Resistance HQ Bulletin 15, 11/28/24

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… Candyman Ronny Jackson’s successor as WH doctor should be an interesting choice. Given the prodigious amount of drugs he dispensed to members of the last administration while serving as WH doctor, including large quantities of adderall and provigil, that seems like the most important position in any Trump Admin.

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… Short column today because it was a slow news day heading into the holiday and I had to do my Uncovered podcast which went over an hour and half. But making the whole thing with no paywall break for Thanksgiving!

… No column for next 3 days as I will be taking my first trip to Montreal on my grand tour of getaway weekends in Canadian cities. Did Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto, Quebec City, and now Montreal. Every Canadian asks me why I went to Hamilton. I like waterfalls.

… Next column Sunday night. Thanks again for all the support so many of you have given us with your subscriptions. It has been amazing.

… Emperor Elon Musk, who bought a president, posted on his toxic cesspool today about Alexander Vindman, who testified against Trump in the first impeachment: “Vindman is on the payroll of Ukrainian oligarchs and has committed treason against the United States, for which he will pay the appropriate penalty.” Treason is punishable by death.

… Vindman responded: “Elon, that’s the kind of response one would expect from a conspiracy theorist. What oligarch? What treason? I don’t take and have never taken any money from oligarchs - Ukranian or otherwise. You believe you can act with impunity and are attempting to silence your critics. I’m not intimidated.”

… It looks like Democrat Adam Gray is going to win a very narrow victory over John Duarte in CA-13. The House majority for Republicans should be just 220-215, with Gaetz, Waltz, and Stefanik’s seats vacant as Trump appointments. Republicans are going in acting like they received a huge mandate to radically transform the government, when just a few votes in either Chamber could block anything they try to do.

… Both Marge Greene and Ron Desantis claimed that Democrats in CA are stealing two elections where their candidates took the lead in close race late.

… It is rare to get this MAGA Republican Party to unanimously agree on anything or get along, so Mike Johnson has quite a challenge ahead of him trying to herd his cats into unanimity.

… On the courthouse steps after his hearing yesterday, Rudy Giuliani said the following: “I have no cash. So right now, if I wanted to call a taxi cab I can’t do it. I don’t have a credit card. I don’t have a checking account.” He then complained that Hunter Biden got away with everything but now he is broke. I’m typing this through tears.

… Trump named retired Gen. Keith Kellogg as his special envoy to Russia-Ukraine to attempt to negotiate a peace deal. Kellogg submitted a proposal in writing to Trump back in June, and he apparently liked it. The proposal would stipulate that all aid to Ukraine would be frozen if they refused to negotiate and aid would be increased if Russia refused to negotiate.

… The 2nd part of Kellogg’s plan would be a cease fire with the current battle lines in place with Russia in possession of significant parts of Ukraine. Russia would be assured that Ukraine would not be permitted to become part of NATO. The plan seems to concede that Russia will keep the occupied territory but the US will be permitted to “arm to the teeth” what is left of Ukraine.

… With Trump and Mike Johnson already saying publicly that Ukraine will not get any more aid, it seems any leverage they may have had against Russia has already been given away on that score. Ukraine has also said that it will not permanently give up territory that Russian occupied by force.

… Johnson says his first meeting with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s DOGE committee to hear their initial ideas will be December 5 and members of the Senate are also invited to attend.

… Megyn Kelly said that hundreds of people in her audience wrote to her that they are not happy about some of the things that have come out about Trump’s SecDef nominee Pete Hegseth: “For what it’s worth, my audience, which is not far left, is saying, ‘We don’t like it, and we do think it matters.’ It was not everybody, but more than half felt that way.”

… FL State Rep Randy Fine, who just received Trump’s endorsement for Mike Waltz’s vacant seat, posted on Twitter last night. “The Hebrew Hammer is coming. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar might consider leaving before I get there. #BombsAway.” This is MAGA.

… It is certainly interesting to watch segments on Fox and Newsmax about egg prices rising because of bird flu. When egg prices rose two years ago for the exact same reason, the only thing they blamed it on was “Bidenflation.”

… Home sales in FL plummeted 10.2% over the past year. Severe storms, insane insurance premiums, and Ron Desantis. They had their MAGA boom of a million Republicans moving there during covid, now comes the second half of that story.

… Kari Lake is rumored to be under consideration as Trump’s Ambassador to Mexico. Headline of editorial in AZCentral: “Kari Lake as Ambassador to Mexico? Aren’t tariffs punishment enough?”

… Lake was on Steve Bannon’s podcast today blaming Mitch McConnell for her loss, saying that he wasted millions trying to win the MD Senate race for Larry Hogan but he refused to help her and provided her with nothing out of his $400 million war chest.

… John Phelan, Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Navy, has no experience in the Navy, never served in the military, has no experience in any endeavor related to the military or national security. He is a rich Trump megadonor who held a fundraiser for him in Aspen and raised lots of cash for him though. Perfect to run the US Navy.

… MA Dem Rep Seth Mouton, who got some backlash after he said that trans athletes should not play women sports, may now be drawing a primary challenger from the Left. Dan Kohl, who narrowly lost a primary back in 2018, now lives in Mouton’s district and is considering a run. He currently serves in the Biden Admin as Dep Director of WH Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

… Mouton said that he is only saying publicly what most Democratic elected officials believe but refuse to say publicly because they are afraid, and he isn’t backing down from his remarks because he says the vast majority of Americans agree with him and this is an issue that is hurting Dems at the ballot box as Republicans continue to use it in campaign ads.

… The topic Trump spent the most money on in ads was migrants. The 2nd most Trump ads was on trans people playing women’s sports.

… Tommy Tuberville said every Republican Senator should vote for every Trump nominee since all Democratic Senators voted for all Biden nominees.

… Tuberville also posted on X today that “the US has sent $211 Billion of your tax dollars to Ukraine. 4x as much as the rest of the world COMBINED.” Except Tommy got his daily talking points from Putin mixed up. That is actually the amount that Russia has spent on the war in Ukraine, not the US.

… Trump’s former NSA John Bolton on Trump’s tariffs: “I think Trump is serious. He doesn’t understand how tariffs work. I don’t think he fully realizes the potential for retaliation by the EU, Japan, and China, and what the economic impact of that would be.”

… Several of Trump’s nominees were “swatted” and/or had bomb threats called in on their homes. Matt Gaetz also received a bomb threat but was not home at the time.

… Joe Biden secured the release of three Americans who have been imprisoned in China for years. Biden pulled Xi aside at a recent climate summit and made a personal appeal to him face-to-face. They were locked up in China during Trump’s presidency too, but I’m sure somehow he will find a way to take credit for this.

… Ted Cruz, who did nothing to pressure Trump to secure the release of his constituents either in Chinese or Russian captivity, actually put out a really nice statement praising Biden that didn’t contain the “but” that I was expecting. One of the people freed was a Texan: “Negotiations aimed at securing the release of unjustly held Americans are among the most difficult and wrenching tasks that our diplomats face, and they have shown unceasing dedication.”

… Dem Rep Ritchie Torres is ramping up his rhetoric against NY Gov Kathy Hochul on the crime and migrant issues as he is rumored to be considering a run for Governor. He said his previously liberal positions on migrants were wrong, and he is now “pro-immigration and pro-border security.” Hochul responded to him through a spokesperson for the first time: “Unfortunately for his constituents, Torres has proven to be a pandering hypocrite who is out of touch with New Yorkers.”

… Dan Crenshaw is in a big battle with Republican activists who want to ban stock trades from Members of Congress. He went off on an angry rant when he was asked about it on a podcast and said it was “about number 1,000” on his list of priorities. He then claimed he didn’t have any money to invest anyway because Representatives don’t make enough money: “I don’t have any fucking money in the stock market!”

… Crenshaw was fact checked by the group, which keeps track of stock trades by Members of Congress. The organization said that Crenshaw’s net worth is $1.47 million, his trade volume was $313,000, and his stock trades are up 44% this year from last year.

… Total number of Bluesky users has now crossed 23 million as the exodus from X continues.

… Alex Jones on Trump’s nominee for Director of Counterterrorism Seb Gorka: “If anybody is a sadistic narcissist, it’s him. If anybody is fake military, it’s him. He’s an imperious little creature. He said Tucker Carlson was a Russian agent. If I was to make a movie about Liberace, Gorka is who I would hire. That’s why I call him Gorka the Gay Whale.”

… Mark Zuckerberg was spotted at Mar-a-Lago today. No idea why, but I’m sure it is nothing good. Oligarchs are doing what oligarchs to with autocrats - kiss the ring and make sure their interests are protected.