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

[aja_christopher]

If you have concerns about specific policies that you feel disenfranchise minority voters, we can discuss that.

No point in doing so -- you'll deflect, dodge, and make excuses but your party will still be racist, sexist, and homophobic regardless. As I've pointed out before, all of your rhetoric is inconsequential in the face of the horrors your party has inflicted -- and continues to inflict -- on this country.

Regardless, we've already had that discussion ("stop and frisk" and racial profiling) and the best you could offer were your "sympathies" -- which you can keep since they don't address the problem directly. More recently, you offered up a "t-shirt" as an excuse against Trump's dishonest and openly racist border wall arguments, which would almost be comical if it weren't so tragic.

"Discussing" the racist, sexist and homophobic policies of your party would do nothing to change them and is a waste of time -- I know from experience.

The same applies to Mueller report -- Trump wasn't directly interviewed by Mueller and you know it, and nothing you can say will change that fact.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Aaron Schock, Schock had just shocked the Beltway by resigning in disgrace after the one time "Young Gun" of the GOP, and the youngest person ever elected to Congress was discovered to have remodeled his office to look like the set of Downtown Abbey, and taxpayers were left with a $35,000 bill for the redecorating efforts. Schock also missed 5.5% of the potential votes on the House floor, one of the poorest attendance records in Congress, and one of the easiest explanations for that was he was always posting Instagram photos from exotic vacations he was taking, rather than doing a job that already offers a ridiculous amount of days off for a six-figure salary. Schock also got caught reporting he had driven more miles than the truck he was driving had in its total mileage, but wanted to be reimbursed for $90,000. After the media started reporting on all these inconsistencies, the FBI and Justice Department began ones of their own (they're still trying to determine if Schock will face charges). With all that graft going on, it's easy to forget that Schock's voting record included votes against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform, Hurricane Sandy Relief Aid, and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, while voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act incessantly, the 2013 Government Shutdown, and to attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. Since he's still out of office and still fighting to try and avoid prison time, we’re thinking the constant rumors of his supposed comeback aren’t coming.

On this date in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a profile of Janice Fountaine, a 2014 Maryland State Senate and self-described "prophet of God" who warned that homosexuality and masturbation were created by Satan as a strategy in "evil end-time warfare". Fountaine's foreign policy stance is also that America is the "World Police, whether we like it or not". She was an embarrassing candidate who only ran because she saw no other Republicans on the ballot, and it seems like the Maryland GOP would like to not be embarrassed by her again.

On this date in 2017, as well as 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiled Arthur “Art” Jones, who we kind of thought would be a “one and done” focus for us, what with him being a motherf***ing straight-up Nazi and all. We aren’t speaking in hyperbole here, Jones was a two-time failed Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois 3rd Congressional District in the 2012 who ran for Congress in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional Districtinn 2016 even though he marched with Nazis in Chicago in 1978, and who denies the Holocaust ever happened. In the Oak Lawn Patch on February 29, 2012, Jones commented, "the Holocaust is nothing more than an international extortion racket by the Jews. It's the blackest lie in history. Millions of dollars are being made by Jews telling this tale of woe and misfortune in books, movies, plays and TV.” This isn’t a one-off misquote, either, as Jones' 2016 campaign website contained a section called "Holocaust?" (yes, with a question mark) featuring write-ups and newspaper clippings supporting his belief that the Holocaust is "mythical." Jones cited tax benefits received by Holocaust survivors as a possible motivation for their upholding of the narrative and further added that Kosher food labels are "another Jewish racket, pure and simple to extort money out of the food manufacturers at a hefty fee, which is then passed on to all non-Jewish customers in the retail price paid each time we shop." As you would expect, Jones was echoing Donald Trump’s anti-immigration platform in 2016, though he also had plenty of venom focused against marriage equality as well. In his warped mind, homosexuals, or as he calls them “the lying Pink Crusader Rabbits” are working to “seeks to uproot, and overthrow all the moral teachings of the Christian religion on which all our laws are based.” Jones was also ranting about something he called the “Neighbourhood Amendment”, which apparently sought to let citizens who decided clean up their neighborhood and assure it would be white and Christian would have the legal means to do so. In 2012, Art Jones finished third in the GOP Primary with 11% of the vote, which is far more than you’d hope a Neo-Nazi Holocaust denier would ever get. And, to our chagrin. at 70 years old, was allowed to run for Congress AGAIN by the Illinois GOP in 2018, and they couldn’t be bothered to even run a candidate against him in the primary. Which means, yes, Art Jones, an actual Nazi running around three quarters of a century after the Nazis were defeated in World War II, is going into November with a chance of becoming a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois’ 3rd District. Proving that Republicans are brainwashed morons, Jones actually still won 26% of the vote because he has an “R” next to his name. We would like to think this is the last we’ll be hearing from him and we’ll move on to profile a different kooky Republican on this date instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 739-30, since this was established in July 2014.)

 

[worstblogever]

Frank Hoffman

Welcome to the 739th original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where today we’ll be discussing Frank Hoffman, a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives who has served in that body since 2007. We’re going to be up front, and just be clear about our opinion that Hoffman is one of the more bats*** crazy anti-choice Republicans we’ve taken note of in some time, as in 2016, he actually submitted an anti-abortion bill that claimed the procedure was “reversible”. Big surprise, he has a 100% rating from the Louisiana Right to Life Foundation, and he also used to run the First Baptist Church’s Cable Access Network, so it’s no wonder he’s asking for scientists to come forward to prove his assertions about abortion, based on flawed research:

"WHEREAS, news reports published in February of 2015 indicated that Dr. George Delgado, medical director at Culture of Life Family Health Care in SanDiego, California, had developed and successfully implemented a method of reversing what was thought to be the inevitably fatal effect of the RU-486 abortion pill;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Department of Health and Hospitals to study whether the effects of an abortion induced with drugs or chemicals can be reversed.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and Hospitals shall convene a panel of experts in obstetrics and gynecology and pharmacology to provide guidance on this matter and aid them in their study."

(That’s not how science works, Frank, you interpret evidence and THEN draw conclusions. Look it up before you’ve finished burning all the books.)

It should come as little surprise then, that Hoffman has been a sponsor or co-sponsor of some of the Louisiana GOP’s most extreme anti-choice legislation over the years, including when he sponsored a bill to require any tissue removed during an abortion to be buried or cremated. On the same day he argued against sex education in schools, which would probably do more to prevent unwanted pregnancies than any nutty ideas rattling around in his misogynist skull. Really, his entire legislative record reads like a book written by Pat Robertson, as he co-sponsored a TRAP law to try and force the closure of all abortion clinics in Louisiana by creating harsh restrictions upon the hospitals that perform them, he co-sponsored a bill to nullify federal firearm laws, voted for one of those disastrous attempts by Republicans to require welfare recipients to be drug tested to receive government assistance, voted to prevent the removal of “military memorials” that is aimed at protecting Confederate monuments, and even voted against a repeal of archaic legislation still on the books in Louisiana that considers some sex acts (y’know, the gay ones) “crimes against nature”.

The good news we have, is that Frank Hoffman is apparently term-limited in 2019, and cannot run for his seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives after a dozen years bumbling about the joint. Barring a last-minute run for higher office in November, this looks like the only time we’ll be mentioning him.

[aja_christopher]

The end result is feeding the prison industrial complex, and it will be by criminalizing homeless people living in their frigging cars for the sake of people 'uncomfortable' with them. ALso, your conflation of homelessness with 'junkies relieving themselves in public' is a pretty huge tell.

Pointing out how "addiction and mental health" are the issue while the Republicans cut health care programs for the needy and give tax cuts to the wealthy is the sign of someone who just doesn't care about the disconnect between his words and the actions of his political party.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump: Mueller Probe ‘Would Not Have Happened’ If Barr Had Been Attorney General

President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the FBI’s conduct during the 2016 election amounted to treason. Well, Trump would know what treason is, he committed it by cozying up with Bad Vlad Putin.

**********

Here's two instances of the NRA behaving badly:

Exclusive: NRA Official Sought Sandy Hook Hoaxer To Question Parkland Shooting, Emails Show

The NRA Comes Out Against The Violence Against Women Act

**********

There Is No GOP Obamacare Replacement And There Never Has Been

President Donald Trump says Republicans will be the “party of health care.” There’s no reason anyone should believe that. Damn straight there isn't! Democrats on the campaign trail for president need to hammer the GOP eight days a fucking week for trying to kill people by eliminating Obamacare with NOTHING ready to replace it.

**********

Driver James Alex Fields Pleads Guilty To Hate Crime For Deadly Charlottesville Car Attack

Fields, a white nationalist, is charged with intentionally killing Heather Heyer with his car at the “Unite the Right” rally. I wonder if Caramel Caligula will come out and call this white supremacist shitstain a "nice guy"?

**********

Republican Lawmaker Mansplains Equal Pay Legislation To Female Colleague

Rep. Bradley Byrne suggested that Rep. Susan Wild did not understand a bill she co-sponsored that aims to close the gender pay gap. Oh, WBEEEEEEEEEE....!

[Tendrin]

Pointing out how "addiction and mental health" are the issue while the Republicans cut health care programs for the needy and give tax cuts to the wealthy is the sign of someone who just doesn't care about the disconnect between his words and the actions of his political party.

This is, of course, also true. Let's gut the ACA. That's sure to help homelessness not be worse.

[zinderel]

And here is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling BS on my representative, Sean Duffy. Good, nuts to him.

Angry white man yells at/mocks/dehumanizes 'uppity' brown person for trying to do something to make this world SLIGHTLY less terrible, because it somewhat kind of sort of slightly inconveniences said angry white man and the angry white men he represents.

Isn't that the story of America? Good thing AOC isn't having that crap anymore. Too bad she's too late and we're all screwed thanks to those angry white men and their need to have their AUTHORITAH!!! respected, no matter the cost...

[aja_christopher]

Right? 2/100ths of one percent of the budget go to the Special Olympics, but THAT needed cutting before...oh, I dunno...Trumps never-ending trips to Mar a Lago to golf instead of doing his job? Yeah, but Republicans aren't greedy, corrupt and evil at their core or anything...

The cost of five of Trump's $4 million golf trips to Mar a Lago -- where he pockets taxpayers money on the regular -- would cover the Special Olympics.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...rs-14m-n967716

The entire mindset -- attacks on the poor, the disabled, and non-white and LGBT citizens to the benefit of the white and the wealthy -- isn't that far removed from Nazi eugenics.

[zinderel]

The cost of five of Trump's $4 million golf trips to Mar a Lago -- where he pockets taxpayers money on the regular -- would cover the Special Olympics.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...rs-14m-n967716

The entire mindset -- attacks on the poor, the disabled, and non-white and LGBT citizens to the benefit of the white and the wealthy -- isn't that far removed from Nazi eugenics.

Shhhh... we aren't allowed to use the 'other N word'. It makes inadequate, ignorant white men mad, and that means more dead minorities at the hands of another 'lone wolf', not-at-all-a-terrorist white guy with a copy of MEIN KAMPF on his book shelf next to printouts of Alex Jones articles and Glenn Beck books, and a closet full of 'other N word' paraphernalia.

Sheesh...what ever happened to tolerance, man...?

.../s

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The cost of five of Trump's $4 million golf trips to Mar a Lago -- where he pockets taxpayers money on the regular -- would cover the Special Olympics.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...rs-14m-n967716

The entire mindset -- attacks on the poor, the disabled, and non-white and LGBT citizens to the benefit of the white and the wealthy -- isn't that far removed from Nazi eugenics.

Meanwhile, Batty Betsy, out to starve the Special Olympics into extinction owns a $40 million dollar yacht which she flies under a foreign flag in order to avoid paying taxes:

https://www.newsweek.com/betsy-devos...merica-1061960

[jetengine]

Shhhh... we aren't allowed to use the 'other N word'. It makes inadequate, ignorant white men mad, and that means more dead minorities at the hands of another 'lone wolf', not-at-all-a-terrorist white guy with a copy of MEIN KAMPF on his book shelf next to printouts of Alex Jones articles and Glenn Beck books, and a closet full of 'other N word' paraphernalia.

Sheesh...what ever happened to tolerance, man...?

.../s

Let us not forget he wasnt a german in the 30s/40s therefore he CANT be a nazi.

[Kirby101]

Speaking of disenfranchising voters. I am so sure that election fraud by the GOP only happened in one little district in North Carolina. I mean it's not like they actively have tried to do it in Georgia and Kansas and Wisconsin and Ohio and.....

[Tami]

Speaking of disenfranchising voters. I am so sure that election fraud by the GOP only happened in one little district in North Carolina. I mean it's not like they actively have tried to do it in Georgia and Kansas and Wisconsin and Ohio and.....

Before North Carolina, before the others, there was NJ.

[David Walton]

Protecting children from gun violence and reversing the damaging effects of climate change shouldn't be partisan issues. We have a clear moral imperative to address these problems.

[Tendrin]

Austria’s chancellor called Tuesday for authorities to “ruthlessly” investigate possible ties between an Austrian nationalist group and the alleged Christchurch mosque gunman, after it emerged that a prominent far-right activist had received a donation in the suspected shooter’s name.
Martin Sellner, head of the Identitarian Movement of Austria, said on social media that police searched his apartment Monday and seized electronic devices after he received a “disproportionately high donation” from a person named Tarrant the same surname as the suspected Christchurch shooter.
Christoph Poelzl, spokesman for Austria’s Interior Ministry, confirmed the country’s BVT domestic intelligence agency searched Sellner‘s apartment in Vienna at the request of prosecutors in the city of Graz.

Global, interconnected right wing fascist terrorism is real and is one of America's primary exports.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...church-shooter