In home isolation just months after his release from jail, Brazil’s former leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that President Jair Bolsonaro needs to change his dismissive approach to the new coronavirus or risk being forced from office before the end of his term in December 2022. The former president known as Lula said in an interview with The Associated Press that Bolsonaro’s defiance of calls for social distancing hamper the efforts of governors and mayors to contain the virus. Da Silva, who governed between 2003 and 2010 at time when Brazil's economy was strong, acknowledged that Bolsonaro is unlikely to heed growing opposition calls to step down and that there are not enough votes in congress for impeachment.
Not satisfied by being beaten and humiliated on impeachment, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) wants another trip to the woodshed. This time over a minor presidential appointment. Last time it was over one phone call.
President Trump recently fired Intel Inspector General Michael Atkinson. Atkinson was the man who gave the absurd green light to the phone call informer that led to the impeachment hoax. Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell did the firing.
This was Schiff’s response to the firing of his buddy, “The (House Intel) Committee is reviewing the circumstances of Mr. Atkinson’s dismissal, including whether his termination was intended to curb any ongoing investigations or reviews being undertaken by his office… Trump’s dead of night decision to fire ICIG Michael Atkinson is another blatant attempt to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing,” he tweeted. “It puts our country and national security at even greater risk.”
He sent a letter to Grenell on the issue: “President Trump did not nominate you for confirmation as permanent DNI, and it would be inappropriate for you to pursue any additional leadership, organizational, or staffing changes to ODNI during your temporary tenure. Any effort, moreover, to remove or otherwise initiate personnel actions against apolitical career officers based on their perceived loyalty to the President would contravene civil service protections.”
Schiff’s letter said Grenell was “pursuing organizational and personnel changes without consulting and seeking authorization from Congress and in a manner that undermines critical intelligence functions.” Schiff is blatantly trying to decide executive branch personnel decisions. He also wants no one in the way of his upcoming committee investigation, yet again, of the president.
Though that was a letter to Grenell, Schiff leaked it first. Grenell called him on it, “His letter was sent to the press before it was sent to me. These press leaks politicizing the intelligence community must stop.” But they won’t.
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on April 8, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
Linda Tripp, whose phone recordings of conversations with Monica Lewinsky snowballed into the impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton, had died. She was 70.
Her daughter said she was on her deathbed earlier this week, the New York Post reported.
Ms. Lewinsky, the former White House intern whose sexual affair ...
Rep. Dan Crenshaw fired off a brutal response after Hillary Clinton posted yet another attack on President Trump and his coronavirus response.
The former First Lady shared a Washington Post story and quote with her social media followers which falsely alleges the President took over two months to treat the pandemic seriously.
“Replace this man in November,” she added.
Crenshaw Fires Back
Crenshaw responded to the bitter two-time failed presidential candidate as he often does – using facts to thoroughly embarrass those trying to score cheap political points.
“Denial?” Crenshaw (R-TX) shot back. “From the man who restricted travel in January [and] saved lives, while your party celebrated his impeachment?”
Indeed, the administration’s CDC reported the first case of coronavirus in the United States on January 15th.
That same day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was signing articles of impeachment over to the Senate and handing out commemorative pens to fellow Democrats in celebration.
Denial? From the man who restricted travel in January & saved lives, while your party celebrated his impeachment?
You may be confusing him with the Washington Post, telling America to get a grip, that COVID19 wasn’t scary, & that we should be wary of an aggressive govt response. https://t.co/kVzeUFBckNpic.twitter.com/T7p0y1v2aq
Not only did he eviscerate Hillary, but Crenshaw took down the Washington Post for running an article suggesting the President’s lack of response cost people their lives.
“You may be confusing him with the Washington Post, telling America to get a grip. That COVID-19 wasn’t scary, [and] that we should be wary of an aggressive [government] response,” he added.
Bolstering his argument, the Republican lawmaker provided screenshots of past columns from the Post.
“Get a grippe, America,” reads one headline published days after Trump had already implemented travel restrictions from China. “The flu is a much bigger threat than coronavirus, for now.”
“Why we should be wary of an aggressive government response to coronavirus,” another conveys days later.
Now, the liberal rag and a petulant Clinton want you to think it was the President who didn’t take things seriously.
The CDC reported the first case of coronavirus in the US on January 15.
Crenshaw has previously made a fool of Hillary for being unable to get Trump out of her head, taking shots at him during a time of crisis.
“He did promise ‘America First,'” Clinton wrote in a classless joke on the day media outlets were ignoring China’s false reporting and declaring America to be the number one nation in coronavirus cases.
“Delete your account,” replied Crenshaw. “This isn’t the time. This can’t be the new normal, where American tragedy is applauded for the sake of political opportunism.”
Delete your account. This isn’t the time. This can’t be the new normal, where American tragedy is applauded for the sake of political opportunism. https://t.co/7aYatlS8jV
There’s what goes on in Hillary’s head, and then there’s reality.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has repeatedly credited President Trump with saving countless lives through swift action.
Dr. Ronny Jackson, former lead White House doctor appointed by Barack Obama, has made similar arguments.
The President’s actions, he surmised, would “save countless American lives.”
Seems the only people in denial right now are the Democrats.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) is preparing a bipartisan letter to send to President Trump over the Friday-night firing of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson.Grassley, a Trump ally who has an ongoing probe into the Department of Defense’s role in supporting Stefan Halper, who spied on the 2016 Trump campaign, has released several statements in the wake of Atkinson’s firing that have suggested he is unsatisfied with the administration’s logic behind the move.“Congress has been crystal clear that written reasons must be given when IGs are removed for a lack of confidence. More details are needed from the administration,” he said in a statement released Saturday, before releasing another Tuesday which said that “the White House should empower inspectors general so they’re able to do their job.”Trump, who also fired DoD watchdog Glenn Fine on Monday, said on Saturday that he fired Atkinson because “I thought he did a terrible job.” But reports have circulated for several months that Trump has wanted to fire Atkinson since he filed the whistleblower complaint that dealt with Trump's conduct on a call with the Ukrainian president and touched off the president’s impeachment.“He took this terrible, inaccurate whistleblower report and he brought it to Congress . . . they give this whistleblower a status that he doesn’t deserve. He’s a fake whistleblower” Trump added Saturday.Grassley was instrumental in crafting the nation’s whistleblower protection statutes, and defended the whistleblower’s right to “confidentiality” in October after Trump called repeatedly for the whistleblower’s identity to be revealed.The letter is backed by Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, according to Politico.
Every now and agin' we revisit our daily C&J polls ("Crosstabs? We don't need no stinkin' crosstabs") and post the results of some of the notable ones to expose the inner workings of the Kossack mind. Here are some from the first quarter of this lousy-ass year. (Number of total votes is in parentheses):
» Republicans claimed that impeaching Trump in December would ruin everyone’s holiday. 99 percent of you disagreed. (4,571)
» As the coronavirus craziness ramped up, 86 percent supported replacing handshakes with Spock's Vulcan salute during the pandemic. (2,466)
» 90 percent of you say you can't remember an attorney general who devoted as much time to destroying the American justice system as Bill Barr is. (3,479)
Continued...
» On February 26th, 99 percent said the Trump administration's COVID-19 response was focused first and foremost on his financial interests and re-election prospects, a fact that remains true today. (3,488)
» President Trump claims he "stands stronger than anyone" when it comes to protecting Americans against discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. 98 percent of you correctly beg to differ. (4,590)
» 76 percent of you rated the Democratic impeachment trial managers' arguments "excellent," while 17 percent rated them "good" and only 8 percent rated them "fair" or "poor." (3,005)
C&J poll results are sent to this processing center, where they’re folded, spindled, mutilated, and turned into lunches for motivational seminar attendees at Holiday Inns.
» Among members of Trump's impeachment trial defense team, 36 percent thought Alan Dershowitz was the biggest jerk, followed by Ken Starr at 26 percent and Pam Bondi at 18 percent. (3,220)
» You really don’t want Iowa and New Hampshire going first again on the Democratic primary calendar. 92 percent of you say no way. (3,600)
» As of February 20th, 57 percent of you had "absolutely" made up your mind on which candidate you supported in the Democratic primary race. (3,764)
» 96 percent agreed that Trump should be quarantined to prevent his incompetence and malignant narcissism from helping further spread coronavirus disinformation. (3,538)
» And only 3 percent of you believe that Trump's daily coronavirus briefings should be broadcast live. The rest think journalists should have a chance to fact-check the claims made in them first because of the volume of lies and propaganda. (4,719)
As always, we bow to your superior ability to have opinions on stuff.
And now, our feature presentation...
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Cheers and Jeers for Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Note: I've done some experimenting, and I can definitively say: Brillo Pad face masks are a bad idea. Too much rust. Thus, our #1 recommendation remains chicken wire across the face and securely fastened to the back of your head with super glue. It’s just science, folks. —C&J R&D Dept.
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By the Numbers:
3 days!!!
Days 'til National Pet Day: 3
Number of states east of the Mississippi that don't have a shelter-in-place order, now that South Carolina finally enacted one (admittedly with loose exceptions): 0
Number of recent major Florida polls in which Donald Trump is ahead of Joe Biden, who leads him by an average of 6 points: 0
Percent chance Trump told Jonathan Karl during yesterday's press briefing that "you'll never make it": 100%
Percent chance that Jonathan Karl is a highly-paid reporter and the sitting president of the White House Correspondents Association: 100%
Amount the DNC has reserved for You Tube ads during the general election campaign: $22 million
Percent of people who have an extra rib, according to some web site:8%
CHEERS to endorsements that matter. When Congressman John Lewis speaks, people listen. Yesterday he spoke out in support of Joe Biden’s candidacy for president, and lit up social media:
Congressman John Lewis is a moral giant who has spent his entire life pushing our nation to live up to our highest ideals. I'm honored to call him a friend � and grateful to have him by my side in this battle for the soul of our nation. pic.twitter.com/kqwe6CGre1
Along with his endorsement, Lewis, the 38th member of the Congressional Black Caucus to endorse Biden, called for Joe to break new ground by choosing a woman of color to be his running mate. I couldn’t agree more. Saddle up, Oprah. Destiny calls.
JEERS to punching the hippies during a pandemic. Wisconsin's Republican-led legislature, backed by both the state and U.S. Supreme Courts, decided to legalize conspiracy to commit murder for a day yesterday, sending Badger Staters to the polls on Day 2 of what the Surgeon General calls "Coronavirus Pearl Harbor Week.” All because they desperately wanted a conservative state Supreme Court candidate to win his election so that the GOP can further stick its slimy thumb on the scale of electoral rigging. And, at a cost of a number of lives yet to be determined, they likely got their wish, but not before the Republican Speaker of the Wisconsin House made a complete ass of himself:
So etch it in stone. As of April 7, 2020, Republicans are officially OK with the murder of innocent civilians—including some from their own party as collateral damage—to maintain their grip on power. Memo to American Governmental Studies textbook publishers: stop the presses. We've got some serious rewriting to do about this here republic of ours.
� Animals Being Jerks (@MeanAnimals) March 31, 2020
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END BRIEF SANITY BREAK
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CHEERS to a fine FLOTUS. Happy Birthday to the late Betty Ford on what would be her 102nd birthday. She gained fame in an era that many Americans can vaguely remember—namely, a time when the GOP had a smattering of class. But even then, she was a persistent thorn in her party's side:
Throughout her husband's term in office, she maintained high approval ratings, though some on the far-right of her own Republican Party strongly opposed her on more liberal social issues.
Betty Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness with her 1974 mastectomy and was a passionate supporter for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Pro-choice on abortion and a leader in the Women's Movement, she gained fame as one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on every hot button issue of the time from sex to drugs.
Her most enduring legacy, of course, is the Betty Ford Center. Sadly, the center doesn't have a wing for candy corn addicts like me. But I'm happy to say my self-administered Charms Blow Pop replacement therapy seems to be holding. One day at a time.
WHATEVS to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham is leaving her post. Instead of getting paid to do nothing in the West Wing, she's moving on to fulfill her dream of spending more time getting paid to do nothing in the East Wing. Her replacement plans to shake everything up. Instead of getting paid to do nothing as a brunette like Grisham, she’ll get paid to do nothing as a blonde. The White House will forget to announce her name. No one will notice.
P.S. Of course she’s a racist piece of shit:
How I Met Your Brother -- Never mind, forgot he's still in that hut in Kenya. #ObamaTVShows
CHEERS to escaping hell in a handbasket. On April 8, 1766, the first fire escape was patented—it consisted of a wicker basket lowered by a pulley and chain. Of course they've evolved a lot since then. The new wicker fire escape baskets have GPS and a cup holder.
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Ten years ago in C&J: April 8, 2010
JEERS to modern-day Catch 22s. Please pay attention, I'm only going to explain this once: The Pentagon needs to talk to gay servicemembers to decide how to repeal the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy. But if gay servicemembers speak up, regulations say they have to be booted for violating the 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy. But if they don’t speak up, the Pentagon can't repeal the 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy. But in order to repeal the 'Don't Ask Don’t Tell' policy, the Pentagon needs to talk to gay servicemembers. But if gay servicemembers speak up, regulations say they have to be booted for violating the 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy. And so on and so forth. Is this royal clusterfuck ever gonna end? Don’t ask.
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And just one more…
CHEERS to tossing another letter on the scale of human attraction. First it was LGB. Then it was LGBT. Then it was LGBTQ. And now you can add a “C” to the list. As in: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and now Cuomosexual. In his latest magnum opus of musical parody, all is made clear as Randy Rainbow singsplains:
I’ll admit I can see the attraction. But my pandemical gubernatorientation remains out west with Newsom. Once he pierces your soul with those baby blues, man, it’s over.
Have a happy humpday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
Trump admits he hasn’t read Bill in Portland Maine's Cheers and Jeers—but is angry about it anyway
On Tuesday the White House announced that scam artist phantom Stephanie Grisham was out as press secretary. Vapid right-wing talking head Kayleigh McEnany was announced as the new White House lying machine. While Grisham decided to be mysteriously invisible during her time as the White House’s main liaison to the media, McEnany has a more boisterous personality with a more storied history of spewing lies and wrongheaded predictions. For example, here she is on Fox News with now-fired Trish Regan on Feb. 25 of this year. What’s she predicting? That Trump will stop the spread of COVID-19 by way of a travel ban on China? Yes. Let’s hear about it, Kayleigh!
KAYLEIGH MCENANY: This president will always put America first. He will always protect American citizens. We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here. We will not see terrorism come here, and isn't it refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama.
You can even watch her saying it!
On the same day Larry Kudlow said coronavirus was �contained� on Feb. 25th, Trump�s campaign spox made an even more bold claim. �We will not see diseases like the coronavirus come here..and isn't it refreshing when contrasting it with the awful presidency of President Obama." pic.twitter.com/O0DDH3Rvkw
McEnany has been auditioning for this part for some time now, as has virtually everyone who appears regularly on state misinformation channel Fox News. She’s checked all of requisite boxes of fealty, like saying impeachment proceedings—and in fact any criticism of Donald Trump—amounted to participating in a coup d’etat of our government.
McEnany began her right-wing career speaking on CNN as a talking head, but quickly found that running into even the most modest of pushback on her talking points led to her stressing out and blinking strangely, as can be seen in this clip from a couple of years ago.
McEnany has done all the things one expects. She’s called the Mueller report an “exoneration” of Donald Trump; she’s done the softball interviews of truly awful Trump cabinet members like Betsy DeVos; and she’s tweeted out real through-the-looking-glass misinformation, like this:
BIG NEWS from President @realDonaldTrump�s Chinese Virus task force briefing! Dr. Birx shared that 40% of the country now have "EXTRAORDINARY LOW NUMBERS" of cases�� 19 of 50 states have less than 200 cases!
But what may have finally gotten Kayleigh the job is her loud, fact-free, and enthusiastic delivery of conservative talking points with seemingly no shame whatsoever. But let’s never forget McEnany’s humble, racist, beginnings.
This quote from Grisham, given to Axios before she was officially replaced, is worth adding here: “Sounds like more palace intrigue to me, but I’ve also been in quarantine. If true, how ironic that the press secretary would hear about being replaced in the press.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley is working on a bipartisan letter addressed to President Donald Trump demanding an explanation for the firing of Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, according to aides in both parties.
The Senate Finance Committee chairman is still working to secure cosponsors for the letter, a Republican aide said. The letter will focus on Atkinson's Friday firing amid a broader purge by the president of inspectors general.
The letter is supported by Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
Trump said recently that he fired Atkinson for doing a "terrible job" with a whistleblower report that kicked off the president's impeachment. Atkinson said he was likely fired for "having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general."
Grassley's office did not comment other than to point to a Tuesday statement reiterating his support for inspectors general and urging the president to use them. Grassley also said he would seek more explanation from Trump in the immediate aftermath of Atkinson's firing. He's also been a longtime advocate for inspectors general and whistleblowers.
“Inspectors general provide a critical check on an otherwise unaccountable bureaucracy. In other words, they help drain the swamp. Their duty is to provide nonpartisan recommendations and remove politics from the inner workings of our federal government. The White House should empower inspectors general so they’re able to do their job," Grassley said, citing recent IG work on surveillance of the Trump campaign in the 2016 election.
He also hinted that Trump owes the public more information.
"President Trump must prioritize filling inspector general vacancies with permanent nominees so this important congressional oversight function can occur," Grassley said.
Trump fired Glenn Fine, a Defense Department watchdog, on Monday. Grassley thanked "Fine for his service to his country" in his statements.
(@rustyweiss74) March 31, 2020
