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

[jetengine]

American conservativism has become, effectively, enacting cruelty upon others so there's someone suffering more than you are.

Imagine if they decided they could use the energy for something, anything positive, instead. Crazy talk, I know.

I'd argue modern conservatism in general has become this. The way current society works is a constant stream forward, at this point all the right wants to do is hold everyone back or defraud people.

[PaulBullion]

Can someone explain to me the specific objections to this?

Other than Trump using human beings as pawns, and implying that it will be bad for those cities because he is a racist who things those are "not their best" the racist *******?

Well, those are very attractive cities where the immigrants will probably be treated a lot better than in, say, Birmingham Alabama. But the rent is pretty high.

[PaulBullion]

Can someone explain to me the specific objections to this?

Or in a language that you, as a registered supporter of the party of evil will understand:

Signaling to people in shithole countries that they will be safely bused to attractive sanctuary cities where they will be treated well will cause more caravans for brown people.

[Tendrin]

Or in a language that you, as a registered supporter of the party of evil will understand:

Signaling to people in shithole countries that they will be safely bused to attractive sanctuary cities where they will be treated well will cause more caravans for brown people.

Of course, Trump and white nationalist advisor Stephen Miller are hoping for violence from 'migrants' and that these cities and locales will be strained by them and will, he hopes, see an increase in racial tensions that will result in support for his policies.

[PaulBullion]

Here's something Bernie said that was unquestionably a good thing to say. The right thing to say.

https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/st...55482038272000

Agreed, it's nice to see him stand up for a Democrat.

[PaulBullion]

Put plainly, Sanders(unless he winds up being the nominee) isn't going to be the issue.

The issue is that Sanders having that many independents chipping into his campaign doesn't really point to that Dems have made a bunch of headway with increasing support among independents.

If you have to count on Sanders' blessing to maybe wind up with the support of some of those independents, I'd say you are already starting out five or six steps back.

We won't need his blessing if he can avoid sabotaging the other candidates too badly this time.

I find it refreshing how some of the female candidates have been treating each other with respect so far, instead of going for the jugular.

[numberthirty]

Agreed, it's nice to see him stand up for a Democrat.

For context...

https://www.salon.com/2019/03/07/ber...of-ilhan-omar/

Bernie Sanders leads top Democratic presidential contenders in defense of Ilhan Omar

[PaulBullion]

That NYP Ilhan Omar cover was plain disgusting, yeah, and the constant targetting of her is even worse.

I fear for her safety.

(Good for Bernie and Warren.)

And Castro.

https://twitter.com/JulianCastro/sta...00307995377665

[PaulBullion]

For context...

https://www.salon.com/2019/03/07/ber...of-ilhan-omar/

That's a good point. What got into him suddenly? Do you think it's a softening in his old age?

[PaulBullion]

That's a good point. What got into him suddenly? Do you think it's a softening in his old age?

And will a guy who is going soft on Democrats be able to be tough on Putin? He may just have shown he is no longer qualified to be president. Thanks for pointing that out, thir.

[PaulBullion]

Meanwhile, Sanders is still campaigning on the long debunked "economic anxiety" trope, showing he has no concept on why Trump really won, so how can he figure out how to beat him?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump Uses 9/11 Footage To Advance Right-Wing Attacks On Ilhan Omar

The bad-faith attack attempts to paint the freshman lawmaker as being flippant about the terrorist attack. Plain and simple: this **** is flat out dangerous! Trump effectively put a bullseye on Omar's back, and there's no shortage of unhinged madmen out there all too willing to take potshots at her. And when that happens (let's not kid ourselves, it will), Trump should be directly held responsible!

**********

Now Outraged, Trump Boasted On 9/11 That His Building Was Tallest After Attack

Appallingly insensitive — and false, Democratic strategist Paul Begala recalls after the president tries to bash Rep. Ilhan Omar using images of the terrorist strike. The hypocrisy is strong with Mango Mussolini.

**********

Trump Said He Would Pardon Border Official If He Broke Law By Denying Migrants: CNN

The Department of Homeland Security denied the report, which CNN sourced to two senior administration officials. And Trump said Hillary was "crooked"? Seriously?

**********

Federal Judge Compares Trump’s Attacks On Courts To KKK And Segregationists

“When politicians attack courts as ‘dangerous,’ ‘political’ ... you can hear the Klan’s lawyers, assailing officers of the court across the South,” said U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves. An apt comparison to say the least.

**********

How A Spat Between Two Rich People Gave Congress The Power To Get Trump’s Tax Returns

President Donald Trump doesn’t want to release his tax returns to Congress, but thanks to progressives, two of the biggest scandals in U.S. history and a fight between two millionaires, he doesn’t have a choice.

Congress has had the power to request individuals’ tax returns since 1924. Now, House Democrats are using that law to request Trump’s returns in order to provide oversight into the alleged audit the president said is keeping him from sharing the info ― which could reveal how much he evades paying his taxes ― with the public.

In a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin asked for more time to fulfill the request for Trump’s tax returns as he consults with the Justice Department. Democrats view this maneuver as a stalling tactic. The law is clear that the Treasury Department “shall” provide anyone’s tax returns to the House Ways & Means Committee upon request.

The power of Congress to request those returns came about through a series of legislative compromises over the publicity of tax returns and congressional oversight of the executive branch and fueled by two of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. Now, the scandal-plagued Trump administration finds itself in a fight with Congress over keeping those returns private.

[worstblogever]

Or in a language that you, as a registered supporter of the party of evil will understand:

Signaling to people in shithole countries that they will be safely bused to attractive sanctuary cities where they will be treated well will cause more caravans for brown people.

Trump's foreign and immigration policies are so well thought at and deterrents to illegal immigration that it's increasing more and more every day. After two years, all we've learned is... "Trump used CRUELTY... It's not very effective!"

(As opposed to when the Obama administration used COMPASSION.)

[PaulBullion]

Trump's foreign and immigration policies are so well thought at and deterrents to illegal immigration that it's increasing more and more every day. After two years, all we've learned is... "Trump used CRUELTY... It's not very effective!"

(As opposed to when the Obama administration used COMPASSION.)

And can you imagine the hot takes from the media if something like this was from a Democratic administration?

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Brenda Barton, a member of the Arizona House of Representatives from 2010-2018 who during the 2013 Government Shutdown, compared President Obama to Hitler, and then when she was widely criticized for it, defended the move because she had seen pictures of President Bush compared to Hitler online (mind you, elected officials weren't the ones doing it, so there's that). Barton also made a road trip up to the Bundy Ranch to get to know Cliven Bundy and the Oath Keepers to support those militia goons during their standoff with the Bureau of Land Management in 2014. After a high-speed chase near the Oregon Malheur Refuge back in May of 2016, Barton wanted the federal agents who shot an armed Lee Roy Finicum while he went for his gun charged with manslaughter, because she feels a kinship towards paranoid militias. Factor that in to the reason why she might have sponsored legislation to try and create statewide militias out of all able-bodied citizens in 2017.Her voting record is full of legislative votes that were even too extreme for former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to have signed, including a "religious freedom" law to allow for discrimination of LGBT citizens, and a bill to make gold and silver legal tender in Arizona. Barton also is terrible on votes regarding women's issues, supporting legislation to allow warrantless surprise inspections of abortion clinics at any time, to nullify the Affordable Care Act, and to allow business owners the right to opt out of contraceptive coverage in female employees' health insurance plans. But the bigger kerfluffle Barton was involved in was regarding a bill she sponsored, HB 2150 that was supposedly written as a measure to prevent animal hoarding, or from people running illegal puppy mills out of their home, but because she decided to throw a little hidden provision into the bill to change the definition of "livestock" so they are no longer considered "animals", it would have allowed Arizona ranchers to ignore previous legislation to prevent the abuse of livestock from 2006, through the loophole of just renaming and reclassifying whole species of creatures, easy-peasy. After dumbfounded animal rights groups caught on to Barton's attempt at turning Arizona into a butcher shop horror show, by the time the bill hit the desk of Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey he chickened out and vetoed it. Brenda Barton capped off her career in 2018 by introducing legislation to honor one of her ancestors, John D. Lee, with a memorial plaque at the state capitol in March of 2018. This would be the same John D. Lee who was a bigamist mass murderer back who back in 1857, carried out the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where he led 50 Mormon militiamen and a group of Native Americans to slaughter 120 settlers from Arkansas travelling in a caravan through Utah to reach California. Lee wasn’t tried for this crime for twenty years, had some children (thus how Barton is his living descendant) before being executed by firing squad. Because, hey, there’s nobody who needs a monument to their memory like someone executed for mass murder, right? We are relieved to report, though, that in 2018, Brenda Barton was term-limited in the Arizona state legislature and headed off into retirement. We’ll set aside her profile and we’ll move on to profile a different kooky Republican on this date instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 743-40, since this was established in July 2014.)

Dan Foreman

Welcome to the 743rd original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where today we’ll be discussing former Idaho State Senator, Dan Foreman, who served in office from 2017-2018 after winning the right to represent that state’s Senate District 5 in 2016 with all of 50.8% of the vote. We can’t say there was a lot of crazy legislation tied to Foreman, but when he brought the wacky, he brought it. It wasn’t just his support of “Stand Your Ground” gun legislation, it was the fact that he sponsored a bill that would straight up charge any doctor performing an abortion with murder, as well as the woman seeking it out.

But no, where we started to take notice of Dan Foreman was his hair-trigger temper, and the way he taunted his own constituents as a spiteful partisan, always trying to play the threatened and oppressed victim in every encounter. Whether he was sending them letters to proclaim that “climate change is a liberal scam”, or when he declared that “a separation of church and state is a figment of someone’s imagination”, This pattern quickly escalated until March 2017, a whole whopping third month into his tenure, when he absolutely flipped out at the Idaho State Fair, calling someone with an opposing opinion a “liberal nuttard”, and crying to police about how that constiuent was “lecturing me about the Constitution”. After all was said and done, Foreman had the chutzpah to demand the Idaho State Fair issue HIM an apology for his tirade.

So a year goes by, and most of Dan Foreman’s district became very aware of his antics, but he made headlines yet again after a group of college students from the far end of his district drove 300 miles to visit him at the state capitol to discuss his votes on bills regarding birth control. Foreman showed them all the hospitality of a rabid badger, shouting out, “ABORTION IS MURDER!” at them again and again (and they weren’t there to discuss abortion). The confrontation ended when the elected penis-with-ears impersonator threatening to have his own constituents arrested. Only a few weeks later, Foreman spoke in front of his church, and told those present that Latah County, the heart of his own district was “a cesspool of liberalism”.

Alas, Dan Foreman is enough of an ***hole that his constituents that he barely even survived the 2018 GOP Primary for his seat, winning with 51%, and then voted by a 56-44% margin to replace him with Democrat Dan Nelson. It was the only Idaho State Senate seat that was flipped this year, because Foreman is quite specifically that easy to loathe.