#Representative Mike Collins

[thenewdemocratus]

Jesse Dollemore: REPUBLICAN WANTS TO DEPORT BISHOP For Asking Donald Trump to be Merciful to Immigrants!!!

Source:The New Democrat “Jesse talks about Bishop Mariann Budde’s pleas for mercy and compassion to Donald Trump during a national prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. The bishop asked Trump to be loving and kind to vulnerable people in the country. Her unifying message was met with scorn and anger by virtually every member of the Trump family in attendance.” Source:Jesse…

[filosofablogger]

January 6th -- Never Forget

Today is the day that Congress will certify the results of November’s election.  It is also the 4th anniversary of the January 6th, 2021 attempted coup/insurrection that was incited and plotted by the very person whose electoral win will be certified today.  A bit of irony, don’t you think?  In my view, this day four years ago was one of the most tragic days in U.S. history, along with December…

[tomorrowusa]

Trump is promising to be a dictator and his supporters are expressing support for crimes against humanity committed by the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Three years ago, the Intercept published an illuminating article about the rise of the “Hoppean snake” among far-right extremists, a meme which the Intercept labelled especially “disturbing for its frightening historical reference”. For the uninitiated, the Hoppean Snake in its various forms usually depicts a serpent wearing the military hat of the American-backed Chilean dictator Gen Augusto Pinochet in the foreground while figures are dropping out of helicopters to their death in the background. The meme specifically refers to Pinochet’s known strategy of kidnapping, torturing, killing, and – here’s the point – throwing his political opponents out of helicopters and into the ocean to dispose of them. The Intercept noted that many groups and individuals on the far right, such as the “Boogaloo Bois, Proud Boys, Three Percenters, Oath Keepers, armed Trumpists, and the like wear T-shirts that offer ‘free helicopter rides’.” and when they do so, “they are referencing a program of extermination.” It’s alarming to see such rhetoric from the far-right fringes; imagine seeing this kind of political violence being advocated by a sitting politician or someone seeking the highest office in the land. Well, you don’t have to imagine it any more. Last week, the Republican congressman Mike Collins of Georgia did just that. On Twitter/X,, Collins commented on a widely circulated picture of Jhoan Boada, a man who was recently arrested for allegedly assaulting two police officers in New York City outside a migrant shelter. Boada was one of seven men arrested, and multiple reports refer to him as a “migrant”. After leaving court, Boada was photographed raising his two middle fingers to reporters as he walked away. The picture prompted Republican congressman Anthony D’Esposito of New York to offer the racist riposte: “We feel the same way about you. Holla at the cartels and have them escort you back.” Collins then joined in. “Or we could buy him a ticket on Pinochet Air for a free helicopter ride back,” he wrote. As HuffPost’s Christopher Mathias, who covers the far right, put it on X: “So we have a congressman joking or not joking about extrajudicially executing a migrant arrested for a crime (allegedly assaulting a cop) that tons of non-migrant citizens get arrested for too.” Mathias also notes that the “free helicopter ride” meme has been popular with white supremacists and neo-fascists for about the last seven years. [ ... ] Jews, Muslims, immigrants – everything is a threat. Violence is the solution. Opponents should be assassinated. Fascists are role models. Welcome to the Republican party in the year 2024.

Pinochet was a general who seized power in Chile in 1973. Very likely he had backing from the Nixon administration which was in the midst of Watergate. Pinochet immediately set about torturing and murdering his opponents. He remained in power until 1990 when he lost a referendum on whether he should remain as dictator. He actually expected to win that referendum or he wouldn't have held it; such is the self-delusion of the far right.

Once a dictator comes to power, there are few controls over when he or she leaves. People should believe Trump and his lickspittles when they talk dictatorship.

Snooty ideological purists who condone voting for impotent third parties or sitting out the 2024 election should be publicly scorned.

If Biden wins then you know there will be a free and fair election in 2028. If Trump wins, the best you can expect is a Russia-style election where Putin chooses who his opponents will be.

NOTE: Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, who made that racist reply to Rep. Mike Collins, represents NY-04 which is a swing seat south of NY-03 which was formerly represented by fabulist George Santos. NY-04 has a Cook Partisan Voter Index of D+5; Joe Biden got 56.8% of the vote there. So in case you need it, here's the site of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Join Our Campaign to Defeat Trump's Republican Agenda

[cleoselene]

y'all I was HOWLING out my cackles when I saw the bit on Have I Got News For You about Rep. Mike Collins posting this yassified JD Vance pic

like... y'all lmfaoooooo:

THEY GAVE HIM BUCCAL FAT REMOVAL I AM DYING. THE ANYA TAYLOR-JOY VERSION OF JD VANCE

someone, either this representative, or someone on his staff, took the time to make this edit, i cannot

[chefkids]

Did you notice at the end of s3 ep9 carmy ia getting ready for Ever's funeral service and the last shot it's just a scrunchie and Mike's Jesús pastor image?? Idk what that means but that shot is stuck in my brain

The Scrunchie Does Not Fit In, but Carmy is Saving it for Later

Carmy finds a funeral card from Mikey's funeral in his suit jacket and puts it on top of a book next to the scrunchie and some bobby pins.

The book is I DON’T FIT IN – My Wild Ride Through The Punk and Power Pop Trenches with The NERVES and THE BEAT, which is a memoir about the lead singer from the band The Beat, but not the british one that wrote Save it For Later.

There are actually two bands called The Beat, an English one and an American one. The two bands came up around the same time and were often confused with each other, so the English one went by The English Beat and the American one went by Paul Collins' Beat. They actually ended up touring together. So why have a book about the Paul Collins' Beat when the recurring song this season is written by The English Beat?

Save it for Later has a few versions of it throughout the season. The first version we hear is from the American singer Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam when Sydney is on her way to The Bear after the incident and there is montage of classic Chicago spots. And if you listen closely to the full song, at the very end you can hear in the backing vocals "can't find a better man" from Better Man by Pearl Jam. We know Carmy is a big fan of Pearl Jam. Come Back by Pearl Jam was the song playing in the table scene with Sydney and we know the music in the show is supposed to represent their inner thoughts and feelings, so at this point Sydney is still thinking about Carmy.

Then an instrumental version of Save it for Later plays when Richie is talking to Jess on the phone about the Ever funeral. When Sydney is talking to Shapiro and he makes her the offer, the original Save it for Later by The English Beat plays.

They are setting up the American vs British confusion. Sydney is going to be torn between Carmy and Luca (and Shapiro by de facto), the same way Carmy is torn between Sydney and Claire. The song is instrumental, neither british or american, with Richie because he is the puppet master in this whole british vs american ordeal that is going to happen between them.

So much of this season and the previous have been about confusing people or projecting them on to the other, like with Claire and Sydney in Season 2, and then again in Season 3 with the polka dot dish freezer incident. This all ties back to the plotlines of Vertigo and A Midsummer Night's Dream that are referenced in Season 3 where the love interests are frequently confused with each other, sometimes on purpose and sometimes on accident.

The bobby pins seems more like a Claire item that she probably left behind, but when Claire's hair is tied up it is always with a plain black hair tie. The hair clip at the beginning of Tomorrow is probably Claire's, but a girly floral pink scrunchie? That is so Sydney.

The Bear had pink floral dinner plates back in Season 2 before Carmy switched to natural earthenware in Season 3, which also when he basically erased Sydney from The Bear. The scrunchie is a remnant of Season 2.

Sydney has been seen in pink and florals, whereas Claire never has. Sydney also loves patterns. From her bandanas to her shirts and jackets.

She actually has a whole book about them sitting in her locker. She was probably the one who picked the tropical wallpaper in The Bear's bathroom.

Claire is really never seen wearing patterns or prints aside from Friends & Family night (aka ClaireCarmy's relationship funeral) when she wears a black floral shrug, which is the last time Carmy saw Claire. The funeral card is notably Mikey's, not Marcus' mom, which has also always been tied back to Sydney and the Let it rip note. He texted Sydney before opening the note and then had Richie give it to her in a frame to put on her expo.

It's easy to see why he might confuse the scrunchie with Claire's things and put them together when the don't fit actually fit in, the same way The Beat's get confused. And probably the same way Sydney is going to feel confused about Luca vs Carmy in season 4. Is Carmy going to realize the scrunchie is Sydney's and not Claires? It's in his bedroom so I doubt it was Sydney herself that put it there. Seems like he is once again using Claire to project his feelings for Syd, by missing her instead of Sydney.

[laurenfoxmakesthings]

Alt: An excerpt of a bluesky thread by Emily Quinn concerning what to do about the transphobic S.9.

'hi, cis folks! meet S.9. it's the senate sports ban for trans athletes that matches what passed the house & they'd love a bill for trump to sign day one.

short call scripts for democratic & GOP senators follow. if you said you'd stand with trans folks, it's time.🧵

if your senator is a democrat, try the script below. it’s got a bail out written in. you’ll get an intern. be polite. by all means, fiddle & improvise!

so far, there are no dem cosponsors. what dems need to know to fight is that it won't hurt them to stand with trans people. it won't!🧵

"Hi, my name is _______________ and I'm one of Senator _______________'s constituents. I need the Senator to commit to voting No on S-9—the "Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act" ban on transgender athletes.

This bill isn't about protecting anyone. And there's no compromise Democrats can make on trans rights to make Republicans stop attacking.

Voters respond when Democrats fight against injustice.

If Democratic Senators stand together against this, Republicans

can't pass this unjust law.

[you can stop here at 0:30 if you want to bail out]

Not standing up for trans people didn't help Democrats win elections in 2024 ask Sherrod Brown, Colin Allred, or Kamala Harris.

Please tell Senator _______________ to vote No on S-9. If not for trans people, then because voters show up to support Democrats who stand for something. Thank you."

if your senator’s GOP, try the script below. it’s got a bail out written in. you’ll get an intern. be polite.

different issues motivate these fools, but some can be manipulated, especially if they think it could come back to bite them—see the next post. by all means, rewrite or improvise.🧵

"Hi, my name is ________________ and I'm one of Senator ________________'s constituents. I need the Senator to vote No on S-9—this "Protect Women and Girls in Sports Act."

Government shouldn't be in people's business like this. I don't want some adult looking down a kid's pants to make sure she's got the right parts to play softball. That's disgusting nonsense and it doesn't do a thing to bring down the price of eggs-which is up again, by the way.

[you can stop here at 0:25 if you want to bail out]

I thought we were going to help the working class? Fix the economy? Going after 20 people across the US doesn't do that. Most folks don't ever even meet one of these people. This kind of stuff just makes people hate us. It's embarrassing. Who cares?

[you can stop here at 0:45 if you want to bail out]

Tell ________________ to vote No on S-9. Focus on business. Things that matter. Not culture war nonsense. We don't need perverts looking down kids' pants. Thank you."

the so-called “protection of women and girls in sports act” is cosponsored by 36 republicans.more from this list may sign on.

until then, check the screenshot below. if your senator’s 1 of these 8—especially one of the top 4—i’m borderline begging you to call & let them know this could bite them. 🧵

"persuadable?

susan collins - maine

deb fischer - nebraska (was pro-bostock?)

dave mccormick - pennsylvania

lisa murkowski - alaska

occasionally not frothing at the mouth

bill cassidy - louisiana

john curtis - utah

chuck grassley - iowa

mike rounds - south dakota"

“how do i find my rep?” try this website.

and unfortunately, at this time, i wouldn’t recommend calling from outside the US. 

getting people to act on this at the moment may well depend on making them afraid they’ll have to deal with angry constituents and/or lose the next election. 🧵'

End of alt.

And my addition to this is trying faxing with these templates if you can't call, but want to do something.

And that wasn't the whole thread, the rest has some great resources about why this bill sucks, but I figured time is of the essence and people on here should know what to do.

[democracyunderground]

Many of the lawmakers that voted against the provision of additional necessary funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) represent states that were hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene.

No Democratic lawmakers voted nay.

Read the full list of lawmakers that voted against the stopgap measure below.

North Carolina: Representative Dan Bishop, NC 8th District Senator Ted Budd

South Carolina: Representative Jeff Duncan, SC 3rd District Representative Russell Fry, SC 7th District Representative Nancy Mace, SC 1st District Representative Ralph Norman, SC 5th District Representative William R. Timmons IV, SC 4th District Senator Tim Scott

Georgia: Representative Richard McCormick, GA 6th District Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, GA 14th District Representative Mike Collins, GA 10th District Representative Andrew S. Clyde, GA 9th District

Florida: Representative Daniel Webster, FL 11th District Representative Michael Waltz, FL 6th District Representative Bill Posey, FL 8th District Representative Cory Mills, FL 7th District Representative Anna Paulina Luna, FL 13th District Representative Laurel M. Lee, FL 15th District Representative Matt Gaetz, FL 11th District Representative Bryon Donalds, FL 1st District Representative Kat Cammack, FL 3rd District Representative Gus M. Bilirakis, FL 12th District Representative Aaron Bean, FL 4th District Senator Rick Scott refused to vote

Tennessee: Representative Tim Burchett, TN 2nd District Representative Andrew Ogles, TN 5th District Representative John W. Rose, TN 6th District Senator Marsha Blackburn Senator Bill Hagerty

[cazzyf1]

Some facts about Mike Hawthorn

On the anniversary of his death, here are some facts I've gathered from books about Mike Hawthorn

• When his parents seperated he moved into his best friends home and slept on the floor of his bedroom as he hated being alone

• He wore a bow tie after his normal tie he wore for racing kept getting into his face

• He wore a green jacket to represent Britain still when he went to Ferrari as he was no longer racing green

• Once he was demonstrating a drift with his godsons pram and accidentally knocked the baby out of the pram

• Once Mike and his then girlfriend Moi had an argument and to spite Mike she went on a date with Eugenio Castellotti. Mike didn't introduce any of his next partners to many drivers after that.

• Mike loved riding 'the big dippers' at seaside amusement parks

• When flying his plane Mike would follow railway lines as he wasn't a good map reader

• Mike didn't attend his post race party after his first GP win as he was anxious to get home to his girlfriend

• Before he'd travel to races he usually would put £100 in his partners bank account without telling them

• Once Alfonso De Portago invited Mike out with these two girls. Mike was happy and after a while asked Alfonso which one each of them would be taking for the evening just for Alfonso to surprise Mike by saying they weren't participating they were going to watch

• Mike would often go to Peter and Louise Collins hotel room when at races to relax with them, once again hating to be on his own. Mike was extremely close to both of them.

• Mike and Peter never fought against each other when racing, instead they kept wanting the other one to win

• After Peter's death Mike only continued racing in honour of Peter and was determined to retire when the season was finished

• Mike had planned to see Louise Collins the day he died

• He was nicknamed Snowball as a kid because of his blonde hair

• Mike gave a talk on road safety at the Farnham Girls Grammar School a week before he past away in his car crash

• Mike didn't like champagne so whenever he won bottles of it as races he would bring them home and hand it all out to his garage workers

• Mike volunteered for flying duty with the RAF as was his boyhood dream but was rejected due to his chronic kidney problem

• Whenever the police tried to catch Mike to give him call up papers he was always tipped off and disappeared before they arrived, and then would drive past them giving two fingers

• Mike loved collecting old tobacco pipes

• Mike refused to marry as a racing driver because it was all too likely the wife could become a widow

● Stirling Moss and Mike Hawthorn nearly became teammates in 1956 and while Mike was happy to share joint leadership of the team in the end Stirling decided against i

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Mike Luckovich

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

July 14, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

JUL 15, 2024

Shortly after 6:00 yesterday evening at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, a shooter on the roof of a building about 400 feet from the stage appears to have shot eight bullets at the former president and into the crowd. Trump appeared to flinch and reach for his right ear as Secret Service agents crouched over the former president. When the agents got word the shooter was “down,” they lifted Trump to move him out. He asked to get his shoes and then to put them on.

With that apparently accomplished, Trump stood up with blood on his face, exposed to the crowd, and told the agents to wait. He raised his fist in the air in front of an American flag in what instantly became an iconic image. He appeared to yell, “Fight, fight, fight!” to the crowd before being ushered offstage.

Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed. David Dutch, 57, was injured and is hospitalized in stable condition. James Copenhaver, 74, was also injured and is in stable condition. 

The FBI has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by a Secret Service agent. Crooks used an AR-type semiautomatic rifle that apparently belonged to his father. Crooks was wearing a gray Demolition Ranch tee shirt advertising a YouTube channel for gun enthusiasts and people interested in explosive devices. The channel has more than 11 million followers. Crooks appears to have been a registered Republican.   

Trump said he had been “shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.” So far, no doctors have briefed the public. 

In the confusion immediately after the shooting, MAGA Republicans blamed the Democrats for the violence. “Today is not just some isolated incident,” Ohio senator J.D. Vance, who is in the running to be Trump’s vice presidential pick, posted on social media. “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” Representative Mike Collins of Georgia called for a Republican district attorney to “immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination.” Indeed, he said, “Joe Biden sent the orders.”  

Edward Luce of the Financial Times noted, “Almost any criticism of Trump is already being spun by Maga as an incitement to assassinate him. This is an Orwellian attempt to silence what remains of the effort to stop him from regaining power.” Indeed, MAGA Republicans appear to be trying to stop discussion of their extremist plans— which are enormously unpopular— by claiming that such a discussion is polarizing. 

The idea that Democratic opposition to authoritarian plans like those outlined in Project 2025 caused violence might convince MAGA Republicans, but it will likely be a hard sell for Americans who remember things like: 

•Trump’s own suggestion in 2016 that “Second Amendment people” could solve the problem of Hillary Clinton picking judges; or his 2020 attacks on Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, who became the target of a kidnapping plot; or election workers bombarded with death threats as Trump lied that the 2020 election was stolen;

•the October 2022 tweet by Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. mocking then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul after a home intruder hit him in the head with a hammer; or Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s 2022 campaign video in which she promised to “blow away the Democrats’ socialist agenda” as she took aim with a rifle; 

•in 2023, House Republicans wearing AR-15 lapel pins on the floor of Congress; Representative Don Bacon (R-NE) saying his wife slept with a loaded gun after he voted against Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) for House speaker; or Republican representatives sending Christmas cards showing the whole family toting guns;

•in 2024, the Kansas Republican Party’s March fundraiser where attendees could donate to kick and punch an effigy of President Biden; or Don Jr.’s reposting an image of Biden bound and gagged in the back of a pickup truck;

•or Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson of North Carolina, who is running for the governorship and who is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention starting tomorrow, saying just two weeks ago: “Some folks need killing! It’s time for somebody to say it.”

Indeed, in March 2024, in Vance’s home state, Trump said: if I don’t get elected, it’s going to be a bloodbath for the whole…country,” and a 2022 campaign ad by Representative Collins himself showed him shooting a rifle at Nancy Pelosi’s “agenda” and at a cardboard rhinoceros he says is a “RINO,” a Republican in Name Only. 

Republicans under Trump have increasingly advocated violence as a way to gain power because they know their unpopular positions cannot lead their candidates to victory in free and fair elections. In this moment, when there is still little evidence about yesterday’s tragedy, it appears they are projecting their own behavior onto Biden and the Democrats, blaming them for advocating violence when in fact, Biden and the Democrats have tried hard to enact commonsense gun safety laws and have consistently condemned the violent language and normalizing of political violence by Republicans. 

Republicans’ embrace of violence is a hallmark of authoritarian leaders; by definition it  undermines democracy. In Nashville, Tennessee, today, neo-Nazis shouting “Hitler was right!” were involved in fights in the streets. Ending that resort to violence, which never advances society and always injures it, is key to restoring the guardrails of democracy.

Biden spoke to the nation tonight, warning that Americans need to “lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, while we may disagree, we are not enemies. We’re neighbors. We’re friends, coworkers, citizens. And, most importantly, we are fellow Americans. And we must stand together.” He condemned yesterday’s violence, noting that “[a] former president was shot” and “an American citizen killed while simply exercising his freedom to support the candidate of his choosing…. There is no place in America for this kind of violence or for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized.” 

The framers of the Constitution, he said, “created a democracy that gave reason and balance a chance to prevail over brute force. That’s the America we must be, an American democracy where arguments are made in good faith, an American democracy where the rule of law is respected, an American democracy where decency, dignity, fair play aren’t just quaint notions, but living, breathing realities.”

Biden rejected the idea that criticizing the Republicans’ extremism was polarizing. While they can “criticize my record and offer their own vision for this country,” he said, “I’ll continue to speak out strongly for our democracy, stand up for our Constitution and the rule of law, to call for action at the ballot box, no violence on our streets. That’s how democracy should work.” 

Biden paused all campaign ads and events after the shooting and told staffers to “refrain from issuing any comments on social media or in public.” Trump is fundraising off the attempt on his life, but he spent the day golfing rather than campaigning. 

The Secret Service has launched an investigation of how a shooter could get so close to Trump; Biden has ordered an independent investigation as well. Biden said he has also directed the Secret Service to review the security measures in place for the Republican National Convention, which starts tomorrow in Milwaukee.

Within hours of the shooting, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced that “THE HOUSE WILL CONDUCT A FULL INVESTIGATION OF THE TRAGIC EVENTS TODAY,” saying, “The American people deserve to know the truth.” Although the FBI investigation has barely gotten underway and Congress has no law enforcement power, Johnson promised to have officials from the Secret Service, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI “appear for a hearing before our committees ASAP.” 

Observers noted that it sounded like MAGA plans to have yet another investigation designed to spread a narrative, in this case, that the “Deep State” was involved in the shooting. 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[bllsbailey]

Laken Riley Act Approved In House By All Republicans And 48 Democrats

Supporters of former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump hold images of Laken Riley before he speaks at a “Get Out the Vote” rally in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, 2024.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Laken Riley Act was passed by the House of Representatives. It was the first piece of federal legislation approved by the new 119th Congress after the House agreed to its rules for the term. 

All Republicans supported the bill, along with 48 other Democrats. It passed on a 264 to 159 margin and will now be sent to the Senate. 

The bill was named after 22-year-old Laken Riley. Riley was a nursing student that was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela while she was jogging one morning on the University of Georgia’s campus. 

The details of the bill would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal aliens found guilty of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting crimes. It would also allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for harm caused to their citizens due to illegal immigration, forcing the federal agency to take these matters more seriously.

The legislation breaks down what changes will occur.

“DHS must detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully present in the United States or did not possess the necessary documents when applying for admission; and (2) has been charged with, arrested for, convicted for, or admits to having committed acts that constitute the essential elements of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. The bill also authorizes state governments to sue for injunctive relief over certain immigration-related decisions or alleged failures by the federal government if the decision or failure caused the state or its residents harm, including financial harm of more than $100. Specifically, the state government may sue the federal government over a decision to release a non-U.S. national from custody; failure to fulfill requirements relating to inspecting individuals seeking admission into the United States, including requirements related to asylum interviews; failure to fulfill a requirement to stop issuing visas to nationals of a country that unreasonably denies or delays acceptance of nationals of that country; violation of limitations on immigration parole, such as the requirement that parole be granted only on a case-by-case basis; or failure to detain an individual who has been ordered removed from the United States.”

Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for Riley’s tragic murder, was previously arrested but was never detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the agency previously admitted.

The passing of the new bill comes after it was first introduced last year by Representative Mike Collins (R-Ga.).

At the time, all of the “no” votes on the bill came from Democrat officials.  

“I think they put politics ahead of principle. And we’re going to find out where they stand on this now,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in regards to the Democrats who opposed it last year. “We have every intention of doing, really important, bipartisan work,” Johnson said hours before the vote on Tuesday. “We welcome with open arms any Democrat who wants to help us solve these problems because the American people demand and deserve it, it’s overdue. And, we’ll be looking for that and we’ll see how it shakes out.”

The Senate will vote on the bill this week. 

Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts

[filosofablogger]

On My Soapbox Yet Again

You probably figured that after Wednesday’s school shooting in Georgia, I’d be back on my soapbox about the gun crisis in the U.S.  Well, here I am and here’s the soapbox … My solutions may seem a bit radical to some, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and if children continually getting shot & killed in school doesn’t make for desperate times, then I don’t know what does.  Nearly…

[tomorrowusa]

Whenever there's another mass shooting, the MAGA-NRA sends out a text saying...

WE HAVE A THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS SITUATION

The Apalachee High School shooting took place in the district represented by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA-10). "Mullet Mike" is a MAGA gun nut.

From imgur...

Resurfaced video shows Apalachee congressman's controversial gun stance after school shooting

Mullet Mike is being opposed in this year's election by Democrat Lexy Doherty.

The party which wants to regulate women's bodies refuses to do anything to regulate assault weapons. According to faux-hillbilly J.D. Vance, school shootings are a "fact of life".

Gutless Republicans in Georgia won't even consider enacting safe storage laws for guns. They are more interested in giving fellatio to the NRA than in protecting the citizens of Georgia.

[progressivepower]

GOP Representative Mocks Closing Of Agency In Charge Of Distributing Humanitarian Aid Worldwide https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mike-collins-mocks-usaid-closing_n_67a38ba6e4b027283b019cf4?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[bookoftheironfist]

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness...two souls, two unreconciled strivings, two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." — W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk Deathlok (1991) #2 by Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Gregory Wright, Mike Manley, and Ken Lopez

One of Misty Knight’s most famous traits these days is her legendary bionic/cybernetic arm, the modern version of which is a veritable Swiss Army Knife of gadgets and tech. But it was several months in-story, and over a year for readers of Marvel comics, before this foundational part of her character was introduced, quite suddenly and unexpectedly, in the pages of Iron Fist volume 1. When we meet Misty, she has already had the arm for some time, but it is so expertly disguised that the casual viewer would not recognize it for what it is, and that’s how she likes it. 

The character of Michael Collins, Deathlok, sits at the intersection of many different identities and concepts— he is a Black man, a pacifist, who is deceived and manipulated, a victim of a system that traps his consciousness inside a mechanical body designed to kill, desperately trying to restore his humanity and return to his beloved wife and child. No matter what kind of a person he is on the inside, the vision he presents to the world is frightening—a distorted melding of man and machine, a weapon, a monster. Here, in this scene and also elsewhere in this series, he and Misty discuss the concept of assimilation and “passing”. They are both cyborgs in their own way, members of a misunderstood minority community (a concept that sits, with all of its layers and complexities, at the heart of this series), but where Michael is unable to hide his membership in that community even if he wanted to, the nature of Misty’s situation allows her to conceal her bionic arm, to pass. As a Black woman, she is intimately familiar with this dichotomy, but her feelings about her arm complicate her relationship to this other aspect of her identity. Here, Michael gives her permission to sit with and process that discomfort in her own time. He understands.

Misty’s character arc in her early comics, flowing out from her origin accident (which we only ever see in flashbacks), is tied to the trauma and self-loathing with which she has been burdened ever since. Her promising career as a police officer— a career she loved and to which she was prepared to devote her life— ended suddenly and violently when she was caught in a bomb explosion while on the job. Quick medical intervention saved her life, but she lost her right arm. She was fitted with her cybernetic replacement, super-strong, cutting-edge Stark tech, but she walked away from the police force and plunged into a deep depression. She was ashamed of her failure, horrified by her loss. She saw herself as “half a woman” now, worthless and weak. “After all,” she asks herself in Iron Fist volume 1 #7, “what good is a one-armed lady cop?” 

Despite the best efforts of her friends (particularly Colleen, who helped and supported her and re-trained her to fight left-handed immediately following the accident), this is a journey of self-acceptance that Misty must ultimately make on her own. Over the past half-century, she has moved slowly, windingly, away from that initial hatred of her bionic arm and all that it represents. Ever-so-slowly, it has become more and more a part of her. 

"It has been some time since policewoman Misty Knight lost her right arm, protecting innocent people from a terrorist bomb. That it ever happened is a very well kept secret. It took her a long time to come to terms with the fact that her real arm is gone forever...and she has cursed this bionic replacement as often as she has blessed it. But now it is her arm-- as much arm as she will ever have-- and heaven help anyone who tries to hurt it or take it away from her." Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #78 by Mary Jo Duffy, Kerry Gammill, Christie Scheele, Ricardo Villamonte, and Jim Novak

It was around the time of the first Daughters of the Dragon series, in 2005, that Misty first began to forego the simulated skin that had previously concealed the arm’s true nature. Instead, she added a long sleeve to her costumes, which hid all but her metal fingers. It was nevertheless a huge step, after so many years of “passing”. A few years later, around 2010’s Heroes for Hire volume 3, she removed the sleeve—leaving the arm fully visible in all its shining, cybernetic glory. In the time since then, it has become a visual trademark, an indelible part of the Misty Knight visual style, a symbol of her power and resilience, so much a part of her look that it’s easy to forget how new this change is. Recent years have also brought with them a noticeable trend of Misty's enemies attacking her arm, ripping and cutting it off of her, which makes tactical sense (it's a weapon, after all) but also feels like a constant, cruel unearthing of that initial trauma, a knife in a wound that is still healing. But every time, Misty comes back stronger, the arm is enhanced, its defenses are fortified. More and more, over the years, Misty and her arm have become one.

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Mike Collins (R-GA) United States Representative

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Mike Collins (R-GA 10th District) United States Representative