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| Another year to stomach. |
Can you stomach another year of chaos and dysfunction?
Hi.
On behalf of me, LeReyna, George Cook Reports and all the contributors to the blog, thank you.
2024.
Another year to discuss and so much unpredictable events between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 2024.
So I said I will start cutting back on posting this 2024. I am still concerned that Google is making it harder for Blogger to function as normal and it will likely phase it out in short time. I am surprised that I managed to be a contributor for so long despite the unpredictable outcomes of the year. Also working two jobs and getting bored with it kind of puts a damper on me.
However, I am still here and I am going to do my best to keep readers informed.
Continuing on, I am going to still maintain sources from AP, Reuters, CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CNN and Al Jazeera. I will use them with caution and offer a slight opinion to what they're writing.
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| Israel will be held accountable. |
Holding the free press accountable is just as important as holding politicians, community leaders and businesses accountable.
So thus, 2024, election year.
President Joe Biden will be 81 years old if he wins reelection. Right now, I have his chances at 48% of reelection victory. I mean the first two years were cake compared to this year. He goes out more like a loser than a winner. Sure, he can brag about the economy going back to normal, but folks aren't seeing it. He can brag about jobs aplenty, but many hate their current job (or jobs) and feel like they have no choice but to work in order to survive. Many hate the fact that Congress is not doing their job. They have already spent a portion of the 118th Congress passing the fewest legislative bills in history. With a Republican House of Representatives, a Democratic U.S. Senate and a Democratic president, 1/3 or 2/3 of the government is fucking it up.
Who is the biggest loser in 2023?
Meaning that legislation that is usually bipartisan is shot down by members who are too extreme to even hold office.
I mean Biden's approval is average in the mid-40s and some high 30s. Not good. Many are concerned about his age, his policies, his stance on Israel and for Republicans, the fact that he's not impeached.
They have no concrete proof of wrongdoing from 2009-17 vice president Biden.
Republicans are chasing a bunch of conspiracies to get Biden impeached in order to please Trump. I never thought I would have to deal with this, but Biden never tried to overthrow democracy, undermine the U.S. legal and justice system, cry victimhood and play to a base of rapid supporters who dismissed his incompetence in 2020 with the COVID pandemic. For those who supported Donald J. Trump, they felt that he gave them more money. Damn those folks who died from a deadly pandemic. Damn those folks who believe that he was not capable of doing his job. Damn those folks who are holding him accountable. Colorado had disqualified him from the ballot which he is going to fight in federal court.
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| Rudy Giuliani won't get money from Trump. Both of them are broke. |
Why is everyone picking on Trump?
Because he is a person like everyone else. He is a suspect innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Trump is a clear frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary. Despite him holding the title of being twice impeached, criminally indicted in federal and state courts, found liable for being a rapist, found liable for defrauding the U.S. and New York state governments of millions, lying to federal prosecutors when he took classified documents from the White House (possibly to sabotage Biden) and constantly facing legal ramifications for his behavior, Trump is leading in polls.
Republicans who are running for president are ignored. Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson, Rivek Ramaswamy, Larry Elder, Doug Burgum and Will Hurd are angry that Trump gets more attention. Trump ignored the bylaws of the Republican National Committee, declined to participate in any debates (and including the presidential debates), cranked up more rhetoric about his election being stolen to now claiming Biden is participating in election interference. Republicans are bleeding money because of this. They felt that Republicans aren't looking forward to the next generation and are clearly stuck on a failed presidential candidate.
Are you glad 2023 is over?
Ron DeSantis took the unusual step of debating Gavin Newsom, the governor of California on Fox with Sean Hannity, the most annoying media personality on the planet. He offers more softball interviews to Trump and Republicans and often doesn't allow many guests who are Democrats to speak.
DeSantis's detour from the Republican debates has cost him big time. Many are seeking Namrata "Nikki" Haley as their only hope. She has struggled as well but Republicans feel that she could be the last hope to avoiding a repeat of losses with Trump and his endorsement of candidates.
Trump had backed a majority of candidates in the 2023 election only to see Louisiana go in his favor with the exception of Caddo Parish, Louisiana's sheriff's race. Jeff Landry, the state attorney general of state was sworn in as governor this year after he ran in a jungle primary and won outright over 51% of the vote. He will hold a Republican supermajority now that John Bel Edwards and Democrats failed to muster a successor for his term limited time.
Colorado Springs and Jacksonville have Democratic mayors. Colorado Springs mayor is an independent but endorsed by the Democrats.
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| Trump and his minions got mugshots. |
Jennifer McClellan easily won the seat vacated by the late Donald McEachin.
Gabe Amo became the first African American and former Biden official to be seated in Rhode Island after David Cicilline resigned to become a CEO of Rhode Island Foundation and spend time with his husband.
Celeste Maloy became the newest member of Congress after the Republican beaten moderate Kathleen Riebe in a seat held by longtime member Chris Stewart who resigned after he voiced his concerns about Congress and his wife's health.
Ohio is now required to codify abortion. Republicans are vowing to repeal the measure despite an overwhelming majority voting to secure it.
Kentucky continues to have a Democratic governor despite the state being heavily favored for Republicans. Andy Beshear easily beaten Daniel Cameron in a race for governor. Cameron has hinted his intentions of running for the senate to replace Mitch McConnell if he retires or dies in office.
Wisconsin holds a Supreme Court majority. Janet Protasiewicz beaten longtime repeat Daniel Kelly in a race to keep save women's rights and end the partisan gerrymandering Republicans inflicted on Democratic governor Tom Evers.
Democrats lose Louisiana to the Republicans, but a legal challenge is forcing the state to look at its heavily gerrymandered map.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson easily won his reelection but switched from being a Democrat to become a Republican. Republicans now have one city in the United States with a population over 1 million. Johnson was upset over policies from Biden involving immigration and crime. He is term limited.
Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Ohio, Illinois, Texas, Louisiana and Florida must redraw their maps.
The Supreme Court ruled that maps must be fair. Republicans vow to rechallenge the ruling which is slated for a decision come 2024. The states (with exception of Illinois) are held by Republican supermajorities and they are intentionally trying to suppress votes.
Black voters are souring on Biden though. Blacks make up the base of Democratic voters. But Black women are the strongest of the group. Black men are likely voting for Trump this go around. Black men have supported Trump in double digits. Even rappers like Waka Flocka Flame, Sexyy Red, DaBaby, Kodak Black, Benny The Butcher, Chief Keef, Lil Wayne, Lil Pump, Ye, Ice Cube and music producer Teddy Riley are backing Trump. It comes as Biden's policies according to them are ignoring Black men.
They also don't like Vice President Kamala Harris. Being the first African American woman [who also identifies with South Asian American] descent has Black separatists angry. The fact she is married to a white man who is Jewish also angers them. The far right and Black moors are equally hateful of one another but in their minds, Trump was the guy they supported because he supported separatism.
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| Kevin McCarthy fades out. |
Moms for Liberty, the Anti-Defamation League, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Freedom Caucus and Fox are considered threats to democracy. In my opinion, these groups are offering more chaos and disruption than any organization ever named.
The ADL was once a group I supported. I denounce anti-semitism to the fullest. But under the leadership of Jonathan Greenblatt, it has become a propaganda tool for Israel.
AIPAC and the ADL have tried to stifle free speech in the wake of Israel's relentless campaign on the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The most recent event in Oct. 2023 has only intensified the Israeli far right government to eliminate Gaza and the West Bank. Their are 35 states that have legislation that mandates that you can't protest against Israel which is a challenge of free speech. As the protests are getting larger and louder, many media personalities, lawmakers and Israel have come to a conclusion, let them speak but force them to condemn the actions of Hamas first.
AIPAC and the ADL have tried to stifle free speech in the wake of Israel's relentless campaign on the Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The most recent event in Oct. 2023 has only intensified the Israeli far right government to eliminate Gaza and the West Bank. Their are 35 states that have legislation that mandates that you can't protest against Israel which is a challenge of free speech. As the protests are getting larger and louder, many media personalities, lawmakers and Israel have come to a conclusion, let them speak but force them to condemn the actions of Hamas first.
Many are now seeing Hamas as a legitimate resistance to the years long occupation of Palestine by Israel. Only 24 nations see Hamas as a terrorist group. South Africa has formally denounced Israel and several South American countries have pulled ambassadors from the state. Thus, Israel has vowed to carry on this assault despite public and global opinions turning against them.
Benjamin Netanyahu had promoted the full Israel at the UN, talked about it during interviews, allowed Hamas to enter Israel and is leading an all out assault on Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. The West has not condemned the actions and its stroking tensions.
Vladimir Putin launched his campaign on Ukraine in 2022 and the whole world condemned it and sanctioned it. Western businesses pulled out of Russia and it nearly collapse their economy. How can we condemn Russia for war crimes but not Israel.
Biden said it best: "It was the other team!"
Those will go down in history as the words of a failed president. He practically took a side in this conflict that has been ongoing since the 1948 Nakba. He stated that Israel will still get funding and Ukraine will still get funding if Congress does pass legislation.
Many young voters, Arab Americans, Muslim and some Jewish voters are not happy with Biden's stance on Israel as well as his refusal to call for a permanent ceasefire.
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| 2024 will be challenging. |
Moms for Liberty has been on an all out assault on free speech, LGBTQIA rights, Black history and Native American history. They have promoted pro-White events, hosted lawmakers and injected policies into state laws. But in between all that, there's some members who have been convicted of criminal acts of women, children, public property and government officials. The group continues to say that it's isolated and doesn't represent the group as a whole. But since they love to equate rioting to Black Lives Matter and antifa, it's time for Moms for Liberty to hold a candle to the actions of their own.
Books are being pulled from shelves, TV programs are being pulled because of LGBT references, attending pro-Palestine protests are met with employers firing workers, drafting mandatory state ID for voting laws are all part of a radical plan called Project 2025.
Democrats are warning their base that Trump and Republicans are working on creating a permanent fix to losing elections. They are going to ignore the popular vote, dismiss the electoral college certification of a Democratic presidential winner, repeal laws that allow early voting and make it harder for anyone to take time off to vote.
They are going to insert English as the official language, end birthright citizenship for children of immigrants, ban abortion, strip federal courts and federal government agencies that go against Republicans. They are going to mandate by birth restroom laws and deny gay marriage in the United States. They also plan on ending public health emergencies in the wake of mask mandates and pandemic preparedness.
This is the noise that elected Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Virginia Foxx, Lauren Boebert, Paul Gosar and made Mike Johnson the House Speaker.
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| I feel you. |
Kevin McCarthy gets ousted from his position because he decided to cave to this extremists. He vows revenge towards Nancy Mace who is seeking reelection, not backing Johnson in his upcoming fights with the Republican conference and secretly plotting the fall of Elise Stefanik. He went through 15 votes to become speaker and served only nine months before the Democratic minority and eight Republicans (Gaetz, Mace, Ken Buck and others) ousted him. Now as the year ends, he resigns in disgrace.
Tina Turner, Harry Belafonte, Jerry Springer, Pee Wee Herman, Pat Robertson, Matthew Perry, Bob Baker, Andrew Braugher, Norman Lear, Sandra Day O'Connor, Roselynn Carter, Richard Roundtree, Richard Moll, Diamond Hardaway, Suzanne Somers, Jimmy Buffett, Shahuda [Sinead O'Connor], Ted Kaczynski, Jim Brown, Rudolph Isley, Bobby Caldwell, Robert Blake, Dianne Feinstein, Anita Pointer, Trugoy the Dove, Lisa Marie Presley and Gangsta Boo have passed away this year. Some were iconic in their lives. Mind you, that other memorable actors, singers, politicians, civil servants and people in the news passed away and I managed to cover most of them.
In 2024, we are expected to see major celebrity deaths as well as shocking events.
So many things in summary. I am not going to waste too much time covering Swifties, Bey Hives, pop culture, entertainment, businesses and the knick knacks of 2023.
My list of winners and losers.
Winners
- Social Justice
- Palestinians
- Al Jazeera
- Taylor Swift
- Beyonce
- Rihanna
- Nicki Minaj
- Lil Baby
- TikTok
- Andy Beshear, Kentucky governor
- Duchess Meghan
- Prince Harry
- J. Cole
- Gun violence
- Actors and Writers
- The Five
- Jesse Watters
- Shannon Bream
- Jen Psaki
- Nicolle Wallace
- Joy Reid
- Ari Melber
- Abby Phillips
- Ali Velshi
- Black Montgomery
- Demar Hamlin
- Oppenheimer
- Barbie
- Greta Gerwig
- Margot Robbie
- Jenna Ortega
- Melissa Barrera
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Denver Nuggets
- Las Vegas Golden Knights
- Columbus Crew
- Texas Rangers
- Karen Bass, Los Angeles mayor
- Donna Deegan, Jacksonville mayor
- Michelle Wu, Boston mayor
- Yemi Mobolade, Colorado Springs mayor
- Janet Protasiewicz, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
- Ohio Issue 1 and Issue 2 passing
- Ruby Freeman and Shay Moss
- Tim Walz, Minnesota governor
- Fani Willis, Fulton County Georgia prosecutor
- Alvin Bragg, Manhattan [New York City] prosecutor
- Jack Smith, U.S. Special Prosecutor overseeing Trump indictments
- Angel Reese
- Justin Jones, Tennessee state lawmaker
- Justin Pearson, Tennessee state lawmaker
- Rashida Tlaib
- E. Jean Carroll
- Sexyy Red
- Jeff Landry, Louisiana governor
- Ice Spice
- Coi Leray
- Latto
- Fran Drescher, SAG-ATFA union president/actress
- Mike Johnson
- Hakeem Jefferies
- Gavin Newsom, California governor
- Jim Harbaugh
- Travis Kelce
- Lawmakers who aren't controversial
Losers
- Israel
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Isaac Herzog
- Warner Bros Discovery
- David Zaslav
- Chris Licht
- President Joe Biden
- Congress
- Donald J. Trump
- Rudy Giuliani
- Ron DeSantis, Florida governor
- Andrew Tate
- Bob Menendez
- Kevin McCarthy
- George Santos
- James Comer
- Jim Jordan
- Lauren Boebert
- Jamaal Bowman
- Clarence Thomas
- Harlon Crow
- Tory Lanez
- Lizzo
- King Charles III
- Princess Catherine
- Prince William
- Republicans
- Democrats
- Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Markwayne Mullin
- X (formerly Twitter)
- Elon Musk
- Meta
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Amy Schumer
- Jon Lovitz
- AIPAC
- Anti-Defamation League
- Ukraine
- Russia
- Sudan
- United Nations
- United Kingdom
- Tucker Carlson
- Don Lemon
- Fox News
- Rupert Murdoch
- Sean "Softball" Hannity
- Medhi Hasan
- Vivek Ramaswamy
- Danny Masterson
- Russell Brand
- Vince McMahon
- The Game
- Moms for Liberty
- Candace Owens
- Kanye West
- Sean "Puffy" Combs
- Aaron Hall
- Project Veritas
- Jonathan Majors
- Ezra Miller
- Kristen Welker
- Joe Manchin
- John Fetterman
- Yevgeny Prigozhin
- Larry Elder
- Rachel Powell, Pennsylvania Jan. 6 attacker
- Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Cornel West
- Patrick McHenry
- Katie Porter
- Laura Ingraham
- King Charles [Gayle King and Charles Barkley]
- Nikki Haley
- Jay Johnston
- Tim Scott
- Tommy Tuberville
- John N. Kennedy
- Ted Cruz
- J.D. Vance
- Lindsey Graham
- Kyrsten Sinema
- Dilbert
- Chinese Surveillance Balloons
- Justin Roiland, actor and creator of Rick and Morty
- Diamond & Silk
- Jada Pinkett Smith
- Dylann Mulaney
- Laura Loomer
- Matt Schlapp
- Alec Baldwin
- Mike Pence
- TJ Holmes
- Amy Robach
- The Walt Disney Company
- East Palestine, Ohio
- Forgiato Blow, Proud Boy and MAGA-themed rapper
- Kari Lake
- Jeffrey Shaun King
- Tara Reade
- Kim Potter
- Derek Chauvin
- The Transformers Rise of The Beasts
- The Flash
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods
- Offset
- DaBaby
- Lil Wayne
- Newsmax
- Newsnation
- Chris Christie
- Titan Submarine Crew
- Kodak Black
- Pras
- Space X
- Tesla
- Yellow Trucking
- Norfolk Southern Railroad
- Ritchie Torres
- Sheila Jackson-Lee
- Detroit Pistons
- Lori Lightfoot
- Brandon Johnson, Chicago mayor
- Carolyn Bryant Donham
- DJ Envy
- Charlamagne tha God
- Sidney Powell
- Jenna Ellis
- The Buckhead City movement
- Lordstown Motor Company
- Christmas Tree Shops
- Nina Turner
- Kia Boyz
- Eric Adams, New York City mayor
- Greg Abbott, Texas governor
- Benzino
- Nicolás Maduro
- Young Thug
- Ice Cube
- Scream franchise
- Bed Bath & Beyond
- Tuesday Morning
- WeWork
- SmileDirectClub
- Z Gallerie
- Aaron Rodgers
- Bill Belichick
- Mike Tomlin
- Sam Altman
- Glenn Youngkin
- Draymond Green
- San Francisco
- Chicago
I will make a New Year's resolution. Let them drown. Keep my guard up and do not do too much for people. Work hard to win.
The year 2024 will be more celebrity and political controversies. More famous figures will pass away. There will be more mass shootings, more police shootings of unarmed people of color and still nothing being done with gun violence. There will be more major natural disasters.
Who knows what happens next?
Add your feedback here in the comments section.
Well wishes this New Year.
Keep the faith.
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