Flotsam and Jetsam - Are GOP Congresscritters Being Blackmailed?

From Da Mail, Voters describe their 2024 choice between a Trump second term and a Biden second term as a choice between REVENGE or NOTHING in Daily Mail poll "JL Partners asked 1000 voters for a word to sum up Biden and Trump's plans." Leah Barkoukis at TownHall, The Top Words Voters Used to Describe Trump’s Second Term Plans Are… Althouse wonders Why did Trump share this word cloud? "I looked that up after seeing the Politico headline, "Trump shares cryptic ‘dictatorship’ word cloud on Truth Social/It’s not the first time Trump has called himself a dictator, but it’s the first time he’s said it via word cloud." For what it worth, I think that both results show that the predominant answer for both politicians is being driven by their opponents. Democrats fear Donald Trump's revenge motive, and Republican's see Joe as having no agenda other than to stay in power. Breitbart catches Salon projecting again, ‘Dictator’ Trump Has ‘Hitlerian’ Plans, Dangerous’ MAGA Culture ‘Corrupting’ Kids. Madeleine Hubbard at JTN reports Trump says it's 'hard to have a truly great Christmas' with Biden as president. "Trump said 2024 will be remembered "AS THE YEAR OF GREAT AND FULLY COORDINATED ILLEGAL ELECTION INTERFERENCE." Althouse again, "Trump augurs divisive year in angry Christmas rant" — as CNN sees it. Link. 

The article quotes this Truth Social post of Trump's:

“THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN, LIED TO CONGRESS, CHEATED ON FISA, RIGGED A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, ALLOWED MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, MANY FROM PRISONS & MENTAL INSTITUTIONS, TO INVADE OUR COUNTRY, SCREWED UP IN AFGHANISTAN, & JOE BIDEN’S MISFITS & THUGS, LIKE DERANGED JACK SMITH, ARE COMING AFTER ME, AT LEVELS OF PERSECUTION NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN OUR COUNTRY??? IT’S CALLED ELECTION INTERFERENCE. MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

I don't like the all caps, but does that strike you as unjustifiably angry?

At ET, Trump Will ‘Either Be on the Ballot Everywhere or Nowhere’: Minnesota Secretary of State. "As several groups attempt to block President Trump from state ballots, the official believes the Supreme Court will make a ruling on the matter." At Hat Hair, Ben Shapiro argues Barring Trump From Ballots Is a Recipe for Violence. "All of which means that 2024 is going to be the most insane and ugly presidential election in American history. And that’s saying a lot, since 1968 and 2020 are both years that existed. Under what circumstances, precisely, would Democrats accept the result of a Trump election? Under what circumstances, precisely, would Republicans accept the result of a Biden election?The weaponization of the legal system creates an all-consuming fire, burning everything in its path. There is simply no 2024 result likely to result in anything but complete – and perhaps violent — chaos at this point." Ilya Somin at Reason argues No, Section 3 of the 14th Amendment Does Not Require a Criminal Conviction. Capt. Ed comments "I couldn’t disagree more, but read all of Somin’s argument anyway. Section 5 of the 14th Amendment gives Congress authority over its enforcement “by appropriate legislation.” Congress finally responded by making rebellion and/or insurrection a federal crime in 18 USC 2383 in 1948, which removed it from a civil consideration, at least in terms of disqualification. After that point, the only legitimate disqualification would come through a federal prosecution and conviction." Hat Hair's Beege Welborn catches CNN: Okay, So, CO Supreme Court Justices Weren't Actually Threatened But They're Still in Danger From You People

…“We are seeing significant violent language and threats being made against the Colorado justices and others perceived to be behind yesterday’s Colorado Supreme Court ruling,” Jones, a former FBI investigator and staffer for the Senate Intelligence Committee, told NBC News in a statement.

But a funny thing happened in the middle of the online bloodbath. As the CNN anchor notes, kind of in contrast to the point of the chyron, for all the digging the FBI’s rightly done into the explosion of vitriol, the Denver police have had to respond to:

“…what they said was a ‘hoax’ report at one of the justices’ residences. No specific threats to the justices in those forums, from what we understand. So, no specific threats at this time…”

Atop Da Hill, Trump vows to replace ObamaCare with his own alternative. How he'll do it without help from Congress (who won't help) isn't mentioned. At NYPo, Ryan King hears Don Jr. puts his dad on notice over buzz of Nikki Haley as VP pick, says he would intervene “Nikki Haley wants never-ending wars. She’s a puppet of the establishment in Washington, DC. She’s the new favorite candidate of the billionaire class because they want control— no different than academia and Harvard and using their billions to exercise influence.” NewsMax reports Haley Seeks Late Surge to Challenge DeSantis in Iowa. Hat Hair, Does It Matter Who Comes in Second in Iowa? 'Becca Downs at TownHall reports David Axelrod Makes Bold Prediction About Future of Ramaswamy Campaign. Drop out and endorse Trump before Iowa. 

At Hat Hair  John Sexton notes Two GOP Representatives were Swatted on Christmas Day, MTG and Rep. Brandon Williams and KT reports RFK, Jr. Denied Secret Service Protection Again. It's like Biden wants him assassinated or something. 'Streif' at RedState finds Rep. Tim Burchett Says Congressional Conservatives Fail Because of the Prevalence of Sexual Blackmail. “You’re visiting—you’re out of the country or out of town or you’re in a motel or at a bar in D.C.—and whatever you’re into—women or men or whatever—comes up and they’re very attractive, and they’re laughing at your jokes. And you’re buying them a drink. Next thing you know, you’re in the motel room with them naked. . . And the next thing, you're about to make a key vote an what happens? Some well-dressed person comes out and whispers in your ear, ‘Hey, man, there’s tapes out on you.’ Or, ‘Were you in a motel room or whatever with whoever?’ And then you’re like, ‘Uh-oh.’ And they say, ‘You really ought not be voting for this thing.’”

I travel with my husband at all times. If he cannot come with me, I have a female staffer as an alibi. I don’t even touch alcohol in DC. DC can be a nasty place. Keep your circle tight and just anticipate you’re always being watched. That is how this game operates. https://t.co/pOpI7FIVXf

— Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina) December 22, 2023

It would explain a lot.

At JTN Georgia’s top election official wants Legislature to get rid of runoffs "Georgia is one of the few remaining states using the General Election Runoff model, Brad Raffensperger says."

From the Mises Inst, 2024's Deficit Is Already on Track to Be the Worst Since Covid. Thanks Brandon! Hat Hair's Dave Strom thinks You Won't Believe Who Biden Just Gave $50 Million to Promote 'Climate Justice', the 'Climate Justice Alliance' who justified the Hamas Oct. 7 attack. I believe it. Breitbart lists 8 Times the Biden Administration Pushed the Transgender Agenda on Children. Hat Hair's KT cites Reuters: A Migrant Caravan is Coming and it is Spectacular, meanwhile, Dave Strom reports Terror Watchlist Encounters at Border Increasing.

BI, Jeff Fortenberry, the ex-GOP Congressman found guilty of lying to the FBI, had his conviction tossed by a California appeals court. Tried in LA instead of Nebraska, where the alleged crime occurred. Was the DOH jurisdiction shopping? "During the investigation into Fortenberry's actions, federal agents based out of LA interviewed him in Lincoln, Nebraska, and his lawyer's office in DC, according to the appeals ruling. In the end, Fortenberry was not charged with campaign finance allegations — in connection to the 2016 fundraising event in LA — but rather lying during that investigation."

Althouse finds "Harvard University faculty are calling for members of its governing board to step down as a way to reset the university as it struggles..." "... with historic reputational damage and demands for the resignation of its embattled president, Claudine Gay.... Faculty who fretted for years that the school is ceding ground on free speech to appease advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion feel newly empowered to raise their concerns...." From "As Pressure on Harvard President Increases, University Board Feels the Squeeze/Critics of Harvard Corporation call for resignations, fault the board’s insularity for recent missteps" (Wall Street Journal)." From Fox, Liberal Post columnist calls on Harvard president to resign: 'I take no joy in saying this' "Liberal Washington Post columnist and associate editor Ruth Marcus added to the pile up with her opinion column Saturday entitled, "Harvard’s Claudine Gay should resign." Christopher Brunet at The Dossier, These scholars asked Claudine Gay for her data. She said no. ''We were, however, unable to scrutinize Gay’s results because she would not release her dataset to us (personal communication with Claudine Gay, 2002)." Capt. Ed comments "Brunet takes this beyond Harvard. This relates to Gay’s grant of tenure by Stanford based on a wafer-thin record of scholastic work, and questions got raised almost immediately about one of her papers. Brunet makes a case that the incident got memory-holed for some reason, but Gay still has never provided her data set for that work for peer review."

Dave Strom says DEI and Antisemitism Go Together Like Peas and Carrots. Haley Cohen@HaleyCohen19, "Scoop: A University of Minnesota professor who denied that Hamas committed rape on Oct. 7 (and even said that saying so is racist!) is being considered for a top administrative position in the college’s DEI department." Ace, U. of Minnesota "Professor" Praises the Terrorism of 10/7, Calls for Violent "Decolonization" of America "Internet nobodies on the right can't question the 2020 election, but elite figures on the left can call for violent revolution and probably get endorsement deals with Nike and Apple. . . . How about we start scaring you? Oh no, now the FBI is surveilling me harder. Only their friends on the left are permitted to speak of violence and terror. We're all required to just repeat NPR's talking points verbatim." Also, Pro-Hamas Protesters Deliberately Disrupt Christmas, Proclaiming "NO XMAS AS USUAL" Until We All Collectively Support Hamas Terrorism "Isn't it great we've invited the barbarians of the world to bring their 5000 year old wars and vendettas to our once-peaceful shores? Diversity is our strength, dhimmis." NYPo, Depraved pro-terrorist protesters try to cancel Christmas as politicians coddle them. Dave Strom hears rumors of a Pro-Palestinian Protest at Holocaust Museum? They really want to turn Jews Republican, don't they? Power Line's John Hinderacker catches Minn Gov. Tim Walz Cheering For Mass Murder. From NYPo, Teen tourists stabbed by deranged stranger at Grand Central who shouted ‘I want all the white people dead’ on Christmas. "Hutcherson has 17 prior arrests on his rap sheet, sources said. He also has been classified as an “emotionally disturbed person” in prior brushes with police, according to the law enforcement sources." At Twitchy, Guy Tries To Mock 'Republican Christians', Shows Himself To Be An Idiot Instead.

Kevin Downey at PJM, sees Clowns in Space: U.S. Space Force Officer Claims Troop Readiness Affected by Non-Existent Anti-LGBT Laws Billboard Chris@BillboardChris "This Lt. General is saying that laws stopping the mutilation and sterilization of kids make certain military members feel unsafe. In the biggest stretch possible, she says that affects “the readiness of the force as a whole.” Ma’am, you are in a cult."