dailykos--2020-12-02--Southwest Florida and the Rooney Record, Part II: The Believer

There is no ritual more solemn in Washington , DC , than the taking of an oath of office .
It expresses an individual ’ s deepest , most fundamental commitment to the United States as witnessed before God .
It is when those who walk in the footsteps of the Founders pledge their lives , their fortunes and their sacred honor to their country .
As a new year dawns after an election , the members of the House and Senate take their oaths of office , followed weeks later by the president at his inauguration .
For members @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the first working day of January they gather en masse in the Capitol with grave pomp and , inserting their names , recite : “ I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies , foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same ; that I take this obligation freely , without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion , and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help me God.
” The loyalty expressed in the oath is not to a person ; it ’ s to a Constitution and the principles underlying that Constitution .
In fact , the US oath is a form of rebellion against the oath used in colonial times , when officeholders swore allegiance to the king .
But Donald Trump saw loyalty differently .
In his mind , loyalty could flow only to him and he expressed that view bluntly and directly .
“ I need loyalty , I expect loyalty , ” Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Federal Bureau of Investigation , according to Comey ’ s account—shortly before he was fired .
Trump didn ’ t want just loyalty ; like a feudal monarch , he wanted unquestioning fealty and obedience .
On January 3 , 2017 members of the 115th Congress may have sworn allegiance to the Constitution of the United States but the Republican members were going to be called upon to demonstrate their personal loyalty to the man who would take office on January 20 .
Their loyalty was going to be tested to the limits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And of those members , none seemed prepared to be a more loyal defender of the man he saw as a national savior than Representative Francis Rooney of the 19th Congressional District of Florida .
For ordinarily sleepy Southwest Florida , politics were not usually a primary concern .
But the election of Donald Trump after his extreme and threatening rhetoric on the campaign trail and his wild actions immediately after taking office alarmed and upset many local residents .
A women ’ s march in Naples the day after the Inaugural attracted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the astonishment of the organizers .
Rooney launched his first town halls with constituents shortly after he took office and on March 3 , 2017 he held two , one in North Naples and the other in Cape Coral .
The town halls drew more people than such events might have in the past and at the North Collier Regional Park the lines to get in were so long and the community room so full that people were turned away .
Later that day , the Cape Coral church where the town @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had called for “ a civil and constructive dialogue ” so that he could hear “ your thoughts , concerns , and suggestions.
” He really wanted to discuss his efforts to fund Everglades restoration and he clearly hoped the town hall would cover water purity and environmental issues .
But participants had other things on their minds .
They wanted to hear where their representative stood on a broad array of Trump-related issues , which had only vaguely been discussed during the campaign .
What they got was Rooney ’ s pure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ On why the United States did not have universal healthcare like other industrialized nations : “ Half the country voted not to do that and I don ’ t believe America is behind in anything , ” Rooney said .
“ I don ’ t want to live in France .
I ’ ve lived in Italy but I don ’ t want to live in a place with 1 percent growth , with no upward mobility where if your father was a baker , that ’ s what you ’ re going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It was an experiment that didn ’ t work ” and should be repealed , he argued .
On cutting off federal funds for Planned Parenthood : “ I definitely want to de-fund Planned Parenthood .
I want to get government out of the abortion business.
” On Trump ’ s ties to Russia and the stream of lies coming from the administration : Rooney said the House and Senate Intelligence Committees “ have superior knowledge and they have access to the classified data.
” On the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reined in.
” On whether Trump should release his tax returns : “ We all have opinions .
You didn ’ t hire me to express my opinions about things I can ’ t do anything about .
I spend my time focusing on something that I can do something about for you.
” Angry audience members started chanting “ Yes or no !
Yes or no !
” On and on it went in both town halls , with the audience getting more angry and agitated with his answers and seeming evasions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in both meetings audience members jumped up and started to approach the stage , having to be restrained .
It wasn ’ t good then and it never got better during his first term .
Rooney always seemed grim , humorless and tense .
It was as though he could not believe the audience wasn ’ t reading from his own conservative catechism .
He would open the meetings trying to explain Everglades restoration and water flow , mounting charts and slides , clearly intending to deliver what was essentially an engineering briefing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The events would quickly go off the rails into chants , shouting and discord .
His own supporters were always vastly outnumbered and although his aides made sure to pick at least some softball questions from the cards people submitted in advance , what was clear and palpable was the fear , anxiety and alarm caused by Trump ’ s words and actions , which Rooney proved unable to address .
To his credit , Rooney continued having town halls .
The meetings , he told the Fort Myers News-Press , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at work .
This is what our country is built on.
” But his town halls ended on Feb. 22 , 2018 at Marco Island and Fort Myers .
It was only eight days after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland , Fla. People were horrified and frantic about the bloodshed .
In his opening remarks in Fort Myers he presented a technical , architectural proposal to screen students entering schools .
It didn ’ t satisfy anyone .
On Marco Island , when asked if he would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ replied : “ How willing are we to throw the Constitution out the window ?
” The answer elicited angry shouts and catcalls .
In Fort Myers Rooney was confronted by six surviving students of the shooting .
Though stating that “ irresponsible people ” shouldn ’ t have guns , his opposition to a ban or any other gun control measure led to jeers and angry shouts from the audience .
“ Children are…dying at my school !
” yelled Michael Weissman , who had graduated from the school the year before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ I ’ m for making sure that people who are dangerous don ’ t get guns in their hands , ” Rooney said , to a chorus of boos .
“ I ’ m not voting to abdicate the Second Amendment.
” Students from Naples and Palmetto Ridge high schools chanted : “ Tell us Rooney how you dare , to put us all in the cross hairs ” and “ Close down the NRA ; we don ’ t want it anyway.
” That was Rooney ’ s last town hall—ever @ @ @ @ @ @ @ standing in an institution that reveres seniority and longevity , no matter what their stature back at home .
In this Rooney was no exception .
Rooney , who had never spent a day of his life in a public school classroom , landed a position on the House Education and Labor Committee , which was something of a backwater , especially in Republican eyes .
There , he supported the Chair , Rep. Virginia Foxx ( R-5-NC ) , whom Rooney once characterized as a “ super conservative.
” She wanted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , working with Foxx , tried to cut national education spending by $ 2 billion and end scholarships for students intending to go into public service ( “ You know , you get a special loan if you commit to go into public service after college .
It ’ s like paying people to fight against us , ” he told a conservative audience in May 2018. )
.
Rooney also hosted Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for two tours of inspection of Southwest Florida schools .
In the end , faced with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ none of Rooney ’ s education efforts amounted to anything .
On the labor part of his committee assignment , Rooney was relentlessly anti-union , sponsoring or cosponsoring bills to reduce union activity and make it more difficult to organize unions and easier to de-certify them .
In a 2018 op-ed he specifically attacked the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as well as the idea of “ worker centers ” that are not unions but educate and assist workers .
Rooney also sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee , an appropriate assignment given his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the regimes in Cuba , Venezuela and Iran .
Perhaps most memorably , he wrote an op-ed calling on State Department diplomats to at least consider the advantages of recognizing the independence of the Kurds , America ’ s frontline allies in fighting the Islamic State .
Bizarrely at one point , Rooney turned against legislation he himself had cosponsored and lobbied against it in the Senate .
That was the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act requiring democratic reforms in Nicaragua before American businesses could make investments there .
At first Rooney supported it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the House and gone to the Senate , he turned against it , infuriating committee Chair and fellow Floridian , Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen ( R-27-Fla. ) .
“ Why Rooney chose to lobby against a bill that he himself cosponsored and to do so without even giving me the courtesy of a notice , is practically unheard of in this institution , ” Ros-Lehtinen complained to the Miami Herald .
“ And then to take the extra step of being actively involved in lobbying against it , going to the Senate and lobbying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I don ’ t know what Rooney ’ s about , but it was not appreciated .
It ’ s just uncool.
” Legislatively , Rooney ’ s most prominent effort was a quixotic attempt to impose term limits on members of Congress , which he called the Thomas Jefferson Public Service Act , an effort to return to the idea of the citizen-legislator at the dawn of the republic .
Terms of elected service are set by the Constitution and changing the Constitution is an arduous and lengthy process—deliberately so .
Rooney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the House and two in the Senate ( 12 years ) and he wanted to get this passed immediately .
To do this , he proposed a business solution : reduce members ’ salaries to $ 1 after the limits were reached .
The idea was criticized by Southwest Florida Democrats , among others , as being unconstitutional and favoring the wealthy who would be the only ones able to serve beyond the limits .
The bill went nowhere , although it did take up a lot of Rooney ’ s time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actions alarmed and enraged much of the public at the national level , Rooney was quick to jump in and defend the president .
He said that Trump ’ s idea for a border wall was a “ metaphor for border security ” and when Trump promised that Mexico would pay for it , the president was speaking in “ an exuberant manner.
” The investigation into Russia ties had been “ propagated relentlessly by democrat officials in order to discredit the President and the election ” and “ continues to be debunked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ open and available to national media of all political persuasions and made frequent appearances to respond to questions and drive home his points .
But one on-air defense stood out from all the others .
It came the day after Christmas , December 26 , 2017 , during what should have been a very slow news day .
Trump had been tweeting fulminations against the Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) and the Russia investigation , which he maintained was a hoax .
FBI Director James Comey had been fired by Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McCabe had announced his resignation .
Trump was putting pressure on the FBI just at the moment former FBI Director Robert Mueller was pressing ahead with his investigation .
Rooney was interviewed by correspondent Hallie Jackson on MSNBC about the tweets and the investigation .
He offered a full-throated defense of Trump and attacked the FBI and Department of Justice ( DoJ ) .
“ I ’ m very concerned that DoJ and the FBI are off the rails , ” he told Jackson .
“ I think the American people have very @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not living up to those standards ?
” asked Jackson .
“ Those aforementioned examples are really nerve-wracking to me and undermine my confidence that the agencies don ’ t respect the Constitution and will put the ends before the means.
” “ Yeah , but we ’ ve seen a lot of ends before the means culture both in the Obama administration , out of Hillary Clinton , 4 million dollars of potentially illegal campaign contributions , the Clinton Foundation , Uranium One .
We ’ ve got to have good , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we don ’ t have a good , clean government ?
” asked Jackson .
“ There are those who look at remarks like you are making and say that Republicans are trying to discredit the Department of Justice and thus the Russia investigation .
Is that not what you ’ re doing ?
” “ No , I ’ m not trying to discredit them , ” responded Rooney .
“ I would like to see the directors of those agencies purged and say , ‘ We ’ ve got a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ great lawyers here.
’ Those are the people that I want the American people to see good works being done , not these people who are kind of a deep state.
” Jackson ’ s eyes widened : “ Language like that , congressman ?
Purge ?
Purge the Department of Justice ?
” “ Well , I think Mr. Strozyk could be purged , sure , ” he said , referring to Peter Strozyk , the FBI ’ s Russia expert , who had been critical of Trump in private text messages @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he certainly got it .
His call for a purge was covered by major news networks and outlets across the country .
It was denounced by commentators and pundits .
His Democratic opponents in the District regarded it as a Christmas gift to their campaign .
And non-Trump Republicans were horrified as well .
“ This is rhetoric of the extreme right wing of the Republican Party , ” said Richard Painter , former White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush , interviewed on CNN .
“ We don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ America !
That ’ s Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany .
That ’ s not the type of rhetoric we use in the United States of America and that man does not belong in Congress and I sure as heck don ’ t want him in my party.
” Rooney never backed off or retreated from his statement .
Over time , in fact , a purge did take place : Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned ; Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein resigned ; Comey had been fired ; McCabe was terminated the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Trump succeeded in eliminating nearly all the high-level federal law enforcement officers who threatened him .
Through it all Rooney established his position on the front lines of Trumpism , standing out as a vocal defender of the President and his program , taking all the heat the “ deep state ” and mainstream media could muster .
Rooney was genuinely concerned about the purity of Southwest Florida ’ s water and restoration of the Everglades , which was his top priority .
He plainly understood that human habitation in the area @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were a critical and delicate resource that protected the towns of the coast .
Accordingly , Rooney was very active in lobbying for full Everglades funding and doing what he could to enhance water quality .
Familiar with construction planning , he dove into details of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and pushed to get its projects moving .
He brought key officials and congressional leaders to Florida to so they could see the river of grass for themselves .
He took the opportunity of a private dinner with Trump to raise these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2017 Rooney even waded out into the swamp itself to hunt down invasive Burmese pythons—and bagged five , winning local and national publicity .
But as Rooney showed concern for the local environment , he was caught in a contradiction by his support for Donald Trump , who was not just indifferent to the natural environment but seemed actively hostile to it .
When it came to Southwest Florida , for example , Trump cut $ 1 billion from the Army Corps of Engineers budget , which included money that would have gone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lake Okeechobee , essential infrastructure for water management .
While mildly expressing hope that Trump would increase funding , Rooney otherwise went along with the whole Trump program : in addition to calling for reining in the EPA , he supported Trump ’ s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and he repeatedly denied the reality of climate change at his town hall meetings .
“ The climate has been changing forever , ” he said at one town hall .
Did he believe in global warming ?
“ I think that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Sea levels have been rising since the ice age , ” he replied .
When asked specifically about sea level rise at a Bonita Springs town hall on May 31 , 2017 he was vague : “ We definitely need to learn all we can about why these sea levels are rising .
I ’ m just not sure how much is man-made and how much is not.
” Again he used his ice age line : “ The sea level has been rising since the ice age.
” While Rooney and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they could not deny the climate itself and Mother Nature had dramatic ways of making her presence known .
On Sept. 10 , 2017 Hurricane Irma , then a Category 4 storm , rampaged ashore at Marco Island .
The storm ’ s arrival followed days of warnings , mandatory evacuations , supply-buying and frantic efforts to secure homes , businesses and effects .
Irma may not have been as devastating as some of her bigger cousins but she did do considerable damage , knocking out power , flinging debris and harming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , DC during the entire run-up and arrival of the storm .
On his official website he posted standard warnings and suggestions and links to various agencies .
He returned to Southwest Florida days after the storm ’ s impact , touring local sites and getting briefings .
Trump and Gov .
Rick Scott ( R ) briefly visited the area on Sept. 14 , when the president handed out sandwiches and bananas for a photo-op in East Naples .
He also approved disaster relief for the state , a standard federal procedure @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Florida congressional delegation in sending a letter to the president applauding his “ swift ” action .
At least Hurricane Irma had a beginning , middle and end .
The next disaster was more complex and sneakier .
Beginning in October 2017 red tide began forming off the coast of Southwest Florida .
A natural phenomenon caused by the growth of toxic algae , at first it wasn ’ t considered significant .
But this red tide persisted .
To make things worse , a different kind of blue-green algae began blooming in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
By the summer of 2018 , the two algal blooms were destroying aquatic life , poisoning beaches and local waters and infecting the air .
People coughed and choked and gasped as they breathed in the algal toxins .
The red tide expanded up the Gulf shore and around Florida to the southern Atlantic coast .
The blue-green algae fed on polluted runoff from Lake Okeechobee .
It was a slow-motion disaster made worse by the fact that it took a long time for authorities to recognize it as a disaster .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to do something to cope with the crisis , they were met with what seemed like a thundering silence .
Rooney did request the Small Business Administration to assist affected Southwest Florida businesses but it seemed a relatively feeble gesture .
In fact , there was little that public officials could do about the bloom itself .
In many ways , though , they didn ’ t even try to offer victims solace or comfort–or even concern .
In an appearance in Venice , Florida in September , Rick Scott , then campaigning @ @ @ @ @ @ @ besieged by angry protesters that he retreated into his campaign bus and fled the scene and canceled a scheduled stop in Naples .
In August and early September , Rooney was nowhere to be found as Big Bloom concerns mounted , an absence exploited by his Democratic challenger .
In fact , Rooney ’ s first public appearance amidst the bloom was in Rick Scott ’ s entourage as Scott retreated back aboard his bus .
It was not until November that the Big Bloom dissipated .
Even the most obtuse Floridian could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nature was out of kilter .
The big question was : would Southwest Floridians register their unhappiness at the ballot box in November ?
As a boater , a waterfront property owner and a member of the oil industry , Rooney was intimately concerned about another environmental issue : the possibility of offshore oil drilling .
Florida is an oil-bearing state and there may be oil reserves immediately off its coast .
However , the cost of extraction has never made full-scale exploitation worthwhile for the industry .
Nonetheless , the possibility that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forest of oil rigs has mobilized Floridians of all political persuasions .
A moratorium on offshore oil drilling was in place until 2022 but in one of his earliest acts , in April 2017 , Trump issued an executive order opening up American waters to oil exploitation .
Rooney ’ s loyalty to Trump was at odds with the interests of his district , his state and his own desires .
He wanted to make the oil moratorium permanent and started working legislatively to do so .
But Rooney was up against virtually @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him .
He thought , at the outset of his term , that he had a commitment from House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan ( R-1-Wis. ) to bring forward legislation to make the moratorium permanent .
But that commitment never materialized .
Instead , in addition to the oil industry , Rooney faced opposition in the person of Rep. Steve Scalise ( R-1-La . )
, the Republican Whip , who hailed from a state almost completely owned by the offshore oil industry .
Scalise consistently outranked and outflanked Rooney on this issue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a conversation on the floor of the House .
“ You ’ re telling me that the industry won ’ t go for protecting the Eastern Gulf in Florida ?
” Rooney told Scalise .
“ What industry are you talking about ?
I ’ m talking about tourism .
I ’ m talking about why we ’ re all here , okay ?
Just because Louisiana is a pit , doesn ’ t mean we want to become a pit .
Okay ?
” Rooney was also up against the Trump administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which was notoriously corrupt , subservient to industry and committed to drilling everywhere it could .
He had dinner with Secretary Ryan Zinke to press his case but it didn ’ t seem to have an effect .
Lastly , he was up against the President who wanted to exploit every natural resource without any regard for environmental degradation .
Rooney ’ s only ally was the Defense Department , which used the eastern Gulf of Mexico to train its pilots and didn ’ t want any oil rigs in the way .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ headway .
Southwest Florida ’ s shores looked ripe for squeezing .
As the 2018 midterm elections rolled around , Rooney was facing a Democratic challenger , financial advisor David Holden , and local Democrats were more energized than ever .
In a standard rite of democracy , the Collier County League of Women Voters invited both Rooney and Holden to a debate on Sept. 17 , 2018 .
Holden accepted immediately .
Rooney sent a letter saying that he had “ no availability ” on that date and “ no future availability.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ debate .
Just to twist the knife , he said later that he didn ’ t have to debate “ because everyone knows my positions.
” Holden protested .
He very publicly sent a letter to Rooney challenging him to debate anywhere or any time .
There was no response and Holden ’ s protests got little coverage except one time on the local Fox4 news channel .
From a tactical standpoint , Rooney ’ s refusal to debate made sense since he might face the same kind of outrage he faced at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He was not alone in his reluctance ; avoiding debates is a common tactic for candidates who feel they ’ re comfortably ahead , don ’ t want to jeopardize their leads and can absorb the negative fallout from their refusals .
Southwest Florida ’ s local media and civic organizations , which traditionally serve as the watchdogs of the democratic process and inform voters , stayed mute and unmoved in the face of Rooney ’ s disdain .
Seemingly indifferent or averse to covering politics , this passive and supine media @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accepted Rooney ’ s pronouncement .
He suffered no adverse reaction and from a campaign standpoint it counted as a success .
His record and positions were never examined or challenged .
The losers in this process were the voters of the 19th Congressional District , who lost any opportunity to evaluate the relative merits of the candidates on a side-by-side basis .
Rooney did no campaigning in 2018 .
While Holden was the first local Democratic candidate to place broadcast advertisements in the local market , the Rooney campaign remained dark .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ did no canvassing and any in-person events were small and invitation-only .
But Rooney did shine brightly and his long-time efforts were recognized on one special night , Oct. 31 , Halloween , when Donald Trump came to the Hertz Arena in Estero to do a rally .
The arena was packed as a relaxed and expansive Trump spoke , boasting of his accomplishments and excoriating Democrats , liberals , immigrants , the media , his enemies and the whole , standard Trumpist litany .
He told the audience to make sure they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ asked : “ Who voted ?
Who voted ?
” Nearly every hand went up .
“ Oh wow !
Everyone voted already ?
Then what the hell am I doing here tonight ?
Good bye… ” He made as though he was going to leave the stage and the crowd laughed and cheered .
“ That ’ s like 100 percent of the people in this room voted !
” he said , amazed .
“ All right .
Let ’ s just enjoy ourselves , OK ?
” Then he began @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his shout-outs to local politicians .
“ We are honored to be joined tonight by many great Florida Republicans including a man who is so great to me on television .
This guy is special .
He was a great businessman .
Now he ’ s a great congressman .
Francis Rooney .
Where ’ s Francis ?
” Trump scanned the crowd and had to turn around to find Rooney sitting behind him .
When Trump located Rooney , the crowd cheered .
“ I love him when he defends me .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the job done .
Right , Francis ?
Thank you , thank you.
” There was no higher accolade in Trumpworld .
The crowd loved it .

The Paradise Progressive History December 1, 2020 19 Minutes
Dec. 1, 2020 by David Silverberg
There is no ritual more solemn in Washington, DC, than the taking of an oath of office. It expresses an individual’s deepest, most fundamental commitment to the United States as witnessed before God. It is when those who walk in the footsteps of the Founders pledge their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to their country.
As a new year dawns after an election, the members of the House and Senate take their oaths of office, followed weeks later by the president at his inauguration.
For members of the US House of Representatives, on the first working day of January they gather en masse in the Capitol with grave pomp and, inserting their names, recite: “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
The loyalty expressed in the oath is not to a person; it’s to a Constitution and the principles underlying that Constitution. In fact, the US oath is a form of rebellion against the oath used in colonial times, when officeholders swore allegiance to the king.
But Donald Trump saw loyalty differently. In his mind, loyalty could flow only to him and he expressed that view bluntly and directly. “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” Trump told James Comey, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to Comey’s account—shortly before he was fired. Trump didn’t want just loyalty; like a feudal monarch, he wanted unquestioning fealty and obedience.
On January 3, 2017 members of the 115th Congress may have sworn allegiance to the Constitution of the United States but the Republican members were going to be called upon to demonstrate their personal loyalty to the man who would take office on January 20. Their loyalty was going to be tested to the limits of rationality and reality and morality.
And of those members, none seemed prepared to be a more loyal defender of the man he saw as a national savior than Representative Francis Rooney of the 19th Congressional District of Florida.
Defender of the faith
For ordinarily sleepy Southwest Florida, politics were not usually a primary concern. But the election of Donald Trump after his extreme and threatening rhetoric on the campaign trail and his wild actions immediately after taking office alarmed and upset many local residents. A women’s march in Naples the day after the Inaugural attracted well over a thousand participants, much to the astonishment of the organizers.
Rooney launched his first town halls with constituents shortly after he took office and on March 3, 2017 he held two, one in North Naples and the other in Cape Coral.
The town halls drew more people than such events might have in the past and at the North Collier Regional Park the lines to get in were so long and the community room so full that people were turned away. Later that day, the Cape Coral church where the town hall was held was packed.
Rooney had called for “a civil and constructive dialogue” so that he could hear “your thoughts, concerns, and suggestions.” He really wanted to discuss his efforts to fund Everglades restoration and he clearly hoped the town hall would cover water purity and environmental issues.
But participants had other things on their minds. They wanted to hear where their representative stood on a broad array of Trump-related issues, which had only vaguely been discussed during the campaign.
What they got was Rooney’s pure, unvarnished Trumpism and conservative gospel:
On why the United States did not have universal healthcare like other industrialized nations: “Half the country voted not to do that and I don’t believe America is behind in anything,” Rooney said. “I don’t want to live in France. I’ve lived in Italy but I don’t want to live in a place with 1 percent growth, with no upward mobility where if your father was a baker, that’s what you’re going to be.”
On Obamacare: “It was an experiment that didn’t work” and should be repealed, he argued.
On cutting off federal funds for Planned Parenthood: “I definitely want to de-fund Planned Parenthood. I want to get government out of the abortion business.”
On Trump’s ties to Russia and the stream of lies coming from the administration: Rooney said the House and Senate Intelligence Committees “have superior knowledge and they have access to the classified data.”
On the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): “The EPA needs to be reined in.”
On whether Trump should release his tax returns: “We all have opinions. You didn’t hire me to express my opinions about things I can’t do anything about. I spend my time focusing on something that I can do something about for you.” Angry audience members started chanting “Yes or no! Yes or no!”
On and on it went in both town halls, with the audience getting more angry and agitated with his answers and seeming evasions. There were boos, catcalls and in both meetings audience members jumped up and started to approach the stage, having to be restrained.
It wasn’t good then and it never got better during his first term. Rooney always seemed grim, humorless and tense. It was as though he could not believe the audience wasn’t reading from his own conservative catechism. He would open the meetings trying to explain Everglades restoration and water flow, mounting charts and slides, clearly intending to deliver what was essentially an engineering briefing but the audience would never buy it. The events would quickly go off the rails into chants, shouting and discord. His own supporters were always vastly outnumbered and although his aides made sure to pick at least some softball questions from the cards people submitted in advance, what was clear and palpable was the fear, anxiety and alarm caused by Trump’s words and actions, which Rooney proved unable to address.
To his credit, Rooney continued having town halls. The meetings, he told the Fort Myers News-Press, “are critically important because this is democracy at work. This is what our country is built on.”
But his town halls ended on Feb. 22, 2018 at Marco Island and Fort Myers. It was only eight days after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. People were horrified and frantic about the bloodshed. In his opening remarks in Fort Myers he presented a technical, architectural proposal to screen students entering schools. It didn’t satisfy anyone.
On Marco Island, when asked if he would support a semi-automatic weapons ban, Rooney replied: “How willing are we to throw the Constitution out the window?” The answer elicited angry shouts and catcalls.
In Fort Myers Rooney was confronted by six surviving students of the shooting. Though stating that “irresponsible people” shouldn’t have guns, his opposition to a ban or any other gun control measure led to jeers and angry shouts from the audience.
“Children are…dying at my school!” yelled Michael Weissman, who had graduated from the school the year before. “You are heartless!”
“I’m for making sure that people who are dangerous don’t get guns in their hands,” Rooney said, to a chorus of boos. “I’m not voting to abdicate the Second Amendment.” Students from Naples and Palmetto Ridge high schools chanted: “Tell us Rooney how you dare, to put us all in the cross hairs” and “Close down the NRA; we don’t want it anyway.”
That was Rooney’s last town hall—ever.
Into the DC swamp
Freshmen members in Congress rarely have standing in an institution that reveres seniority and longevity, no matter what their stature back at home. In this Rooney was no exception.
Rooney, who had never spent a day of his life in a public school classroom, landed a position on the House Education and Labor Committee, which was something of a backwater, especially in Republican eyes. There, he supported the Chair, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-5-NC), whom Rooney once characterized as a “super conservative.” She wanted to abolish the Department of Education.
Rooney, working with Foxx, tried to cut national education spending by $2 billion and end scholarships for students intending to go into public service (“You know, you get a special loan if you commit to go into public service after college. It’s like paying people to fight against us,” he told a conservative audience in May 2018.). Rooney also hosted Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for two tours of inspection of Southwest Florida schools.
In the end, faced with both Democratic and mainstream Republican opposition, none of Rooney’s education efforts amounted to anything.
On the labor part of his committee assignment, Rooney was relentlessly anti-union, sponsoring or cosponsoring bills to reduce union activity and make it more difficult to organize unions and easier to de-certify them. In a 2018 op-ed he specifically attacked the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as well as the idea of “worker centers” that are not unions but educate and assist workers.
Rooney also sat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, an appropriate assignment given his diplomatic experience. There he inveighed against the regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Iran. Perhaps most memorably, he wrote an op-ed calling on State Department diplomats to at least consider the advantages of recognizing the independence of the Kurds, America’s frontline allies in fighting the Islamic State.
Bizarrely at one point, Rooney turned against legislation he himself had cosponsored and lobbied against it in the Senate. That was the Nicaraguan Investment Conditionality Act requiring democratic reforms in Nicaragua before American businesses could make investments there. At first Rooney supported it. Then, after it had passed the House and gone to the Senate, he turned against it, infuriating committee Chair and fellow Floridian, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-27-Fla.).
“Why Rooney chose to lobby against a bill that he himself cosponsored and to do so without even giving me the courtesy of a notice, is practically unheard of in this institution,” Ros-Lehtinen complained to the Miami Herald. “And then to take the extra step of being actively involved in lobbying against it, going to the Senate and lobbying senators against a bill he cosponsored? I don’t know what Rooney’s about, but it was not appreciated. It’s just uncool.”
Legislatively, Rooney’s most prominent effort was a quixotic attempt to impose term limits on members of Congress, which he called the Thomas Jefferson Public Service Act, an effort to return to the idea of the citizen-legislator at the dawn of the republic.
Terms of elected service are set by the Constitution and changing the Constitution is an arduous and lengthy process—deliberately so. Rooney wanted congressional representation capped at six terms in the House and two in the Senate (12 years) and he wanted to get this passed immediately. To do this, he proposed a business solution: reduce members’ salaries to $1 after the limits were reached.
The idea was criticized by Southwest Florida Democrats, among others, as being unconstitutional and favoring the wealthy who would be the only ones able to serve beyond the limits. The bill went nowhere, although it did take up a lot of Rooney’s time and attention.
The urge to purge
As Trump’s actions alarmed and enraged much of the public at the national level, Rooney was quick to jump in and defend the president. He said that Trump’s idea for a border wall was a “metaphor for border security” and when Trump promised that Mexico would pay for it, the president was speaking in “an exuberant manner.” The investigation into Russia ties had been “propagated relentlessly by democrat officials in order to discredit the President and the election” and “continues to be debunked,” he stated.
He was open and available to national media of all political persuasions and made frequent appearances to respond to questions and drive home his points.
But one on-air defense stood out from all the others. It came the day after Christmas, December 26, 2017, during what should have been a very slow news day.
Trump had been tweeting fulminations against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Russia investigation, which he maintained was a hoax. FBI Director James Comey had been fired by Trump in May. Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe had announced his resignation. Trump was putting pressure on the FBI just at the moment former FBI Director Robert Mueller was pressing ahead with his investigation.
Rooney was interviewed by correspondent Hallie Jackson on MSNBC about the tweets and the investigation.
He offered a full-throated defense of Trump and attacked the FBI and Department of Justice (DoJ). “I’m very concerned that DoJ and the FBI are off the rails,” he told Jackson. “I think the American people have very high standards…”
“Are those agencies not living up to those standards?” asked Jackson.
“Those aforementioned examples are really nerve-wracking to me and undermine my confidence that the agencies don’t respect the Constitution and will put the ends before the means.”
“That’s a pretty broad brush you’re painting with,” responded Jackson.
“Yeah, but we’ve seen a lot of ends before the means culture both in the Obama administration, out of Hillary Clinton, 4 million dollars of potentially illegal campaign contributions, the Clinton Foundation, Uranium One. We’ve got to have good, clean government.”
“Do you think we don’t have a good, clean government?” asked Jackson. “There are those who look at remarks like you are making and say that Republicans are trying to discredit the Department of Justice and thus the Russia investigation. Is that not what you’re doing?”
“No, I’m not trying to discredit them,” responded Rooney. “I would like to see the directors of those agencies purged and say, ‘We’ve got a lot of great agents, a lot of great lawyers here.’ Those are the people that I want the American people to see good works being done, not these people who are kind of a deep state.”
Jackson’s eyes widened: “Language like that, congressman? Purge? Purge the Department of Justice?”
“Well, I think Mr. Strozyk could be purged, sure,” he said, referring to Peter Strozyk, the FBI’s Russia expert, who had been critical of Trump in private text messages.
If Rooney was seeking national attention he certainly got it. His call for a purge was covered by major news networks and outlets across the country. It was denounced by commentators and pundits. His Democratic opponents in the District regarded it as a Christmas gift to their campaign. And non-Trump Republicans were horrified as well.
“This is rhetoric of the extreme right wing of the Republican Party,” said Richard Painter, former White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, interviewed on CNN. “We don’t have purges in the United States of America! That’s Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany. That’s not the type of rhetoric we use in the United States of America and that man does not belong in Congress and I sure as heck don’t want him in my party.”
Rooney never backed off or retreated from his statement. Over time, in fact, a purge did take place: Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned; Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein resigned; Comey had been fired; McCabe was terminated the day before he qualified for his pension. Trump succeeded in eliminating nearly all the high-level federal law enforcement officers who threatened him.
Through it all Rooney established his position on the front lines of Trumpism, standing out as a vocal defender of the President and his program, taking all the heat the “deep state” and mainstream media could muster.
Climatic matters
Rooney was genuinely concerned about the purity of Southwest Florida’s water and restoration of the Everglades, which was his top priority. He plainly understood that human habitation in the area depended on its water and the Everglades were a critical and delicate resource that protected the towns of the coast.
Accordingly, Rooney was very active in lobbying for full Everglades funding and doing what he could to enhance water quality. Familiar with construction planning, he dove into details of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and pushed to get its projects moving. He brought key officials and congressional leaders to Florida to so they could see the river of grass for themselves. He took the opportunity of a private dinner with Trump to raise these issues directly.
On Aug. 10, 2017 Rooney even waded out into the swamp itself to hunt down invasive Burmese pythons—and bagged five, winning local and national publicity.
But as Rooney showed concern for the local environment, he was caught in a contradiction by his support for Donald Trump, who was not just indifferent to the natural environment but seemed actively hostile to it. When it came to Southwest Florida, for example, Trump cut $1 billion from the Army Corps of Engineers budget, which included money that would have gone to repairing the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee, essential infrastructure for water management.
While mildly expressing hope that Trump would increase funding, Rooney otherwise went along with the whole Trump program: in addition to calling for reining in the EPA, he supported Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and he repeatedly denied the reality of climate change at his town hall meetings.
“The climate has been changing forever,” he said at one town hall. Did he believe in global warming? “I think that there is very complex issues surrounding global warming. Sea levels have been rising since the ice age,” he replied.
When asked specifically about sea level rise at a Bonita Springs town hall on May 31, 2017 he was vague: “We definitely need to learn all we can about why these sea levels are rising. I’m just not sure how much is man-made and how much is not.” Again he used his ice age line: “The sea level has been rising since the ice age.”
While Rooney and many Southwest Floridians might deny climate change, they could not deny the climate itself and Mother Nature had dramatic ways of making her presence known.
On Sept. 10, 2017 Hurricane Irma, then a Category 4 storm, rampaged ashore at Marco Island.
The storm’s arrival followed days of warnings, mandatory evacuations, supply-buying and frantic efforts to secure homes, businesses and effects. Irma may not have been as devastating as some of her bigger cousins but she did do considerable damage, knocking out power, flinging debris and harming numerous structures.
Rooney was in Washington, DC during the entire run-up and arrival of the storm. On his official website he posted standard warnings and suggestions and links to various agencies. He returned to Southwest Florida days after the storm’s impact, touring local sites and getting briefings.
Trump and Gov. Rick Scott (R) briefly visited the area on Sept. 14, when the president handed out sandwiches and bananas for a photo-op in East Naples. He also approved disaster relief for the state, a standard federal procedure after disasters. Rooney subsequently led the Florida congressional delegation in sending a letter to the president applauding his “swift” action.
At least Hurricane Irma had a beginning, middle and end. The next disaster was more complex and sneakier.
Beginning in October 2017 red tide began forming off the coast of Southwest Florida. A natural phenomenon caused by the growth of toxic algae, at first it wasn’t considered significant. But this red tide persisted. To make things worse, a different kind of blue-green algae began blooming in the Caloosahatchee River running through Fort Myers.
By the summer of 2018, the two algal blooms were destroying aquatic life, poisoning beaches and local waters and infecting the air. People coughed and choked and gasped as they breathed in the algal toxins. The red tide expanded up the Gulf shore and around Florida to the southern Atlantic coast. The blue-green algae fed on polluted runoff from Lake Okeechobee. It was a slow-motion disaster made worse by the fact that it took a long time for authorities to recognize it as a disaster.
(Terminology note:For the purposes of this article, the two blooms will be referred to here simply as the Big Bloom of 2018. You read it here first.)
When people looked to their public officials to do something to cope with the crisis, they were met with what seemed like a thundering silence. Rooney did request the Small Business Administration to assist affected Southwest Florida businesses but it seemed a relatively feeble gesture.
In fact, there was little that public officials could do about the bloom itself. In many ways, though, they didn’t even try to offer victims solace or comfort–or even concern. In an appearance in Venice, Florida in September, Rick Scott, then campaigning for a Senate seat, was so besieged by angry protesters that he retreated into his campaign bus and fled the scene and canceled a scheduled stop in Naples.
In August and early September, Rooney was nowhere to be found as Big Bloom concerns mounted, an absence exploited by his Democratic challenger. In fact, Rooney’s first public appearance amidst the bloom was in Rick Scott’s entourage as Scott retreated back aboard his bus.
It was not until November that the Big Bloom dissipated. Even the most obtuse Floridian could see that something was amiss and that nature was out of kilter. The big question was: would Southwest Floridians register their unhappiness at the ballot box in November?
The oil war
As a boater, a waterfront property owner and a member of the oil industry, Rooney was intimately concerned about another environmental issue: the possibility of offshore oil drilling.
Florida is an oil-bearing state and there may be oil reserves immediately off its coast. However, the cost of extraction has never made full-scale exploitation worthwhile for the industry. Nonetheless, the possibility that the azure Gulf waters could see a forest of oil rigs has mobilized Floridians of all political persuasions.
A moratorium on offshore oil drilling was in place until 2022 but in one of his earliest acts, in April 2017, Trump issued an executive order opening up American waters to oil exploitation.
Rooney’s loyalty to Trump was at odds with the interests of his district, his state and his own desires. He wanted to make the oil moratorium permanent and started working legislatively to do so.
But Rooney was up against virtually every force that could be mustered against him. He thought, at the outset of his term, that he had a commitment from House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan (R-1-Wis.) to bring forward legislation to make the moratorium permanent. But that commitment never materialized. Instead, in addition to the oil industry, Rooney faced opposition in the person of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-1-La.), the Republican Whip, who hailed from a state almost completely owned by the offshore oil industry. Scalise consistently outranked and outflanked Rooney on this issue. Rooney even confronted him directly in a conversation on the floor of the House.
“You’re telling me that the industry won’t go for protecting the Eastern Gulf in Florida?” Rooney told Scalise. “What industry are you talking about? I’m talking about tourism. I’m talking about why we’re all here, okay? Just because Louisiana is a pit, doesn’t mean we want to become a pit. Okay?”
It didn’t make a difference.
Rooney was also up against the Trump administration’s Department of the Interior, which was notoriously corrupt, subservient to industry and committed to drilling everywhere it could. He had dinner with Secretary Ryan Zinke to press his case but it didn’t seem to have an effect.
Lastly, he was up against the President who wanted to exploit every natural resource without any regard for environmental degradation.
Rooney’s only ally was the Defense Department, which used the eastern Gulf of Mexico to train its pilots and didn’t want any oil rigs in the way.
In his first term Rooney made no headway. Southwest Florida’s shores looked ripe for squeezing.
“He’s brutal”
As the 2018 midterm elections rolled around, Rooney was facing a Democratic challenger, financial advisor David Holden, and local Democrats were more energized than ever.
In a standard rite of democracy, the Collier County League of Women Voters invited both Rooney and Holden to a debate on Sept. 17, 2018. Holden accepted immediately. Rooney sent a letter saying that he had “no availability” on that date and “no future availability.” In short, he would never debate. Just to twist the knife, he said later that he didn’t have to debate “because everyone knows my positions.”
Holden protested. He very publicly sent a letter to Rooney challenging him to debate anywhere or any time. There was no response and Holden’s protests got little coverage except one time on the local Fox4 news channel.
From a tactical standpoint, Rooney’s refusal to debate made sense since he might face the same kind of outrage he faced at his town halls at an in-person debate. He was not alone in his reluctance; avoiding debates is a common tactic for candidates who feel they’re comfortably ahead, don’t want to jeopardize their leads and can absorb the negative fallout from their refusals.
Southwest Florida’s local media and civic organizations, which traditionally serve as the watchdogs of the democratic process and inform voters, stayed mute and unmoved in the face of Rooney’s disdain. Seemingly indifferent or averse to covering politics, this passive and supine media establishment, especially in print, simply accepted Rooney’s pronouncement. He suffered no adverse reaction and from a campaign standpoint it counted as a success. His record and positions were never examined or challenged.
The losers in this process were the voters of the 19th Congressional District, who lost any opportunity to evaluate the relative merits of the candidates on a side-by-side basis.
Rooney did no campaigning in 2018. While Holden was the first local Democratic candidate to place broadcast advertisements in the local market, the Rooney campaign remained dark. Rooney addressed no large gatherings. He did no canvassing and any in-person events were small and invitation-only.
But Rooney did shine brightly and his long-time efforts were recognized on one special night, Oct. 31, Halloween, when Donald Trump came to the Hertz Arena in Estero to do a rally.
The arena was packed as a relaxed and expansive Trump spoke, boasting of his accomplishments and excoriating Democrats, liberals, immigrants, the media, his enemies and the whole, standard Trumpist litany. He told the audience to make sure they went out and voted and then he asked: “Who voted? Who voted?” Nearly every hand went up.
“Oh wow! Everyone voted already? Then what the hell am I doing here tonight? Good bye…” He made as though he was going to leave the stage and the crowd laughed and cheered. “That’s like 100 percent of the people in this room voted!” he said, amazed. “All right. Let’s just enjoy ourselves, OK?”
Then he began a standard part of his speeches, his shout-outs to local politicians.
“We are honored to be joined tonight by many great Florida Republicans including a man who is so great to me on television. This guy is special. He was a great businessman. Now he’s a great congressman. Francis Rooney. Where’s Francis?”
Trump scanned the crowd and had to turn around to find Rooney sitting behind him. When Trump located Rooney, the crowd cheered.
“I love him when he defends me. He’s brutal. He gets the job done. Right, Francis? Thank you, thank you.”
There was no higher accolade in Trumpworld. The crowd loved it.
Coming Thursday: The Heretic
Coming Friday: The Legacy
Liberty lives in light
© 2020 by David Silverberg


'Nones' Elected Biden-Harris

Americans who say their religion is “ none ” delivered the White House to the Biden-Harris Democratic ticket in the 2020 election .
That ’ s the conclusion of a top socio-political researcher , Dr. Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois University .
“ I think that Joe Biden should thank the ‘ nones ’ for being the president-elect right now , ” Dr. Burge wrote for the Religion in Public website .
“ Nones ” generally hold compassionate social values , thus they ’ ve become the largest faith segment in the Democratic Party base .
Dr. Burge outlined how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ force in America .
“ Half of white liberals today identify as religiously unaffiliated , ” he said .
He said atheists and agnostics gave about 80 percent of their votes to Biden-Harris in key battleground states .
Those who say their faith is “ nothing in particular ” went Democratic by two-to-one .
Of course , in any election , victory can be attributed to several voting blocs .
Biden-Harris also couldn ’ t have won without black votes , or labor union votes , or Hispanic votes , etc .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now are a mighty political machine .
“ We represent maybe 30 percent or so of Democratic voters , ” says Harvard and MIT humanist chaplain Greg Epstein , who headed Humanists For Biden-Harris , sponsored by Secular Democrats of America .
Other skeptic groups also pushed get-out-the-vote efforts among the godless .
Ever since The Enlightenment , Western progress has hinged on liberal reformers defeating entrenched conservatives – wiping out slavery – letting women vote – letting couples use birth control – giving Social Security pensions to retirees – providing unemployment compensation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blacks – creating Medicare for retirees and Medicaid for the poor – halting persecution of gays – etc .
Will this progress continue ?
Will universal healthcare become a human right for everyone ?
Will college become affordable without monstrous debt ?
Will climate disaster be averted ?
Will white police be restrained from killing unarmed black men ?
Will women ’ s right to choose remain secure ?
Will the rest of the progressive agenda be attained ?
Much depends on whether churchless “ nones ” continue rising as a major left-wing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ secular community should pursue this goal in every way possible .
Meanwhile , it ’ s heartening to see the 2020 Democratic victory attributed to Americans who have no religion .

‘Nones’ Elected Biden-Harris
By James A. Haught
Americans who say their religion is “none” delivered the White House to the Biden-Harris Democratic ticket in the 2020 election.
That’s the conclusion of a top socio-political researcher, Dr. Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois University.
“I think that Joe Biden should thank the ‘nones’ for being the president-elect right now,” Dr. Burge wrote for the Religion in Public website.
“Nones” generally hold compassionate social values, thus they’ve become the largest faith segment in the Democratic Party base. Dr. Burge outlined how they’re a powerhouse progressive-liberal political force in America.
“Half of white liberals today identify as religiously unaffiliated,” he said. He said atheists and agnostics gave about 80 percent of their votes to Biden-Harris in key battleground states. Those who say their faith is “nothing in particular” went Democratic by two-to-one.
Of course, in any election, victory can be attributed to several voting blocs. Biden-Harris also couldn’t have won without black votes, or labor union votes, or Hispanic votes, etc. But it’s significant that the churchless now are a mighty political machine.
“We represent maybe 30 percent or so of Democratic voters,” says Harvard and MIT humanist chaplain Greg Epstein, who headed Humanists For Biden-Harris, sponsored by Secular Democrats of America. Other skeptic groups also pushed get-out-the-vote efforts among the godless.
Ever since The Enlightenment, Western progress has hinged on liberal reformers defeating entrenched conservatives – wiping out slavery – letting women vote – letting couples use birth control – giving Social Security pensions to retirees – providing unemployment compensation to the jobless – halting segregation of blacks – creating Medicare for retirees and Medicaid for the poor – halting persecution of gays – etc.
Will this progress continue? Will universal healthcare become a human right for everyone? Will college become affordable without monstrous debt? Will climate disaster be averted? Will white police be restrained from killing unarmed black men? Will women’s right to choose remain secure? Will the rest of the progressive agenda be attained?
Much depends on whether churchless “nones” continue rising as a major left-wing force in America. We in the secular community should pursue this goal in every way possible.
Meanwhile, it’s heartening to see the 2020 Democratic victory attributed to Americans who have no religion.


Explaining #WhereIsGinaHaspel

( and various derivatives ) are a thing on Twitter and I feel I have to explain why so you can try to comprehend the true levels of insanity associated with these people .
Right now ( and various derivatives ) are a thing on Twitter and I feel I have to explain why so you can try to comprehend the true levels of insanity associated with these people .
A QANon rooted conspiracy theory , endorsed by Representative Louie Gohmert , claims that about a week ago the United States Army ( or sometimes it ’ s Navy Seals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ servers in Frankfort Germany .
For some reason , they often misspell Haspel 's name as `` Hasple '' when pushing the theory .
It was a violent raid that was resisted by Haspel ’ s bodyguards .
Haspel tried to resist the raid because she was secretly in league with the myriad Deep State forces that rigged the election against Trump .
The truth was supposedly at this location in Frankfort , so having somehow gotten advance notice of the raid she went there , rounded up some bodyguards and tried to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was futile and the Army ( or whatever ) forces overcame Haspel 's forces .
In the shootout Haspel was killed .
Another variant of the story claims she was injured and whisked off to Gitmo where she is being charged with treason and is `` singing like a canary . ''
The conspiracy theory concludes that the Army ( or whoever ) has the proof of election rigging seized in this raid ( along with Haspel 's confession ) and that Trump is preparing to announce all this along with imposing martial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be a new election .
.
I 'm not making any of this up .
It 's an actual thing brought to you by the same people who still believe Trump really won the election .
When challenged they will demand to know why Haspel has n't appeared to debunk the conspiracy theory .
Hence

#WhereIsGinaHaspel Right now(and various derivatives) are a thing on Twitter and I feel I have to explain why so you can try to comprehend the true levels of insanity associated with these people.
A QANon rooted conspiracy theory, endorsed by Representative Louie Gohmert, claims that about a week ago the United States Army (or sometimes it’s Navy Seals) conducted a raid on Dominion Software servers in Frankfort Germany. For some reason, they often misspell Haspel's name as "Hasple" when pushing the theory.
It was a violent raid that was resisted by Haspel’s bodyguards. Haspel tried to resist the raid because she was secretly in league with the myriad Deep State forces that rigged the election against Trump. The truth was supposedly at this location in Frankfort, so having somehow gotten advance notice of the raid she went there, rounded up some bodyguards and tried to defend the location.
Alas, resistance was futile and the Army (or whatever) forces overcame Haspel's forces. In the shootout Haspel was killed. Another variant of the story claims she was injured and whisked off to Gitmo where she is being charged with treason and is "singing like a canary."
The conspiracy theory concludes that the Army (or whoever) has the proof of election rigging seized in this raid (along with Haspel's confession) and that Trump is preparing to announce all this along with imposing martial law to secure his position until there can be a new election.


dailykos--2020-12-03--Who will you trust now?

Who will you trust now?

We see the childish behavior of the Those who actually think , knew what kind of immature , incompetent , greedy fool Trump was ... and will always be , but the shock to our collective system is that virtually every elected is no better .
And cowards !
When you choose to swim in the same sewer you will take on the same smell .
Once you prove your willingness to embrace the dark side there is no re-calling that decision .
Not one of these politicians can ever again promise to have our backs or to put America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they embrace corruption for their own benefit they have unequivocally they will do that again at any future opportunity .
They have publicly announced their fidelity to power over country .
We have another election in 2020 at which time we can choose between corruption or service to country .
Then every two years let ’ s whittle then down to an insignificant nub .
If there is a ( R ) by their names consider that a dire warning .
One of their own spilled the beans ... this is still relevant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ //joethevoter.org

We see the childish behavior of the worst president in history.
May he hold that title exclusively for eternity.
Those who actually think, knew what kind of immature, incompetent, greedy fool Trump was...and will always be, but the shock to our collective system is that virtually every elected Republican is no better. And cowards!
When you choose to swim in the same sewer you will take on the same smell. Once you prove your willingness to embrace the dark side there is no re-calling that decision. Not one of these politicians can ever again promise to have our backs or to put America ahead of their personal ambitions.
Once they embrace corruption for their own benefit they have unequivocally proven they will do that again at any future opportunity. They have publicly announced their fidelity to power over country.
We have another election in 2020 at which time we can choose between corruption or service to country. Then every two years let’s whittle then down to an insignificant nub.
If there is a (R) by their names consider that a dire warning.
One of their own spilled the beans...this is still relevant but worse! bit.ly/...
https://joethevoter.org


dailykos--2020-12-03--Getting out of line: A growing number of Republicans won’t sing from the Trump hymnal anymore

It was all going according to plan a year ago .
The Republican party would build on its successes , ignore its failures and win again , with a triumphant second term for Donald Trump as president , a second term that would , pretty much by its very existence , signal the triumph of conservative values , and the advance of those values across the country .
Trump would either win the election outright or , failing a victory at the polls where it counts , he ’ d throw the election results into chaos with a staggering wave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ judges Trump appointed .
And if everything went south in the lower courts , why , Trump would just elevate the matter to the House of the Supremes , where three of his own hand-picked Justices would end the unpredictability and — ultimately , in spite of everything — make him the winner of the 2020 election .
No one back then war-gamed for the impossible .
No one expected the party ’ s standard-bearer to disintegrate like a timed-release aspirin .
No one , or very few , anticipated the worst public-health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shores like a million wildfires .
And while racism is as predictable as the sunrise , no one could have envisioned the 8-minute , 46-second execution of George Perry Floyd , or the national paroxysm of protests in his name and honor and memory .
The tragically peculiar blend of calamities we ’ re trying to survive in 2020 has been unpredictable , to say the least .
President Trump , the avatar of unpredictability , faces more of it from the same people most predisposed to support him .
This “ base @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) those amber waves upon waves of GOP voters , judges and politicians who believe in American government , and who place faith in that government above and ahead of the individuals elected to lead it .
They don ’ t constitute a groundswell , but their numbers and voices are starting to show .
They ’ re tired of their party being identified with stasis and intransigence , and the corrosive nature of today ’ s world — from the economy to the pandemic , from the endangered environment to the endangered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believing in an alternative way of governing not just optional but necessary .
Their faith in that government spells huge trouble for Trump as he begins to chart the post-White House future he will inherit 48 days from now .
The best laid plans of mice , men and wannabe kings go sideways .
First , Trump screwed things up by losing the election by such a relatively lopsided margin — Trump got about 73 million while Joe Biden got more than 80 million votes , a difference of about 4 percentage points @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of a judicial intervention on the basis of a hairs-breadth difference in votes .
There ’ d be no winning a squeaker of an presidential election on a technicality .
And no grounds for questioning the outcome , based in large part on the Nov. 12 statement of Chris Krebs , ( now ) former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency .
Then there was the matter of diminishing returns .
Some of the final states to come in with votes faced Trump campaign requests for recounts , or recounts after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t do Trump any good .
Nevada , Georgia , Michigan and Pennsylvania certified their votes last week .
That might have been the worst of the Trump post-election saga , with the president-exit either losing or walking away from numerous lawsuits that tried to invalidate the election results in battleground states .
But the Trump campaign went on to make rather sad political campaign history , paying $ 3 million for a recount of the votes in Wisconsin ’ s presidential election – a recount that actually gained 87 more votes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first time in American political history that a presidential campaign burned good money to pad the opposition ’ s lead .
Trump lost another round on Nov. 27 , in an opinion from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals , which refused to overturn certification of Pennsylvania ’ s votes , finding “ no merit ” to tireless Trump campaign allegations that the 2020 election was rife with fraud .
“ Charges of unfairness are serious , ” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote in the opinion from the 3rd Circuit .
“ But calling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ so .
Charges require specific allegations and then proof .
We have neither here .
“ The Campaign ’ s claims have no merit , ” wrote Bibas , a judge Trump appointed in 2017 .
“ The number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000-vote margin of victory ( for Biden in Pennsylvania ) .
And it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters .
Plus , tossing out millions of mail-in ballots would be drastic and unprecedented , disenfranchising a huge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ down-ballot races too .
That remedy would be grossly disproportionate to the procedural challenges raised.
” And Bibas offered a simple but ringing endorsement of American democracy in 2020 .
“ The public interest strongly favors finality , counting every lawful voter ’ s vote , and not disenfranchising millions of Pennsylvania voters who voted by mail , ” he wrote .
It got worse for Team Trump the next day , when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a GOP attempt to stop the certification .
Then on Nov. 30 , Arizona and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ election in both their states , exiting the House Trump Dumpster-fire clown car on more or less their own terms .
The best viral video of the election season may be the one of Arizona Gov .
Doug Ducey , a Republican , sitting at a desk while literally in the act of certifying the election when President Trump calls at the same time .
Watch for the moment when Ducey apparently sends Trump to voicemail .
If you ’ re keeping score at home , Team Trump ’ s loss of those @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is 1 for 40 on legal challenges to the election outcome , with the recount in Georgia apparently finished ( Biden the winner again , despite the president ’ s invective against Brad Raffensperger , the state ’ s Republican secretary of state , for his role in certifying the results ) .
The likelihood of Trump overturning the election outcome with anything less than the repeal of base-10 mathematics is dropping to a low order of probability .
So count on it : Any week now , the presidential simulacrum will resort @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GLASS salvation moment .
With other options exhausted , Trump will solicit the sure thing of support in the U.S. Supreme Court .
But maybe not .
See , Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh , Trump ’ s most controversial high-court nominee , may have tipped his hand on his feelings about being a judicial pawn of the Trump White House .
On Nov. 10 , Kavanaugh , speaking on a completely different matter – the Affordable Care Act , Trump ’ s enduring bête noire and anathema to conservatives generally – said “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest of the act in place , the provisions regarding pre-existing conditions and the rest ... ” Kavanaugh said in oral arguments for and against the ACA , also known as Obamacare .
Chief Justice John Roberts — another Republican appointee — apparently concurred with his colleague on the court , at the same oral-arguments hearing .
Justice Roberts said : “ I think it 's hard for you to argue that Congress intended the entire act to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when the same Congress that lowered the penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act .
I think , frankly , that they wanted the court to do that .
But that 's not our job.
” Kavanaugh ’ s and Roberts ’ arguments apparently in support of the ACA seem to indicate a willingness to try to perform microsurgery on the Affordable Care Act , instead of the execution-by-lethal-injection of the entire law , which would adversely affect at least 20 million Americans and their families @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , nevertheless , championed from before the start of his administration .
Opposition to the ACA is a fact of modern conservatism , low-hanging red meat for Republicans in general since 2010 , and not easily abandoned .
In the context of today ’ s zero-sum-game politics , support for even the basic structure of ACA runs counter to GOP orthodoxy , a pillar of Trump ’ s 2016 campaign .
But it ’ s bigger than the ACA .
What obtains in matters about certain Republicans ’ evolution on the ACA is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s current faux-autocratic ecosystem .
Whether coming from a Republican appellate judge or a Republican Justice of the Supreme Court in Washington , these departures from the script , this refusal to sing what ’ s in the Trump hymnal indicate an independence of thought and a reliance on the institutions they lead , and the ideals those institutions represent .
These are the people Donald Trump might have predicted but couldn ’ t have prevented .
In his narrow us/them view of the world , he overlooked those fellow Republicans who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s welfare over the party ’ s .
He ’ s pretended they didn ’ t exist .
They are not returning the favor .
With nothing more than the parliamentary exercise of congratulations , Republican Sens .
Susan Collins of Maine , Mitt Romney of Utah and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania announced a willingness to seek détente , to work with the Biden administration in a spirit of something resembling the bipartisan .
They may or may not be outliers , but they are not alone .
The numbers of Republicans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been steadily growing for many months , and in some cases , for years .
In September 2018 , from inside the Trump White House , we heard the voice of “ Anonymous ” in a New York Times article , an early signal from the castle window about the horrors inside .
Acerbic apostates such as veteran campaign gurus Rick Wilson , Mike Murphy and Steve Schmidt ; McCain campaign strategist Stuart Stevens , former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh , former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele , and conservative columnist George @ @ @ @ @ @ @ church , at one level or another .
They and others are the brain trust of The Lincoln Project , a media initiative whose animating mission from the jump was the defeat and ouster of Donald Trump .
The Lincoln Project distilled the shambolic character of House Trump into a still-growing series of spirited TV and online videos , by turns hilarious and harrowing , all of it reflecting a savvy about message and media in the digital era , and done with the power of the best of muckraker journalism .
It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are thus willing to get out of line , to reach for activism in a bid to reawaken civility and compromise in our government .
To get our government to start acting like a government again .
‘ Institutionalists ’ might be an inside-the-Beltway word to describe them , but we ’ re witnessing the slow quiet rise of Republican citizens whose allegiance is becoming more properly , widely aligned —some , at least , are becoming believers again , in a process instead of a personality , a system instead of a @ @

It was all going according to plan a year ago. The Republican party would build on its successes, ignore its failures and win again, with a triumphant second term for Donald Trump as president, a second term that would, pretty much by its very existence, signal the triumph of conservative values, and the advance of those values across the country.
Trump would either win the election outright or, failing a victory at the polls where it counts, he’d throw the election results into chaos with a staggering wave of lawsuits and challenges presided over by judges Trump appointed. And if everything went south in the lower courts, why, Trump would just elevate the matter to the House of the Supremes, where three of his own hand-picked Justices would end the unpredictability and — ultimately, in spite of everything — make him the winner of the 2020 election.
No one back then war-gamed for the impossible. No one expected the party’s standard-bearer to disintegrate like a timed-release aspirin. No one, or very few, anticipated the worst public-health emergency in a century exploding on these shores like a million wildfires. And while racism is as predictable as the sunrise, no one could have envisioned the 8-minute, 46-second execution of George Perry Floyd, or the national paroxysm of protests in his name and honor and memory.
The tragically peculiar blend of calamities we’re trying to survive in 2020 has been unpredictable, to say the least. President Trump, the avatar of unpredictability, faces more of it from the same people most predisposed to support him. This “base” of supporters includes (among others) those amber waves upon waves of GOP voters, judges and politicians who believe in American government, and who place faith in that government above and ahead of the individuals elected to lead it.
They don’t constitute a groundswell, but their numbers and voices are starting to show. They’re tired of their party being identified with stasis and intransigence, and the corrosive nature of today’s world — from the economy to the pandemic, from the endangered environment to the endangered sense of our own identities — makes believing in an alternative way of governing not just optional but necessary. Their faith in that government spells huge trouble for Trump as he begins to chart the post-White House future he will inherit 48 days from now.
The best laid plans of mice, men and wannabe kings go sideways.
First, Trump screwed things up by losing the election by such a relatively lopsided margin — Trump got about 73 million while Joe Biden got more than 80 million votes, a difference of about 4 percentage points — that there’s no hope of a judicial intervention on the basis of a hairs-breadth difference in votes. There’d be no winning a squeaker of an presidential election on a technicality. And no grounds for questioning the outcome, based in large part on the Nov. 12 statement of Chris Krebs, (now) former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Then there was the matter of diminishing returns. Some of the final states to come in with votes faced Trump campaign requests for recounts, or recounts after recounts, but the new tallies didn’t do Trump any good. Nevada, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania certified their votes last week.
That might have been the worst of the Trump post-election saga, with the president-exit either losing or walking away from numerous lawsuits that tried to invalidate the election results in battleground states.
But the Trump campaign went on to make rather sad political campaign history, paying $3 million for a recount of the votes in Wisconsin’s presidential election – a recount that actually gained 87 more votes for Biden. It may be the first time in American political history that a presidential campaign burned good money to pad the opposition’s lead.
Trump lost another round on Nov. 27, in an opinion from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, which refused to overturn certification of Pennsylvania’s votes, finding “no merit” to tireless Trump campaign allegations that the 2020 election was rife with fraud.
“Charges of unfairness are serious,” Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote in the opinion from the 3rd Circuit. “But calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here.
“The Campaign’s claims have no merit,” wrote Bibas, a judge Trump appointed in 2017. “The number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000-vote margin of victory (for Biden in Pennsylvania). And it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters. Plus, tossing out millions of mail-in ballots would be drastic and unprecedented, disenfranchising a huge swath of the electorate and upsetting all down-ballot races too. That remedy would be grossly disproportionate to the procedural challenges raised.”
And Bibas offered a simple but ringing endorsement of American democracy in 2020. “The public interest strongly favors finality, counting every lawful voter’s vote, and not disenfranchising millions of Pennsylvania voters who voted by mail,” he wrote.
It got worse for Team Trump the next day, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a GOP attempt to stop the certification. Then on Nov. 30, Arizona and Wisconsin officials certified the results of the election in both their states, exiting the House Trump Dumpster-fire clown car on more or less their own terms.
The best viral video of the election season may be the one of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, sitting at a desk while literally in the act of certifying the election when President Trump calls at the same time. Watch for the moment when Ducey apparently sends Trump to voicemail.
If you’re keeping score at home, Team Trump’s loss of those two states meant that the Trump campaign is 1 for 40 on legal challenges to the election outcome, with the recount in Georgia apparently finished (Biden the winner again, despite the president’s invective against Brad Raffensperger, the state’s Republican secretary of state, for his role in certifying the results).
The likelihood of Trump overturning the election outcome with anything less than the repeal of base-10 mathematics is dropping to a low order of probability. So count on it: Any week now, the presidential simulacrum will resort to his IN CASE OF EMERGENCY BREAK GLASS salvation moment. With other options exhausted, Trump will solicit the sure thing of support in the U.S. Supreme Court.
But maybe not. See, Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Trump’s most controversial high-court nominee, may have tipped his hand on his feelings about being a judicial pawn of the Trump White House. On Nov. 10, Kavanaugh, speaking on a completely different matter – the Affordable Care Act, Trump’s enduring bête noire and anathema to conservatives generally – said “[i]t does seem fairly clear that the proper remedy would be to sever the mandate provision and leave the rest of the act in place, the provisions regarding pre-existing conditions and the rest ...” Kavanaugh said in oral arguments for and against the ACA, also known as Obamacare.
Chief Justice John Roberts — another Republican appointee — apparently concurred with his colleague on the court, at the same oral-arguments hearing. Justice Roberts said: “I think it's hard for you to argue that Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate were struck down when the same Congress that lowered the penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act. I think, frankly, that they wanted the court to do that. But that's not our job.”
Kavanaugh’s and Roberts’ arguments apparently in support of the ACA seem to indicate a willingness to try to perform microsurgery on the Affordable Care Act, instead of the execution-by-lethal-injection of the entire law, which would adversely affect at least 20 million Americans and their families – a “remedy” Trump has, nevertheless, championed from before the start of his administration.
Opposition to the ACA is a fact of modern conservatism, low-hanging red meat for Republicans in general since 2010, and not easily abandoned. In the context of today’s zero-sum-game politics, support for even the basic structure of ACA runs counter to GOP orthodoxy, a pillar of Trump’s 2016 campaign.
But it’s bigger than the ACA. What obtains in matters about certain Republicans’ evolution on the ACA is becoming more widely true throughout the GOP’s current faux-autocratic ecosystem. Whether coming from a Republican appellate judge or a Republican Justice of the Supreme Court in Washington, these departures from the script, this refusal to sing what’s in the Trump hymnal indicate an independence of thought and a reliance on the institutions they lead, and the ideals those institutions represent.
These are the people Donald Trump might have predicted but couldn’t have prevented. In his narrow us/them view of the world, he overlooked those fellow Republicans who had the nerve to put the nation’s welfare over the party’s. He’s pretended they didn’t exist. They are not returning the favor.
With nothing more than the parliamentary exercise of congratulations, Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania announced a willingness to seek détente, to work with the Biden administration in a spirit of something resembling the bipartisan. They may or may not be outliers, but they are not alone. The numbers of Republicans comfortably bound by pragmatism rather than ideology have been steadily growing for many months, and in some cases, for years.
In September 2018, from inside the Trump White House, we heard the voice of “Anonymous” in a New York Times article, an early signal from the castle window about the horrors inside. Acerbic apostates such as veteran campaign gurus Rick Wilson, Mike Murphy and Steve Schmidt; McCain campaign strategist Stuart Stevens, former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh, former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele, and conservative columnist George Will have more recently vacated the Republican church, at one level or another.
They and others are the brain trust of The Lincoln Project, a media initiative whose animating mission from the jump was the defeat and ouster of Donald Trump. The Lincoln Project distilled the shambolic character of House Trump into a still-growing series of spirited TV and online videos, by turns hilarious and harrowing, all of it reflecting a savvy about message and media in the digital era, and done with the power of the best of muckraker journalism.
It’s a hopeful thing that Republicans are thus willing to get out of line, to reach for activism in a bid to reawaken civility and compromise in our government. To get our government to start acting like a government again.
‘Institutionalists’ might be an inside-the-Beltway word to describe them, but we’re witnessing the slow quiet rise of Republican citizens whose allegiance is becoming more properly, widely aligned —some, at least, are becoming believers again, in a process instead of a personality, a system instead of a savior.