Dear NY Post: Michael Jordan and Lebron James called. They want to chat.

 Actually, many of ESPN's "Best Ever" basketball players may have an issue here.

From the NY Post -

Kevin Durant is the greatest US men’s hoops player ever

As much as Kevin Durant hates talking about his legacy, his golden play at the Tokyo Olympics made a pretty loud statement for him.

Durant is the greatest United States men’s basketball player in Olympic history.

Bleacher Report's take on the same topic is here.

Of course, the Post's opinion of Durant may be influenced by the fact that he plays for the NBA in Brooklyn. :)

Want to guarantee elevated Democratic turnout in 2024? Have Cheeto run for POTUS.

From The Guardian (UK) - 

Trump will run for president in 2024, Sean Spicer claims

Donald Trump’s onetime press secretary, Sean Spicer, said his former boss would run for the presidency again in 2024.

“He’s in,” Spicer claimed of Trump’s interest in the race during a recent Washington Examiner interview.

I admit, I thought when the summer of 2015 faded into memory, I thought Trump's campaign would similarly fade into memory.

I was wrong.

My guess, and it's only that, is that the cheating started long before the general election.  I have no insight into Republican primaries or their voters, but I am normally not *that* wrong about the outcome of their primaries and I thought his run was purely meant to pump up his ego.

My other guess is that the 2024 R nominee for POTUS will he someone who's "Cheeto-lite" (all the same bigotry, ego, and willingness to BS shamelessly, but with less fake tanner.)

Federal committee update

Ciscomani is someone who works for Doug Ducey, as a senior staffer for the Arizona-Mexico Commission, who has signed up for a seat on the clown car of Rs running for AZ02 (sometimes, it seems that the Rs who aren't running for that seat are running for governor).

Ron DeSantis likes to blame immigrants for Covid. I think the blame can be laid closer to home.

 Ron DeSantis likes to blame immigrants for Covid.  

I blame ignorance and selfishness on the parts of certain native-born Americans.

From Politifact -

Ron DeSantis’ effort to blame COVID-19 spread on migrants is short on evidence

As coronavirus cases spike nationally, and especially in Florida, a blame game has erupted between President Joe Biden and Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.

Florida has the second-highest per-capita coronavirus case load of any state as of Aug. 6, exceeding its level at any point during the pandemic. Florida also has the highest coronavirus hospitalization rate of any state, at more than three times the national average.

Wrong is wrong.

If/when the allegations against Tony Navarrete are proven, he can and should be criticized like Matt Gaetz and Cheeto for their (alleged) sexual conduct with minors.

Any other questions?

Karma sucks. So does death.

 

From KPRC (a Houston TV station) -

First-term Dickinson council member and member of the State Republican Executive Committee H. Scott Apley died Wednesday of complications from COVID-19.

[snip]

Five days before his death, Apley shared a post to his Facebook with a meme mocking COVID-19 and the vaccine.

Guess the victims and their friends and families don't have pockets as deep as those of gun manufacturers

From The Texas Tribune -

Two years after Walmart mass shooting, El Paso leaders see inaction and betrayal by Texas officials

In what some people call an affront to the families of the 2019 shooting victims, Texas Republicans expanded gun rights earlier this year when the state Legislature passed a permitless carry bill.

Days before its official unveiling on Tuesday, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego walked through the healing garden planted to honor the victims of the 2019 Walmart mass shooting.

Since the hate crime that took the lives of 23 people and left dozens more injured, Samaniego has been involved in every painstaking detail of the garden. This includes the shape — “circular, like a hug,” 23 Italian cypress trees planted by family members of the victims, and the fountains with calming cascades of water.

Joe Biden has a good day

From CNN -

Biden calls on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after report details sexual harassment allegations

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he believes New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo should resign after a report by the New York attorney general's office found that Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women.

"I think he should resign. I understand that the state legislature may decide to impeach. I don't know that for a fact," Biden said in response to a question from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.

From NPR -

The Biden Administration Issues A New Eviction Moratorium After A Federal Ban Lapsed

Days after a national eviction moratorium expired, the Biden administration on Tuesday issued a new, more limited freeze that remains in effect through Oct. 3.

Like the previous order, the two-month moratorium issued Tuesday comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From the NY Times -

Biden Has Blunt Words for Republican Governors on Vaccines: ‘Get Out of the Way’

President Biden signaled a new level of frustration on Tuesday with Republican leaders in states where the highly contagious Delta variant is surging, telling governors in Texas and Florida to help fight the pandemic or “get out of the way.”

While he praised leaders in other states for offering cash and other incentives to entice reluctant Americans to get vaccinated, Mr. Biden singled out Florida and Texas, where cases have risen sharply, for criticism. As cases rise, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has signed an executive order allowing children to attend school without a mask, and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas has barred mask and vaccination mandates.

Dear Mark Kelly: In the future, avoid Lindsay Graham

 Actually, avoid all Republicans...and Joe Manchin.  I'd recommend avoiding Kyrstem Sinema, but as both of you are US Senators from Arizona, that might hard to pull off.

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Punchbowl News -

The Capitol has once again been sent into a Covid frenzy. But this time, it’s in the middle of the Senate’s push to pass a massive bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who belongs to the 22-senator bipartisan infrastructure group -- tested positive for Covid-19 this morning. Like most every other senator, Graham has been walking around the Capitol without a mask. The South Carolina Republican has been vaccinated, but he started feeling sick on Saturday and tested positive for the virus this morning in the Capitol. 

[snip]

→ Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) was on the boat. From his office: “Senator Kelly came into contact with Senator Graham during a bipartisan gathering this weekend hosted by Senator Manchin. Senator Kelly is fully vaccinated and following CDC guidelines and the advice of the Office of the Attending Physician.” 

As if his support for the armed insurrection of 1/6 wasn't convincing enough, Kevin McCarthy announces his violent tendencies to the world

The fact that violence is something McCarthy thinks is so funny that it should be joked about proves two things:

1. There's a reason that Gosar, Biggs, et. al. refer to him as "Leader".

2. Keeping the House controlled by Democrats is imperative.

From CNN -

McCarthy jokes 'it will be hard not to hit' Pelosi with gavel if he becomes House speaker

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joked at a Saturday night event that it "will be hard not to hit" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the speaker's gavel if Republicans take control of the chamber in the 2022 midterms and he becomes speaker.

"I want you to watch Nancy Pelosi hand me that gavel. It will be hard not to hit her with it," McCarthy said in audio posted to Twitter by a Main Street Nashville reporter.

Of course, McCarthy was only promising to do what the insurrectionists wanted to do anyway.

From the Atlantic -

It Was Supposed to Be So Much Worse

On the West Lawn of the Capitol Wednesday, a man in a pom-pom beanie clamored for blood. “Execute the traitors!” he shouted into a megaphone. “I wanna see executions!”

The man got the deaths he wanted, if not the executions. Four rioters died as a result of Wednesday’s insurrection at the Capitol.* Some of them had bigger plans too: Before the protest, pro-Trump radicals had posted online about their intentions to kill Vice President Mike Pence. They brought zip ties and wore Kevlar vests. Rioters erected a wooden gallows next to the Capitol Reflecting Pool, and police discovered two pipe bombs on Capitol Hill.

Gaetz' partners may be asking if it can be treated with penicillin

Of course, Gaetz' partners may be so young that they don't know what penicillin is.

Pointed to this by Taegan Goddard's Political Wire.

From Twitter -

Probably not something to boast about/campaign on when Florida is setting bad records.

From CBS News - 

Florida reports highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic

Florida on Friday reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19 — the most infections in a single day since the start of the pandemic, according to data released Saturday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Over the last seven days, Florida saw a 50% weekly increase in new cases, reporting 110,477 cases from July 23 to July 29, according to the Florida Department of Health. In July, Florida was one of four states that accounted for 40% of the country's total infections, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. During that time, the Sunshine State recorded one out of every five of the nation's new cases, he said.

1. Wear a damn mask.

2. Get vaccinated.

Of course, the less religious Americans are less likely to believe that intelligent life exists *here*

That balances, right? :)

From PEW Research -

Religious Americans less likely to believe intelligent life exists on other planets

Religious and secular thinkers alike have long discussed what the implications for religion would be if humans discovered intelligent life on other planets. In the United States, highly religious adults are much more skeptical about the possibility of extraterrestrial life compared with those who are less religious, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

This is evidenced by a variety of measures of religious engagement. For example, U.S. Christians are far less likely than religiously unaffiliated Americans to say that their “best guess” is that intelligent life exists on other planets (57% vs. 80%). And U.S. adults who attend religious services on at least a weekly basis are considerably less likely than those who seldom or never attend services to say that intelligent life exists elsewhere (44% vs. 75%).

I won't say that I absolutely believe that there is intelligent life on other planets, but I really hope that we're not the pinnacle of intelligence in the universe.

I'm guessing that Ron DeSantis is smiling right about now

 From AP -

Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases

 Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, the state’s highest one-day total

 

since the start of the pandemic, according to federal health data released

 

Saturday, as its theme park resorts again started asking visitors to wear

 

masks indoors.

The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for

 

around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta

 

variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.

From the Tallahassee Democrat -

Florida Gov. DeSantis signs executive order making masks in schools optional

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will sign an executive order to issue emergency rules for "protecting the rights of parents," making face masks optional across the state in schools and leaving it up to parents.

The governor made the announcement Friday in Cape Coral at an Italian restaurant, where he also presented parents who oppose masks. 

Apparently, to "pro-life" types like DeSantis, life itself is optional.

Masks are mostly for those around you, so if you want to live in society,

1. Wear a damn mask for the folks around you.

2. Get vaccinated for yourself.

Otherwise, walk out to the desert, find your rock, and crawl back under it.

Federal committees update

 From the website of the FEC - 

Norton is a political newbie who is mounting a primary challenge to David Schweikert.  As Norton is a direct marketing guy, I expect his campaign to come down to "Same stuff, different name."

Lindberg's desire to run is not new; the federal committee is.

Lowell looks to be a doctor who has signed up for a seat on the clown car of Rs running for AZ02 (sometimes, it seems that the Rs who aren't running for that seat are running for governor.  Not completely true, I know, but there are a LOT of both.)

State (AZ) committee update

 From the website of the Arizona Secretary of State -

McWhirter is a failed 2020 candidate for Maricopa County Attorney.

Cobb is a sitting legislator.

While the committees are new (hence their inclusion here), they're not real news - both McWhirter and Cobb have made their electoral intentions clear before this.

Not sure about Neely; he appears to be a political newbie.