All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[worstblogever]

Uh hey WBE? I don't know if you've got this guy in the queue but if not he really ought to be.

In effect, Kerry Roberts admits that only people who haven't been taught to know better would be conservative.

Thanks for clearing that up, Kerry.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, a Christian theocrat who has somehow, in her mad quest to allow religion to be allowed in state schools and government buildings (including having a pastor brought in to anoint furniture in the state legislature with holy oil), opened a loophole that allowed a Satanic Temple to build a statue of Baphomet, just to prove a point to her about the separation of church and state. Fallin also oversaw a botched double-execution from the comforts of an Oklahoma City Thunder game, not wanting to answer her cell phone while a man died in agony on her watch. Her administration’s oversight, or more specifically its lack thereof on the oil and gas industries in Oklahoma has been so lax that a state whose only concern for natural disasters used to be tornadoes has allowed unregulated fracking so that they now are getting more frequently hit with earthquakes. That’s not hyperbole, either, at one point in August 2017, Oklahoma had 7 earthquakes within a 28 hour span and the strength of the quakes are intensifying, now reaching up into the high 5s on the Richter scale.

That’s what happens after seven years of Fallin leadership. And taxing the wealthy and those energy companies? Ha! Oklahoma had up to $1.3 billion in annual budget shortfalls during her tenure. She’s also infamous for trying to shut down all the abortion clinics in her state, signing a ban on minimum wage increases during our greatest time of economic inequality in almost a century, and trying to do away with the entire state Supreme Court for not granting her absolute domain to do as she pleases (like not allowing her to put monuments of the Ten Commandments up on government property). Not that she understands the role of the courts as one of the three branches of government, of course, because she failed to be able to correctly list all three during a 2015 speech. In the meantime, Fallin continues to make Sarah Palin seem perhaps less like white trash by allowing her 28-year-old daughter to live on the grounds of the governor’s mansion in her very own trailer, rent-free and siphoning utilities. Mary Fallin is so utterly clueless that she went on CNN in July of 2016 and actually made the ludicrous claim that Donald Trump was “trying to campaign as a racial healer”. Yeah, the guy whose campaign began by saying Mexicans are murderers and rapists, and soon called for a ban on Muslims was trying to unify people of all colors and backgrounds, sure Mary. Only eight days later, she went back on CNN after the release of the 2016 Republican Party Platform, which people on both sides of the aisle recognized as the most anti-LGBT platform the GOP have ever produced (Republicans boasted of this like it was a good thing), but Fallin thought that simply just couldn’t be the case because, “there was a gay person on the committee”. She neglected to mention that the one person on that committee was vocally opposed to every one of those anti-gay measures, and was ignored by the majority. Because of course, that’s just a nagging little detail.

In October 2016 she actually declared a “Oilfield Prayer Day”, where she no-s***, called for people in her state to ask God for his protection over the oil industry. She then quickly had to correct herself that the prayer was open to people of all faiths, because apparently she didn’t want Satanists to assert their dominance over Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry. She would become even more of a pariah after a successful statewide teachers’ strike during her final year in 2018, Gov. Fallin officially became the least popular governor in the country as her approval ratings dropped to a staggering 19% as she left office. Based on that, it seems unlikely she’ll be worming her way into a Senate seat or anywhere else in office going forward so we’ll go ahead and retire her profile at this time and go ahead and take a look at a different kooky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 783-40, since this was established in July 2014.)


Christopher Barnett

Welcome to the 783rd original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where today we’ll be discussing Christopher Barnett, a 2018 candidate to be the Governor of Oklahoma, seeking to be the first openly gay man to hold that office. That might not sound like a traditional Republican, and neither does the fact that Barnett runs a marijuana growing facility. And while we were used to the bats*** theocratic leadership from Mary Fallin, who had to leave office due to term limits, Barnett exhibited some… shall we say… less-than-Christian ideas for government during his campaign when he posted the suggestion on his facebook page that the poor and disabled should be euthanied:

“The ones who are disabled and can’t work…why are we required to keep them?. Sorry but euthanasia is cheaper and doesn’t make everyone a slave to the Government.”

Barnett tried claiming that his “account was hacked”, and soon claimed to be receiving death threats for “comments he didn’t make”.

Christopher Barnett ended up finishing eighth out of ten candidates in the GOP Primary to be the Governor of Oklahoma, with 1.2% of the vote, which only begs the question of “How terrible did the two people who finished behind him have to be to get less votes?” Like, did they want to execute the poor by having them choked to death by forcing puppies down their throats until they asphyxiate, or…?

We digress. If it weren’t clear that maybe Christopher Barnett wasn’t a great example of modern Republicans, we’ll add that as of last month, he was arrested for shooting a process server, and threatening “large amounts of deaths”. While Barnett has intimated that he will use a “Stand Your Ground” defense because the process server was armed, and on his property, there is video of the shooting that shows the server never drew his weapon, and was walking away after serving Barnett when he was shot. Also, the audio has him literally saying, “Get off my property or you’ll be dead,” and the server was LEAVING. Barnett claims to be the victim of a vast conspiracy as his defense, and says the video and audio are “fabricated”. That is even less plausible because prior to the shooting, Barnett’s Google browser search history shows he Googled “can you shoot a process server”.

This whole “shooting another man” and “threatening mass deaths” seems to hvave made Barnett an even less electable as a candidate for U.S. Senate like he planned to be in 2020 to challenge James Inhofe, should Inhofe choose to run for re-election at the age of 84. We’re assuming Barnett’s not going to make the cut for any election, unless he’s trying to win the office of “guy with most gleeful mug shot after doing something horrible”.

[worstblogever]

^GOP candidate for governor shoots a process server in the back...

("But both parties are just as bad, you guys.")

[WestPhillyPunisher]

^GOP candidate for governor shoots a process server in the back...

In a perfect world, that shitstain should not only be barred from running for public office, but in jail for attempted murder. But, seeing how this scumbag is a Republican, some knucklehead will give him votes.

[BeastieRunner]

CIA Reportedly Had Asset So Close To Putin That Spy Could Photograph Secret Documents

The U.S. agency waged a mission to extract the informant from Russia in 2017 after Trump’s election, multiple media outlets reported.

**********

North Korea Says It Wants To Talk To U.S. Again, Then Fires More Projectiles

Talks between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump have stalled, but Pyongyang said it would be open to rekindling them this month. All Kim Jong Un has to do is send Trump a gooey letter and talks will be back on again!

**********

NOAA Will Investigate Why Agency Supported Trump’s False Dorian Claims

The agency, which oversees the National Weather Service, issued a statement Friday supporting the president’s false claims about the path of Hurricane Dorian. An important question that needs to be asked is if the NOAA can be trusted by the populace after this raging clusterfuck.

**********

Trump Calls GOP Primary Opponents ‘Laughingstock,’ Says ‘It’s A Publicity Stunt’

“I’m not looking to give them any credibility,” the president told reporters of his fellow Republicans Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld. So, the practice of democracy by having primaries is a 'publicity stunt' to the Orange Menace. Let THAT sink in, folks.

**********

Twitter Users Find A Way To Get Chrissy Teigen’s Filthy Trump Nickname To Trend

The president got hit with a new nickname after attacking Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. This is hilarious!

PABOTUS has a nice ring to it.

[Tami]

Trump skeptical of using foreign spies to collect intel on hostile countries, sources say

(CNN)President Donald Trump has privately and repeatedly expressed opposition to the use of foreign intelligence from covert sources, including overseas spies who provide the US government with crucial information about hostile countries, according to multiple senior officials who served under Trump.

Trump has privately said that foreign spies can damage relations with their host countries and undermine his personal relationships with their leaders, the sources said. The President "believes we shouldn't be doing that to each other," one former Trump administration official told CNN.

In addition to his fear such foreign intelligence sources will damage his relationship with foreign leaders, Trump has expressed doubts about the credibility of the information they provide. Another former senior intelligence official told CNN that Trump "believes they're people who are selling out their country."

Even in public, Trump has looked down on these foreign assets, as they are known in the intelligence community. Responding to reports that the CIA recruited Kim Jong Un's brother as a spy,

Trump said he "wouldn't let that happen under my auspices."

[Iron Maiden]

CIA Reportedly Had Asset So Close To Putin That Spy Could Photograph Secret Documents

The U.S. agency waged a mission to extract the informant from Russia in 2017 after Trump’s election, multiple media outlets reported.

**********

North Korea Says It Wants To Talk To U.S. Again, Then Fires More Projectiles

Talks between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump have stalled, but Pyongyang said it would be open to rekindling them this month. All Kim Jong Un has to do is send Trump a gooey letter and talks will be back on again!

And Trump is too vain to realize that he is being played by his boyfriend. He deserves it for all the times he cheated on every one of his wives.

**********
[QUOTE=WestPhillyPunisher;4558426]
NOAA Will Investigate Why Agency Supported Trump’s False Dorian Claims

The agency, which oversees the National Weather Service, issued a statement Friday supporting the president’s false claims about the path of Hurricane Dorian. An important question that needs to be asked is if the NOAA can be trusted by the populace after this raging clusterfuck.

**********

Trump Calls GOP Primary Opponents ‘Laughingstock,’ Says ‘It’s A Publicity Stunt’

“I’m not looking to give them any credibility,” the president told reporters of his fellow Republicans Mark Sanford, Joe Walsh and Bill Weld. So, the practice of democracy by having primaries is a 'publicity stunt' to the Orange Menace. Let THAT sink in, folks.

**********

Twitter Users Find A Way To Get Chrissy Teigen’s Filthy Trump Nickname To Trend

The president got hit with a new nickname after attacking Chrissy Teigen and John Legend. This is hilarious!

I'm not a huge fan of hers but I've got to give Chrissy the Twitter trophy for this.

As for Trump comments about the primaries, IMO it goes back to something that IIRC Trump's ghost writer Tony Schwartz once said about Trump. A lot of times things he accuses others of doing, Trump is guilty of himself. We've seen many reports that this was the reason why he ran and really didn't expect to win the primaries.

[Malvolio]

[QUOTE=Iron Maiden;4558770]And Trump is too vain to realize that he is being played by his boyfriend. He deserves it for all the times he cheated on every one of his wives.

**********

NOAA Will Investigate Why Agency Supported Trump’s False Dorian Claims

The agency, which oversees the National Weather Service, issued a statement Friday supporting the president’s false claims about the path of Hurricane Dorian. An important question that needs to be asked is if the NOAA can be trusted by the populace after this raging clusterfuck.


I'm not a huge fan of hers but I've got to give Chrissy the Twitter trophy for this.

As for Trump comments about the primaries, IMO it goes back to something that IIRC Trump's ghost writer Tony Schwartz once said about Trump. A lot of times things he accuses others of doing, Trump is guilty of himself. We've seen many reports that this was the reason why he ran and really didn't expect to win the primaries.

So you're saying that Trump's Presidential campaign started out as a mere publicity stunt, but it got out of hand. I think that applies to almost everything in Trump's life.

[shooshoomanjoe]

trump fired Bolton. Well, his supporters said that trump was going to run the US as a businessman. Given how he has multiple bankruptcies and failed businesses, it looks like that's true.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump skeptical of using foreign spies to collect intel on hostile countries, sources say

This concerns me more than a little since those "personal relationships" Trump mentioned were mainly with despots and dictators like Vlad Putin (Russia), Kim Jong Un (North Korea) and Mohammad bin Salman (Saudi Arabia). For anyone not keeping score at home: Russia meddled in the 2016 elections and might've helped Trump win the presidency; Nuclear armed North Korea threatens the South and Japan almost regularly with short range missile tests while we all know about Saudi Arabia's infamous connection to the 9/11 hijackers. All three of those regimes, given half the chance, would **** America like a five dollar whore in a New York minute, and everyone knows it too. THAT is who Trump is in bed with while shunning our traditional, longtime allies. Even worse, Trump's naivete that countries shouldn't spy on each other is beyond dangerous.

**********

Meanwhile, I just heard about this:

Trump fires Bolton as national security adviser, saying he ‘disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions’

No more Johnny Warhawk. This makes me wonder, was Bolton too hardline for Trump's liking, or not hard enough?

[Tami]

trump fired Bolton. Well, his supporters said that trump was going to run the US as a businessman. Given how he has multiple bankruptcies and failed businesses, it looks like that's true.

Bolton tried to quit first, according to Bolton.

[Tami]

[Tami]

Opinion piece by Jennifer Rubin

Mark Sanford might be Republicans’ last chance

Ideologically I am much closer to former Massachusetts governor William Weld, but as a matter of political pragmatism, former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford may be the best bet to save the Republican Party from itself before the Democrats do it for them in 2020. No one can accuse him of being a phony conservative, or adopting views for the sake of political expediency. He is saying the same things he has said for years, and that makes for a damning indictment of Trump’s presidency.

Listening to Sanford on the cable TV rounds over the past few days, I’ll admit, gave me a sense of relief. Here’s a rock-ribbed conservative saying President Trump is imperiling the country with debt and trade tariffs (he should be calling them trade taxes), as well as by his assault on democratic institutions and his horrible tone. Wow! It’s like digging up a time capsule back to the olden days of . . . 2016. Even more refreshing, he’s expressed a conservative vision different from the Luddites who enable Trump.

In a folksy way, he describes what has happened to South Carolina’s Low Country. He believes in climate change, and argues it is illogical to believe in science when it comes to the galaxy and medicine, but not when it concerns the Earth. Thank goodness! You don’t have to be an elite from the coasts or a socialist to understand climate change is real. (Many more Republicans would say the same if they weren’t cowering from Trump and his know-nothing base.)

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Opinion piece by Jennifer Rubin

Mark Sanford might be Republicans’ last chance

Isn't it quite the coincidence that South Carolina which Sanford represented was one of the states that nixed Republican primaries? Of course, the dead last thing the GOP hierarchy wants is Trump babbling and blathering his way through any debate where his raging stupidity would be on full display.

[Iron Maiden]

[QUOTE=Malvolio;4558854]

And Trump is too vain to realize that he is being played by his boyfriend. He deserves it for all the times he cheated on every one of his wives.

**********


So you're saying that Trump's Presidential campaign started out as a mere publicity stunt, but it got out of hand. I think that applies to almost everything in Trump's life.

I've read that opinion in various articles over the years. I think there a couple of his former associates that have said this in interviews. Howard Stern and others have said he really wanted a better deal from NBC for The Apprentice. For their part, NBC responded by replacing him with Arnold Schwartzenegger as the host.