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

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled former Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Scott Lively, who hits particularly insane levels of anti-gay rhetoric, possibly beyond any of the many terrible examples of it we have discussed in CSGOPOTD profiles. You see, Lively wrote a whole book about how the Nazi party was populated by “butch” gays who wanted to wipe out the “femmes” and all of the other undesirables in the Holocaust. Lively also runs Abiding Truth Ministries, which the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as an anti-gay hate group, and was sued in a lawsuit for his involvement in pressuring Uganda to pass their rigid anti-gay laws that criminalize homosexuality to be punishable by death. Lively also referred to President Obama the Anti-Christ, claimed he’s secretly married to a gay Pakistani man, claims that God once smote a Scores strip joint that burned down, and insists that a cadre of gay rights activists are plotting to assassinate him. For whatever reason, Lively decided to run for Governor of Massachusetts again in 2018, and proving how insane Republican voters are becoming, 36% of them voted for Scott Lively in the GOP Primary against incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Baker. Still, it remains highly unlikely that Lively will ever be elected to any office.

It was on this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018, that we published our first two "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Idaho's 1st Congressional District, Raul Labrador, who pretends to support Latino voters and immigration reform, but does nothing of consequence on the issue to actually make those reforms happen. Less than nothing, really, when you consider he also has defended some of the more racist and xenophobic remarks of Iowa Congressman Steve King. Labrador also whipped up sentiment against Hillary Clinton, particularly by spreading conspiracies about the Benghazi investigation. As numerous reports from investigators surfaced to indicate the GOP were trying to direct the investigators to harangue Sec. Clinton specifically, Labrador denied any and all partisan bias the Republicans in the House Oversight Committee had. Labrador also isn’t above throwing out red meat to Republican voters, like the time he spoke at CPAC and made a irther joke, saying he was "born in Puerto Rico, is an American citizen AND HAS THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE TO PROVE IT". Labrador has consistently moved to defund Planned Parenthood, and long before the Center for Medical Progress released their bogus "sting" video to whip up outrage, Labrador was claiming that Planned Parenthood's "main business" was abortion (when it's less than 3% of their actual budget). Rep. Labrador has appeared publicly with ACT! for America, an anti-Muslim group, at rallies where Islamophobia has been whipped up to the point of warning of Sharia Law takeovers, has made it a point to remind people on social media that Sept. 11th is also a time to "Remember Benghazi, too", and after voting for the 2013 Government Shutdown, then voting to not reopen the government, telling the astounding lie that the Republicans “never asked for a full repeal of Obamacare”. Labrador has argued against the minimum wage during the greatest era of income inequality our country has seen in almost a century, arguing that if people feel like they aren't being paid enough, they should "apply for a manager's job instead". Adding to his own legacy, Raul Labrador had quite possibly one of THE WORST sound bites at what few GOP town halls that have been hosted in 2017. On March 7th, Rep. Labrador was trying to quiet an already testy group of constituents who were grilling him over his vote for Trumpcare, when he gave the positively ludicrous response that “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to healthcare!” The boos. THE BOOS that drowned him out. Good lord, that was the dumbest possible thing he could have said. And yet… Raul Labrador thought that he should move on from serving Idaho in Congress for a fifth term, and instead, announced a run for Governor of Idaho to replace the departing Butch Otter in the governor’s mansion... three days after he embarrassed himself completely. It did not pay off, as Labrador was defeated in the Republican Primary in that race by Brad Little, the Lieutenant Governor of Idaho by 9,000 votes. He is, for now, out of elected office, and we hope he remains so. We will set aside his profile at this time, and go ahead and take a look at a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 791-40, since this was established in July 2014.)


John James

Welcome to what is the 791st original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling John James, who will be a 2020 challenger for the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan held by Senator Gary Peters. This is only a year removed from James’ unsuccessful 2018 U.S. Senate campaign against Debbie Stabenow, where he lost after getting a respectable 46% of the vote. And while it might be refreshing to see an African American Republican candidate who is also a veteran… some of the details on how James campaigned in 2018 make him noteworthy for this blog.

In July of 2018, James campaigned along side conservative radio personality, fanatical NRA supporter, alleged pedophile, and admitted draft dodger Ted Nugent, who referred to James as his “blood brother”. Not exactly the company you’d want a veteran to keep. Meanwhile, Donald Trump endorsed him because “he saw him on TV and said ‘HE’S A STAR!’” (Probably a Fox News appearance.)

Fast forward to October of 2018, the Trump-endorsed James ran an ad that featured a shot of a school bulletin board, and for whatever reason… there was a swastika on it. He was forced to apologize, but folks began to have some serious questions about what was going on with the James campaign… which led to a Detroit Metroit Times investigation that showed that his campaign had taken cash from anti-immigrant white supremacists and hate group leaders.

Which, kind of starts to establish a pattern that he’s either oblivious to the fact that he’s being propped up by bigots, or that he just doesn’t care.

As 2020 approaches, and scandal begins to surround the Trump presidency… big surprise, John James has begun trying to scrub his social media accounts from any association he’s previously had with Donald Trump. While in some, it’s cropping out Trump logos, in others, he’s deleted videos where he promised to “support the Trump administration 2000%”. This double-turn is especially sad, given that as of February of 2019, Trump was considering nominating John James to be the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. (even though he has zero foreign policy or diplomacy experience).

Still, John James is now being supported by a completely DIFFERENT kind of hate group, the anti-gay Family Research Council, and we’re starting to wonder if the argument that can be made these days is that any Republican can be linked to a hate group or fringe militia group without much effort.

But John James’ associations make him an empty suit just looking to exploit any opportunity to advance his own career, and he is indifferent to whomever is looking to use him as a puppet.

[Astral Disaster]

Reading this just made me laugh.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/curt-sc...004513394.html

At the end of the article it mentions the real reason he's ended his political aspirations is that perhaps he's been hired to manage the Phillies. Are the Philadelphia Phillies that desperate for a manager they're willing to accept all his baggage?

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

True enough, but I'm wondering what sort of move this is on the ladies parts. Early bid for a future run using Bernie as a platform? And for that matter why are you endorsing a white guy over a woman who could be the first female president. No offense to senator Sanders, but how does it look when you are already in the 2020s and you have yet another old white, albeit Jewish, male as the head of the US? By now other older countries have had women as leader, why is it that we, once more, have women endorsing a guy when the woman that is running has almost the same platform. Jeeze!

Well because Warren doesn’t exactly have the same platform especially on foreign policy. And there is the general belief that Bernie is the more progressive and purer candidate. Since the Squad is the most ideologically progressive unit in Congress, it makes sense they are going with the more ideological left candidate.

Also 2020 not withstanding but Bernie Sanders holds most of his support with the youth across racial and gender lines. It’s a smart move to ensure support in the next generation of voters.

Also it doesn’t really matter, if Warren gets the nom, nobody bats an eye if they start stumping for her (especially since Sanders will throw his support behind her if he loses)

[Tami]

Never-Before-Seen Trump Tax Documents Show Major Inconsistencies

Documents obtained by ProPublica show stark differences in how Donald Trump’s businesses reported some expenses, profits and occupancy figures for two Manhattan buildings, giving a lender different figures than they provided to New York City tax authorities. The discrepancies made the buildings appear more profitable to the lender — and less profitable to the officials who set the buildings’ property tax.

For instance, Trump told the lender that he took in twice as much rent from one building as he reported to tax authorities during the same year, 2017. He also gave conflicting occupancy figures for one of his signature skyscrapers, located at 40 Wall Street.

Lenders like to see a rising occupancy level as a sign of what they call “leasing momentum.” Sure enough, the company told a lender that 40 Wall Street had been 58.9% leased on Dec. 31, 2012, and then rose to 95% a few years later. The company told tax officials the building was 81% rented as of Jan. 5, 2013.
A dozen real estate professionals told ProPublica they saw no clear explanation for multiple inconsistencies in the documents. The discrepancies are “versions of fraud,” said Nancy Wallace, a professor of finance and real estate at the Haas School of Business at the University of California-Berkeley. “This kind of stuff is not OK.”

Bet the rest of Trump's tax info shows a history of fraud and other criminal activity.

[Robotman]

CNN moderators’s debate questions left a lot to be desired.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/demcr...ushpmg00000006

Julián Castro had a pretty accurate take. “ Three hours and no questions tonight about climate, housing, or immigration.

Climate change is an existential threat. America has a housing crisis. Children are still in cages at our border.

But you know, Ellen.”

[Tami]

Here’s everything you need to know about the November Democratic debate

1) They’ve secured at least 165,000 individual donors, including 600 individual donors from 20 states.

2) They’ve reached 3 percent in the polls in four Democratic National Committee (DNC) approved surveys, or five percent in two DNC approved polls from the four earliest primary and caucus states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada.

The candidates who have met the polling and donor thresholds are:

Former Vice President Joe Biden
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders
California Sen. Kamala Harris
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker
South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
Billionaire and climate advocate Tom Steyer

Four candidates have met just the donor requirement:

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

Surprised Steyer made the list. I hope Castro and Klobuchar get the polling numbers they need to qualify.

[SquirrelMan]

Yeah, Sanders sounds weak...

This guy is on fire.

His campaign issued a statement that it was not actual fire, just heartburn.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Here’s everything you need to know about the November Democratic debate



Surprised Steyer made the list. I hope Castro and Klobuchar get the polling numbers they need to qualify.

I hope they dont. They have no shot and are just wasting time. They are glorified Cabinet position seekers. Really anyone under 5% shouldn’t be there. Too many issues got ignored last night.

The field at this point should be Biden, Warren, Sanders, Buttegieg and Harris.

[Tami]

Ayanna Pressley breaks with AOC and other allies on Sanders endorsement

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib are backing Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, potentially giving his campaign a burst of new energy in the wake of the fourth presidential debate on Tuesday.

But a fourth progressive member of Congress who’s often associated with the three representatives is not making an endorsement yet.

“Ayanna has tremendous respect for her sisters-in-service,” a spokesperson for Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) told Vox. “Ultimately, these political decisions are made as individuals.”

The four first-term congresswomen are often called “the Squad” by admirers and critics alike, but there are plenty of differences among the women. Pressley’s decision to break with Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib for now is a reminder that the Squad isn’t a monolith. And while three influential progressive congresswomen are throwing their support behind Sanders, Pressley’s endorsement remains up for grabs.

[Michael Watkins]

smart move on her part. there's no reason that they can't operate individually.

[SquirrelMan]

Lindsey Graham still is playing his split personality game of blindly supporting Trump against impeachment, while criticizing him severely on the massacre of the Kurds:

"This is the most screwed up decision I've seen since I have been in Congress."

[SquirrelMan]

Fourth defendant in Giuliani associates’ case arrested at New York airport

David Correia, the fourth defendant in a campaign finance case involving business associates of President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, was arrested Wednesday morning at a New York City airport, officials said.

Correia has been charged with participating in a scheme to use foreign money to build political support for a fledgling recreational marijuana business in Nevada and other states, according to an indictment unsealed last week that also charged Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman with conspiracy and making false statements to campaign finance regulators.

The other three defendants were quickly arrested by the FBI, but Correia’s whereabouts have been unclear until Wednesday morning. Correia is expected to make a brief court appearance Wednesday, and all four defendants are due to appear before a judge Thursday morning.

[Theleviathan]

I mean I don't really follow super far left people on twitter or social media and generally have the main establishment players who are far more partial to Biden. If he's making them cringe he's doing poorly. The reality is, what I expected with Biden is coming to pass. Warren is closing in on him and the more beatable he looks the more his aura of "electability" is shaken. Warren is now viewed as a legitimate frontrunner and she's leading most of the early states. Once Biden is no longer ahead nationally, he's going to have serious issues. Whether that's in the coming months or when he loses the first few primaries that he's behind in. He has serious issues. And the polling reflects that. We've seen much larger frontrunners with bigger leads ultimately lose and he's going to have issues.

His biggest problem is that it's basically him and then two progressives immeidately after. Every poll has Sanders and Warren as the other canidates in the top 3. Nationally it's Biden, Warren, and then Sanders. The big issue with that is he probably doesn't want to pick one of them off too early because then he just raises the next one and runs the risk of them consolidating support from the left. The rest of the field is a little too weak and disjointed to mount a serious challenge. Buttegieg and Harris are polling at a 3rd of Sanders right now who has been stagnant while Warren surged and everyone else is 2% or less.

He's in a very unfortunate position where he has to play keep away from two popular challengers and he can't press too hard on one or it might strengthen the other.

Maybe, I do think the "What have you accomplished?" question is a fair, and necessary, one for Sanders. Whatever you think of his ideas, he's never found a way to make them happen. And since President doesn't equal King....he's got some explaining to do on how he makes those policies become reality. It's one thing to stand outside pointing out all the things that are wrong, it's a whole other level to find ways to make solutions happen. Naive people can attack Biden for his track record...but he has one because he's actually attempted solutions. Bernie has mostly spent a few decades fruitlessly complaining.

I'll be curious to see what happens with Biden's support after the early states. His lead with established white and black democrats is pretty strong and hasn't wavered much for months. I can't rule out that it will falter, but I also wouldn't bank on it at this point. Electability is part of his appeal, but so is a sense of normalcy and "good ol days". What Biden offers is comfort and reliability.

I'm also not convinced Bernie or Warren's supporters drift to the other as a second choice. Hell, I'm not sure Bernie would ever drop out of the race no matter where he was polling.

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Pressley is from MA. That’s Warren’s turf. She also didn’t endorse Sanders last time. It’s smarter for her to wait. The rest of them were expected to back Sanders. Pressley would be in a more awkward position if Warren won

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

Maybe, I do think the "What have you accomplished?" question is a fair, and necessary, one for Sanders. Whatever you think of his ideas, he's never found a way to make them happen. And since President doesn't equal King....he's got some explaining to do on how he makes those policies become reality. It's one thing to stand outside pointing out all the things that are wrong, it's a whole other level to find ways to make solutions happen. Naive people can attack Biden for his track record...but he has one because he's actually attempted solutions. Bernie has mostly spent a few decades fruitlessly complaining.

I'll be curious to see what happens with Biden's support after the early states. His lead with established white and black democrats is pretty strong and hasn't wavered much for months. I can't rule out that it will falter, but I also wouldn't bank on it at this point. Electability is part of his appeal, but so is a sense of normalcy and "good ol days". What Biden offers is comfort and reliability.

I'm also not convinced Bernie or Warren's supporters drift to the other as a second choice. Hell, I'm not sure Bernie would ever drop out of the race no matter where he was polling.

If you are part of the establishment you will naturally accomplish more. Biden was always in the majority consensus in his party. He’d very misleading when he likes to act like he spearheaded others accomplishments like Warren. Also when you are in the majority and will be on the winning side of votes when your party has power, the decisions you make on bad policy is particular relevant. And Biden practically stumped for Bush on Iraq and was responsible for a lot of disasterous ****. There’s a reason he was a nonfactor in 08 and a junior Senator with few accomplishments made more headway..Also you can’t compare a President to a Senator. A President leads the party and sets agenda. Bernie made moves where he could based on his policy positions.

And it’s foolish to say it’s naive to attack Biden for terrible shot he did. More people suffered because of things Biden pushed for and supported than anything on Sanders it Warren’s end. And it’s preposterous to dismiss that because he got some other **** done by always being aligned with the biggest group. There’s a lot the Obama admin accomplished that Biden advised against that he wants to take credit for now.

Biden’s probably going to lose every early state but South Carolina. Warren is leading in Iowa, and New Hampshire and has been gaining in Nevada. SC is his only early spot with a huge lead. He loses 3 out of 4, historically he’s done.

Bernie will most likely support Warren if she pulls away. He courted her to face Hillary last time. He’s smart enough to know it’s better for his agenda for him or Warren to win. In 2016 it suited his agenda to push Hillary as left as possible and get his policies in the national discourse before he stumped for her.