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

[WestPhillyPunisher]

GOP rep calls Trump’s ‘civil war’ tweets ‘beyond repugnant’

The reason Jeffress is in his corner, just like all those other whack-a-doo preachers is because Trump promised to kill Roe v. Wade if elected, and Dolt45 needs the holy roller vote to prop up his base. While one Republican called it like it was about Trump's civil war comments, I fear he's an outlier because the rest of the party is perfectly fine with anything Trump says or does, even if it is repugnant.

And now Trump is calling for Congressman Adam Schiff to be arrested for treason.

Do you think it's possible the GOP decide enacting the 25th Amendment via the Cabinet would help them save face as opposed to having an entire impeachment trial where everyone gets thrown under the bus who is complicit?

Short answer: NOPE. From what I heard and read about Republicans circling the wagons defending Trump on the TV talk shows yesterday, they're gonna ride with Caramel Caligula to the bitter end. The GOP's too far gone to turn their backs on Trump now, protecting what little power they have left as a political party is more important to them than everything else, the country, the Constitution, everything.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Florida’s 3rd Congressional District, Ted Yoho, a former horse-veterinarian and Birther conspiracy theorist who thinks that there should be no limits on the 2nd Amendment, and civilians should literally have access to all the same equipment and weapons that the American military does. He also campaigned hard against raising the debt ceiling, even though doing so would cause a catastrophic failure of not just the American economy, but the global economy. He also voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown, wanted to keep the government closed, and was aghast at the prospect that furloughed workers might receive back pay after the fact, and his staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act that motivated that shutdown vote has made Yoho compare himself to MLK and Rosa Parks (which is amazing considering he once gave his opinion that he didn’t think the Civil Rights Act was constitutional), and his stance was once eloquently expressed in his dismay that African Americans pay at the same rate as white Americans when they can't use tanning beds (No, I'm not making that up). If that's not some ridiculously racist perspective, he advocated returning voting rights only to property owners, like back in the "good old days". (Y'know,like in the 19th Century, when owning slaves was legal). In December of 2016, Rep. Yoho again responded to Donald Trump’s calls for a ban on Muslims in the United States, saying if people “have a Middle Eastern background that we can’t verify, they need to be out of the country.” A few months later in September of 2016 at a town hall meeting, Yoho bragged about fishing off the Florida coast when he and his son supposedly spotted a boat of Cuban refugees who “wanted liberty and freedom” and followed them to help the Coast Guard pinpoint their location and deport them back to Cuba, boasting further that he had saved taxpayer dollars in his misadventure.

Whether it was in March of 2017 when he announced that he wanted to start drug testing welfare recipients on a national level (in spite of the policy being a failure when it comes to finding people on welfare on drugs, and it’s frequently been ruled a violation of the 4th Amendment), his excitement at trying to repeal Dodd-Frank legislation, which he thought of as “saving the little banks”, or in July of 2017, when he was chomping at the bit to try and get legislation in the House to allow himself the ability to carry a gun in Congress:

“I think it’s a good idea. I have the right to protect myself. I feel like I have very good aim. My wife is better.”

But, even with all of that, perhaps the most disturbing moment from Ted Yoho in 2017 was when he defended California Congressman Devin Nunes from criticism he was getting for interfering in the Trump/Russia investigation by leaking information about it back to the White House. In Ted Yoho’s mind, there was nothing strange about that, because as he put it, Nunes “works for the president”:

”You’ve got to keep in mind who he works for. He works for the president. He answers to the president.”

Wiser people better versed in things like our system of checks and balances or, y’know, basic civics courses pointed out that no, actually, Republican Congressman aren’t supposed to be working for the president, they’re supposed to be working for their constituents and above all else, upholding our Constitution. And it’s rather disturbing that the simple nuances of what his job as a legislator actually entails eludes Rep. Yoho.

In 2018, we’re amazed that the Republican Party still let this moron in front of a microphone, as just six days ago, he got on the bandwagon to try and save the Supreme Court nomination of alleged serial sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh by going on Fox News and claiming KAVANAUGH was “the victim” in all of this, just like… Roy Moore was a “victim of character assassination” when he was accused by multiple women of being a pedophile running around Alabama attempting to commit statutory rape so many times that he got banned from a mall for it. Yes, THAT Roy Moore. Yoho, apparently deciding he hadn’t been an inhuman monster enough already, went on to then attack the entire #MeToo movement, because it upsets him that he can’t compliment ladies anymore:

“The #MeToo movement, you know if there’s wrong done to anybody, you know, we need to go after that. But it’s gotten so sterile up there.It’s like right now I couldn’t compliment you on your hair or your outfit you have on now, or somebody would say that was pretty presumptuous.”

Christ Almighty. Ted Yoho continues to be a horse’s ass that we wished would have continued using his veterinary experience to have just continued operating on horse’s asses since we last checked in with him:

Ted Yoho is not known for thinking quick on his feet, or really known for thinking at all, and that’s why it was bizarre to see him host a town hall on Passover weekend of last year, in a district that has folks that, y’know, kind of are Jewish and celebrate the holiday. One of his constituents responded by holding a seder RIGHT OUTSIDE the town hall before it started, and everyone piled in, ready to pillory their dumbass Congressman. And boy, did he give them opportunities, like when he defended the GOP’s attempts to close Planned Parenthood health centers because it would “save lives”, then claimed that cutting their funding would stop them from performing abortions (none of their government funding goes towards abortions). Rep. Yoho didn’t fare better when he denied the existence of climate change, and for his views on transphobic citizens using public bathrooms, where he was raucously booed. The only part of his town hall that went well was when he admitted Donald Trump should release his tax returns, and that Russia’s meddling in our elections should be investigated. His town halls in 2018 did not go much better, with Yoho getting the business for continuing to deny the Trump campaign in any way colluded with Russians during the 2016 elections.

Ted Yoho’s voting record is still continuing like you’d expect:

• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Yoho voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• January 27th, 2019: Ted Yoho votes against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attacking our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
• February 28th, 2019: Ted Yoho votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 7th, 2019: Yoho votes against HR 183, a resolution to condemn anti-Semitism as a hateful extension of intolerance.
• May 17th, 2019: Yoho votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Yoho votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Ted Yoho can’t be bothered to vote against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.

Now, here’s the thing about Ted Yoho… when he first ran for office in 2010, he pledged that he would not run for more than four terms in office… and yet, he’s currently fundraising for 2020, and hasn’t announced he’ll be stepping down. It's one thing to break your vow, but when you’re a misanthrope to the extent that Ted Yoho is… we’re hoping that the people of Florida’s 3rd hold him to his word by bouncing him from office if he breaks it.

[Tendrin]

And another Texas Republican retires.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/poli...2020-election/

It's a doozy for the GOP.

[worstblogever]

And another Texas Republican retires.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/poli...2020-election/

It's a doozy for the GOP.

Mac Thornberry... adios. His district, TX-13, has a +8 R lean. If Trump continues to s*** the bed and a good Democratic challenger emerges... this could flip blue in 2020 without the incumbent.

[PaulBullion]

Trump loses latest court battle in his war on migrant kids and their families

Donald Trump’s attempt to dismantle vital protections for detained migrant children was squashed last Friday, when a federal judge blocked his new, despicable regulation that sought to jail kids and their families indefinitely. In her decision, Judge Dolly Gee called the administration’s attempt to end the decades-old Flores settlement “Kafkaesque.”

[Tendrin]

Mac Thornberry... adios. His district, TX-13, has a +8 R lean. If Trump continues to s*** the bed and a good Democratic challenger emerges... this could flip blue in 2020 without the incumbent.

At the very least it's another seat that was safe that the GOP is gonna need to pour resources into that they really didn't want to.

[PaulBullion]

Lordy, there is a second whistleblower.

And this one is about his taxes.

House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) says he’s looking into making public a complaint by another whistleblower who claims to have evidence of misconduct regarding the Internal revenue Service’s auditing of President Trump, Bloomberg reports.

The allegations, made by a federal employee, says there were “inappropriate efforts to influence” the audit process. According to Neal, the complaint’s release to the public hinges on whether or not House lawyers think it’s a good idea.

[PaulBullion]

Oh, and remember this major scandal?

GOP Congressman Christopher Collins Will Plead Guilty in Insider-Trading Case

Collins was the first member of Congress to endorse Trump in the 2016 election. Last week, he took to Twitter to criticize the announcement by House Democrats that they’re pursuing an impeachment investigation of the president, calling it a “witch hunt.”

The congressman was charged last year with passing non-public information about Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd., an Australian biotechnology company, to his son. The lawmaker was arrested in August 2018 along with the son, Cameron Collins, and Stephen Zarsky, the father of Cameron’s fiancee. Prosecutors said the case was the first to bring insider-trading charges against a sitting member of Congress.

Bonus points for doing the crime on camera (top right):

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump loses latest court battle in his war on migrant kids and their families

Chances are excellent someone in his cabinet of horrors will have to explain to Donnie Dumbass just what "Kafkaesque" means before he can bitch about it, and the ruling on Twitter.

Lordy, there is a second whistleblower.

And this one is about his taxes.

Considering how Trump had been stonewalling like there's no tomorrow about keeping his taxes under wraps from day one, I can't say I'm shocked about this revelation, or how it all came about.

[Tami]

MOSCOW, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that Washington would need Russian consent to publish transcripts of phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Twitter Link

You know that there is something going on between Trump and Putin.

[PaulBullion]

Another Trump supporter got arrested today:

‘I did a film called Clueless,. I was a Fox News contributor’: Body camera video shows the moment actress Stacey Dash was arrested in Florida for domestic abuse

Dash hit the man after they started arguing, according to the sheriff's office. He had scratches on his upper left arm from being pushed, deputies said. She was taken to a jail in Land O' Lakes without further incident.

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...orida-n1060396

[SquirrelMan]

Oh, and remember this major scandal?

GOP Congressman Christopher Collins Will Plead Guilty in Insider-Trading Case





Bonus points for doing the crime on camera (top right):

What's going to happen to his seat? Will the governor of NY fill it?

[Tami]

What's going to happen to his seat? Will the governor of NY fill it?

edit - mistake

[Nine Crocodile]

What's going to happen to his seat? Will the governor of NY fill it?

The NYT is saying that Cuomo will need to call a special election.

[worstblogever]

Another Trump supporter got arrested today:

‘I did a film called Clueless,. I was a Fox News contributor’: Body camera video shows the moment actress Stacey Dash was arrested in Florida for domestic abuse




https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...orida-n1060396

A reminder, she was a 2018 candidate for U.S. Congress.

How many Republicans in Congress or who ran for it can make the police blotter in a week?

The only time I ever hear of Democratis getting arrested this frequently is when John Lewis leads a bunch of them in a Civil Rights protest.

(Both parties are not equal.)