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

[Tazirai]

I don't see that as the case. Beto lost because Texas is a big red wall that is very difficult to overcome. He came very close to breaking through that wall, but it's going to take time. The money was there, but the wall was too high and too thick (headed).

No offense, but Beto came within 3 points. He had a massive turn around. He's a good, but not a GREAT candidate. His two biggest problems were not enough minority outreach and only did so at a later date. He also was unwillingly to fight back until too late.
Basically Beto is the Typical "Too Late" candidate. Things he should have been doing since the beginning he waited because of the people in his ear. Todays Democrats cannot run "safe", they need to go bold enough to offend conservatives, and keep their base, while getting Conservatives who like the "Strongman."

That's my take.

Ojeda turn around a MASSIVE Trump win and only lost by 12-13points. a 37 point gain.
Democrats need to stop playing safe and worrying about offending the Media, Centrists, and Conservatives.

[Tendrin]

No offense, but Beto came within 3 points. He had a massive turn around. He's a good, but not a GREAT candidate. His two biggest problems were not enough minority outreach and only did so at a later date. He also was unwillingly to fight back until too late.
Basically Beto is the Typical "Too Late" candidate. Things he should have been doing since the beginning he waited because of the people in his ear. Todays Democrats cannot run "safe", they need to go bold enough to offend conservatives, and keep their base, while getting Conservatives who like the "Strongman."

That's my take.

Ojeda turn around a MASSIVE Trump win and only lost by 12-13points. a 37 point gain.
Democrats need to stop playing safe and worrying about offending the Media, Centrists, and Conservatives.

Meanwhile, Ojeda is an actual Trump voter.

[PaulBullion]

Meanwhile, Ojeda is an actual Trump voter.

Seriously, the GOP puts a lot of really dumb white guys in power, we don't need to start that ****, too.

[PaulBullion]

New Evidence Emerges of Steve Bannon and Cambridge Analytica’s Role in Brexit

Emma Briant, an academic expert on disinformation at George Washington University, has unearthed new e-mails that appear to reveal the earliest documented role played by Bannon in Brexit. The e-mails, which date back to October of 2015, show that Bannon, who was then the vice-president of Cambridge Analytica, an American firm largely owned by the U.S. hedge-fund billionaire Robert Mercer, was in the loop on discussions taking place at the time between his company and the leaders of Leave.EU, a far-right nationalist organization. The following month, Leave.EU publicly launched a campaign aimed at convincing British voters to support a referendum in favor of exiting the European Union.

Considering that May was supposedly a Remainer and it's all falling apart around her, why doesn't she just use stuff like this to ask for another, this time less tainted, referendum?

[PaulBullion]

Gil Cisneros has defeated Republican Young Kim in the 39th Congressional District. His victory means the longtime conservative stronghold of Orange County will be represented entirely by Democrats in the House next session.

Kim was considered by many to have an edge going into the race because of her name recognition and long history as a district staffer for Royce, who had endorsed her.

Cisneros, who dominated the money race by pouring $9 million of his own funds into his first run for office, tried to use President Trump’s unpopularity to weigh down Kim’s bid, even registering a lookalike campaign web address that declared “Young Kim is Donald Trump.” Kim broke with Trump on several of his policies, including family separation at the border and curtailing family-sponsored visas. Nearly a third of the district’s residents are Asian American, and a third are Latino.

Orange Country insanely flipped blue but tell me again how the money raised by Pelosi didn't matter.

[PaulBullion]

Young Kim, the first Korean immigrant to be elected is a huge deal, too. Wonder why everyone keeps leaving her out?

Because I didn't see that she pulled out the win. They're still counting over there on CA-39.

Yup, WBE was right about this: Her lead disappeared with the outstanding votes and she officially lost a few hours ago.

If all the races Democrats won had been called on election night, nobody would have said the blue wave didn't happen.



A lot of right wing talking heads tweets don't age well.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

The thing with Ojeda is ...if he runs on that anger...that I'm not gonna take Donald Trump's horse **** and neither will you anymore...he may get that. If the blue angry wave continues Ojeda can hook that with his presence. I mean his ads were about how angry and tired he was of seeing poor people suffer and he was gonna go to Congress and do something about that.




If he continues ads like this and hooks people...he could have something.

[PaulBullion]

Young Kim, the first Korean immigrant to be elected is a huge deal, too. Wonder why everyone keeps leaving her out?

The thing with Ojeda is ...if he runs on that anger...that I'm not gonna take Donald Trump's horse **** and neither will you anymore...he may get that. If the blue angry wave continues Ojeda can hook that with his presence. I mean his ads were about how angry and tired he was of seeing poor people suffer and he was gonna go to Congress and do something about that.




If he continues ads like this and hooks people...he could have something.

The base of the Democratic Party are women and POC. They'll know better than to nominate a guy who fucking voted for Trump. Proudly.

[PaulBullion]

Another sign Biden will be running.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Orange County, A Conservative Bastion, Turns Blue For The First Time In Decades

What’s stunning is not how many seats Democrats flipped, but how they did it. Impressive! Highly impressive! Check out this map:



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Camp Fire Survivors Are Now Refugees In Their Own Country

In makeshift refugee camps, survivors of Northern California’s Camp fire face homelessness, norovirus and loss. Meanwhile....

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Trump Insists ‘Raking’ Will Help Stop Forest Fires; Twitter Reels

Solution from Finland, according to the president: “Raking and cleaning and doing things.” Clearly, the Forest Ranger-in-Chief doesn't comprehend that Finland probably doesn't suffer from the sort of mindnumbing droughts that's plagued California for years, resulting in the severity of the fires. To quote the immortal Bugs Bunny, "Wotta maroon!"

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Trump Calls Saudi Arabia A ‘Spectacular Ally’ Despite CIA’s Khashoggi Findings

The agency reportedly concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the journalist’s murder. Not that Trump paid any attention to that report, he's in too deep with the Saudis for that.

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Cab Drivers Refuse To Pick Up Racists After Philly Rally With Proud Boys

Video appears to show various drivers declining to give the far-right activists a ride. In a word----OUTSTANDING!

[jetengine]

New Evidence Emerges of Steve Bannon and Cambridge Analytica’s Role in Brexit



Considering that May was supposedly a Remainer and it's all falling apart around her, why doesn't she just use stuff like this to ask for another, this time less tainted, referendum?

Far too late and would only make the EU pissed off that we are wasting more time

The referendum itself was literally an opinion poll. Nothing HAD to be done about it but the Tories were shitting themselves over the Ukip vote so rushed through without thinking and activated Article 50.

Its akin to receiving info that a neighbouring country is invading your own so you fire the nuke before even checking to make sure this info is real.

[worstblogever]

Another sign Biden will be running.

I'd be fine if Biden wins the primary, but he's not my top choice by a long shot, particularly at his age, and some of his kookier moments through the years (that seem like nothing compared to the completely mentally ill idjit in the West Wing these days).

What I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, is that Joe Biden is amazing in a debate, and having him in the primary will do nothing but strengthen whoever the winner is in the long run. He advances the dialogue and challenges people without trying to score points or humiliate people within his own party. '08, he was cagey, and made both Barack and Hillary look great.

[worstblogever]

Gil Cisneros has defeated Republican Young Kim in the 39th Congressional District. His victory means the longtime conservative stronghold of Orange County will be represented entirely by Democrats in the House next session.

Orange Country insanely flipped blue but tell me again how the money raised by Pelosi didn't matter.

I want to add something about the "what has Pelosi done" narrative.

From 2007-2010, when Democrats went to the floor in the House to vote on bills, the votes were almost always there. There were almost no "shock" defeats on legislation in that chamber. If bills got held up, it was because of old coots in the Senate like Jim Bunning. She got everything at least to the Senate. She was extremely capable of that, compared to many other House Speakers. I mean, compare it to Hastert, Boehner, and Ryan, and the number of times they had a majority but couldn't get things as f***ing simple as the Farm Bill passed because of the House Freedom Caucus.

I know that we're talking about 8 years ago, but she was very good in the role. At this point, I'm comfortable with her having the role, especially because nobody else seems to be stepping up to challenge her. There will be "protest votes" from maybe 20 or so Democrats from swing Districts, but when they count up votes for Speaker, there's no way Democrats come up shorter than someone like Kevin McCarthy. Especially because the Republicans are going to have dips***s split their vote between McCarthy and Freedom Caucus members like Jim Jordan or Daniel Webster.

[worstblogever]

On this date, in 2014, 2015, and in 2016, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of former Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon, noting that Congressman Salmon was first elected to Congress back in 1994, and pledged to only serve three terms. While he did step down in 2000 and honor that promise, after a failed bid for Governor of Arizona in 2002 and a decade as a lobbyist, he broke it by running for a U.S. House seat again in 2012 and 2014. His rap sheet included producing a bill in 1999 to have Ronald Reagan's image added to Mount Rushmore for "winning the Cold War", saying that President Obama should be impeached over his executive orders on immigration, and advocating for the 2013 Government Shutdown even though he should have remembered how disastrous such things are not just for the country, but for his party, as he voted for two of them back during the Clinton administration. Rep. Salmon also visited an elementary school where he was supposed to give kids a basic lecture on civics and how bills become law and proceeded to terrify a group of second and third graders by talking about Iran getting their hands on nuclear weapons, or that ISIS is training kids their own age to be suicide bombers. Because that's the sort of thing you need keeping you up at night when you're aged 7 to 9.Matt Salmon also just doesn't have a record of voting against LGBT interests, but has a bit of personal history on getting those matters wrong, having once placed his son, currently a Log Cabin Republican, in gay reparative therapy. Salmon is now a twice-retired Congressman, and we hope he stays that way.



It was one year ago today that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” first profiled Jeff Pogue, a member of the Missouri House of Representatives since 2012 who just was re-elected in 2018 after simply winning the GOP Primary with 75% of the vote. In the six years he’s been in office, Pogue has become one of the most radical extremists in the Missouri Republican Party, and that’s really saying something. It’s not just the bills he votes for, but the plainly unconstitutional ones he submits that have garnered our notice.

In February of 2014, Pogue and a bunch of other Missouri GOP legislators filed articles of impeachment against then Governor Jay Nixon for allowing married same-sex couples to jointly file their state taxes. When a state judge ruled eight months later that Missouri must recognize same-sex couples from other states, Pogue called on any officials who recognized same-sex marriages to be removed from office as a means to “stop this Midstate crisis”. In March of 2015, we really began hearing Pogue’s name when he became one of the early supporters of transphobic bathroom bans by sponsoring not just one, but two separate bills to try and eliminate unisex public bathrooms, and to block state funding to any company that ignored that edict. This came on the heels of other anti-LGBT legislation from Pogue, including HB 1337, which would allow government officials to refuse to solemnize same-sex couples’ marriages if doing so violated their religious beliefs.

If you’re still not getting the picture, during the current term of the Missouri State legislature, Pogue sponsored an abortion ban. To be clear, that’s not a ban on abortion at 20 weeks, or a ban if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, he just up and pretended that the Roe v. Wade ruling isn’t a thing and tried to criminalize abortion, declaring it first degree murder. He’s also riding the coat tails of the Center for Medical Progress, attempting to ban the donation of fetal tissue to medical research laboratories based on the fraudulent “sting” videos used by conservatives to attack Planned Parenthood in 2016.

Some of the more extreme bills in Missouri that Pogue has simply voted for include a constant dedication to pushing for unnecessary enhancement of Voter ID regulations to help suppress the vote, various votes against raising the minimum wage during the greatest period of income inequality in our nation in almost a century, an attempt at forcing school children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance… in ENGLISH, a vote to nullify federal firearms laws, a vote to prevent “the enforcement of foreign laws” based on paranoid Islamophobes fearing a rise of Sharia Law in the United States, and a vote to prevent the implementation of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 Environmental Treaty based on the fever dreams of hard-right loons convinced it was a secret plot for global domination.

Suffice to say, we know term limits in the Missouri House of Representatives won’t push Pogue from his seat in the state legislature until 2020, and we’re hoping that he doesn’t seek higher office in the next election.

[Coin Biter]

New Evidence Emerges of Steve Bannon and Cambridge Analytica’s Role in Brexit



Considering that May was supposedly a Remainer and it's all falling apart around her, why doesn't she just use stuff like this to ask for another, this time less tainted, referendum?

Firstly, there’s a legal problem. It’s not clear that Article 50 notification can be withdrawn unilaterally - that will be determined by the European Court of Justice in the near future. Incidentally, the Government is trying to stop the referral to the European Court of Justice so we might not even know the answer to that (although personally I don’t fancy their chances of being able to do that). If we can’t withdraw notification, then we’re leaving the EU anyway.

Secondly, there’s the political position. On the one hand, it’s true that it isn’t clear that the majority of the UK voting population would now vote to Leave the EU. However, the great majority of Conservative voters are in favour of leaving the EU. There’s already a danger that they might punish the Conservatives for the deal that has been presented. They are even more likely to punish the Conservatives for a Referendum, particularly if there is a vote now to Remain.

The political position is further complicated by the fact that the main Opposition party, Labour, are not a Remain supporting party either. Sure, the majority of Labour votes wish to stay inside the EU. However, they were elected at the last election under a mandate of Leave and, in addition, because of the UK’s godawful first past the post voting system, deciding to Remain within the EU might imperil their chances of getting a majority.

It’s also probably the case that the Leader of the Opposition and the Deputy Leader want to leave anyway. They’ll vote against the plan, because they want the Government to collapse and a General Election called which they think will give them a good chance of getting in. However, Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are also in the Bennite tradition which see the EU as being a globalist plot which is intended to benefit large multinationals and an unaccountable political ruling class. This puts them at odds with their party, however, Corbyn has enormous power and support within the Labour Party membership, which is not likely to be compromised, even by the fact that the membership support remaining in the EU.

The Brexiteers in Parliament (on both Labour and the Conservatives’ side) also complicate things by their fundamental intellectual dishonesty. Right now, people like Raab on the Conservatives’ side and McDonnell on the Labour side seem to be pretending that it is possible to wring a better deal out of the EU before we leave on March 2019. However, the EU have made it clear that it is not. They are in a stronger position than we are for No Deal, which will be disastrous for the UK, and the bargaining power resides with them. Jacob Rees-Mogg and his Brexiteer ilk are still continuing to pretend that No Deal is an acceptable alternative for the UK, despite knowing that their “we can just rely on WTO rules and it will be OK” line is untrue.

Pretending that we can get further concessions is the equivalent of holding a loaded gun to the UK’s forehead and saying “Give me what I want! Or the idiot gets it!” However, that is the line which opponents of the deal who nonetheless still want to Leave the EU are continuing to pursue, and the modern media is incapable of holding them to account for it.