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

[ZombieHavoc]

See that’s the thing though. They actually did vote for Hillary. A greater percentage of Bernie voters ended up voting for Hillary than the percentage of Gillatu voters that supported Obama. There’s actually no proof that an abormal number of Bernie voters choose not to support the nominee that literally any other elections. It’s really just a made up thing that people who want someone to select bland to have been clinging too.

So wait...if all the Bernie voters and all the Hillary voters all voted for Hillary, how would Bernie have won 2016 when Hillary didn't? That's the same number of people.

[worstblogever]

Just wait for the debates. Imagine him trying to finger-wag Kamala Harris, or Amy Klobuchar, or Elizabeth Warren.

Imagine another few years of BernieBros online explaining why his tendency to lecture female politicians like this but be respectful of far more clueless male ones doesn't in any way appear sexist.

https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1097822623088734208

Bernie has learned nothing from 2016.

Nope.

[ZombieHavoc]

There are different standards for Bernie that we must all recognize and acquiesce to.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

You don't really think the derision came from only one side last time, do you? I'm pretty sure that the staunch supporters of both Bernie and Hillary villified the **** out of each other.

I feel like you are saying that in 2016, Hillary had to court and sway the people who might not have voted for her otherwise, but for Bernie, it's **** it, eat **** if you don't like him.

I feel like in 2020 it's going to come down to something like Bernie vs. Kamala, with their supporters eating eachother. The Bernie side already generally has a huge thing with Kamala, so.

I don't plan to vote for Bernie in the primaries for real, that was hyperbole. He has to know he's throwing a wrench into the whole thing. If he wants Trump to remain president, then fine, I guess. But if Bernie does get the nom, obviously I'll vote for him in the general. Hopefully everyone else can not be dicks and just vote for the person who gets the nom.

I think it did. However I don’t recall Bernie supporters trying to label Bernie supporters as sexist and racist because they supported a white man over a woman. I seem to recall some selective memory about how Hillary handled 2008 when they criticized Bernie for not going to the mattresses enough to support Hillary. And it’s really hard to get over the pure vitriol directed at Bernie and his supporters because of the outcome of the election supporters.

My sympathy meter is rather low for those people and I can’t find it in me to really care all that much that now they are sweating. Sorry sometimes actions have consequences. Only this time we’ve had two years of people moaning about party unity and how everyone needed to unite (while they took the same pot shots whenever could). So now it’s just interesting that those same people are so averse to supporting a Democrat if it comes down to it. It’s almost like it was just a self serving lie people said to have a shield for their vitriol. Oh well, no skin off my bones. I did my part last time. There several candidates I likr, and several i don’t like and that will determine how I vote this time.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Sue Myrick, the former U.S. House Representative from North Carolina’s 9th District who served from 1995-2013. Myrick was delightfully self-righteously insane, believing that God once spoke to her husband through their coffee maker and predicted her rise to political office, and back in the 1980s, she tried to ban all concerts in Charlotte, because rock music is “Satanic” and “evil”. In 2003, still spooked by the 9/11 terror attacks, she spoke to the Heritage Foundation and warned of a threat of Islamic Jihad lurking in America’s convenience stores. That was far from her last Islamophobic moment, as she wrote the foreword to the d of the book “Muslim Mafia” that warned of followers of Islam looking to infiltrate the United State “Islamize” the whole country, endorsed Brigette Gabriel, the leaders of the anti-Muslim Hate Group, ACT! for America, and whipped up paranoid fears about terrorists even more when she said that Hezbollah had infiltrated Mexican drug cartels and were planning ways to sneak into the United States across the U.S./Mexico border. The fact that Myrick also frequently voted against the interests of women, not just on anti-choice legislation, but voting against equal pay laws, and that she voted against common sense legislation like the repeal of “Don”t Ask, Don’t Tell” or the Zadroga Bill are ironically, the least crazy things she did while in office. She’s off working as a lobbyist for overseas shoe companies in North Carolina, the last time we checked.


It was in both 2016, and in 2017, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted profiles about Warren Groen, a four-term member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives who grew exceedingly more extreme over the past few years in his rhetoric on anti-choice issues. The first petty remark came in May of 2014, when an outraged Groen watched as the New Hampshire state legislature voted to create a 25 foot buffer zone outside of abortion clinics to keep protestors back. During the debate on the bill, Groen sarcastically produced an amendment that also provided a 25 foot buffer zone around slaughterhouses and butcher shops, saying, ‘‘Any organization that butchers animals deserves the same rights as organizations that butcher babies.’’ Groen co-sponsored an attempted repeal of that legislation, only eight months later around the start of the new legislative session in January of 2015. Around this time, he also stated his belief that Planned Parenthood takes part in eugenics, and is "cutting children into small pieces". He's tried to defund Planned Parenthood on that logic from 2011-2016, growing more and more unhinged with each failed attempt. A month later in February 2015, Groen upped his game by comparing abortion to slavery. He still had yet to sink to his lowest levels. That probably happened in March of 2015, when a group of 4th graders were in the state capitol, trying to learn about good governance and push for the red-tailed hawk to be named the state raptor in a bill they submitted. Instead, Groen and his fellow Republicans actually voted down the measure, ridiculing the kids for their efforts. And, Groen stood out among his peers as being particularly insensitive to the nine and ten year olds, when he chose to segue out of the discussion about the red-tailed hawk to rail against Planned Parenthood and abortion, telling the wee lads and lasses, “With its talons and then uses its razor-sharp beak to rip its victims to shreds, to basically tear it apart limb by limb, and I guess the shame about making this a state bird is it would serve as a much better mascot for Planned Parenthood.’’ Groen was ridiculed nationally by late night comedians, and even the Republican Speaker of the New Hampshire House called for him to apologize. He didn't. Instead, he has continued to submit legislation to defund Planned Parenthood (in spite of all investigations into the organization finding no wrongdoing, whatsoever), and sponsoring bills to prohibit abortions based on genetic anomalies. Even outside of abortion, Groen’s voting record was extremely conservative, including efforts to try and repeal same sex marriage in New Hampshire, voting against a bill that would prevent employers from discriminating against a victim of domestic violence, and voting against the state's attempts to repeal the death penalty. This guy would not compromise his hard right credentials with 100% ratings from the NRA, and every pro-choice group out there. He is, hands down, the most unflinchingly conservative tosspot you will ever find in the Granite State, and here at CSGOPOTD, that says a lot. And, we have good news to report… Warren Groen opted to not run for re-election in 2016, and now seems politically irrelevant.



It was one year ago today that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Alabama State Senator Arthur Orr, who thrice has not faced a challenger for his seat representing Alabama’s District 3 since he originally won office back in 2006. Orr came to our attention back in March of 2016, when he submitted legislation to strip welfare benefits from anyone on government assistance if they own a car, because poor people can’t afford those in his mind… but they should also have jobs. We’re assuming he expected them to walk to work, or take a bus, but in any event, his bill failed to go forward because it seemed to contradict what is expected from the working poor.

While that bill may have ended up as kindling, Orr has earned a reputation for trying to sever as many cords of the social safety net as possible over the past few years, and on other issues, he’s voted just as conservative. Whether he’s pushing potential bans on abortion at 20 weeks or TRAP laws to close all the abortion clinics in the state, his attempts at passing nullification legislation to try and block federal firearms laws the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, or voting to drug test welfare recipients (always overturned in courts as a violation of the 4th Amendment), or when he co-sponsored SB 63, an attempt to “reform” prisons by making work rehabilitation a main focus (and also providing businesses with an avenue to get labor as close to as the cost of slaves as possible from a prison population that is disproportionately African American). Even when Orr conveniently calls in sick on votes, it’s conspicuous, like he did on the day the Alabama State Senate is to vote to express regret over the practice of slavery.

Arthur Orr ran for re-election unopposed to his seat in the Alabama State Senate in 2018, meaning he is guaranteed another four years in at least that body to do damage to Alabama. We’re not going to be surprised if he takes a crack at running for U.S. Senate, though, in 2020.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

So wait...if all the Bernie voters and all the Hillary voters all voted for Hillary, how would Bernie have won 2016 when Hillary didn't? That's the same number of people.

Hillary lost off mapping not numbers. Bernie was stronger in the Midwest where Hillary lost by narrow margins. Bernie was weaker in the south where Hillary got soundly defeated anyways. So trade a potential bigger defeat in the South for some actual Midwest wins and you win the Presidency.

[ZombieHavoc]

Ha, okay, you are clearly partisan within the party if you think it was only one side taking shots at the other. My Bernie friends were sharing the same Breitbart-style memes about Hillary that my shitty Trump-loving family were in 2016.

[ZombieHavoc]

Hillary lost off mapping not numbers. Bernie was stronger in the Midwest where Hillary lost by narrow margins. Bernie was weaker in the south where Hillary got soundly defeated anyways. So trade a potential bigger defeat in the South for some actual Midwest wins and you win the Presidency.

Yeah, I was being sarcastic. I don't believe that all the Bernie supporters voted for Hillary.

I do however believe that most of the voters from the "Hillary wing" would vote for Bernie if he won the nom in 2020, because those people largely agree that getting Trump out of office is more important than pretty much anything.

[Tuck]

To whatever extent there was an actual fight between Bernie and Hillary supporters, I seem to recall that a lot of what came out about the Russian Trolls was that they were playing all angles here, and a lot of that nonsense was being kicked up and spurred on by them. Seems kind of foolish to keep doing what they want.

Aaaaaalso, I think it's kinda funny that he's like, hey there are a number of women of varying backgrounds and who sit and varying points on the lefty spectrum, and he's like, ah, nah, America needs another old white dude 4 prez.

Bernie is Jewish. 45 Presidents, 1 Catholic, 44 Protestants. Race/ethnicity and gender are not the only uniform things about the history of this country's leadership. (I remember conversations a few years back when there were no Protestants on the Supreme Court that that was a problem.)

[ZombieHavoc]

Bernie is Jewish. 45 Presidents, 1 Catholic, 44 Protestants. Race/ethnicity and gender are not the only uniform things about the history of this country's leadership.

I mean, uh, you are correct...

[ZombieHavoc]

Also, we are a bunch of assholes who fight on the internet.

Trolls didn't incite nothing we have not already been doing since AOL chatrooms gave people the ability to be shitheads with anonymity.

[Tuck]

I mean, uh, you are correct...

"another old white dude"

My point is, no, that's not the case.

[ZombieHavoc]

It just bums me out that in 2016 people could not realize the severity of Trump getting even one SCOTUS seat, and he has since been gifted two.

When he wins in 2020, I mean, I'm sure he gets at least one more. All of America's fabricated progress has pretty much already ceased for many more decades. Another Trump puppet SCOTUS seat and we can pretty much bury that coffin of an idea. Not that legislating away bigotry has helped prevent it but, at least some people would get some civil rights legally.

But nah, we can just troll the Hillbots or whatever, hell yeah.

[ZombieHavoc]

"another old white dude"

My point is, no, that's not the case.

Oh my bad. I didn't relize that that made him not an old white dude.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Yeah, I was being sarcastic. I don't believe that all the Bernie supporters voted for Hillary.

I do however believe that most of the voters from the "Hillary wing" would vote for Bernie if he won the nom in 2020, because those people largely agree that getting Trump out of office is more important than pretty much anything.

I don’t and there is absolutely no reason to believe that to the point where it seems like a pipe dream. We were in the Bush admin, you know two of the most destructive wars ever, and the economy just tanked in the scariest recession of most of our lifetimes. In that dire situation, less Hillary supporters voted for Obama than Bernie supporters for Hillary.

So why on Earth should I believe your hypothesis?