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[IMG]https://assets.realclear.com/images/44/443125.jpg[/IMG]
On this date one year ago, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” [URL="https://republicinsanity.tumblr.com/post/629931970537848832/john-n-kennedy"]first profiled the sitting U.S. Senator from Louisiana, [SIZE=4]John N. Kennedy[/SIZE][/URL], who was [URL="https://ballotpedia.org/John_Neely_Kennedy"]first elected to that office in 2016[/URL]. Kennedy’s previous political experience was that, in the 1999 election, he was elected to be the Treasurer of Louisiana, and was, at the time, a Democrat. He spent sixteen years in that role, running an unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign in 2004 as a Democrat, and after he switched parties in 2007, ran another failed one in 2008 as a Republican. He finally won in an attempt to get to Washington, D.C. in 2016, where he slid into the seat left by Sen. [URL="https://republicinsanity.tumblr.com/post/150396283318/david-vitter-2016-update"]David Vitter[/URL], who somehow remained in office as a U.S. Senator for Louisiana for a decade even after the public learned he allegedly solicited sex workers who would pander to his diaper fetish.
Somehow, we’re left questioning which option for this seat was worse.
John Kennedy’s [URL="https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/35496/john-kennedy"]voting record[/URL] is, like most Senators these days, sparse. Mitch McConnell barely allowed votes to happen at all while Majority Leader, and even in the minority, he filibusters most measures. Thus, the only noteworthy things we really can say about Kennedy's record as a legislator are, obviously, that he voted for every member of the Trump Cabinet, all but three judges nominated by Trump, and of course voted against witnesses being allowed in the impeachment inquiry over Ukraine so that it was a “trial” in the Senate, that he then voted to acquit Trump in.
In a way that is in no way good for the nation, Kennedy has become a favorite of the DC media for being willing to run onto cable news and embarrass himself and not realize it. Repeatedly, he has gone onto CNN, Fox News, or whatever network will host him to thrust his own foot not just into his mouth, but right down his throat without any thinking. Among his worst public partisan comments:
[LIST][*]January 17th, 2018: John Kennedy [URL="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-kennedy-aliens_n_5a5f95a7e4b046f0811c6f50"]says that the modern Senate is “[I]like the Jerry Springer Show[/I]”, that “[I]aliens won’t talk to us[/I]” because of how our politicians behave, saying that modern members of Congress are “[I]like 13 year olds[/I]”[/URL].
(Keep that in mind while you read the rest of these incidents.)[*]July 16th, 2019: Sen. Kennedy goes on Tucker Carlson’s white nationalist power-hour, and [URL="https://www.wonkette.com/la-sen-kennedy-raises-squad-threat-level-from-uppity-witches-to-bringers-of-apocalypse"]refers to Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley as “[I]The Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse[/I]”[/URL].[*]September 25th, 2019: Kennedy goes on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd, and of all the people to fact-check and push back on someone… Chuck Todd managed to do so against Kennedy! [URL="https://www.wonkette.com/chuck-todd-did-journalism-on-biden-ukrainium-one-story-where-is-the-real-chuck-todd"]As Kennedy became irate and peddled conspiracy theories about Rudy Giuliani’s propaganda tale of Hunter Biden and “Ukranium One”, Todd blew up every argument he had with ease[/URL].[*]November 7th, 2019: Donald Trump visits John Kennedy on a trip down to Louisiana, and at one of his MAGA hate rallies, [URL="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/11/07/sen-john-kennedy-calls-nancy-pelosi-dumb-newday-berman-vpx.cnn"]Kennedy says of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “[I]It must suck to be that dumb[/I].”[/URL] [*]November 24th, 2019: During the impeachment hearings over Donald Trump attempting to withhold aid from Ukraine unless they started investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden, the testimony of Fiona Hill helped to debunk the talk of “Ukrainium One”. That didn’t stop Sen. Kennedy from [URL="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kennedy-upholds-dnc-ukraine-conspiracy-theory-says-fiona-hill-is-entitled-to-her-opinion"]going on Fox News and continuing to beat a dead horse[/URL] with Chris Wallace. [*]November 25th, 2019: Kennedy goes on CNN to be interviewed by Chris Cuomo, and after getting some actual pushback on his conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden in Ukraine and how much they’re bulls***, Kennedy [URL="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/kennedy-retraction-dnc-ukraine-conspiracy-theory"]retracts his claims[/URL], and admitting he was wrong. [*]December 3rd, 2019: A little over a week after retracting his claims about Hunter Biden in Ukraine, John Kennedy is back on CNN and shamelessly [URL="https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/impeachment-inquiry-12-03-2019/h_a27a9f09c7515b826543ce0c07a1878f"]insisting that Ukraine actually was the real country meddling in the 2016 election[/URL].[*]July 14th, 2020: Kennedy is on Fox News being interviewed by Sean Hannity, and [URL="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/gop-kennedy-opponents-reopening-schools-kiss-my-ass"]says that any opponents of reopening schools because of Covid-19 can “[I]kiss my ass[/I]”[/URL]. How articulate.[*]September 9th, 2020: Sen. Kennedy goes on CNN to try and play defense for Donald Trump after audio excerpts of Trump’s interview with Bob Woodward, where he admits he lied to the public about the threat of Coronavirus, by robotically repeating the same nonsensical thing:
[QUOTE][B]Sen. John Kennedy[/B]: “[I][URL="https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-john-kennedy-short-circuits-in-cnn-interview-repeats-nonsense-defense-about-bob-woodwards-gotcha-book"]These gotcha books don't really interest me that much[/URL][/I].”
[B]CNN's Pamela Brown[/B]: “[I]He's on the record. He's on the record[/I].”
[B]Kennedy[/B]: “[I][URL="https://www.thedailybeast.com/sen-john-kennedy-short-circuits-in-cnn-interview-repeats-nonsense-defense-about-bob-woodwards-gotcha-book"]These gotcha books don't really interest me that much[/URL][/I].”
[B]Brown[/B]: “[I]He did 18 interviews with Bob Woodward ... He's recorded[/I]”.
[/QUOTE][*]January 7th, 2021: After the attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters, John Kennedy gives a scathing rebuke of the actions of the domestic terrorists who participated in an attempt at overthrowing the legislative branch of the government. Then [URL="https://www.bigeasymagazine.com/2021/01/08/our-views-congress-should-expel-senator-john-kennedy-and-other-republicans-who-engaged-in-sedition/"]he voted for the objection to certifying Arizona’s electoral votes[/URL], because the man clearly talks out of both sides of his mouth. Big Easy Magazine, based out of New Orleans, calls for him to be expelled from the Senate for failing to address those who willfully took part in sedition. [*]August 9th, 2021: Kennedy lashes out against the infrastructure bill, calling it a “[I][URL="https://www.wafb.com/2021/08/09/louisianas-two-us-senators-odds-over-infrastructure-bill/"]infrastructure, Green New Deal, and welfare deal[/URL][/I]”. [*]September 2nd, 2021: Only weeks after decrying funding for an infrastructure bill to repair our country’s damaged roads and bridges, Sen. Kennedy [URL="https://www.kennedy.senate.gov/public/2021/9/kennedy-louisiana-delegation-write-letter-asking-for-louisiana-disaster-relief-funding"]writes a letter to the White House asking for disaster relief funding after Hurricane Ida[/URL]. [/LIST]
John N. Kennedy has already announced [URL="https://www.knoe.com/2021/06/01/louisiana-sen-john-kennedy-announces-re-election-bid/"]he will run for re-election in 2022[/URL], but let’s keep our fingers crossed that Louisiana’s jungle primary proves to be his undoing, and his time in office is limited to one term.
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[QUOTE=Malvolio;5739899][URL="https://www.comicsands.com/rozar-harvey-milk-fictional-character-2655059673.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GTAK&utm_source=George+Takei+Newsletters&utm_campaign=4889430594-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_29_05_08_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2e6b4c049b-4889430594-306341081"]https://www.comicsands.com/rozar-harvey-milk-fictional-character-2655059673.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=GTAK&utm_source=George+Takei+Newsletters&utm_campaign=4889430594-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_06_29_05_08_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2e6b4c049b-4889430594-306341081[/URL]
Oh, WBE! Is Donna Rozar in your queue yet?[/QUOTE]
Seriously? Jeez Louise! This harridan's a real prize.
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This has to be one of the worst images of our failure at managing immigration that I've ever seen:
[IMG]https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/AMLwYan6dzHwbEM9UOmitA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTQ3MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/sCLAzx.yR7SEgXSGWhTqMg--~B/aD0xNjY3O3c9MjUwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/nbc_news_122/6da8ff96356160e560b5c3f6c453e37c[/IMG]
I just can't fathom a situation where that action would be acceptable.
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[QUOTE=Totoro Man;5739771]maybe the Ili Rebellion sides wouldn't "map well" today with career politicians and right-wing pundits... but they'd probably get treated like heroes by a lot of academics, Hollywood, social media, and students... if people can become adoring fans of AOC and Bernie Sanders, they could learn to like these guys too.
I bet you could make a sure-fire Oscar nominated movie about it. just spin it as...
the ILI Rebellion in 1944. we could have the main character be Abdulkerim Abbas. that man's life practically reads like a Hollywood script already: doomed and forbidden love affairs, freedom fighters, espionage, war, tragic death scenes, etc.
it'd be like (Asian) Malcom X + Romeo and Juliet + Lawrence of Arabia.
sure, the fact that most of them were Asian Muslim socialists would turn off a lot of parochial right-wingers... in spite of some obvious cultural differences, it wouldn't be hard for Americans to read their own nation's historic struggle for independence onto (and alongside) the Ili Rebellion.[/QUOTE]
Abbas's life story does seem like it was made for film, and he even has the gigachad jawline to boot. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how well his story would be taken outside of China, given that he rejected the assertion of Turkic nationalist factions that the conflict was a race war to drive the Chinese out of Xinjiang, and instead saw it as a struggle of the working class against the greed and corruption of the KMT government. So from his faction's perspective, the rebellion was just another front in the wider Chinese civil war, and the Ili armies were effective a division of the Red Army, which explains the eagerness to turn Xinjiang over to CPC control after the war was won. Of course in hindsight, the narrative isn't so clear cut, as the subsequent turmoil in China throughout the 50s and 60s demonstrated that Xinjiang was not going to turn into some ethnically harmonious worker's paradise overnight, and had Abbas survived he almost certainly would have eventually ended up on the wrong side of the never ending factional struggles within the party and been purged and his memory defaced. I suppose you could try to play up the angle that the plane crash he died in was not an accident but rather Chinese sabotage, but that's really just a conspiracy theory and it really wouldn't have made any sense for Mao to order the assassination of such a loyal supporter.
And if you zoom out a bit, there are actually way more parallels between the rise of the Chinese communists and the American revolution than anyone would like to admit, starting from a small band of guerrillas fighting against an oppressive regime and eventually prevailing in turning the nation into something much greater than it could have ever been under the bumbling and backward thinking old empire. It's hard for us to picture now, but in the early years the CPC did have overwhelming support among ethnic minority populations because they were fighting against the Western-backed KMT government, which openly served the interests of the Han Chinese ruling class and saw the minorities as little more than rowdy children to be whipped into line, whereas the communists were selling a much more attractive angle of inter-ethnic solidarity against capitalist oppression and promised that everyone would share in the newfound prosperity once the war was won. Now, the constant purges and chaos during the subsequent decades ruined much of this relationship, and caused many minority groups to abandon any hope of communal solidarity in favor of trying to establish their own breakaway ethnostates. But we need to remember that these attitudes are relatively rare and mostly active among vocal diaspora activists, and that at home most people reject the idea of starting a race war because they can just look across any of China's many borders and see exactly what the results of that look like, and would still prefer to enjoy the stable, if flawed, rule of the communists instead.
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[QUOTE=thwhtGuardian;5740085]This has to be one of the worst images of our failure at managing immigration that I've ever seen:
[IMG]https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/AMLwYan6dzHwbEM9UOmitA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTQ3MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/sCLAzx.yR7SEgXSGWhTqMg--~B/aD0xNjY3O3c9MjUwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/nbc_news_122/6da8ff96356160e560b5c3f6c453e37c[/IMG]
I just can't fathom a situation where that action would be acceptable.[/QUOTE]
What action is that? Rounding up illegal entrants at the border? Would a jeep be better optics? We are cowboy country so I see no shame in this or aggressively stopping people from flooding the country. The look on the nabbed fella's face tells us all what a freaking joke he thinks it is to cross over without going through channels.
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[QUOTE=Xheight;5740157]What action is that? Rounding up illegal entrants at the border? Would a jeep be better optics? We are cowboy country so I see no shame in this or aggressively stopping people from flooding the country. The look on the nabbed fellas face tells us all what freaking joke he thinks it is to cross over without going through channels.[/QUOTE]
Why am I not shocked to see you supporting terrorizing asylum seekers with men on horseback with whips?
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Seems like the only folks that approve how immigration handled the Haitian immigrants are the "party of family values".
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[QUOTE=Xheight;5740157]What action is that? Rounding up illegal entrants at the border? Would a jeep be better optics? We are cowboy country so I see no shame in this or aggressively stopping people from flooding the country. The look on the nabbed fella's face tells us all what a freaking joke he thinks it is to cross over without going through channels.[/QUOTE]
I don't have words to describe how wrong this reaction is.
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[QUOTE=Xheight;5740157]What action is that? Rounding up illegal entrants at the border? Would a jeep be better optics? We are cowboy country so I see no shame in this or aggressively stopping people from flooding the country. The look on the nabbed fella's face tells us all what a freaking joke he thinks it is to cross over without going through channels.[/QUOTE]
Some people are mistaking reins for whips.
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[QUOTE=Mister Mets;5740222]Some people are mistaking reins for whips.[/QUOTE]
Later photos show more clearly that they're using using' reins' with a very long end. Hard to imagine why they might do that. I wonder...
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I don't think I need to tell anyone that you don't hold the reigns of a horse like this:
[url]https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/c8eWyABuGjcxukJjF7yLZQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTM5NztjZj13ZWJw/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/O8DfMLT2GXIC0E4wA3Buqg--~B/aD03MjA7dz0xMjgwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://media.zenfs.com/en/axios_articles_623/d90ba619719394c98c5cdc7fde77828f[/url]
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[QUOTE=Mister Mets;5740222]Some people are mistaking reins for whips.[/QUOTE]
Heck, even if it is a long set of reins(which I doubt) it's still a truly inhumane image. These illegal immigrants are human beings and should be treated as such, not like animals.
The opening scene of Planet of the Apes with Taylor and his fellow astronauts fleeing through the fields is so shocking and evokes a feeling of horror specifically because it's humans being hunted like animals so the reaction should be the same here.
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[QUOTE=thwhtGuardian;5740228]Heck, even if it is a long set of reins(which I doubt) it's still a truly inhumane image. These illegal immigrants are human beings and should be treated as such, not like animals.[/QUOTE]
They're seeking asylum so I'll call them 'asylum-seekers', rather than just 'illegal immigrants'. :)
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Even if you get delight from the plight and mistreatment of others. Maybe it's bets if you kept that to yourself.
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[QUOTE=Tendrin;5740236]They're seeking asylum so I'll call them 'asylum-seekers', rather than just 'illegal immigrants'. :)[/QUOTE]
Very true, my apologies.