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‘Extreme position’: Democrats hit back as MTG blasts alliance with Mike Johnson



WASHINGTON — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Tom Massie (R-KY) announced on Wednesday from the U.S. Capitol that they will continue to file a motion to remove Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from his post.

Massie told reporters that Johnson aligned himself with Democratic votes on the omnibus spending bill, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reauthorization, and the national security bill that funded Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan military aid.

He and Greene characterized them as the three "betrayals" to the GOP.

The votes passed with overwhelming support from Democrats along with several Republicans.

"He is a lost ball in tall weeds. ... He's in over his head," Massie said about Johnson, according to Jake Sherman at Punchbowl News.

Johnson was voted in after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was removed by members of his own party. Before Johnson was chosen, nearly 20 votes were cast for other candidates for the new speaker.

House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA) told Raw Story she wasn't aware of the know what the intention of the far-right flank of the House Republicans.

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She disputed Greene's claim that the Democrats were a "uniparty" united with Johnson after her party's leaders declared Tuesday that they would vote to table any motion to remove him from Greene.

"We are not a party that is endorsing Donald Trump; that is moved to the most extreme position in opposition to what the American people want us to do here," said Clark. "So, our goal here is to get back to governing. And this particular motion to vacate — we will table. But that is not a statement of unity with anything this House GOP is doing."

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) agreed, saying that Democrats were certainly not aligned with the MAGA Republicans.

"Donald Trump Republicans campaign on overturning Roe v. Wade. Republicans overturn Roe v. Wade. Donald Trump bragged about it," Lieu told Raw Story as a way of contrasting the two parties.

He explained that if the Democrats flip the House and keep the Senate, they will pass legislation that would codify reproductive healthcare rights in American law.

"So, the two parties are clearly not the same," Lieu continued. "Marjorie Taylor Greene can make up whatever she wants. But to say that somehow the two parties are the same is factually wrong."

He agreed with Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY), who said that the caucus would vote to table the motion to vacate Johnson from the speakership.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) confirmed that it likely "won't take that many Democrats" to table the motion and ultimately save Johnson.

"Do we want to wait another three weeks, maybe a month, to find another speaker? Who the hell is that going to be?" she said to Raw Story.

"I don't think anyone wants it. I don't think there are the votes for it," she continued. "So, we'll have another period of completely dysfunctional government."

‘You said you hated it’: Kristi Noem’s latest attempt to spin dog slaughter backfires



South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has come out with a new way to spin her story about killing a family dog that she said she "hated."

In a new tweet posted on Thursday morning, Noem claimed that the news media had taken her out of context when it accurately reported that she killed a 14-month old dog that she described as "less than worthless... as a hunting dog."

"Don’t believe the fake news media’s twisted spin," she said. "I had a choice between the safety of my children and an animal who had a history of attacking people and killing livestock. I chose my kids."

Of course, Noem described her feelings for the dog in a much more personal nature, as former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) pointed out in response to her post.

"What??" Kinzinger wrote. "You said you hated the dog."

Kinzinger went on to accuse Noem of trying to rewrite history.

"Don’t let her get away with this," he said. "She told the story because she thought you would be impressed. Now she’s trying to rewrite it."

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Some other Noem followers also cast doubt on her latest attempt at spin.

"While it hasn't worked for anyone else, Kristi Noem is convinced she can tweet though it," commented The Daily Beast's Justin Baragona.

"As the saying now goes, If you want a friend in Washington, don’t kill your dog in South Dakota," commented national security expert Mark Toth. "Not a political comment. Rather, as anyone who knows me, I am a huge fan of cats and dogs. Noem had plenty of other humane options."

Noem did find at least one prominent defender, however: Disgraced Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who is under criminal indictment on multiple campaign fraud charges.

"A lot of people didn’t listen when I said there was more to the story," wrote Santos. "Again, I’ve been really struggling with the whole situation but, I know Gov Noem and I know she’s a good human being. As I said before non of us are perfect and we all might make decisions we aren’t particularly proud of later… we are flawed because we are human."

Weinstein lawyer says he may walk free after NY conviction tossed

(NewsNation) — Harvey Weinstein's lawyer in California says the...

Dan Rather, at 92, on a life in news

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