“What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has taken away from the President of the United States the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process” – Statement from the Former Guy.

We’re done reporting on Trump statements for the rest of the day. Probably. Two is too many, but it’s also a lot of fun to laugh at his wallowing in misery and declining relevance.

UPDATE 5/5/21 12:09 PM EDT Orange Fatass finally remembered to endorse the Applebee’s assistant manager, per Axios: “Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership. Elise Stefanik is a far superior choice, and she has my COMPLETE and TOTAL Endorsement for GOP Conference Chair. Elise is a tough and smart communicator!”

Stating that the federal charter of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not grant the agency the ability to implement a nationwide eviction moratorium, a federal judge in the DC District Court vacated the CDC’s temporary ban on evictions.

Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, stated that the national eviction moratorium was beyond the power of the CDC, which is tasked with addressing disease spread.  The ruling comes in a suit brought by the Alabama Association of Realtors against the Department of Health and Human Services, the Cabinet department that oversees the CDC.

The current eviction moratorium, slated to end June 30th, prevents landlords from proceeding with eviction judgements against renters who are late in paying their rents.  As of January 2021, more than 18% of renters, or 10 million people, are at least one month late in their rental payments or had previously missed a payment. 

https://youtu.be/2ioD9s13XVw

Fox & Friends co-host (and man less right than a stopped clock) Brian Kilmeade got schooled on school reopenings during a Q&A with middle school students about in-person classes restarting.  Asking a sixth-grade boy what he missed most about not being in a classroom, the lad commented that he missed his classmates, but then overwhelmed Kilmeade with something he rarely faces:  a cogent opinion challenging Fox News dogma.

The US Supreme Court should overturn the Facebook’s “Oversight Board’s” “ruling” which upholds the outlawing of the 45th President of the United States from social media.

This is a big tech, corporate oligarchy without standing and it’s gone too far. Enough is enough.

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 5, 2021

“Overall, the president gets good grades from 44% of Texas voters and bad grades from 46% – numbers that are better or roughly the same as the state’s most popular Republican leaders. Underneath Biden’s overall numbers, as with other officeholders in Texas, are starker partisan grades: 88% of Democrats said Biden is doing a good job, and 86% of Republicans disapprove of the work he’s doing. Ted Cruz, overall, has the approval of 43% and disapproval from 48%. He’s more popular with Texas Republicans than the senior senator, too, with 80% saying they approve of the job he’s doing – 57% strongly so. Gov. Greg Abbott gets good marks from about as many Texas voters (43%) as give him bad marks (45%). He’s popular with Republicans, though: 77% approve of the way he’s doing his job. Those numbers are consistent with the way voters grade the governor on his response to the pandemic. Overall, 43% approve and 48% disapprove. Among Democrats, 87% disapprove, and among Republicans, 76% approve” Texas Tribune reports.

“Just over a third of Texas voters (35%) approve of the way Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is doing his job, while 39% disapprove. New House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, still hasn’t made an impression on most voters – a condition he has in common with most of his predecessors in that post. While 20% of voters said he’s doing a good job, and 22% said he’s not, 57% of the voters either have no impression of him or no opinion. Attorney General Ken Paxton, regularly in the news for legal actions involving the state and as the subject of an indictment on securities fraud and a federal investigation into allegedly using his public office to help a campaign donor, is doing a good job, according to 32% of Texas voters, and a bad one, according to 36%.”

“Warmonger Liz Cheney, who has virtually no support left in the Great State of Wyoming, continues to unknowingly and foolishly say that there was no Election Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Election when in fact, the evidence, including no Legislative approvals as demanded by the U.S. Constitution, shows the exact opposite. Had Mike Pence referred the information on six states (only need two) back to State Legislatures, and had gutless and clueless MINORITY Leader Mitch McConnell (he blew two seats in Georgia that should have never been lost) fought to expose all of the corruption that was presented at the time, with more found since, we would have had a far different Presidential result, and our Country would not be turning into a socialist nightmare! Never give up!” – New rant “From The Desk Of” The Fat Orange Bastard.

“The Board has upheld Facebook’s decision on January 7, 2021, to restrict then-President Donald Trump’s access to posting content on his Facebook page and Instagram account. However, it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose the indeterminate and standardless penalty of indefinite suspension. Facebook’s normal penalties include removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension, or permanently disabling the page and account. The Board insists that Facebook review this matter to determine and justify a proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform. Facebook must complete its review of this matter within six months of the date of this decision” – Facebook Oversight Board.

Daily Beast: “An unlikely partnership between a QAnon influencer and a Washington, D.C. diner popular with lawmakers has ended in chaos, with the diner’s owner claiming she’s owed $10,000 and the conspiracy theorist wanted for arrest in two states on unrelated charges. QAnon promoter Richard Potcner’s relationship with Pete’s Diner owner Gum Tong started in late January, when Potcner claimed in a video posted to social media platform Telegram that he had established an ‘open tab’ at the diner. Potcner urged National Guard soldiers guarding the Capitol in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot to order meals on his tab at the Capitol Hill diner, once a frequent breakfast spot for former Speaker of the House John Boehner.”

“As the bills piled up, Potcner asked his 200,000 Telegram followers to send him money so he could pay Tong for the meals. For months after that, Potcner posted videos of himself settling his tab with donated money from his fans. When Potcner’s tab would run out, Tong would continue to serve the meals, only to be paid back later by Potcner. One day, though, Potcner stopped visiting the restaurant to pay his bill, according to Tong. Tong claims Potcner now owes her $10,000 on an outstanding bill for the meals. ‘He got the money from the people,’ Tong said, referring to Potcner’s donors. ‘But we didn’t get the money from him.’ Potcner didn’t respond to a request for comment. In a post on his Telegram account, Potcner made various allegations against Tong, and pointed out that many of the soldiers who were eating at the diner have already left Washington. Potcner also complained that Tong hadn’t given him any freebies of his own, even after he spent $60,000 in donations at the restaurant. ‘Gum had me running to Costco, doing errands etc.’ Potcner wrote. ‘Yet ask me if she ever gave me one free meal let alone one free coffee??'”

The “Bull-Schiff” t-shirt pictured above is the only Democrat-themed item available at the Save America PAC web store as of Wednesday morning, a cursory review of the site’s selections by National Zero reveals. Everything else says “TRUMP” and/or “Make America Great Again” on it. Telling how there aren’t any items mocking Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer, or even AOC, while Schiff himself hasn’t been in the news much at all lately. His name appears in headlines on The Hill a total of six times since Biden’s inauguration. Mind you, this is a site that publishes hundreds of article a day, about all manner of picayune comings and goings on Capitol hill, and the chairman of the House intelligence committee is flying under the radar nonetheless. For comparison, Ted Cruz is mentioned in twice as many headlines there in the last month alone.

Of course it was no secret that Trump and his fanboys really, really hate Schiff for the job he did with the first impeachment inquiry and trial, and all sorts of other investigations before that, but damn are they elevating him here more than necessary at this juncture in their stupid web store.

“The White House has launched a new website, AI.gov, to make artificial intelligence research more accessible across the nation, Axios has learned. The U.S. once led significantly in the global artificial intelligence race, but now risks being overtaken by China. This is one step the White House is taking to drum up excitement for AI and broaden educational opportunities in the field.”

“The website’s target audience is the general public, and its purpose is to make public information available on AI more visible to someone like a teacher or student interested in science. Users will be able to visit the website to learn how artificial intelligence is being used across the nation in a variety of ways, including to respond to the COVID pandemic and weather forecasting, for example. ‘This is a resource that will enable researchers from all over the country to have access to both the computing and the data that they need in order to do cutting edge research,’ said Lynne Parker, director of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office” – Axios.

“Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of Louisiana – the top two House Republicans – are quietly working behind the scenes to boost New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s bid for House Republican Conference Chair” reports PunchbowlNews.

“American Greatness Fund announced today the launch of the Election Integrity Alliance. The Election Integrity Alliance will build and unite bipartisan allies across the country focused on ending election fraud and strengthening election safeguards by providing information, resources, endorsements of allies’ efforts, and solutions to secure free and fair elections. The Election Integrity Alliance will be a centralized hub of allies that provides communication to voters and tools to legislators, litigators, and administrators to enforce legal protections for American elections. The Election Integrity Alliance’s National Board is comprised of individuals who have fought for Election Integrity at great personal risk and who are champions for free and fair elections”.

“The following individuals are National Board Members: Jenna Ellis, attorney and former counsel to President Trump, will serve as Chairwoman of the Board. Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, will serve as Honorary Co-Chairman. Peter Navarro, former Trump Administration adviser, will serve as Honorary Co- Chairman. Bernie Kerik, retired New York police commissioner, will serve as Board Member. Sebastian Gorka, former Deputy Assistant for Strategy to President Trump, will serve as Board Member” – American Greatness Fund press release.

AP: “Since the day after the deadly Jan. 6 riots on the U.S. Capitol, former President Donald Trump’s social media accounts have been silent – muzzled for inciting violence using the platforms as online megaphones. On Wednesday, his fate on Facebook, the biggest social platform around, will be decided. The company’s quasi-independent Oversight Board will announce its ruling around 9 a.m. ET. If it rules in Trump’s favor, Facebook has seven days to reinstate the account. If the board upholds Facebook’s decision, Trump will remain ‘indefinitely’ suspended.”

“Politicians, free speech experts and activists around the world are watching the decision closely. It has implications not only for Trump but for tech companies, world leaders and people across the political spectrum — many of whom have wildly conflicting views of the proper role for technology companies when it comes to regulating online speech and protecting people from abuse and misinformation. After years of handling Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric with a light touch, Facebook and Instagram took the drastic step of silencing his accounts in January. In announcing the unprecedented move, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the risk of allowing Trump to continue using the platform was too great.”

USA Today examined information about donors to causes touted by the Proud Boys–from fundraisers for injured members to funding travel for the January 6th rally (and subsequent domestic terror attack at the Capitol)–and found a surprising concentration of donors among Chinese-Americans and people from China and Hong Kong.

The data examined by USA Today came from public records and hacked information from a website GiveSendGo which hosted a fundraiser for members of the Proud Boys who was injured when the group started rioting in Washington, DC in mid-December.  The data show that 80% of the $106,107 raised came either from people with Chinese-heritage surnames or people living in China, Hong Kong or Taiwan.

Chinese-Americans say it’s because the Proud Boys have branded themselves not as a white nationalist group or a nativist group, but as true American patriots fighting communism.  The Proud Boys have marketed themselves as dedicated to fighting (what they call) the communists in the Black Lives Matter movement and in antifa.  (In fact, neither BLM nor antifa have connections to communists.)  They’re also adamant supporters of Donald Trump.

Today’s the day to celebrate all things Star Wars, if you’re into that kinda thing, from A New Hope to The Rise of Skywalker.  And marketers are taking full advantage of it to the fullest extent.

Yes, a television network is showing the Star Wars triple trilogy.  And yes, Jar Jar Binks is still a better Senator than Ted Cruz could ever be.  But if May the Fourth doesn’t sate your Star Wars desires, here are some things that can you can get to show your love of the franchise throughout the year.

• Williams Sonoma has a line of pressure cookers–which some have renamed InstaPots–that include an R2-D2 version and a Darth Vader version.  And you can get a set of bamboo kitchen utensils bedecked in Star Wars images to stir your creation.
• You can choose an Amazon Echo Dot with remote in the Yoda shade of green, so you can always be sure the Force is listening. 
  Read More ▶ “May the 4th be with all of us, because it’s all over products”

Had a great dinner tonight with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

He’s in great spirits! We spent the evening talking about working together to re-take the House & Senate in 2022. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/OdtUBxHGSn

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 5, 2021

The US Department of Justice filed an objection with the Texas bankruptcy court hearing the case of the National Rifle Association, claiming that the bankruptcy filing is a ploy by the NRA to avoid the repercussions of the mismanagement and self-dealing of the organization’s leadership.

CBS News reports that Lisa Lambert, assistant U.S. Trustee in the DOJ’s Trustee Office argued in court that Wayne Lapierre, the longtime leader and executive vice president of the supposedly non-profit group, used the group’s money for personal gain, as did a number of other officers and board members.

The NRA, in its ever paranoid fashion, declared the group’s legal troubles in New York and the resistance to their bankruptcy filing to be part of an ongoing attack on the association.  “Your honor, we have natural enemies,” NRA’s lawyer Greg Garman said. “This Department of Justice may not see eye to eye with the National Rifle Association, but so be it, we have done the right thing.”

New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, an ardent Trump supporter, is lobbying her fellow Republican House members to elect her to replace Wyoming Republican Liz Cheney as House Republican Conference Chair, the third-highest party position in the House.

According to CNN, Stefanik has been calling influential House Republicans to garner their support for her elevation to the position, which may become open if the caucus votes to out Cheney, a vote which could come as early as May 12th.

Cheney has become the target of GOP infighting after she supported the second impeachment of Donald Trump for his incitement of a domestic terrorist attack at the Capitol.  Cheney was one of ten Republicans in the House to vote to impeach Trump, and she is now a hated opponent within her Party from Trump and his most feverish supporters.

https://youtu.be/rvmVWkEn9Fg

It starts bubbling up early on, but it its full sociopath at around 21 seconds.  This time, he’s cracking up about a cartoon about bombing a woman and children.