Mediaboss Marketing

By Sara Murray and Jeff Simon, CNN

CNN As Sen. Ron Johnson grapples with whether to run for a third term, it seems there's no controversy the Wisconsin Republican is unwilling to wade into.

"The science tells us that vaccines are 95 percent effective. So if you have a vaccine, quite honestly, what do you care if your neighbor has one or not?" Johnson told conservative radio how Vicki McKenna in April. "So why is this big push to make sure everybody gets a vaccine?"

At a GOP gathering in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, in early June, Johnson dismissed climate change. "I don't know about you guys, but I think climate change is -- as Lord Monckton said -- bullsh*t," Johnson said, mouthing the expletive and referencing British conservative climate change denier Lord Christopher Monckton. "By the way, it is."

And the senator recently suggested -- without any evidence -- that the FBI had more inside knowledge than it let on about Capitol insurrection. "I don't say this publicly," Johnson told constituents in late July. "So you think that the FBI had fully infiltrated the militias in Michigan and they didn't know squat about what's was happening on January 6 and what's was happening with these groups?"

Johnson's outspoken takes have run the gamut from vaccine skepticism to climate change denialism to downplaying the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. His evolution from a conservative businessman to two-term senator apparently willing to deny facts and spread conspiracies has left some in the state wondering: What happened to Ron Johnson?

Johnson declined an interview for this story. In response to questions from CNN, his spokeswoman Alexa Henning said the senator is pro-vaccine, but believes researchers should also look at therapeutics like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, even though they have not proven effective in treating Covid-19 and can have dangerous side effects. Johnson has insisted he's not a climate change denier, although he has a long track record of questioning humans' role in climate change, which runs counter to the scientific consensus. And when it comes to the FBI's knowledge of January 6, "The senator is simply asking questions that many don't want to hear or answer," Henning said, a common explanation from the senator when he is wading into views that run counter to expert consensus. "The senator continues to call on the FBI and DOJ to be transparent. To date, they have not been."

He had a good grasp on reality 'and then Trump happened'

Mark Becker, the former head of the Brown County Republican Party, is one of a handful of Republicans in the state who have not only turned against former President Donald Trump but also against Johnson.

"He was our guy," Becker said of Johnson in an interview. "He was hyper-focused on the national debt, and he was the budget guy. He came to our events, and he was so well-liked. And he, it seemed, had a pretty good grasp on reality, and then Trump happened."

While Becker supported Johnson's first Senate run in 2010, he was actively campaigning against Johnson and Trump by 2016. When the 2020 election rolled around, Becker was persona non grata in Johnson's world. But Becker was so frustrated to see Republicans, including Johnson, casting doubt on the 2020 election results that he reached out to Johnson anyway.

"I'm like, 'He's not going to call me back, but I'll leave him a message and we'll leave it at that.' Well, then he called back, and I was like, 'Holy sh*t,'" Becker said.

Becker said he expressed his concerns about the doubt Republicans were sowing around the 2020 election results.

"I said, 'Ron, Joe Biden won the election.' He said, 'Yes, but 1.5 million people voted for Donald Trump. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to piss those people off,'" Becker said. "So it's like, okay, so serve them red meat, lie to these people, and then you can save face and you can say, 'I had his back.'"

Becker went on to write a column about his phone call with Johnson and continued to press the senator to publicly stand up for the integrity of the 2020 election results.

The day after the insurrection at the US Capitol, Becker says he got a response.

"He said, 'Mark. It is my sincere hope to never have to see or speak to a lowlife weasel such as yourself again. Please stop trying to contact me,'" Becker said, sharing the message with CNN. "So, they're still picking up glass on the floor of the Capitol and that's what he's concerned about. It tells a lot."

According to Johnson's spokeswoman, the senator has said Becker called him "under false pretenses. I was kind enough to engage in a lengthy conversation with him that I had every expectation would remain private. Months later, he went public with what he claims the conversation was about and what I had said. Anyone who would do that is a low-life weasel, and nothing they say should be given any credence."

A number of former Johnson allies have found themselves aghast at the senator's behavior around the 2020 election.

"I think that he's the same in some ways but a little more disappointing," one former staffer said of Johnson's political evolution. The most disappointing part being his actions surrounding the election, the former staffer said.

Johnson -- then the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee -- held a hearing in December highlighting what he claimed were many "irregularities" during the 2020 election.

"He would say, 'I'm just asking questions,' but framing that as a way to almost keep spreading the big lie about elections," the former Johnson staffer said. "That was the time when we needed people to most step up and say the election was legitimate. He of all people should have been in a position to say he knew how these elections worked and everything went right."

Johnson made headlines again this week when a liberal activist secretly filmed the senator admitting Trump lost the state of Wisconsin.

"The only reason Trump lost Wisconsin is that 51,000 Republican voters didn't vote for him," Johnson said in the video. "There's nothing obviously skewed about the results. There isn't."

But his private admission that Trump lost hasn't stopped him from publicly sticking by his claims of irregularities.

"This supposed undercover recording by a Democrat political operative at a public event is consistent with what I've been saying publicly on the 2020 election, no need for hidden cameras and secret recordings, if the press were honest they would accurately report that," Johnson said in a statement. "There were many irregularities that have yet to be fully explained, fully investigated, and solutions passed to restore confidence in future elections, which is why I held a Senate hearing on Dec. 16, 2020. I've investigated many of the irregularities, explained some, and have not gotten answers on many."

In the statement, Johnson noted that he acknowledged Biden as president-elect as far back as December 2020. He failed to note that after admitting Biden won, Johnson backtracked in January and was one of a handful of GOP senators who signed on to a January letter vowing to object to the Electoral College votes in "disputed states" ahead of the January 6 certification.

"That doesn't mean by objecting, by raising these issues that we're doing anything dangerous," Johnson said in a January Newsmax interview. "That's what drives me nuts in this process. My investigation's been termed dangerous. It's not dangerous, it's what's required."

Two days later, a mob stormed the US Capitol. After that, Johnson voted to certify the results.

The rise of Ron Johnson

As far as Michelle Litjens is concerned, Johnson is the same guy he was when she took him to give his first public speech at a Tea Party event in 2009.

"He's always been a frank talker," said Litjens, who was already involved in Wisconsin GOP politics when she met Johnson and went on to serve in the state assembly. "He doesn't skirt around issues. He is not looking to make friends necessarily all the time. He wants to make a difference."

Litjens invited Johnson, who ran a local plastics manufacturing company, to join a roster of speakers at the upcoming event.

"Ron Johnson gets up to speak and he does not speak about business. He actually starts telling a story about how his daughter was born with a rare birth defect and how she wouldn't be alive today if they would not have been able to find a heart specialist to help his daughter, and that wouldn't be possible if we had government run healthcare," Litjens said.

At a time when the GOP backlash to Obamacare was reaching a crescendo, the message resonated.

"When Ron spoke, you could've heard a pin drop," Litjens said. "When he did that, you just knew something special was happening."

Even so, Litjens was skeptical when Johnson came to her months later and confided that he wanted to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Russ Feingold in the 2010 race.

"I said, 'Yeah, I don't think you really want to do that,'" Litjens said. "Ron is not political. He wasn't from politics. He ran a business. And a campaign is county fairs and dairy breakfasts and shaking hands. It's seven days a week, 24 hours a day."

But Johnson was insistent, so Litjens helped him make inroads with conservative operatives and talk radio show hosts. That included an introduction to Charlie Sykes, then a prominent conservative radio host in Wisconsin, who helped Johnson gain name recognition in the state. Sykes, who has since soured on the senator, said this year he was "embarrassed" he ever supported Johnson.

Back in 2010, though, Johnson crafted his campaign around being a Washington outsider who was dedicated to shrinking government, tackling the national debt and boosting economic growth. He poured millions of dollars of his own cash into his campaign and ran buzzy ads highlighting his manufacturing and accounting background.

In one such ad, Johnson stands in front of a white board tallying the number of lawyers in the Senate at the time, compared to the number of manufacturers (zero) and accountants (one).

"There are 100 members of the U.S. Senate," Johnson said in the ad. "Fifty-seven of them, including Russ Feingold, are lawyers. That'd be fine if we had a lawsuit to settle. But we have an economy to fix."

The strategy worked. Johnson won his first Senate race, ousting Feingold in a GOP wave election.

Democrats were so convinced Johnson's victory was a fluke -that Feingold ran again in the 2016 race in an attempt to win back his seat.

In the run up to the election, Johnson was lagging behind in public polls.

"At one point, he'd been kind of abandoned by his own party nationally in terms of funding," said Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Washington Bureau Chief Craig Gilbert, who has been covering politics since the 1980s and Johnson since he arrived in Washington. "That was something that I don't think he forgot very quickly. But everybody had kind of left him for dead politically."

Once again, Johnson surprised political observers, notching his second victory, this time alongside Donald Trump.

Political strategists and former staffers said Johnson always had an independent streak and an inclination to speak his mind, no matter how controversial the topic. But his surprise back-to-back victories may have only emboldened those instincts.

"He came out of nowhere and people really doubted him and so he was always sort of used to that mindset, and 2016 did nothing but deepen that," a former staffer said. "I think he came into the Senate feeling like he fought his way back from the dead, he'd earned it, he owed nothing to anybody. And, you know that that has sort of continued to show itself ever since."

To Johnson, 'there's a lot of truth out there'

To Johnson's critics, he appears to be a power-

hungry politician that is willing to peddle conspiracies to keep his grasp on the Trump-loving base of the party.

To them, Johnson's office offered a statement from the senator: "I promised my constituents two things, that I would never vote with my re-election in mind and I would always tell the truth. Just because the mainstream media and their allies in the Democrat party don't like to be questioned does not mean I will stop holding them accountable."

Johnson's allies, however, see him as a guy who has always stayed true to the GOP grassroots and remained eager to question the establishment. The issues may have shifted, but his allegiances have not, they said.

"Before he was that guy on conservative talk and on TV, he was that guy, listening to conservative talk and yelling at the TV. He's still that guy," said a former staffer. "He's remained the same guy. And as he's developed these additional priorities, he hasn't ditched his old ones."

Republican strategist Brian Schimming -- one of the senator's many GOP allies in the state -- said Johnson simply likes to raise questions and ensure different points of view are presented to the American public.

"For Ron Johnson, for him, there's a lot of truth out there, let's put it that way," Schimming said. "And he wants to make sure people are exposed to it."

When it comes to Covid-19 vaccines, for instance, Johnson has questioned the safety of the vaccines and used public events to highlight rare adverse side effects. He has also touted alternative drugs like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin that have not proven effective in treating the virus.

Days after the FDA warned Americans not to take ivermectin as a Covid-19 treatment, Johnson was back to touting it.

"I'm very agnostic. I don't care what drug will work, try a bunch of them, particularly the ones that are safe," Johnson told Washington Times opinion editor Cheryl Chumley in a late August podcast, adding, "There's growing evidence that ivermectin can be effective."

Johnson has also repeatedly warned of the risk of death from the vaccines, often citing data that shows thousands died in the days after vaccination. That data, though, is unverified and does not prove a causal effect between vaccination and death.

"If you question anything about January 6 or if you question anything about the Covid pronouncements from the Covid gods, you are a potential domestic terrorist," Johnson told conservative radio host Vicki McKenna in late August. "So I guess I'm double that."

Henning, the senator's spokeswoman, said the senator is an advocate for early treatments. While serious negative reactions to the vaccines are extremely rare, Henning said the senator believes those who experience them "have the right to be seen, heard and believed, especially by federal health authorities who to date do not seem to have taken adverse events seriously." And she said the senator believes the death tallies he so often cites "should be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated."

But as US health officials continue to battle vaccine hesitancy -- an issue that has been more pronounced among Republicans -- they have warned that false claims about the vaccine are only making it more difficult to convince Americans to get the shot.

"We've heard false claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility, contain microchips and cause Covid-19. And worse, we've heard false claims that thousands of people have died from the vaccine," Dr. Peter Marks, director of the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in late August. "Let me be clear: These claims are simply not true. Getting a Covid-19 vaccine can save your life."

Eying a third term

During Johnson's last race, he vowed to the voters that he was a two-term kind of guy.

"I'm gonna serve one more term. That's it. Two terms. More than enough time! 12 years. Feingold's there for 18 years!" Johnson said at a 2016 campaign event.

Lately, he's been wavering on that promise, still undecided on whether he will seek a third term. If he does, seasoned political observers were split on Johnson's reelection odds.

"It's unusual to have a member of the Senate from a 50-50 state as conservative as Ron Johnson is, and it's probably even a little bit more unusual to be as, kind of, much of a lightning rod," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Gilbert said. "It's not necessarily great general election politics to be, kind of, to be where Ron Johnson has been on some of these issues."

There's no doubt Wisconsin is a battleground state. It went for former President Barack Obama twice before flipping to Trump's column in 2016, only to trend blue again for Biden in 2020. And between Johnson and Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, there is perhaps no other state with such philosophically opposite representation in the Senate.

A former Johnson staffer said people don't fully grasp the state's political landscape -- and that leads them to underestimate Johnson's appeal.

"The reality is that Wisconsin is not a purple state. Wisconsin is two states: A red state and a blue state, with deeply hardened bases, and then a very thin sliver of the swing vote," the former staffer said. "It's something that people have understood in Wisconsin for a long time, which is that you maximize your base as much as possible, and you find a way to carve off that swing vote."

Johnson's allies bet that Wisconsin voters will see beyond the raft of negative headlines he's faced recently. When he generates controversy, they say he simply likes to ask questions. And they blame the media, saying he's being taken out of context.

"I think the people of Wisconsin appreciate that Ron Johnson is a straight shooter," said Ben Voelkel, Johnson's former communications director. "They might not always agree with him, but what he told them the first time he ran and how he continues to act is that he's always going to be straight with them."

For Democrats in Wisconsin, Johnson's straight talk is easy campaign ammunition.

Nearly a dozen Democrats have jumped in the race for Johnson's seat, including high-profile names like Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin's Treasurer Sarah Godlewski and Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry.

And they're already using his words against him.

Earlier this year, Johnson went on a media tour insisting he never felt threatened on January 6.

"I knew those were people that loved this country, that truly respect law enforcement, would never do anything to break the law. So, I wasn't concerned," Johnson said on the Joe Pags Show. "Had the tables been turned, and President Trump won the election, and those were tens of thousands of Black Lives Matter and Antifa protesters, I might have been a little concerned."

Johnson's office said he has condemned the violence on January 6, but he distinguishes those who stormed the Capitol from those who engaged in legal protests.

Still, Godlewski has already used a portion of those remarks in an ad against him.

Barnes also took aim at Johnson's remarks, telling CNN, "He's a person who has morphed into the guy who's gonna say the racist part out loud. We're talking real Archie Bunker here now, on top of the conspiracy theories."

There's little sign Democrats plan to let up.

"I feel that, honestly, he says these things in order to get attention, to bring attention to himself. Because he hasn't delivered for people," Barnes said. "He speaks his truth, and unfortunately, he's delusional.

The-CNN-Wire & 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

Read the original:
Sen. Ron Johnson's evolution from Tea Party insurgent to conspiracy theory promoter :: WRAL.com - WRAL.com

Barack Obama had been president for only a few months when the Tea Party roared onto the American political scene. Conservative activists rallied and organized by the hundreds of thousands against his economic stimulus plan and health care reforms. Their efforts torqued the Republican Party rightward and powered its gains in the 2010 midterm election.

Eight years later, Donald J. Trump faced a similar grass-roots opposition. The liberal resistance protested and organized in thousands of volunteer-led local groups, helping sink Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and helping Democrats retake the House of Representatives in 2018.

Yet more than halfway through President Bidens first year in office, there is little sign of a mass movement mobilizing against him or his policies. Even as the administration calls for trillions of dollars in federal spending, no second coming of the Tea Party has taken root. And the protests by conservatives that have taken place although sometimes aggressive in new ways have largely targeted an array of political and cultural issues rather than Mr. Biden himself.

Yeah, we go out, we oppose some of Bidens policies, we disagree, said Debbie Dooley, an Atlanta-based activist who helped found the Tea Party in 2009. But you dont see great protests out there.

The number of conservative demonstrations nationwide since the Biden inauguration remains a fraction of the volume of liberal demonstrations that followed the Trump inauguration in 2017, according to data collected by the Crowd Counting Consortium, a public interest and scholarly project directed by the researchers Erica Chenoweth of Harvard and Jeremy Pressman of the University of Connecticut.

Where left-of-center demonstrations made up three-quarters of all demonstrations in the United States during the six months after Mr. Trump entered office, conservative demonstrations account for just 10 percent of the total since Mr. Biden did (protests against racism and policing have accounted for the majority). And at only a few dozen of them have protesters explicitly criticized Mr. Biden, according to the crowd counts, in contrast to the hundreds of Obama-critical Tea Party events held by the summer of 2009.

Understand the Infrastructure Bill

Why has Mr. Biden at least so far escaped the sort of grass-roots ferment that dogged his two immediate predecessors?

One possibility is that hes simply perceived as less antagonizing. The Tea Party was driven more by anxiety and resentment over a demographically changing country that had just elected its first Black president, most political scientists agree, than by fiscal conservatism.

I dont think it was just Obama personally; it was what he represented, said Theda Skocpol, a Harvard political scientist who has studied both the Tea Party and the anti-Trump resistance. Its the sense that people that dont seem like America to you are taking charge.

As a white man, Mr. Biden attracts less of this racial backlash. And where Mr. Trumps personal behavior and pugnacious political style stoked liberal activists outrage, Mr. Bidens lower-key, more moderate reputation may offer less of a target.

Its not been as easy to fuel a sort of second Tea Party with him in the White House simply because he doesnt upset people as much, said Seth Masket, who directs the University of Denvers Center on American Politics and wrote a book about why Mr. Biden won last years Democratic primary.

Mr. Bidens agenda offers another possibility. Polls consistently show that his pandemic relief package and infrastructure plans are viewed more favorably than Mr. Obamas 2009 stimulus and the Affordable Care Act ever were, and more favorably than Mr. Trumps A.C.A. repeal plans and 2017 tax law. All four of those bills sparked grass-roots opposition.

Aug. 24, 2021, 4:52 p.m. ET

But a president who dampens rather than stokes grass-roots furor is only part of the answer. The subjects conservatives have been protesting about over the past six months suggest other reasons for the missing anti-Biden Tea Party.

One of them is the pandemic. Protests against public health restrictions, masks and Covid vaccines account for a large number of conservative demonstrations since Mr. Bidens inauguration, according to data collected by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a nonprofit group that tracks demonstration events in more than 190 countries and territories. In many cases, those demonstrations have criticized governors, employers and public health officials rather than Mr. Biden.

The pandemic coupled with large deficit spending under Mr. Trump may also have shielded Mr. Bidens ambitious agenda from the sort of conservative criticism that greeted government spending in 2009.

Were still concerned about a lot of the fiscal issues, said Ms. Dooley, the Tea Party activist. But then Covid struck, and that just turned everything upside down because youve got people out there that are hurting and youve got to help them.

The transformation of the Republican Party since 2009 offers another possible explanation. The rise of the Tea Party marked the beginning of a mainstreaming of right-wing resentment politics that helped pave the way for Mr. Trumps presidency, said Rachel Blum, a political scientist at the University of Oklahoma.

Its very success in remaking the G.O.P. might have made a new grass-roots resurgence on the right unnecessary. There doesnt need to be another Tea Party because Trumpism is the downstream representation of it, Professor Skocpol said. Trump is leading himself, front and center, a much more personality-centered embodiment of the same urges. Where Mr. Obama commanded activist attention in 2009, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project has documented more than four times as many pro-Trump demonstrations as anti-Biden ones through July 20.

In some cases, Mr. Trumps influence has fueled opposition to fellow Republicans rather than against Democrats. A lot of the anger is focused on Republicans that betrayed Trump, that threw Trump under the bus, Ms. Dooley said, mentioning Representative Liz Cheney, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia and the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. Thats what a lot of people are focused on versus 2009.

Trump-aligned Republicans are certainly emulating the Tea Party in some ways: transforming local party committees, taking over school boards and running for office. A recent surge of protests against critical race theory has drawn comparisons to the Tea Party, although the number of demonstrations so far has been far smaller.

Not having a Biden-era version of the Tea Party may not hurt Republicans much politically. The party needs to flip only a handful of seats next year to retake Congress. Bidens approval rating has fallen in recent weeks, and the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan may depress it further. And a broad grass-roots backlash could emerge if Mr. Bidens legislative agenda becomes less popular.

Its also possible that the Trump era has changed the tactics and goals of conservative organizing. Although some Tea Party events featured guns and violent language, the movement influenced the political process largely by protesting, pressuring lawmakers on legislative issues and voting. By contrast, some Trump-supporting activists have resorted to implicit threats (like armed anti-lockdown demonstrations), conspiracy theories (like QAnon and false claims about the 2020 election) or outright violence (like the Jan. 6 attack on Congress).

The messaging is very much not about using the traditional tools of grass-roots organizing, like going to town hall meetings and contacting your elected officials, said Dana Fisher, a University of Maryland sociologist. This is more like intimidating your elected officials by packing assault rifles.

Far-right militant groups whose members participated in the Capitol attack, like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, have taken part in more than 300 events (some peaceful) in the six-month period after Mr. Bidens inauguration, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. And sizable shares of Republicans have downplayed or excused the events of Jan. 6. In a Quinnipiac poll this month, 75 percent of them said it was time to move on. More than half of Trump voters described the riot as patriotism and defending freedom in a July CBS News/YouGov poll.

In some cases, the Tea Party has embodied this shift. One of its founding organizers spoke at the rally that preceded the Capitol attack. Local Tea Party groups that remain active have embraced Mr. Trumps election lies, Professor Skocpol said. And groups like FreedomWorks and the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, which boosted the Tea Party movement, are now pushing restrictive voting laws.

That suggests that when the next sustained conservative grass-roots movement does erupt, Mr. Biden may not be its focus and it may not look much like the Tea Party. Were in uncharted waters in a lot of ways, Professor Fisher said. Im not sure what were going to get.

Read the original here:
Where Is the Anti-Biden Tea Party? - The New York Times

The dreamy new patio and specialty coffees aren't the only things that make this spot unique.

The cafe has quite the tale behind its opening, and owner Leighton Walters filled Narcity in on his journey and how Found Coffee came to be.

Found Coffee | Handout

Walters was born in Australia and began working in a cafe at age 15, where he discovered a special sense of community he had struggled to find elsewhere.

"I was bullied in school because of my disability I had no friends, but my workplace became my friendship circle," he says. "And I realized that it wasn't just about the coffee, it was about community, it was about connecting people."

A week after moving to Canada for a job, Walters met a girl and had a feeling it was "something special". He decided to end his contract and pursue his dream of owning his own coffee shop.

"We flew to Australia at the end of 2019, [...] on the Harbour Bridge I told her that I loved her for the first time and it was this beautiful moment, and then we come back to Toronto and the pandemic hits."

"I was forced to make a decision whether [...] to end the relationship with someone I just told that I loved and go back to Australia, or double down on Canada," he says.

"I sold everything that I own in Australia and transformed my life savings into Canadian dollars, hoping that the right opportunity would open up for me to actually create a space that would be a part of the community."

Found Coffee | Handout

In August 2020, Found Coffee officially opened.

"I spent my life savings on buying all the equipment [...] and in the middle of the pandemic we opened the door," he says. "We couldn't run a launch event because everyone was meant to #stay home."

"It was scary for the first few months," he admits. "We were serving 20 people a day. We were doing $120 a day or $200 or $250, it just wasn't affordable for us."

"Because we are a new business that opened in the middle of the pandemic, we were not eligible for any government support."

Despite the setbacks, Walters remained committed to pursuing his passion of bringing a "great Aussie specialty coffee experience" to Toronto.

"The whole reason why we called it Found was because we wanted to recreate that feeling that we get when we've found something that you've been looking for your whole life."

Found Coffee | Handout

Despite the rocky start, Found Coffee recently had to expand its hours due to its mounting popularity.

"As soon as we open the door we're getting literally five or six people that show up," Walters says. "We honestly were humbled by the fact that every week we were serving a few more people."

The new back patio has also been drawing customers. Filled with soft colours that reflect the Australian outback, the hidden dining space has Manhattan boho vibes and Insta-worthy photo ops.

"We've seen a lot more Instagram presence, I was up till like two o'clock, sharing, sharing..." Walters laughs. "I've never seen anything like it."

The love story is still going strong, too. "We're still together things and are going great so there's no sad ending to that," Walters says assuringly.

Walters hinted that a second location could be popping up in the future, and for now he looks forward to continuing to welcome the community to his shop.

Found Coffee | Handout

Price:

Cuisine: Australian

Address: 324 College St., Toronto, ON

Why You Need To Go: This Insta-worthy cafe has all sorts of delicious Australian-inspired dishes as well as a sweet love story behind it.

Menu

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

See the original post here:
A Boozy 'Alice In Wonderland' Tea Party Is Coming To Toronto & You Don't Want To Be Late - Narcity Canada

THE GOPS McCAIN FANTASY Four years ago, Sen. John McCain dealt a decisive blow to the Republican push to topple Obamacare with a memorable thumbs-down vote on the floor. The dramatic moment, as the 2008 GOP presidential nominee crippled his own partys efforts to repeal and replace the landmark health care law signed by the Democratic president who defeated him, resonates in Washington to this day.

And some in the GOP are hoping to watch a revival of it to see one or more centrist Democrats stage their own McCain moments by tearing down their partys precarious plans for a $3.5 trillion social spending bill packed with progressive wish-list items.

For several reasons, that Republican hope is almost surely in vain. The biggest one is simple: In the summer of 2017, McCain was standing against an attempt to take away benefits from the American public, protections that were growing in popularity as then-President Donald Trump pushed to revoke them.

Yet any moderate Democrat who casts a deciding vote to quash the social spending plan promoted by President Joe Biden would be yanking away benefits or at least halting the establishment of new ones from the public, donning a black hat by stopping legislation thats poised to expand paid leave, universal pre-K, free community college and Medicare coverage.

Even Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who is said to envision herself as a home-state heir to McCains maverick mentality, knows better than to let her resistance to a bill as big as $3.5 trillion play out at the 11th hour, when it would hurt her party most. The Democratic architect of the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure deal (your Nightly host rejects the Playbook-pushed acronym that rhymes with a peanut-butter brand) is laying down her marker early, with a spokesperson telling our Burgess Everett earlier today that she wont accept a social spending plan with a price tag shaped by Senate Budget Chair Bernie Sanders.

(L-R) Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) speaks as Susan Collins (R-Maine), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) listen during a news conference after a procedural vote for the bipartisan infrastructure framework at Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill. | Alex Wong/Getty Images

Theres another big reason that a Democrat is unlikely to play the McCain role of showy spoiler, this one embodied by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.). Unlike the Arizona conservative and decorated war hero, most Democratic centrists are the Rodney Dangerfields of the Hill: They get no respect.

Sinema and her Senate centrist-in-arms Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are persistently reviled by the left and embraced by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. McCain was hardly Mr. Popular in the post-tea party GOP, but his heroic personal narrative and past standard-bearing put him on a different intra-party footing than Sinema or Manchin stands on today.

At least Sinema and Manchin have outsize influence in the 50-50 Senate, however. Gottheimer co-chairs a bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus thats operated in the shadows of the Senates dealmakers throughout the infrastructure drama, even after it helped deliver 35 Republican votes for an independent commission to examine Jan. 6.

One congressional aide even compared Gottheimers caucus to the cycle of cicadas, those weak 17-year presences that end up crunched on sidewalks, to our Sarah Ferris back in June. So Gottheimer and his fellow House centrists are putting their oft-underestimated credibility on the line as they hold out their votes for their partys budget this week in a push to get a faster vote on the Sinema-led Senate infrastructure bill.

But their ultimate goal is to gain influence inside their party, particularly as the 100-plus members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus start making demands for the forthcoming social spending bill. The best way to get that influence isnt by tanking the speakers priorities, McCain-style especially when Gottheimer is trying to repeal the cap on state and local tax deductions in the same bill hes holding up.

Gottheimer can win by reaching an agreement that makes his centrists look as smart as possible while giving Democratic leaders what they want. He might still defy the laws of legislative physics this week and lead his allies to a House-floor squashing of the budget, with its reconciliation instructions that tee up the social spending bill. But the safer bet is that as memorable as McCains rebellion was, it is unlikely to get a sequel.

Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. A note for next week: Nightly wont be publishing from Monday, Aug. 30-Monday, Sept. 6. Well be back and better than ever Tuesday, Sept. 7. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at [emailprotected]. Or contact tonights author at [emailprotected] and on Twitter at @eschor.

A message from AT&T:

Accessible, affordable broadband helps communities reach their American Dream. Thats why were making a $2 billion, 3-year commitment toward helping close the digital divide, so more low-income families have the ability to succeed. Learn more.

DEADLINE DRAMA The White House has been clear for weeks that there wouldnt be a mission accomplished moment to end Americas longest war. But after initially pushing back the timeline to pull out of the country, the president had been adamant about marking the wars end by a date certain: Aug. 31. And it quickly became the latest example of how the White Houses devotion to deadlines can backfire, Christopher Cadelago and Natasha Korecki write.

Deadlines serve a purpose. They are motivational. They bring focus, said David Axelrod, a senior strategist for former President Barack Obama. They also can be treacherous and hard to keep, especially in complex situations. And that can come back to bite you.

Until last week, Bidens Afghanistan policy had been defined as a rigid adherence to his withdrawal deadline. And that insistence opened him up to a wave of criticism for being both shortsighted and politically motivated the withdrawal was timed to mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks that effectively triggered the war.

Bidens resolve seemed to recede a bit on Sunday night when, in response to two consecutive questions about his Aug. 31 deadline, he said his hope was to not have to extend it. But, he added, there are going to be discussions, I suspect about how far along we are in the process. Administration officials point to the thousands of evacuations that have taken place in the past few days as an example of their agility.

Evacuees from Kabul arrive in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. | Photo by Handout/Bundeswehr via Getty Images

Pentagon confirms latest mission to rescue Americans stranded in Kabul: The Pentagon revealed today it had performed another rescue mission to transport Americans stranded in Kabul to the Afghan capitals international airport, where the urgent U.S. evacuation effort remains underway. The announcement comes after the Pentagon confirmed that three Army CH-47 Chinook helicopters last Thursday airlifted a group of 169 Americans from the Baron Hotel in Kabul to the Hamid Karzai International Airport just 200 meters away.

Taliban threaten consequences if U.S. delays Afghanistan exit: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ask Biden to keep American boots on the ground in Afghanistan after Aug. 31s withdrawal deadline but the Taliban say they wont accept any extension. Johnson is set to push the American president for more time for evacuation during an emergency summit of G-7 countries on Tuesday, according to briefings to journalists by No. 10 Downing Street. The meeting comes as several thousands of people have gathered around Kabul airport in a desperate attempt to escape Taliban rule.

FDA approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, making way for more vaccine mandates: The Food and Drug Administration fully approved the first Covid-19 vaccine for use in adults today, raising hopes that the decision will convince some holdouts to get vaccinated and spark a wave of employer and school immunization mandates. The agencys decision applies to people 16 and older.

Cuomo calls AG report a political firecracker: Gov. Andrew Cuomo pledged today to fight the allegations of sexual harassment detailed in a recent report from Attorney General Tish James as he addressed New Yorkers for the final time as governor. The governors video farewell remarks capped a 14-day transition period that began when the three-term Democrat announced his resignation. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul will officially be sworn-in as New Yorks first woman governor at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Capitol Police clear officer in shooting of Ashli Babbitt during Jan. 6 riot: The Capitol Police said today it had cleared of wrongdoing the officer who fatally shot Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 insurrection, announcing that an internal investigation found the officers conduct lawful and would not result in discipline. The department said in a statement that its Office of Professional Responsibility determined the officers actions were lawful and within Department policy. The Capitol Police allows officers to use deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes that action is in the defense of human life, including the officers own life, or in the defense of any person in immediate danger of serious physical injury.

Trump-appointed judge clashes with Biden DOJ in immigration suit: A federal judge presiding over a major legal challenge to Bidens immigration policies lashed out today at Justice Department attorneys, accusing them of trying to rush him into making a key decision in the case.

Severe oil leaks worsened Keystone pipelines spill record, GAO finds: The company behind the controversial Keystone XL project that Biden effectively killed on his first day of office had an oil spill record worse than the national average over a five-year period thanks to two major spills, according to a Government Accountability Office report published today. The two spills from the Keystone pipelines dumped a combined 12,000 barrels of oil in the Dakotas even as operator TC Energy was planning to expand that pipeline with its proposed Keystone XL project, which would have tripled the amount of crude the pipeline system would carry from Canada into the United States.

Nightly asks you: Did you, or someone you know, initially decide not to get vaccinated but then got the shot? If so, what happened to change your mind (or theirs)? Send your response using our form, and well include select answers in Fridays edition.

POST-MERKEL NAILBITER Germany heads into the final month of its national election campaign this week with the three largest parties in a virtual dead heat, in the latest sign that the contours of the countrys political typography will be redrawn after Angela Merkels exit.

A rash of polls in recent days points to a steady decline in support for the ruling Christian Democrats, whose candidate for chancellor, party leader Armin Laschet, appears to have so far failed to convince the public that he is a worthy successor to Merkel, who plans to step aside after 16 years in office.

The Christian Democrats are supported by just 24 percent of the population, down from 29 percent last month, according to POLITICOs Poll of Polls, which aggregates polling data from numerous sources. The Social Democrats, boosted by the popularity of their candidate for the chancellor, Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, have jumped to 20 percent from 16 percent. The Greens, who many tipped to be the clear No. 2 party, have stagnated at 18 percent.

The most recent individual polls are even more worrying for the center-right Christian Democrats, who campaign together with their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union. According to a weekly barometer published by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper over the weekend, the Christian Democrats are now even with the Social Democrats at 22 percent, but still ahead of the Greens at 17 percent.

$125 million

The amount Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is spending to hire an additional 1,500 people to staff hospitals through December on top of the 1,300 health workers the state already sent to 68 hospitals. Hospitals and lawmakers in states gripped by the Delta variant are offering nurses tens of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses, rewriting job descriptions so paramedics can care for patients and pleading for federal help to beef up their crisis-fatigued health care workforces.

STORM ROLLS INTO WH For the first time since 2016, an NBA or WNBA championship team visited the White House today, as Biden welcomed the WNBA champion Seattle Storm. The president said the team had done significant work off the court to make an impact in their communities. What makes this team remarkable is they dont just win games. They change lives. Encouraging people to get vaccinated so we can beat this pandemic. Speaking out of standing up for racial justice and voting rights. Supporting education and mentorship programs for young people. And fighting to protect trans youth from an epidemic of violence and discrimination, Biden said. Thats what winners do: They shine the light, they lift people up, theyre a force for change. Biden then knelt in front of the team with a customized Biden 46 jersey for a photograph.

A message from AT&T:

Kamal Bell is the proud owner of Sankofa Farms, a thriving family farm that employs his community. He knows food insecurity impacts minority groups in his area. But with help from accessible and affordable broadband, he can provide a food source to local food deserts, and teach Black youth about agriculture and STEM. He also uses new tech to collect data, run beekeeping operations, and monitor his farm with drones. Thanks to Access from AT&T, we can connect low-income households like the ones Kamal works with, and more communities in areas we serve with their American Dream. Learn more.

Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.

Read more:
Where the centrist rebellion goes from here - Politico

By LISA GONSALVES

The following year with Michele was mostly magical. She was a gracious hostess in what seemed like an enchanted tea party, speckled with moments of relative madness. She was the psychedelic version of Martha Stewart.

Impressive were her business sensibilities that continued to manage roughly half a dozen staff of rotating caregivers. She ran her home with the fastidiousness of her business endeavors. Her kitchen, cleaning regimen, and trash handling were designed with precision; everything was labeled and dated, nothing wasted, and every resource scrutinized. We designed, laminated and posted an elaborate guest policy, to the chagrin of family members and visiting friends.

I understood her need for structure as an accommodation in the face of a handicap, as I require it to ameliorate my distractibility. Michele would say, I cant have chaos, and I heard, Because my cancer condition creates a condition over which I have minimal control, I must control what I can.

No surprise, the shining highlight was meal prep. In her kitchen, she was a magnificent maestro orchestrating a symphony of healing meals. Thats where her precious culinary secrets were disclosed. Occasionally, the mini diva reminded us how much those lessons were worth. Nevertheless, meals were always shared. Sometimes wed help her host small dinner parties for random friends and neighbors, because, why not? As a woman who could shatter or master many stereotypes, she never appeared to me much as the Jewish mother, except in the kitchen. Michele fed others with relish.

Entertainment was ensured that year. We caregivers were afforded equal opportunity to escort her to any free cultural event she found. Always a great date, while overdressed to the nines, she was charming, witty, and easily the center of attention. Her sex appeal was as effervescent as ever and she could flirt like a vixen, simultaneously attempting coy while upholding archaic courtship protocol.

Yet she made no secret of her cancer. In fact, it was typically the first thing out of her mouth. With a smile. And the smile was real. Queen that she was, her grand finale was her final entry into the Ms. Senior America Pageant.

Michele had placed in several senior beauty pageants over the years. What was notable in her participation in the title for Ms. Pennsylvania Senior America 2020 was her Stage 4 cancer. The pageant expected contestants to be the picture of health. Because of full disclosure, the pageant people were aware of her condition. Perhaps desperate for bodies, they coddled her throughout. She and I worked together to master her best answers, which were scripted and rehearsed. Her cousin came from the city to fit her for the event in top designer fashion.

With those requirements covered, she needed only to focus on the talent segment. She chose interpretive dance because thats something she could do on the spot and just make it up in the moment. The problem for her was finding a song. She had asked a friend to compose something. That didnt happen. Oddly, she neglected to search herself, was avoidant even. She passed the responsibility on to one of the caregivers. Keen on requirements, Michele made certain I provided her with a song version with exactly the time allotted, but she never rehearsed her dance at all. In fact, aside from timing her entrance, she never even listened to it. That wasnt the most concerning issue.

By the time the pageant came around, Michele made the journey to Harrisburg all by herself, while in hospice. This involved a car ride of several hours and an overnight stay for preparation and rehearsals. As she tells it, she got lost someplace short of her destination, pulled in at a diner, and called the police, who escorted her the rest of the way. She was many hours late, but since she worked superbly under pressure, she could go with the flow.

Im Every Woman isnt a song about womens empowermentits Hoochie-Mama! reported a dismayed Michele, perfectly cast as a real-life Little Miss Sunshine in her twilight years! As tiny as she was, she showed up big, or not at all. She made it back in one piece, positive attitude intact. Id argue that Michele was the most courageous beauty pageant contestant ever. For that, she is a champion.

Michele admittedly put on characters like costumes she changed out of her endless wardrobe. Yet she was never inauthentic. Akin to Dolly Partons exaggerated glamour, she was forthcoming about her constructed illusions and despite them all, still incredibly real. Each shift (to use her word) was a decisive strategy to meet a necessary end that worked for her. The newly adopted persona or change in perspective was embraced wholeheartedly as a true aspect of herself. From early on, she learned how to be the conductor of her own ride, and not allow life to happen to her. She was a fervent student of life until the end. Although not academic, she was heavily learned in hard and soft skills, taking courses throughout her life in various fields, from fine art to energy healing, often with the most prestigious of educators.

I realize there might be those who thought her just nuts, but Id argue she was misunderstood. Most of what she professed was grounded in respectably established concepts. True, she was known to have fantastical notions, and we arent certain to what degree she took them seriously. I must note, however, that even her most far-fetched stories are difficult to disprove. She might just have returned to her far-off planet Zatar. We cant really know. Essentially, she raises the question whether perhaps someones craziness isnt crazy at all. It could be genius the rest of us dont understand.

Michele was not blind to her imperfections and strove to improve until the end. Granted, she could be exhausting. At least she was mindful of maintaining her integrity and willing to look where she faltered. At times Id point out when she was asking for too much or being unnecessarily bossy. She appreciated my honesty and stopped expecting bank tellers to make her photocopies and get her envelopes. Together Michele and I worked on her swan song. My Gift of Destruction was the title she gave to her cancer journey because this dichotomy was her theme. Her chosen totem was the Black Witch moth, which in various cultures symbolizes contrary concepts. For some, it is a harbinger of death, and for others, it is a positive omen of good fortune. She had accepted her early denial of her condition and her futile attempts to escape the clutches of cancer. What became paramount to her was jurisdiction over her own conscientious choices. No one was going to tell her what course of action was right for her health.

For the rest of this story, visit http://www.riverreporter.com/miracles.

Originally posted here:
Crazy as wise, part three - The River Reporter