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

[ed2962]

A co-worker who hates Trump more than I do summed up his Oval Office summit with Kanye West yesterday thusly, and she didn't pull any punches:

What's interesting is that while it won't help Trump with minorities, it's sorta helping West with Trump's base. I've been seeing a lot of "I never liked Kanye before, but now I respect him." Who knows if that'll translate in to album sales though.

[Iron Maiden]

I don't think this has been brought up here but in an interview yesterday on (where else Fox & Friends), Trump said he thinks Rep. Devin Nunez deserves the Medal of Freedom award for his handling of the Russia probe

During a wide-ranging interview on Fox & Friends, Trump repeated his denial that there was any collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives and denounced special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as "disgraceful" and a "witch hunt." It was in that context that he said Nunes, the California Republican who serves as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, deserves the military's highest honor.

"If this turns out as everyone thinks it will, Devin Nunes should get the Medal of Honor," he said. "What he's gone through, and his bravery, he should get a very important medal."

Apparently realizing that the Medal of Honor is awarded for military valor, Trump then added, "Maybe we'll call it the Medal of Freedom because we actually give them, the high awards for civilians."

[PaulBullion]

And also wanted to throw an election away on deciding who were and who were not "Real" Democrats.

For starters.

It was really harsh of them not to allow Bernie to compete in the primaries!

(sticks finger on ear piece)

What is that? He ran? Lost in by a huge margin? Why are we still talking about him then?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

This is the Republican idea of "outreach" -- suppressing African-American votes to appeal to and satisfy their white supremacist voter base.

------
"Georgia's Secretary of State Is Blocking 53,000 Voter Registrations as He Runs for Governor"

"“I was kind of shocked,” said Appling-Nunez, who moved from one Atlanta suburb to another in May and believed she had successfully changed her address on the voter rolls.

“I’ve always voted. I try to not miss any elections, including local ones,” Appling-Nunez said.

She tried re-registering, but with about one month left before a November election that will decide a governor’s race and some competitive U.S. House races, Appling-Nunez’s application is one of over 53,000 sitting on hold with Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office. And unlike Appling-Nunez, many people on that list — which is predominantly black, according to an analysis by The Associated Press — may not even know their voter registration has been held up.

Kemp, who’s also the Republican candidate for governor, is in charge of elections and voter registration in Georgia.

His Democratic opponent, former state Rep. Stacey Abrams, and voting rights advocacy groups charge that Kemp is systematically using his office to suppress votes and tilt the election, and that his policies disproportionately affect black and minority voters. Under the policy, information on voter applications must precisely match information on file with the Georgia Department of Driver Services or the Social Security Administration. Election officials can place non-matching applications on hold.

An application could be held because of an entry error or a dropped hyphen in a last name, for example.

Appling-Nunez says she never saw any notice from Kemp’s office indicating a problem with her application.

An analysis of the records obtained by The Associated Press reveals racial disparity in the process. Georgia’s population is approximately 32 percent black, according to the U.S. Census, but the list of voter registrations on hold with Kemp’s office is nearly 70 percent black..."

http://time.com/5421332/georgia-bria...ters-governor/

Well, voter suppression is the only play Republicans have left as they damn sure can't run on their record which has been flat out deplorable.

What's interesting is that while it won't help Trump with minorities, it's sorta helping West with Trump's base. I've been seeing a lot of "I never liked Kanye before, but now I respect him." Who knows if that'll translate in to album sales though.

My guess is it might. While it's been said Kanye is nuttier than a truckload of Planters (he's married to a Kartrashian after all), he isn't stupid.

I don't think this has been brought up here but in an interview yesterday on (where else Fox & Friends), Trump said he thinks Rep. Devin Nunez deserves the Medal of Freedom award for his handling of the Russia probe

As a veteran, the idea of a weasel like Nunes getting a medal dedicated to our servicemen and servicewomen offends and angers me no end.

[aja_christopher]

What's interesting is that while it won't help Trump with minorities, it's sorta helping West with Trump's base. I've been seeing a lot of "I never liked Kanye before, but now I respect him." Who knows if that'll translate in to album sales though.

I don't like to even talk about Kanye because that's exactly what he wants, but I will say that there's a part of me that wishes Taylor Swift had knocked some sense into him when he attempted to ruin her award ceremony.



Just like with Trump, you can't let bullies get away with their foolishness as it only encourages them to be even more foolish in the future.

Now, thanks to said ignorance we have Taylor Swift being criticized by Republicans for telling people to get informed and to go vote while simultaneously praising Kanye's support of Trump, despite Kanye's failure to educate himself on even the basics regarding many of Trump and the Republican party's policies.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Just like with Trump, you can't let bullies get away with their foolishness as it only encourages them to be even more foolish in the future.

Now, thanks to said ignorance we have Taylor Swift being criticized by Republicans for telling people to get informed and to go vote while simultaneously praising Kanye's support of Trump, despite Kanye's failure to educate himself on even the basics regarding many of Trump and the Republican party's policies.

C'mon now, you know damn well the dead LAST thing the GOP wants is an educated and informed electorate, because those people would learn the policies of Republicans and the scumbags who run on them are singularly abhorrent and steer clear of that bullshit like it's radioactive. Just like Trump, GOP leaders want their voters to be good and stupid and wholly ignorant of the fact Republicans are hellbent on keeping them poor and sick and disenfranchised while bleating that liberals, minorities, illegals and gays are to blame for all their troubles. As for Kanye, I'm convinced his so-called summit with Dolt45 was nothing more than a glorified photo op designed to sell records, nothing more, nothing less.

[Malvolio]

It was really harsh of them not to allow Bernie to compete in the primaries!

(sticks finger on ear piece)

What is that? He ran? Lost in by a huge margin? Why are we still talking about him then?

A lot of Bernie supporters didn't seem to understand that the rules of the Democratic Party that they didn't like, were not new and had been in place for years. You don't join a club on Monday and demand that they change all of their club rules on Tuesday.

[BeastieRunner]

Stock market had a major jump and is now in free-fall, with little chance of jumping back up today.

One more day and it will be considered a crash, or as the GOP changed the term, a "recession."

[PaulBullion]

Stock market had a major jump and is now in free-fall, with little chance of jumping back up today.

One more day and it will be considered a crash, or as the GOP changed the term, a "recession."

Seems to be recovering a little currently.

[Tami]

Before and after images of Hurricane Michael

I recommend checking this out.

[Gray Lensman]

A lot of Bernie supporters didn't seem to understand that the rules of the Democratic Party that they didn't like, were not new and had been in place for years. You don't join a club on Monday and demand that they change all of their club rules on Tuesday.

It's more than that. While Bernie would have lost fairly in the end, it really looked like the party wasn't willing to take that risk. In Nevada the opposite of what you describe happened - Bernie's supporters were shifting superdelegates under the rules, so the party voted to change the deadline - basically saying "We just decided that you should have done all that last week." It was a stupid and unnecessary move that likely convinced a lot of people that their vote didn't matter - how many of them stayed home on election day?

[BeastieRunner]

Seems to be recovering a little currently.

Yeah, 50 whopping points.

EDIT #1:

Down to 7.

EDIT #2:

Up 30

Gonna be ones of those day!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Before and after images of Hurricane Michael

I recommend checking this out.

Talk about nightmarish. A reminder of the sheer power of nature unleashed. And with the ongoing threat of climate change, chances are we could see larger, more violent storms in our future.

[Tendrin]

This one is for WBE. I mean...yikes.

https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1...014486016?s=21

[WestPhillyPunisher]

This one is for WBE. I mean...yikes.

https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/1...014486016?s=21

Last I heard, Wagner was trailing Tom Wolf by double digits here in Pennsylvania, so I guess desperation has set in, what with the midterms less than a month away, thus the thug tactics. Hell, not even Trump went THAT far while on the campaign trail, but then, the notion of a blubbery toad like Trump threatening violence against someone is patently laughable.