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

[Tendrin]

Actually, you had it right in the first line.

When even a guy who is a rock solid part of the Washington status quo is just shaking his head and saying "Jeez, that looked just like an episode of The Banana Splits...", you have everything you need to know about what actually happened.

Something that even folks who make a living off of "Business As Usual..." had no way of justifying.

On the other hand, here's what a professional dominatrix thought:

https://twitter.com/TrancewithMe/sta...84163923243008

I'll give her take at least as much weight as I give Leon Panetta.

Typical 30.

[worstblogever]

To say Pence looked like a tag team wrestler jobber who doesn't want to tag in to help his partner against the main eventers and get crushed would be too kind. He looked like an animal pretending to be dead so it could run away once the predators fed on his mate, instead.

[worstblogever]

On this date, in 2014, in 2015, and in 2016,"Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of Jim Hagedorn, who has twice failed to get elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota's 1st District. His credentials are being a former CEO for Miracle Gro and... well, the classic GOP nepotism of being the son of a former Congressman himself. The problem with Hagedorn was he had a habit of writing to the "Bluestern Prairie", where he offered a variety of politically incorrect thoughts about gays, minorities, and Democrats. Things like calling Senators Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell "undeserving bimbos in tennis shoes", calling former Congressman Herb Kohl a "switch-hitter" and "packer", echoing John Wayne's sentiment that "the only good Indian is a dead Indian", and discussing an election between Mike Taylor and Max Baucus by using imagery about fisting and lubication. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Hagedorn was too controversial to get elected to the House in 2014 against Democrat Tim Walz, and in 2016, Hagedorn actually wanted a rematch, hoping people would just forget about all his controversial remarks if he kept his nose clean for two more years. Hagedorn was wrong, and still lost, this time at least in a much closer affair by only about 2500 votes. This had a lot to do with Hagedorn accusing Walz of “letting terrorists in”, because he supports refugees being settled in the United States who might just be Muslim. That takes some balls, given that Walz has served in National Guard for 25 years. But hey, we’re talking about Jim Hagedorn here, who took time to deride Black Lives Matter in the debate between the two for virtually no reason other than race-baiting.

It was on this date in 2017 that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Dan Johnson, a church bishop who in 2016, won election to the Kentucky House of Representatives by 156 votes. This was in spite of the fact that Johnson is an extreme enough bigot that the head of the Kentucky GOP even condemned him. Over several Facebook posts, Johnson had the delightful habit of comparing the Obama family to apes. There also was the part where Johnson called for a ban of the religion of Islam in the United States (Heard of the First Amendment, Dan?), or the numerous times that he posted images of the Confederate flag. Johnson cites the fact that a sign hangs outside his church that says, “Jesus and this church are not politically correct,” while insisting he’s not racist because as he puts it, “I love America. I love people. I believe red, yellow, black and white, all are precious in God's sight. I'm not a racist. I'd like to know first off, what images that are being considered offensive. It wasn't meant to be racist. I can tell you that. My history's good there. I can see how people would be offended in that. I wasn't trying to offend anybody, but, I think Facebook's entertaining.” Considering Johnson also mixed a lot of pro-gun messaging into the Gospels of Jesus, maybe he wasn’t up to snuff on his scripture. However, Dan Johnson was accused of molesting a girl who attended his church in 2012, when she was only 16 years old. He of course, claimed that the accusation was “politically motivated”. But where there was smoke, there was a lot more fire coming, because before a local media expose broke detailing how rowdy and inappropriate the behavior around Johnson’s parish actually was, he committed suicide rather than face justice in court. His widow then tried running for his seat in the special election to replace him, and lost. As he shuffled off his own mortal coil, we’ll move on to profile a different kooky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard is now 709-30, since this was established in July 2014.)


Nick Sauer
Welcome to the 709th original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where we’ll be talking about Nick Sauer, a former member of the Illinois House of Representatives who served one term in office after winning election in 2016 through the benefit of getting to run for the state legislature unopposed. hen you read Sauer’s biography, the entire thing reeks of entitlement and his being earmarked by senior Republicans for advancement. Whether it was working in Bush 43’s Department of Commerce, to him being elevated time and again in races for the Illinois Board of Education, then to the state legislature, and then his placement on both the State Toll Highway Authority, and a key position on a Illinois House of Representatives Committee aimed at curtailing sexual harassment at the state capitol.

That last one, is going to sting in a minute, in terms of hypocrisy. You see, former Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan was accused of not doing enough to curtail sexual harassment at the state capitol, and Illinois Republicans looked like they wanted to make hay with that accusation. Because, to the GOP, sexual harassment is only a topic they want to discuss if they can weaponize it politically to their advantage. They shed not a tear for anyone targeted by members of their own party and Madigan, whether responsible or not for a toxic culture of harassment, was going to be blamed for it by Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. Now former governor, which should tell you how well his plotting worked.) And, again, the GOP decided to put Nick Sauer in a profiled position by placing him on that committee, hoping the young legislator would make himself famous as an attack dog for their party who would rake Madigan over the coals.

That came to a screeching halt only weeks after his placement on the committee, when Nick Sauer himself was accused of posting nude photos of his ex-girlfriend online, and catfish other men that she was looking for sex, so that those men would send her harassing messages asking for sexual favors. Or, as prosecutors in Illinois refer to it, Nick Sauer committed “a felony charge of revenge porn”. And thus, #MeToo came again to Springfield.

Once the news broke, a college roommate of Sauer’s came forward, and claimed he was a “predator of the highest order” who had victimized “dozens” of other people, detailing an incident that took place between himself and Sauer where the young Republican attacked him, unprovoked, with an electric razor, taking a chunk of his hair from his scalp and prompting a scuffle. Once Sauer started to realize he was about to get his *** kicked, he said, “it doesn’t look that bad”.

Sauer waited a few days, then deleted the majority of his social media accounts, leaving only his Instagram up but on “private” and resigned in disgrace.

We’re not expecting him back in politics, ever. Oh, and a little epilogue to this story? The Illinois GOP appointed Helene Walsh, the wife of CSGOPOTD alumni and former Congressman Joe Walsh to take Sauer’s place for the last few weeks of his term, and hope she could win the seat in the fall and hang onto it. She lost the seat by a little less than 400 votes. A Blue Wave versus terrible candidates following a sex-scandal plagued outgoing legislator were enough to overcome the odds.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

To say Pence looked like a tag team wrestler jobber who doesn't want to tag in to help his partner against the main eventers and get crushed would be too kind. He looked like an animal pretending to be dead so it could run away once the predators fed on his mate, instead.

Speaking of which:

Twitter Users Mock Mike Pence’s Lack Of Emotion During Trump Tantrum

One Twitter user wondered if Pence was being propped up a la “Weekend at Bernie’s.” Heh! Good comparison!

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

Republicans Consider ‘Suicide Mission’ On Shutdown And Border Wall

Did House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi just goad Republicans into a government shutdown? If that's the case, then Republicans are even dumber than Trump, and that's saying a lot!

**********

Mueller Investigations Finally Begin To Worry Trump Allies

As the 2020 election comes into focus, the weight of the investigations do, too. I wonder what took so long?

**********

ICE Dramatically Increased Workplace Arrests Of Undocumented Immigrants In 2018

Immigration and Customs Enforcement made more than 2,300 worksite-related arrests this fiscal year, up from about 300 last year.

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Moment Of Reckoning Looms For Ex-Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen

A federal judge in New York is set to decide whether Cohen gets leniency or years in prison. I'm guessing Cohen goes to the big house. My advice to him: Don't drop the soap in the shower.

**********

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Wants To Be Remembered For Being ‘Transparent And Honest’

The White House press secretary also defended Trump’s treatment of female reporters. My response....BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[numberthirty]

This seemed worth taking note of...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.8424df381eb4

Supreme Court declines to review rulings that blocked efforts to end Planned Parenthood funding

The Supreme Court declined Monday to review lower-court decisions that blocked state efforts to cut off public funding for Planned Parenthood, a move that suggests a majority of the court may be steering clear of controversial issues — at least for now.

New Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh did not join the court’s three most conservative members in calling to accept the cases. Justice Clarence Thomas rebuked his colleagues for what he said was a dodge, attributing it to their aversion to taking up the issue of abortion that lurked in the case.

“Some tenuous connection to a politically fraught issue does not justify abdicating our judicial duty,” Thomas wrote. “If anything, neutrally applying the law is all the more important when political issues are in the background.”

[Tami]

Why?

Michigan creates civil service physician job for Flint defendant paying $180K

The state's health department has created a nearly $180,000-a-year civil service "advisory physician" job for Chief Medical Executive Eden Wells that starts Jan. 1, which prompted criticism from a prominent Flint Democratic lawmaker.

Moving her from an appointed post to a civil service job would make it far more difficult for Democratic Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer to fire her when she takes office next month. Wells was originally set to leave state government at the end of the month.

On Friday, 67th District Judge William Crawford bound over Wells for trial on charges of involuntary manslaughter, obstruction of justice and lying to a law enforcement officer connected to the 2014-15 Legionnaires' disease outbreak in the Flint area. The pneumonia-like disease killed at least 12 individuals and sickened 79 others.

Crawford ruled that there was sufficient evidence that Wells knew about the Legionnaires' disease outbreak and was slow to warn other state officials and the public. Gov. Rick Snyder didn't issue a public warning until a hastily arranged mid-January 2016 press conference in Detroit.

[Tendrin]

Ukrainian-born billionaire Len Blavatnik, who holds dual U.S.-U.K. citizenship, used to be a fairly run-of-the-mill campaign contributor, donating relatively modest amounts in a bipartisan fashion — and then the 2016 election cycle hit.
Beginning in 2015, Blavatnik lavished contributions on Republicans, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell alone on the receiving end of $3.5 million between 2015 and 2017.

https://twitter.com/CheriJacobus/sta...32918761324545

[WestPhillyPunisher]

https://twitter.com/CheriJacobus/sta...32918761324545

That explains all the nefarious **** Turtle Boy's done since Trump took office, right on up to blocking a vote on that bipartisan bill that would protect Robert Mueller from being fired by Caramel Caligula. McConnell is compromised up to his eyeballs.

[Surf]

To say Pence looked like a tag team wrestler jobber who doesn't want to tag in to help his partner against the main eventers and get crushed would be too kind. He looked like an animal pretending to be dead so it could run away once the predators fed on his mate, instead.

Where's the like button.

[ed2962]

Pence was just binding his time during that meeting. He knows that any day now Trump will be indited. He's just like, "Ok all I have to do is not say something stupid for the next few months and I'll be a shoe in as the republican candidate 2020!"

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Pence was just binding his time during that meeting. He knows that any day now Trump will be indited. He's just like, "Ok all I have to do is not say something stupid for the next few months and I'll be a shoe in as the republican candidate 2020!"

Pence's only chance to be President is if Trump is impeached. He will never actually win an general election for it.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Except moderates are the ones that are at stake in elections, not people firmly in one camp or another. Most people in America don't support the border wall anyway but Trump still won a good portion of them. By being able to demonstrate how far Trump is willing to go to play to his base, to even say he is "proud" of his actions to push for the wall that most people don't want, will play better for Democrats with moderates than it will with Republicans with moderates. Partisans will unsurprisingly remain partisan.

Moderates don't swing elections. Never have. Over the last several years the more ideological candidate won. Trump ran as a far right candidate, Hillary ran to the center as fast as she could once Sanders was dispatched. Obama was portrayed as a socialist leftist in 2012, Romney was portrayed as a moderate who could work effectively in a Democratic state with a Democratic Congress in a primary full of far right loons. Obama ran as a leftist in 2008, McCain was running as the maverick centrist who wasn't afraid to defy his part (even if that's bs). Gore and Kerry were always viewed as more moderate than Bush.

People mistakenly believe there is this mythical group in the middle that wins elections. And the candidate that run to the middle always lose. You know why? Because people fucking hate centrist candidates. They remind them of every sleezy do nothing politician that maintains the status quo they hate. You know who really sits out elections? The people in the base who won't vote if they don't believe in the candidate.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

You think that made trump look good in any way? Please.
My point was anyone who supported Nancy in the democratic Caucus could feel good about how she handled it. True she tried to help him by trying to do it off camera. But she was coming from a place of trying to get a deal. This isn't going to help that. But he wanted it, and he looked like a clown

Here's the issue now. Trump's base loves what he did there. So now the Democrats are left with a decision. Trump said he'll:

1. Be proud to shut down the government.
2. Will take the mantle for doing it.
3. Will not blame Schumer or the Democrats for the shutdown.

So now the Democrats have to show that they have a spine and will let Trump hang himself with the rope he's been making or run to appease him. Now if you give him an inch after he offered to take the blame, you like cowards. Yeah it sucks that the gov might shut down. Run that clip over and over of him saying "I won't blame you". Or look weak and cut a deal.

Let him shut down the government. Let him and his base take all the heat for the fallout. If he fucking starts blaming you, play that clip all over the media. Then if and when he concedes, say good the wall is off the table forever, we won't be negotiating on that any more. Sweat it out and win. Or appease. The next move says a lot

[WestPhillyPunisher]

‘It’s now or never’: Trump faces a moment of truth on his border wall

Since the day he announced his White House candidacy, President Trump has wielded calls for a border wall as a political cudgel, a bargaining chip and a rallying cry — a tangible symbol, if completed, of his nationalist aim to “Make America Great Again.”

Now, with time running out to build it, the wall is threatening to become something else for Trump — a drag on his presidency.

Trump’s increasing desperation to deliver on his core campaign promise played out publicly Tuesday during a remarkable televised Oval Office meeting with Democratic leaders during which the president threatened to shut down the federal government this month if he fails to secure at least $5 billion for the project.

The performance stunned a Beltway political class that has grown accustomed to Trump’s daily bouts of showmanship. Once content to blame Democrats for standing in his way, Trump grew visibly exasperated during the contentious 17-minute debate with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) and House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and declared that he would accept full responsibility for the fallout.

“I will take the mantle,” Trump said. “I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you for it.”

For Trump, who once boasted he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose supporters, the fight over the wall has reached a moment of truth as he confronts the reality that, with Democrats poised to control the House in January, this could be his last chance to make good on a promise that has become an existential part of his presidency.

Having already dropped his public vows to make Mexico pay for the wall and issued false claims that parts of the project are well underway, Trump is facing mounting pressure from his conservative base to score a visible win ahead of his 2020 reelection campaign.

[Kirby101]

Moderates don't swing elections. Never have. Over the last several years the more ideological candidate won. Trump ran as a far right candidate, Hillary ran to the center as fast as she could once Sanders was dispatched. Obama was portrayed as a socialist leftist in 2012, Romney was portrayed as a moderate who could work effectively in a Democratic state with a Democratic Congress in a primary full of far right loons. Obama ran as a leftist in 2008, McCain was running as the maverick centrist who wasn't afraid to defy his part (even if that's bs). Gore and Kerry were always viewed as more moderate than Bush.

People mistakenly believe there is this mythical group in the middle that wins elections. And the candidate that run to the middle always lose. You know why? Because people fucking hate centrist candidates. They remind them of every sleezy do nothing politician that maintains the status quo they hate. You know who really sits out elections? The people in the base who won't vote if they don't believe in the candidate.

I don't think that comes close to explaining what was really happening in those elections. So many other factors. And you are just slapping labels on people to prove your point.