America's Uniparty is Confirmed, Jan. 6 Footage Hysteria, Tucker's Trump Texts Revealed & More!
Becker Brief for 3-8-2023
JANUARY 6 RECKONING
Tucker Carlson revels in congressional ‘hysteria’ over Jan. 6 footage
Fox News host Tucker Carlson mocked the criticism he received on Tuesday from congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, including Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), during the second night of his prime-time show focusing on the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
“They’re all on the same side. So it’s actually not about left and right. It’s not about Republicans and Democrats. Here, you have people with shared interests….The people who, underneath it all, have everything in common are all aligned against everyone else,” Carlson said.
CORPORATE MEDIA CATFIGHT
‘The Whole Thing Seems Insane’: New Documents on Fox and the Election
Messages and depositions from stars like Tucker Carlson revealed serious misgivings about claims of fraud even as some hosts told millions of viewers a very different story. […]
A Fox News spokeswoman said in a statement on Tuesday that Dominion had used “distortions and misinformation” in its recent filings by misattributing quotes and leaving out context in an attempt to smear the network.
“We already know they will say and do anything to try to win this case, but to twist and even misattribute quotes to the highest levels of our company is truly beyond the pale,” the spokeswoman said.
Some of Mr. Carlson’s private remarks about Mr. Trump are difficult to square with the praise he has lavished on the former president publicly. At times, the host and his producers were gleeful about what a news cycle without Mr. Trump would look like. And they cheerfully predicted his waning power as a political force.
“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights,” Mr. Carlson wrote to members of his staff on Jan. 4, 2021. “I truly can’t wait.”
One producer replied, “I want nothing more.”
Then Mr. Carlson responded, “I hate him passionately.”
COVID ACCOUNTABILITY
9 am: Hearing on Origins of COVID-19
Former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, and other witnesses with backgrounds in science and health, testify on the origins of COVID-19 before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic,
WW3 UPDATE
Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say
New intelligence reporting amounts to the first significant known lead about who was responsible for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines that carried natural gas from Russia to Europe. […]
U.S. officials said there was much they did not know about the perpetrators and their affiliations. The review of newly collected intelligence suggests they were opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, but does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation.
U.S. officials declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence it contains. They have said that there are no firm conclusions about it, leaving open the possibility that the operation might have been conducted off the books by a proxy force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services. […]
Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two. U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved.
I Teach International Relations. I Think We’re Making a Mistake in Ukraine.
The U.S. risks provoking Russian aggression.
What’s the best way to protect Ukrainian civilians? […]
Alex Downes has conducted methodologically rigorous research on the causes of civilian victimization, a wartime strategy that targets and kills noncombatants. To this end, he compiled a data set of every country in the world that participated in “interstate wars between 1816 and 2003, which produced a list of 100 wars, 323 belligerent countries, and 52 cases of civilian victimization.” He found that states are significantly more likely to escalate against the population as they become more desperate from higher battlefield fatalities, longer war duration, or the transition of the conflict to a war of attrition.
CAPITOL HILL
McCarthy goes on offense, forcing Senate Democrats into tough votes
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is showing he can play offense against vulnerable Senate Democrats by forcing them to take tough votes, driving a wedge between red state Democrats up for reelection and the party’s base.
McCarthy put them in a difficult position last week by forcing them to vote on a GOP-sponsored resolution blocking a Biden administration rule encouraging retirement managers to consider environmental, social and corporate governance — or ESG — factors when making investment decisions.
Senate Democrats will take another politically charged vote Wednesday on a House-passed resolution to block a new D.C. crime bill that would lower penalties for carjackings, burglaries and robberies.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, investigated by US Congress for late payment of Met Gala expenses
The Democratic congresswoman says she was unaware that staffers had failed to send checks for her rental dress, beauty treatments and other expenditures associated with the high-profile event, which she attended in 2021
Fed Chair Powell says interest rates are ‘likely to be higher’ than previously expected
The Fed may need to raise interest rates more than previously expected amid signs that inflationary pressures in the economy remain abnormally strong.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday told Congress that policymakers may need to raise interest rates more than previously expected amid signs that inflationary pressures in the economy remain abnormally strong. […]
Officials voted in February to raise the benchmark interest rate a quarter percentage point to a range of 4.5% to 4.75% and signaled that a "couple more" increases are on the table this year. That followed a half-point increase at their December meeting and four consecutive 75-basis-point moves before that.
Stock market news today: Stocks sink after Powell tells Congress rates could go 'higher'
U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress that interest rates are likely to go "higher" in the face of persistent inflation.
At the closing bell on Tuesday, the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 1.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) sunk 1.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) plummeted 1.2%.
BlackRock says the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates to a peak of 6%
"We think there's a reasonable chance that the Fed will have to bring the Fed Funds rate to 6%, and then keep it there for an extended period" BlackRock's Rick Rieder wrote.
2024 POLITICS
The Florida Law Standing Between DeSantis and a Presidential Bid
Florida legislature quietly making preparations to change Florida law to pave way for DeSantis presidential bid
With the release of his book last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has begun his campaign for an office he hasn’t declared he’s seeking. It’s not officially a campaign. It’s called instead a book tour for “The Courage to be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.”
DeSantis will make two book-tour stops this week in Iowa, important to presidential contenders with its early primary caucuses. He’s likely to stop by in New Hampshire, with its early primary, as well.
DeSantis has other pieces of a campaign in place. He meets with and gets checks from big donors. Meanwhile, his campaign staff has stayed in place, paid by the Republican Party.
Why hasn’t he declared for office? He’s said he’s first concerned with Florida’s legislative session, beginning March 7 and lasting until May 5.
There’s another reason, though. Florida law now requires him to resign as governor—in a second term he took the oath of office for just two months ago—if he runs for another office.
BIDEN WORLD
Biden FCC Nominee Withdraws Following Manchin Opposition Announcement
Gigi Sohn, President Joe Biden’s nominee to fill the vacant seat on the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), announced on Tuesday her decision to withdraw from consideration.
Sohn said in a statement, first obtained by The Washington Post, that the “unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks on my character and my career as an advocate for the public interest” over the past 16 contentious months since Biden first nominated her for the position “have taken an enormous toll on me and my family.” […]
Referring to the bipartisan opposition to her nomination for “her years of partisan activism, inflammatory statements online, and work with far-left groups,” Manchin said that he “cannot support [Sohn’s] nomination to the FCC, and I urge the Biden Administration to put forth a nominee who can bring us together, not drive us apart.”
“Especially now, the FCC must remain above the toxic partisanship that Americans are sick and tired of,” he said, “and Ms. Sohn has clearly shown she is not the person to do that.”
WOKE ESPN’S RACEBAITING GETS CALLED OUT ON-AIR
Chuck U Schumer really needs to be drug out of Congress by his crappy hair plugs at this point. Him and Adam Schitt.
It’s all crumbling. So many mid DS (cabal) are no longer there. Schumer and his ilk are missing some handlers. No doubt his direct handler, whoever that is, has flipped, telling him to stick to his script. There isn’t anybody to catch his great fall, nor for the rest of his cronies. Schumer is on an island. There is no Dem and Rep. They all fall down.