Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Crazy Lauren and Crazy Marjorie

Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert shut down rumors that she was ever romantically involved with Christian country singer Sean Feucht on the heels of her sudden divorce filing, RadarOnline.com has learned.

Rumors have been swirling that Boebert had been in a fling with the guitar-strumming preacher, who previously made headlines for protesting COVID-19 and praising DonaldTrump, after tweets surfaced showing the two posing alongside each other at various events.

Do you believe it?

I don't. To be clear, I don't believe the rumor that she was having an affair with Feucht. I have two reasons for that. First, it's a shock that she ever attracted a man in the first place. Foundation does not hide that rugged skin. Second, if she wanted to have an affair with Melissa Etheridge, why go after a look alike? That is who Sean Feucht looks like, Melissa Etheridge. Now I'm sure Melissa would have turned her down had Boe-Boe propositioned her. But unless Boe-Boe is latent, there's no reason for her to have relations with Sean Feucht.

Where there is stupid, there is Boe-Boe and there is also Marjorie Taylor Greene. The latest on MTG:

Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene attempted to downplay an unearthed video of her boyfriend dressed in drag, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The outspoken Georgia representative was given a taste of her own medicine by internet trolls who spread the video online, labeling her a hypocrite for pushing anti-drag legislation that targeted the LGBT+ community. However, Greene casually dismissed the stunt as "so stupid."

While Marjorie is probably an expert on stupid -- having logged so many hours polishing up on ignorance -- the fact remains that her current boyfriend wore drag. I guess that explains his attraction to Marjie, right? She looks like a Teamster in drag -- no offense to Teamsters. It must be hard for her to realize that the only reason he was with her was because she so closely resembled a man.

Left-wing Twitter account PatriotTakes posted a video clip of MTG's newscaster beau Brian Glenn. The video featured Glenn donning a blonde wig, pink dress, white gloves and matching handbag for a local news segment.

During his sign-off, Glenn joked with his colleagues back at the station that he was "kicking these shoes off, but I may keep the pantyhose on. It does feel kind of good actually."

By the way, Marjorie, if Brian's related to Amy from that same area, let me be the first to tell you: You and Brian really deserve each other -- karmically. Be sure to check on that Marjorie -- or suffer the consequences.

"TV: The four stories of LOVE TO LOVE YOU, DONNA SUMMER" (Ava and C.I., THE THIRD ESTATE SUNDAY REVIEW):

Donna found religion in October 1979. Apparently, it had been the devil giving her all of those hits in the 70s. It's amazing that someone who ripped off Laura Nyro could avoid all of Laura's songs about the devil and the drama.

Donna was basically the female Little Richard in that she had a great career and people loved her but apparently God was calling her back, to hear her tell it. Drugs, she insisted as the 70s wound down, had led her astray. She was repenting, she was reborn. And she planned to give up pop music for gospel but couldn't find a label to sign her for that in 1980.

Artistically speaking, she was now boring as hell. So boring, that NBC cancelled the deal that they had with her to do a special in the fall of 1981. Her longtime producer and songwriting partner Giorgio Moroder told SPIN magazine about a decade ago that Donna was always a homophobe. That may be true.

But once she was born-again, she felt the need to 'testify' at her concerts. No one needed that. Later in her life, in the documentary, she makes a joke about that. They paid to hear songs and have some fun and there's Donna trying to save their souls. And on those concerts, also not noted in the documentary, Donna wasn't performing "Love To Love You Baby" -- she's announced as she entered her born-again phase that she was done with that sinful song.

It's in that world that she makes her statement about AIDS being God's punishment for gay men.

Fierce and defensive Donna fans who can't handle the truth -- check out any DATALOUNGE post on Donna, if you doubt us -- will to this day show up and insist that Donna never made homophobic remarks. They will insist that not only did she not make the AIDS remark, she never made any homophobic remarks at all. They'll type that there's no evidence. They'll say it would be on film. They'll hiss that gay men made up her audience and she wouldn't turn on them.

Like the documentary, they apparently have no idea that Donna cited drug use as leading her away from God and letting her record music that she was now ashamed of. She had already announced as the 80s began that she would not be performing "Love To Love You Baby" in concert anymore. She would tell CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC in 1981 that she hoped to drop "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls" next. That's why she hated "The Queen of Disco" label. She identified it with sin. And she was rejecting that past -- that acclaim -- and the audience that gave it to her.

In the documentary, one of her sisters talks about how Donna got on stage and made her God didn't create "Adam and Steve" remarks. That was part of her 'testifying' and it was part of her 'retribution' for her own sinful past. She said it. She said it in Atlanta and elsewhere.

We'll give the documentary credit for copping to that. We honestly didn't think it would before we watched.

However, the documentary then wants to quibble over whether she made the AIDS comment as well. No, she didn't, the documentary insists. Yes, she did. She said that in Florida and, publicly, stated to the Canadian press two years afterwards that she thought AIDS was like herpes and, if she'd known people were dying from it, she never would have said it. In 1989, she gave a variation on that in an interview with THE ADVOCATE declaring, "At the time, I thought AIDS was a herpes pimple, like you get on your mouth. I certainly didn't have any idea what it really was, and certainly if I had, in my heart I would not wish AIDS on anyone." So her defense was both homophobia and stupidity?

"Adam and Steve" leads right into that comment about AIDS, first of all. So let's all grasp that and grasp that she had become a public homophobe (again, according to Moroder, she was always one in private).

The documentary wants to focus on Donna's 1989 letter (to ACT UP and THE VILLAGE VOICE) and play the lie that Donna put in that letter -- she's only recently learned about the rumors, her staff and her family had hidden them from her to avoid her being hurt and she was busy giving birth to two daughters and . . .

1982 and 1981 -- that's when Amanda and Brooklyn were born. (Mimi was born in 1973.) Clay Cane typed at THE ADVOCATE, in 2012, that after the comments "[s]he soon released a statement." He then rushes to quote from that 1989 letter. But Donna responded -- in writing and in interviews -- many times prior to 1989 and those earlier responses make claims that 1989 letter questionable. She made the homophobic comments throughout 1983 and on into 1984, at one concert after another. Donna did respond in 1985 -- in a letter WARNER BROTHERS -- owner of GEFFEN RECORDS -- sent to THE ADVOCATE and to THE VILLAGE VOICE. Donna wanted to claim in 1989 that she didn't know about it at first, people kept it from her and that's why she was slow to respond.

Reality: She knew about the problem. After her initial remarks in Atlanta, she got confronted on it by fans. In addition, in 1985, Geffen tried to put her in an AIDS benefit that Lorne Michaels was organizing and Lorne made clear that no one would go for that because of her remarks. David Geffen told her that she had been turned down for the benefit and why. The homophobic remarks were noted in ROLLING STONE in a 1984 article on Bronski Beat (which had covered "I Feel Love").

She was okay with all that.

Read the whole thing, it's really something.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Joe Biden again claims Beau Biden died in Iraq, Marianne Williamson's campaign continues to self-implode, an American is convicted of torture (sadly, it's not Bully Boy Bush who got convicted), and much more.

India's REPUBLIC WORLD notes:

US President Joe Biden has once again come under fire for claiming that his late son Beau "lost his life in Iraq" -- a statement that alludes to the president's long-held view that poisonous burn pits were to blame for the younger Biden's brain cancer death at the age of 46. After making similar remarks at least twice earlier in the year, the president made his most recent ones to US troops stationed in Japan during his visit to the nation.

Yes, we're back to that again.

Erik Uebelaker (THE DAILY BEAST) notes:

Joe Biden recently told Marines stationed in Japan that his son Beau died in the Iraq war—an incorrect statement that the president has puzzlingly made several times in the past. “My son was a major in the U.S. Army. We lost him in Iraq,” Biden told the troops in Iwakuni on Thursday, according to a video obtained by the New York Post. Despite his son actually dying of brain cancer at the Walter Reed military hospital in Maryland, Biden has made the same claim about Beau’s death at least twice before. Last October, Biden told an audience in Colorado that Beau “lost his life in Iraq.” Just weeks later, he said “I’m thinking about Iraq because that’s where my son died,” during a speech in Florida. In reality, Beau died in 2015 after battling stage four glioblastoma—a diagnosis that the president has previously attributed to the “burn pits” in Iraq, which the military used to destroy trash while Beau was deployed from 2008 to 2009.

THE DAILY MAIL points out, "His death may have been linked to burn pits he encountered while serving in Iraq, although Beau did not die while fighting in the Middle East." But Gustaf Kilander (INDEPENDENT) goes full on enabler in "Critics say Biden is lying about how his son Beau died – they are ignoring the full story:"

Right-wing media outlets have attempted to use Mr Biden’s comments on Beau’s death as a sign that the 80-year-old Democrat has memory issues, ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

[. . .]

In 2016, then the vice president, Mr Biden said his son’s cancer could have been caused by the toxic burn pits he was exposed to during his service in the Middle East.

The New York Times reported that Mr Biden said he was “stunned” when he read a chapter concerning the death of his son in the book The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers by Joseph Hickman.

First off, it's not a sign of 'cognitive decline.' Or, if it is, it was evident before he was elected. I'm not in the mood to spoonfeed lousy reporters who can't do their job. But Joe made those remarks on the campaign trail. We called it out in real time. And a sign of just how sorry Gustaf is,

Second, Gustaf and other lazies, there's no reason in the world to refer to some stupid NEW YORK TIMES article. THE TIMES has 'reporting issues' to put it kindly. If you want to go to Joe discussing burnpits and Beau, you go to that.

Which is right here, 'journalists.'

That's January 10, 2018, THE NEWSHOUR (PBS):

Biden also said that reading “The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers,” a book on the topic by Joseph Hickman, which included a chapter on his son Beau, opened his eyes to the possibility of a link to his son’s cancer.

“There’s a whole chapter on my son Beau in there, and that stunned me. I didn’t know that,” Biden said. He added, the author “went back and looked at Beau’s tenure as a civilian with the U.S. attorney’s office [in Kosovo] and then his year in Iraq. And he was co-located in both times near these burn pits.”

Joe's been making these statements forever. If you're now appalled by it, my big question would be: Where were you when it started?

Because we've called it out all along, long before he became president.

Beau did not die in Iraq. He came back to the US and died six years later.

People shouldn't try to justify it or enable him on this. He needs to be held accountable. But, again, this didn't happen this year or last year or in 2021 for the first time. It may be a sign of something, but it's not a new cognitive decline because, again, he was making the statements that Beau died in Iraq while on the campaign trail.

Since we're discussing presidential campaigns, let me note how I love the liars. Oh those Marianne Williamson freaks. They lie and then they lie again. We told you, before POLITICO ever published the story about Marianne's 'interacting difficulties,' that she was a nightmare to work with and that this went back decades. Then POLITICO does their story about how Marianne terrorized campaign staff during her failed 2020 run fo the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. And The Merry Mariannes rushed to tell you it was lies, all lies. POLITICO did another report about how her current campaign is in shambles and The Merry Mariannes are back insisting it's a lie.

It's not a lie.

The departure came about when Marianne ranted and raved over how her polling was stagnant and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had passed her in the polling from the moment he announced his candidacy. That was the fault, she insisted, of her campaign.

Because 'positive thinking' never allows Marianne to own up to her own failures.

As this very public battle took place -- with four other players present -- it was offered to Marianne that she was ignoring key issues and maybe addressing them would bring her more support. She sneered at the issues (which including that she needed to call out the war on the LGBTQ+ community) and said she was a "big thinking" candidate and these little issues were "beneath" her.

The campaign's not going off the rails, it is off the rails.

This may surprise but, despite her well known vanity, Marianne remains incapable of self-examination. Oh sure, she's always been her own favorite topic. But she can't admit any wrong doing and her own 'introspection' plays out like gushing press releases.

She's killing her own campaign.

More say they will be leaving soon.

The Merry Mariannes throw hissy fits online and have been doing that since day one. Remember Krystal Ball screeching and screaming that everybody get on board with Marianne?

They're idiots. Marianne is not happening and won't ever happen unless the candidate learns to listen.

It'll never happen because the professional 'speaker' doesn't believe listening is part of an exchange since she never got paid to listen.

The Merry Mariannes can lie and spin and even deceive themselves but, currently, the only one who appears to be a viable candidate to rival Joe is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

In other news, WFMZ reports:

A Stroudsburg man has been convicted in federal court of torturing an Estonian citizen in 2015 in Iraq.

The U.S. Department of Justice says it was in connection with running an illegal weapons manufacturing plant in Kurdistan.

Ross Roggio, 54, was convicted of torturing an employee who raised concerns about what they were doing.

On the matter, the US Justice Dept issued the following:

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, May 22, 2023

Man Convicted of Torture and Exporting Weapons Parts and Related Services to Iraq

A federal jury convicted a Pennsylvania man on May 19 for numerous crimes, including the torture of an Estonian citizen in 2015 in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in connection with the operation of an illegal weapons manufacturing plant in Kurdistan.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Ross Roggio, 54, of Stroudsburg, arranged for Kurdish soldiers to abduct and detain the victim at a Kurdish military compound where Roggio suffocated the victim with a belt, threatened to cut off one of his fingers, and directed Kurdish soldiers to repeatedly beat, tase, choke, and otherwise physically and mentally abuse the victim over a 39-day period. The victim was employed at a weapons factory that Roggio was developing in the Kurdistan region of Iraq that was intended to manufacture M4 automatic rifles and Glock 9mm pistols.

In connection with the weapons factory project, which included Roggio providing training to foreign persons in the operation, assembly, and manufacturing of the M4 automatic rifle, Roggio also illegally exported firearm parts that were controlled for export by the Departments of State and Commerce.

“Roggio brutally tortured another human being to prevent interference with his illegal activities,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Thanks to the courage of the victim and other witnesses, the hard work of U.S. law enforcement, and the assistance of Estonian authorities, he will now be held accountable for his cruelty.”

“Today’s guilty verdict demonstrates that Roggio’s brutal acts of directing and participating in the torture of an employee over the course of 39 days by Kurdish soldiers could not avoid justice,” said U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “We thank all the prosecutors and law enforcement agents who worked tirelessly to address these acts that occurred in Iraq.”

“Today’s milestone conviction is the result of the extraordinary courage of the victim, who came forward after the defendant inflicted unspeakable pain on him for more than a month,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “Torture is among the most heinous crimes the FBI investigates, and together with our partners at the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center, we will relentlessly pursue justice.”

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is firmly dedicated to pursuing those who commit human rights violations, like Roggio, to ensure perpetrators face justice for their atrocities,” said Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Tae D. Johnson of ICE. “Our investigators will continue to work tirelessly with government partners so these horrendous acts do not go without consequence.”

“The illegal export of firearms parts and tools from the United States often goes hand in hand with other criminal activities, such as the charge of torture on which the jury voted to convict the defendant,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Carson of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Office of Export Enforcement, New York Field Office. “I commend our law enforcement colleagues for their dedication to bringing justice in this case.”

Roggio was convicted of torture, conspiracy to commit torture, conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, exporting weapons parts and services to Iraq without the approval of the Department of State, exporting weapons tools to Iraq without the approval of the Department of Commerce, smuggling goods, wire fraud, and money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 23 and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Roggio is the second defendant to be convicted of torture since the federal torture statute went into effect in 1994.

The FBI and HSI investigated the torture and were joined in investigating the export control violations related to the firearms manufacturing equipment by the Department of Commerce’s BIS Office of Export Enforcement.

Trial Attorney Patrick Jasperse of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd K. Hinkley for the Middle District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case. The Estonian Internal Security Service, the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, and the Pennsylvania State Police also provided valuable assistance.

Members of the public who have information about human rights violators in the United States are urged to contact U.S. law enforcement through the FBI tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI or the HSI tip line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE, or complete the FBI online tip form or the ICE online tip form.

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