“Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top fundraiser for former President Donald Trump and the girlfriend of his son Donald Trump Jr., boasted to a GOP operative that she had raised $3 million for the rally that helped fuel the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In a series of text messages sent on Jan. 4 to Katrina Pierson, the White House liaison to the event, Guilfoyle detailed her fundraising efforts and supported a push to get far-right speakers on the stage alongside Trump for the rally, which sought to overturn the election of President Joe Biden” ProPublica reports

“Guilfoyle’s texts, reviewed by ProPublica, represent the strongest indication yet that members of the Trump family circle were directly involved in the financing and organization of the rally. The attack on the Capitol that followed it left five dead and scores injured. A House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6 has subpoenaed more than 30 Trump allies for testimony and documents, including Pierson and Caroline Wren, a former deputy to Guilfoyle. But Guilfoyle herself has so far not received any official scrutiny from Congress. Guilfoyle’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, denied that Guilfoyle had anything to do with fundraising or approving speakers. He said the text from Guilfoyle ‘did not relate to the Save America rally’ on Jan. 6 and the ‘content of the message itself’ was ‘inaccurate’ and ‘taken out of context.’ He did not respond to additional questions asking about the accuracy and context. Reached by phone, Pierson declined to comment.”

Associated Press:  “Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted the death sentence of condemned inmate Julius Jones on Thursday, the day of his scheduled execution. Jones has proclaimed his innocence from death row for more than two decades in the 1999 killing of a suburban Oklahoma City businessman.  Stitt commuted Jones’ death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He had been scheduled for execution on Thursday.

“The state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommended in a 3-1 vote on Nov. 1 that Stitt commute Jones’ sentence to life in prison, with several members of the panel agreeing they had doubts about the evidence that led to Jones’ conviction.  Jones, 41, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die for the 1999 shooting death of Edmond businessman Paul Howell during a carjacking.

“Jones’ case drew widespread attention after it was profiled in “The Last Defense,” a three-episode documentary produced by actress Viola Davis that aired on ABC in 2018. Since then, reality television star Kim Kardashian West and athletes with Oklahoma ties, including NBA stars Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Trae Young, have urged Stitt to commute Jones’ death sentence and spare his life.  Jones alleges he was framed by the actual killer, a high school friend and former co-defendant who was a key witness against him. But Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater and the state’s former attorney general, Mike Hunter, have said the evidence against Jones is overwhelming.”

The Man in The High Castle, Amazon Studios

Nobody can really credibly argue the Republican Party in its current form is “Pro-Black” by any stretch of the imagination, not in a vacuum, nor relative to the Democrats. You could say the Democrats are out of touch with Black voters and have a tendency to take their support for granted. It’s arguable that’s more a symptom of white privilege and an overall lack of awareness of the political and economic hardships imposed on Black Americans, while the other party’s political platform is currently largely based on an outright hostility to spreading that awareness.

The “Critical Race Theory” panic, at the end of the day, cutting through all the noise and bullshit, is weaponized racism. Republicans get their prized “suburban moms” to buy into fears their children will be indoctrinated into believing an alternate history where – and this is the part that none of them ever get to because they don’t want to admit it – a critical sector of the economy of the United States and the British colonial provinces before it was entirely dependent on forced labor from chosen by the color of their skin. After that ended and those laborers were emancipated, the state, local, and federal governments – as well as private entities – kept those people and their descendants in a state of official second-class citizenship, until a century later when it was formally abolished with the Civil Rights act. After that, the unofficial remnants and aftereffects of segregation still remain in place to this day, kept as such in no small part due to the efforts of the Republican Party and its voters.

Big Bird & Big Gov. Mandates?
NO 👏🏼 THANK 👏🏼 YOU 👏🏼 pic.twitter.com/JK3efVPQnK

— CPAC (@CPAC) November 18, 2021

A new CPAC promo image left out the newest Asian Sesame Street Muppet whose addition to the cast angered CPAC chief Matt Schlapp, who called on the government to defund PBS in response.

“Mark Meadows, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, said GOP leadership did not do enough to combat the agenda of the Biden administration in an interview on Rep. Matt Gaetz’s podcast ‘Firebrand.’ While he didn’t call out Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) by name, he clearly was referring to the GOP leader, mentioning the California Republican’s speakership ambitions. ‘You need to make Democrats take tough votes. You need to make sure that when you’ve got them on the ropes that you don’t throw in the white towel and surrender. And that’s what’s happened. We saw it with the infrastructure vote a few weeks ago … If you’re going to be the speaker of the House, you’ve got to be able to control those members and those members with particular positions of authority.’ Additionally, he argued McCarthy should cut them off from any campaign funds from the House GOP’s campaign arm, saying: ‘If they’re going to vote like Democrats, let the DCCC support them'” Politico reports.

That this comes off the heels of the QAdulteress Marjorie Taylor Greene’s venomous tirade against McCarthy, and another incident where Texas Congressman Chip Roy went apeshit at the House GOP leader on Tuesday shows that Kevin’s already uncertain path to the speakership is getting even shakier. It’s just another example of the truth that in the end Trump minions all get eventually destroyed by the hive mind of the cult in one way or another, the only question is when and how it happens and how hard the landing is after the fall.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a man who evidently feels the need to compensate for his relatively small stature in other ways, is selling a balls joke on his campaign store for $19.95.

The tax-and-inflation fighting governor also is allowing more pain at the pump for Floridians, per a notice from the state’s Department of Revenue: “Beginning January 1, 2022, the statewide tax rates on motor fuel and diesel fuel will increase Florida law requires annual adjustments to the state fuel tax rates and the State Comprehensive Enhanced Transportation System (SCETS) tax rate based on the National Consumer Price Index. Motor Fuel The state tax rate on motor fuel will increase from 18.5 cents per gallon to 19 cents per gallon. The ninth-cent and local option rates vary by county. For a list of local option and ninth-cent rates by county, review the Motor Fuel Tax Rates chart available on the Florida Department of Revenue’s website at floridarevenue.com/taxes/rates. The SCETS rate will increase from 8 cents per gallon to 8.3 cents per gallon”

DeSantis shouldn’t let questions about that or the pretty blatantly Anti-semitic tweet by his press secretary on Wednesday ruin his Thursday however, as it’s a day of legislative triumph for him when he’ll be signing his bills trying to work around the federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates in an unincorporated exurb east of Tampa called BRANDON, Florida. Get it? Brandon, Florida! Haha!

Jesse Kline, the based MAGA patriot briefly detained by cops Wednesday for carrying an AR-15 outside the Kenosha County, Wisconsin courthouse as the jury deliberated in the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial, turns out to be a former Ferguson, Missouri police department officer with an arrest record for stalking and assault, per a report on Meaww.com and a 2018 STL Today article. Kline was fired in August 2018 for threatening his then-girlfriend and another male with a gun at a home in Maplewood, Missouri and subsequently charged with assault and stalking, charges that were dropped after both of the victims refused to testify against him.

Ferguson, Missouri’s police department has a sordid history of racial controversy, most notoriously for the 2014 shooting death of 20-year-old Black man Michael Brown by an officer during a confrontation after Brown had shoplifted a box of cigars, and the civil unrest that followed, one of the incidents that contributed to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement. Kline was not the only St Louis-area white nationalist rifle enthusiast to show up in Wisconsin in solidarity with Kyle Rittenhouse this week, as wealthy ambulance chaser-turned-low-polling Republican Senate candidate Mark Closkey also made an appearance in Kenosha on Monday.

AP: “Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit record highs for the second straight day Thursday, while new daily cases appeared to be taking a downward trend but still remained higher than during previous waves of the pandemic. Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported that 1,251 people died of COVID-19 since the day before, the most since Russia had its first virus outbreak in March 2020. The previous record of 1,247 deaths was recorded Wednesday. The task force also reported 37,374 new confirmed cases. Until this week, Russian authorities had recorded higher daily case numbers since late October. Health experts have blamed the latest surge in infections and deaths on low vaccination rates and lax public attitudes toward taking precautions.”

“Fewer than 40% of Russia’s nearly 146 million people have been fully vaccinated, even though the country approved a domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine months before most of the world. To boost immunization rates, the government said new restrictions would take effect next year and limit access to many public places, as well as domestic and international trains and flights, to those who have been fully vaccinated, have recovered from COVID-19 or are medically exempt from vaccination. Officials have urged Russians to get vaccinated in the meantime.”

“There are tapes. That’s the news from a recent filing in federal court in the case against indicted Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), whose defense team acknowledged that the government made at least two recordings of the sitting congressman over the course of its investigation surrounding illicit campaign contributions from a Nigerian-Lebanese billionaire. But the tapes led Fortenberry’s lawyers to ask the judge for what some legal experts say is essentially a courtroom pipe dream.”

“On Nov. 9, Fortenberry’s legal team moved to disqualify the assistant U.S. attorney in charge of the prosecution, arguing that his involvement in the lead-up investigation makes him a witness and may unfairly influence the jury. Prosecutors, on the other hand, believe the recordings will help prove their central allegation that Fortenberry deceived investigators about his knowledge of the source of $30,000 that a foreign national illegally contributed to his 2016 campaign. What’s more, the tapes are just a fraction of the evidence against the nine-term congressman” – Daily Beast.

Washington Post:  “A New York man who pleaded guilty to rape and sexual abuse for assaulting four teenage girls during parties at his parents’ home will not face jail time after a judge Tuesday sentenced him to eight years probation. Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III said he ‘agonized’ over the case of 20-year-old Christopher Belter, who was accused of committing the crimes when he was 16 or 17. Belter pleaded guilty in 2019 to felony charges that included third-degree rape and attempted first-degree sexual abuse, as well as two misdemeanor charges of second-degree sexual abuse.

“Although Belter faced a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, Murphy concluded that jail time for the man ‘would be inappropriate’ in a ruling that shocked the courtroom. ‘I’m not ashamed to say that I actually prayed over what is the appropriate sentence in this case because there was great pain. There was great harm. There were multiple crimes committed in the case,’ Murphy said, according to WKBW. ‘It seems to me that a sentence that involves incarceration or partial incarceration isn’t appropriate, so I am going to sentence you to probation.’

“Belter, of Lewiston, N.Y., will have to register as a sex offender as part of his sentence. Murphy told Belter in court that the probation sentence would be ‘like a sword hanging over your head for the next eight years.’ The judge did not elaborate on why he did not impose jail time.  Steven M. Cohen, an attorney for one of the victims, denounced the judge’s sentencing, saying to reporters Tuesday, ‘Justice was not done here.” He told The Washington Post on Wednesday that his client, who was joined by some of the other victims in the courtroom, was “deeply disappointed’ in the sentencing. ‘My client threw up in the ladies room following the sentencing,’ Cohen said. ‘If Chris Belter was not a White defendant from a rich and influential family, in my experience … he would surely have been sentenced to prison.'”

Asked by the host, “How would you grade Trump as a president?” Former Republican Governor of New Jersey (and politician trying to get people to forget he had the lowest job approval of any governor ever) Chris Christie completely caves:  “Oh, listen, overall, I’d give the president an ‘A.’  Ah, um, y’know, but the fact of the matter is that, um, there were some things that happened specifically at the end of the presidency, um, that I think had some things that clouded his accomplishment, and that’s why we as a, as a party need to emphasis the issues we just talked about, and we talked about those because I think those are incredibly popular with the American people.”

USA Today:  “Papa’s got a brand new look. Papa John’s Pizza released a new logo and renderings of planned changes to its restaurants Tuesday morning, the latest step as the company works to distance itself from founder and former CEO John Schnatter. The company also has dropped the apostrophe in its name, rebranding as ‘Papa Johns.’ But consumers are more likely to notice other changes the corporation is putting in place.

“Renderings show more open floor plans for its restaurants and a self-service pickup counter for customers to take home their orders without waiting in line. The company also has released a new logo, though it appears to be sticking with its longtime slogan of ‘Better ingredients. Better pizza.’ The brand has also updated its color scheme, brightening its green and red hues.

“The new design elements, according to a release from the company, ‘will modernize the Papa Johns experience and build deeper emotional connections with customers, team members and communities, while preserving what has made the brand so successful – its commitment to high-quality, delicious food created from premium ingredients.'”

https://youtu.be/DjEi6YSnzuA

Associated Press:  “California’s highest court rejected on Wednesday a challenge by Monsanto Co.’s to $86.2 million in damages to a couple who developed cancer after spraying the company’s Roundup weed-killer in their yards for three decades.  The state Supreme Court’s denial of review upholds an appeals court’s ruling in favor of Alva and Alberta Pilliod.

“The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco found in a 2-1 ruling in August that Monsanto was at fault for knowingly marketing a product whose active ingredient, glyphosate, could be dangerous.  Monsanto’s parent company, Bayer, said it disagreed with the high court’s decision.

“’We continue to stand strongly behind the safety of Roundup, a position supported by assessments of expert regulators worldwide as well as the overwhelming weight of four decades of extensive science,’ the company said in a statement.  Brent Wisner, a lawyer for the Pilliods, told the San Francisco Chronicle the verdict ‘was based on solid science and unanimous law’ and the company should halt its ‘frivolous appeals.’  Bayer announced over the summer that it would stop selling the current version of Roundup for home and garden use in U.S. stores, starting in 2023.”

“Second, the jury is not being sequestered, which is shocking for such a high-profile case,” Fox host (and basis for the Cruella de Ville character, with Peter Doocy) Laura Ingraham declares, completely oblivious to her network’s coverage of the Rittenhouse trial as she pretends she finally got asked to a prom during the red carpet of the Patriot Awards.  “It’s kinda hard to imagine that the jurors haven’t seen any of the sickening media spin of this trial.”

NBC News:  “As cases of Covid-19 rise throughout the U.S., health officials warn that an increasing number of fully vaccinated people are being hospitalized or going to the emergency room. The concern about waning immunity against severe Covid infection comes as the Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize a Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine booster shot for all adults 18 and older.

“‘What we’re starting to see now is an uptick in hospitalizations among people who’ve been vaccinated but not boosted,’ Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, said Tuesday in an interview. ‘It’s a significant proportion, but not the majority by any means.’

“On Wednesday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reported a decline in vaccine effectiveness among the elderly and residents of long-term care facilities, many of whom were the first to be eligible to be vaccinated last winter.  ‘Although the highest risk are those people who are unvaccinated, we are seeing an increase in emergency department visits among adults 65 and older, which are now again higher than they are for younger age groups,’ Walensky said Wednesday at a White House Covid briefing.”

Politico:  “A bipartisan proposal to create a more expansive military and intelligence program to study UFOs is urgently needed to determine whether unexplained sightings by Navy and Air Force pilots pose a threat or are evidence of some ‘other entity,’ the lead sponsor said Wednesday.  ‘If it is technology possessed by adversaries or any other entity, we need to know,’ Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said in her first interview about the effort. ‘Burying our heads in the sand is neither a strategy nor an acceptable approach.’

“Gillibrand is behind an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that is being debated this week to create an ‘Anomaly Surveillance and Resolution Office’ with authority to pursue ‘any resource, capability, asset, or process of the Department and the intelligence community’ to get to the bottom of the sightings of ‘unidentified aerial phenomena,’ or UAPs.

“It would also require regular public reports about sensitive topics that until recently were considered to be on the fringe, including whether the government has any materials from the incidents of UFOs or data on any biological or health effects linked to any encounters.  ‘We’ve not had oversight into this area for a very long time,’ Gillibrand said. ‘I can count on one hand the number of hearings I had in 10 years on this topic. That’s fairly concerning given the experience our service members have had over the last decade.'”

“He’s not guilty.  He deserves a not guilty verdict,” Republican Florida Congressman (and human Pez dispenser) Matt Gaetz declares of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.  “And I sure hope he gets it ’cause–ya know what?–Kyle Rittenhouse would prolly make a pretty good Congressional intern.  We may reach out to him and see if he’s interested in, uh, helpin’ the country, uh, uh, in, in additional ways.”

Associated Press:  “U.S. Catholic bishops overwhelmingly approved a long-anticipated document on Communion on Wednesday that stops short of calling for withholding the sacrament from politicians such as President Joe Biden who support abortion rights but offers plenty of tacit justification for individual bishops to do so.

“The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ first major statement on Communion in 15 years, ‘The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church,’ does not explicitly address the debate over elected officials, abortion and the sacrament that has surrounded the document over the past several months and partly inspired its creation in the first place.  Instead, it gives an overview of church teaching, emphasizing the centrality of the Eucharist in the faith and worship and in part reflecting concern among bishops that many Catholics don’t know or accept such teachings.

“It was approved by a 222-8 vote at the conference’s fall assembly in Maryland after receiving only minor revisions in recent days by drafters on the bishops’ Committee on Doctrine.  Drafters added a reference to defending ‘the unborn’ along with other vulnerable persons, such as immigrants, older adults and victims of racial injustice. They also bolstered the definition of ‘scandal’ as weakening the resolve of other Catholics to follow church teachings.”