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The Republicans Have a Binder Full of Problems [1]

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Date: 2023-12-18  

In Mitt Romney’s second presidential debate with the eventual winner and two-term President Barack Obama, Mr. Romney introduced the phrase, “Binders full of women.” Romney’s answer was in response to a question about pay equity and opportunity. As part of his long and rambling reply, “I went to a number of women’s groups and said, ‘Can you help us find folks, and they brought us whole binders full of women,’” said Romney. More than once during his campaign, Mr. Romney proved that firmly placing his foot in his mouth was a feature of his personality but, more often than not, just humorously awkward (at least 47% of us thought so).

After the 2016 election that brought us President Donald Trump, the Federalists Society, led by attorney Leonard Leo, presented Mr. Trump with a binder of eleven judges’ names he wanted on the Supreme Court. In an article published by the Guardian in September of 2022, reporter Chris McGreal recounted the words of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who said, [Leo] was the “No. 3 most powerful person in the world,” and then fell about laughing. Several months before, the members of the Court handpicked by Leo destroyed a woman’s right to life-saving healthcare. Recently, the 8th Circuit ruled that a private citizen or organization cannot sue to ensure voter rights in some states, a case that will surely end up on the Supreme Court’s docket before its binder of Leo Judges.

Last Friday, onetime Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani was found guilty of viciously defaming two Georgia election workers and ordered to pay 148 million dollars in compensatory damages. Rudy’s defense was that his proven lies about a stolen election had merit. Rudy’s proof was always punctuated by carrying around binders of so-called evidence only known to him.

Like Linus seeking solace from his blanket, the protection Giuliani sought by constantly shuffling through binders of misinformation was all in his mind. The former New York Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, has become a tragic figure of his own making.

Finally, it was revealed that a missing binder of classified government documents concerning the alleged collusion between Donald Trump and Russia has mysteriously disappeared. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence reported in 2017 that it found credible evidence of Russia’s influence in the 2016 election, subsequently briefing the Senate Intelligence Committee last year: John Solomon, a conservative journalist whom Mr. Trump granted access to the material has said the binder was 10 inches thick. Intel experts, like Olivia Troye, the former assistant to former Vice President Mike Pence, have said that type of information contains raw intelligence material. The revealing of names and methods of information gathering presents a clear and present danger to not only American sources but those of our allies.

The speculation of the rise in the deaths of intelligence agents resulting from the mishandling of classified information has been reported. In March 2019, Mr. Trump revoked an executive order by Mr. Obama to have the Pentagon and the CIA report the deaths of civilians that occurred during intelligence operations. Mr. Trump banned translation of his meetings with Vladimir Putin and held a secret meeting in the Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Trump reportedly bragged to the Russians about the intelligence he was receiving, saying, “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day.” Going further and revealing the name of an Islamic city involved with ISIS. The Washington Post was warned the information was so sensitive it issued a statement reading:

“The Washington Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardize important intelligence capabilities.”

The saving of democracy is in the hands of Americans. Let us not become the newest names in a binder.

Vote Against Guns

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[1] Url: https://dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/18/2212422/-The-Republicans-Have-a-Binder-Full-of-Problems?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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