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

[Tendrin]

Yeah that shocked me more than anything else in the last couple days, which is saying something.

I take nothing this Republican Party does as in good faith. Period.

Meanwhile....

https://rewire.news/ablc/2019/05/09/...to-the-uterus/

Fresh off the heels of passing one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country, lawmakers in Ohio seem eager to continue chipping away at abortion access.

Enter Ohio Rep. John Becker, aka This Fucking Guy: a Republican who has sponsored a bill that literally defies science. In defending his bill, Rep. Becker has claimed that contraceptives cause abortion (they don’t) and that ectopic pregnancies—in which the embryo implants somewhere other than the uterus, usually the fallopian tube—can be fixed by simply sticking the errant embryo back in the pregnant person’s uterus.

[worstblogever]

Oh WBE-EEEEEeeeeeee...

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...ist-of-sorcery

I take nothing this Republican Party does as in good faith. Period.

Meanwhile....

https://rewire.news/ablc/2019/05/09/...to-the-uterus/

Two people I've been profiling as nut-bars for years. Like, it's at least a relief when these morons keep it up, because it makes more all the more certain I'm not being unfair in profiling them.

[Malvolio]

You can be a "white nationalist" while still making sure the "minorities" know their place -- you don't have to be a white "separatist" to be a white nationalist.

Constantly arguing Trump isn't exactly what he's "pretending" to be when he consistently makes stereotypical and blatantly racist statements about Muslims, African-Americans, Mexicans and others is exactly why some people didn't bother voting "against" him in the last election, while many others (like white nationalists) rallied together and voted for him vaulting him to the office of the presidency where he can now promote Muslim bans and border walls while attacking African-American athletes for taking a knee against injustice and police brutality.

If you're still trying to argue that Trump isn't a white supremacist in both word and action, it's only because you don't want to accept the truth about America as a whole, and why the "birther in chief" was elected as president.

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"In a 1991 book, John O'Donnell, the former president of the Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, said Trump had told him: "Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day."

He later called O'Donnell a "loser" in an interview with Playboy, but allowed that, "The stuff O'Donnell wrote about me is probably true."

https://theweek.com/articles/835714/...aid-about-jews

Oh yeah. Let's also dispense once and for all, the canard that if you hire a few Black people, that means you can't be racist. I mean, Trump once said that since Arsenio Hall once won Celebrity Apprentice, that proved he wasn't a racist. I remember Arsenio went on a late night talk show soon after, and laughed, saying that his winning Celebrity Apprentice didn't prove anything regarding Trump's racist tendencies.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented profiles of North Carolina State Senator Wyatt “Tommy” Tucker, who was first elected to office back in 2010, in the Tea Party Wave. Tucker, as seen in his profile picture, gained notoriety in April of 2013, when he suggested print reporters should be banned from the legislature, and that its business should only be reported on the internet. After much arguing from the actual reporters in the chamber, Tucker advanced the legislation out of committee by a verbal vote, that Democrats argued was not the actual 6-5 win Tucker claimed it was. He refused to conduct a simple hand count vote, and tried to leave the chamber, telling a reporter, "I am the Senator. You are a citizen. You need to be quiet." As shocking of an attempt to restrict the freedom of the press as this was, Tucker also tried arguing against paying victims of North Carolina's eugenics program that was conducted from 1933 to 1974, trying to pass of the settlements onto individual counties, and not the state. He has voted for North Carolina's attempt to amend their constitution to ban same sex marriage, to ban climatologists from studying rising sea levels along the state coasts, for stricter Voter ID measures to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of citizens from their right to vote, supported North Carolina Republicans efforts to block the Medicaid Expansion in the state, voted for the "motorcycle safety law" in the state that through amendments by Republicans, became one of the most restrictive anti-abortion laws around the country, and of course, he voted for the disastrous anti-gay law HB 2, that saw North Carolina face a boycott from several industries, musicians performing concerts, and sports league events that amounted to almost a billion dollars of lost revenue. Tucker drew some heat in North Carolina in the summer of 2016, as well, for sponsoring a bill in the North Carolina State Senate that would lead to 7 acres of land from the city of Marvin to be placed under the jurisdiction of the county… specifically so a developer could buy it up for his own purposes, and much to the chagrin of the people of Marvin, as well as commentators who feared the practice could become commonplace. Rather than face the Blue Wave in 2018, Tommy Tucker has decided to call it quits and leave office after four terms doing his part to make the Tar Heel State a national embarrassment. As such, we’ll retire his CSGOPOTD profile at this time and go ahead and take a look at a different kooky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 750-40, since this was established in July 2014.)


Karl Oliver
Welcome to the 750th original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where today we’ll be taking a look at Karl Oliver, a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from District 46 who was elected to his first term in office back in 2015. Oliver made national news in March of 2017 when he got his knickers in a twist as the city of New Orleands tore down several of its Confederate monuments, and compared people who wanted iconography that honors a rebellion against the federal government fought over slavery to Nazis, before calling for those who remove the Confederae monuments to be, “LYNCHED”:

“The destruction of these monuments, erected in the loving memory of our family and fellow Southern Americans, is both heinous and horrific. If the, and I use this term extremely loosely, 'leadership' of Louisiana wishes to, in a Nazi-ish fashion, burn books or destroy historical monuments of OUR HISTORY, they should be LYNCHED! Let it be known, I will do all in my power to prevent this from happening in our State.”

Make no mistake, this is beyond f***ed up if it was said anywhere, but particularly in Money, Mississippi, which Karl Oliver represents, because it’s the same place where Emmett Till was lynched for whistling at a white woman (who admitted on her deathbed he actually didn’t) in 1955. Calls for Oliver to resign came from within the legislature, and without, and even sparked an FBI investigation.

We’ll add as well that Karl Oliver is quite the extremist, supporting some of the most hardline conservative bills in the Mississippi state legislaure, including one to bring back the electric chair and firing squads as a means of execution (go figure he guy who called for people to be lynched likes all sorts of barbaric execution methods), anti-choice fetal heartbeat legislation that would ban abortion as early as six weeks, effectively (before many women realize they are even pregnant), is so “pro-life” that he’s also trying to widen the amount of exceptions available for vaccinations, voted for legislation to ignore federal firearms laws, as well as to legalize the carrying of firearms in churches.

Alas, Karl Oliver ignored all calls to resign, and we are sad to report that nobody filed to run against him by the deadline of March 1st, 2019. Thus, Oliver will remain in office until 2023 with an outlook on race relations that we should have left back in 1865, if not earlier.

[jetengine]

To showcase the difference between Fox news and more liberal media the BBC literally sacked a radio presenter and occasional tv personality because he posted a racist tweet today.

[Jack Dracula]

The SIC subpoenaed Junior.

I think the end is near.

The WH has to fight off both houses and parties now.

Feels like a perfunctory measure designed to placate the democrats.
"Well we called Don Jr. in and asked him about and he said there wasn't any collusion so case closed."
Much like when they "investigated" those allegations of misconduct against Kavanaugh for all of 1 week.

[GOLGO 13]

To showcase the difference between Fox news and more liberal media the BBC literally sacked a radio presenter and occasional tv personality because he posted a racist tweet today.

Faux would just promote the racist tweeter to head of operations. Faux loves all Nazis.

[shooshoomanjoe]

My favorite proof that trump isn't racist is this one.

We had a case where we had an African-American guy who is a fan of mine, great fan, great guy...Look at my African-American over here. Look at him! Are you the greatest?

[Tendrin]

Two people I've been profiling as nut-bars for years. Like, it's at least a relief when these morons keep it up, because it makes more all the more certain I'm not being unfair in profiling them.

I figured those might make good additions to their profiles, yeah.

[aja_christopher]

"Georgia's 'heartbeat' abortion bill could imprison women for life"

"Georgia's new abortion bill could have some stunning prison-time consequences for women who terminate a pregnancy.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a "heartbeat bill" into law on Tuesday, effectively outlawing most abortions after a doctor is able to detect a fetal heartbeat, which typically occurs around six weeks. While it does include some exceptions for rape, incest, or a mother's health, it also makes women liable for murder charges if they have an abortion — and could land them in prison for life, explains Slate's Mark Joseph Stern.

Under the new law, different murder charges apply to women who terminate their pregnancies in different ways. A woman who self-terminates — something that wasn't punishable under a previous Georgia law — will have technically committed murder and could be imprisoned for life or face the death penalty. Those who get an abortion via a health care provider could be found guilty of being a party to murder, punishable by life in prison.

Meanwhile, women who get legal abortions in other states, or any people who help a woman coordinate an abortion, could see a charge of conspiracy to commit murder and be imprisoned for up to 10 years. Even "a woman who miscarries because of her own conduct — say, using drugs while pregnant," could be charged with second-degree murder and face 10 to 30 years in prison, Stern explains.
As several pro-choice lawmakers and advocates pointed out, the law also neglects the fact that women might not even know they're pregnant at six weeks.

That's essentially a two-week-late period, and as anyone who gets a period knows, irregularity doesn't necessarily mean pregnancy. "

https://theweek.com/speedreads/84043...son-women-life

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"Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed into law a so-called “heartbeat” bill, banning abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy. Georgia is the fourth state to pass such a law this year alone. The bills prohibit abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. But reproductive rights advocates and doctors say the laws, which prohibit abortion before many women know they are pregnant, amount to a near-total ban on the procedure...

The bill also includes a penalty for those who perform abortions of up to 10 years in prison. It doesn’t explicitly exempt women who perform their own abortions with drugs, leading to speculation about whether they would also be subject to criminal charges. Some have suggested that it could even lead to murder charges for women who have abortions — but other experts say the consequences are far from clear.

The rise of heartbeat bills in 2019 is a sign of where the abortion debate is today. A few years ago, such bans were considered too extreme even by some anti-abortion groups, said Rachel Sussman, the national director of state policy and advocacy at Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

But with Donald Trump in the White House and Justice Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, abortion opponents around the country are eager to challenge Roe v. Wade. And banning abortion just six weeks into pregnancy may be a way to do that."

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...ohio-2019-iowa

[karatattoo]

I voted for Stacey Abrams for Governor of Georgia.

She almost made it.

[aja_christopher]

I voted for Stacey Abrams for Governor of Georgia.

She almost made it.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politic...ill-flourishes

Edit: Note -- I'm not endorsing Kamala's entire statement here because I don't know all the facts about Georgia or Florida, but I do think a restoration of the Voting Rights Act would help alleviate a lot of the issues with regards to ensuring that the many of these "Jim Crow" states don't fall back into the same bad habits they engaged in prior to it's passage.

[numberthirty]

Noticed that this hasn't been mentioned yet. It's worth taking note of.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...=.958b9ad85fb9

‘Not a statistic’: Students walk out of Colorado shooting vigil to condemn politics and press

[aja_christopher]

"Alabama bill banning nearly all abortions delayed after fiery debate on Senate floor"

Lawmakers are due to reconvene Tuesday to vote on the bill, which would make it a felony for a doctor to perform or attempt an abortion.

"Alabama lawmakers on Thursday postponed a vote on a near total ban on abortions after a brief but contentious debate on the Senate floor. Tensions flared after exceptions in cases of rape and incest were abruptly stripped from the bill.

The Alabama Senate is due to reconvene on Tuesday to vote on the bill, which would make it a felony for a doctor to perform or attempt an abortion during any stage of pregnancy.

The House approved a version of the bill last week that had an exception for the mother's health, passing 74-3, then a Senate committee added an exception for rape. Republicans in the Senate, however, suddenly tabled the rape and incest exemptions on Thursday.

Shouting erupted as Democratic Sen. Bobby Singleton, other Democrats and at least one Republican objected to the motion being gaveled through without a roll call vote.

"You've got 27 men over on the other side ready to tell women what they can do with their bodies," Singleton said. "You don't have to procedurally just try to railroad us."

“I know this bill is going to pass. You're going to get your way," Democratic Sen. Vivian Davis Figures said after the yelling had died down. "But at least treat us fairly and do it the right way."

"That's all that I ask, that's all that my Democratic colleagues ask. That's all that women in this state ask — both Democratic and Republican women," she said.

Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, a Republican who supports the exemption for rape, suggested that lawmakers take the weekend to cool off and reconvene next week. The session was then adjourned."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...ebate-n1003816

[aja_christopher]

I take nothing this Republican Party does as in good faith. Period.

"If I had to guess this is the Republican majority preempting the house subpoena in an attempt to control the narrative around Jr."

"Or to schedule it at the same time Mueller is to appear before the house committee."

"This is probably why. Fox News and a few other outlets will probably cover this questioning instead which will most likely involve vague baby questions and answers that will make him look innocent without even saying anything. This way, it beats into these outlets' viewers' heads that no wrong doing was committed before they even get to see a speck of the actual substantial Mueller questioning."

"They’re having Jr. testify before Congress receives the unredacted Mueller Report so that the Democrats aren’t aware of which questions they really need to ask. Then when it becomes unredacted despite Jr.’s “damaged reputation”, and his questionable actions, the Republicans can say “This is ridiculous, we acted in a bipartisan way and we don’t need to call him to testify again. This is just a witch hunt.”

The Republicans refuse to act in good faith and will continue to help protect Donald Trump in any way possible. Sen. Burr (R) the majority leader of this committee and the one responsible for the subpoena immediately gave information to Trump regarding the initial investigation as soon as he was briefed on it by the intelligence agencies as part of the gang of 8. The entire Republican Party is no longer deserving of any trust and if they wanted to be trusted, then they need to earn that trust back."

https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/c...poenas_donald/