(1) The President's latest Ambassadorial nominee is John Rakolta Jr, to the UAE. Quite an important post at this time. I think John and Terry Rakolta will fit in well there. She led a boycott of TV sitcom "Married... with children" in 1989 for "obscenity."
(2) All four of Rakolta's grandparents were from Romania. His father established a construction business in Detroit at around the same time Fred Trump joined his mother's business in NYC. John Rakolta Jr & DJT joined their family firm around the same time, 1970.
(3) Rakolta has been a mega donor and fundraising chairman for several Michigan statewide and national campaigns incl GWB in 2004, Mitt Romney in 2008 & 2012. In 2016 started with Rubio then gladly backed Trump in July that year. Contributed funds to the Trump transition.
(4) Rakolta is a Mormon, *shocked face*, his wife Terry's sister is Ronna Romney, the mother of Ronna McDaniel, current RNC Chairman. Ronna Romney (Sr) is divorced from Scott Romney, the brother of Mitt. So, Terry Rakolta is Ronna McDaniel's aunt.
(5) Hopefully he'll become Ambassador Rakolta in less than, say, the 6 months and counting that we've been waiting for Ambassador @RichardGrenell. IMO Rakolta will be an outstanding representative for America in the UAE. Like Grenell in Germany.
(6) The UAE is one the inner-circle of allies that are of great importance to the USA at this time. They are an essential part of the historic geo-political-economic-strategic changes being led by that region, for that region, with strong US support.
(7) Not only is the UAE critical to US peace-through-strength in the region, it is an economic powerhouse, particularly in urban development and construction deals, where Rakolta's proven record will be respected. He's achieved a lot more in his life than just being a CEO.
(8) Every President nominates campaign donors to senior posts. You should see some of the crooked, inept or mediocre people nominated by Bill Clinton & Obama. I pay attention to the people Trump nominates at the senior level. They're incredibly skilled and share #AmericanValues.
(9) A key lesson I've already taken in the Trump era: #GOPUnityWinsElections. I don't indulge in hating on the "GOPe" (except for McCain, but he's a Dem anyway so doesn't count). I admire people like John Rakolta Jr who have been working in the GOP behind the scenes for years.
(10) This President puts an enormous amount of time into his relationships with anyone and everyone in the GOP who is willing to make a deal with him, on our behalf. He's not naive, he knows what he's up against, but he never, ever gives up. Nor should we.
(11) I look forward to the severe case of Senatorial-confirmation constipation being relieved soon. I don't want to know how, I just want it done! Yesterday!
Well said, @DonnaLeeSun. I have the same approach.
Donna is "Unapologretically Canadian."
I am Unapologetically New Zealander/Kiwi. Granted, "sorry" has a special meaning in Canada, eh? But our countries do have a lot in common. Mini-thread:
I really get what Donna is saying in her Twitter bio:
"Trumpism has a strong foothold in Canada & we ignore it at our peril. Pay attention, esp. to PP, former PM Harper & idiot Premiers!"
The same is true of New Zealand, Australia, and our OG mothership: The UK.
PP stands for Pierre Poilievre, who became the leader of Canada's conservative party on 10 September 2022.
For me it's super simple: Far right extremism gained a foothold in the US, only to be rejected by majorities of voters multiple times since. Because #DemocracyWins.
Evidently, my above use of the term misogyny has triggered a few of them.
They're trying to insinuate that Kohberger was a liberal which, even if true, would have nothing to do with the points made in my tweet. We already know several things about him, and his crimes...
Further, when writing the above list of 5 known and/or confirmed misogynists, some of whom have killed at least one woman, I considered a range of factors that put them on that list.
I want to encourage discussion about misogny and the targeting of women by violent offenders.
Esp. the 2020 US presidential election, and others where right wing governments were (and will soon be) punished for anti- public health and safety, anti-science, ignorant approaches to pandemic response.
Do politicians and their advisers get this yet? In most households, it is one or more women who take basic health and safety seriously, & who develop a superior knowledge base due to our more complex biology, higher rates of illness, & greater need for infection control measures.
Of course there are many men with the same health knowledge and risk management priorities as women, but we are talking about "in general" here, and how that applies to elections.
Gotta laugh, my tweet generated the following reply from a maga account:
"Ukraine flag in bio"
Ad hominem/genetic fallacy is all they have. They deflect by targeting the player not the ball. Because playing the ball is too hard for them. It requires honesty & courage.
I'm talking about changing the way domestic violence incidents are handled, and doing more to put long term distance between known DV offenders and their legal access to guns.
An idea best espoused by the outstanding @BeauTFC. Link to follow.
The outstanding @BeauTFC talked about this issue here:
I wonder what price between $8 billion and $44 billion Elon Howard Hughes Musk might consider to sell this vital pro-democracy communications hub before he completely destroys it.
I mean, that's his goal, right?
He paid waaaay too much for it. Value currently estimated at $8 billion. Surely there are billionaires out there with the ability to build a consortium to entice it out of his grubby little hands?
There's a good argument for the US federal government buying it, too...
Or a group of countries. It's not all about the US, you know.
What does the Putin regime have on Musk, that could get him to over-spend so much money? The global fascist movement is the only winner out of this. Or was it the Mercers?