So, the only Congressman to vote against releasing the Epstein files hails from Louisiana, Islamophobe Clay Higgins (R-LA). See @54 above to read about his Christian, brotherly love.

The execrable Clay Higgins previously introduced legislation restricting Muslim access to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Israel. (WTF should he care about a mosque thousands and thousands of miles away from his dirt-poor, violence-ridden plantation state which ranks at the bottom of the US for literacy, healthcare, and the environment?)

Louisiana native House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) went on an all-expenses paid trip to Israel this year, and it was to an illegal settlement where he was royally feted. This drove Marjorie-Taylor Greene (R-GA) nuts, who accused AIPAC of interfering in US politics.

Is there something in the Louisiana water besides industrial pollution and flesh-eating bacteria?

Jen Herold's family photo shows the next generation of home-schooled white bread Christian Neanderthals who will be the bane of your children and grandchildren in the future.

Rep. Clay Higgins is the one House member who voted to protect sex traffickers.

#42 | Posted by johnny_hotsauce at 2025-11-18 06:39 PM | Reply | Flag: Captain "Law-and-Order" Clay Higgins, Republican

On Muslims: "Hunt them, identity them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all."

The republican/russian/tech oligarch brainwashing machine is too powerful. The cult will believe that any hardship they experience is the fault of democrats.

#142 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-11-18 06:10 PM | Reply | Flag: So, so true.

And now CBS News joined the propaganda system to help keep us in the Matrix while AI systems become more and more infused with nuanced (and sometimes blatant) rightwing lies.

@140: Good point, SpeakSoftly. There is no end to Republican chicanery.

And either way, the Red and Blue States will have less money to deal with their issues. Over the years indirect taxation became a way for states to make up for lost federal largesse (e.g. higher fees for driver's or hunter's licenses, CDLs, tolls, requesting birth certificates or judicial documents, increased state college tuitions, etc.), but it doesn't make for massive federal shortfalls.

And the GOP "BBB" is going to hurt a lot of people, mostly in the Red States. I wondered how many less expensive state or city-run hospitals are left in the US?

Here is one AI snapshot:

"As of 2025, there are approximately 6,093 hospitals operating in the US. Among these, about 1,000 are government hospitals, which include those run by state, city, or county authorities. These public hospitals are generally considered more affordable or "inexpensive" compared to private facilities, as they often provide care regardless of a patient's ability to pay and may receive public funding to offset costs."

Of those 1,000 government hospitals, many are probably VA which is getting its budget and personnel cut too.

Elections 2026 will be a slaughterhouse for Republicans.
#136 | Posted by Zed
They WOULD be. But fascists don't allow legitimate elections
#137 | Posted by SpeakSoftly at 2025-11-18 04:06 PM |

The electoral slaughter against the well-entrenched status quo began with the off-year election a few weeks ago: A communist won in Ithaca, socialists won in NYC and Seattle, a Muslim won in Virginia, and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is going to be primaried in 2026.

But whichever sacrificial lambs the status quo offer to the electorate in 2026 is irrelevant. The economic damage has already been done with the 'BBB' and other GOP legislation that expropriated America's wealth from the bottom to the top. There is no "clawback" of the pelf that junta members made with insider trading, obscene DOJ settlements to "victims" of so-called witch-hunts, the outrageous profits made by the Trumpf Crime Family (TCF), or greedy DOD contractors. Look at the loot Felon Musk stole away with.

After the "Great Society," each non-Republican administration had less money in the coffers for the social safety net, education grants, healthcare, etc because of the unending GOP tax legislation that continually favored the oligarchs. States received less and less federal money year by year. Local police depts began "speed traps" to make up for lost funding and free colleges went away, like CUNY.

Good Christian Dummkopf Trumpf praying to his god:

@17: Yup. Undisguised feudalism from the GOP ("Gang of Oligarchs and Pedophiles").

Remarkably: "At the University of Miami, Halligan interned for the Innocence Project and the Miami-Dade County public defender's office. She worked as a Deco Model in 2012. She competed in the Miss Colorado USA pageant in 2009 and 2010, reaching the semifinals and earning third runner-up, respectively." (from Wiki).

Miss Halligan helped defend convicts on death row as an intern for the Innocence Project. Now she prosecutes innocent people for the Trumpf junta.

FYI:

One attorney in the New York office spoke in depth about the plan being recently updated to include mosques and liberal synagogues in the wake of Zohran Mamdani's recent win in the NYC mayor's race. The attorney spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. The plan is not regional to New England, but a nationwide strategy.

'Just Sink The Boats': Trumpf Judge Implicated In Plot To Murder Alleged Drug Traffickers

Another casualty of the released emails, another elitist from Harvard (like Alan Dershowitz):

I didn't realize one could spell the word 'train wreck' with the letters 'N a n c y M a c e.'

*** More Disgrace and Dishonor at Half-Demolished White House ***

As Dummkopf Trumpf is royally hosting a psychopath who listened in on the death shrieks of activist-journalist Jamal Khashoggi while he was being dismembered alive in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, "Old Glory" is lying on the ground at the White House.

Recall that earlier this year Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-MN) sincerely pleaded for House Republican Nancy Mace (R-SC) to seek immediate acute psychiatric care before she hurts someone or herself. A few weeks later, the potential 2026 gubernatorial candidate for South Carolina threw a conniption fit at Charleston Airport. Nancy Mace has also been described as the most transphobic legislator in the US.

NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani advised his one million social media followers to boycott Starbucks in support of their strike. In 2021, the Bronx High School of Science graduate and NYS Assemblyman went on a 15-day hunger strike in support of striking NYC taxi drivers while Andrew Cuomo was gorging himself on delicious New York calzones after being kicked out of office for sexual harassment. One of Cuomo's many victims testified of the disgraced ex-NYS Governor: "It came off creepy."

In 2024, Starbucks CEO oligarch Brian Niccol made a staggering $95.8 million, while the median barista at the company made just $14,674, according to the AFL-CIO. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio of an astonishing 6,666-to-1 is the largest among all S&P 500 companies.

I guess oligarchs just don't make enough money for themselves.

Sources:

*** Status Quo Parties Losing Appeal as Americans Move Further Left ***

A first-time candidate and self-proclaimed socialist was declared the winner of last week's Seattle mayoral race, bringing an end to the closest election in the city's history. Katie Wilson, a 43-year-old transportation advocate, unseated incumbent Democrat Bruce Harrell with 50.2% of the vote compared to Harrell's 49.5%. The race was the tightest in municipal election history. Wilson ran her first campaign on a platform of affordability, with a particular focus on housing, food access and cost-of-living issues. The campaign closely mirrored that of Zohran Mamdani in NYC, who also made affordability a centerpiece of his campaign.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) had finally endorsed fellow Democrat Zohran Mamdani just a day before early voting polls opened in the NYC mayoral race. New Yorkers noticed his lukewarm and reluctant support for Zohran Mamdani which may have ramifications for the so far well-insulated and well-funded Congressman.

The population of NYC's 8th CD is 739,447 and the median income level is $63,052.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has slightly over one million followers on social platforms: Instagram (749,000), Twitter/X (158,300), Facebook (302,000).

Chi Oss has approximately 100,000 followers combined across Instagram and TikTok.

By contrast, NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has over nine million followers on social media: Instagram (4.8 million), X/Twitter (+one million), TikTok (3.3 million).

*** Record Number of Americans Anxious About Health Costs in 2026 ***

Almost half of adults (47%) say they're worried they won't be able to afford health care next year.

No wonder Americans want to emigrate: Inflation, anxiety, debts, medical costs.

But hey, the oligarchs got a tremendous tax cut.

Good job Republican Party!

The Epstein emails reveal that the oligarchs and elites have their own moral and communication code.