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

[Tami]

No surprise there. Trump doesn’t forgive and never forgets when it comes to his enemies, either real or imagined. Not all that long ago, Caramel Caligula gave a speech at West Point praising a defense spending bill that had been passed which was named after Senator McCain who was dying at the time, and Trump refused to even mention him. THAT is a perfect example of how small and petty and immature Trump is.

“He’s dying anyway”: the Trump right’s hate for John McCain, explained

On May 9th, Arizona Sen. John McCain announced his opposition to President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the CIA, Gina Haspel.

On May 10th, White House special assistant Kelly Sadler reportedly reacted by saying of McCain, who is fighting brain cancer, “It doesn’t matter, he’s dying anyway.”

She has since left the White House — not because of what she said about John McCain, but because she told Trump that communications staffer Mercedes Schlapp may have leaked her comments.

Sadler’s reaction is not unique among the Trumpian right, whose outright hatred of McCain has resurfaced as McCain’s illness has progressed. (The feeling is mutual. McCain reportedly told friends a week ago that he doesn’t want Trump at his funeral.)

It’s also not new. When Trump delivered the infamous line during the 2016 campaign, “I like people that weren’t captured” — a comment the mainstream press was sure would cross a line with his followers — they not only didn’t care but started a bizarre meme bashing McCain.

The hate dates back to John McCain’s own run for the White House in 2007 and 2008, and even to his service during the Vietnam War, during which he was held as a prisoner of war for more than five years and tortured for information.

And the vitriol has escalated so much in recent days, swerving into old conspiracy theories and jokes about torture, that Fox News banned a Trump supporter and longtime contributor from appearing on its networks again. When it’s too much for Fox, it’s really too much.

Within the circle of Trump-supporting conservatives, McCain is a traitor, and his illness has been greeted with near glee. When McCain reportedly decided that he didn’t want President Trump to attend his funeral (but wished for former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to give eulogies), former Trump campaign staffer Sam Nunberg tweeted a meme implying that Trump would “celebrate from home then.”

[Tami]

The Trump-McCain Feud Never Ended

One can imagine the president typing the tweet—or signing off on it—through gritted teeth. The Republican Party whose standard McCain once carried had become the party of Trump, but the Arizona senator, through his final days, had never been truly willing to hand it over. Trump had long since won the adoration, or at least the grudging acceptance, of most of the Republicans who had fought his ascendance in the party—including each of the GOP senators he had trounced in the 2016 nomination fight. Even McCain’s best friend in the chamber, Senator Lindsey Graham, had become golfing buddies and a stalwart ally of the president’s.

Not McCain.

He had thwarted Trump in his final major act as a senator, providing the dramatic and decisive vote that killed a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the president’s first big legislative push. Then as he underwent treatment for brain cancer over the next year, McCain battered the president rhetorically from afar. Without naming Trump during an October speech accepting the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal in Philadelphia, he assailed the president’s worldview as “some half-baked spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems.” It was, McCain continued, “as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.”

Was wondering what the basis of Trump's animosity towards John McCain was. I think I have a better sense of it now.

9 times John McCain defied Donald Trump

Their war of words dates all the way back to 2015 when Trump announced his intentions to run for president in a speech where he called Mexican immigrants drug runners and 'rapists.'

Although Trump ran as Republican, McCain immediately put distance between himself and the current president by criticising his comments about Mexicans

McCain also criticised Trump's comments aimed at the parents of US Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed during the Iraq War. after the spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

[Kevinroc]

What is the Democratic party's solution?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN1KK134

Article from July 30th.

[Duskman]

They did it to show that Black Lives don't Matter.

Nia Wilson killed by a White Supremacist, Trump says nothing, probably thought he was a "Very fine Man!"

White man kills his entire family, Trump says nothing.

Immigrant here legally kills a white girl, and every Hispanic everywhere is a murderer.

I feel like the media has generally had this stance until fairly recently.

[Kevinroc]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...=.276687d4a1cf

Mike Cernovich, who you might remember as the alt-right scumbag who led the campaign to get James Gunn fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is campaigning with Kalli Ward.

Thanks for raising this scumbag's profile, Disney.

(Also, Thirty and I have had a disagreement about this in the Gunn thread. That supporting Gunn's firing is a tacit endorsement of Cernovich.)

[Iron Maiden]

Woooooooooooooooooooooooow. Just, wow. There's that spitefulness.

things that make you go hmmmmmm. Who is the leaker of this story. Got to be someone pretty close to the inner circle.

[Iron Maiden]

“He’s dying anyway”: the Trump right’s hate for John McCain, explained

"Within the circle of Trump-supporting conservatives, McCain is a traitor, and his illness has been greeted with near glee. When McCain reportedly decided that he didn’t want President Trump to attend his funeral (but wished for former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to give eulogies), former Trump campaign staffer Sam Nunberg tweeted a meme implying that Trump would “celebrate from home then.”

[Malvolio]

That's not true. He doesn't show empathy for them at all

He fakes empathy, and not very well, at that.

[worstblogever]

things that make you go hmmmmmm. Who is the leaker of this story. Got to me someone pretty close to the inner circle.

My money is that John Kelly leaked that Trump resisted honoring McCain. Kelly's still an ***hole, but he's a military man and an ***hole. He's gonna respect McCain, no doubt. (That, and Kelly has already been rumored to have told the GOP leaders to bash Trump after he gave the reach-around to Putin at Helsinki.)

The White House is crumbling down around Trump. He's got no one he can trust, and those few that he does (his kids) are likely to be going to jail with him anyway.

[BeastieRunner]

Here's a scoop and a half.

Somebody got the GOP's spread sheet that they're using to track the Dems ignored investigation requests.

Republicans secretly study their coming hell.

No Russians or hackers needed, just a disgruntled McCain aid.

The spread sheet indicates the White House can't handle 100 ethics investigations ... that's how many are on the list. 100 freaking ethic violations the current administration has been dodging thanks to the Gang of Putin.

Here's hoping for the Dems to get the House back.

[Iron Maiden]

My money is that John Kelly leaked that Trump resisted honoring McCain. Kelly's still an ***hole, but he's a military man and an ***hole. He's gonna respect McCain, no doubt. (That, and Kelly has already been rumored to have told the GOP leaders to bash Trump after he gave the reach-around to Putin at Helsinki.)

The White House is crumbling down around Trump. He's got no one he can trust, and those few that he does (his kids) are likely to be going to jail with him anyway.

I have to agree with your reasoning. Kelly's going to side with those who served in the military over someone like Trump who publicly disrespected both McCain and a Gold Star family.

[Joker Venom]

• June 8th, 2017: Louie Gohmert votes for HR 10, the GOP’s attempt to repeal Dodd-Frank financial reform, because what the country really needs is to allow the big banks to make the same mistakes that imploded the economy only a decade earlier.
• June 13th, 2017: Gohmert, in a speech in front of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, begins tarnishing the image of former FBI Director and Special Counsel Robert Mueller, outraged that Mueller had removed anti-Islamic reading materials from the FBI’s training headquarters during his tenure and thus, “He did a lot of damage and a lot of Americans are dead as a result of the purging of their training materials.” Gohmert also began trying to link Robert Mueller to the Council of American-Islamic Relations and, of course, then to his actual favorite bogeyman, the Muslim Brotherhood.
• July 14th, 2017: Rep. Gohmert joins Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and Congressman Steve King to take turns running to the microphone on the floor of the House to turn a discussion of the renewal of the National Defense Authorization Act into a rant against the transgendered, rambling about the seventeenth century battles between Austria and the Ottoman Empire, the latter of whom would castrate their troops to their disadvantage:
  
• August 21st, 2017: Louie Gohmert, on Fox News, claims that the terror attack carried out in Charlottesville by white supremacists was somehow a false flag operation set up by President Obama, and that both people posing as KKK members and Black Lives Matter supporters were brought in off the same buses.
• October 3rd, 2017: Gohmert votes for HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would try to create an unconstitutional ban abortion at 20 weeks (even though medical science tells us fetuses do not have the capability to feel pain until 29 weeks).
• December 19th, 2017: Louie Gohmert votes for HR 1, the GOP’s $1.7 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations permanently that coincidentally also removes the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and kicks 13 million people off their health insurance.
• February 18th, 2018: Gohmert and his fellow Republicans decide that poor big businesses are suffering too much at the hands of the Americans with Disabilities Act too much, and vote for HR 620, which would strip most of the civil rights protections guaranteed by it.
• April 26th, 2018: Gohmert publishes a 48 page press release that does nothing but outright slander Special Counsel Robert Mueller for his work in investigating the links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
  
• July 3rd, 2018: On Fox News, a paranoid Gohmert claims he’s “being monitored by the Justice Department”.
• July 9th, 2018: As controversy swirls around Congressman Jim Jordan, who is believed to have kept silence about wrestlers in the Ohio State wrestling program being sexually abused while he coached there, Gohmert defended the sexual assaults because “they were adults”.
• July 12th, 2018: As FBI Agent Peter Strzok takes the witness stand in front of Congress, Louie Gohmert goes f***ing bonkers, and accuses Strzok of lying before Congress, and then starts taking cheap shots and asking him how many times he had lied to his wife, prompting Democratic members of the hearing to ask Gohmert to “go take his medication”. (We’re assuming it’s for that neurosyphilis we’re betting he has.)
• July 17th, 2018: With several tech agencies testifying before Congress about how Russian influence campaigns online manipulated the 2016 election, Louie Gohmert began harassing the representative appearing from YouTube to scream at them, apparently upset that they were singling out Russia for condemnation, and therefore, only helping Democrats (yes, Gohmert is bats*** insane).

Louie Gohmert possesses levels of madness usually reserved for people who witness the Old Ones in Lovecraft novels. We have no idea how such a ludicrous bigot never even gets a real primary challenge, because even in a conservative district, any sane person should be able to primary him. Why the GOP has continued to enable him for a decade and a half, we can’t say. But we do wish they’d stop, especially now that he’s embracing the Alt-Right.

Texas' 1st Congressional District has a +24 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index and in November, Gohmert faces off against Democrat Shirley MacKellar for the second election cycle in a row, trying to win his eighth term in office. If there’s anything aggravating about American politics right now, it’s that a pea-brained, gibbering stooge like Louie Gohmert could be elected seven times, and is likely to make it EIGHT this fall. Like, think about that. As easy as it is to demonstrate that the little hamster in the wheel in Gohmert’s skull is tripping over itself, high on bath salts, people keep sending him to Washington, again, and again, and again, even though every year, he gets a little worse..

Just… come on Southeast Texas. Just stop the madness. And start with stopping Louie Gohmert.

Swear to God, after reading all that stuff about Gohmert, I had to look behind me to be sure Rod Serling wasn't standing behind me going, "Imagine if you will......".

To say that guy is a raving lunatic would be the mother of all understatements.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I have to agree with your reasoning. Kelly's going to side with those who served in the military over someone like Trump who publicly disrespected both McCain and a Gold Star family.

Yeah, that would be my guess as well. First and foremost, Major Dad is a military lifer, so Trump's shameful treatment of McCain who suffered in service of his country while Dolt45 avoided service because of those fictional bone spurs had to have rankled big time.

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

Fox News Analyst Calls Out Donald Trump Over Bland John McCain Condolences Tweet

The president’s statement didn’t include “a kind word” about the late Republican senator, Brit Hume tweeted. And, as long as Trump continues breathing, no kind words about McCain will be forthcoming. Nobody on the planet nurses a grudge longer or better than Caramel Caligula.

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John McCain Had A Tremendous Sense Of Humor, Especially About Himself

The Arizona senator’s appearances on “Saturday Night Live” show he could take — and make — a joke. A Republican, with a sense of humor? Whoa! Who knew?

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Here Are The 52 Trump Investigations That Democrats Plan If They Win The Midterms

Donald Trump’s business, Jared Kushner’s conflicts and the census citizenship question would all be immediately examined. Wow! That's a lot of stuff!

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Jacksonville Councilman Reginald Gaffney: ‘We’ve Got A Gun Problem’

“My question I’m asking to America, I’m asking to Jacksonville, I’m asking to the state of Florida: What are we going to do about guns?” As long as Republicans are in charge in Washington and following the dictates of their puppet masters at the NRA----NOTHING!

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Donald Trump’s Worst Nightmare May Come In The Form Of Rep. Elijah Cummings

An agenda is taking shape that could have a paralyzing effect on the Trump administration, as Democrats on the House oversight committee begin to take decisive action in response to recent revelations and the conduct of the president.

In the last week, the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), has requested documents to investigate how and why President Donald Trump revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan. Cummings also wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to express concern over the appointment of Brian Hook to the State Department’s Iran Action Group despite Hook’s hostile relationship with employees in the department.

On Wednesday, Cummings wrote to oversight committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) requesting that he convene “a hearing with President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who pleaded guilty to multiple federal crimes and implicated President Trump in directing these crimes.”

The White House and Gowdy will, of course, ignore Cummings’ letters and requests. To date, the committee’s Republicans have blocked 52 attempts by Democrats to force votes on subpoena motions. Without the power of the majority, Democrats have been relegated to spectator status as the Republican majority abdicates its oversight responsibilities to protect Trump.

Come November, however, the Trump administration may face a situation where there’s no Republican majority there to protect the president. For the first time, it could be facing legitimate scrutiny and oversight from the legislative branch and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (OGR).

The thing you should know about OGR is that unlike all of the other congressional committees, this one exists to serve as the watchdog of the federal government. OGR’s mandate is to investigate, not legislate. The chairman wields a tremendous amount of power, with unlimited jurisdiction and the unilateral authority to issue subpoenas and compel testimony for public congressional hearings.

Former Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), for whom I worked, issued more than 100 subpoenas to the Obama administration. To date, Gowdy has issued a grand total of zero subpoenas to the Trump administration. The OGR Republicans have refused to hold the Trump administration to the same standard of oversight we established during the Obama presidency. The committee’s Republicans have cravenly abdicated their oversight responsibilities, choosing instead to look the other way despite exhaustive displays of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement.

But thanks to voters and Elijah Cummings, that might change.

[PaulBullion]

Now that the old thread is locked, here is a look at the final post counts:

[WestPhillyPunisher]

WOW! As someone who doesn't see myself as a political animal, to have finished fourth in posts was quite a surprise.