualified picks. During a panel discussion on ABC's This Week, former RNC Chair Reince Priebus insisted that we're going to eventually see all of Trump's cabinet nominations properly vetted, despite all evidence to the contrary, before whining that the mean old Democrats should leave poor Trump alone while "the process plays out." Rep.

Pharyngula: WTF, NPR? Strangely Blogged: Kakistocracy – government by the worst people. Resilient Again: Real talk on immigration. Perrspectives: The economy is much stronger than Reagan’s "Morning in America." That didn’t help Democrats. Jen Sorensen: It did happen here. This installment by Batocchio. E-mail tips to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com. read more

Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall revealed she had worked with former host Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, and she believes that he is a rapist. In a Fox News segment on Sunday, host Howard Kurtz noted that Hegseth was accused of rape in 2017 by a woman who went to the police, "and a rape kit confirmed the sexual encounter." "I dreaded talking about this today," Marshall admitted.

If anthropogenic climate change is occurring, why should we assume it wouldn’t be beneficial?