Mediaboss Marketing

Orange Julius, I know from. There used to be stores in New York City serving its unique combination of what some say contained orange juice, sugar, milk, powdered egg whites and vanilla. But it took Republican Liz Cheney, she of the successful January 6 Committee, to blow the whistle on Orange Jesus.

According to the UK Independent, on January 6, as the 2020 election results were to be certified, Liz Cheney went into the Republican cloakroom. There she saw a bunch of Republican lawmakers making sure they signed a bunch of papers certifying that they were objecting to the results.

Its only actually required that one House member object but there were so many who wanted to show they were objecting, she said. As I was sitting there, a member came in and he signed his name on each one of the sheets, she said. And he said under his breath, the things we do for the Orange Jesus.

It seems this is now a new name of Donald John Trump, the once and, many Americans still pray, future President of the United States of America. I think the term has something to do with Q. And because he so successfully mobilized a veritable army of followers, including the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. And because so many are impressed he steadfastly refused to acknowledge defeat at the hands of the Democratic Devil.

Politifact points out that: Roughly 70 percent of Republicans dont see Biden as the legitimate winner. Surveys by different pollsters show virtually the same results, with the exception of a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll that dropped it to 61 percent. Now add the reality that 40 percent of Independents share the belief that Biden lost.

I must admit I am definitely late to understanding Q and the power Qs beliefs have over so many. And while I remember hearing a bit about Pizzagate, I never quite got it.

Wikipedia explains: Pizzagate resurged in 2020, mainly due to QAnon In March 2016, the personal email account of John Podesta, Hillary Clintons campaign chair, was hacked in a spear-phishing attack. WikiLeaks published his emails in November 2016. Proponents of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory falsely claimed the emails contained coded messages that connected several high-ranking Democratic Party officials and U.S. restaurants with an alleged human trafficking and child sex ring. One of the establishments allegedly involved was the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C.

In a 1950s Dwight Eisenhower America, where while Democrats and Republicans might often have disagreed, they both believed in common democratic ground rules, and I suspect many people would have quickly dismissed the claims of Pizzagate. But in Qs America, millions linger on social media networks like Reddit and 4chan and 8chanand misinformation rumors spread like the flu. On December 4, 2016, Edgar Maddison Welch, a 28-year-old man fromSalisbury, North Carolina, arrived at Comet Ping Pong and fired three shots that struck the restaurants walls, a desk, and a door. Welch later told police that he had planned to self-investigate the conspiracy theory. Welch saw himself as the potential hero of the story a rescuer of children.

The Polarization and Extremism Research Innovation Lab at Rutgers University issued a comprehensive analysis of the QAnon movement: It dates back to October 2017, when an anonymous author named Q Clearance Patriot began posting cryptic messages on the 4chan message board Q Clearance Patriots (or simply Qs) riddles are colloquially referred to as Q drops or bread crumbs, and QAnon followers (or QAnons) who seek to make meaning from them are sometimes called bakers. A core theme soon emerged, which remains central to all QAnon mythology: that the world is secretly controlled by a Satan-worshipping cabal of pedophile elites who practice human child sacrifice

For many QAnons in the U.S., this cabal is led by well-known politicians, business leaders and entertainment figures. It is opposed by a white hat movement of heroes, ordained by God and including Q himself, who work within elite institutions to battle the cabal (Q is generally assumed by believers to be a U.S. intelligence agent). Someday soon, Q predicts, The Storm will arrive. This term refers to the day when this cabal is publicly outed, arrested, and executed. This belief in the satanic cryptocracy and its preordained exposure and destruction is the defining trait of the QAnon- conspiracy culture (Emphasis added.)

Now, I must admit my desire to learn more about QAnon has been spurred on by recent developments in Trumpovia, especially what I heard about that strange back and forth feedback loop between the Former President and the fervent crowd at the J.D. Vance rally in Youngstown, Ohio.

While I missed that rally, I read John Cassidys description in the New Yorker Magazine: Trump played background music that the Times described as all but identical to a song associated with the QAnon right-wing conspiracy movement. Many people in the crowd responded with a one-armed salute, with their index finger raised, that reminded some observers of Nazi rallies And it came days after Trump had reposted on his social-media platform, Truth Social, a doctored image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words THE STORM is COMING a QAnon meme that refers to a moment when Trump supposedly returns to power and punishes his enemies. This reposting wasnt a one-off. According to an analysis conducted by the Associated Press and published last week, Of nearly 75 accounts Trump has reposted on his Truth Social profile in the past month, more than a third of them have promoted QAnon by sharing the movements slogans, videos or imagery.

So I went back and read the transcript of what ex-President Trump said: Our country is being invaded. Its an invasion by millions of illegal aliens from all over the planet and left wing sickos pumping toxic anti-American propaganda into the minds of our beautiful youth. Theyre destroying our youth. The choice this November is simple. If you want to continue this national catastrophe, vote for the radical left Democrat. Lets do it, go ahead. You wont have a country left

For many years a vile group of corrupt power hungry globalists, socialists and liberal extremists in Washington has been waging war on the hardworking people of Ohio. They sold off your factories, shut down your coal mines, closed up your steel mill, shipped away your jobs, sacrificed your energy industry through open borders and trampled on your values.

In her essay Nothing Can Stop What Is Coming in the June 2020 issue of The Atlantic, Adrienne LaFrance conjured up what a believer might imagine as Orange Jesuss critical role in whats to come: You know that a small group of manipulators, operating in the shadows, pull the planets strings. You know that they are powerful enough to abuse children without fear of retribution. You know that the mainstream media are their handmaidens, in partnership with Hillary Clinton and the secretive denizens of the deep state. You know that only Donald Trump stands between you and a damned and ravaged world. You see plague and pestilence sweeping the planet, and understand that they are part of the plan. You know that a clash between good and evil cannot be avoided, and you yearn for the Great Awakening that is coming. And so you must be on guard at all times. You must shield your ears from the scorn of the ignorant. You must find those who are like you. And you must be prepared to fight. You know all this because you believe in Q. (Emphasis added.)

LaFrance offers a chilling connection between Qs central message and Donald Trump: One phrase that serves as a special touchstone among QAnon adherents is the calm before the storm. Q first used it a few days after his initial post, and it arrived with a specific history. On the evening of October 5, 2017not long before Q first made himself known on 4chan President Trump stood beside the first lady in a loose semicircle with 20 or so senior military leaders and their spouses for a photo in the State Dining Room at the White House. Reporters had been invited to watch as Trumps guests posed and smiled. Trump couldnt seem to stop talking. You guys know what this represents? he asked at one point, tracing an incomplete circle in the air with his right index finger. Tell us, sir, one onlooker replied. The presidents response was self-satisfied, bordering on a drawl: Maybe its the calm before the storm.

Whats the storm? one of the journalists asked. Could be the calmthe calm before the storm, Trump said again. His repetition seemed to be for dramatic effect. The whir of camera shutters grew louder. The reporters became insistent: What storm, Mr. President?

A curt response from Trump: Youll find out.

I cant think of a more compelling juxtaposition than Donald Trumps railing against corrupt power and the revelations offered by New York State Attorney General Leitita James. The press release explains her complaint against Donald Trump and his children:

New York Attorney General Letitia James today filed alawsuit against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, senior management, and involved entities for engaging in years of financial fraud to obtain a host of economic benefits. The lawsuit alleges that Donald Trump, with the help of his children Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump, and senior executives at the Trump Organization, falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company, to satisfy continuing loan covenants, to induce insurers to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and at lower premiums, and to gain tax benefits, among other things. From 2011-2021, Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization knowingly and intentionally created more than 200 false and misleading valuations of assets on his annual Statements of Financial Condition to defraud financial institutions. (Emphasis added.)

And heres Orange Jesus praising himself in Ohio: Everything changed six years ago when you finally got a president who put Ohio first and put America first. We put America first. From the moment I left my very luxurious and enjoyable life I had such a nice life. Now they want to say, Lets go get this guy. Theyve been trying for six years. They havent made it. Were not going to let it happen. Were not going to let it happen I will never be loyal to them because I will only be loyal to you and to our country.

Back to the Attorney-General: For too long, powerful, wealthy people in this country have operated as if the rules do not apply to them. Donald Trump stands out as among the most egregious examples of this misconduct. With the help of his children and senior executives at the Trump Organization, Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and cheat the system. In fact, the very foundation of his purported net worth is rooted in incredible fraud and illegality. Mr. Trump thought he could get away with the art of the steal, but today, that conduct ends. There are not two sets of laws for people in this country; we must hold former presidents to the same standards as everyday Americans. I will continue to ensure that no one is able to evade the law, because no one is above it.

Donald Trump: The unhinged persecution of me and my staff and they go into people that know me and they threaten them with jail time These people are sick But no matter what, our sick and deranged political establishment throws at me, no matter what they do to me, I will endure their torment and oppression and I will do it very willingly. They will never get me to stop fighting for you, the American people.

This claim is eerily reminiscent of a Q post:

In their complaint, the Attorney-General claims: To the extent Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization received any advice from outside professionals that had any bearing on how to approach valuing the assets, they routinely ignored or contradicted such advice. For example, they received a series of bank-ordered appraisals for the commercial property at 40 Wall Street that calculated a value for the property at $200 million as of August 1, 2010 and $220 million as of November 1, 2012. Yet in the 2011 Statement, they listed 40 Wall Street with a value $524 million and increased the valuation to $527 million in the 2012 Statement, and to $530 million in 2013 more than twice the value calculated by the professionals

It turns out Orange Jesus routinely claimed his 10,996 square feet triplex apartment at Trump Tower was 30,000 square feet. Then that wildly overstated size was multiplied by an unreasonable price per square foot Tripling the size of the apartment for purposes of the valuation was intentional and deliberate fraud, not an honest mistake The Mar-a-Lago club was valued as high as $739 million based on the false premise that it was unrestricted property and could be developed and sold for residential use, even though Mr. Trump himself signed deeds donating his residential development rights and sharply restricting changes to the property in reality, the club generated annual revenues of less than $25 million and should have been valued at closer to $75 million (Emphasis added.)

Back in Ohio, Donald Trump was implying that if the Department of Justice and the FBI can enter Mar-a-Lago and Letitia James can come after the Trump Organization, they can easily come after you:

But you know what? Were strong and were smart. Were smarter than them. Were stronger than them. Theyre a lot more of us. Our cruel and vindictive political class is not just coming after me. Theyre coming after you through me. Thats what theyre doing. And theyve already taken away your vote. Theyve taken away your voice and now they want to take away your freedom

James also demonstrated that Trump claimed money as his own but really belonged to partnerships in which he had a minority stake, with no ability to make disbursements. For example, one-third of the amount under cash and cash equivalents listed in the 2018 Statement belonged to Vornado Partnerships, not Mr. Trump.

As for Ivanka, who so many imagine has been falsely accused: Defendant Ivanka Trump was an Executive Vice President for Development and Acquisitions of the Trump Organization through early January 2017. Among other responsibilities, Ms. Trump negotiated and secured financing for Trump Organization properties. While at the Trump Organization she directed all areas of the companys real estate and hotel management platforms. This included active participation in all aspects of projects, including deal evaluation, pre-development planning, financing, design, construction, sales and marketing, as well as involvement in all decisions relating to those activities she negotiated the lease with the government and a loan related to the Old Post Office property. Ms. Trump also negotiated loans on Trump Organization properties at Doral and Chicago. On each of those transactions with Deutsche Bank, Ms. Trump was aware that the transactions included a personal guaranty from Mr. Trump that required him to provide annual Statements of Financial Condition and certifications.

After leaving the Trump Organization, Ms. Trump retained a financial interest in the operations of the Trump Organization through a number of vehicles, including an interest in the Old Post Office property through Ivanka OPO LLC. In a 2021 federal filing, Ms. Trump reported total income from Trump Organization entities of $2,588,449, including income from Ivanka OPO LLC, TTT Consulting, LLC, TTTT Venture LLC and Trump International Realty. (Emphasis added.)

The way the Trumps worked was pretty much a classic two sets of books situation: while one internal set of records reached one conclusion regarding market value, the figure presented on Mr. Trumps Statement was considerably higher:

The sworn testimony of Alan Weisselberg, their Chief Financial Officer doesnt help: Before invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege, Mr. Weisselberg conceded that using the false square footage had the effect of improperly inflating the value of the apartment almost threefold Q: In fact, [the value was] overstated by a factor of 3, is that correct? A: I didnt do the math, but it should be one third, yes, I would agree with that. Q: So, its on the order of a $200 million overstatement, give or take? A: Give or take.

As for Eric Trump and his work on Trump Vegas: By using the fraudulent valuation methods and assumptions described above, the Trump Organization was able to inflate the value of Trump Vegas in each of the years from 2013 to 2016. Eric Trump, invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, refused to answer questions related to his participation in the drafting of each of the 2013 through 2016 Statements.

James explains what they gained: Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization utilized the false and misleading Statements of Financial Condition in an array of financial transactions, most prominently in obtaining real estate loans and insurance coverage. Between 2011 and the present, the Trump Organization has obtained hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate loans in reliance on, among other things, Mr. Trumps net worth. as reported in his Statements of Financial Condition [They] also helped the Trump Organization and Mr. Trump avoid having the loans placed into default, because annual certifications of the accuracy of Mr. Trumps Statements were required. All told, the interest rate savings from the issuance of the false and misleading Statements of Financial Condition totaled between $85 million and $150 million.

The complaint alleges an ongoing conspiracy: The foregoing allegations constitute a continuous, integrated scheme to inflate Mr. Trumps net worth in order to obtain financial benefits. Specifically, Defendants each agreed to participate in a scheme to use false and misleading information to increase Mr. Trumps stated net worth on the Statement of Financial Condition for each year from 2011 through the present. (Emphasis added.)

It seems Orange Jesus was always obsessed with showing he was making more and more money. In a 2015 article, Forbes wrote that of all the individuals who have appeared on its list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, not one has been more fixated with his or her net worth estimate on a year-in, year-out basis than Donald J. Trump. The article described Mr. Trumps net worth as a subject that he cares about to the depths of his soul.

How about we compare Orange Jesus to the Jesus who preceded him? Who, as Matthew 19:30 reveals, has a vastly different idea of whats important in life: But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

The AGs complaint continues: When asked if he had an ongoing agreement from at least 2005 through the present with Mr. Weisselberg, Mr. McConney, and others to prepare the Statement of Financial Condition in a manner that included intentional overvaluations, Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to answer. (Emphasis added.)

Its a simple question: In preparing your financial statements, did you or did you not tell the truth about your finances? Orange Jesus decided not to answer because if he did he might be charged with committing a crime. According to John 14:6, Jesus said: I am the way and the truth and the life. He didnt say I am the way and I take the Fifth.

Asked about agreeing with Weisselberg, McConney and others to include false and misleading valuation statements, Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to answer

Orange Jesus and the others went to great lengths to conceal their fraud Defendants would exclude key information, like lender-ordered appraisals on a given property or limitations on development like the easements on Mar-a-Lago When properties dropped in value, the change was covered up by increasing the valuation of other properties in the same category

But Jesus tells us there is a way other than fraud and theft. John 10:10-11: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

On September 26, 2022, in North Carolina, Donald Orange Jesus Trump revealed how little he appreciates the teachings of the real Jesus:

Among our highest priorities must be to end the nightmare Joe Biden and congressional Democrats have deliberately created at our southern border. Were going to end that. We cannot continue to allow millions and millions and I believe, Ted, its 10 million people and probably more. They say, Three million, two and a half million. Its not, I believe its many times that number. Its numbers like nobodys ever seen before. Theres never been a country ever abused like this. Its an invasion. This week it was reported that border patrol agents have received an intelligence bulletin stating that Venezuelan Dictator Maduro is opening up all of his prisons and sending vicious convicts, and these are tough ones, charged with murder, rape and other heinous crimes straight across the border and into our wide open USA.

Orange Jesus must have missed Matthew 25:53: For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

Missed Leviticus 19: 33-34: When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Donald Trump: As long as we are confident and united, the tyrants we are fighting do not stand a chance because we are Americans and Americans kneel to God and God alone. My fellow citizens, this incredible journey we are on together has only just begun So with the help of everyone here today and citizens all across our land, we will make America powerful again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again. Thank you. God bless you

As Orange Jesus sports a Q pin and plays a Q-like anthem, its important to appreciate the dangers Q-Anon presents. The Detroit News tells the story of Rebecca Lanis, a 21-year-old from Michigan whose 53-year father went on a Q-conspiracy inspired rampage. A Walled Lake man whose daughter said he had been struggling with mental issues after embracing conspiracy theories was fatally shot by police Sunday after he allegedly shot and killed his wife and injured another daughter.

Rebecca Lanis said after President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election, her father started falling deeper into crazy ideas online, including QAnon conspiracy theories about Trump and vaccines. Nobodycould talk him out of them, she said. She missed the shooting by dumb luck because she was at a friends house for a birthday.

Its really so shocking but it really can happen to anybody, Lanis told TheNews on Sunday night. Right-wing extremism isnot funny, and people need to watch their relativesand if they have guns, they need to hide them or report them or something because this is out of control.

Orange Jesus is so concerned with himself he could care less about what he might be unleashing. Ill leave you with the affidavit in support of a criminal complaint against Matthew Taylor Coleman: On August 7, 2021, M. COLEMAN took his two children, R.C. (10 months old) and K.C. (two years old), from the home he shared with his wife and mother of his children, A.C., in Santa Barbara, California to Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico. While in Rosarito, M. COLEMAN murdered his children by shooting a spear fishing gun into their chests. On August 9, 2021, during a Mirandized interview, M. COLEMAN confessed to the murders.

M. COLEMAN stated that he believed his children were going to grow into monsters so he had to kill them M. COLEMAN explained that he was enlightened by QAnon and Illuminati conspiracy theories and was receiving visions and signs revealing that his wife, A.C., possessed serpent DNA and had passed it onto his children. M. COLEMAN said that he was saving the world from monsters M. COLEMAN was asked whether he knew what he did was wrong. M. COLEMAN stated that he knew it was wrong, but it was the only course of action that would save the world. (Emphasis added.)

The UK Independent reported: Using his own Truth Social platform (he remains banned from Twitter and Facebook), Mr Trump re-truthed a post by another Truth Social user which read: Jesus is the Greatest. President @realDonaldTrump is the second greatest

Second only to Jesus, Orange Jesus took the Fifth. And while his supporters imagine he will save the world, hes helping to destroy it.

Original post:
THE OTHER SIDE: Orange Jesus took the Fifth - theberkshireedge.com

As the federal investigation into Donald Trumps handling of top-secret documents unfolds, Hillary Clinton's measured and somber response marks a stark contrast to Trump baselessly accusing her of crimes during their 2016 presidential campaigns.

The tables have turned, indeed.

Simply put, if you think of Trumps lock her up chant like a death metal song loud, boorish and incoherent Clintons remix is soft rock by comparison. Easy listening and somewhat bland. But for good reason.

When asked Sunday on CNN whether she believes Trump should be "treated like any other citizen" and indicted if the Justice Department determines he has committed a crime, Clinton gave a somewhat protracted response that ultimately landed on, yes.

"I think it's a really hard call, and I cannot predict what the Justice Department will do at the end of its investigation," Clinton said. "But I do think the rule of law holding people accountable is central to our nation.

I really believe, at the end of the day, no one is above the law, she added. And no one should be escaping accountability if indeed the facts and the evidence point to them having done something that anyone else in our country would be investigated for and maybe even charged.

Clintons line about having answered every question Ive ever been asked is, intentionally or not, a dig at Trump, who last month invoked his Fifth Amendment right nearly 450 times during questioning by New York state investigators probing his business practices. (Trump, youll remember, has claimed Clinton campaign associates who invoked the Fifth during an investigation into her emails were admitting guilt). But in total, Clintons comments, which were appropriately solemn and logical, were markedly different from Trumps wildly irresponsible accusations in 2016.

Unlike Trumps "lock her up" chant, Clinton's remarks to CNN were, deliberately, not the words of a carnival barker trying to energize onlookers. These were carefully chosen thoughts spoken with a delicacy and diplomacy that suggested they could soon be realized.

Ja'han Jones is The ReidOut Blog writer. He's a futurist and multimedia producer focused on culture and politics. His previous projects include "Black Hair Defined" and the "Black Obituary Project."

See the original post:
Hillary Clinton remixes Trump's 'lock her up' chant with DOJ probe remarks - MSNBC

Elections hinge on voters

Cal Thomas stated in his guest column that voters swimming in a red wave of anger and disgust over the Biden administration may vote for Republicans. His reasons stated are the loan forgiveness program, inflation, and gas prices.

On the other hand, voters may be smart enough to know how important promoting affordable education is, and that the dictator Putin, often praised and coddled by ex-president Trump, is a prime reason for our economic woes because of attacking Ukraine.

Voters also have a memory and sense of right and wrong. Which party continues to lie about the outcome of the last election, encouraged and still condones the invasion of the capital on January 6, approves of denying women the right to self determination, and has tolerated white supremacy and homophobia?

People are also reading

Finally, why has the law and order red wave supported a man who hid behind the Fifth Amendment over 400 times to hide his tax records, who stole top secret documents and hid them in his residence and resort, and then badmouthed the FBI reclaiming them after he rebuffed giving them back peacefully?

The next election will hinge on what issues unaffiliated voters think are most important. Let's hope it is not just the temporary economic downturn.

The choice in November: tyranny or freedom

With midterm elections soon to occur, the GOP playbook is to scare the voters into believing that if the former President is indicted for criminal wrong doings, riots would take place through out the country. Since we are a peaceful country, voters could favor Trump in order to avoid widespread violence.

The alternative is to elect Trump, whereby a law-breaking tyrant could rule us without regard to democratic norms and principles.

The platform for the GOP is highly diminished now that their party has opposed climate change mitigations, veteran benefits, clean energy incentives, infrastructure funding, student loan partial forgiveness programs, prescription drug cost reductions, Medicare cost reductions for the elderly, and improved gun safety measures.

It only leaves opposition to President Bidens agenda and nebulous talk of reducing inflation. Already gas prices are going down and unemployment is at a 50-year low. Higher interest rates should reduce the demand for inflationary growth, which is a prime mover for inflation in the macro economy.

Voters should ask themselves which party has done the most to help most of the people. Being against progress should not become a winning strategy. Women should have some say in their reproductive health. It is a fundamental human right, and a long held legal precedent.

There should be rare exceptions to abortions for cases of rape, incest and life of the mother. An absolute ban places doctors and their patients in ethical and moral dilemmas, not to mention jail time. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court does not see it that way. With gerrymandering by right-leaning state legislatures and with more Republican Secretaries of State on the horizon, fair and accurate elections could result in skewed and undemocratic results.

In my opinion, Joe Bidens approval rating should be higher than it is. At least there is some good benefits to show for his agenda versus the alternatives. The FBI and the U.S. Justice agencies are doing a most through investigation on the secret and highly classified documents found in the former Presidents Country Club residence in Florida. After delays and denials by the Trump operatives, over 100 sensitive documents were discovered. This mishandling is highly illegal, and it should result in penalties by the proper authorities.

Instead, a Trump-appointed judge chooses to intervene with an obstructive process discrediting the prosecution by the proper authorities. An independent judge is not needed to circumvent established law (the Espionage Act), and it would only delay a needed criminal finding. Justice should be blind without political bias. High-level decisions should base findings on facts.

Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!

Read the rest here:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Election issues and Trump GOP choice - Independent Tribune

What might we call this moment? The politics of pouting? To paraphrase the late comedian Henny Youngman, Take Rick Scott, please!

Floridas most junior Sen. Rick Scott, R-Im Gonna Tell Mom! has been in a self-righteous hissy-fit mode lately, not to mention full-blown hypocrisy.

The Fifth Amendment senator was outraged, shocked, miffed and scandalized, that President Joe Biden had the gall to go on vacation.

It seems the Senates answer to The Day the Earth Stood Stills Gort, slammed Biden for heading off to his Delaware home instead of burning the midnight oil in the White House.

What an inspiration, Scott was, managing to find the time to pull himself away from the poop deck on a luxury yacht he happened to be vacationing on off the coast of Italy to castigate Biden for going to Delaware, which is a mere 111 miles from Washington.

All presidents are frequently knocked for taking time away from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. George W. Bush often visited that dreadful ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he spent much of his time clearing brush. Ronald Reagan went to California, to also (sigh) clear brush. (What is it about some presidents and the epidemic of brush to clear?) Barack Obama jetted off to holiday fairly infrequently compared to his peers. And, of course, Donald Trump put in plenty of time at his various resorts, perhaps to spend time caressing top secret classified documents.

Its possible Scott, the Senates token hologram, doesnt realize presidents dont vacation like the rest of us. Where the president goes so does the apparatus of the White House. Unless, perhaps, if youre Donald Trump and you have to be watched constantly to make sure you dont flush the nuclear codes down the toilet. But we digress.

Do you appreciate the sense of ironic balderdash that Scott was lambasting Biden for merely going down the road a bit to his house from a man whose party is less productive in the Senate than Lucille Ball and Ethel on the candy wrapper assembly line. Really now, Uday and Qusay showed up for work more often than the U.S. Senate.

Indeed, Scott himself came in for some flack for running off to Italy instead of performing his own duties as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is supposed to be working to elect GOP candidates to the worlds foremost collection of right-wing demagogues.

Who knows? Its possible Scott was trying to lock up that critical Amalfi Coast vote.

Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter

Columnist Stephanie Hayes will share thoughts, feelings and funny business with you every Monday.

Want more of our free, weekly newslettersinyourinbox? Letsgetstarted.

To be fair, Scotts job trying to elect Republican candidates has been, uh, challenging inasmuch as the crop of aspirants often looks like Dumb & Dumber meets Triumph of the Will.

The field is littered (literally) with election deniers, sexists, head cases, Trump-loving lawn jockeys and the odd antisemite thrown in just for chuckles.

In Georgia, Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker who has been dogged by revelations of children he has sired and then abandoned, spousal abuse and being just plain stupid, said this recently about Democrats climate, health care and taxes bill: Theyre not helping you out because a lot of money, its going to trees. ... Dont we have enough trees around here?

Blake Masters, who is running for the Senate from Arizona, has suggested World War I was instigated by Jewish banking houses and hired two fake electors from the 2020 presidential election to work on his campaign.

Mehmet Oz, vying for a Pennsylvania Senate seat, until recently lived in New Jersey and incumbent Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson is still ducking questions about his efforts to hand over a slate of fraudulent electors to then Vice President Mike Pence in an effort to overturn the lawful election of Biden.

Scotts already daunting prospects werent made any easier when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in a rare act of candor, noted the Republicans had a candidate quality problem, which was really another of saying, Were doomed by this assortment of dopes.

That prompted an angry Scott to rebuke McConnell by suggesting his partys leader had committed: An amazing act of cowardice, and ultimately treasonous to the cause.

Is that so? Really? Stating the obvious is cowardice and treasonous, too?

What is truly cowardly is not standing up to the seditious loser of Mar-a-Lago, who is responsible for promoting a slate of grifters, insurrectionists and dimbulbs. What is treasonous is cooking the books to fix the midterm elections and beyond by trying to elect, ahem, to put it gently, semi-fascists to office.

And that, Sen. Scott is like sailing your yacht into an iceberg of tyranny. Bon voyage.

Read more from the original source:
Sen. Rick Scott exemplifies the politics of pouting | Column - Tampa Bay Times

Steve Murray has been farming in Kern County for decades, and he knows firsthand the thrill of harvest and the agony of the freeze.

So when you ask him about the pros and cons of a government program designed to end the practice of open-field burning, don't expect him to sugarcoat his response.

Murray knows growers have used open-field burning since time immemorial to get rid of grapevines that have seen better days or tree orchards that have outlived their usefulness.

But he's also aware that the San Joaquin Valley is a topographic bowl that traps air pollution, and therefore understands that burning thousands of tons of almond trees, pistachio orchards and table grape vineyards every year is an outdated methodology.

"Nobody now wants to burn," he said of most growers. But there are challenges in finding alternatives.

Last year, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District received $178.2 million in new state funding to launch an expanded grant program to assist farmers in phasing out the open-field burning of woody waste through the use of new, cleaner practices, including the chipping and grinding of material for incorporation into the soil.

The Alternatives to Agricultural Open Burning Incentive Program a name only a government agency could love essentially pays farmers to chip material instead of burning it.

Then the woody product is integrated into the soil in a process sometimes called whole orchard recycling.

Not only does it keep particulate pollutants out of the air in the form of smoke and soot, it keeps millions of tons of carbon out of the atmosphere through carbon sequestration.

According to studies sponsored by the Almond Board of California, growers can increase their yields by chipping up their old trees and incorporating the material back into the soil. The process reintroduces needed minerals and helps orchards retain water.

But not every grower is yanking out vineyards or ripping out aging trees.

Tom Pavich is a grape grower east of Edison. He's aware of efforts to end open-field burning, but he doesn't expect it to affect him anytime soon.

"I am a grape grower," Pavich said, "but I have not pulled out any vineyards recently and don't have any plans to in the future.

"In theory, I support the concept of an incentive," he said. "Without an incentive, removing a landowner's right would be an illegal taking under the Fifth Amendment, which would require some form of just compensation."

The program is available to growers throughout the valley, with dedicated and enhanced funding available to smaller farming operations like Pavich Family Farms.

"Working with valley growers, communities and state partners, the San Joaquin Valley is once again demonstrating unique leadership in tackling air quality and climate challenges through the only-of-its-kind strategy to eliminate open burning of orchard and vineyard removals," Samir Sheikh, executive director of the air district, said in a news release.

"We strongly urge growers, especially smaller farming operations, to carefully plan for these new requirements and take advantage of new resources for new alternatives that help with our air quality challenges and also provide significant additional crop and carbon-reduction benefits," he said.

According to the air district, since the adoption of the new phaseout requirements, and the incentive programs that help growers swallow that pill, the valley has charted a significant reduction in ag burning, and is on track to achieving a 90 percent reduction by the end of this year.

Anyone who remembers the huge plumes of smoke that rose from neighboring farm fields in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, will recognize how historic such a reduction in ag burning is.

And the help isn't just for mega-farms and corporate operations.

Additional requirements for smaller growers at the end of 2022 and 2023 will continue to provide for additional reductions in open burning prior to the phaseout by the end of 2024, the valley air district said in its news release.

The district, in collaboration with the California Air Resources Board, intends to phase out most burning by the end of 2024.

"Working with our valley growers to reduce this practice through new technologies is critically important to improving public health for our residents, particularly in rural valley communities, Tania Pacheco-Werner, both a valley air district and CARB board member, stated in the release.

"Newly available resources will help valley growers transition to these new practices in a feasible manner that protects our communities' health and livelihood," she said.

For Murray, practical challenges sometimes get in the way of worthwhile goals.

He talked about the metal wire that gets caught up in and wound around grapevines that makes chipping difficult. And wood posts sometimes used in vineyards are chemically treated to keep from rotting in the soil.

"You can't burn the posts or bury the posts or take them to the dump," he said. "That's a whole nother issue."

But Murray is all for chipping and reusing the wood products he grows and integrating them back into the soil.

"It's one of the things we aspire toward," he said. "It's an inevitability. Everything we can do, we got to do, to clean up the air."

Reporter Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.

See the article here:
The goal is to end open-field burning by growers success may be in the air - The Bakersfield Californian