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

[numberthirty]

Louie Gohmert was a guest on Fox Business Channel today, and as he is infamous for... went on a delusional, paranoid, conspiracy theory-laden rant. This time, taking discussion about Google's business practices with China to instead start making anti-Semitic attacks against George Soros. How bad was it? Fox Business host Stuart Varney apologized to viewers for Gohmert's remarks after the interview.

Man...

When you can manage to force an apology out of Varney...

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Louie Gohmert was a guest on Fox Business Channel today, and as he is infamous for... went on a delusional, paranoid, conspiracy theory-laden rant. This time, taking discussion about Google's business practices with China to instead start making anti-Semitic attacks against George Soros. How bad was it? Fox Business host Stuart Varney apologized to viewers for Gohmert's remarks after the interview.

Clearly Loony Louie was off his antipsychotic meds when he went before the cameras. That was some seriously daft ass ****.

[4saken1]

Trump’s Team Considers Removing Mike Pence from 2020 Ticket



I doubt anyone could put a shine on the Trump tarnish. If Pence has any ambition to be President, his only chance is if Trump gets impeached. If Trump doesn't and he drops him from the ticket, that pretty much ends his political career without resolving any possible liability that came from being associated with Trump. not to mention if Muller has anything on Pence.

I think the whole reason Pence was chose as his running mate was to draw in the conservative Christian vote, since Trump has such a morally tarnished image. Now that it's been demonstrably proven that conservative Christians don't actually give a flying **** about morals, Pence doesn't actually add anything to the ticket.

[Tazirai]

Meanwhile, over in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District... signs show that Leslie McCrae Dowless is likely to have been committing absentee ballot election fraud on a massive scale since 2010. Several local candidates seemed aware of the abnormalities (which inquiries were already still in place about the 2016 election), and recommended Dowless to work for Mark Harris (knowing that the absentee ballot results were potentially fraudulent on campaigns he'd worked on).

Trust me we're keeping a close eye on this one. Roy Cooper was our AG, and he's already got the Dems in the state and House on it. Roy was a STRONG AG, but started as a Weak Governor, but he's learning to fight the GOP here. So I know for sure, people WILL be going to jail over this.

[Tendrin]

Meanwhile, over in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District... signs show that Leslie McCrae Dowless is likely to have been committing absentee ballot election fraud on a massive scale since 2010. Several local candidates seemed aware of the abnormalities (which inquiries were already still in place about the 2016 election), and recommended Dowless to work for Mark Harris (knowing that the absentee ballot results were potentially fraudulent on campaigns he'd worked on).

Link here is taking me to the Ghomert DailyKos diary. xD

[Tazirai]

Nomiki NAILS Tucker Carlson.

Democratic socialist Nomiki Konst to Tucker Carlson: 'You don't like opinionated women, do you?'

[Kirby101]

President Donald Trump will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

Trump's decision to nominate Nauert was first reported by Bloomberg News.


Is anyone surprised that Trump picks and nominates a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor as ambassador to the UN?

No stupid thing Trump does surprizes me anymore.

[mathew101281]

Their has been another bomb threat at the CNN headquarters at New York.

[InformationGeek]

Their has been another bomb threat at the CNN headquarters at New York.

I was just watching The Game Awards and then this. What a night. Also, apparently Trump was tweeting about how the press was the enemy of the people again.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, as well as 2016, as well as 2017, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted profiles of former Congressman Ryan Zinke, from Montana's At-Large Congressional District. Zinke is a former Navy Seal (whose retirement was forced due to an undisclosed disciplinary matter, and who has been criticized by several former colleagues) who has blamed both President Obama and Hillary Clinton for the Benghazi attacks, suggesting impeachment for the former and calling the latter the Anti-Christ. Zinke is also a proud climate change denier, called for the militarization of the U.S./Mexico border, and bragged about having personally water-boarded people as a positive trait that made him a better candidate than a Democrat he was debating. As a Congressman, Zinke has voted for all anti-abortion legislation he could, and opposed LGBT rights at every turn. He voted against the nuclear treaty with Iran, tried to do what he could to block the acceptance of Syrian refugees, and voted to defund the Department of Homeland Security in a protest against President Obama's executive orders on immigration. Zinke once even hosted a reception for a former general, Paul Vallely, who offered himself as the leader for a military coup against the Obama administration to Tea Party Republicans. Zinke spoke on the opening night of the 2016 Republican National Convention, giving a fear-mongering speech about foreign threats, and that was enough to earn him a spot in Donald Trump’s “Cabinet of Horrors”, getting the nod to be his Interior Secretary. He’s always been a bit of a nut, and running his office at the Department of the Interior like it’s a military base, including raising and lowering a flag if he’s in or not on a given day. And, like so, so many members of Donald Trump’s cabinet, it’s not just that they’re unqualified, it’s that they’re so blatantly corrupt. Ryan Zinke fits the profile, as like former Health Secretary Tom Price, he was soon investigated by federal watchdogs for abusing his travel budget. Unlike Price, Zinke didn’t resign. And then came a second investigation, as an energy company from his home town that has only existed for 2 years was somehow awarded a $300 million contract to rebuild Puerto Rico’s damaged power grid by Zinke’s Department. Zinke insisted it was just all a coincidence, and attacks the media for investigating him. And then literally a dozen more “coincidences” happened, as the number of federal investigations into corruption at Zinke’s Department of the Interior kept growing, The deputy charged with being the watchdog at the Department of the Interior referred Zinke to the Department of Justice back on Halloween of 2018, and the current race is whether or not he’s officially prosecuted, if he resigns, or if someone at the Trump White House finally fires him, rather than let him continue to be an embodiment of the criminality of the administration. In any event, since Zinke is no longer an elected official, we'll set aside his profile to go ahead and take a look at a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 708-30, since this was established in July 2014.)


Cynthia Dunbar

Welcome to the 708th original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where today we’ll be talking about Cynthia Dunbar, a member of the Republican National Committee from Virginia, and a 2018 candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for both Virginia’s 5th, and 6th Congressional Districts, at different points. Dunbar was been a known quantity for over a decade, as a professor of law at Pat Robertson’s Liberty University (i.e. school for theocratic wingnut charlatans), and did significant damage to the youth of the Lone Star State as a member of the Texas Board of Education from 2007 to 2010, where she would try to alter the syllabus so it taught not just Creationism,but racist points of view like taking time to recognize the “positive contributions made by leaders of the Confederacy”, or just flat out altering texts to discuss how “Chicanos want to destroy this society”.

It should come as little surprise, then, that on the campaign trail for Congress, Dunbar repeatedly was quoting the teachings of “Christian historian” David Barton, that have long since been debunked by actual historians as Fundamentalist propaganda. (This would be why we’ve profiled David Barton every year since we started this blog.) In a book Dunbar wrote In 2008, she also expressed her opinion that all candidates for office should be forced to take a “biblical litmus test” to qualify for office, which if that sounds like an obvious violation of a separation of church and state, congratulate yourself on basic civics, and how it’s easier to understand why Dunbar wanted details about Thomas Jefferson stricken from history classes in Texas.

Dunbar is also an unapologetic Birther, who right around the time Barack Obama was president-elect, began positing conspiracy theories about how as president, he, as a “Secret Muslim” would start working with terrorists to aid them in attacks upon the United States. And, during the 2018 campaigns that Dunbar was in, she frequently talked to Trump-obsessed, insane far-right preacher Lance Wallnau about how “God doesn’t intend government to care of the needy”, because she’s into that twisted version of Republican Christianity that cares f***-all about the poor.

Dunbar was not only not chosen to represent the 5th Congressional District in 2018 by Virginia Republicans, but rebuffed when she tried to run in the 6th district, when the Virginia GOP instead chose Denver Riggleman. Yes, the Denver Riggleman who’s the Bigfoot erotica fan.

So for now, Cynthia Dunbar will have to settle for being a member of the Republican National Committee, but we’re expecting her to make bids for Congress repeatedly, going forward. We’re hoping she never even comes close to pulling it off, though.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I think the whole reason Pence was chose as his running mate was to draw in the conservative Christian vote, since Trump has such a morally tarnished image. Now that it's been demonstrably proven that conservative Christians don't actually give a flying **** about morals, Pence doesn't actually add anything to the ticket.

****! Holy rollers NEVER gave a **** about morals! The ONLY reason evangelicals got in bed with Trump in the first place was because he promised to kill Roe v. Wade if elected. The fact he's on his third wife after cheating on the first two didn't matter diddly squat to them, still doesn't.

President Donald Trump will nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

Trump's decision to nominate Nauert was first reported by Bloomberg News.


Is anyone surprised that Trump picks and nominates a former Fox News Channel correspondent and anchor as ambassador to the UN?

Nope, not at all. Hell, I'm surprised Trump didn't nominate Fucker Carlson and/or Sean Hamhocks for positions in the administration as they're his most loyal defenders on Faux News.

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

Appeals To Scott Walker: Don’t Stain Legacy, Veto Bills

Scott Walker has 10 days after the bills are delivered to him to either sign them into law or veto them. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say he'll sign those bills. Party before democracy. Meanwhile....

**********

Conservative Media Is Largely Silent About The Republican Power Grabs

Key Republican lawmakers have also sidestepped questions about the matter or not commented — and if they have, they’ve downplayed the issue.

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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.

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Rep. Ted Lieu: It’s ‘Too Late’ For Trump To Shut Down The Russia Probe

“The train has left the station,” according to the Judiciary Committee Democrat, who also said the president broke the law with several tweets. CHOO CHOO! The Mueller Express is roaring down the tracks, and it's not stopping for anyone!

**********

Rudy Giuliani Calls Getting Trump Through Robert Mueller’s Questions ‘A Nightmare’

The president unsurprisingly claimed he answered the questions “very easily.” Big surprise, right?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

John Kelly expected to resign soon, no longer on speaking terms with Trump

John Kelly is expected to resign as White House chief of staff in the coming days, two sources familiar with the situation unfolding in the West Wing tell CNN.

Seventeen months in, Kelly and President Donald Trump have reached a stalemate in their relationship and it is no longer seen as tenable by either party. Though Trump asked Kelly over the summer to stay on as chief of staff for two more years, the two have stopped speaking in recent days.

Trump is actively discussing a replacement plan, though a person involved in the process said nothing is final right now and ultimately nothing is final until Trump announces it. Potential replacements include Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, who is still seen as a leading contender.

Yet another adult, perhaps the last one is being forced to leave the playpen that's Trump's White House.

[Tami]

Economists see the Trump economy slowing drastically next year before a possible recession in 2020

Juiced by tax cuts this year, the economy's performance peaked in the second quarter and is expected to increasingly lose steam in 2019, with growth slowing to a crawl and a recession looming.

That is one big reason the stock market has spiraled lower, as buyers rushed into Treasurys and yields on corporate debt snapped higher. Investors' views, in fact, may be even gloomier than those of economists.

Major firms this week have been releasing forecasts for next year, and both Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan see growth slowing to below 2 percent in the second half of 2019. But at the same time, the two firms expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates four times, while other economists believe the Fed may have to move at a slower pace.

Economists point to a number of factors for the slower growth, but topping the list of scare factors for markets are those Fed interest rate hikes as well as the impact of tariffs and trade wars, should they continue. Economists do not foresee a recession next year, but by 2020, one seems more likely, some economists said.

[Iron Maiden]

John Kelly expected to resign soon, no longer on speaking terms with Trump



Yet another adult, perhaps the last one is being forced to leave the playpen that's Trump's White House.

One can only guess which one of many, many things Trump has done that has lead to this. My guess is the two-faced way Trump has treated the military he claims to respect. Isn't he keeping more troops down there by the border for the Christmas holidays too?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Economists see the Trump economy slowing drastically next year before a possible recession in 2020

If a Democrat wins the election next year, it'll be his (or her) job to clean up Trump's colossal mess. Standard operating procedure: Republicans dump chicken **** everywhere, and Dems are left to turn it into chicken salad.

One can only guess which one of many, many things Trump has done that has lead to this. My guess is the two-faced way Trump has treated the military he claims to respect. Isn't he keeping more troops down there by the border for the Christmas holidays too?

As far as I know, yeah. God only knows how long they could be down there, especially if Trump doesn't get funding for his damned wall.