Republicans fear of 'fatal mistake' in must-win Platner race
Source: Latest Political News on Fox News · Bias: Right
Summary
The NRSC warns Republicans that scandal-plagued Democrat Graham Platner remains a credible threat to Sen. Susan Collins in Maine's pivotal Senate race.
Republicans fear of 'fatal mistake' in must-win Platner race
Right
The NRSC warns Republicans that scandal-plagued Democrat Graham Platner remains a credible threat to Sen. Susan Collins in Maine's pivotal Senate race.
A crucial meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday has allies of President Donald Trump on edge that it could lead to an expansion of the unpopular war in Iran.Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to the White House with a singular objective: convince Trump to escalate military operations against Iran, reports Politico. The Israeli Prime Minister, who reportedly helped incite the initial February attack along with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), is once again maneuvering to push the president toward a more aggressive and durable conflict.Trump's anti-interventionist America First base is bracing for impact after the "pivotal" meeting. Steve Bannon expressed their collective alarm: "Netanyahu has had twice as many visits to the White House in 18 months as Churchill had in all of World War II — with every one of them a disaster for America First."The Iran war has already dragged on for five months with no resolution in sight, the report notes. The U.S. and Iran briefly suspended tit-for-tat strikes over the weekend amid cautious hopes for a ceasefire. But Trump continues threatening "massive attacks," keeping the door wide open for renewed escalation.Netanyahu's seventh visit to the White House since Trump took office signals his desperation to lock in permanent war. America First allies fear this meeting could transform a temporary conflict into a years-long Middle East quagmire.According to the report, "The meeting comes as new polling shows that a growing share of the president’s base no longer believes the war is worth its economic costs. And Republicans are increasingly resigned to the fact that the war will likely still be hanging over voters in some form when they head to the polls in November."That led Curt Mills, executive director of American Conservative magazine, to describe the meeting as "DEFCON 1.""Netanyahu is going to argue for the essential logic of escalation," Mills explained. "If Trump is not willing to give the memorandum of understanding a chance and if Trump is not willing to walk away from the conflict entirely without a resolution—then I think we probably will escalate, and that's what we've been seeing these last couple of weeks."Trump's own allies acknowledge Netanyahu wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't push for military expansion. But that's precisely what terrifies them: Netanyahu will succeed, dragging Trump deeper into a conflict that's already hemorrhaging support within his base.
The Trump administration has made rooting out fraud a top priority. The White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud is waging, in their words, “an unrelenting, full-scale assault on the fraudsters, scammers, and corrupt operators who have looted billions from American taxpayers.” They’re halting hundreds of millions in Medicaid payments to Minnesota, blocking $1.3 billion […]
I am so done with this whole Mitch McConnell thing.We’re now past six weeks of this ridiculous crap, and the silence surrounding the Kentucky senator’s condition long ago eclipsed the point of disturbing to become completely absurd and intolerable. But that just seems to be the Republican way. All we get are vague justifications and likely manipulated “proof of life” photos rather than actual explanations.Has McConnell been struck mute? Is he in a fugue state? Is he deceased? If the answers to all three are “No,” then there is zero reason why he shouldn’t be able to appear in a video to explain what the hell is actually going on with him.Yet not even the disempowered Democratic Kentucky governor, Andy Beshear, has been able to communicate with or receive a genuine update on McConnell’s condition.This thing all began on June 14, when paramedics reportedly responded to a brief loss of consciousness from a fall at McConnell’s home. His office issued a fuzzy statement that day about a subsequent hospitalization, without explaining more.And there hasn’t been a whole lot that’s made sense since. A couple of people independently reported phantom 20-minute conversations with the senator during which he was supposedly sentient and alert, but evidently not so much that he could actually communicate with the outside world.Then on July 12 came The Photo That Launched a Million Memes. The one with a smiling McConnell sitting up in a hospital bed dressed in a red-checkered shirt, a copy of that morning’s Washington Post in his lap, his sometimes-devoted wife Elaine Chao by his side. The photo’s authenticity was purportedly confirmed, but who among us really believes that?Somehow, a clarifying statement from McConnell’s office on Monday, designed to update us on the senator’s condition, managed to clarify nothing at all. It noted that he wouldn’t be returning to work this week, while quoting him as saying, “I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with my intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday.”An accompanying statement noted that McConnell was “not yet medically cleared” to leave the mysterious rehab facility where he was being treated. It also featured the obligatory smiling photo of him being comforted by his wife. If we don’t trust the legitimacy of anything going on here, of course, it’s their own damn fault. The Republicans have shown themselves to be lying sacks of garbage, and this McConnell mystery fiasco pours more fuel atop that.We’ve since heard that McConnell is now mostly afflicted only with a mild case of pneumonia. But if that’s all it is, I’ve never heard of a case of pneumonia that prevents you from going on camera.You know who would never allow this insanity to move forward were the situation reversed and it was a Democrat pulling this disappearing act? Mitch McConnell, that’s who. Say what you will about the man being (having been?) a duplicitous, cheating scoundrel who plays (played?) by no one’s rules but his own; he doesn’t (didn’t?) take any of this kind of crap from anyone.Meanwhile, Governor Beshear has been neutered by his Republican-controlled state legislature into oblivion. We’ve all heard about how the party is stalling any announcement or info about McConnell until August 3, the date after which an immediate special election can’t be called to fill the seat. But who knows what the real motive here is?Some people obviously know what’s going on, and they aren’t saying a word. It’s just unbelievable. How can this be legal? It’s obviously not moral or ethical – further evidence that this rogue cult does whatever it wants and always seems to get away with it.Like so much that’s happened during the Trump years, this is completely unacceptable. And yet the Democrats, even as they scream and shout to try to change up the narrative, accept it.We’re all being institutionally gaslit with outrageous political theater. Every carefully worded statement about the health of a man who has vanished from view seems engineered to answer every question except the one everyone is asking. It’s as if the Republicans have invented a new medical specialty: strategic ambiguity.Imagine applying a similar standard of non-information in other areas of lifeYour airline pilot pauses on the runway for 15 minutes without saying a word. A flight attendant gets on the PA and calmly says, “Our pilot has consulted with experts and remains fully committed to today’s flight.”The surgeon who is about to perform your colonoscopy freezes during pre-op for half an hour before you’re put under anesthesia. No one bothers to tell you what’s going on.“Everything OK?” you finally ask.A hospital publicist enters the room to assure you, “The doctor appreciates your concern and looks forward to continuing a distinguished career.”Your Uber driver steers your car into a lake.
White House officials are increasingly concerned President Donald Trump may imminently execute a plan to launch massive attacks on Iran that could have catastrophic consequences, Zeteo reported. Trump intends to stage a major military escalation to force Iran back to the negotiating table on more favorable terms, Trump told Axios. However, virtually everyone in his inner circle believes the plan will fail and cause severe harm. One White House adviser called it a "terrible idea," while another senior official claimed, "Trump has no way out." A third official warned there is "almost no scenario where Americans don't die" if Trump proceeds. Despite this consensus, administration insiders admitted they are "too scared" to tell the president his plan won't work, instead soft-selling concerns. The New York Times reported a Friday meeting where Trump's advisers mostly counseled against intensifying Iran attacks.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
Last Friday, Joe Biden gave up the fight and declined to seek further review of an appeals court ruling on the release of 70 hours of conversations with his ghostwriter in 2017.
The post After Biden Tapes Released, Former Asst. AG for Environment Jeff Clark Argues – By Law – Joe Biden Must Forfeit $8 Million for Book Advance and His Delaware Home Where He Illegally Kept Classified Information appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
A Democratic strategist was alarmed on Monday by an ominous letter from Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear demanding answers about Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) health. Paul Begala, former chief strategist for the Clinton administration, told CNN's Boris Sanchez on "The Source" that Beshear's letter seemed to signal that something is seriously wrong with McConnell. The senator has been hospitalized for more than six weeks after suffering a fall and then contracting pneumonia, according to his office. On Monday, McConnell's aides released another photo of the Congressman with his wife, Elaine Chao, which only served to increase speculation about his health. "I am addressing this letter to Senator McConnell under the assumption that he is capable of responding verbally, and not incapacitated by means of consciousness or cognition," Beshear's letter reads in part. Begala claimed that the letter shows something "very grave" may have happened to McConnell. "Andy Beshear is like one of the nicest, kindest people I've ever met in this business," Begala said. "He's not a horrible flamethrower like me. He's actually a really decent, kind person. So, for him to be saying that, it must be very, very grave." True to form, Begala also took a moment to jab McConnell over his health care voting record. "I will also note, I'm very glad Senator McConnell has good health care taxpayers pay for it. He opposes that health care for those same taxpayers," he noted. "I'm glad he has medical leave. He opposes that for taxpayers. It's the only job in the world where the hired help gets better benefits than the owners."
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) slammed President Donald Trump's demand for the Senate not to take a recess until the SAVE America Act is passed.On Monday, the senator, who was recently ousted from the Texas Republican primary runoff following Trump's endorsement of his opponent, Ken Paxton, called this whole plan an "act of futility," NOTUS' Igor Bobic reported.“Unfortunately, with the assistance of some senators, he's raising expectations among Republican voters," said Cornyn. "They're bound to end up being disappointed, which strikes me as a bad approach 99 days before the midterms.”Trump has been obsessed with passing the SAVE America Act for months. The legislation would impose draconian nationwide restrictions on voting rights, including proof-of-citizenship and voter ID requirements so strict that even REAL ID driver's licenses wouldn't be acceptable in most states.The passage of the bill was a significant flash point in the Texas Senate primary, even though both Cornyn and Paxton supported the legislation; Paxton vowed to drop out of the race if Congress passed the legislation before the date it was held, as a ploy to pin its failure to pass on Cornyn as the incumbent.Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), for his part, has also poured cold water on the scheme to hold back the Senate from recess, reminding Trump and the general public that the votes just aren't there to change Senate rules to stop a Democratic filibuster.
