This document should be in the Smithsonian. It should be preserved as part of the written history of American democracy. I can hear the spirit of Thomas Paine saying, "Well done." https://t.co/vSs4BpfBU4 — Paul Epps (@paulepps) October 13, 2024 Read more →
EppsNet Archive: Politics
People I Thought Were Dead
Jim Bakker – televangelist Richard Benjamin – actor Joe Biden – U.S. president Jimmy Carter – U.S. president Elizabeth Dole – U.S. cabinet secretary Sandy Koufax – baseball player Kreskin – mentalist and TV host Ralph Nader – consumer activist Richard Petty – auto racer Read more →
NBC: Trump Is Just Asking to Get Shot
So he was asking for it, according to NBC. Use fierce rhetoric, get shot. No mention of the possible effect of fierce rhetoric used *against* Trump.https://t.co/yPQEnLSujz — Paul Epps (@paulepps) September 16, 2024 Read more →
A Simple Equation That No One Can Figure Out
‘A Disaster’: Black Chicago Residents Slam Democrats For Ignoring Them In Favor Of Migrants https://t.co/Eg1Zy6gThR via @dailycaller — Paul Epps (@paulepps) August 24, 2024 Black Americans vote for Democrats in very high numbers. They have an unswerving loyalty to the Democratic party. If Kamala Harris literally spit in their face, they would still vote for her. This isn’t the way to exercise political power, or any other kind of power. The way to exercise political power is “I’ll give you what you want but only if you give me what I want.” If you announce in advance “I’ll give you what you want (my vote) no matter what.” you’ll spend your life begging for a few crumbs, which will not be forthcoming. No elected official cares what you want, or what you think, or what you say, because you’ve already given them what they want. Chicago has probably not elected… Read more →
The J21 Coup
My fellow Democrats, I have decided not to accept the nomination and to focus all my energies on my duties as President for the remainder of my term. My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best… pic.twitter.com/x8DnvuImJV — Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 21, 2024 For years now, you could go online every day and see new videos of Joe Biden falling down, mumbling incoherently, wandering around lost and confused. But if you said anything about this out loud, you’d be called a far-right MAGA propagandist (or something similar), accused of spreading disinformation. And by the way, according to Democrats and corporate media, those videos were fake. Then came the Trump-Biden debate. Why Biden would agree to stand next to Trump for 90 minutes and debate, I have no idea. My best guess is that,… Read more →
The First 2024 Presidential Debate is in the Books
https://t.co/nNlT0xBJ3Z — Paul Epps (@paulepps) June 29, 2024 When the presidential debates were first announced, I said that there was no way Biden was going to do a debate, so now I have to admit that I was wrong. But also, you can probably understand why I said that. Biden is who he is. He’s mentally and physically enfeebled. As long as he doesn’t do something deranged, like challenge his opponent to a live debate, the media can continue to do their best to cover for him. For example: Ladies and gentlemen, let’s revisit this supercut from 12 days ago. Well done MSM! pic.twitter.com/pSrnmnoVMo — MAZE (@mazemoore) June 28, 2024 Here’s what Biden said the day after the debate: “I know I’m not a young man. I don’t walk as easily as I used to. I don’t talk as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as… Read more →
Questions on the Hunter Biden Laptop
https://t.co/VdehI82LV1 — Paul Epps (@paulepps) June 15, 2024 Hunter Biden was convicted of multiple felonies this week, in part owing to the verified contents of his laptop, which the New York Post reported on before the 2020 election. A group of 51 former U.S. intelligence officials released an open letter on Oct. 19, 2020, regarding the Post’s Oct. 14 report about the discovery of the laptop, the contents of which included documentation of a series of ethically questionable business deals that the Biden family was pursuing in both Ukraine and China, with the very likely involvement of Joe Biden himself. The letter asserted that the laptop story had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.” If you read the fine print, the letter does say that while the signatories had no “evidence of Russian involvement,” the laptop op “would be consistent with some of the key methods Russia… Read more →
White Rural Rage?
There’s a new book out called White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy. I haven’t read it but it did give me an idea for a fun drinking game. Every time you hear the phrase “threat to democracy” or a variant thereof between now and the presidential election, you take a drink. The downside is you’ll be dead long before November and you’ll never find out who gets elected. The authors of the book were interviewed on MSNBC this past week. One of the authors, Tom Schaller, said this: “First of all, [white rural voters] are the most racist, xenophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-gay demographic in the country. Second, they’re the most conspiracist group: QAnon support and subscribers, election denialism, Covid denialism and scientific skepticism, Obama birtherism. Third: anti-democratic sentiments. They don’t believe in an independent press, free speech, they’re most likely to say the president should be able to act… Read more →
Joy Reid’s Hair
BREAKING PREDICTION: In Joy Reid’s bleaching quest to be accepted by White liberals, she will be fired by those same White liberals at @msnbc for her over the top racist rants against and about White people. You don’t know? You better ask @TiffanyDCross and @rolandsmartin.… pic.twitter.com/xYtiAuN2z7 — Vernon Jones (@VernonForGA) January 16, 2024 I read about the Vernon Jones remarks in an article, the point of which was that Vernon Jones is a terrible person for saying these things about Joy Reid. I think it’s fair comment. The only thing Joy Reid seems to hate more than white people is her own hair. Read more →
Don’t Kill the Message
As a Democrat who has been left homeless, who is now definitely in the center but probably leaning increasingly right, I am left yet again with an appreciation, despite the messenger, of the message of the Trump administration because what those guys did was pretty incredible in hindsight. So much of the work that happened in that administration turns out to have been right. And that’s what is so frustrating for me. The work on the border wall? We didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. Turned out it was right. Issuing long-term debt to refinance when rates were at zero? We didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. A structural peace in the Middle East? We didn’t like the messenger, so we killed the message. When are we gonna stop shooting ourselves in the foot? And when are we going to actually see and take… Read more →
Obstructing Congressional Proceedings
If they don’t charge Rep Bowman, with a crime for endangering the lives of those in the capitol & obstructing congressional proceedings then they better let every single J6er that’s rotting in prison for nonviolent offenses out with an apology & compensation right fucking now! pic.twitter.com/Cpc2su2VJP — Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 30, 2023 He’s got a fair point there because the statute regarding “obstructing congressional proceedings” is what a lot of J6ers are charged with. It carries a maximum sentence, I believe, of 20 years in prison, which allows lengthy sentences to be doled out to people who entered a building and walked around. Yes, you entered a building and walked around but we were trying to conduct a congressional proceeding and you obstructed it. And in the words of Bob Dylan, To show that all’s equal and that the courts are on the level And that the strings… Read more →
Failing To Notify Parents When Their Child Changes Gender Is ‘The American Way’?
Dem Governor: Failing To Notify Parents When Their Child Changes Gender Is ‘The American Way’ — freebeacon.com The Democratic governor is Phil Murphy from New Jersey, who says that “outing” LGBTQ students to their parents is a violation of the child’s constitutional rights. Thus, opposing parental notification is “the American way.” “Listen, we took these actions because it’s the right thing to do,” Murphy said. “Let’s protect the rights of these precious kids. Let’s do things the right way, the American way.” I wasn’t even aware that constitutional rights apply to children. Without researching it, I suspect they don’t. I also don’t think that children have the cognitive maturity to make decisions on their own about sexuality and gender identity. Transgenderism, for example, is a mental disorder: gender dysphoria. It’s a diagnosis obtained via medical care and therapy, not obtained via the internet. There almost certainly is not someone at… Read more →
Book Banning
Biden administration to appoint anti-book ban coordinator as part of new LGBTQ protections — cbsnews.com Oh, I’ve got the perfect candidate! This guy: Seriously though, what does LGBTQ have to do with book banning? Book banning has a long history completely unrelated to LGBTQ, and the book banning that is attributed to LGBTQ seems to be either fake or due to the age-inappropriateness of the material. Read more →
Gay Woman Talks About Pride Marketing Campaigns
From Tammy Bruce, a gay TV and radio person: I realize that there’s all kinds of different people in the world. Lord knows I live a marginal life myself and I like my life. But what this [i.e., pride commercials and marketing campaigns] does is it sends a message it’s really kind of an extremist framework. [Pride is] really about being left alone but being treated equally and fairly . . . it’s as though there has to be another step forward, another kind of push for something, for everyone to be a victim or for some kind of new dynamic. Those kinds of ads really do damage to the gay and lesbian community. Because it’s pandering, it’s extreme… It does not respect the audience in a sense. [Companies are] not used to how Americans are usually quiet and that while we might not be having riots and marches, that… Read more →
You Don’t Know Jack
Biden Nominee for FAA Chief goes 0-for-7 on Aviation Policy Quiz by Senator Ted Budd. Yes, 0 for 7. The nominee withdrew last night. Victory.pic.twitter.com/ORoo11cHpo — Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) March 27, 2023 I like this technique. I’ve seen it a few times now. Instead of partisan gotchas, the incompetence of Biden nominees is exposed by asking them basic questions about the job for which they’ve been nominated. In this one, the nominee for FAA Chief goes 0-for-7 on questions about aviation policy. I’ve seen judicial nominees who couldn’t answer questions like “As a judge, how do you handle a Brady motion?” or “What does Article 5 of the Constitution do?” Read more →
The NRA is a Red Herring
Every time some gun-related tragedy occurs, we get to hear from innumerable people who know nothing about guns other than everything is the NRA’s fault. And everything they think they know about the NRA is wrong. In other words, they think they know one thing but the one thing they know is wrong. The thing they think they know is that the NRA pays off (Republican) politicians to vote against gun control bills. I asked ChatGPT “How much does the NRA donate annually to politicians?” And I got this answer: The National Rifle Association (NRA) is a powerful lobbying organization that has donated millions of dollars to political candidates and causes over the years. However, the organization is not required to disclose its exact political contributions, and the amount it donates can vary widely from year to year and election cycle to election cycle. According to the Center for Responsive… Read more →
What the State of the Union Didn’t Say
The president entered office with a 1.4% inflation rate and spiked it to 7%. 30-year mortgages of 2.7% soared to 6.5% in less than two years. Eggs are $7 a dozen. A thin steak is $15 a pound. A sheet of plywood is $95. Gas averaged $2.39 a gallon when the president took office and even after draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve it is still $3.50 a gallon. In my state, California, gas has recently been over $5 a gallon. The price of natural gas has tripled in less than a year. In two years over 5 million foreign nationals poured into the United States—all illegally across a nonexistent border. The president said that he “lowered” inflation, energy prices and interest rates after sending them to astronomical levels and then seeing them momentarily taper off a bit. Like Nero bragging about rebuilding Circus Maximus after burning it down. He omitted… Read more →
Trump Back on Facebook
Here's an alternative: We could consolidate government and corporate power to crush dissent. It worked for Mussolini! Well … for a while it did. https://t.co/n3MOYo7HLg — Paul Epps (@paulepps) January 26, 2023 Read more →
Render Unto Ukraine What We Need at Home
Now, I don’t think it’s controversial to note that many Americans here at home are not doing very well. You can pick whatever problem you think is the gravest: lack of wage increases and wage stagnation; the need to work multiple jobs if you have children, especially even if you’re a married couple — the fact that one parent, if they want, can’t stay home and take care of their children any longer, what was a foundational property of American life for decades and that no longer is the case. It’s gone. There aren’t enough good jobs, so people have to work two jobs just to sustain their family, to pay other people to raise their kids, and to pay other people to take care of their elderly parents. Huge numbers of people are without health care. Some of those people without health care got Medicaid benefits during the COVID… Read more →
Ukraine: What is the Benefit?
I regard this as the most important question when it comes to the always profound debate of whether the United States government will involve itself in a war or, for that matter, it’s the most important question when it comes to debates over whether the U.S. government will do anything. In what ways has your life or the lives of your families been improved, secured, or enhanced by the more than $100 billion sent by the U.S. government to fuel this war on the other side of the world? Now, to be fair, there are some Americans whose lives have been materially improved by these expenditures. Those are the tiny sliver of Americans who own large amounts of shares of the leading weapons manufacturers. 2022 has been quite a poor year for the stock market in general. Stocks are down across the board. [NYSE has an overall loss of 13.3%… Read more →