Frustrated Texans endure winter storm with no power, heat
By PAUL J. WEBER and KEN MILLER
Today
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in their homes Thursday after more than a day without power, including many in the state capital, as an icy winter storm that has been blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths lingered across much of the southern U.S.
Even as temperatures finally pushed above freezing in Austin — and were expected to climb past 50 degrees (10 Celsius) on Friday — the relief will be just in time for an Arctic front to drop from Canada and threaten northern states. New England in particular is forecast to see the coldest weather in decades, with wind chills that could dive lower than minus 50.
Across Texas, 430,000 customers lacked power Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. But the failures were most widespread in Austin, where frustration mounted among more than 156,000 customers over 24 hours after their electricity went out, which for many also meant their heat. Power failures have affected about 30% of customers in the city of nearly a million at any given time since Wednesday.
Allison Rizzolo, who lost power in Austin, told KEYE-TV that she wished there were more clarity from the city on what to do or expect.
“I get that there’s a fine line between preparedness and panic, but I wish they’d been more aggressive in their communications,” Rizzolo said.
For many Texans, it was the second time in three years that a February freeze — temperatures were in the 30s Thursday with wind chills below freezing — caused prolonged outages and uncertainty over when the lights would come back on.
As outages dragged on, city officials came under mounting criticism for not providing estimates of when power would be restored and for neglecting to hold a news conference until Thursday. Mayor Kirk Watson said Thursday the city would review communication protocols for future disasters.
Austin Energy at one point estimated that all power would be restored by Friday evening, then later stated Thursday that full restoration would now take “longer than initially anticipated.” Soon after, Watson tweeted, "This is a dynamic situation and change is inevitable but Austin Energy must give folks clear and accurate info so they can plan accordingly.”
Unlike the 2021 blackouts in Texas, when hundreds of people died after the state’s grid was pushed to the brink of total failure because of a lack of generation, the outages in Austin this time were largely the result of frozen equipment and ice-burdened trees and limbs falling on power lines. The city’s utility warned all power may not be restored until Friday as ice continued causing outages even as repairs were finished elsewhere.
“It feels like two steps forward and three steps back,” said Jackie Sargent, general manager of Austin Energy.
School systems in the Dallas and Austin area, plus many in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee, closed Thursday as snow, sleet and freezing rain continued to push through. Public transportation in Dallas also experienced “major delays” early Thursday, according to a statement from Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
Hundreds more flights were canceled again in Texas, although not as many as in previous days.
Airport crews battled ice to keep runways open. By Thursday morning, airlines had canceled more than 500 flights at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport — more than a quarter of all flights scheduled for the day. Still, that was down from about 1,300 cancellations on Wednesday and more than 1,000 on Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com.
Dozens more flights were canceled at Dallas Love Field and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Watches and warnings about wintry conditions stretched from the West Texas border with Mexico through Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana and into western Tennessee and northern Mississippi.
At least 10 people have died due to treacherous road conditions since Monday, including seven in Texas, two in Oklahoma and one in Arkansas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged people not to drive.
And another wave of frigid weather in the U.S. is on the horizon, with an Arctic cold front expected to move from Canada into the northern Plains and Upper Midwest and sweep into the Northeast by Friday.
In a briefing Thursday with the federal Weather Prediction Center, New Englanders were warned that wind chills — the combined effect of wind and cold air on exposed skin — in the minus 50s (minus 45 Celsius) “could be the coldest felt in decades.”
The strong winds and cold air will create wind chills “rarely seen in northern and eastern Maine,” according to an advisory from the National Weather Service office in Caribou, Maine.
Jay Broccolo, director of weather operations at an observatory on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington — which for decades held the world record for the fastest wind gust — said Thursday that wind speeds could top 100 mph (160 kph).
“We take safety really seriously in the higher summits," Broccolo said, “and this weekend’s forecast is looking pretty gnarly, even for our standards.”
___
Miller reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press Airlines Writer Dave Koenig in Dallas and writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report. For more AP weather coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/weather
maybe if the people of texas wanted to have heat in the winter instead of a wall they should
a not depend on the government
or b stop reliably voting republican.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway
Frustrated Texans endure winter storm with no power, heat
By PAUL J. WEBER and KEN MILLER
Today
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Thousands of frustrated Texans shivered in their homes Thursday after more than a day without power, including many in the state capital, as an icy winter storm that has been blamed for at least 10 traffic deaths lingered across much of the southern U.S.
Even as temperatures finally pushed above freezing in Austin — and were expected to climb past 50 degrees (10 Celsius) on Friday — the relief will be just in time for an Arctic front to drop from Canada and threaten northern states. New England in particular is forecast to see the coldest weather in decades, with wind chills that could dive lower than minus 50.
Across Texas, 430,000 customers lacked power Thursday, according to PowerOutage.us. But the failures were most widespread in Austin, where frustration mounted among more than 156,000 customers over 24 hours after their electricity went out, which for many also meant their heat. Power failures have affected about 30% of customers in the city of nearly a million at any given time since Wednesday.
Allison Rizzolo, who lost power in Austin, told KEYE-TV that she wished there were more clarity from the city on what to do or expect.
“I get that there’s a fine line between preparedness and panic, but I wish they’d been more aggressive in their communications,” Rizzolo said.
For many Texans, it was the second time in three years that a February freeze — temperatures were in the 30s Thursday with wind chills below freezing — caused prolonged outages and uncertainty over when the lights would come back on.
As outages dragged on, city officials came under mounting criticism for not providing estimates of when power would be restored and for neglecting to hold a news conference until Thursday. Mayor Kirk Watson said Thursday the city would review communication protocols for future disasters.
Austin Energy at one point estimated that all power would be restored by Friday evening, then later stated Thursday that full restoration would now take “longer than initially anticipated.” Soon after, Watson tweeted, "This is a dynamic situation and change is inevitable but Austin Energy must give folks clear and accurate info so they can plan accordingly.”
Unlike the 2021 blackouts in Texas, when hundreds of people died after the state’s grid was pushed to the brink of total failure because of a lack of generation, the outages in Austin this time were largely the result of frozen equipment and ice-burdened trees and limbs falling on power lines. The city’s utility warned all power may not be restored until Friday as ice continued causing outages even as repairs were finished elsewhere.
“It feels like two steps forward and three steps back,” said Jackie Sargent, general manager of Austin Energy.
School systems in the Dallas and Austin area, plus many in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee, closed Thursday as snow, sleet and freezing rain continued to push through. Public transportation in Dallas also experienced “major delays” early Thursday, according to a statement from Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
Hundreds more flights were canceled again in Texas, although not as many as in previous days.
Airport crews battled ice to keep runways open. By Thursday morning, airlines had canceled more than 500 flights at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport — more than a quarter of all flights scheduled for the day. Still, that was down from about 1,300 cancellations on Wednesday and more than 1,000 on Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com.
Dozens more flights were canceled at Dallas Love Field and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Watches and warnings about wintry conditions stretched from the West Texas border with Mexico through Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana and into western Tennessee and northern Mississippi.
At least 10 people have died due to treacherous road conditions since Monday, including seven in Texas, two in Oklahoma and one in Arkansas. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott urged people not to drive.
And another wave of frigid weather in the U.S. is on the horizon, with an Arctic cold front expected to move from Canada into the northern Plains and Upper Midwest and sweep into the Northeast by Friday.
In a briefing Thursday with the federal Weather Prediction Center, New Englanders were warned that wind chills — the combined effect of wind and cold air on exposed skin — in the minus 50s (minus 45 Celsius) “could be the coldest felt in decades.”
The strong winds and cold air will create wind chills “rarely seen in northern and eastern Maine,” according to an advisory from the National Weather Service office in Caribou, Maine.
Jay Broccolo, director of weather operations at an observatory on New Hampshire’s Mount Washington — which for decades held the world record for the fastest wind gust — said Thursday that wind speeds could top 100 mph (160 kph).
“We take safety really seriously in the higher summits," Broccolo said, “and this weekend’s forecast is looking pretty gnarly, even for our standards.”
___
Miller reported from Oklahoma City. Associated Press Airlines Writer Dave Koenig in Dallas and writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., and Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed to this report. For more AP weather coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/weather
maybe if the people of texas wanted to have heat in the winter instead of a wall they should
a not depend on the government
or b stop reliably voting republican.
Or c: build their own damn power generating capacity. What’s the matter, they ain’t got no loops on their boots?
Doctor, GOP governor clash over private Medicaid discussion
By MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Today
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said in a private conversation that expanding Medicaid to people working low-wage jobs would be in the best interest of the state, but that he refuses to support the policy for political reasons, a former chancellor of the University of Mississippi said Thursday.
Dr. Dan Jones is a physician who led the University of Mississippi Medical Center before serving as chancellor of the university from 2009 to 2015. During a news conference organized by Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, Jones said that Reeves acknowledged in a private conversation with him in 2013 or 2014 that expanding Medicaid would benefit Mississippi's economy, and provide health care to more residents of a state bedeviled by poor health outcomes.
Jones said he was trying to persuade Reeves, who was the lieutenant governor at the time, to take advantage of a 2010 health care law signed by President Barack Obama that allowed for Medicaid expansion, with the federal government covering most of the cost. Jones said the conversation took place in Jones' office at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
“The governor after a few moments put his hands up and said, ‘Chancellor, I recognize that it would be good for Mississippians, that it would be good for our economy, good for health care to expand Medicaid,’" Jones recounted. "I had a big smile on my face, and I said ‘I’m glad to hear that and I’m glad to hear you’ll support Medicaid expansion.’ His response was, ‘Oh no, I’m not going to support it because it’s not in my personal political interest.’”
Reeves wrote on Twitter Thursday that Jones' remarks were “obviously a lie.”
"I’d bet I hadn’t talked to this dude since well before he was fired by Ole Miss, and I never would have said this," Reeves wrote. “Do you believe he has held this ‘juicy scoop’ for 8 years? Through 2019? And remembered it just before a presser with Democrats in 2023?”
Jones returned to the University of Mississippi Medical Center after the state college board chose not to renew his contract as chancellor. He retired two years ago, and said that since then, he has more freedom to speak publicly.
Reeves is seeking a second term as governor this year. He has frequently said that he does not want to add people to a government health program. A Democrat running for governor, Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, is making Medicaid expansion a central promise in his own campaign.
During his State of the State speech Monday, Reeves said Mississippi should shore up health care resources by cutting bureaucracy, increasing medical residency programs and relying on technology.
Mississippi is among 11 states that have not taken the option from the federal government to expand Medicaid coverage to people working low-wage jobs without health insurance. At least 15 bills that would have done so expired under a Tuesday deadline without a legislative debate or a vote in the Republican-controlled legislature.
Mississippi has the nation’s highest fetal mortality, infant mortality and pre-term birth rates. At a Jan. 13 legislative hearing, Dr. Daniel Edney, the state health officer, said Mississippi doesn’t have the medical workforce to address a wide range of poor health outcomes. Some hospitals are on the brink of permanent closure due to staff shortages and population decline in poor areas.
At the state Capitol on Thursday, Jones said he is sharing details about his conversation with Reeves now because he has never before seen Mississippi’s health care system under the strain it is now, even with a $4 billion surplus in the state budget.
“Shame on us for allowing the citizens of Mississippi to have health care problems and not have access to health care solutions,” Jones said. “Shame on us in a state with billions of dollars in its coffers to not act on this to make health care available to all of our citizens. It is immoral.”
___
Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
0
mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,647
Trump campaign staff on 2020 election lies: ‘fan the flame’
By SCOTT BAUER
Yesterday
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A newly released audio recording offers a behind-the-scenes look at how former President Donald Trump’s campaign team in a pivotal battleground state knew they had been outflanked by Democrats in the 2020 presidential election. But even as they acknowledged defeat, they pivoted to allegations of widespread fraud that were ultimately debunked — repeatedly — by elections officials and the courts.
The audio from Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, is surfacing as Trump again seeks the White House while continuing to lie about the legitimacy of the outcome and Democrat Joe Biden's win.
The Wisconsin political operatives in the strategy session even praised Democratic turnout efforts in the state's largest counties and appeared to joke about their efforts to engage Black voters, according to the recording obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The audio centers on Andrew Iverson, who was the head of Trump's campaign in the state.
“Here’s the drill: Comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need (inaudible) help with. Just be on standby in case there’s any stunts we need to pull,” Iverson said.
Audio from Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, is surfacing as Trump again seeks the White House while continuing to lie about the legitimacy of the outcome and Democrat Joe Biden's win. The audio centers on Andrew Iverson, who was the head of Trump's campaign in the state.((AUDIO AS INCOMING))“Here’s the deal: Comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need. Just be on standby if there’s any stunts we need to pull,” Iverson said.
Iverson is now the Midwest regional director for the Republican National Committee. He deferred questions about the meeting to the RNC, whose spokesperson, Keith Schipper, declined comment because he had not heard the recording.
The former campaign official and Republican operative who provided a copy of the recording to the AP was in the meeting and recorded it. The operative is not authorized to speak publicly about what was discussed and did not want to be identified out of concern for personal and professional retaliation, but said they came forward because Trump is mounting a third attempt for the White House.
In response to questions about the audio, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said: “The 2024 campaign is focused on competing in every state and winning in a dominating fashion. That is why President Trump is leading by wide margins in poll after poll.”
Wisconsin was a big part of Trump's victory in 2016, when he smashed through the Democrats' so-called “Blue Wall” in the upper Midwest, and his campaign fought hard to keep the swing state in his column four years later before his loss to Biden.
Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has withstood independent and partisan audits and reviews, as well as lawsuits and recounts in the state's two largest and Democratic-leaning counties.
Yet, two days after the election, there was no discussion of Trump having won the state during the meeting of Republican campaign operatives.
Instead, parts of the meeting focus on discussions about packing up campaign offices and writing final reports about how the campaign unfolded. At one point on the recording, Iverson is heard praising the GOP's efforts while admitting the margin of Trump's defeat in the state.
At one point on the recording, Andrews Iverson is heard praising the GOP's efforts while admitting the margin of Trump's defeat in the state.((AUDIO AS INCOMING - ADULT LANGUAGE))“At the end of the day, this operation received more votes than any other Republican in Wisconsin history,” Iverson said. “Say what you want, our operation turned out Republican or DJT supporters. Democrats have got 20,000 more than us, out of Dane County and other shenanigans in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Dane. There’s a lot that people can learn from this campaign.”
“At the end of the day, this operation received more votes than any other Republican in Wisconsin history,” Iverson said. “Say what you want, our operation turned out Republican or DJT supporters. Democrats just got 20,000 more than us, out of Dane County and other shenanigans in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Dane. There’s a lot that people can learn from this campaign.”
The meeting showcases another juxtaposition of what Republican officials knew about the election results and what Trump and his closest allies were saying publicly as they pushed the lie of a stolen election. Trump was told by his own attorney general there was no sign of widespread fraud, and many within his own administration told the former president there was no substance to various claims of fraud or manipulation — advice Trump repeatedly ignored.
In the weeks after the election, Trump and his allies would file dozens of lawsuits, convene fake electors and pressure election officials in an attempt to overturn the will of the voters and keep Trump in office.
It’s unclear whether the staff in Wisconsin coordinated their message directly with campaign officials in Washington.
Parts of the Nov. 5 meeting also center on Republican outreach efforts to the state's Black community.
At one point, the operatives laugh over needing “more Black voices for Trump.” Iverson also references their efforts to engage with Black voters.
“We ever talk to Black people before? I don’t think so,” he said, eliciting laughter from others in the room.
Another speaker on the recording with Iverson is identified by the source as GOP operative Clayton Henson. At the time, Henson was a regional director for the RNC in charge of Wisconsin and other Midwestern states. They give a postmortem of sorts on the election, praising Republican turnout and campaign efforts while acknowledging the Democrats' robust turn-out-the-vote campaign.
Henson specifically references Democratic turnout in Dane County, which includes Madison, the state capital, and is a liberal stronghold in the state. A record-high 80% of the voting-age population cast ballots in 2020 in the county, which Biden won with 76% of the vote.
“Hats off to them for what they did in Dane County. You gotta respect that,” Henson said. “There's going to be another election in a couple years. So remember the lessons you learned and be ready to punch back.”
Henson, reached by phone Thursday, said, “No thank you” when asked to comment about the meeting.
___
This story has been corrected to show Iverson said “drill,” not “deal.”
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
0
mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,647
GOP Rep. Clyde hands out assault-rifle lapel pins to House colleagues By Amy B Wang and John Wagner February 03, 2023 at 11:51 ET By his own acknowledgment, Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) has been handing out lapel pins shaped like assault rifles to fellow GOP lawmakers — an exercise that comes in the wake of a spate of mass shootings and during a week intended to honor survivors of gun violence. Late Thursday, Clyde, who owns a gun store, tweeted a video about his efforts. “I hear that this little pin that I’ve been giving out on the House floor has been triggering some of my Democratic colleagues,” he said in the video. “Well, I give it out to remind people of the Second Amendment of the Constitution and how important it is in preserving our liberties.” Clyde closed by sharing that there are plenty of pins available for those who want to come by his office. The assault-rifle pins have angered Democrats, who began noticing them in recent days before they knew of their origin. On Wednesday, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) posted images of two GOP members of Congress — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) and George Santos (N.Y.) — sporting the assault-rifle pins on their lapels. “Where are these assault weapon pins coming from?” Gomez asked. “Who is passing these out?” Gomez also noted that Paulina Luna was wearing such a pin less than 48 hours after a mass shooting in her state wounded 11 people. “This isn’t the flex you think it is,” Gomez tweeted. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) pointed out that GOP lawmakers were wearing the lapel pins during National Gun Violence Survivors Week. Dozens of mass shootings have already taken place across the country in 2023, outpacing previous years, according to data tracked by the Gun Violence Archive. “Weapons of war have no place on our streets, much less on our lapels,” Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) declared. Perhaps more than other GOP lawmakers, Clyde has downplayed the severity of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying that parts of it were comparable to a “normal tourist visit.” Clyde also later voted against awarding police officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6 the Congressional Gold Medal, and refused to shake hands with Michael Fanone, one of the officers who had responded to the violence and was beaten unconscious during the attack. Clyde’s distribution of the gun-shaped pins comes after newly elected Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) passed out dummy grenades stamped with the GOP logo last week to other members of Congress, along with a note on his office letterhead emphasizing that the ordnance was made in Florida. “I am honored to be a part of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees,” Mills wrote. “In that spirit, it is my pleasure to give you a 40mm grenade, made for a MK19 grenade launcher. These are manufactured in the Sunshine State and first developed in the Vietnam War.” At the bottom of the letter was a postscript noting that the grenades were inert.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
i am seeing on twitter folks are saying this balloon may have contained a new strain of covid sent by the chinese government straight from wuhan. yeah drop new covid all over montana where relatively few people live. that'll show us.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway
i am seeing on twitter folks are saying this balloon may have contained a new strain of covid sent by the chinese government straight from wuhan. yeah drop new covid all over montana where relatively few people live. that'll show us.
It was shot down off the coast of South Carolina because the DNA specific virus is intended for one person and one person only with a specific DNA. Any guesses? That’s right, Brandon’s most legitimate threat to re-election, Nikkki Styxxx. Q told me.
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,661
edited February 2023
You guys need to read Vonnegut's book, Slapstick. This is no joke. Mr. Vonnegut showed us the future in that book in which China miniaturized their people and trained themselves to think as one. They become so small they create a plague that destroys western civilization.
What do you think was in that balloon? That's right, millions upon millions of miniaturized Chinese people. They are so small and light they can drop down from the sky and not be injured, or simple wait for the tide to bring them ashore.
You people need to stop kidding about this balloon. It's the beginning of the end. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but we are fucked.
The end is near.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
You guys need to read Vonnegut's book, Slapstick. This is no joke. Mr. Vonnegut showed us the future in that book in which China miniaturized their people and trained themselves to think as one. They become so small they create a plague that destroys western civilization.
What do you think was in that balloon? That's right, millions upon millions of miniaturized Chinese people. They are so small and light they can drop down from the sky and not be injured, or simple wait for the tide to bring them ashore.
You people need to stop kidding about this balloon. It's the beginning of the end. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but we are fucked.
The end is near.
I would hire a few thousand of the miniature Chinese to carry my around my house and at the supermarket 😂😂
jesus greets me looks just like me ....
0
brianlux
Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,661
You guys need to read Vonnegut's book, Slapstick. This is no joke. Mr. Vonnegut showed us the future in that book in which China miniaturized their people and trained themselves to think as one. They become so small they create a plague that destroys western civilization.
What do you think was in that balloon? That's right, millions upon millions of miniaturized Chinese people. They are so small and light they can drop down from the sky and not be injured, or simple wait for the tide to bring them ashore.
You people need to stop kidding about this balloon. It's the beginning of the end. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but we are fucked.
The end is near.
I would hire a few thousand of the miniature Chinese to carry my around my house and at the supermarket 😂😂
LOL, only Vonnegut's Chinese were so small they were like microbes that caused infections when accidentally inhaled leading to wiping out much of western civilization. A rather bizarre scenario KV formulated (I'm guessing partly as an analogy to illustrate our paranoia about the east) in his novel to induce social collapse in America. That created a situation where we needed to learn to live selflessly and help each other. Wishful thinking? One of Vonnegut's strangest books!
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.
0
mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,647
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
0
mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,647
impromptu poll on number of disruptions and by who?
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
decent turnout for that. I know since it's my congressional district and I've been following closely this was being planned.
Reading 2004
Albany 2006 Camden 2006 E. Rutherford 2, 2006 Inglewood 2006,
Chicago 2007
Camden 2008 MSG 2008 MSG 2008 Hartford 2008.
Seattle 2009 Seattle 2009 Philadelphia 2009,Philadelphia 2009 Philadelphia 2009
Hartford 2010 MSG 2010 MSG 2010
Toronto 2011,Toronto 2011
Wrigley Field 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Brooklyn 2013 Philadelphia 2, 2013
Philadelphia 1, 2016 Philadelphia 2 2016 New York 2016 New York 2016 Fenway 1, 2016 Fenway 2, 2018 MSG 2022 St. Paul, 1, St. Paul 2 2023
"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
0
mickeyrat
up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,647
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok.
Demon spawn? I think people disagreed with his politics, still do, but at least knew he was a relatively decent human being. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the current maga republicans though.
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok
Well, we can pretend nothing has changed and everything is the same as it was when he was running for president, but that would be intellectually dishonest, wouldn't it?
Things change. It's a drastically different country now than it was even just 11 years ago.
Good for Romney....I would have been ok with him as POTUS
Remember the Thomas Nine !! (10/02/2018)
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago 2010: St Louis, Columbus, Noblesville; 2011: EV Chicago, East Troy, East Troy 2013: London ON, Chicago; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE) 2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston 2020: Oakland, Oakland:2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana 2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok.
Demon spawn? I think people disagreed with his politics, still do, but at least knew he was a relatively decent human being. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the current maga republicans though.
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok
Well, we can pretend nothing has changed and everything is the same as it was when he was running for president, but that would be intellectually dishonest, wouldn't it?
Things change. It's a drastically different country now than it was even just 11 years ago.
People thought he was the antichrist. This was the time when all the ugliness in politics was really starting to show. Having Trump around made everything prior seem like childs play now.
@Merkin Baller yes, that was my point. The world was viewed much differently years ago.
A little more detail of what transpired and what some think of Santaria.
Romney goes after Santos in tense exchange at the State of the Union
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) exchanged harsh words on the House floor Tuesday night before the State of the Union began, with the Republican senator telling the freshman GOP lawmaker that he should not be in Congress.
As lawmakers and other guests were entering the chamber ahead of President Biden’s speech, Romney and Santos were spotted having a brief but tense conversation. Romney glared at Santos, who smiled slightly, nodded and seemed to dismiss Romney before continuing to greet others.
“I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States,” Romney told reporters after Biden’s speech concluded Tuesday night, when asked why he had confronted Santos.
“Given the fact that [Santos is] under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room,” Romney added.
Romney said that Santos’s claims that he had “embellished” his record were absurd.
“Look, embellishing is saying you got an A when you got an A-minus. Lying is saying you graduated from a college you didn’t even attend,” Romney said. “And he shouldn’t be in Congress. And they’re going to go through the process and hopefully get him out. But he shouldn’t be there and if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there.”
Romney told reporters that Santos may have responded to him, but that he did not hear it on the House floor. After the State of the Union concluded, Santos lashed out at Romney on social media.
“Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!” he posted to Twitter.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) later defended Santos, describing Romney’s words as “the rudest I’ve ever seen a human being be to another human being.”
But Rep. Nick LaLota, a fellow freshman Republican from New York, sided with Romney, calling Santos a “sociopath.”
“Mitt Romney is right on this one. I’ve been clear on George Santos for months now,” LaLota said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday morning. “He does not deserve to be in Congress."
“He’s a sociopath, George Santos. He looks for that attention, even the negative attention drives him. It’s become an embarrassment and a distraction to Republicans in the House,” said LaLota, who like Santos, represents a district on New York’s Long Island.
Dozens of Republicans in New York state, including several in Santos’s district from Nassau County, have called on him to resign. Joseph G. Cairo Jr., the Nassau County party chairman, has said Santos’s campaign was one of “deceit, lies, fabrication.”
Romney, who was the Republican nominee for president in 2012, was the only Republican to stand and clap when Biden said unemployment was at a 50-year low Tuesday night, and applauded alongside Democrats at other points in Biden’s speech.
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok.
Demon spawn? I think people disagreed with his politics, still do, but at least knew he was a relatively decent human being. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the current maga republicans though.
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok
Well, we can pretend nothing has changed and everything is the same as it was when he was running for president, but that would be intellectually dishonest, wouldn't it?
Things change. It's a drastically different country now than it was even just 11 years ago.
People thought he was the antichrist. This was the time when all the ugliness in politics was really starting to show. Having Trump around made everything prior seem like childs play now.
@Merkin Baller yes, that was my point. The world was viewed much differently years ago.
I think you're being a little hyperbolic w/ "Demon spawn" & "Antichrist", but I get your point. I wasn't a fan of him or his politics, but the last 8 years have added a lot of perspective, as they'll do.
It's also worth noting that this was well after the start of the tea party & birtherism etc... the ugliness was already well established by 2012.
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok.
Demon spawn? I think people disagreed with his politics, still do, but at least knew he was a relatively decent human being. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the current maga republicans though.
Nice to know some conservatives still have enough backbone to rightfully call out this bullshit for what it is.
And people thought he was a demon spawn when he was running for president, now that he went up against Trump and this he's ok
Well, we can pretend nothing has changed and everything is the same as it was when he was running for president, but that would be intellectually dishonest, wouldn't it?
Things change. It's a drastically different country now than it was even just 11 years ago.
People thought he was the antichrist. This was the time when all the ugliness in politics was really starting to show. Having Trump around made everything prior seem like childs play now.
@Merkin Baller yes, that was my point. The world was viewed much differently years ago.
I think you're being a little hyperbolic w/ "Demon spawn" & "Antichrist", but I get your point. I wasn't a fan of him or his politics, but the last 8 years have added a lot of perspective, as they'll do.
It's also worth noting that this was well after the start of the tea party & birtherism etc... the ugliness was already well established by 2012.
Oh for sure but I saw it raise to new heights during the Obama years.
I forgot about the Tea Party, it seems like forever ago. Do you remember the Minute Men? They got some press for a bit.
Comments
a not depend on the government
or b stop reliably voting republican.
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi’s Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said in a private conversation that expanding Medicaid to people working low-wage jobs would be in the best interest of the state, but that he refuses to support the policy for political reasons, a former chancellor of the University of Mississippi said Thursday.
Dr. Dan Jones is a physician who led the University of Mississippi Medical Center before serving as chancellor of the university from 2009 to 2015. During a news conference organized by Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, Jones said that Reeves acknowledged in a private conversation with him in 2013 or 2014 that expanding Medicaid would benefit Mississippi's economy, and provide health care to more residents of a state bedeviled by poor health outcomes.
Jones said he was trying to persuade Reeves, who was the lieutenant governor at the time, to take advantage of a 2010 health care law signed by President Barack Obama that allowed for Medicaid expansion, with the federal government covering most of the cost. Jones said the conversation took place in Jones' office at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
“The governor after a few moments put his hands up and said, ‘Chancellor, I recognize that it would be good for Mississippians, that it would be good for our economy, good for health care to expand Medicaid,’" Jones recounted. "I had a big smile on my face, and I said ‘I’m glad to hear that and I’m glad to hear you’ll support Medicaid expansion.’ His response was, ‘Oh no, I’m not going to support it because it’s not in my personal political interest.’”
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Reeves wrote on Twitter Thursday that Jones' remarks were “obviously a lie.”
"I’d bet I hadn’t talked to this dude since well before he was fired by Ole Miss, and I never would have said this," Reeves wrote. “Do you believe he has held this ‘juicy scoop’ for 8 years? Through 2019? And remembered it just before a presser with Democrats in 2023?”
Jones returned to the University of Mississippi Medical Center after the state college board chose not to renew his contract as chancellor. He retired two years ago, and said that since then, he has more freedom to speak publicly.
Reeves is seeking a second term as governor this year. He has frequently said that he does not want to add people to a government health program. A Democrat running for governor, Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley, is making Medicaid expansion a central promise in his own campaign.
During his State of the State speech Monday, Reeves said Mississippi should shore up health care resources by cutting bureaucracy, increasing medical residency programs and relying on technology.
Mississippi is among 11 states that have not taken the option from the federal government to expand Medicaid coverage to people working low-wage jobs without health insurance. At least 15 bills that would have done so expired under a Tuesday deadline without a legislative debate or a vote in the Republican-controlled legislature.
Mississippi has the nation’s highest fetal mortality, infant mortality and pre-term birth rates. At a Jan. 13 legislative hearing, Dr. Daniel Edney, the state health officer, said Mississippi doesn’t have the medical workforce to address a wide range of poor health outcomes. Some hospitals are on the brink of permanent closure due to staff shortages and population decline in poor areas.
At the state Capitol on Thursday, Jones said he is sharing details about his conversation with Reeves now because he has never before seen Mississippi’s health care system under the strain it is now, even with a $4 billion surplus in the state budget.
“Shame on us for allowing the citizens of Mississippi to have health care problems and not have access to health care solutions,” Jones said. “Shame on us in a state with billions of dollars in its coffers to not act on this to make health care available to all of our citizens. It is immoral.”
___
Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.
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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A newly released audio recording offers a behind-the-scenes look at how former President Donald Trump’s campaign team in a pivotal battleground state knew they had been outflanked by Democrats in the 2020 presidential election. But even as they acknowledged defeat, they pivoted to allegations of widespread fraud that were ultimately debunked — repeatedly — by elections officials and the courts.
The audio from Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, is surfacing as Trump again seeks the White House while continuing to lie about the legitimacy of the outcome and Democrat Joe Biden's win.
The Wisconsin political operatives in the strategy session even praised Democratic turnout efforts in the state's largest counties and appeared to joke about their efforts to engage Black voters, according to the recording obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The audio centers on Andrew Iverson, who was the head of Trump's campaign in the state.
“Here’s the drill: Comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need (inaudible) help with. Just be on standby in case there’s any stunts we need to pull,” Iverson said.
Audio from Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, is surfacing as Trump again seeks the White House while continuing to lie about the legitimacy of the outcome and Democrat Joe Biden's win. The audio centers on Andrew Iverson, who was the head of Trump's campaign in the state.((AUDIO AS INCOMING))“Here’s the deal: Comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need. Just be on standby if there’s any stunts we need to pull,” Iverson said.
Iverson is now the Midwest regional director for the Republican National Committee. He deferred questions about the meeting to the RNC, whose spokesperson, Keith Schipper, declined comment because he had not heard the recording.
The former campaign official and Republican operative who provided a copy of the recording to the AP was in the meeting and recorded it. The operative is not authorized to speak publicly about what was discussed and did not want to be identified out of concern for personal and professional retaliation, but said they came forward because Trump is mounting a third attempt for the White House.
In response to questions about the audio, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said: “The 2024 campaign is focused on competing in every state and winning in a dominating fashion. That is why President Trump is leading by wide margins in poll after poll.”
Wisconsin was a big part of Trump's victory in 2016, when he smashed through the Democrats' so-called “Blue Wall” in the upper Midwest, and his campaign fought hard to keep the swing state in his column four years later before his loss to Biden.
Biden defeated Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin in 2020, a result that has withstood independent and partisan audits and reviews, as well as lawsuits and recounts in the state's two largest and Democratic-leaning counties.
Yet, two days after the election, there was no discussion of Trump having won the state during the meeting of Republican campaign operatives.
Instead, parts of the meeting focus on discussions about packing up campaign offices and writing final reports about how the campaign unfolded. At one point on the recording, Iverson is heard praising the GOP's efforts while admitting the margin of Trump's defeat in the state.
At one point on the recording, Andrews Iverson is heard praising the GOP's efforts while admitting the margin of Trump's defeat in the state.((AUDIO AS INCOMING - ADULT LANGUAGE))“At the end of the day, this operation received more votes than any other Republican in Wisconsin history,” Iverson said. “Say what you want, our operation turned out Republican or DJT supporters. Democrats have got 20,000 more than us, out of Dane County and other shenanigans in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Dane. There’s a lot that people can learn from this campaign.”
“At the end of the day, this operation received more votes than any other Republican in Wisconsin history,” Iverson said. “Say what you want, our operation turned out Republican or DJT supporters. Democrats just got 20,000 more than us, out of Dane County and other shenanigans in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Dane. There’s a lot that people can learn from this campaign.”
The meeting showcases another juxtaposition of what Republican officials knew about the election results and what Trump and his closest allies were saying publicly as they pushed the lie of a stolen election. Trump was told by his own attorney general there was no sign of widespread fraud, and many within his own administration told the former president there was no substance to various claims of fraud or manipulation — advice Trump repeatedly ignored.
In the weeks after the election, Trump and his allies would file dozens of lawsuits, convene fake electors and pressure election officials in an attempt to overturn the will of the voters and keep Trump in office.
It’s unclear whether the staff in Wisconsin coordinated their message directly with campaign officials in Washington.
Parts of the Nov. 5 meeting also center on Republican outreach efforts to the state's Black community.
At one point, the operatives laugh over needing “more Black voices for Trump.” Iverson also references their efforts to engage with Black voters.
“We ever talk to Black people before? I don’t think so,” he said, eliciting laughter from others in the room.
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Another speaker on the recording with Iverson is identified by the source as GOP operative Clayton Henson. At the time, Henson was a regional director for the RNC in charge of Wisconsin and other Midwestern states. They give a postmortem of sorts on the election, praising Republican turnout and campaign efforts while acknowledging the Democrats' robust turn-out-the-vote campaign.
Henson specifically references Democratic turnout in Dane County, which includes Madison, the state capital, and is a liberal stronghold in the state. A record-high 80% of the voting-age population cast ballots in 2020 in the county, which Biden won with 76% of the vote.
“Hats off to them for what they did in Dane County. You gotta respect that,” Henson said. “There's going to be another election in a couple years. So remember the lessons you learned and be ready to punch back.”
Henson, reached by phone Thursday, said, “No thank you” when asked to comment about the meeting.
___
This story has been corrected to show Iverson said “drill,” not “deal.”
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
By Amy B Wang and John Wagner
February 03, 2023 at 11:51 ET
By his own acknowledgment, Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) has been handing out lapel pins shaped like assault rifles to fellow GOP lawmakers — an exercise that comes in the wake of a spate of mass shootings and during a week intended to honor survivors of gun violence.
Late Thursday, Clyde, who owns a gun store, tweeted a video about his efforts.
“I hear that this little pin that I’ve been giving out on the House floor has been triggering some of my Democratic colleagues,” he said in the video. “Well, I give it out to remind people of the Second Amendment of the Constitution and how important it is in preserving our liberties.”
Clyde closed by sharing that there are plenty of pins available for those who want to come by his office.
The assault-rifle pins have angered Democrats, who began noticing them in recent days before they knew of their origin. On Wednesday, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) posted images of two GOP members of Congress — Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) and George Santos (N.Y.) — sporting the assault-rifle pins on their lapels.
“Where are these assault weapon pins coming from?” Gomez asked. “Who is passing these out?”
Gomez also noted that Paulina Luna was wearing such a pin less than 48 hours after a mass shooting in her state wounded 11 people.
“This isn’t the flex you think it is,” Gomez tweeted.
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) pointed out that GOP lawmakers were wearing the lapel pins during National Gun Violence Survivors Week. Dozens of mass shootings have already taken place across the country in 2023, outpacing previous years, according to data tracked by the Gun Violence Archive.
“Weapons of war have no place on our streets, much less on our lapels,” Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) declared.
Perhaps more than other GOP lawmakers, Clyde has downplayed the severity of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying that parts of it were comparable to a “normal tourist visit.”
Clyde also later voted against awarding police officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6 the Congressional Gold Medal, and refused to shake hands with Michael Fanone, one of the officers who had responded to the violence and was beaten unconscious during the attack.
Clyde’s distribution of the gun-shaped pins comes after newly elected Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) passed out dummy grenades stamped with the GOP logo last week to other members of Congress, along with a note on his office letterhead emphasizing that the ordnance was made in Florida.
“I am honored to be a part of the Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees,” Mills wrote. “In that spirit, it is my pleasure to give you a 40mm grenade, made for a MK19 grenade launcher. These are manufactured in the Sunshine State and first developed in the Vietnam War.”
At the bottom of the letter was a postscript noting that the grenades were inert.
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
literally just wrote that in the other thread
U.S. considers shooting down Chinese balloon as it nears Atlantic Ocean
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"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
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LOL, only Vonnegut's Chinese were so small they were like microbes that caused infections when accidentally inhaled leading to wiping out much of western civilization. A rather bizarre scenario KV formulated (I'm guessing partly as an analogy to illustrate our paranoia about the east) in his novel to induce social collapse in America. That created a situation where we needed to learn to live selflessly and help each other. Wishful thinking? One of Vonnegut's strangest books!
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
4 by Big mouth Green
2 by Big gun Boebert
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"I play good, hard-nosed basketball.
Things happen in the game. Nothing you
can do. I don't go and say,
"I'm gonna beat this guy up."
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memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
I don't think he is stepping down nor will they find anything bad enough to remove him.
Strange world we live in.
Things change. It's a drastically different country now than it was even just 11 years ago.
1998: Noblesville; 2003: Noblesville; 2009: EV Nashville, Chicago, Chicago
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2013: London ON, Chicago; 2014: Cincy, St Louis, Moline (NO CODE)
2016: Lexington, Wrigley #1; 2018: Wrigley, Wrigley, Boston, Boston
2020: Oakland, Oakland: 2021: EV Ohana, Ohana, Ohana, Ohana
2022: Oakland, Oakland, Nashville, Louisville; 2023: Chicago, Chicago, Noblesville
@Merkin Baller yes, that was my point. The world was viewed much differently years ago.
Romney goes after Santos in tense exchange at the State of the Union
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) exchanged harsh words on the House floor Tuesday night before the State of the Union began, with the Republican senator telling the freshman GOP lawmaker that he should not be in Congress.
As lawmakers and other guests were entering the chamber ahead of President Biden’s speech, Romney and Santos were spotted having a brief but tense conversation. Romney glared at Santos, who smiled slightly, nodded and seemed to dismiss Romney before continuing to greet others.
Romney later said that he told Santos — who has admitted to fabricating large swaths of his biography and whose campaign finances are under investigation — that he did not belong there. Santos is facing a possible investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee and last month stepped down from his committee assignments.
“I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States,” Romney told reporters after Biden’s speech concluded Tuesday night, when asked why he had confronted Santos.
“Given the fact that [Santos is] under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room,” Romney added.
Romney said that Santos’s claims that he had “embellished” his record were absurd.
“Look, embellishing is saying you got an A when you got an A-minus. Lying is saying you graduated from a college you didn’t even attend,” Romney said. “And he shouldn’t be in Congress. And they’re going to go through the process and hopefully get him out. But he shouldn’t be there and if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there.”
Romney told reporters that Santos may have responded to him, but that he did not hear it on the House floor. After the State of the Union concluded, Santos lashed out at Romney on social media.
“Hey @MittRomney just a reminder that you will NEVER be PRESIDENT!” he posted to Twitter.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) later defended Santos, describing Romney’s words as “the rudest I’ve ever seen a human being be to another human being.”
But Rep. Nick LaLota, a fellow freshman Republican from New York, sided with Romney, calling Santos a “sociopath.”
“Mitt Romney is right on this one. I’ve been clear on George Santos for months now,” LaLota said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday morning. “He does not deserve to be in Congress."
“He’s a sociopath, George Santos. He looks for that attention, even the negative attention drives him. It’s become an embarrassment and a distraction to Republicans in the House,” said LaLota, who like Santos, represents a district on New York’s Long Island.
Dozens of Republicans in New York state, including several in Santos’s district from Nassau County, have called on him to resign. Joseph G. Cairo Jr., the Nassau County party chairman, has said Santos’s campaign was one of “deceit, lies, fabrication.”
Romney, who was the Republican nominee for president in 2012, was the only Republican to stand and clap when Biden said unemployment was at a 50-year low Tuesday night, and applauded alongside Democrats at other points in Biden’s speech.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/08/mitt-romney-george-santos-state-of-the-union/
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It's also worth noting that this was well after the start of the tea party & birtherism etc... the ugliness was already well established by 2012.
I forgot about the Tea Party, it seems like forever ago. Do you remember the Minute Men? They got some press for a bit.