An NPR analysis has found that nearly 1 in 5 people charged over their alleged involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol appear to have a military history.
A new ABC News/Ipsos poll found that 61% of respondents said Biden had more respect for the U.S. military, compared to 37% who said Trump had more respect.
“I was an artillery officer, and we fired hundreds of rounds into Fallujah, killed probably hundreds of civilians. Probably killed women and children if there were any left in the city when we invaded. So, do I get judged too?”
— Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) said he probably killed “hundreds of civilians” while serving as an artillery officer in Fallujah, KPBS reports.
USA Today: “Since 2013, military investigators have documented at least 500 cases of serious misconduct among its generals, admirals and senior civilians, almost half of those instances involving personal or ethical lapses.”
“We have made an investment in you and you have made an investment in the Coast Guard, and I will not break faith.”
— U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft, pledging he “will not break faith” with transgender personnel, “marking the strongest rebuttal yet by a leader of the armed forces to President Trump’s declaration that he wants to ban all transgender troops,” Politico reports.
A new Quinnipiac poll finds American voters say by a 68% to 27% margin, including 55% to 39% among voters in military households, that transgender people should be allowed to serve in the military. Republicans oppose transgender service, 60% to 32%, but every other party, gender, education, age or racial group supports transgender service by margins of 22 percentage points or higher.
In announcing his ban on transgender people in the military, President Trump said that taxpayers “cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Except that USA Today points out that trans troops don’t really cost that much: “A report for the Pentagon last year found that transition-related care would cost between about $2.4 and $8.4 million per year — less than 0.14% of the military’s medical budget. That’s roughly the cost of four of Trump’s trips to Mar-A-Lago.”
Percentage by which the Army fell short of the recruits it needs to fill its ranks, “marking the first time in six years — and only the third in the last 20 — that it may fall short of its recruiting goal for the year,” USA Today reports.
The shameful unemployment figure for veterans. For the population at large, unemployment is less than 9%. Even worse, for veterans ages 20 to 24, the figure is closer to 30%.
Republican lawmakers are so performative, they’re artsy,
But as for governing, they’re not much of a party.
Though they’re ignoble and sophomoric,
They occasionally do the historic.
Like the firing of a House Speaker — lying Kevin McCarthy.
“Why is your husband such a pig? Why would he get on TV and make an asshole of himself? Because he’s a deep state prick? Because he doesn’t represent the people? So what we’re gonna do is we’re going fucking follow you all over the place. We’re gonna be up your ass fucking nonstop. We are now Antifa. We’re gonna do what the left does because your fucking faggot of a husband gets on TV, ‘Oh, the bad guys, they did stuff. I’m gonna vote for Kevin McCarthy,’ — a piece of shit.”
– Anonymous caller’s voicemail message to the wife of an unnamed Republican congressman who voted against Jim Jordan for House speaker.
“The fact that you and I are living in a world where it is at least notionally possible that Jim Jordan would become the speaker of the people’s house and in line to the presidency of the United States is so utterly fantastic, not because Jim Jordan is some, transdimensional warlock. But because he’s an idiot… These Frankensteins were never supposed to get off the table.”
“It’s been 5 years since we have seen one another. I look forward to the reunion. I hope Donald does as well.”
— “Donald Trump will back in court next week for his New York civil fraud trial, setting up a potential face-to-face showdown with fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen, who is expected to testify,” the AP reports.
“Citizens of Israel, we are at war. Not an operation, not a round of fighting, at war. I am initiating an extensive mobilization of the reserves to fight back on a scale and intensity that the enemy has so far not experienced. The enemy will pay an unprecedented price.”
— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted by the Times of Israel.
“Republican 2024 presidential candidates blamed the Biden administration for the attacks Hamas terrorists launched against Israel on Saturday, pointing to the deadly developments as evidence of U.S. weakness on the world stage and claiming that the administration is partially responsible.”
“President Joe Biden, the Democratic National Committee and their joint fundraising committees brought in more than $71 million combined in this year’s third quarter,” Politico reports. “It’s a large, though not record-breaking, amount that has allowed Biden to launch a major TV and digital advertising campaign earlier than past presidents’ reelection efforts.”
Percentage of Israeli Jews who said the surprise attack from Gaza was a failure of the government of Prime Ministers Bibi Netanyahu. Among coalition government supporters, 79% blamed the leadership.
The US economy added 336,000 nonfarm jobs in September, nearly double the 170,000 jobs economists had predicted and surpassing the upwardly revised 227,000 jobs in August, according to government data released yesterday. The latest figure is the largest monthly increase since January. Most of the jobs in September were added in leisure and hospitality (96,000), government (73,000), and healthcare (41,000). Average hourly earnings in September were up 0.2% month-over-month and 4.2% year-over-year, slightly down from estimates of 0.3% and 4.3%. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% from the previous month. See all data here.
Atlanta Journal Constitution: “In all, the Georgia GOP has spent more than $1 million on legal fees since the beginning of last year, most of it for the Trump election interference case.”
“President Joe Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden’s 2-year-old German shepherd, Commander, has been involved in more biting incidents than previously reported at the White House,“ CNN reports. “While the US Secret Service has acknowledged 11 reported biting incidents involving its personnel, sources who spoke to CNN said the real number is higher and includes executive residence staff and other White House workers.”