The real kicker ( which actually made a whole lot of sense ) was in the very last line of this piece.

The 1/6 Committee Has Dropped The Hammer On Kevin McCarthy

The 1/6 Committee not only wants information from House Minority Leader McCarthy about his actions on and before 1/6. They also want to talk to him about what he did after the attack.
Read on »

The Air Force is done playing games with COVID and mandated that all Air service members, including Air Guard, must be fully vaccinated except for limited case-by-case exceptions. They just separated a bunch for refusing the vaccine. DH said he knew of a few who were close to retirement, and they would be giving up all their benefits if they didn't get the shots. So stupid. The other branches will probably be following suit over the next few months.

Just in: Air Force has released 87 Airmen for refusing vaccine

I mean, how hard is it to bite the bullet and get the vaccine to protect your pension benefits? Swallow your "patriotic" pride and get er done!

You have not lived a perfect day, even though you have earned your money, unless you have done somethingfor someone who will neverbe able to repay you.

Ruth Smeltzer

Seems like they may be close to nabbing Gaetz. That said, those who I would have thought would have now been ( thinking Mark Meadows ) are still playing the in sandbox. Hmmmm, what gives. Will that be McCarthy's fate as well. I believe it was said of McCarthy, since he is Minority Leader, that the committee needs to study some regulations and materials before possibly moving ahead. I say -- a piddly thing like that would not have stopped the Reps. were the shoe on the other foot.

Win some/lose some on the pandemic front today: SCOTUS struck down, 6-3, Biden's vax mandate on private employers w/>100 employees. But it upheld, 5-4, the mandate for workers at any healthcare facility that accepts Medicare or Medicaid. If it had to be a split decision, better this result than vice versa.

But Sinema is still drunk on her own power--deciding "bipartisanship" more important than voting rights, failing to acknowledge that Biden is asking for a carve-out from, not necessarily abolition of, the filibuster rule. Her egotism--believing history will reward her as the destroyer of polarization--knows no bounds. She's always been one to "throw a spanner into the works," whether as a Nader supporter in 2000 or a filibuster-defender now. Romney is disingenuous--his definition of "bipartisanship" is "you come over to our side, period." Murkowski has signaled that if the Dems unite on this, she might not object (she was a sponsor of one of the two voting rights bills).

And today brought the first charges of sedition stemming from the 1/6 insurrection--two leaders of the OathKeepers have been arrested. (Nobody can be charged with treason for this, as it doesn't directly involve a foreign adversary--at least not any of the participants accused of doing Russia's bidding or giving state secrets to another country. However, should there be a secession, the resulting breakaway entity would be considered an "enemy" of the U.S. for purposes of a charge of treason).

I really don't think this is actually the way it is. Many don['t want Trump, but still can't make the leap others have to be able to speak out where Trump is concerned. In the end, I'm not totally convinced that even the Loon will run when the time comes. As long as he doesn't say clearly what he is going to do, and as long as he continues to rant and rave about being cheated out of an election win that even most of the Reps. know he lost and lost rather largely, he causes upset among the Reps. Names for others to run have been proposed, but for now the Loon can still get money for himself if he isn't too candit. Strange how easy it is to grift the Trumplicans.

An oldie but goodie. Thanks again Ruth.

The 20 most outlandish lines from Donald Trump's NPR interview

Analysis by Chris Cillizza, CNN Editor-at-large

(CNN )Donald Trump is nothing if not unpredictable. On Tuesday, he did a phone interview with National Public Radio, which has to be one of the unlikeliest media-politician pairings in quite a while.

But, Trump was, as ever, Trump. After about 10 minutes on the call, Trump hung up on NPR's Steve Inskeep when the host repeatedly pressed Trump on his false contentions that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

I went through the transcript and plucked out the Trump lines you need to see. They're below.

(Sidebar: Why amplify -- or cover -- Trump's pronouncements? Simple. He is giving every indication that he wants to run again for president in 2024, and every poll on that race suggests he would be an overwhelming favorite for the nomination. If that were the case for any more "normal" politician, we would cover his or her every pronouncement. Simply because Trump is Trump doesn't mean we can -- or should -- ignore what he says. We need to cover it -- and, when necessary, which is always -- provide context and fact-checking.)

1. "Are we going live, Steve? Are we, uh."

2. "Well, first of all, the mandate is really hurting our country."

The question Inskeep asked: "What advice would you give to Americans who haven't chosen to get vaccinated?" So, er, yeah.

3. "And being very -- the proud person that did so well with therapeutics and, and vaccines and everything else and getting them done in record times, you know, I -- I have a lot to say on the subject."

I think Trump is trying to make the point that a) he is vaccinated and boosted and b) when he did get Covid-19, he benefited from therapeutics to treat it. But, like, word salad.

4. "If some people don't want, they shouldn't have to take them. They can't be mandated, as the expression goes. And I think that's very important."

Inskeep pressed Trump on what advice he would give to the unvaccinated. This is what the former President came up with. Also, there is no saying that goes "they can't be mandated."

5. "Personally, I feel very comfortable having taken them. I've had absolutely no reverberation."

Vaccines! Now with less reverberation!

6. "I don't know why they would be getting the vaccine for the most part, unless they were at a certain age group and they had certain problems, whether it's the high blood pressure, the diabetes and, you know, various things in particular.

Trump is talking about people who have already got the virus here -- and arguing, contra science, that they probably don't need to be vaccinated. Also, diabetes [Wilford Brimley voice].

7. "If you look at the numbers, if you look at the findings in Arizona, if you look at what's going on in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, by the way -- and take a look at Wisconsin -- they're finding things that nobody thought possible."

[narrator voice] They aren't. Heck, even the shady as heck "recount" of ballots in Arizona's Maricopa County showed that Biden would still have won.

8. "The number of ballots doesn't mean anything."

Uh...

9. "You look at the number of votes. Go into Detroit and just ask yourself, is it true that there are more votes than there are voters?"

I did ask myself this. Then I read this fact check and learned there were NOT more votes cast in Detroit than there were people. How did I unearth this revealing and critical fact? A secret weapon I call "a Google search." Check it out. Life-changing.

10. "You take a look at Detroit."

I literally just did that!

11. "Because Mitch McConnell is a loser."

The question? "Why is it that you think that the vast majority of your allies in the United States Senate are not standing behind you [on election fraud]?" Just a note here: McConnell has won seven races for Senate over an almost 40-year period. McConnell is also the longest-serving Republican leader in history. But, I digress...

12. "You take a look at what's going on now in Pennsylvania."

I did. And I don't think it proves the point Trump is trying to make.

13. "Take a look at what's going on in Wisconsin. You just take a look."

Again, I did. And I found that a conservative group's reexamination of the 2020 vote in Wisconsin found that "there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud."

14. "In fact, they say, and I can't testify because it's been through a lot of systems, a lot of different systems. But they say, and they say very strongly, the judges just -- nobody's really gotten a chance to look."

Uh, what?

15. "I said, wait a minute. I'm the president of the United States. They just rigged an election. Hundreds of thousands of votes in different states. They just rigged an election."

Whether or not you are president of the United States, this claim is false. There is simply zero evidence of widespread voter fraud -- at either the national or state level -- in the 2020 election.

16. "We got -- we got a number of votes that, I think you'll agree -- no sitting president has ever gotten the number of votes that I got."

This is true! It's also misleading. Because America's population continues to grow, it makes sense that Trump got more votes than the last incumbent president who oversaw a country with less people in it! Also, Trump got 74 million votes. The problem is that Joe Biden got 81 million.

17. "You think Biden got 80 million votes? Because I don't believe it."

Well, given all the evidence you've cited to prove....oh wait.

18. "How come Biden couldn't attract 20 people for a crowd? How come when he went to speak in different locations, nobody came to watch, but all of a sudden he got 80 million votes?"

Reminder: The 2020 election ended 435 days ago. And Trump is still talking about crowd size.

19. "People have no idea how big this issue is, and they don't want it to happen again."

OK, so "people" have no idea how big an issue election fraud is and they don't want it to happen again. That seems contradictory?

20. "So Steve, thank you very much. I appreciate it."

That's the last thing Trump said before he hung up on Inskeep. And so yeah this feels like a good place to end

The widow and six of the children of Robert F. Kennedy released a joint statement Thursday after California Governor Gavin Newsom rejected a recommendation from parole commissioners to release Sirhan Sirhan, Kennedy's assassin.

The following statement was issued by Ethel Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy II, Courtney Kennedy, Kerry Kennedy, Christopher Kennedy, Maxwell Kennedy, and Rory Kennedy.

We are grateful to California Governor Gavin Newsom, and deeply relieved by his decision today to deny parole to the killer of Robert F. Kennedy.

A little over fifty-three years ago, our family gathered for its first Christmas without our beloved husband and father. Six months earlier, one man killed him in plain view of his wife, friends, staff, journalists, and photographers. Eleven children were left without a father, their mother without her husband — and our nation deprived of a unique leader.

A visionary and champion of justice, Robert Kennedy fought for progress and hope. As U.S. Attorney General, as Senator, and as candidate for President, he worked tirelessly so that all Americans were both united and fully equal. He sent troops to integrate the University of Mississippi after a segregationist riot left two dead and hundreds injured. He campaigned for voting rights in all corners of the South. He stood up for marginalized students and children with disabilities. He traveled to South Africa to oppose apartheid. And he became a leading voice to end the war in Vietnam. In his final chapter, he ran for President on a platform of economic and racial justice, inspiring millions and earning the support of Americans of all regions, ages and backgrounds. He strove to heal the divisions threatening to tear this country apart.

All this was cut short by an enraged man with a small gun. Driven by maliciousness and resentment, the killer's violent act contradicted the values of openness, dialogue, and democratic change that Robert Kennedy embraced and that underlie our political system. Leading up to the murder, the killer wrote in his diary more than a thousand times that "RFK must die," "must be disposed of like his brother was," "must be assassinated." Embittered by the Arab-Israeli conflict, he admitted at trial that he acted deliberately on the anniversary of the Six-Day War, killing in reprisal for Kennedy's pledge to send military aid to Israel. The killer's deep-seated hatred extended beyond the assassination he consummated; he also wrote that others should be murdered, including Ambassador Arthur Goldberg and President Johnson.

Those facts carry weight today and forever. We are proud to continue Robert Kennedy's vision of a fair and compassionate criminal justice system, one with an ultimate goal of rehabilitation — but only for offenders capable of achieving it. Robert Kennedy was taught by his faith that every individual deserves mercy and compassion, including those who have committed horrible wrongs. He also knew that mercy and compassion may be granted by victims and by the state — dependent on the actions of the convicted. The offender must transform himself. And certainly for premeditated murder, time alone is not a measure of rehabilitation.

California's parole system reflects these same values. Parole is available for a reformed inmate, but not for a prisoner who "currently poses a threat to public safety." "Insight", a key factor in showing a defendant is no longer dangerous, is demonstrated by a defendant's acknowledgment of the gravity of his offense, acceptance of responsibility for his conduct and the resultant harm, and display of genuine remorse and reform.

This inmate has shown no such "insight". In contrast, despite overwhelming proof of his guilt, this inmate continues to deflect blame for his crime through 16 parole hearings. Incredibly, he insisted in his August 2021 hearing that his role in one of American history's most infamous crimes was unsettled. He could do no more than express purported regret "if I did in fact" kill Robert Kennedy, or "whether I did or whether I did not" shoot him. As one court of appeal has explained, an inmate's "inherently improbable" denial of the facts "reflects on the inmate's credibility," "indicates a refusal to admit the truth to himself and to others," and "establishes a nexus to current dangerousness because it indicates the inmate is hiding the truth and has not been rehabilitated sufficiently to be safe in society."

Further, the political passions that motivated this inmate's act still simmer today, and his refusal to admit the truth makes it impossible to conclude that he has overcome the evil that boiled over 53 years ago. After decades in prison for a horrific crime, it is difficult to imagine that he ever will. He remains a danger to public safety and must continue to be incarcerated for the protection of the community.

Because of how entwined into popular culture this murder has become, amplified by the regularity of the inmate's attempts to be freed, our family has been forced to watch our husband and father be killed thousands of times. The pain of reliving his last moments, over and over again, is simply unbearable. Instead of contrition, this inmate points to what he sees on the clock rather than to what he knows in his heart, believing somehow that the passage of time is expiation enough. It is not enough, and no time-served is long enough to justify paroling a man entirely lacking insight into his premeditated political assassination.

We are greatly appreciative of the Governor's consideration of the facts and his faithful application of the law. His decision represents the vindication of the rule of law over all who would betray it with hatred and violence. By reaffirming that freedom is dependent on responsibility, the Governor protects Californians and people around the world—and that is in the tradition, and faithful to the legacy, of Robert Kennedy. We are deeply grateful for this decision, aimed at ensuring that no family nor our nation will suffer the same heart-breaking, irredeemable loss.

I worry as well about how things will playout for '24. From time to time I do here some of the R's not really wanting Trump, but they have had fears of what he will say and do if they are too candid. A few have started being a bit more 'hones' but I do think it is not near enough. The ones that have come from states where they will likely easily win so they are not so worried. Truth is -- the people Trump puts up are so bad as well, that most of the time they do lose.

Anyway --- the piece I'm dropping in has an interesting take and one that resonates to me. Mainly as I see and hear things and wonder just where does it come from and is that why some people ( there is always concern though I think ) seem less disturbed about things I'd be setting my hair on fire about. These people look rather cool and calm while my insides are giving me heebie-jeebies.I do think things ( partly due to the media trying to score viewership ratings often shade ( do abit of editing ) a story and it sounds better or worse depending on how well it might generate people sure to tun in again.

George Conway Appears on Scarborough to Point Out Especially Damaging Unearthed Evidence

This morning, on Morning Joe, Conway had a lot to say about the stories we're hearing about those 187 minutes.
Read on »

or if your name is the highly stupid Rand Paul.

Here is a bit of good news: DirecTV announced Friday it plans to drop the right-wing media operation OAN (One American News Network) within months, delivering a huge setback to the network that's been a favorite of former President Donald Trump.

The satellite TV provider notified OAN's owner, Herring Networks Inc., that it will stop carrying the company's two channels — OAN and lifestyle channel AWE — when their contract expires in early April, according to Bloomberg, which was the first to report the decision.

The controversial OAN, based in San Diego, relies largely on DirectTV, one of the largest pay-TV providers in America, to deliver its channels to consumers. Without DirecTV, only Verizon FiOS and some small pay-TV providers will carry OAN's news, according to its website.

"We informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract when our current agreement expires," DirecTV said in a statement to Bloomberg.

The company, owned by AT&T and TPG, provided no reason. But critics have repeatedly demanded that the company drop OAN because of the false information it promotes, most notably the baseless claim that the 2020 president election was somehow rigged against Trump but also several conspiracy theories and dangerous misinformation about COVID-19.

From the Editor-in-chief of The Week - William Falk

"Three retired U.S. Generals warned this week that a disputed presidential election in 2024 could cause 'a total breakdown of the chain of command along partisan lines' - and actual civil war. If that sounds nuts, remember that two years ago, an insurrection and a pandemic were just as unimaginable. In the face of so many troubles and sorrows, what do we do? For perspective, I often think back to what my parent's generation faced, and how dark it must have felt as 1941 gave way to 1942. Then, as now, surrender was not an option. Curse the darkness. Fight. Persist. The light is coming. Eventually."

Edited for spelling