All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[numberthirty]

While someone might have already mentioned this, I feel like it deserves to be noted on the off chance that it hasn't...

http://fortune.com/2018/10/08/musk-g...flint-schools/

Musk Honors Pledge, Donates Cash to Bring Clean Water to Flint, Michigan Schools

[Malvolio]

What if you join a club and after saying you aren't really a member of that club someone says "It's true... You know it's true..."? Are you responsible for getting the club back on good terms after they do that, or is that their responsibility because they created the friction when they said it?

Well, speaking just for myself, I would sit down and shut up. I would understand that as a new member of the club, I have to earn their trust first before I propose any rule changes.

[JCAll]

Okay, who pressed the Hillary button? I thought I had that damn thing disconnected!

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Well, speaking just for myself, I would sit down and shut up. I would understand that as a new member of the club, I have to earn their trust first before I propose any rule changes.

Except it's not a club which is why this club comparison is silly and obviously self serving. It's a political party that lives and dies off the support it gets from it's members. In this situation the real club is America and there are two factions within it fighting for power. Not everyone is a member of each faction, but they all have the same voting power in the club.

The new members don't give a **** about seniority of either of the factions because they are in the club no matter what, they just don't have to support one of the factions. In this case it's more like one of the factions saw a benefit to having someone who had a lot of overlap with their faction but had some non traditional views as well in bringing him and people who supported him to the faction. Then got mad that he got really popular and was potentially going to assume power in the faction, so they used their pre established institutions to box him out, which in turn pissed off his supporters who weren't card carrying enough members of the faction to unwavering support them after getting pissed off.

The Democratic Party can either accept that being a big tent party means you are reliant on blocks of voters that might be outside the parties establishment and sometimes you have to cater to them to get votes, or they can try to dictate the terms of the arrangement with a group of people that have shown they have no problem staying home. But that's the way they wanted the party to be. They want to span a wide range of ideologies to cater to a bigger crowd, so turnout is more paramount. The Republicans are a far more narrow party and don't have to deal with that as much and that's why their strategy is depress turnout.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Okay, who pressed the Hillary button? I thought I had that damn thing disconnected!

The usual suspects. It's a mix of certain people being passive aggressive about it and then Thirty being unable to let it go

[InformationGeek]

And here's Trump praising the Confederacy.

WATCH: President Trump says "Robert E. Lee was a great general" during Ohio rally, calling the Confederate leader "incredible."

[JCAll]

I guarantee you that Trump knows exactly jack **** about the Civil War, but he knows Neo-Confederates line up to kiss his ass.

[numberthirty]

From the outskirts of "News"/"Politics"....(I'd imagine there are "Spoilers")

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinio...inity_20181012

Netflix's 'Daredevil' season three is a Jeff Sessions fever dream and an ode to mass incarceration

[Dalak]

While from twitter, it seems to be a thing worthy of note.

ALERT: The Trump administration has a plan to drastically curtail protests in DC, shutting down space in front of White House, charging massive fees, & banning stages & sound systems for rapid-response demonstrations.

[PaulBullion]

It was time for Trump to do whatever the white supremacist equivalent of "virtue signalling" is.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the heir apparent to his father, Ron Paul’s political legacy and generally demented views. He’s a board-certified ophthalmologist*, has been repeatedly caught plagiarizing from other sources for speeches (including from Wikipedia articles), and has hired Neo-Confederates to serve on his campaign staff, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise because Rand also once told Rachel Maddow in an interview that he wouldn’t have voted for the Civil Rights Act. Rand’s also discussed conspiracy theories like the Bilderberg Group, the American Union, the Jade Helm conspiracy theory, and even some 9/11 Trutherism, and experts who analyze the speeches of Congressmen determined he speaks roughly at about the 8th Grade Level. A fine example was in 2014 when he blamed “political correctness” on people being afraid to declare a travel ban because of the Ebola Virus outbreak in Africa, as opposed to the actual doctors and epidemiologists who said a travel ban would only make things worse. Instead, he tried accusing the Obama administration of deliberately exposing 30,000 American troops to the disease. Rand Paul once sponsored a Personhood bill that would apply the 14th Amendment to fetuses, as well, showing he’s not exactly the libertartian “hands off” type he portrays himself as. After a long pattern of Rand Paul shushing female journalists emerged and was noted by political commentators as evidence of sexist behavior, Paul responded by telling critics that it was “sexist to call him sexist”, which is similar to how racists insist their accusers are the real racist ones. in June 2017 he compared National Health Care to "the gulag". (Which is amazing, because the gulag is where Stalin sent millions to DIE whereas healthcare does the EXACT OPPOSITE FOR PEOPLE).

There was a point when Rand Paul was considered a potential front-runner for the Republican nomination for president, since the Tea Party was originally fomented with the help of his father, Ron, and their “outsider” group of ultra-conservatives. But having a daddy like Ron Paul “helping” isn’t always as much of a benefit as one might like, as the scandal surrounding Ron Paul’s 2012 bid for president where adviser Jesse Benton handicapped Paul’s chances early on. Then, the Tea Party got hijacked over time by even more outspoken bigots than Rand, who was pulling punches, like Ted Cruz, and eventually Donald Trump, who whipped them up into an anti-immigrant frenzy before Rand even realized what happened. Paul lost so much heat that when he published a book to hype on the campaign trail, it sold only a few hundred copies. He couldn’t escape the bottom tier of the GOP, ending up polling somewhere around tenth and barely qualifying for most of the primary debates, and using what little time he had on stage to bicker with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who made it his own personal mission to destroy Rand with every opportunity given in the debates. In the midst of Rand Paul looking visibly depressed about his failed presidential campaign all year, he managed to prove n the rest of the year that he's the same libertarian wing lunatic, voting against the permanent approval of The Zadroga Act, talking about getting rid of the Postal Service, voting to make sure anyone found to be on a terror watch list during a background check should still be allowed to purchase a firearm or explosives (which they could use to carry out a terror attack) and reintroduces his own Personhood bill, the "Life at Conception Act", which would grant Constitutional rights to zygotes from the moment of fertilization.

Rand Paul staggered out of the 2016 GOP Presidential Primary in February of 2016, inexplicably hanging in far longer than he should have, after polling always down near 1%, and raising virtually no money from donors for his doomed campaign. He instead focused on defeating Jim Gray, the openly gay mayor of Lexignton, Kentucky, to reclaim his U.S. Senate seat with 57% of the vote, which he now will not have to defend until 2022.

Rand is more partisan than ever, and not just because he voted to approve every member of the Trump cabinet, or to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, or even that he voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act back in July of 2017, and would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those pesky kids Murkowski, Collins, and McCain. His "smaller government" heartless principles also saw him vote against disaster relief for Houston after Hurricane Harvey.

We can’t emphasize this statement enough, Rand Paul’s image that he is somehow not a reliable Republican vote, and that he’s an “outsider” because of his Libertarian views? HE IS FULL OF S***. Sure, he’ll have “doubts” about Republican nominees and go on cable news shows to vaguely talk about them, but he still goes out and votes for them anyway and hopes no one notices his actual voting record. He’s done this on some of the worst candidates for nominations, like say when Mike Pompeo is up for Secretary of State, or when torture-enthusiast Gina Haspel is up for CIA Director. Even more galling is that when an accused rapist, widely regarded drunk, and partisan hack is up for a Supreme Court seat, like say Brett Kavanaugh, he doesn’t even HAVE a doubt.

Back in mid-February of 2017, the Trump administration had its first, and not last ties to the Trump campaign being tied to Russia, after General Michael Flynn resigned after it was revealed he failed to disclose several meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and the transition. And while the Democrats thought that warranted an investigation and several Republicans like Sen. John McCain agreed... Rand Paul deemed such a move "excessive" and "it makes no sense for Republicans to investigate Republicans", proving that he views oversight as a partisan matter completely.

...

Rand Paul, at this point, is moving into “ride or die” territory when it comes to Donald Trump, as after Trump’s “s***hole countries” remarks in January of 2018, Sen. Paul actually chastised people for calling the president a racist because “it hurts immigration talks”. You see? Trump isn’t the problem. It’s all the people rightly pegging him a racist that are the problem. Can’t say I’m shocked from the guy who wouldn’t back the Civil Rights Act, though.

How much of a spineless toady is Sen. Paul? At this point, he’ll hand deliver letters to Vladimir Putin from Donald Trump (really) that the public don’t get to ever learn the contents of, while claiming that the Mueller investigation and people upset about Russians hacking the 2016 election are just “Trump Derangement Syndrome”. His support of smaller government principles flew right out the window after a member of the Trump administration wrote an anonymous opinion editorial in the New York Times in July 2018, when he demanded that White House staff should have to begin taking lie detector tests to determine who actually wrote it.

But to wrap up this profile… we have to cover the plain weird factor. In January of 2018, one of the more bizarre and mysterious news stories broke… Rand Paul was attacked by his elderly neighbor, and actually suffered six broken ribs and other injuries in the assault. A lot of folks wondered if the beat-down was politically motivated… but no. Apparently, and this might come as a shock to those who have never met Ayn Rand fans… but Rand Paul is a s***ty neighbor, because he’s a selfish d*** who just throws his lawn trimmings and leaves wherever he wants, i.e. right along the property line. (That neighbor’s last name was Boucher, and we keep picturing Adam Sandler from The Waterboy tackling Rand Paul. It is… soothing to picture.)

We'll keep an eye on Aqua Buddha, still, because he's apparently going to milk his dad's legacy for far longer than should have ever been possible.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

While from twitter, it seems to be a thing worthy of note.

ALERT: The Trump administration has a plan to drastically curtail protests in DC, shutting down space in front of White House, charging massive fees, & banning stages & sound systems for rapid-response demonstrations.

Compared to protests in the 60's and 70's, what's happening today is amateur night in Dixie. But when you have a thin-skinned demagogue in the White House who's woefully incapable of handling ANY amount of criticism against him or his abominable administration, this, sadly is par for the course. I hope the ACLU fights this tooth and nail.

====================

ICE Is Sending Separated Children Home With No One To Pick Them Up

Immigration officials sent a 4-year-old separated child from the U.S. to Guatemala City without telling her family she was coming home. Christ on a crutch! This is HORRIBLE!

**********

Donald Trump Jr. Peddles Tweet Linking Jamal Khashoggi To ‘Jihadists’

The president’s eldest son tweeted an exchange between conservative journalists who were apparently trying to smear Khashoggi. What in hell is wrong with fuckwads like Trump Junior? Oh, yeah, they're fuckwads.

**********

White House Aides ‘Hugely Embarrassed’ By Trump’s Lunch With Kanye: NYT Reporter

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman says the president looked “speechless and confused” during his meeting the rap mogul. Invite a clown, expect a circus.

**********

Twitter Users Jeer GOP Candidate Over ‘Most Elitist Threat I’ve Ever Heard’

“Nothing like being a man of the people by threatening assault using equipment from a sport most associated with elites.” Twitter users have a point there.

**********

Trump Asking For Donations To His Re-Election Campaign To Help Build His Wall

He couldn’t get Mexico to pay for it, so now wants Republican donors to help him force Congress to use American tax dollars for it. If Trump wants his goddamn wall so bad, he should finance it himself.

[PaulBullion]

Old video surfaced of Republican nominee for Michigan Governor Bill Schuette sexually harassing an employee

Watch that clip. If that was an actor playing "creepy sexual harasser" in an 80s flick, the director would probably have asked to tune it down a bit. Might be triggering to watch for people who've had #metoo moments in their lives.

The damage control has already backfired on this, too:

Adding even more suspicion, Schuette’s campaign is claiming the video has been in the public domain for months. However, Gongwer reported last night that a post Schuette’s campaign shared to make that point was actually backdated with a fake date:

“The video was posted to the miconservativenews.com website with a July 6 timestamp but a search of the Internet Archive, which last archived the website August 23, showed no evidence the article had been posted prior to August 23, meaning it had been backdated.”

[PaulBullion]

A reminder that 2018 is the most 2018 year in history:

White Woman Calls the Police on a Black Child She Falsely Said Groped Her

[SuperiorIronman]

Yknow, the terrain does not allow a "great wall of Mexico", but Trump actually could've payed for it. Those Republican tax cuts could've gone towards that wall and border security, but instead we have no money to spend on it because they are paying the expenses of his political party.

Trump could've payed for it through the NRA. With how lax this administration has been, Trump could've cut a deal with the NRA to put some money on the wall. But because Trump and the NRA tried to shift blame to the victims of shootings instead of y'know, shooters and the high prevalence of guns, the NRA has no money. All the ads and endorsements to gun affiliates dried up the well (especially during the 2016 campaign) not to mention it lost insurance coverage which means it has to close up shop in public spaces soon. Being in the red is not good when it comes to money especially for the second year in a row.

Trump begging for money is not new nor is it to actually get the wall up, it's a campaign promise. That's how he's going to rally his base this time if he is going to lack NRA funding he's going to rally his racist fuckwits to go hunting for the snallygaster again.