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Republican 'Five Families' aren't just acting like mobsters — they're bragging about it: analysis
March 27, 2023
In December Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) casually mentioned to podcaster Steve Bannon that the Republican caucus has split up into what she called the "Five Families" and then added, "You know my reference.”
As The New Republic's Timothy Noah noted, that comment was an admission that Republicans are proudly comparing themselves to the Mob, in particular the division of territories by the Mafia identified in congressional hearings in 1963.
Noah writes that years ago Donald Trump expressed his admiration for Mario Puzo's bestseller "The Godfather" which spawned three popular films and now it seems the GOP is taking its cues from how the mob ruled New York as they divvy up power.
According to the analyst, "In The Godfather, the fictionalized Five Families 'go to the mattresses,' i.e., to war. In the Republican Conference, dissident members went to war in early January against McCarthy, denying him the speakership on 14 ballots until he bought them off and won victory in the 15th. Now, as negotiations start to get serious over the debt limit, warfare among the Five GOP Families threatens to plunge the country into default and untold financial calamity."
IN OTHER NEWS: 'Rethuglicans': TN Sen. slammed for projecting GOP 'ban' policies onto Democrats
"In The Godfather, loyalty and omertà (i.e., never squeal) are paramount virtues. It’s like that in Trumpworld, too—with the caveat that the Donald is never obliged to reciprocate," he wrote before adding, "Trump is gone but the Trump cult, and therefore Trump’s own Godfather cult, lives on in the designation of the House Republicans’ five warring caucuses as the Five Families."
As additional evidence he reported, "The Godfather came up yet again on the day of the January 6 Capitol insurrection in 2021, when Donald Trump Jr., texted White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, 'this his [sic.] one you go to the mattresses on. They will try to f*ck his entire legacy on this if it gets worse. I’m not convinced these are trump supporters either btw so we should be looking into that.' From the context provided in Don Jr.’s interview with the House select committee on January 6, the president’s son was pushing Meadows to get his father to condemn the insurrection. But the 'they' Don Jr. was referring to was pretty clearly any Democrat or Never Trump Republican with the temerity to make anything of the attack. It was never cleared up whether Don Jr. proposed 'going to the mattresses' against the Capitol rioters, against Trump himself for refusing to condemn them, or against the Trump opponents out to 'f*ck his entire legacy.' Asked about that, Don Jr. said vaguely, 'It’s just a reference for going all in. I think it’s a Godfather reference.'"
You can read more here.
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Disgraced South Carolina ex-lawyer and convicted murder Alex Murdaugh's sister-in-law has stepped up, and is mysteriously buying up items from the family estate before they can be auctioned off, Newsweek reported on Monday.
"Christy Murdaugh, the wife of Randy Murdaugh, Alex Murdaugh's brother, took items from Liberty Auction in Pembroke, Georgia, the morning of March 23, ahead of the auction at 4 P.M. that same day," reported Gerrard Kaonga. "The Liberty Auction House had previously confirmed to Fox Carolina that it was planning to auction off items from the Murdaughs' property in Colleton County."
A previous report indicated a "frenzy buying" situation at the auction for Murdaugh items as people all over the South came forward to try to purchase items tied to the family at the center of a murder case that captivated the entire nation.
"According to a Fox News report, among the items that Christy Murdaugh collected were snakeskin-print pillows featuring Maggie Murdaugh's monogrammed initials. A video showed Christy Murdaugh walking back and forth from a car, putting in items in the boot," said the report. "The auctioneer did not identify the items as belonging to the Murdaugh family by name, instead saying the items came from a 'prominent South Carolina estate.'"
READ: Fact-checker zings Trump for his Waco flub contradicting himself in the same speech
Alex Murdaugh, whose wealthy family has been a powerful force in the legal profession in the South Carolina Lowcountry, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the shooting of his wife Maggie and son Paul. The case was popularized by a Netflix documentary, and by a bizarre series of well-publicized events including Murdaugh's attempt to fake his own death and arrange a fraudulent $10 million insurance payout to his surviving son Buster. Prosecutors argued that Murdaugh killed his family to cover up a years-long trail of embezzlement from his law partners and clients, much of which went into his expensive drug habit.
Even after Murdaugh's conviction, the family is still facing investigations.
Authorities are pushing to exhume the body of Gloria Satterfield, the family housekeeper who was killed in a mysterious "slip and fall" accident several years prior, and whose own family Murdaugh was charged with stealing money from. Additionally, prosecutors have now opened a homicide investigation into the 2015 death of Buster Murdaugh's former classmate Stephen Smith, whose body was found on a rural road close to the Murdaugh's house; the case was originally ruled a hit-and-run, but investigators now believe "something more" happened, although no one has been charged yet.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: 'Mafia behavior': Mike Huckabee skewered for demanding loyalty to Trump
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Trump blames America for Putin's latest nuclear threats: 'This situation was caused by us'
March 27, 2023
Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the allied nation of Belarus, and former President Donald Trump believes that this development is the fault of the United States.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, the former president warned of the dangers posed by Putin's nuclear saber-rattling, but he did not blame the Russian leader for behaving irresponsibly.
Instead, he pointed the finger entirely at the United States.
"Here we go!!! Just as I predicted, now we’re playing with the 'BIG STUFF,'" Trump wrote, referring to the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons. "The 'N' WORD is now being used, front and center. This situation was caused by us -- It’s what happens when you have incompetent people running your government. All I can say to you right now is, PRAY!"
READ MORE: Trump ridiculed for wallowing in self pity: 'Suck it up, Donnie boy'
Trump has repeatedly heaped praise upon Putin over the years, and he even gushed about Putin's "genius" decision to invade Ukraine last year.
Trump also infamously took Putin's side during a press conference in Helsinki in which he said he did not believe his own intelligence agencies' conclusions that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him win.
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