Steve Thomas

What was in those boxes of files that Donald Trump loaded aboard Marine One on the White House lawn just before he left for Andrews Air Force base? What was so important that he couldn't trust them to ordinary shipping methods and couldn't afford to let them out of his sight? I wonder. Steve Thomas

I hope to God Joe Biden smudges the White House. Purification Through the Ancient Practice of Smudging https://www.willystreet.coop/pages/purification-through-the-ancient-practice-of-smudging "Smudging is an ancient purification ritual originally practiced by Native Americans. It involves igniting a bundle or braidof dried herbs and waving the smoke to purify people or spaces. Smudging metaphorically renews and cleanses the body, the mind and the spirit. Smudging creates a “cleansing” smoke bath which mystics say purifies the physical and spiritual body and brings harmony and emotional balance. It releases negative ions, which research shows creates a more positive environment allowing spiritual cleansing and connectedness with the spiritual realm. Some say burning herbs releases the scents and vibrations into the air, replacing negative energies with the healing properties of herbs from the earth." Oh, and he needs to sweep the White House for listening devices too. Steve Thomas

I like the one where Rudy Giuliani blames Bill Barr for the riot. ‘It was treacherous': Rudy Giuliani hits out at Bill Barr for blaming Trump for Capitol riots and says cause of unrest was the ex-Attorney General's 'failure to investigate voter fraud' which left mob 'angry' By Luke Kenton For Dailymail.com 20 January 2021 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9166427/Rudy-Giuliani-calls-Barr-treacherous-blaming-Trump-Capitol-riots.html “Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that blame over the violent US Capitol riots should, at least in part, be attributed to former Attorney General William Barr – and not Donald Trump. The former New York City Mayor made the comments in response to an assertion made by Barr on Monday in which he said Trump ‘precipitated’ the deadly unrest in Washington DC on January 6. ‘The real cause of the violence, I think, if you want something other than Antifa, is Bill Barr not investigating [election fraud],’ Giuliani added. ‘If the people are angry, they are angry that these crimes have gone unredressed, and we’ve gone two years with crimes unredressed.’” It's nice to see the rats eating their own. Steve Thomas

'Start up the firing squads!' NYC conspiracy theorist charged in threats against Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other Dems By Travis Gettys January 19, 2021 https://www.rawstory.com/brendan-hunt/ “A New York court employee was charged with threatening to kill prominent Democratic lawmakers with "firing squads" on the day President Donald Trump's supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol. Brendan Hunt, a former actor who works for New York's Office of Court Administration, was taken into custody Tuesday morning by FBI agents at his home in Queens and arrested for making white supremacist threats against Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, reported the New York Daily News. "Trump, we want actual revenge on democrats," wrote Hunt, on his Facebook account "HuntBrendan," according to a criminal complaint. "Meaning, we want you to hold a public execution of pelosi aoc schumer etc. And if you dont do it, the citizenry will. We're not voting in another rigged election. Start up the firing squads, mow down these commies, and lets take america back!" The 37-year-old Hunt, who led drum circles during Occupy Wall Street protests a decade ago and produces Sandy Hook "truther" content, posted similar messages later on Jan. 6, investigators said. "F*ck the lockdown po-lice!" Hunt posted, according to investigators. "Yeah booiii run those pigs over! Anyone enforcing this lockdown mask vaccine bullsh*t deserves nothing less than a bullet in their f*cking head! Including cops! If you're going to shoot someone tho, go after a high value target like pelosi schumer or AOC. They really need to be put down. These commies will see death before they see us surrender! USA!!" Two days after the riots, Hunt posted an 88-second video using anti-Semitic language and encouraging viewers to "slaughter them all," and on Jan. 12 replied to a Parler account purportedly operated by Michael Flynn encouraging Trump supporters to bring guns to Joe Biden's inauguration. "Lets go, jan 20, bring your guns #millionmilitiamarch," Hunt posted, according to court documents.” Steve Thomas

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Facebook in 2018: Parkland school shooting was a false flag planned event Written by Eric Hananoki 01/19/21 11:20 https://www.mediamatters.org/false-flag-conspiracy-theory/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-facebook-2018-parkland-school-shooting-was “In a previously unreported interaction, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) agreed with a 2018 Facebook comment that the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was actually a “false flag” planned event. In a separate Facebook post in 2018, Greene also claimed: “I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that ‘we need another school shooting’ in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control.” Greene was a right-wing commentator before successfully running for Congress in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District. She has pushed the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theories; falsely claimed that there’s no evidence a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11; labeled the 2018 pipe bomb packages to members of Congress and others a hoax; accused the Obama administration of killing former Democratic staffer Seth Rich; and pushed anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic rhetoric, among other things. Greene has frequently used social media to spread misinformation, toxic rhetoric, and conspiracy theories. Twitter recently suspended Greene’s Twitter account for 12 hours after she spread lies about the U.S. Senate elections in Georgi On February 14, 2018, a gunman took the lives of 17 people in a school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The tragedy spurred survivors to become activists and call for new gun laws. The shooting also resulted in conspiracy theories, including the claim that it was a “false flag” event -- an incident that is either faked or planned by someone other than the actual perpetrator -- to take away people’s guns. Those toxic claims were especially spread through right-wing and social media. Greene, now a member of Congress, was one of those people who spread such claims on Facebook. In 2018, she posted a story about disgraced Broward County sheriff’s deputy Scot Peterson receiving a retirement pension. In the comments section, someone wrote: “It’s called a pay off to keep his mouth shut since it was a false flag planned shooting.” Greene replied: “Exactly.” At the end of 2018, Greene also wrote a Facebook post claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants more school shootings to enact gun laws. She wrote: “Most Americans are asleep and pay no attention to the real civil war that is happening right now in our country. There are only a small percentage of people who are wide awake. This is no longer about political parties, but truly about nationalism versus globalism and freedom versus socialism and elitism versus the people and at it's core good versus evil.”” Steve Thomas

Dominion has sent a letter to the MyPillow guy. They sued Sidney Powell for $1.3 billion. Good, Maybe they can put this Lindell guy out of business. Steve Thomas

Rep. Joaquin Castro to introduce legislation barring Trump’s name from appearing on federal buildings https://www.archpaper.com/2021/01/rep-joaquin-castro-introduce-legislation-barring-donald-trump-name-appearing-federal-buildings/ Steve Thomas

Capitol Rioter Threatened to Shoot His Kids If They Snitched: Feds BAD DADS “Guy Reffitt was allegedly a member of the militia group “Texas Freedom Force,” a pro-Confederate group tied to the Capitol assault.” By Kelly Weill Jan. 18, 2021 https://www.thedailybeast.com/capitol-rioter-guy-reffitt-threatened-to-shoot-his-kids-if-they-snitched-feds?ref=home “According to prosecutors, Reffitt was part of the Texas Freedom Fighters, a militant group that lobbies to protect Confederate symbols, and has spent the past weeks on Twitter accusing the left of being the real rioters. Reffitt allegedly admitted to his family that he’d participated in the attacks, telling the family that “we” (likely the TFF, according to a criminal filing) had “stormed the Capitol.” He also allegedly told family that he’d brought a gun with him to D.C. Reffitt’s children allegedly were “disturbed” by his “extreme” statements. When they expressed alarm, he allegedly told them that “if you turn me in, you’re a traitor and you know what happens to traitors...traitors get shot.” His wife provided information on the fight to investigators.” Steve Thomas

In ancient Egypt. succeeding Pharaohs sought to erase any mention of their forbears by chiseling their names off of monuments and deleting their names from official scrolls. I predict that we will see the same effort applied here. The name Trump will become an anathema. You will have to go into the dusty archives to find any mention of what he did in his time here. Mothers will invoke his name to terrorize their children into obeying. Steve Thomas

This guy is a menace to society. Far-Right Rep. falsely claims 'Democratic machine' paid insurrectionists – after urging them to threaten lawmakers By David Badash, January 18, 2021 https://www.rawstory.com/madison-cawthorn/ “U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn claims "the Democratic machine" paid the Capitol insurrections who attempted a coup on January 6 to overt urn the election, after having told Trump supporters to "lightly threaten" lawmakers. The North Carolina freshman Republican made his false claim in the middle of the insurrection, when he took the time to call in to the radio show of a top Trump ally, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. “I believe that this was agitators strategically placed inside of this group — you can call them antifa, you can call them people paid by the Democratic machine — but to make the Trump campaign, the Trump movement, look bad," said Congressman Cawthorn, a far right grenade thrower who has already aligned himself with the QAnon crop of incoming House Republicans. "And to make this look like it was a violent outrage, when really the battle was being fought by people like myself and other great patriots who are standing up against the establishment and standing up against this tyranny that we see in our country." Barely weeks before the insurrection Cawthorn told supporters they could "lightly threaten" lawmakers.” Steve Thomas

7) A Baby Trump blimp in diapers.

Andrew, i have it on good authority that it will be on the second floor of the Four Seasons. Total Landscaping business. Steve Thomas

Trump is asking donors for $2 billion for his Presidential Library. That's $150K for materials and $1.5 billion to pay off his debts. Steve Thomas

Vince, I can't believe that no one questioned that at the time. I guess that this late in time, it would be impossible to find out where he got his information. Steve Thomas

Yup. That old "impeachment hoax" stuff. That's all Fake News you know. Steve Thomas

Republicans knew they were making a deal with the devil — now they're paying for it Sonali Kolhatkar, Independent Media Institute January 16, 2021 https://www.rawstory.com/gop-is-2649959826/ “After the Capitol riot, an unnamed senior Trump official appeared shell-shocked, saying to a reporter, "This is confirmation of so much that everyone has said for years now—things that a lot of us thought were hyperbolic. We'd say, 'Trump's not a fascist,' or 'He's not a wannabe dictator.' Now, it's like, 'Well, what do you even say in response to that now?'" But this late-breaking realization that many Republicans are expressing publicly or feeling privately is not enough to absolve the dirty deal that they made with Trump to further their agenda. The GOP and Trump deserve one another and have maintained a symbiotic relationship that has devastated the nation. Whether leading GOP figures like McConnell try to distance themselves from Trump at this late-breaking hour, or like Cruz, remain loyal to him until the very end, is irrelevant. The party has lost credibility and is lying in a bed of its own making. They have edged us far too close to the abyss of Hitlerism, and like political parties in other nations that have flirted with or enabled fascism, Republicans need to answer for what they have done.” In two short years, they lost the House, the Senate and the Presidency. Their leader was impeached twice. Their Party has become synonymous with conspiracy-laden Q-Anon madness and white supremacy Aryan race fascism. Was it worth it? Steve Thomas

This is who we have had as our Acting Secretary of Defense: Oh my God. Steve Thomas

They sacked the Capitol. Now the pillaging begins. Steve Thomas

- Tucker Carlson - “It was not an act of racism. It was not an insurrection. It wasn’t an armed invasion by a brigade of dangerous white supremacists. It wasn’t. Those are lies,” Carlson exclaimed..." Okee Dokey. Steve Thomas

How Trump Wins Impeachment, Again By MICHAEL KRUSE 01/13/202 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/13/trump-impeachment-accountability-459151 “Trump, judging from his whole life, not only could play the victim but has and does and will. “He’s a grievance machine,” said Pete Ditto, a psychology professor at the University of California, Irvine. “Victimization seems like a form of weakness, but it can also be a source of power.” “What he represents to those who follow him,” said Sheinkopf, the Democratic strategist, who’s known Trump for decades, “is a very simple phrase, which is: ‘Look what they did to us again.’ And Trump is the guy that says, ‘Look what they did to me—now help me finish them off.’” “To his followers, he will be a victim of the powerful.” Hank Sheinkopf This will be true, Sheinkopf said, regardless of whether or not Trump is still the president, regardless of whether he was impeached twice, and perhaps in some twisted way because he’s no longer the president and because he was impeached twice. “He will continue to have this power,” he said. “Because to his followers, he will be a victim of the powerful, who are now turning this into a racially diverse, non-white-male-dominant, non-blue-collar environment. He will be the hero of the put-upon who have been stabbed in the back … by those who run government. Which is how shame and disgrace become honor and a battle cry.” Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, speaking in defense of the president during Wednesday’s debate, made a version of this very point. He warned the Democrats, “even if you are successful today, and were the Senate to convict President Trump, yours will be a Pyrrhic victory. For instead of stopping the Trump train, his movement will grow stronger, for you will have made him a martyr.”” Shades of Napoleon returning from the Isle of Elba, or Adolf Hitler in 1930's Germany. Steve Thomas

The 14 Words In following the Capitol riot, I kept running across reference to something called The 14 words. About David Lane https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/david-lane “A member of the terrorist group The Order, which was responsible for the 1984 assassination of Jewish radio host Alan Berg and many other crimes, Lane became even more of a movement icon after penning what rapidly became the best-known slogan of the U.S. white supremacist movement, the so-called "14 Words" ("We must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children."). Sentenced to a total of 190 years for his crimes as a member of The Order, Lane spent his time in prison industriously pumping out racist tracts and other propaganda.” What covering heavy metal taught me about spotting Nazis By Kim Kelly January 12, 2021 https://www.cjr.org/first_person/heavy-metal-capitol-spotting-nazis.php?utm_source=digg “A bare-chested, wild-eyed white man in bearskin furs and a horned helmet stood at the podium of the Senate chambers, his fists raised in triumph, as fellow Trump-supporting rioters laid waste to the Capitol. The man, a QAnon cultist from Phoenix named Jacob Anthony Chansley, who goes by the name Jake Angeli, has since been arrested alongside a few dozen others, but not before the far-right social mediasphere tried to paint him as an “antifa spy” planted among the insurrectionists. The efforts at misdirection were in vain, however—Angeli is a notorious pro-Trump presence at rallies in his home state, and he’s pleaded publicly for recognition as a true “patriot.” In case there remained any uncertainty, a close look at his hairy torso made Angeli’s leanings clear: when I zoomed in on his tattoos, I noticed white power symbols—Angeli was quite literally wearing his fascist sympathies https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/qanon-shaman-maga-capitol-riot-rune-pagan-imagery-tattoo-1111344/ on his heart. I knew what I was seeing because I recognized some of the same iconography hidden in the margins of black-metal albums. For the uninitiated, black metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music distinguished by its aggression, over-the-top theatricality, and affinity for the occult, as well as its unfortunate history as a hotbed for white supremacy. “Just last week, for instance, a couple of days before the attack on the Capitol,[Marjorie Taylor] Greene tweeted from her official account, “I’m here to fight for my children’s future and the next generation’s American Dream.” The sentence immediately felt strange to me; upon reading it again, I realized that it held a striking similarity to the white supremacist “Fourteen Words”: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” Greene’s message was fourteen words long. Was it a coincidence, or a dog whistle? Given Greene’s QAnon connections and strong white nationalist support base, it bears closer examination—and a fluency with the extensive literature of white supremacist symbology.” Steve Thomas

Don the Mafia Don Mob Boss. I like it. Steve Thomas

Trump supporter who brought Confederate flag into Capitol arrested in Delaware Sky Palma January 14, 2021 https://www.rawstory.com/kevin-seefried-arrested/ “Kevin Seefried was arrested after being wanted by the FBI, which circulated images of him in a campaign to have the public help identify those who breached the Capitol.” Now there's a case for the Sedition Law. Steve Thomas

How the Senate Could Speed Up the Impeachment Trial Senators could borrow a trick from civil cases to shorten the trial. By RONALD KROTOSZYNSKI 01/13/2021 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/13/senate-impeachment-trial-biden-presidency-shorten-459052 “In an ideal world, McConnell would call the Senate back into session as soon as possible, but according to recent news reports, the Senate is not likely to reconvene until a day before Biden’s inauguration. At the post-inauguration trial, then, a member of the Senate, presumably Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, would move for summary judgment by suspending the regular impeachment trial rules. The motion could provide that the Senate would hear a few hours of legal arguments from the House managers and Trump’s lawyers, followed by an opportunity for senators to put questions to them, with a vote on the motion for summary judgment to take place after the allotted time for legal arguments. If the motion permitted a few hours to both legal teams, and a few hours for senators’ questions, the entire process could take place in the course of a day or two, rather over two or more weeks.” Steve Thomas

A Brief History of Donald J. Trump State Park By Eric Goldschein May 8, 2017 https://www.outsideonline.com/2181686/brief-history-donald-j-trump-state-park “Just 45 miles north of Trump Tower in New York City lies a dagger-shaped swath of land dominated by thick brush and brambles almost indistinguishable from other forested areas of upstate New York. It’s lush and green in summer, barren and brown in winter, dotted red and pink by occasional apple trees or dogwoods. There’s little unique or notable about it, except its name: Donald J. Trump State Park. The park is a short ride away from a popular state park named for another New Yorker-turned-president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Not surprisingly, it was originally supposed to be another Trump golf course. But Trump donated the land to New York State over a decade ago—an act of philanthropy doubling as a tax write-off. Since then, the park hasn’t just gone undeveloped—it’s practically rotting. Follow signs promoting the park, as a tourist might, and you’ll find an overgrown, unmanaged piece of property: a barely paved road seems to lead nowhere; asbestos-filled buildings covered in graffiti are crumbling; parking lots are overrun with weeds. There are no staff or amenities, no trails or campsites. It is a park in name only.” Steve Thomas