Trump ally OAN calls for mass execution of Democrats
One American News, created because Fox News is "too liberal," is now calling for the execution of tens of thousands of Democrats who "stole" the 2020 election from Donald Trump.
Pearson Sharp, a “journalist” on One America News (OAN), a pro-Trump propaganda network that was created because Trumpers think Fox News is “too liberal,” called this week for tens of thousands of Democrats to be executed as traitors for having “stolen” the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump.
First, the video, then let’s chat. (Seriously, watch the video. It’s just unimaginably bad.)
It’s difficult to know where to even begin. Things have gotten so out of control in the Republican party. First, they tried to steal an election. Then they tried to violently overthrow our government. And now they’re calling for mass executions of their political opponents. Where does this finally end?
OAN is — was — a fringe cabal of far-right Republicans that nobody watched until Donald Trump discovered them. Trump was upset last year with Fox News for refusing to fully embrace all of his lies, including the Big Lie that Democrats stole his re-election. Fox’s opinion hosts were all in on the lies, but the news side of Fox, less so. So Trump turned to Newsmax, a longtime online opinion journal of far-far-right politics, and OAN. It’s hard to overstate just how bad OAN is. While Newsmax is typical far-right Republican pablum, OAN is more akin to North Korea or Stalinist Russia. If you watched the clip above, you see that I’m not exaggerating.
The thing is, OAN didn’t really matter when it had no audience. But now that Trump has turned on Fox News — and even Newsmax has come under criticism from Trump-Republicans for not being Trumpy enough — OAN has soared in popularity and influence. (They are currently available to 35 million American households.) In particular, OAN has been providing non-stop coverage of Arizona’s sham audit of the 2020 presidential election results in that state.
And now, Trump allies are no longer stopping at simply claiming that the election was stolen, they’re calling for mass executions of their political opponents based on a lie.
The only threat to our democracy is them.
Until a critical mass of Republicans come to realize that their party is in trouble — and, by extension, our democracy — this fascist takeover of the GOP will continue and worsen.
Keep an eye on crime
While last year’s election-year discussion of crime was focused on police abuse, this year it’s rapidly shifting to how we curtail violent crime, which is on the rise. As Alex Burns explains in the New York Times — Alex is great, by the way, keep an eye on him — Republicans have been bludgeoning Democrats with the crime issue — particularly the “defund the police” slogan — and Democrats have been forced to respond with tougher policies, including hiring more police. For anyone who never understood how Biden and other Democrats could have supported the 1994 Crime Bill, pay attention — when crime rises drastically, and the public starts freaking out, social programs won’t cut it politically. You either get tough on crime, or you lose.
Michigan Republicans eviscerate Trump voter fraud claims in scathing report
Michigan Republicans are none too happy about Trump’s claims of voter fraud in that state. More from NBC:
In a highly anticipated report released Wednesday, the Republican-led Michigan Senate Oversight Committee rebutted former President Donald Trump's voter fraud claims, debunking allegations of malfeasance in the state's election last fall and affirming that Joe Biden was victorious.
The report is the product of an eight-month inquiry and concludes there was no basis or evidence to support the Trump campaign's repeated claims that the election results failed to reflect the will of the voters.
"As is often the case, the truth is not as attractive or as immediately desirable as the lies and the lies contain elements of truth," state Sen. Ed McBroom, the Republican chairman of the committee that investigated the election, said in a statement that accompanied the report. "We must all remember: 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof' and 'claiming to find something extraordinary requires first eliminating the ordinary.'"
The report, which was supported by every Republican on the committee, was clear: "This Committee found no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud in Michigan’s prosecution of the 2020 election."
Other Interesting Stuff
Man, it’s hard to share lighter content after a video like that. But, if we only focus on the bad stuff, we risk burning out. So, let’s have a little palate cleanser before we close.
Dad humor
The latest on a Covid booster shot
Possibly the best headline ever
If I haven’t mentioned it, my dog is adorable
That’s it for now. I have a podcast to edit, and an absolutely stunning day in DC to enjoy later with my ear-challenged furry friend. More in the next day or two, including our Week in Review email this Saturday morning.
Thanks, JOHN
PS A little breaking news if you’ve read this far. Nancy Pelosi just announced that she will be created a Select Committee to investigate the January 6th Trump-inspired Insurrection at the US Capitol. As you’ll recall, Republicans blocked an earlier effort to create an independent bipartisan commission.
And a big PS after I already emailed today’s edition out — Giuliani just got suspended from practicing law in New York state, because his “false and misleading” statements about the 2020 election while working as Donald Trump’s lawyer!
OAN isn't just providing non-stop coverage of the sham "audit" trying to discredit the election -- it's helping FUND the Republican power grab!
Yes, th Republican-dominated committee made a mockery of the right-wing lies about election fraud in Michigan. Awesome. Good for them. HOWEVER, despite no evidence and no need for it, they recommend making it illegal to mail absentee ballots to all eligible voters and individuals on the committee support other things like fewer drop boxes. So no evidence mailing absentee ballots caused fraud, but let's stop it anyway. And reduce the number of drop boxes. So, maybe give them a C instead of an A+?