Tag Archives: Warren Davidson

When Congress Returns …

Posted on by under Economic issues, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, voting rights

Congress will return in the next couple of weeks, after a more-than-month-long paid vacation.  Now, there is much that needs to be addressed when they finally decide to take up their seats, the most urgent being passing the appropriations bills to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September.  Or, short of that, passing a stopgap continuing resolution bill to keep the government functioning until the appropriations bills can be agreed upon.

And then there are other critical issues such as voting rights, climate & environmental issues, education, guns, and more that really need to be addressed by the lawmaking body.  So, what is their first priority?  Well, if Kevin McCarthy and his cohorts in the House of Representatives have their way, it will be impeaching President Biden!  Yep, you heard me right … even though they admittedly have zero evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of the president, even though they have admitted that this is simply retaliation for Trump’s two impeachments, they plan to follow through.  WTF???

Not even all Republican legislators agree that an impeachment inquiry is the highest priority … some are even angry about it … but McCarthy and his band of merry men will plow forward anyway.  Even some members of the ignoble House Freedom Caucus (HFC) do not support McCarthy’s plan.  Ken Buck, a member of the HFC, slammed all the impeachment inquiry talk in July saying, “This is impeachment theater.”  And another Republican lawmaker who remains anonymous said, “There’s no evidence that Joe Biden got money, or that Joe Biden, you know, agreed to do something so that Hunter could get money. There’s just no evidence of that. And they can’t impeach without that evidence. And I don’t I don’t think the evidence exists.”

My own representative in the House, Warren Davidson who is also a member of the House Freedom Caucus, sent his usual weekly newsletter yesterday.  He began by bragging that he had attended 768 meetings and answered some 5,000 emails since January (I suppose that’s to justify his long, paid vacation and his salary?) and then plunged right in to talk about what he calls “Biden family corruption”.  The entire rest of his newsletter was dedicated to impeaching not only the president, but also FBI Director Christopher Wray, Attorney General Merrick Garland, among others.

Let’s get one thing straight right now.  Whatever Hunter Biden did or did not do would not be grounds for investigating or impeaching President Biden.  Throughout history, I am sure that presidents’ family members have committed crimes or engaged in improper behaviour, but we did not blame the president or try to overthrow him.  Hunter Biden should not, by any stretch of the imagination, be headline news, nor should he be the primary focus of Congress!!!  And Congress, at least a large number of the Republican members of Congress, are NOT DOING THE JOBS WE PAY THEM TO DO!!!

Their behaviour is more reminiscent of a bunch of high school kids than serious, elected lawmakers.  I would suggest that their pay be withheld until they stop playing retaliatory games and address such things as the appropriations bills, climate change, guns, and VOTING RIGHTS!  I would suggest it, but … they don’t need their pay, for they are already wealthy, and they have all those lovely donations coming in from the likes of the NRA and fossil fuel industries!  Their reward isn’t the nearly quarter-million dollars they are paid each year, as much as it is the fame and power they derive from their position.

Next year please, please, PLEASE my friends … vote every Republican out of office and let’s hire some intelligent, conscientious, honest lawmakers with integrity and values who will take their oaths of office seriously and remember that they work for We the People, not the other way around!

What Will We Do?

Posted on by under Global Issues, History, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

In the past week, I have heard of at least two Republican members of Congress who basically said that what is happening in Ukraine is awful and that we should support Ukraine … with thoughts and prayers, but not anything that costs the U.S. money.  At least one, Warren Davidson of Ohio, was complaining about the inclusion of the $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine that was included in the larger — much larger — spending bill passed last week.  No doubt the views of these two are largely representative of their party as a whole.  In my opinion, this “America First” bullshit needs to end NOW!  Today there was a newsletter from Robert Reich waiting in my inbox.  It is short but describes ever so well the situation we’re in today …

Helplessness in the face of evil

An allegory

Robert Reich, 14 March 2022

It’s like watching a three-hundred-pound bully beat up a kid half his size, for no reason — bloodying the poor kid, pulverizing him. Yet you don’t dare try to stop the mayhem because the bully has a gun that he’ll use on you if you intervene.

You look for police, but there are none.

You round up your friends, who join you in shouting at the bully. But he pays no attention. They threaten that if he doesn’t stop they’ll no longer go bowling with him or invite him out for drinks. Their threats have no effect. The bully continues beating up the kid.

Your friends refuse to take further action. They don’t want to provoke his wrath. They’re as afraid of the bully’s gun as you are.

By now the kid is desperate. You give him some water. He pleads for a knife. You slip him some brass knuckles.

The kid puts up a good fight. You marvel at the kid’s courage and stamina in the face of such brutality. Maybe he can hold the bully off for a while, you think.

But the kid’s resistance infuriates the bully even further. The bully clobbers the kid with everything he has.

The barbarism is occurring in front of your eyes. It’s revolting to watch. Every moral fiber of your being shouts “do something!” Yet you’re paralyzed. It’s suicide if you intervene, but it’s moral suicide if you don’t.

You want to believe the kid can force the bully to retreat, but you know the kid doesn’t stand a chance.

You can no longer bear witness to this slaughter. You have to avert your eyes. Or you have to act. What do you do?

The time has come to make a decision … what will we do?

Snarky Snippets — Continued

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2022, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Lest you thought I was finished being snarky with yesterday’s ‘snarky snippets’, never fear, I have not yet run out of things about which to snark.

Back in 2016, I wrote two posts (links below) about Ammon Bundy, the head of the Bundy clan of thugs who illegally occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon for 41 days.  He is a cattle rancher who has thumbed his nose at the law more than a few times.  And guess what?  He is running for governor of Idaho next year, despite the fact that at present, he is banned from the Idaho State Capitol for one year from last August after being arrested there twice in as many days.  Check out this newscast of his arrest(s) …

I don’t know much about Idaho, but if they elect this fruitcake as their governor, then I know it’s a state I will never want to even pass through on the way to elsewhere!  Oh, and Bundy was one of the people who was given a presidential pardon by the former guy … go figure.

Links to posts about Bundy and the Malheur standoff in 2016:

So … Who Is Right? or … Filosofa Takes on the Ranchers …

7 Thugs Go Free — Blind & Deaf Jury

The headline read:  Ivanka Plays Dumb in Sworn Deposition and I had to laugh!  Ivanka does not need to play dumb …

I briefly mentioned yesterday that there had been another mass shooting, this one in San Jose, California, but at the time I wrote that post, there were few details available.  We now know that nine people and one monster were killed, the monster being the shooter who, according to police, then turned the gun on himself.  Co-workers say that Samuel Cassidy, who was an employee at the VTA facility where the shooting took place, he had a seemingly split personality, and a neighbor described him as ‘reclusive’.

The victims of this shooting are:

  • Taptejdeep Singh, 36
  • Adrian Balleza, 29
  • Jose Dejesus Hernandez III, 35
  • Timothy Michael Romo, 49
  • Michael Joseph Rudometkin, 40
  • Paul Delacruz Megia, 42
  • Abdolvahab Alaghmandan, 63
  • Lars Kepler Lane, 63
  • Alex Ward Fritch, 49

The shooter’s father learned of his son’s involvement and death from a phone call by the media.

President Biden issued a statement saying …

“Enough. Once again, I urge Congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America.”

We all know that he might have better luck wishing for the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy to solve the problem of America’s gun culture, for Congress … at least the Republicans in Congress … have made it abundantly clear that they have NO intention of passing ANY form of gun legislation.

This makes 61 mass shootings in the U.S. in the month of May alone!  Get off your asses, Republicans, take off your damned blinders!  And voters – please note that your Republican members of Congress do not give one royal hoot about your life, else they would be working overtime to draft gun control legislation right this minute!  Instead, they are working to block any laws about guns.

Every Saturday, I receive a newsletter from Warren Davidson, the representative for my district in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Now, Warren is an ass, pure and simple – he is, after all, a Republican.  He’s also a member of the House Freedom Caucus, the most abominable of the lot.  But last Saturday’s newsletter had one point that made me literally want to smack Mr. Davidson upside the head:

“This week, I continued to build support for my new bill, the Fauci’s Incompetence Requires Early Dismissal (FIRED) Act. Introduced last week, this bill would place a 12-year term limit on appointees for Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a post Dr. Fauci has held since 1984. Americans agree that Dr. Fauci has sown more confusion around the COVID 19 pandemic than he has confidence.”

Warren Davidson, a man without a single shred of scientific or medical education, knows more than the most well-respected expert in the field???  Hopefully, his bill will fail to make it out of the meeting room, let alone into the chamber for a vote!  Surely even most Republicans have better sense than Davidson!

Open Letter To Republican Members Of Congress

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Election 2022, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, voting rights

Dear Sir or Madam …

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of a few things that you have obviously forgotten.  You were not elected to the United States Congress to force your own will or vote for your own wishes, but rather you were elected to represent We the People, to vote in accordance with our wishes, not your own.

When you block legislation that would ensure we are all able to vote in elections, then you are not representing us, for nearly everybody in this country supports allowing everyone the opportunity to vote, to have a voice in our government.  You may remember that we pay taxes in order to have representation.  When you refuse to legislate gun laws that would make this a safer nation for us all, then you are not representing us, for the majority of people across the political divide have expressed a desire for stricter gun laws.

When you put the desires of a former president, whose whims should by all rights be irrelevant, ahead of the needs of the people you are hired to represent, then you do us all a disservice.  In the business world, when you do not do your job well, your boss will fire you.  We the People are your bosses, although you seem to have largely forgotten that, but we are forced to allow you to continue harming us until November 2022, which is the next date we can fire you.  And, of course, you are trying to ensure that those of us who are dissatisfied with your performance will not be given a voice on that day.

You are letting us down in every possible way, but the worst part is that you lie to us.  You tell us, as if we are children too ignorant to understand, that you are acting in our best interests, but you ARE NOT.  The 2020 election was a fair and honest election, as you are well aware, yet you keep lying to us, telling us that there was so much cheating that the former guy actually won.  Do you really think we are so stupid as to believe your lies?  Where’s the proof?  Show us the evidence.

You forget that it is We the People who pay your salaries, pay for your frequent trips home, and more.  It is not the NRA or corporate executives, though they may donate more to your re-election campaign.  You owe us, you do not own us.  I, for one, am so disgusted with your behaviour, your inattention to the people of this nation, and your lust for power, your greed, that I am just about ready to renounce my citizenship and leave this country forever.  But wait … I have done nothing wrong, it is you who are guilty of criminal neglect, of dereliction of duty, of lying, cheating, and stealing.

I have no illusions that you will find your conscience as you read this letter, for I think you sold it long ago, but I have had my say, and I will continue to speak loudly to fellow voters, to newspapers, wherever and however I can.  And I will help ensure that my fellow citizens are able to vote on November 8th, 2022, so that your efforts at voter suppression will be for naught.  I don’t know … I genuinely do not know how you sleep at night, how you live with yourself, for you are liars and cheaters … lying and cheating the very people who hired you and who support you.

Sincerely

Jill Dennison, voter & taxpayer

Note to readers:  This is the letter I have sent to my own Senator Rob Portman and Representative Warren Davidson.  I hope to also publish it as a ‘Letter to the Editor’ in my local newspaper.  Feel free to edit and use it if you wish.

A Damn Shame

Posted on by under Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

The Electoral College will meet in just ten days to cast their votes, per the popular vote in their states, for the next president of the United States.  Joe Biden has, as I’m sure you know by now, won 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232 … so there should be no question, right?  But, you need to know that there are a few shenanigans by people who are attempting to override the will of the people and keep Donald Trump firmly planted in the Oval Office.  Do I think this will work?  No … but I do think we need to be aware, and once again contact our elected officials to make sure they understand that we will not put up with having our voices erased.

Although the Electoral College will meet on December 14th and presumably the electors will vote in good faith, representing the will of the people, there is still one final step in the process.  Congress must certify the Electoral College vote.  Trump has, thus far, lost all but one of his lawsuits, and that one resulted in a negligible difference, especially as compared to the 40 he has lost.  So, his last best hope is for Congress to challenge the results of the Electoral College.  Typically, this wouldn’t be a concern, but this year is like no other in our history.

An obscure 1887 law called the Electoral Count Act, and several subsequent updates, spell out the process, setting January 6th after a presidential election as the official certification date and outlining vague, unnecessarily complex procedures. On that day, the House and Senate meet in a joint session at 1 p.m. — just three days after the newly constituted Congress is sworn in. One of their first orders of business is to pass judgment on the Electoral College vote.

If a single House member and a single senator join forces, they can object to entire slates of presidential electors. They must do so in writing and provide an explanation.  If they do, the House and Senate must retreat to their chambers and debate the outcome for up to two hours before voting on the matter. Each state’s electors are certified separately, meaning lawmakers bent on challenging the results have multiple chances to force lengthy delays.  If the Democrat-run House and GOP-controlled Senate disagree? That outcome has never been tested before, so we are in uncharted waters here.

Why do I bring this up now?  Because at least a few republican members of Congress are trying to rally support for such a challenge.  Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama has been telling colleagues and allies that he plans to challenge the Electoral College votes when Congress officially certifies Joe Biden’s victory on January 6th, as long as a Senate Republican joins him in the long-shot effort.

“In my judgment, if only lawful votes by eligible American citizens were cast, Donald Trump won the Electoral College by a significant margin, and Congress’s certification should reflect that. This election was stolen by the socialists engaging in extraordinary voter fraud and election theft measures.”

Methinks Mr. Brooks has been drinking a bit too much of the Trumpade.  But, he is not alone … the ignoble Matt Gaetz, representative from Florida, unconscionable Warren Davidson from Ohio, and newly-elected Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon follower/promoter, have all said they would seriously consider challenging the certification of the Electoral College.  So, all that’s left is a republican senator to jump on board … is it so hard to believe that Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, or Lindsey Graham might decide to play along?  They certainly haven’t shown any integrity thus far …

Even so, I think the odds of such a challenge succeeding are slim-to-none, however it is in our best interest to keep an eye open, for there are those who would deny the voice of the people, would instead opt for a government that does not consider the will or best interests of the people.  These are uncharted waters … this entire election and post-election period has been unprecedented in the history of this country. We can be forgiven for not having much trust in the system operating as it was originally intended … as it has for the past 233 years.  Corruption seems to be the name of the republican game and … the only thing I trust them to do is lie, cheat, and steal.

I don’t think the framers of the Constitution nor the people who fought for our freedom ever intended it to be like this.  It’s a sad statement that we cannot trust the people we elected and whose salary we work hard to pay.  Most people work hard all their lives and pay their taxes without question, so that we can support the lifestyles of these people in Congress, most all of whom are independently wealthy beyond our wildest imagination, and half of whom would throw us under the wheels of a bus if it suited their interest.  A damn shame.

Snarky … puff puff … Snippets

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2020, Law and justice, Political commentary

More than a few times in the last week, I have found myself dreading to even log onto any of the news sites.  Blogging friend Brian, concerned for my emotional well-being, advised me to take an entire week away from the news, and while I so greatly appreciate him caring, I simply find that I cannot.  Every day brings a new abomination, and somehow, I feel an obligation to keep up.  In part, it is because I think part of the goal of Trump & Co is to overwhelm us to the point that we simply tune out.  I’m determined not to do that … I simply cannot.  A number of my friends and readers have at least partly tuned out, and I understand that … I really do … but I cannot.  Writing this blog is the catharsis that offsets, to a greater or lesser degree, the angst … I think.  Anyway … with that in mind, I can do nothing but give you yet another batch of … Snarky Snippets!

Two thumbs up …

To New York City for a positive move on homelessness.  While Donald Trump, on his visit to California earlier this year, complained that …

“We have people living in our best highways, our best streets, our best entrances to buildings, where people in those buildings pay tremendous taxes.”

Meanwhile, New York City is expected to pass a new bill in the coming week that will force developers of designated affordable-housing projects to set aside 15 percent of the units for the homeless.  This could ultimately add as many as 1,000 apartments for the homeless per year, almost doubling the 1,300 already in existence.  Many other cities have similar requirements, but none as ambitious as this one.

The homeless rate in the United States has increased in recent years, despite Trump’s claims that the economy is doing so great.  New York City alone has increased from 64,000 in 2014 to 79,000 in 2019.  The increase is partly due to stagnant wages … the low unemployment rate doesn’t address wages … and partly to the increased cost of housing.  The rent in my own small (1,190 sq ft) townhouse has increased from $625 when we first rented it in 1998 to $1,162 in 2019 – an 86% increase in 21 years, though nothing has been replaced, not carpet, linoleum, paint, fixtures or appliances, in that time.  And this is in a low-income neighborhood!  How a person earning minimum wage … which, by the way, has not increased since 2009, ten years ago … could afford even basic housing, plus utilities and food, is beyond me!

Disenfranchising more voters?

Earlier this evening, I saw a tweet by my least favoured representative, Warren Davidson, that called for stricter voting laws.  His comparison was ludicrous …

Warren-Davidson“Saying #VoterID laws suppress voter turnout is similar to saying background checks suppress gun ownership. All polling locations should require #VoterID just like all firearms dealers require a background check.”

Since I take great pride in harassing him at least once a day, I responded with an explanation of the difference between gun ownership and voting, and asked him if he was really that stupid, or if he was just pretending.

But, to the point … Donald Trump has had a very low approval rating for the entirety of his presidency, and now he is being impeached.  The republicans are getting worried about his electability … understandable, since they have tied their carts to his pony.  So, red states are trying to pass more restrictive Voter I.D. laws, and anything else they can do to disenfranchise the poor and minorities who tend to vote largely democrat.

The State of Wisconsin has taken an approach that I find absolutely disgusting.  In October, they sent letters to hundreds of thousands of voters, asking them to respond if they were still at that address or to update their registrations if they had moved.  Sounds innocuous enough, right?  Perhaps it was, in the beginning, but conservatives filed a lawsuit alleging that to avoid fraud, the commission should have thrown out the registrations of voters who did not respond to the mailing within 30 days!  The Election Commission had initially planned to throw out those registrations in April of 2021, after the election, if the people who didn’t respond also didn’t vote.

But, on Friday Ozaukee County Judge Paul Malloy ordered the state to take as many as 234,000 people off its registered-voter list who had not responded to the letter within the 30-day period.  Now, I can tell you that if I received such a letter, it would probably go straight in the trash, for I take such things with a grain of salt and don’t have time for such foolishness.  Turns out that the majority of those letters were sent to voters in districts that were won by Hillary Clinton in 2016 … coincidence?  I don’t think so.

See, here’s the thing … Trump won Wisconsin by a very narrow margin – less than 1%.  So, there is a push to ensure some of those voters who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, cannot vote at all in 2020.

A law unto himself …

Remember how there were a number of people who had heard Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, several of whom found the call deeply troubling, and one found the courage to become “the whistle-blower”, which has led to the impeachment that is almost certain to take place on Wednesday?  Well … the Trump administration has fixed that problem for any future phone calls.  According to CNN …

“Donald Trump’s senior aides have further restricted the number of administration officials allowed to listen to the President’s phone calls with foreign leaders.  Transcripts of Trump’s calls with world leaders are also disseminated to a far smaller group of people inside the White House, continuing an effort to limit the number of people with insight and information about the conversations.”

It’s rather like the child who, getting caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar, learns to make sure that next time, mommy is in the bathroom before dipping into the jar.  Well, it fits, doesn’t it, for we have a child in the Oval Office.

trump-phone-call.jpgMake of this what you will, but I find it deeply concerning.  It’s yet another attempt at covering up his actions, rather than promoting that ‘transparency’ he promised some three years ago.  Remember the ‘swamp’ he was going to drain?  That swamp was a rose garden compared to the swamp he has built.

Well, folks, that’s all I have time for tonight!  Enjoy what’s left of your weekend!

Trump-Barr

I Feel A Snarky Snippet Coming On

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Law and justice, Political commentary

Yep, friends, I know it’s hard to believe, but I have still more snarky snippets in my pack!  There’s just so much material … sigh.  I am working on a piece about Stephen Miller that I started last week, but frankly I’m not sure when it will see the light of day.  I can only wallow in the muck that is Mr. Miller for so long before I am physically ill and have to step back out for a while.  Stephen Miller is perhaps the most evil person I’ve encountered in many years, perhaps ever.  Anyway, to release some of the pent-up angst, I found plenty to snark about …

Loyalty … to the country, not the prez

The representative for my district is Warren Davidson, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, therefore a radical right-wing republican.  Last evening, he posted on Twitter:

“Executive Branch employees swear to faithfully discharge the duties of their office. If they disagree with #POTUS they should resign, not join in a ‘resistance.’”

He was referring, of course, to Acting Ambassador to the Ukraine William Taylor and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent, both of whom testified before the House impeachment inquiry that Trump’s attempted extortion to force Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to open a false investigation of Joe Biden and his son, Hunter in exchange for military aid that was already approved, was disturbing, was wrong, and potentially damaging to the national security interests of both the Ukraine and the U.S.  He referenced an OpEd in The Hill that claims, in a nutshell, that Trump can do whatever he pleases and that none of the people in his administration have a right to protest or to speak against his actions.

Bullshit.  People who work in government do not work for the president.  They work for We the People, and their loyalty is to the people of this nation, not the president.  I well remember that Trump asked James Comey, former Director of the FBI, to sign a loyalty oath … an oath not to the country, but to Donald Trump.  Comey refused.  How many in the administration have signed such documents, though, that we don’t know about?  This, my friends, is unconstitutional, plain and simple.

Mr. Taylor and Mr. Kent were acting appropriately and were courageously putting the best interests of this nation before the megalomaniac in the Oval Office.  They were concerned with the manner in which foreign policy is being conducted, more like mafia tactics than respectable government negotiations.  Not to mention, they were legally obligated to honour the subpoena by the House, which some in the Trump administration seem to have forgotten.  My hat is off to both of these gentlemen.  As for Mr. Davidson … I will work diligently to help people in his district see that he is a greedy, manipulative authoritarian who deserves to be given the boot next year.

Pardon Me?

When due process of law takes place, it should not be overridden by the ‘man’ in the Oval Office.  Let’s get something straight here … Donald Trump is, for better or for worse, the president, but he is not the king, of the United States.  Most presidents use their power as needed, but try not to abuse it, and try to act in the best interest of the country.  Donald Trump is the polar opposite.

  • Major Matthew Golsteyn of the Army Special Forces was awaiting trial on charges that he murdered an unarmed Afghan in 2010.
  • Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance was convicted at trial in 2013 for ordering the shooting of a group of civilians in Afghanistan, an order he then tried to cover up.
  • Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher of the Navy SEALs was charged with the murder of a captive in Iraq but was acquitted this summer of all charges except for the minor charge of posing for a photo with a corpse.

Last week, Donald Trump used his pardon pen to pardon these three war criminals, one of whom had not yet even been convicted.  This is a bit different from your run-of-the-mill pardon.  These pardons were issued against the advice of top defense officials and are largely seen as a sign of disregard not only for the decisions of military juries, but for the judicial process itself.

Oddly, the majority of the military’s rank-and-file are supportive of Trump.  This surprises me, for he has done nothing for them, has done nothing for veterans, and even attempted to rip off veterans when he promised a donation from his charity, then attempted to renege.  So … what’s the allure?  But, the top brass are less enamoured with Trump, especially after these three pardons.  Privately, many worried that Trump’s actions could erode discipline by sending a message to troops and commanders that in some cases the laws of war would not apply.

He doesn’t understand, he doesn’t think, he doesn’t care.  Speculation is that he will also pardon Roger Stone … what a farce this government is becoming.

Sometimes it backfires!

You have to love this one.  U.S. House representative Elise Stefanik played a role in last Friday’s impeachment hearings, accusing Democratic committee chairman, Adam Schiff, of trying to silence her and other members of her party, “simply because we are Republicans.”  She also rather contentiously questioned the former United States ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, who was testifying before the committee.

Donald Trump was pretty pleased with her, tweeting …

“A new Republican Star is born. Great going @EliseStefanik!”

I had to chuckle, though, for this one actually helped Ms. Stefanik’s opponent in next year’s election, Tedra Cobb!  Ms. Cobb’s campaign received more than $1 million in donations over the weekend!  One such contributor was none other than Kellyanne’s hubby, George Conway, who donated $2,800.  Others included George Takei and Mark Hamill.

And, just because I sense you guys need a few laughs, I give you … Seth Meyers as he summarizes last week with humour for us!