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A Senior Trump Official #fundie talkingpointsmemo.com

The op-ed’s author wrote that “many federal agencies are now operating more effectively from the top down on a fraction of their workforce” and that “we do not want most employees to return, because we are working better without them.”

Roughly 800,000 federal employees are currently going without pay, and millions of Americans who rely on the agencies those employees usually run — everything from the Food and Drug Administration to the Department of the Interior to the Department of Homeland Security — are going without services, except for those provided by workers deemed essential to national security or public safety.

“Now that we are shut down, not only are we identifying and eliminating much of the sabotage and waste, but we are finally working on the president’s agenda,” the official wrote, adding in conclusion: “Wasteful government agencies are fighting for relevance but they will lose. Now is the time to deliver historic change by cutting them down forever.”

Ted Cruz #fundie talkingpointsmemo.com

“Today, judicial lawlessness crossed into judicial tyranny. Today, for the first time ever, the government arrested a Christian woman for living according to her faith. This is wrong. This is not America.

“I stand with Kim Davis. Unequivocally. I stand with every American that the Obama Administration is trying to force to chose between honoring his or her faith or complying with a lawless court decision.

“In dissent, Chief Justice Roberts rightly observed that the Court’s marriage decision has nothing to do with the Constitution. Justice Scalia observed that the Court’s decision was so contrary to law that state and local officials would choose to defy it.

“For every politician — Democrat and Republican — who is tut-tutting that Davis must resign, they are defending a hypocritical standard. Where is the call for the mayor of San Francisco to resign for creating a sanctuary city — resulting in the murder of American citizens by criminal illegal aliens welcomed by his lawlessness?

“Where is the call for President Obama to resign for ignoring and defying our immigration laws, our welfare reform laws, and even his own Obamacare?

“When the mayor of San Francisco and President Obama resign, then we can talk about Kim Davis."

TX Attorney General Ken Paxton #fundie talkingpointsmemo.com

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton and another official to a contempt hearing over the state's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages following the June Supreme Court ruling, according to Dallas television station WFAA.

U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia issued the order in response to a legal action filed by Texas resident John Stone-Hoskins, who asked the court to hold Paxton in contempt after the state would not amend his spouse's death certificate to reflect that the two were married, according to the Houston Chronicle.

According to Cole, when he asked the state to amend his spouse's death certificate, the state cashed his check but refused to complete the paperwork. A Department of State Health Services official wrote, "Until the ruling is fully reviewed, we will not be able to know the impact, if any, on the process to file or amend death certificates. We will keep your documentation in a pending file and will advise you once a determination is made," according to the Chronicle.

Garcia also ordered Kirk Cole, the state's interim director at the Department of State Health Services, to issued an amended death certificate for Stone-Hoskin's spouse, James Stone-Hoskins, according to the Chronicle.

Paxton and Cole must appear in court next week so that Garcia can determine whether the two officials violated his July ruling prohibiting the the state from restricting same-sex marriage.

Cynthia Meyer, a spokeswoman for Paxton, told the Chronicle that the court must determine in a separate case whether the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage was retroactive. Meyer said that Paxton's office would be filing a response to Garcia's order in court.

Earlier this week, Paxton was also indicted on felony securities fraud charges.

George Zimmerman #fundie talkingpointsmemo.com

George Zimmerman Suspended From Twitter Over Apparent Revenge Porn Posts

George Zimmerman's Twitter account was suspended Thursday after he tweeted photographs of a topless woman he said was an ex along with what appeared to be her contact information.

Zimmerman wrote in one tweet that the woman pictured, who he called "Heather," cheated on him "with a dirty Muslim." The tweet included a phone number and the photograph showed her from the chest up. That tweet was captured by The Daily Dot:

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Zimmerman tweeted another naked photograph of the woman and accused her of stealing, according to The Daily Dot. That tweet included a Yahoo email address.

Ann Coulter #fundie talkingpointsmemo.com

Ann Coulter, conservative columnist, said Friday in an email to Breitbart News that if she ran the immigration system, she wouldn’t “admit overweight girls” into the US.

Coulter’s comments were reportedly made in response to a question about an incident that occurred on Tuesday when Coulter refused to hug an undocumented immigrant during an audience Q&A on the cable network Fusion.

“When I’m in charge of immigration (after our 10 year moratorium), I will not admit overweight girls,” Coulter told Breitbart.

Ben Carson #fundie talkingpointsmemo.com

My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain. Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, it would have to be something awfully big if you stop and think about it. And I don’t think it’d just disappear over the course of time to store that much grain.

Pi Kappa Phi North Carolina University Chapter #fundie talkingpointsmemo.com

A fraternity at North Carolina State University was suspended Thursday after a so-called "pledge book" containing disturbing statements about rape and lynching surfaced.

The suspension is the latest in a string of punishments for fraternity members' alleged misconduct at various universities across the country -- most notably at University of Oklahoma, where a video of a fraternity chapter's racist chant went viral and sparked national outrage.

Local TV station WRAL reported a "pledge book" that appeared to belong to NC State's chapter of Pi Kappa Phi was found Thursday at a restaurant near campus. The book was filled with "racially and sexually charged language and derogatory comments about women and children," according to the news outlet.

"It will be short and painful, just like when I rape you," one comment read.

"If she's hot enough, she doesn't need a pulse," another said.

"That tree is so perfect for lynching," read a third.

Some of the comments in the book were signed. WRAL matched those names to a list of frat members listed on the chapter's website.

The report noted that the list of names was scrubbed after a WRAL reporter dropped by the frat house, however. The fraternity chapter's Facebook and Twitter feeds appear to have been scrubbed as well.

Pi Kappa Phi's national organization said it decided to put the NC State chapter on interim suspension while it investigates the pledge book.

“The quotes in the book are reprehensible and unacceptable. We have sent staff to Raleigh to investigate the circumstances of the situation,” the national fraternity's CEO, Mark E. Timmes, said in a statement. “These statements are inconsistent with the values of Pi Kappa Phi and will not be tolerated.”

Mike Huckabee #wingnut talkingpointsmemo.com

[Donald Trump] could personally suck the virus out of every one of the 60,000 people in the world and suck it out of their lungs, swim to the bottom of the ocean and spit it out, and he would be accused of pollution for messing up the ocean, if he did that. There is nothing this President can do that will ever satisfy the people who hate him more than they hate the coronavirus.