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

[worstblogever]

That is different from assuming a particular individual in the White House is a literal Nazi

I'll say it: Stephen Miller is absolutely a literal white nationalist.

And I'll add that former White House Staffer (who never had anything he was responsible for) Sebastian Gorka wore a Hungarian Nazi-affilated group's medal to the goddamned inauguration.


Take your head out of the sand, Mets.

[worstblogever]

Speaking of sympathetic supporters... Saw this monstrosity this morning.

Attachment 85501

And here I thought Cesar Sayoc just got 20 years in jail.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Good sir, I'm offended by your post. Caligula was far more insane than Trump. Trump is an amateur at insane antics compared to the great Caligula how dare you!

Hmm! You have a point there, but I love alliteration when it comes to insulting Trump.

[worstblogever]

In 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, that "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the U.S. Senator from Utah, Mike Lee. Our quick take on Mike Lee is that every policy he doesn’t like (The Affordable Care Act, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Violence Against Women Act (!), child labor laws (!), FEMA, disaster relief (!), the Food and Drug Administration, the 14th Amendment, the 17th Amendment… etc.) he has the nasty habit declaring unconstitutional (which is the job of the Supreme Court, not a senator). Sen. Lee is also one of Sen. Ted Cruz’s few allies in the Senate and was one of the most recognizable faces seen during the 2013 Shutdown, including at the rally the weekend before it ended at the World War II memorial where a pastor demanded that President Obama “put down his Quran and come out with his hands up”, before Tea Party “patriots” started grabbing barricades to throw in front of the gates of the White House while some waved Confederate flags. Y’know… nice, healthy rhetoric worthy of the movement.

Our 2015 update on Mike Lee featured his joining the ranks of the #47 Traitors and signing his name onto a letter to the leaders of Iran meant to sabotage negotiations the Obama administration was having with Iran, his belief that the Supreme Court actually does not have the power to overturn same-sex marriage, and the fact that he submitted federal “religious freedom” law legislation to attempt to allow the legal discrimination of LGBT citizens based on someone’s “deeply held religious faith” (the bill went absolutely nowhere).

In 2016, Mike Lee defended his U.S. Senate seat against Misty Snow, the first transgender candidate for Senate in U.S. history, and in a state as red as Utah, he not surprisingly easily won re-election to a second term in office. He was confident enough that he would be victorious that he spent far more time helping his pal Ted Cruz campaign for president, and not just remaining on the fence about Donald Trump as a prospective nominee the whole time, but calling on him to step down as their nominee in October of 2016 (presumably so Ted Cruz could take his place as the nominee).

Fast forward a couple months, though, and as an investigation was just beginning by the United States’ intellgience community into the Trump campaign and Russia potentially colluding to change the outcome of the American election, and Mike Lee was quick to declare that “I don’t see any evidence of anything happening here, so as a result, I think it’s time to move forward. It’s time to wrap this thing up and it’s time to move on.” That was in January 2017. With every revelation that has come, Mike Lee wanted to aid the cover-up into what the investigation has shown has a LOT of evidence of potential treason. But hey, the Republicans won, so quick, nobody look…

With the amount of revelations spinning out about Trump/Russia, Mike Lee could not keep his finger in the dyke forever. As of mid-July 2018, he was talking about how Donald Trump needed to “step down” to salvage any kind of legacy. And that was BEFORE Trump’s humiliation by Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, but slightly after Trump passed over Mike Lee and his brother Thomas, a Utah Supreme Court Justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, and instead chose Brett Kavanaugh (likely because Kavanaugh thinks presidents should be above the law). He has continued to carry water for Trump regarding the Mueller investigation, complaining not only about Democrats reading it and wanting to protect future elections, but literally booking himself on The View to whine about it and claim he didn’t see evidence of a crime. Which is amazing because Mueller literally spells out ten different ways Trump committed obstruction of justice during the FBI’s investigation. It’s like he didn’t read the report, y’know?

Mike Lee has been further proof that the GOP can be their own worst enemies. Senate Republicans have been unable to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, even though they have a 52 seat majority. They’re stuck, though, because they have about three or four Senators with too much of a conscience, and a small cabal of complete ideological lunatics who aren’t satisfied with a partial repeal, they want socialized medicine completely burned to the ground, and salt poured on its ashes so nothing can ever grow there again. And Sen. Lee is one of that latter group. Don’t think for a moment, though, that Mike Lee is coming to the center, because he’s also been openly discussing eliminating all public protected government lands as a policy of the United States, because apparently rejecting the Bears’ Ears Monument in Utah wasn’t enough for him. Hell, he’s so fanatically obsessed with small government that he would also be one of the two Senators to vote against medical care for the 9-11 First Repsonders.

All we know for sure is… barring any unforeseen scandal or medical calamity, Mike Lee will remain a U.S. Senator until at least 2022. Hopefully he continues being as much of a thorn in his own party’s side because of his unflinching extremism, rather than be a complete pest and block any and all attempts at actual governance by either side of the aisle.

[Malvolio]

What do you propose we do instead: kill them or lock them up? I'd rather not start down the slippery slope punishing people for what they might do or what they think no matter how disgusting it is. The road to Hell is often paved with the best of intentions.

Please don't put words in my mouth. My point is that we can't pretend that it's only old white men who are the problem. We have to keep an eye on these young guys who think they're entitled to anything and everything and become violent when they don't get what they want. If they schedule a "Take Back Our Country" rally, put extra law enforcement around it, so they can't run over any counter-protesters. That would be a good start.

[BeastieRunner]

Please don't put words in my mouth. My point is that we can't pretend that it's only old white men who are the problem. We have to keep an eye on these young guys who think they're entitled to anything and everything and become violent when they don't get what they want. If they schedule a "Take Back Our Country" rally, put extra law enforcement around it, so they can't run over any counter-protesters. That would be a good start.

Or people that run Take Back Our Country rallies could be arrested for inciting terror.

Because if the Taliban held a rally in the US, the organisers would be arrested,

[Mister Mets]

I'll say it: Stephen Miller is absolutely a literal white nationalist.

If so, it would be really dumb for him to push a Hitler reference using the flag at half mast.

And I'll add that former White House Staffer (who never had anything he was responsible for) Sebastian Gorka wore a Hungarian Nazi-affilated group's medal to the goddamned inauguration.


Take your head out of the sand, Mets.

So you think there's a good chance that the flags are at half-mast until Thursday because a senior adviser for policy wanted a Hitler reference?

[InformationGeek]

Ah yes, there's that classic unity he is known for.

[jetengine]

Ah yes, there's that classic unity he is known for.

"Hate has no place here"
*one day later*
"Lol fake Latinos, Democrats are losers and dont respect anyone"

Fucking hell.

[aja_christopher]

So you think there's a good chance that the flags are at half-mast until Thursday because a senior adviser for policy wanted a Hitler reference?

So you think constantly defending a party that supports or engages in racism, homophobia, xenophobia, minority voter disenfranchisement, election fraud, Russian interference, and white nationalism is a good idea?

How about a party that denies climate change, cuts education funding, creates record deficits and recessions, and starts trade wars with allies and real wars with "enemies" based on false intelligence?

Each of these allegations is documented -- I can provide links if you want, but I'm sure you can find them if so inclined.

Feel free to address each issue individually -- take as much time as you like.

[Tami]

GOP lawmaker doesn't want background checks for guns since some terrorists use bombs

After mass shootings killed more than 30 people this weekend, Virginia state Sen. Bill DeSteph (R-Virginia Beach) seemed to suggest gun safety bills were not a priority because the 9/11 terrorists didn't use guns.

"If you look at New York, the mass bombing there, from the suicide bombers, that had absolutely nothing to do with guns," DeSteph said in a Monday radio interview on the "John Fredericks Show," an apparent though inaccurate reference to 9/11, which did not involve bombs. DeSteph also cited other terrorist attacks, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

American Bridge, a Democratic-leaning research firm, found the radio clip and posted it to YouTube.

During the interview, DeSteph was asked about a variety of possible gun safety solutions to make his community safer, including extending background checks and raising the age limit to purchase certain weapons.

"Are you in favor of doing anything legislative in order to maybe take a shot that might help?" host John Fredericks asked.

DeSteph, who is a licensed gun dealer, would not support any specific measure. "It's not the time for knee-jerk reactions," DeSteph said, insisting that all options are on the table. DeSteph refused to support any specific ideas, despite the fact that a gunman killed 12 people in his own community of Virginia Beach in May.

DeSteph did suggest some possible reasons for gun violence, including a lack of school discipline and absentee fathers. He joined other Republicans around the country in casting blame for mass shootings on a wide range of issues, but not the one thing all mass shootings have in common: guns.

[Tendrin]

If so, it would be really dumb for him to push a Hitler reference using the flag at half mast.

Nazis are frequently pretty dumb and guys like Miller believe they're smarter than they are. It's not so weird, even if I don't consider it likely, but the thing is that we can no longer be certain of that because of who your party has elected.

[aja_christopher]

Nazis are frequently pretty dumb and guys like Miller believe they're smarter than they are. It's not so weird, even if I don't consider it likely, but the thing is that we can no longer be certain of that because of who your party has elected.

"There’s Nothing Controversial About Calling Stephen Miller What He Is"

Ilhan Omar was right in calling the far-right White House senior policy adviser a “white nationalist."

"Omar, of course, isn't alone here. Even those close to Miller have made the same observation. Miller's own uncle has said his draconian policies would have doomed their Jewish refugee ancestors to death in pogroms. And actual neo-Nazis see him as advancing their goals: Andrew Anglin of the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer called Miller "the last person in the White House that has any sense," referring specifically to Miller's anti-immigrant agenda. That's been apparent to those who have worked with him, as well.

A White House adviser, referring to images of families being split apart at the border, told Vanity Fair that "Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border. He’s a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. There’s always been a way he’s gone about this. He’s Waffen-SS."

Miller has a long history of singling out minorities for ostracism and vilification, starting at a young age. Before high school, according to The Atlantic, he informed one friend that they could no longer be friends, citing his "Latino heritage" as one of the reasons. As a college student at Duke, he started a program he called the "Terrorism Awareness Project." In his words, it was meant "to make our fellow students aware of the Islamic jihad and the terrorist threat, and to mobilize support for the defense of America and the civilization of the West."

In the process he worked with David Horowitz Freedom Center, a famously Islamophobic organization, and tried to coordinate anti-Muslim newspaper ads with Duke classmate Richard Spencer, a white supremacist who has called for a "peaceful ethnic cleansing" of non-white people in the U.S. Spencer also claimed to have mentored Miller. And while Spencer denied that he was an actual white supremacist (a common gaslighting tactic among white supremacists: using coded language), he said of Miller: "He is a strong American nationalist, you could say."

As White House adviser, Miller masterminded Trump's original Muslim ban, and he has since claimed to be the idea man behind Trump's traumatic family-separation policy. In interviews, he's unapologetically called it an easy decision to make. Miller has endeavored to make legal immigration much harder. “He doesn’t treat them as human beings. They’re animals, or they’re a product,” a former National Security Counsel official told Politico of Miller's approach to immigrants.

He's also ratcheted up attacks on immigrants who are coming to the U.S. legally, demanding immigration cuts and reportedly saying, "I would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched America’s soil."

Stephen Miller has made the ideology driving his policies toward non-whites quite clear. There's no reason to dance around the end goal."

https://www.gq.com/story/stephen-mil...te-nationalist

[aja_christopher]

The modern Republican.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

GOP lawmaker doesn't want background checks for guns since some terrorists use bombs

Oh, WBEEEEEEEE....!

"There’s Nothing Controversial About Calling Stephen Miller What He Is"

Ilhan Omar was right in calling the far-right White House senior policy adviser a “white nationalist."

"Omar, of course, isn't alone here. Even those close to Miller have made the same observation. Miller's own uncle has said his draconian policies would have doomed their Jewish refugee ancestors to death in pogroms. And actual neo-Nazis see him as advancing their goals: Andrew Anglin of the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer called Miller "the last person in the White House that has any sense," referring specifically to Miller's anti-immigrant agenda. That's been apparent to those who have worked with him, as well.

A White House adviser, referring to images of families being split apart at the border, told Vanity Fair that "Stephen actually enjoys seeing those pictures at the border. He’s a twisted guy, the way he was raised and picked on. There’s always been a way he’s gone about this. He’s Waffen-SS."

Miller has a long history of singling out minorities for ostracism and vilification, starting at a young age. Before high school, according to The Atlantic, he informed one friend that they could no longer be friends, citing his "Latino heritage" as one of the reasons. As a college student at Duke, he started a program he called the "Terrorism Awareness Project." In his words, it was meant "to make our fellow students aware of the Islamic jihad and the terrorist threat, and to mobilize support for the defense of America and the civilization of the West."

In the process he worked with David Horowitz Freedom Center, a famously Islamophobic organization, and tried to coordinate anti-Muslim newspaper ads with Duke classmate Richard Spencer, a white supremacist who has called for a "peaceful ethnic cleansing" of non-white people in the U.S. Spencer also claimed to have mentored Miller. And while Spencer denied that he was an actual white supremacist (a common gaslighting tactic among white supremacists: using coded language), he said of Miller: "He is a strong American nationalist, you could say."

As White House adviser, Miller masterminded Trump's original Muslim ban, and he has since claimed to be the idea man behind Trump's traumatic family-separation policy. In interviews, he's unapologetically called it an easy decision to make. Miller has endeavored to make legal immigration much harder. “He doesn’t treat them as human beings. They’re animals, or they’re a product,” a former National Security Counsel official told Politico of Miller's approach to immigrants.

He's also ratcheted up attacks on immigrants who are coming to the U.S. legally, demanding immigration cuts and reportedly saying, "I would be happy if not a single refugee foot ever again touched America’s soil."

Stephen Miller has made the ideology driving his policies toward non-whites quite clear. There's no reason to dance around the end goal."

https://www.gq.com/story/stephen-mil...te-nationalist

There's a reason I call Miller "Kid Jackboot"....because he's a MOTHERFUCKING NAZI, not to mention THE most vile sonafabitch in that White House. When it come to pure, calculating, unadulterated evil, Trump is amateur night in Dixie compared to Miller.