Not surprisingly the Republican House refuses to bring the Bipartisan Senate bill on border security to the floor, given it is the only card they have to play in November. "Gym" Jordan said as much in this feisty interview. Trump has become the de-facto House speaker, controlling the ultra-slim majority with bellicose threats from the campaign trail. Republican US Representatives know their political fate lies in the little hands of the Donald, who controls the electorate in most of their conservative districts, including the figurehead speaker Mike Johnson from Shreveport, Louisiana. Republicans firmly believe they can still play this issue in the general election even if their stonewalling is on full display.
The border security bill was being done to free up aid packages to Ukraine and Israel, which have been on hold for several months now. This has frustrated lobbying groups, which included a recent delegation of Eastern European parliamentarians pleading Congress to approve the aid package to Ukraine. Žygimantas Pavilionis, the Lithuanian ambassador in the US, was on LRT news the other night saying how he would talk sense into Republican detractors.
Johnson has agreed to stop-gap spending bills to avoid a shutdown but no extra funding until a border deal is reached. Hence, Republicans in the Senate, led by James Lankford, worked out a deal with Democrats that is very favorable to Republican interests, so much so that Progressives in the Democratic Party are railing against it. No matter, says Mike Johnson, whatever the Donald says goes.
Meanwhile, MAGA Republicans flooded the Texas border with trucks and tractors to cut off any illegal immigrants brave enough to risk their lives crossing a river filled with razor wire, placed there by Texas governor "Wheels" Abbott. Although it turned out the tractors on a facebook reel were actually German tractors protesting EU agricultural legislation. Something MAGA Republicans have also been cheering from afar.
Sadly, the absurd theatrics appear to work. Eventually these stories make it to mainstream media and everyone chimes in, including me. Although I find myself shaking my head in disbelief. Are Americans really that stupid? I guess we will have to wait until November to find out.
Trump is not doing so well in the polls these days. His once "formidable" lead has evaporated and he finds himself trailing Biden by 6 points nationally. Yet, Trump is still close in many "swing states" so all it takes is some issue to swing the pendulum back in his favor. This is why he is so desperate to block this border security legislation as it will show the public he still has power. Any kind of "concession" by House Republicans at this point would be seen as weakness on his part, after suffering a string of losses the past month. Worse, it could give Nikki Haley momentum heading into the South Carolina primary later this month.
Biden comfortably won his first official primary. His nearest challenger was more than 90 points behind him and it wasn't Dean Phillips. Yet, Deano is staying in the race as a "mission of principle." He has yet to define that principle beyond Biden being too old. Second place belonged to Marianne Williamson, who is also staying in the race.
"Crooked Joe" is winning by margins that Trump expected to win by in Iowa and New Hampshire. Trump barely cleared 50% in both those states. He can ill afford another close race in South Carolina. It must be very frustrating for a man who thinks he is the most popular person in the world. Needless to say, Trump confuses notoriety with popularity.
Memes have gone viral on social media ever since he lost the defamation case against E. Jean Carroll last month. Here's one of my favorites. Even more embarrassing is Carroll going on talk shows and saying what a simp he was at the trial. All her fears evaporated once she saw the snivelling old man in the courtroom. She said "he's nothing!" You can imagine how well this is playing in Magaland.
Trump also had his defamation case against Orbis Business Intelligence over the "Steele dossier" thrown out by a UK High Court Justice. Why he would even want to bring the "golden showers" back up on the campaign trail is beyond me, but Trump is determined to protect what little remains of his reputation.
The only thing left is when the US Supreme Court will weigh in on his claim of presidential immunity? It's hard to believe they will do so after having ruled in 2020 that he was subject to defamation claims by Carroll over the alleged rape. So far, the Supreme Court has been kicking the can down the road by refusing to expedite the plea, which has brought the federal cases against him to a grinding halt.
It's pretty clear that the only reason he is running for president is to avoid prosecution and cover his legal expenses. To date, he has siphoned at least $50 million out of his campaign to cover his questionable legal expenses. He is literally having to scrape the bottom of the barrel as no major attorney is willing to represent him in court, not even his former lawyers. He might as well defend himself at this point, which he tries to do on the campaign trail.
There seems no end to this vaudeville act and the longer he goes on the more insecure and senile he sounds. He doesn't miss an opportunity to brag about passing a cognitive test, claiming it was so tough he doubted many of his followers could pass it. Maybe two percent. More memes. Yet, he still maintains a strong following that gives US Representatives pause in taking up any legislation beyond the most benign.
I have to think this has given Nikki Haley's campaign new life, as she comfortably leads Biden in national polls, and represents the only real alternative Republicans have to the sitting president. Thankfully, they are just too dumb to know it.
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