October 31, 2022

The Specials - Ghost Town

October 31, 2022

Why Putin's attacks on civilians won't stop Ukraine's counter-offensive - Times Radio

"It will be it will be difficult for the population. But they're going to weather this. The Ukrainian military... aren't as heavily affected."

Strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine won't do much to slow the military advance against Putin's forces, Peter Zwack tells #TimesRadio.

October 31, 2022

WHAT?! Tucker Carlson Claims Democrats Doing A "Jihad" on Russia! - Luke Beasley

October 31, 2022

Obama breaks the internet with megaviral speech of the year - Brian Tyler Cohen

October 31, 2022

Trump Using Campaign Loophole To Funnel Millions Into Presidential Run - Ring of Fire

Campaign finance experts are raising concerns about Donald Trump funneling millions of dollars from his existing political action committees into his new MAGA Inc PAC. This was entirely predictable (and we said this would happen weeks ago), as the new PAC is the only one that can be used to fund a Trump presidential run, and he's now funneled close to $30 million from his existing PACs into the new one. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

If you had any doubt that Donald Trump was in fact going to run for president again in 2024, then let me go ahead and make sure that you don't doubt it after this segment. Couple weeks ago we talked about the fact that Donald Trump had formed a new political action committee set up slightly differently from the other ones that he has set up, and it's called Make America Great Again Incorporated on which, by the way, Trump lawyer, Alina HaBO, was recently promoted to the Board of Advisors and the Make America Great again Incorporated Political action committee is unlike his other two Super pacs, able to be used to fund a Donald Trump run for office. That is the only difference, by the way, between the MAGA Inc. And his say, Save America Pack. The Save America Pack. He can spend that money on just about anything he wants, but he cannot use it to run for office himself.

So he did exactly what we predicted when we first talked about this story a couple weeks ago. According to new reports, Donald Trump has funneled about $30 million from his other political action committees into the mag in Pack $30 million. And nobody knows yet just what he is gonna do with it. But because of the way our campaign finance laws are written, there is a loophole that 100% allows him to do it. There's a couple legal experts out there that are kind of saying, Well, we don't know if it's completely legal. It is, and even if it wasn't completely legal, do you think that FEC is gonna do anything about it? Like they don't do anything about anything. They can have the most glaring violation of the law sitting right in front of their face and they're not gonna do anything. Maybe they'll issue a fine and then say, just try not to do it again.

So until he announces of course, officially that he is running for President, Trump is able to funnel as much money from his two existing packs into the new pack. Once he announces he is running for president, that's when that loophole closes and he can no longer just freely transfer money between the political action committees and by transferring the 30 million prior to the midterms, he of course is able to say, Listen, I'm transferring this money in case I need to give it out to any candidates out there. You know, we got a week to go. I wanna make sure that everything is okay and my, my brothers and sisters out there don't need any money. But if they do, I got it over here. I got their backs. I hate to say it's a brilliant plan, but it is a brilliant plan. It's a brilliant plan, not just because he's gonna get away with it, but because the FEC is just gonna let it happen. It's not because he's sneaky

And doesn't think anybody notices, it's just that the people who are supposed to notice don't give a so he can do whatever the hell he wants and he is gonna continue doing whatever the hell he wants, possibly even after he announces a run for president. But the only reason to cha to take money outta your other packs and put 'em in the MAGA ink pack is because that money can be used to run for office yourself. If he actually wanted to give money to struggling Republican candidates out there, there's nothing stopping him from doing that with his current packs. He's just very greedy and isn't spending much of that money at all helping anybody other than of course paying his own businesses.

October 31, 2022

Steve Bannon Issues Dangerous 'Call To Arms' To MAGA Freaks - Ring of Fire

As most political leaders are calling to tone down violent rhetoric following the attack on Paul Pelosi, Steve Bannon is ramping up his violent words, telling his MAGA audience that they are "the cavalry" in what he called a "call to arms." This is some of the most obviously violent rhetoric that the country has seen in recent weeks, and it comes on the heels of Bannon saying that they'll hold Democrats accountable "by bayonet." This language is going to get people hurt, or worse, as Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Even as many political leaders, almost all of them, of course, on the left, are telling each other. Please tone down the violent rhetoric. After what happened to Paul Pelosi last week, there is one individual in this country who has done the exact opposite. He has ramped up his violent rhetoric against Democrats. In that individual, of course, is Steve Bannon. On Friday, on the episode of his War Room podcast, Steve Bannon issued what he called a call to arms for his fellow Republicans telling them that they are the cavalry, that nobody is coming to save them, and that they're the ones who are going to have to take up the issue of election integrity into their own hands. Here's what he said. There's nobody coming to save us. You are the cavalry. Think back to the old John Ford Westerns. You're the cavalry right now in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

A call to arms. You've got to get Frank Ryan, you've got to get into these counties. He then on the right wing site getter, doubled down on it and posted this, No one is coming to save America. You are the cavalry. Now what he's talking about is a letter from Pennsylvania State representative Frank Ryan, claiming that he knows that 240,000 ballots were sent to people who did not qualify for ballots in the state of Pennsylvania. Now, this is a claim that has not been verified by anyone, and even Frank Ryan's own Republican colleagues have come out and said, this is simply not true. So Frank Ryan goes out there and lies says there's gonna be a quarter million people voting who aren't legally allowed to vote. Steve Bannon, of course, doesn't need verification as to whether or not it's true or false. He goes out there, repeats it, and then issues a call to arms.

Now y'all know what a call to arms is, right? It is a call to take up arms. That's what that phrase means. And that is the phrase Bannon used to put it another way. It basically means go get your weapon and fight, okay? In case there's any, anything unclear about that. And I don't wanna put words into Steve Bannon's mouth, but that is what that phrase he used means. Whether he meant it to mean that or not, I can't say again because I cannot put words in his mouth, but that is what the phrase means. And I think if we add a little more context here, we get a better idea of what Steve Bannon's talking about. Because just a couple days before he issued his call to arms in an interview, he said that Democrats after the midterms are going to learn a lesson quote by bayonet, which, you know, bayonet is the

Long swordlike structure, uh, structure that you would put on the end of a rifle. And that is what he says. Democrats are going to learn by I, I guess by what? By stabbing us, by killing us, by physically attacking us. I, again, legally cannot put words into Steve Bannon's mouth, and I do not intend to do that. But I know violent rhetoric when I see it, and that is all we are seeing coming out of Steve Bannon. Now, whether he means to or not, again, that would be an issue for the courts, but we know how crazy the Republican base is, right? We got a firsthand view of that last week with Paul Pelosi. Language like this could easily get somebody killed. That's the bottom line. And it's not gonna stop. It's not gonna ease up. It's not gonna get slightly better.

October 31, 2022

Beau of the Fifth Column: Let's talk about Bolsonaro's loss and what it can teach us....

October 31, 2022

Warnock Slams Herschel Walker For Being A Know Nothing Moron - Ring of Fire

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock finally took the gloves off and hit hard against his Republican opponent Herschel Walker during a recent rally, telling voters that you "actually have to know stuff" in order to be a United States Senator. This might seem mild compared to the way the media is attacking Walker, but this is the hardest Warnock has gone so far, and the crowd absolutely loved it. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what happened.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

On Friday of last week, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock, finally, finally during a rally, got tough and attacked Herschel Walker, his Republican opponent. So take a look at Raphael Warnock. The, the attack may seem a little, you know, mild, but for Warnock, this is actually a pretty big attack. So here it is, Warnock attacking Walker as basically a no nothing idiot. Here it is.

And when I talked about that the other night, so I talked about the fact that we live in a state where 11% of the adults have diabetes, and that insulin is a drug that's been around for 100 years, and that they're price gouging the insulin. When I pointed out the ways in which there are bad corporate actors who are gouging a drug that people need that's been around for a hundred years, you know what my opponent said? He said, they just need to eat right. Well, while he's blaming the people of Georgia, I'm holding the pharmaceutical corporations accountable. You can't lead the people unless you love the people. You can't love the people unless you walk among the people. You, you actually have to know stuff to do this job.

God bless you,

Again, not the harshest attack, you could level against Herschel Walker, but for a guy like Rafael Warnock, right? A pastor that's about, as you know, angry as he gets, you know, you gotta know things in order to do the job. And he's not wrong about that. But this isn't just about what Rafael Warnock said, It's more about how that crowd reacted. You saw in that clip after he attacked Herschel Walker, right? He explained the whole thing, Oh, you just need to eat, right? Talked about what he did to help people. The $35 insulin, uh, cap per month. Then he took the shot at Walker. And what happened in that clip? People started chanting Warnock's name, They went wild with applause. They loved it. And the reason that part to me stuck out is because Democrats for far too long have been far too soft against their Republican opponents.

I think the Democratic Party, part of their messaging problem is that they like to focus group everything to death. They look at people who say like, I am so tired of these angry and vitriolic political ads. So Democrats go out there and they say, Guys, we can't be super mean. Right? People don't want to hear that. We did a focus group and they said they don't want us to be mean. So Democrats get trampled cuz Republicans come out, take the gloves off and beat the hell out of them. And Democrats are left there saying, Well, I don't know. We're not, didn't do that on Friday. He fought back and the crowd responded accordingly because overall, the Democratic party, Democratic campaigns across the country clearly have some really terrible advisors telling them that, Oh, you don't wanna get down in the mud with them and insult them.

No. Yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. And what we saw from that crowd was affirmation for Raphael Warnock, that they liked it. He didn't have to get too deep into the mud. Honestly, I don't even feel like he got into the mud at all. He didn't say, This man is stupid. He didn't call him a moron. He didn't say half the things that I usually say about Herschel Walker. He just said, You actually have to know things in order to do the job. And that was in enough of an attack to elicit that response from the crowd.

October 31, 2022

Two leaders of True the Vote jailed by federal judge for contempt of court

Source: Texas Tribune

Federal marshals escorted the leaders of True the Vote out of a Houston courtroom on Monday morning and into a holding cell. Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips have been held in contempt of court for refusing to release the name of a person of interest in the defamation and computer hacking case against them, who they claim, without proof, is a confidential FBI informant.

They will remain in jail until they release the name of the man.

It is the latest surprise development in the strange story, which concerns — depending on who’s describing it — a right-wing elections group allegedly defaming a small technology company, or a small technology company whose alleged security flaws were exposed by a right-wing elections group.

Konnech, the election management software company at the center of those claims, filed a federal lawsuit in September alleging that True the Vote’s viral social media campaign targeting the company’s founder and CEO, Eugene Yu, led to personal threats to him and his family and damaged his company’s business.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/10/31/true-the-vote-leaders-jailed/

October 31, 2022

Koch's Cato Institute Fights For More Student Debt - Ring of Fire

A think tank co-founded by the Kochs is trying to stop President Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness program. Mike Papantonio & Farron Cousins discuss more.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

A think tank co-founded by the Koch brothers is trying to stop President Biden's student loan debt forgiveness program. Wow. You know, I thought we were, I thought I was finished with these people, the Kochs, didn't you? You know, I thought maybe they just disappeared, but no, they're back. Cato Institute, right?
Yeah.
They owned the Cato Institute. They're the ones that made the Cato Institute. Biden has a great idea about trying to say, look, we need to work in some capacity to make, to do something about these student loans, right?
Yeah.
Take it from there.
And, and, and the Koch brothers, and you've got actually a lot of conservatives out there that were furious at this. They spent weeks after it was announced trying to come up with a legal argument, and now they're, they're trying their best with actual lawsuits. Cato says, listen, this is unconstitutional because if you, if you forgive people's student loan debt, people aren't gonna want to come work at our non-profit, which is the Cato Institute.
Right.
Because they're basically not indentured servants anymore. You're freeing people of a debt burden, and we need to use the debt burden because after 10 years working at a nonprofit, you can have part of your student loans forgiven.
Yeah.
It, it's ridiculous. They're arguing that people have to be indebted or else they're not gonna be able to find any workers.
Well, if you think about it, it's another, it helps the economy. When you say to somebody who's worked to get through college, and now they've got their degree and they owed 200, $200,000, whatever it is, that once you forgive that, that money moves right back into the economy.
It does.
It's, it's not a bad idea in that sense. But I, I thought this was remarkable. Their argument, first of all, there's been six lawsuits that have been brought, similar lawsuits. Two of 'em have already been dismissed. The judge's opinion was like, really? What in the hell are you talking about? So, I don't know that, I don't know they're gonna have much success with this. First of all, the question is, does the executive branch have the, have the opportunity to do this? Does it have to be a congressional mandate? And I think they've already won on that idea. So we'll see where this goes.
Well, and, and because they're only tackling the federally held student loans.
Yes.
Which are part of the Department of Education, they have full discretion over that.
Right.
We already have other programs.
Explain that a little bit. Talk about that a little bit.
Yeah. The, the Department of Education is a part of the executive branch, which means the executive branch would have control over it. And because there are already mechanisms in place that allow the Department of Education to forgive certain loans, they, they've got the precedent on their side. They've got the power on their side.
Constitutionally, he does not need enough congressional mandate. He can do this as executive right.
Well, and, and what's really funny too, is the military folks have been making the same argument that the Koch guy, I can't call 'em brothers anymore, it's just one left.
Yeah. The brother.
But, they're making the same argument with the military, saying, well, if you give them free college, nobody's gonna sign up to go fight in our wars anymore because, you know, you gotta go risk your life in order to get an education in this country.
Yeah, yeah.
So it's a really pathetic argument. And this is gonna get laughed outta court pretty quickly, I think.
Well, two of 'em are gone.
Yeah.
Six of 'em were filed. Two of 'em are gone already.