Only consolation I can find, and it isn’t much, is that they are absolutely going to hate the actual job of election commissioner or whatever roles they are taking.
I am having a hard time coming up with a solution to the problem that the psycho election commissioners are the only ones who don’t get their entire families’ lives threatened. “Our” side doesn’t have that kind of harassment in us, but even if we did the psychos fucking love that shit so it wouldn’t work. Law (lol) enforcement (lol) obviously no help.
Tubby Tommerville
Conservative school board bans book about a school board banning books because it ‘challenges their authority’ and lists books that they have banned.
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Pablo Torre: Miriam Adelson’s political reputation was apparently so radioactive that the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver would not allow her to be the governor of the team … even though the league would happily take the money of the 5th richest woman in America
[5:30]
Pablo Torre: The first thing I need you to know about Miriam Adelson – the subject of today’s story – is something I found out while reporting this episode, which is that her political reputation was apparently so radioactive that the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver would not allow her to be the governor of the team … even though the league would happily take the money of the 5th richest woman in America, who is now the 3rd richest owner in American sports right behind Steve Balmer and Rob Walton. So Miriam’s son-in-law, Patrick Dumont (an executive at her casino company), was appointed governor of the Mavericks instead. And the reason why the ostensibly left-leaning NBA insisted on this is obvious once you step just a foot outside of sports, because nobody donated more to Donald Trump in 2020 than Miriam Adelson. Few people in right-wing politics period are as powerful as she is, and she also happens to be one of the most powerful Pro-Israel extremists alive today by any standard.New York Magazine’s Elizabeth Weil wrote a long cover story on Miriam Adelson. One that finally answered some of the biggest questions I had on a woman whose wealth, according to Liz, makes her not just the richest Israeli in the world, and not just one of the 10 richest women in the world, but also “effectively a queen.”
[17:30]
Pablo Torre: The Adelsons weren’t simply one of the most staunch families backing Netanyahu from here in the United States; Back in 2007, at Netanyahu’s behest, the launched a free, daily newspaper in Israel with the goal of influencing elections – which they did, significantly, promoting far-right positions they felt were being neglected by Israel’s mainstream media, which might sound a little familiar.
Liz Weil: So they backed Netanyahu. They started a paper that’s sort of like a Fox New-like creation, like a mouthpiece for Netanyahu to get him elected. They brought down his predecessor through reporting about endless scandals, and it was really successful.
[20:00]
Pablo Torre: Although Sheldon [Miriam’s late husband] had bigger name recognition than Miriam, it is important to note that she was not his sidekick… I urge you to take a closer look at their long history of Republican donations in the United States.
Liz Weil: If you look at some of the FEC filings, she was giving right alongside him the entire time… He gave – through his 848 donations – $273 million, and she gave – through her 717 donations –$284 million, and she is of course still alive.
Pablo Torre: The degree of political influence that almost $600 million combined gets you, how would you broadly characterize that level of political influence?
Liz Weil: Their first big effort was giving to the 2nd Bush inaugural. They each gave $250,000 to his inauguration. That combined half million got them an audience with Bush. There’s a story of Miriam dropping off a CD to inform the administration about what the Jihadists were doing and she was very public about it. But it didn’t get them the policy they wanted in that administration. Condoleezza Rice was still wanting to negotiate a peace plan between the Palestinians and the Israelis.The Adelsons were very explicit that they were not for what Miriam referred to as the “so-called peace process.” So they stepped up their giving, and with Trump they were much more able to get the actual policy they wanted, get the things done in the world that they wanted… They were like heads of state.
Pablo Torre: With Trump in particular, what is the headline for where they rank in terms of their relationship to Trump specifically as a benefactor?
Liz Weil: They were his largest donors, and they shaped him. Early in the 2016 campaign, they were backing Rubio; initially, [Marco] Rubio was the most “Pro Israel” guy, and he was on air saying whatever they wanted him to say. Trump actually tweeted early on that he [Rubio] was their puppet. Trump was not as Pro Israel as he became, until the Adelsons got on board with him. He’s a really transactional guy, and they’re very transactional people as well.
Pablo Torre: Along with the $25 million she and Sheldon gave to Trump Super PACs in 2016, they gave another $90 million in a 3-month stretch in 2020. They gave more to federal GOP causes in 2020 than the next 3 donors combined. Between 2016 and 2022, they gave $300 million to the Republican Focus, Senate and Congressional Leadership Funds. And all of it culminated in November 2018, when Donald Trump invited Miriam to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
[30:30]
Pablo Torre: Why does Miriam want to do this [own the Mavericks]? Is she a basketball fan? What’s her motive here?
Liz Weil: The real play here has always been to bring gambling to Texas. That’s a plan they’ve been working on really aggressively since 2020, and they don’t want sports betting where you’re sitting on your couch and betting on your phone: They want you to come to a casino. That is what they’re lobbying for. That’s what they’re spending tons of money all over the capital, all over the state, not hiding it whatsoever.
Pablo Torre: Right. The Texas-Sands PAC in 2023 spent $6 million on 63 lobbyists trying to legalize gambling in the state.
Liz Weil: So I think buying the team gets her a tremendous amount of political capital, a tremendous amount of publicity. You become an important face and – especially this year – a beloved face of your state. I think there’s part of a feeling that you get power by being publicly hospitable, fun and entertaining and a place that people want to be.
Pablo Torre: A useful thing about sports is that you get fans.
[37:00]
Liz Weil: She wasn’t giving [donations] for a long time: She sat out of the primary, and there was this looming question of is she’s gonna give: How much is she gonna give? Is she upset with Trump? Is she just too upset [about the Hamas attacks in October 2023]? Are things going to be different now that Sheldon has died? She had been giving a lot less philanthropically across the board. And now here we are in this moment. Just in the past week (after Trump was convicted) she said she’s giving him $100 million, and she’s not the only billionaire who immediately announces they’re gonna back Trump this cycle.
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Doesn’t mean they can’t have books about books about book bans, checkmate.
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The summer of George is allowed to continue
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They seemed to roll out a number of billionaire endorsements shortly after the conviction. His campaign people are much better than his policy people.
Largest Protestant denomination votes to oppose IVF
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/12/ivf-southern-baptist-convention-evangelical-00162994
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Dear god is that really what Lara Loomer looks like now?
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Here’s the YouTubez if anyone prefers that method
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No, it’s a troll account.
I’ve seen that posted 100x on my twitter feed. Since I rarely watch videos, I really appreciated Marksman’s print synopsis.
Googling her and she’s not that far off. With one more plastic surgery and some bronzer, that could be her.
And a bee sting she’s allergic to…
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Gary Peterson is a liberal troll who does “subtle” photoshops. Loomer definitely looks, um, odd, so that makes his job easier.