Aug 2, 2024
Today's Jennifer
Where are the calls for Trump to step down after he makes obviously racist and anti-semitic statements?
Why are we willing to accept corporatized profit-driven media companies framing this election like it's just like any other election?
How long do we have to put up with Press Poodles failing us at every turn?
Eating Their Own
Bob Good (R-VA05) won his primary four years ago by playing on the homophobia that's still deeply embedded in the minds of American "conservatives" - his predecessor (Denver Riggleman) presided over a gay wedding, and Good used that to beat him in the primary.
Recount confirms Bob Good’s loss after GOP rallies to oust one of their own
A recount on Thursday confirmed that state Sen. John McGuire beat Good in the June election by just a few hundred votes, according to The Associated Press.
Rep. Bob Good is notorious for the scorched-earth tactics he has repeatedly used as the leader of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
He just got burned by them.
In just two terms, Good built enemies in every wing of the Republican Party — and that opposition came out in force to align itself with state Sen. John McGuire, who defeated Good to clinch the GOP nomination for a red-leaning seat in south-central Virginia after an official recount of the June 18 primary concluded Thursday.
Good requested the recount after the initial results were within a one-point margin. The race was so close that Good was behind by just a few hundred votes in the final count, enough that the Associated Press could not call the race.
More than a month later, the Thursday recount confirmed the outcome: Good had been ousted, The Associated Press said, unable to make up the roughly 400-vote deficit out of more than 62,000 ballots cast in June. It is a stunning defeat; Good was taken down by neither personal scandal nor an ideological challenge but because of his caustic approach toward his fellow members as well as his alienation of Donald Trump. His loss is even more striking because House Republicans have moved to the right in recent years.
But the Virginia firebrand had made too many foes too quickly.
His determination to block part of the GOP’s legislative agenda by any means necessary made him unpopular with his colleagues. He endorsed Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid even before the Florida governor had entered the race against Trump. Months later, he joined with seven other members last fall to defenestrate former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. And then he needlessly inserted himself into the primaries of his Republican colleagues, spurring personal grievances that compelled them to return the favor.
“Bob Good is universally recognized to be an asshole,” said Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), who endorsed McGuire.
And this McGuire guy is no fuckin' prize either.
It seems like these jerks just drift from place to place looking to run for office for no better reason than, "Well now - this looks like easy pickin's. These sorry rubes are just my kinda people."
In October 2019, while campaigning for re-election, McGuire declined to commit to completing his second term in office, responding to widespread speculation that he was considering a congressional campaign. After winning re-election in November, McGuire announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress for Virginia's 7th congressional district. McGuire lost a closely contested convention to state Delegate Nick Freitas, who went on to narrowly lose to Abigail Spanberger in the 2020 election.
McGuire publicly opposed Virginia's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, pointing out that the resolution had missed the deadline for ratification.
McGuire attended Stop the Steal rallies throughout Virginia in 2020. He has claimed the COVID-19 pandemic was a "plan-demic" designed to change voting laws and rig the 2020 presidential election. McGuire admitted to attending President Donald Trump's January 6, 2021 rally in Washington, D.C., but has denied participating in the subsequent attack on the United States Capitol.
McGuire has declared his candidacy for the U.S. Congress in 2024, having been recruited by allies of former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to challenge Bob Good as part of what Politico described as a "vengeance operation" against those who voted to oust him. He was endorsed by several members of Congress and former President Donald Trump.
Aug 1, 2024
That Pete Guy
Pete Buttigieg needs to be in charge of teaching Democrats how to stomp on Republicans.
Hey, Republicans - if you want your party back, vote for Harris.
I'm Sure It's Just A Coincidence
Reminder:
Kevin Roberts (current head of the wingnut American Heritage Foundation) was forced out of his position as Executive Chairman of Saatchi & Saatchi, after provoking fury by claiming that women in the advertising industry lacked ambition and were not held back by sexism.
I'll leave it at that, and trust in good people to see these assholes for the assholes they are.
Paul Dans, the director of Project 2025, has stepped down from the Heritage Foundation, its president said Tuesday.
Kevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation's president, confirmed Dans' resignation in a statement to Newsweek.
"Under Paul Dans' leadership, Project 2025 has completed exactly what it set out to do: bringing together over 110 leading conservative organizations to create a unified conservative vision, motivated to devolve power from the unelected administrative state, and returning it to the people. This tool was built for any future administration to use," Roberts wrote.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), The Daily Beast's Roger Sollenberger wrote: "NEWS: Project 2025 director Paul Dans has stepped down at Heritage Foundation after pressure from Trump campaign leadership, ongoing power rift over staffing control for potential second Trump admin, per internal email. This suggests Project 2025 will likely shut down."
The Context
Project 2025 is a 900-page document created by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that presents policy proposals for a future GOP administration.
Its policies include overhauling the federal bureaucracy, reversing many of the Biden administration's climate policies, rolling back abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, and changes to education standards, including the Head Start early education program. If implemented, critics say, the proposals would remake the federal government by replacing federal workers with Republican loyalists.
The proposals have drawn fire from Democratic critics and given Vice President Kamala Harris and her party an opportunity to win over young voters who disagree with the plans. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025.
Newsweek reached out to the Heritage Foundation via telephone and email on Tuesday for comment.
What We Know
The project's policy drafting had as its deadline the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer, Roberts told Newsweek in his statement.
"When we began Project 2025 in April 2022, we set a timeline for the project to conclude its policy drafting after the two-party conventions this year, and we are sticking to that timeline," he wrote.
Roberts went on: "Paul, who built the project from scratch and bravely led this endeavor over the past two years, will be departing the team and moving up to the front where the fight remains. We are extremely grateful for his and everyone's work on Project 2025 and dedication to saving America."
Sollenberger said Dans' resignation "isn't ideological" and "doesn't mean Project 2025's goals and policies are rejected."
It was unclear exactly what prompted Dans to step down.
The Heritage Foundation's website lists Dans as the director of Project 2025, known formally as the 2024 Presidential Transition Project. In the position, he was responsible for organizing policy and personnel recommendations for the next presidential administration.
He previously served as the chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in the Trump administration. He was also the office's White House liaison.
Trump has previously said he has "nothing" to do with Project 2025. Meanwhile, polls suggest the project is unpopular with voters.
Views
The news of Dans' resignation drew reactions on X (formerly Twitter).
"Don't worry, we ain't gonna forget that Team Trump wrote Project 2025," posted Representative Maxwell Frost, a Florida Democrat.
Amanda Carpenter, a writer and editor for Project Democracy, responded, "So the Trump campaign is saying it is not connected to Project 2025 but got the director of Project 2025 fired because of the blowback it is having on his campaign. Gotcha."
What's Next
Roberts offered some insight into the future of Project 2025 in his statement.
"Our collective efforts to build a personnel apparatus for policymakers of all levels—federal, state, and local—will continue," he wrote.
You Can't Go Home
"You can't go home again".
It's more like:
"You can't go home - because you don't get to have a home to go home to".
THIS SHIT HAS TO CHANGE
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