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Former presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announces bid for DNC chair, looks to ‘reinvent the party’

Former presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announces bid for DNC chair, looks to ‘reinvent the party’

Former presidential hopeful Marianne Williamson announced a bid to become the next Democratic National Committee (DNC) chair. In a letter addressed to DNC members posted to her Transform with Marianne Williamson site, she pledged that as chair she would seek to “reinvent the party.”  She also warned that President-elect Trump’s political accomplishments should not be underestimated. “President Trump has ushered in an age of political theatre – a collective adrenaline rush that has enabled him to not only move masses of people into his camp but also masses of people away from ours. It does not serve us to underestimate the historic nature of what he has achieved,” Williamson said. DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: MORE CANDIDATES JUMP INTO WIDE-OPEN RACE FOR DNC CHAIR “In fact, it’s important that we recognize the psychological and emotional dimensions of Trump’s appeal. We need to understand it to create the energy to counter it. MAGA is a distinctly 21st century political movement, and it will not be defeated by a 20th century tool kit. Data analysis, fundraising, field organizing, and beefed-up technology – while all are important – will not be enough to prepare the way for Democratic victory in 2024 and beyond,” she asserted. “We will create a surge of patriotic fervor, and a connectedness of the American heart to the great historical legacy of this country. Our ultimate success will be creating in people’s minds a sense that in order to further that legacy, your smartest move is to vote for Democrats,” she contended. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR FRONTRUNNER ACKNOWLEDGES ‘WE’RE GETTING OUR BUTTS KICKED RIGHT NOW’ Williamson, an author who says she has “worked as a spiritual/political activist” over the course of her career, pursued the Democratic presidential nomination during the last two presidential election cycles but failed to gain traction in both cases. In early 2020 she dropped out before the first nominating contest, the Iowa caucus, took place. In 2024, she suspended her campaign in February but unsuspended it later that same month. OUTGOING DNC CHAIR DEFENDS PARTY, SAYS 2024 COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE FOR DEMOCRATS Other figures have also announced bids for the DNC chair role, including former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who recently served as Social Security Administration commissioner.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to failing to elect a House speaker quickly

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to failing to elect a House speaker quickly

The problem has been percolating for a while.  It’s been subterranean. Lurking underneath the surface. Not necessarily perceptible. Except to those who follow Congress closely. But the issue has gurgled to the top since the House stumbled badly trying to avert a government shutdown last week. DOZENS OF HOUSE LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND FUNDING AFGHAN VISA PROGRAMS AS TRUMP VOWS MAJOR SPENDING CUTS To wit:  Congress spasmed between a staggering, 1,500-page spending bill. Then defeated a narrow, 116-page bill – which President-elect Trump endorsed. Things got worse when the House only commandeered a scant 174 yeas for the Trump-supported bill and 38 Republicans voted nay. Circumstances grew even more dire when the House actually voted to avert a holiday government shutdown – but passed the bill with more Democrats (196) than Republicans (170). Thirty-four GOPers voted nay. It was long likely that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., might face a problem winning the speaker’s gavel immediately when the new Congress convenes at noon ET on Jan. 3. Congressional experts knew that Johnson could be in trouble once the contours of the reed-thin House majority came into focus weeks after the November election. This could blossom into a full-blown crisis for Johnson – and House Republicans –when the speaker’s vote commences a little after 1 p.m. ET next Friday.  Johnson emerges bruised from last week’s government funding donnybrook. Anywhere from four to 10 Republicans could oppose Johnson in the speaker’s race.  DONALD TRUMP SAYS MIKE JOHNSON WILL ‘EASILY REMAIN SPEAKER’ IF HE ACTS ‘DECISIVELY AND TOUGH’ ON SPENDING BILL Here’s the math: The House clocks in at 434 members with one vacancy. That’s thanks to former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla. He resigned his position for this Congress a few weeks ago. Even though Gaetz won re-election in November, his resignation letter – read on the floor of the House – signaled he did not plan to serve in the new Congress, which begins in January. This is the breakdown when the Congress starts: 219 Republicans to 214 Democrats. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., remains in the House for now. So does Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. Trump tapped her to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. That’s pending Senate confirmation – perhaps in late January or early February. Once Waltz and Stefanik resign, the GOP majority dwindles to 217-214. But the speaker’s election on Jan. 3 poses a special challenge. Here’s the bar for Johnson – or anyone else: The speaker of the House must win an outright majority of all members casting ballots for someone by name. In other words, the person with the most votes does not win. That’s what happened repeatedly to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., when he routinely outpolled House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., for speaker to begin this Congress in January 2023. But it took days for McCarthy to cross the proper threshold. More on that in a moment.  So let’s crunch the math for Mike Johnson. If there are 219 Republicans and four voted for someone besides him – and all Democrats cast ballots for Jeffries, the tally is 215-214. But there’s no speaker. No one attained an outright majority of all members casting ballots for someone by name. The magic number is 218 if all 434 members vote.  By rule, this paralyzes the House. The House absolutely, unequivocally, cannot do anything until it elects a speaker. Period.  The House can’t swear in members. Technically, they’re still representatives-elect. Only after the House chooses its speaker does he or she in turn swear in the membership.  The House certainly can’t pass legislation. It can’t form committees. It’s frozen in a parliamentary paralysis until it elects a speaker. Now, I hope you’re sitting down for the next part. This also means that the House cannot certify the results of the Electoral College, making Trump the 47th president of the United States on Jan. 6. The failure to elect a speaker compels the House to vote over and over… And over… and… over… Until it finally taps someone.  McCarthy’s election incinerated 15 ballots over five days two years ago. The House settled into a congressional cryogenic freeze for three weeks after members ousted McCarthy in October 2023. It burned through two speaker candidates off the floor – House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. – and one candidate on the floor: Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.  So you see the problem. Consider for a moment that prior to last year, the House never went to a second ballot to select a speaker since Speaker Frederick Gillett, R-Mass., in 1923.  It took 63 ballots before the House finally settled on Speaker Howell Cobb, D-Ga., in 1849. But that’s nothing. The longest speaker’s election consumed two months before the House elected Speaker Nathaniel Banks, R-Mass., in 1856 – on the 133rd ballot. So anything which elongates this into a collision with Jan. 6 – the statutory day to certify the election results and now one of the most ignominious days in American history – is dangerous. JOHNSON ALLIES URGE TRUMP TO INTERVENE AS MESSY SPEAKER BATTLE THREATENS TO DELAY 2024 CERTIFICATION To be clear: there is no dispute that Trump won the election. There is no anticipation of a repeat of a riot at the Capitol like four years ago. But a failure to certify the Electoral College on the day it’s supposed to be completed – especially after the 2021 experience – is playing with fire. Such a scenario would again reveal another, never-before-considered vulnerability in the fragile American political system. On Jan. 6, the House and Senate are supposed to meet in a joint session of Congress to tabulate and certify the electoral votes. Any disputes over a state’s slate of electoral votes compels the House and Senate to then debate and vote separately on those results. The election is not final until the joint session concludes and the vice president – in this

Texas man indicted in smuggling of dozens of illegal immigrants in locked tractor trailer

Texas man indicted in smuggling of dozens of illegal immigrants in locked tractor trailer

A Texas man is being charged with attempting to smuggle over 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. in a locked tractor trailer. Juan Manuel Aguirre, 49, is facing a three-count indictment of conspiracy to transport an undocumented alien within the United States and the transportation of an undocumented alien within the United States for financial gain, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas on Monday. Aguirre, a resident of the South Texas city of Laredo, was observed by law enforcement loading a large group of migrants into a white trailer in a warehouse parking lot on Dec. 2. After it departed, authorities conducted a traffic stop on the white truck hauling the trailer and allegedly found 101 undocumented immigrants, including 12 unaccompanied children, crammed in. CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM’S TEAM CONSIDERING WAYS TO HELP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS AHEAD OF SECOND TRUMP ADMIN: REPORT The Justice Department statement said two of the migrants reported having difficulty breathing and feared for their lives due to the conditions in the trailer. Aguirre is facing 10 years in prison for each of the three counts and fines of up to $250,000. The number of individuals sentenced for alien smuggling offenses in the U.S. has steadily risen under the Biden administration, reaching 4,731 in fiscal year 2023, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. MIGRANT CRIME WAVE DURING BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN UNDER SCRUTINY AMID SERIES OF ASSAULTS, MURDERS: A TIMELINE The top five districts for human smuggling are all along the southern border. With Texas accounting for over 60% of the U.S. border with Mexico, the top two districts for human smuggling were both in Texas. There were 64,124 alien smuggling offense cases reported in 2023. About 10% of alien smuggling cases involve unaccompanied minors. In October, local news source KGNS reported a concerning rise in human smuggling incidents in Laredo, resulting in high-risk vehicle pursuits and other dangerous situations. THESE ARE TRUMP’S THREE PRIORITIES FOR BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN | FOX NEWS VIDEO Earlier this month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched a new billboard ad campaign in Mexico and Central America to warn potential illegal migrants of the dangers of attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally. “We’re here to expose the truth to immigrants who are thinking about coming here, the truth about the traffickers who assault so many of the women and children along the way,” the governor said. “The message is: Do not risk a dangerous trip just to be arrested and deported.”

State Department’s ‘Global Engagement Center’ accused of censoring Americans shuts its doors

State Department’s ‘Global Engagement Center’ accused of censoring Americans shuts its doors

The State Department’s foreign disinformation center, accused by conservatives of censoring U.S. citizens, shut its doors due to lack of funding this week.  Elon Musk had deemed the Global Engagement Center (GEC), established in 2016, the “worst offender in U.S. government censorship & media manipulation,” and its funding was stripped as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Pentagon’s yearly policy bill.  “The Global Engagement Center will terminate by operation of law [by the end of the day] on December 23, 2024,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “The Department of State has consulted with Congress regarding next steps.” Lawmakers had originally included funding for the GEC in its continuing resolution (CR), or bill to fund the government beyond a Friday deadline. But conservatives balked at that iteration of the funding bill, and it was rewritten without money for the GEC and other funding riders. The agency had a budget of around $61 million and 120 people on staff.  At a time when adversaries like Iran and Russia sow disinformation throughout the world, Republicans saw little value in the agency’s work, arguing that much of its disinformation analysis is already offered by the private sector.  The GEC, according to reporter Matt Taibbi, “funded a secret list of subcontractors and helped pioneer an insidious—and idiotic—new form of blacklisting” during the pandemic.  Taibbi wrote last year when exposing the Twitter Files that the GEC “flagged accounts as ‘Russian personas and proxies’ based on criteria like, ‘Describing the Coronavirus as an engineered bioweapon,’ blaming ‘research conducted at the Wuhan institute,’ and ‘attributing the appearance of the virus to the CIA.’”  “State also flagged accounts that retweeted news that Twitter banned the popular U.S. website ZeroHedge, claiming that it ‘led to another flurry of disinformation narratives.’” ZeroHedge had made reports speculating that the virus had a lab origin. The GEC is part of the State Department but also partners with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Special Operations Command and the Department of Homeland Security. The GEC also funds the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab). SPENDING BILL TO FUND STATE DEPARTMENT AGENCY ACCUSED OF CENSORING, BLACKLISTING AMERICANS DFRLab Director Graham Brookie previously denied the claim that they use tax money to track Americans, saying its GEC grants have “an exclusively international focus.” A 2024 report from the Republican-led House Small Business Committee criticized the GEC for awarding grants to organizations whose work includes tracking domestic as well as foreign misinformation and rating the credibility of U.S.-based publishers, according to the Washington Post.  The lawsuit was brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Daily Wire and the Federalist, who sued the State Department, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other government officials earlier this month for “engaging in a conspiracy to censor, deplatform and demonetize American media outlets disfavored by the federal government.” The lawsuit stated that the GEC was used as a tool for the defendants to carry out its censorship.  ​​”Congress authorized the creation of the Global Engagement Center expressly to counter foreign propaganda and misinformation,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office said in a press release. “Instead, the agency weaponized this authority to violate the First Amendment and suppress Americans’ constitutionally-protected speech.  STATE DEPARTMENT FUNDS ‘DISINFORMATION’ INDEX TARGETING NON-LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE NEWS OUTLETS: REPORT The complaint describes the State Department’s project as “one of the most egregious government operations to censor the American press in the history of the nation.’” The lawsuit argued that The Daily Wire, The Federalist and other conservative news organizations were branded “unreliable” or “risky” by the agency, “starving them of advertising revenue and reducing the circulation of their reporting and speech—all as a direct result of [the State Department’s] unlawful censorship scheme.” Meanwhile, America First Legal, headed up by Stephen Miller, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for deputy chief of staff for policy, revealed that the GEC had used taxpayer dollars to create a video game called “Cat Park” to “Inoculate Youth Against Disinformation” abroad.  The game “inoculates players . . . by showing how sensational headlines, memes, and manipulated media can be used to advance conspiracy theories and incite real-world violence,” according to a memo obtained by America First Legal.  Mike Benz, the executive director at the Foundation For Freedom Online, said the game was “anti-populist” and pushed certain political beliefs instead of protecting Americans from foreign disinformation, accordig to the Tennessee Star.