It is a truly historical amount. A Connecticut jury ordered Alex Jones this past week to pay nearly $1 billion. Truly is it well deserved. Never has anybody worked as hard as he has to reap such a consequence.
He vigorously promoted the lie that Sandy Hook was a false flag operation. This resulted in his followers harassing and threatening the parents of the kids who had been murdered. Even when it was clear that this was happening, he kept the pressure rolling for years making their lives a living hell, and destroying them. Jones knew his claim was BS yet he kept at it because he used it as a means to enrich himself.
Even in court during his trial, he mocked the jury and the judge. Now he reaps the consequences, and so the world is truly a little better. What happens now, can he escape this?
“He may be forced to live a subsistence type of life,” said Richard Signorelli, a New York attorney and former federal prosecutor. “He’s always going to be watched. He’s always going to be hounded, and he’s not going to, I believe, be able to ultimately escape the ramifications of his wrongful act.”
There are still people out there supporting Jones. Not just gullible fools that have been conned by him, but prominent Republicans such as Rep Margery Taylor Greene. If indeed you are defending Jones and supporting him, then your values clearly have been harvested directly from a sewer.
The other big event of the week was the ninth hearing of the Jan 6 Committee. Once again Trump had a very very bad day, which means it was a really good day for democracy. The punchline at the end of the proceedings is that they have now subpoenaed him.
It was very clear that he knew he had lost, and yet even now he pushes the big lie. He truly is exposed as the liar-in-chief.
One new fascinating insight comes from new footage that reveals how truly magnificent Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were. They worked under extreme pressure to get protection for the Capitol when the Executive Branch wouldn’t. They continued to work for others when they, personally, were safe.
Here is her badass response when she heard that Trump himself might march on the Capitol …
Watching it unfold I was deeply impressed with Madam Speaker’s professional demeanour under extreme pressure. She was able to listen to and comprehend multiple conversations. She took charge when others froze and did all that in high heels and without vulgarity. Real class in action.
The deep irony here is that all those Republicans who vilified her probably owe their lives to her.
The tag line for both this and also Alex Jones is simple: Lies and deceit really does have a consequence.
Moving on, below you will find my usual personal selection of some of the other truly bizarre claims that have popped up during the last 7 days. Each is laced with my snarky commentary. With my usual hat tip to my various sources, let’s once again dive in.
Enjoy.
Christian Nationalism
Two weeks ago, Christian evangelists Mario Murillo and Lance Wallnau said they were holding a tour stop in Florida… despite Hurricane Ian. “We are not canceling,” they said. “We are in God’s perfect timing.“
- Due to “God’s Perfect Timing”, yep, you got it, they are now rescheduling. It turns out that the weather forecasters really are better at scheduling than the God they believe in is.
Milo Yiannopoulos proclaims that “you will know America is serious about saving itself, and that it has absorbed the scale of the undertaking, when you see a president adding his signature to revivified blasphemy laws, which will prevent the open promotion of sedition, institute meaningful penalties for insulting, irreverent or contemptuous language about Our Lord.”
- Blasphemy laws!! … that’s literally a “crime” that has no actual victim.
- When you mull over the concept of Blasphemy you begin to realise that from the viewpoint of every single belief, every other belief or non-belief is “Blasphemy”. No exceptions.
- Milo might indeed embrace the concept of Blasphemy Laws … until he discovers that such laws might in fact be Blasphemy laws for a variation of belief that is different than his, and deems his specific beliefs to be “Blasphemy”.
Kandiss Taylor credits the Holy Spirit for giving her the boldness to call President Joe Biden an “illegitimate pedophile” during a GOP primary debate earlier this year. (Technically, Taylor called Biden a “fraudulent pedophile.”)
- Since she is concerned about what she now terms an “illegitimate pedophile”, then I do have to wonder if she is OK with a “legitimate pedophile”.
- I’m not exactly convinced that the “Spirit” that told her this was in any way “Holy”.
- Profile Reminder: This is the lady who ran in the Republican primary in Georgia last May under the banner “Jesus, Guns, and Babies” and lost because she only picked up 3.4% of the vote. Almost everybody voting in that Republican primary found her to be way too crazy. Inevitably she refuses to concede and insists that primary was stolen from her.
- You might think I’m kidding about that “Jesus, Guns, Babies” banner. Nope, this is literally her …
Dennis Prager claims that Deuteronomy was the book “the Founders of the United States cited the most often.”
- Fact Check: Nope, it wasn’t, but when it comes to these people, facts generally don’t matter, they much prefer a good lie that panders to their beliefs.
Political Shenanigans
Brendan McPhillips tweets: The @AP tried to find an enthusiastic Oz supporter but could only get a paid staffer from his campaign – yet framed it to their readers as if she was an average voter. Why is the AP giving no scrutiny to a candidate who has been a professional liar on TV for over a decade?
- Fact Check: Yep, he is right, this is a huge @AP fail. The lady in the AP article, Sheila Armstrong, has been paid a salary of $2,181.82 so far by Dr Oz.
- This is literally a “Wizard of Oz” moment. The great wizard of Oz turns out to be a fraud and just a guy behind the curtain pulling strings.
Tulsi Gabbard announced she is not a Democrat on National Coming Out day
- Was there actually anybody who had not worked that out years ago, who exactly is finding this to be news?
- Apparently the only person left who did not know was Tulsi Gabbard herself, she was the last to finally work it out.
Tim Ryan handed JD Vance his ass on a platter in that debate …
It was not just the above bit, there was also this as well …
Ron Johnston demonstrates how truly bad he actually is and gets booed during his debate …
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Adam Laxalt is standing for election in Nevada. Fourteen members of his family have collectively endorsed his Democratic opponent, incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto.
- I truly do have to wonder what their Thanksgiving dinner is going to be like.
- What kind of person do you have to be for your own family to refuse to vote for you?
Then of course this past week there was Herschel Walker’s fake police badge that he pulled out in a debate …
That Dr Oz Employee I mentioned above, Sheila Armstrong, also popped up pretending to be a gun victim so that he could comfort her. It was literally political theatre …
One last thought. If they will all happily lie and deceive you now, what on earth makes you think that any of that stops if they get elected?
Everything they don’t believe in is “Satanic”
Ali Alexander declares that “Ukraine is in alliance with every Satanic force known to The World.”
- What exactly is a “Satanic Force” and how exactly does a nation state form an alliance with it?
- Take his claim to its logical conclusion and you realise that he is suggesting that Putin’s “
special operation” invasion and genocide is supposedly divinely inspired by a God.
Homophobia on Steroids
One Million Moms (which is really just one Mom called Monica Cole and a few of her friends), demands that “All Christians to Boycott New ‘Scooby-Doo’ Movie“
- Basically Velma is gay and so Monica is freaking out about that.
- Wait until she finds out that Shaggy gets high and Scooby Snacks are psychedelics.
- To be honest, this crowd have always found Scooby Doo to be deeply challenging. The generic plot reveal is that the right answer is never magic, the supernatural, or a miracle, but instead turns out to be some guy in a mask manipulating people.
- I guess this is just one more data point that confirms that Monica is a refugee from Arthur Miller’s play “The Crucible“
Truly Bizarre
White nationalist Christian fascist Dalton Clodfelter says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only world leader for whom he’d be willing to fight and die: “I would say that the United States is the Great Satan.”
- We can all perhaps wish Mr Clodfelter a happy journey as he travels off to his Russian paradise.
Former Rep. Michele Bachmann still claims the Jan. 6 insurrection was a scheme to brand Trump and his MAGA supporters as terrorists. She spoke at a Family Research Council town hall on Wednesday.
- Reminder: Bachmann did “crazy” long before it became mainstream (A summary from 2015)
- For Bachmann, reality is not just far over the horizon, it is not even a distant memory anymore.
- Her gaslighting has gone to such an extreme that she is not just fooling others, but has successfully managed to con herself.
The False Profit$
Christian conspiracy theorist and self-appointed “prophet” Dave Hayes claims he can control the weather around his house
- His claim is that he was able to control a dust storm. Then proceeds to claim that this will be really handy if there is a Nuclear fallout heading his way. He can simply call on God to divert it. Hate to break it to him but if he faces Nuclear fallout then diverting that will honestly be the very lest of his worries.
- What is scary is that people listen, believe, and then donate.
Interesting Articles
- Jack Queen @ Reuters: Alex Jones must pay Sandy Hook families nearly $1 billion for hoax claims, jury says.
- Ashley Carman and Davey Alba @ Bloomberg: Health-Care Workers Are Swamped Again, This Time With Angry Calls From Podcast Listeners.
- Paul Schwartzman @ The Washington Post: What does Madison Cawthorn do now?
- Zachary Petrizzo @ The Daily Beast: Washington State GOP Pays a White Nationalist, Pro-Nazi Blogger.
- David Gilbert @ Vice News: This QAnon Secretary of State Candidate Is Promising to Reinstall Trump in 2024.
- Pema Levy @ Mother Jones: Tommy Tuberville Decries Reparations as Payments for “People That Do the Crime.”
- Claire Goforth @ The Daily Dot: Inside the right-wing press factory that pumped Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.
- Hemant Mehta @ OnlySky: ‘God’s perfect timing’? Evangelists cancel Florida event after hurricane.
- Lydia O’Connor @ HuffPost: Jan. 6 Committee Votes To Subpoena Donald Trump.
- Sarah K. Burris @ Raw Story: ‘Please take this tip seriously’: Secret Service warned of Capitol attack and Pence threats in advance.
- Dan Friedman @ Mother Jones: 7 Ways Roger Stone Was Connected to the January 6 Attack.
- Ned Parker, Linda So and Moira Warburton @ Reuters: ‘Stop the steal’ supporters train thousands of U.S. poll observers.
- Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey @ The Washington Post: Trump worker told FBI about moving Mar-a-Lago boxes on ex-president’s orders.
- Sam Brodey @ The Daily Beast: Inside the Loony MAGA Media Career of Top GOP Governor Pick Tudor Dixon.
- Hemant Mehta @ OnlySky: One Million Moms backtracks after claiming cancellation of ‘Little Demon.’
Statistic of the week
This week Ryan has some Southern Baptist statistics that show them in a rapid downward trend. The recent “60 Minutes” interview with the SBC president is really going to help accelerate that. Generally he came across well, but then we also learned these facts …
- Gay people can’t be good Christians
- 10 year old girls should be forced to give birth and gain no access to abortion