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

[worstblogever]

Did someone else post this? Looks like Kelly is leaving after all.https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/08/polit...m_source=fbCNN

Oh, that reminds me... get the whistle...

[Mister Mets]

She's also relatively young, so they can feel justified in telling her, "Sit down little girl, and let the adults in the room work on this." Of course, there are already a few Establishment Democrats telling her exactly that.

The youth and inexperience are part of it, although she has gotten a lot of positive media attention, and the DNC Chairman has said that she represents the future of the Democratic party. As a result, Republicans are eager to attack the implications of her being treated as one of the Democratic party's shining lights, and what it means that she has been embraced by the media and the establishment for people who aren't excited by the political agenda of the Democratic Socialists of America.

[Mister Mets]

I think interns in Congress should all be given the opportunity to participate in beauty pageants.


Seriously, "Individual 1" is very clearly in deeper **** than ever, and this is the hill where y'all are wanting to fling mud at each other tonight?

If Individual 1 comes close to being indicted, I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of conversation about it here. The discussion wouldn't be less fulfilling when we get more information.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

She's also attractive. And thus far it has been shown that large parts of the Trump base have feelings of inadequacy. Especially the straight male ones. The gamergate contingent has been folded into the party. They will gladly glom onto her and vent into her all the dissatisfaction they feel with their everyday lives. They won't even care about her policy positions. Its a pretty woman who won't mollify them like Tomi does.

Yeah, a pretty woman with a brain, something Lahren clearly lacks, all the more reason for right wingers to fear and hate AOC.

[Tami]

Senate Republican warns of civil war if Democrats continue supporting the Federal government

Mike Lee, besides being a typical Republican, is a Utah Libertarian malcontent in the mold of those filthy rich Libertarian malcontents Charles and David Koch. Anyone familiar with the Utah Mormon attempts to seize public land owned by the Federal government (see Bundy Ranch Standoff: Oregon wildlife refuge takeover) may believe that federal land ownership issue is the extent of Lee’s close affiliation with the Koch brothers, but that belief would be dead wrong.

Lee’s distorted view of the U.S. Constitution, and the legitimacy of the Federal government, is shared by the Koch brothers. And like the Koch brothers, Lee demands, and expects, a quick end to most of the Federal government’s agencies, departments and programs; he claims it is the only prescription to prevent civil war. In that sense, Lee is a Koch acolyte of the first order. It is true the Koch brothers do not threaten violence or warn of civil rebellion against the government, but they did co-create and contribute handsomely to the teabagger movement and Republicans who warned of civil war if they did not get their way.

Two weeks ago, barely eight days after the midterm elections, Lee addressed the uber-conservative Federalist Society. It was during that address that he warned that if the federal government is not neutered, including the wholesale elimination of most Federal government programs, agencies and departments, then there “will be civil war.” Lee’s claim is that unless Democrats join Republicans and “move to a system granting de facto sovereignty to the states and eliminate massive federal programs like public education and interstate highways there will be a civil war.” Such a system Lee calls for would be patently unconstitutional in the United States, but legal in a by-gone and very short-lived “sovereign nation.”

Lee warned that the only way Democrats can avert violence is if they end their support for a long list of federal programs, agencies, and departments that also happen to be on the Koch brothers hit list going back three decades. Just a sampling of what Democrats have to willingly help eliminate to stave off a violent civil war according to Lee includes, but is not limited to: The interstate highway system, funding for K-12 public education, federal higher education accreditation, early childhood education, the Department of Commerce, housing policy, workforce regulations, and what the typically-Mormon Lee labeled the illegal “huge glut of federally owned land.”

[Tami]

WBE in DailyKos

Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day: Mike Pence- 2018 Update

[Gray Lensman]

Senate Republican warns of civil war if Democrats continue supporting the Federal government

Lee is an idiot on most things. Eliminate the Intertstate Highway System? But he has a point about federally owned land out west. Half of Nevada is federal land, for example. Of course, even where he has a point he manages to come across as a complete loon.

[Tami]

‘Siege warfare’: Republican anxiety spikes as Trump faces growing legal and political perils

A growing number of Republicans fear that a battery of new revelations in the far-reaching Russia investigation has dramatically heightened the legal and political danger to Donald Trump’s presidency — and threatens to consume the rest of the party, as well.

President Trump added to the tumult Saturday by announcing the abrupt exit of his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, whom he sees as lacking the political judgment and finesse to steer the White House through the treacherous months to come.

Trump remains headstrong in his belief that he can outsmart adversaries and weather any threats, according to advisers. In the Russia probe, he continues to roar denials, dubiously proclaiming that the latest allegations of wrongdoing by his former associates “totally clear” him.

But anxiety is spiking among Republican allies, who complain that Trump and the White House have no real plan for dealing with the Russia crisis while confronting a host of other troubles at home and abroad.

[Malvolio]

Yeah, a pretty woman with a brain, something Lahren clearly lacks, all the more reason for right wingers to fear and hate AOC.

And of course, they will harp to no end on her one mistake, not knowing the three branches of government, the same way they harped on Obama's "57 States" gaffe for years after he made it. Meanwhile, their President makes enough gaffes in one week to fill a page-a-day calendar.

[JCAll]

Lee is an idiot on most things. Eliminate the Intertstate Highway System? But he has a point about federally owned land out west. Half of Nevada is federal land, for example. Of course, even where he has a point he manages to come across as a complete loon.

Time for an explanation of federal land that actually makes sense.

[PwrdOn]

Time for an explanation of federal land that actually makes sense.

One of these days, somebody really needs to explain to me why private land ownership remains this kind of sacred cow that nobody dare challenge lest they undermine the very foundation of Western civilization. From a purely free market perspective, property belongs in the hands of the people that will use it best and generate the most value, and thus dispossessing and redistributing land is perfectly fair game, especially if most of those land titles came about through suspect methods, which applies to literally all of America.

[heretic]

Gun Violence Has Cut More Than 4 Years Off The Life Expectancy Of Black Americans: Study

Shootings are taking almost twice as much of a toll on the life expectancy of black Americans as on that of white Americans, a new study finds.

**********

The depressing part is the number of black people that insist gun control is the (orchestrated by White Supremacist) problem and we need to pack more heat that is easier to get to.

[heretic]

He talks a big game but eh.

We will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!

He's going the full Alternative Fact route, isn't he?

*sigh* And a whole lot of people are going to eat this up. Someone described the congressional Republicans as following an Investigation Cargo Cult, reasoning that if they can successfully duplicate the rituals that brought down Nixon they can do the same to their political enemies.

[heretic]

Are the credits not worth the hard work of internship? the credits are as rewarding as minimum wage.

I was under impression the internship is voluntary. I remember community service is also voluntary. When i did community service in college, it was added to my credits. should I also get paid for voluntary community service?

In any way, free service to the congress is its own reward.

I suspect that those going in regard the networking and contacts developed as bigger ones, but I must concur with all those who say they need a salary at least on a 'can manage a one-room apartment' level.

[heretic]

Rex Tillerson had to warn Trump not to break the law as secretary of state

We need to keep in mind the facts that:
A) He thinks he can operate the Presidency the way he ran his businesses, and has yet to internalize why people pay so much more attention now.
B) All the Cool Head Of State operate on the rules he appears to think he should.