💙💛 Swing State Scribblings 💛💙

I believe admitting a mistake and sincerely apologizing is a sign of strength.

I abhor violence & threats of violence--no matter who is the target.

[Irwin Redlener, MD @IrwinRedlenerMD]

Shame on Rand Paul for conducting this ignorant witch hunt in an attempt to prove made up misdeeds he attributes to Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of America’s most heroic public health scientists who has saved countless lives over his long career.

I spoke with Tony Fauci countless times during the worst years of Covid. He was always a meticulous communicator of science based information & recommendations.

But we were facing a lethal virus that we had never seen before. It was a new, deadly threat - & we were all in “learning as we go” mode.

Of course mistakes were made. This was science on the run & experts were making their best recommendations based on the information they had at that very moment.

And then there was the “Trump factor”. Every day, Fauci and his colleagues had to contend with inane/ dangerous commenters and suggestions from the most ignorant president in American history.

So, Rand Paul: what’s the hell are you doing?

[Scott Barber @thescottbarber]

The cumulative COVID-19 death rate was lower in Democratic states than it was in Republican states, and it was substantially lower in Canada than it was in the states. And that is the fault of people who did not want to participate in life saving public policy, not the fault of Anthony Fauci.

[Joyce Alene @JoyceWhiteVance]

Todd Blanche‘s confirmation vote may be off for this morning, but he still has an obligation to produce documents from the Epstein files today.

[Jerome Adams @JeromeAdamsMD]

Reminder:
US measles cases in the last 2 years already exceed the total from 2000–2024 combined.

A record Cyclospora outbreak is causing explosive diarrhea and scaring Americans off fresh produce.

The current Ebola outbreak in Congo is spreading faster than any in history.

Hoping for a congressional hearing on any/ all of those issues -which are incredibly consequential to the American public- soon! 🤞🏽

[George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway3d]

Way more than enough evidence in these papers not only to get Comey’s charges 86’d before trial in federal district court, but also to get Blanche—and Trump—86’d at an impeachment trial in the Senate.

[Reverend Raphael Warnock @ReverendWarnock]

RFK Jr. should be fired TODAY.

[Senator Patty Murray @PattyMurray]

If you're wondering what party will help you keep your Social Security benefits and which one is trying to take them away, this is a Republican on the Senate floor TODAY:

[Willie Ross Jr. Knee Deep @RossKneeDeep]

Just to show you how great of a businessman Trump is, he decided to put tariffs on a country we had free trade with. What's better than free? He decided that Americans should pay more for the products we get from Canada.

More recently, here in Michigan (Detroit). Canada built an expansion bridge from Canada to America. It's called the Gordie Howe Bridge. Howe was a Canadian and Detroit Red Wing hockey player who played for Detroit for 25 years. He was a 21 time all-star, a Hall of Famer and brought 4 Stanley Cups to Detroit.

Canada built the bridge at a cost of $4 billion dollars. Not one cent was paid for by the United States. Yet, Canada is splitting bridge revenue 50/50 with the United States. Trump keeps delaying the opening of the bridge, saying he is trying to negotiate a better deal for the U.S. What's better than free money?

Can you now understand the six bankruptcies and that he's never been a great businessman?

[Citizens for Ethics @CREWcrew]

It's wildly corrupt for a sitting president to promote companies on a media platform—which by the way, he owns and profits from—days after purchasing their stock.

This presidency seems to be nothing but a money-making machine for Trump and his family.
https://t.co/k7jga7pSAH

[Bernie Sanders @BernieSanders]

If voters in California approve the 5% billionaire wealth tax in November, Mark Zuckerberg would owe $10.5 billion in taxes & healthcare would be saved for 3 million low-income people.

Poor Mr. Zuckerberg would only have $200 billion left to feed his family. How will he survive?

[Democracy Docket @DemocracyDocket]

Trump’s DOJ has been scrambling to get their hands on your sensitive voter data. Why?

“They’ll be able to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands, if not more, Democratic voters and try to use that to win the midterm elections,” Marc Elias says.

Don't let them get away with it: https://t.co/auxKGg1rl7

[Andrew Weinstein @Weinsteinlaw]

He attacks mail‑in voting while voting by mail. He mocks vaccines while getting vaccinated. He pushes “Buy American” while selling foreign‑made merchandise. He demands action against undocumented workers while his own properties hired them. He rages about classified information while mishandling it. And now he’s falling asleep on the job after calling Joe Biden “Sleepy.” The hypocrisy is staggering.

[Covie @covie_93]

They released Fauci's diary before releasing the full epstein files.

[Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats]

BREAKING: TMZ's Harvey Levin releases a viral and deeply moving defense of "amazing public servant" Dr. Fauci and calls the MAGA attacks on him "one of the most heartbreaking things" he’s ever witnessed in government.

This is truly a must-read...

"I have not used TMZ's YouTube channel to vent personal feelings about issues, but I'm going to do that today," Levin said. "Watching Anthony Fauci before a congressional hearing taking the Fifth Amendment is just one of the most heartbreaking things I have seen in government in my lifetime. And this is something we need to reckon with."

"I'm going to say up front, I have problems with the way the CDC handled COVID," he continued. "I think that they did damage to children, to adults, and I don't think they did it maliciously. I think they did it because they were using their judgment and were overprotective, and I think at times overstated things, things they said they knew but really didn't. And I have personal problems with the way that COVID was handled."

"That said, Anthony Fauci, over a period of decades, has been an amazing public servant. In the 80s, I had many friends who died of AIDS, a horrible, painful death. And I had friends who lived because of Anthony Fauci, because he was willing to look at experimental drugs in a different way than they had looked at them before, and that really resulted in lives saved."

"And he has done so many other things in his career to thwart epidemics, to save lives, not just in the United States, but all over the world."

"He has been a dedicated public servant who could have made a lot more money outside of government than inside, but he stayed."

"And now we are at a point where members of Congress, and yes, you, Rand Paul, are on a witch hunt. And the best I can say for Rand Paul is that he's being really honest. I mean, he has said now, over a period of years, he wants Anthony Fauci in a jail cell. He has said it out loud. He wants him in a jail cell. That's the point of this hearing. That's why they're doing this."

"They want to take something that Anthony Fauci says and then claim it amounts to perjury, and they want to prosecute him, they want to convict him, and they want to throw him in prison. That's the point of this hearing. There is no other point of this hearing."

"There could be. I mean, there are things they could certainly ask him, but he can't answer, because if he answers, it doesn't matter what he says. You know, if you can prosecute somebody for frickin' seashells on the beach shore, then you could certainly prosecute somebody for what they say in a congressional hearing."

"And that's the climate we're in. We are in a Senator Joseph McCarthy climate, where there is such fear that people have, and legitimate fear, that they'll end up in prison for what they say, no matter what it is, if they are on the wrong side of somebody in Congress or the administration, that they have been silenced. And that's where we are right now."

"We are in Senator Joseph McCarthy territory. And the idea that you have to watch this man take the Fifth Amendment, and again, I will say that I disagree personally with some of the CDC decisions. Absolutely, I did. That said, he's a public servant who worked for us and saved lives for decades. And we are turning him into what Rand Paul wants to be, a criminal. And Rand Paul has a political agenda, and it is prevailing here."

"Watching Rand Paul order security to throw Anthony Fauci's lawyer out of that hearing was unbelievable to me."

"We are in a dark period of America," he concluded.

More public figures need to speak out like this immediately. Republicans are scapegoating Fauci because they can't handle the truth that Donald Trump was directly responsible for COVID-19 getting as bad as it did. He downplayed it from the very start, undermined experts, and spread dangerous misinformation.

Meanwhile, Dr. Fauci did everything in his power to save as many lives as possible, urging Americans to wear masks, socially distance, and treat the coronavirus like the deadly threat it was. He's an American hero.

If anyone should be hauled in front of Congress to testify about their behavior during the pandemic, it's Trump.

Please ❤️ and share if you think the world needs to hear this message!

[Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc(hon) @PeterHotez]

No, the opposite my friend. More than 85% of all Covid deaths occurred among the unvaccinated, with many of those deaths sadly before vaccines became available in 2021. But in addition at least 200,000, possibly 300,000 died because they refused vaccines after they were made available. Most of those deaths from vaccine refusal occurred with delta and BA.1 omicron waves in 2021-22

[Angry Staffer @Angry_Staffer]

The GOP is desperately trying to rewrite history, but just a reminder that Donald Trump was president during the lockdowns, and he awarded Fauci a presidential commendation for his work on COVID.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Richard Blumenthal @SenBlumenthal]

As a major Trump political donor—millions of dollars—Taylor Farms tried repeatedly to delay, confuse & obstruct public warning & investigation concerning its cyclospora infected lettuce. https://t.co/HjPT6hZEzp

[Neil Stone @DrNeilStone]

RFK Jr

Cut salmonella surveillance - Huge salmonella outbreak

Cut cyclospora surveillance - Huge parasitic diarrhoea outbreak

Cut screwworm research - screwworm returns

Cut cruise ship outbreak team at the CDC - Hantavirus outbreak on a ship

See any pattern emerging?

[Michael McFaul @McFaul]

Our military needs more people better at XBox not more men who can do pushups.

That Hegseth does not seem to understand this fundamental fact of modern warfare worries me.

He should spend some time in Ukraine and learn. The best soldiers today in that fight are those who know how to fly drones effectively. That’s a different skill set than bench pressing.