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

[worstblogever]

Don Shooter
Welcome to the 751st original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where today we’ll be taking a look at former Arizona State Senator Don Shooter, who was first elected office back in… of course, the 2010 Tea Party Wave. During his time in office, he had his fingerprints on some of the most insane legislation the Arizona GOP could cook up:

• January 31st, 2011: In his first month as a legislator, Don Shooter co-sponsors legislation to try and make English the official language of Arizona. The Supreme (Court ruled that such bills are unconstitutional in 1999, when Arizona tried passing one then.)
• February 28th, 2011: Don Shooter votes for HB 2177, Arizona’s “Birther Bill” that would require presidential candidates to show their birth certificates.
• March 2nd, 2011: Shooter votes for SB 1433, a bill calling for states to be able to nullify federal law (there was a whole Civil War fought over this, Don.)
• March 5th, 2012: Don Shooter votes for SB 1495, another one of those idiot bills state Republicans push for to drug test welfare recipients that find no relevant drug use in people on government assistance, and lose a state a fortune before they’re overturned by the courts as a violation of the 4th Amendment.
• March 28th, 2012: Shooter votes for HB 2625, a bill that would allow employers to reject the birth control coverage on the health insurance plans of their employees.
• February 5th, 2013: Shooter co-sponsors SB 1439, a lunatic bill written to legalize gold and silver as legal tender in Arizona.
• February 3rd, 2015: Don Shooter co-sponsored HB 1445, the bill to conceal the names of police officers who murder suspects for at least 90 days.
• March 11th, 2015: Don Shooter votes for HB 2643, an attempt by Arizona Republicans to nullify the Affordable Care Act.
• February 29th, 2016: Shooter votes for HB 2338, a bill written to allow the legalization of concealed carry near public schools, which we are certain would make the parents of Arizona schoolchildren must feel much safer about their kids’ well-being.
• March 28th, 2017: Don Shooter votes for SB 1122, which would allow the sale of firearms without any background check (ignoring federal law again).
• March 29th, 2017: Shooter votes for SB 1367, an insane anti-choice bill aimed at forcing abortion providers to have to attempt to revive a “viable fetus” after an abortion, which ignores the fact that the way the law is already written, no fetus viable outside the womb can be aborted.

Don Shooter served three terms before taking a step into the lower chamber in 2016 to the Arizona House of Representatives, but then… well… things got a wee bit complicated. Because over his career working in the state capitol, Don Shooter sexually harassed no less than nine women, including fellow Republican legislator Michelle Ugenti-Rita. He handled the charges gracefully, immediately resi-

Oh, wait, he didn’t resign? He tried claiming that his criminal conduct wasn't that bad because he simply just was “annoying liberals”? He responded by pretending he didn’t grope and say inappropriate things and compare his penis to a gun? And then he tried to accuse Ugenti-Rita of having an extramarital affair, as if that would negate her claims, during his “apology” before the legislature?

Yeah, Don Shooter did all that. And that’s why the Arizona House of Representatives voted 59-3 to expel him from the legislature. He still didn’t just skulk away, mounting a lawsuit over his expulsion, demanding that the “whole investigation” the legislature had into his conduct be made public (as if that would exonerate him), and trying to run again for a seat in the Arizona State Senate in 2018, even though he didn’t actually live in Yuma, which he was supposed to be representing. His campaign strategy? To call upon Republicans to vote for him, a serial sexual harasser, because that would “make liberals heads explode”.

Spoiler alert: He still finished third. Sadly, he still got 20% of the vote, because one in five Republican voters in Yuma are either poorly informed, just straight up that awful in their opinions of how women should be respected, or some combination of the two.
 

[aja_christopher]

"Full Text of the Mueller Report's Executive Summaries"

"Editor’s Note: Below are the executive summaries of the two volumes of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report. Volume I deals with links between Russia and the Trump campaign, while Volume II deals with potential obstruction of justice by President Trump."

https://www.lawfareblog.com/full-tex...tive-summaries

[Tendrin]

I see kind of differently. Getting punched on camera was the best thing to ever happen to Spenser. Not that many regular people knew who he was before that clip went viral. And instead of destroying Richard's credibility, it gave the alt-lite, alt-right, and anti-SJW crowd the opportunity to spin this narrative of "The Left" as a violent intolerant mob. "See, we just want to discuss ideas calmly, they want to censor people by force!"

Except this didn't really happen. Sure, some people /feared/ it might, but look what's actually happened to Spencer. Anytime he says anything, anywhere, someone responds with the meme of him getting punched. He brought the discussion on the merits of punching nazis forward, and then the alt-right promptly murdered a girl at Unite the Right. The followers of a guy like Spencer depend on a projection of strength.

Spencer, the head of the National Policy Institute, announced over the weekend that he was ending his college speaking tour, saying he plans to make a “course correction” after his speech last week at Michigan State University drew a less-than-sizeable audience and ended with violent clashes and the arrest of one of Spencer’s closest confidants, a former school teacher.

The beginning of him losing steam coincided with him getting punched.

[numberthirty]

Except this didn't really happen. Sure, some people /feared/ it might, but look what's actually happened to Spencer. Anytime he says anything, anywhere, someone responds with the meme of him getting punched. He brought the discussion on the merits of punching nazis forward, and then the alt-right promptly murdered a girl at Unite the Right. The followers of a guy like Spencer depend on a projection of strength.

Dude, I've got to politely disagree.

While I don't really want to post the video more than once, the guy that set up the "Protest" that you mentioned has said that Spencer being assaulted is exactly what motivated him to do so.

The guy said in plain English that his motivation was the exact opposite of what you believe it hinges on. You might think that is how it happened, but the reality of it points to that it is not what actually happened.

[Tendrin]

Dude, I've got to politely disagree.

While I don't really want to post the video more than once, the guy that set up the "Protest" that you mentioned has said that Spencer being assaulted is exactly what motivated him to do so.

The guy said in plain English that his motivation was the exact opposite of what you believe it hinges on. You might think that is how it happened, but the reality of it points to that it is not what actually happened.

Rule #1: never believe what fascists say.

[numberthirty]

Rule #1: never believe what fascists say.

If you are going to try to avoid dealing with actual reality? Sure.

Meanwhile, the actual reality is that if the guy had never been punched someone who was killed might be alive today.

As for when the guy's bit actually started to run out of steam, it's when he could no longer avoid being lumped in with a killer. Who became a killer because an event that took place(in part) because someone decided to put their hands on Spencer. Trying to leave the death out to create a an alternate version of actual reality makes almost no sense.

[Tendrin]

No, 30. Just no. I won't let you try to blame the guy who punched Richard Spencer for the death of Heather Heyer. That is absurd and typical of you but hey you're the guy who wants to believe some fascist somewhere for their tale of 'why' they did Unite The Right when it's convenient for your point of view against Spencer having gotten a punch in the face and not their multitude of stated reasons like confederate monument removal and 'jews will not replace us'.

This is vile and I am hard pressed to believe in the views of 'reality' of a guy who spent multiple years doing his level best to enable Trump and wouldn't even bother to vote against him. Your views of reality have, pretty obviously, been misguided at best.

[Tami]

[Tami]

Trump: Discussing a Biden probe with Barr would be 'appropriate'

President Donald Trump told POLITICO on Friday that it would be “appropriate” for him to speak to Attorney General Bill Barr about launching an investigation into his potential 2020 rival, Joe Biden, or his son, Hunter.

The question of whether Trump could pressure Barr to probe Biden is coming under scrutiny after Rudy Giuliani, the president’s personal attorney, said he would be traveling to Ukraine to urge the incoming government there to look at Hunter Biden’s involvement with a Ukrainian energy company that has reportedly been in prosecutors’ crosshairs. The efforts appear to be part of a broader campaign by Trump’s allies to damage the former Democratic vice president’s White House campaign and have raised questions about whether Trump’s team is trying to enlist a foreign government to aid the president’s re-election bid.

“Certainly it would be an appropriate thing to speak to him about, but I have not done that as of yet. … It could be a very big situation,” Trump said in a 15-minute telephone interview on Friday afternoon, which stemmed from POLITICO’s inquiries for a separate story.

[Tendrin]

Gee. Republicans trying to criminalize their oppoisition again, just like they tried to do with 'lock her up'.

IF only we hadn't empowered these lunatics by pretending their viewpoints were valid and merited nuanced discussion.

[numberthirty]

Didn't come across it if this particular corner of this bigger picture had come up. Downer, but not particularly surprising.

- https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...=.9eecbd8dc77f

States allege generic drug executives deleted texts, obstructed justice in price cartel probe

[SquirrelMan]

America is slowly losing the war on drugs. You can eliminate the supply but You can't eliminate the demand.

But could generic heroin at least be more affordable if we fought the price cartels?

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of the current U.S. House Representative for Kansas’ 3rd District, Kevin Yoder, who we noted was a part of the Republican delegation that visited Israel in August of 2012 that got blitzed out of their minds on liquor, and in the ultimate combination of being high on Judeo-Christian faith and wasted on Jaegermeister from that huge bar tab on taxpayers dime… went skinny-dipping in the Sea of Galilee. While on official business for our government. He was re-elected in spite of this admission, because he only faced a Libertarian candidate in 2012, and has gone on to vote against the Farm Bill (despite serving a district in a state with a lot of farms), and to hide from reporters for weeks after he snuck an amendment onto a budget bill can to chip away at Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform, feeling that Wall Street banks should be allowed the “freedom” to do everything stupid that caused the 2007 Great Recession all over again. (His biggest campaign contributors, of course, are Wall Street banks.) Yoder, voted by Washington media as “one of the biggest party animals in Congress”, also has the hypocrisy of voting against disaster relief for Hurricane Sandy victims, but asking for tornado relief whenever one hits his district, voted to defund Planned Parenthood in 2011, but maintain government funding towards NASCAR sponsorships, and did not just vote for the 2013 Government Shutdown, but voted against e-opening the government when the time came. He is also not above hyperventilating about the GOP outrage of the moment, including his call for a travel ban to Africa during the 2014 Ebola Virus outbreak in spite of the advice of all medical experts, and voting for bills like the “No More Solyndras Act”, the “Stop the War on Coal Act”, and the “Stop the Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act”. He has underhandedly worked to subvert Dodd-Frank legislation, even voted against the bipartisan-supported Farm Bill (which Kansas tends to like, what with the farms that are famously in Kansas) and didn't just vote against the Planned Parenthood videos, he sent an open letter to House Speaker John Boehner where he described the selectively edited, fraudulent “sting” videos created by the Center for Medical Progress and feigned outrage over their supposed practices that "harvest and sell baby organs", and graphically describing "innocent children, ripped from their mother's womb and their skulls crushed". Even though, y'know, that wasn't based in reality.
For

With a Blue Wave election looming in 2018, Kevin Yoder started skipping town halls and practically hiding from his own constituents, who took notice that he was only taking meetings with big banks and payday loan executives,.or say, Ivanka Trump. Kansas' 3rd Congressional District till does have a +4 Republican lean, but that wasn’t enough to save Yoder from having a boot placed firmly in his arse in 2018, as he ended up losing to new Congresswoman Sharice Davids by almost ten full percentage points, even with that advantage. We hope that now that he has free time, that he might, as a private citizen, make himself happy by returning to the Holy Land to go skinny-dipping again. Really, we’re just willing to compromise and settle for telling him to go jump in a lake.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump Trade War Just Raised Taxes On Consumers By Tens Of Billions of Dollars

The president keeps falsely claiming that China is paying his higher tariffs, but economists point out that Americans, not China, pay those costs. Could someone please remind me how Trump is supposed to be this so-called great businessman again?

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College Republican Group Turning Point Has A White Supremacy Problem

A video of a Turning Point USA leader declaring “white power” and flashing a white supremacist sign is just one of many similar incidents for the group. Buy hey! Both sides are just as bad!

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Trump’s Envoy Pal: President Would Love The ‘Situation’ Of Hungarian Autocrat Viktor Orbán

A profile of Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in The Atlantic paints the power-grabbing far-right leader as snidely anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic, and an enemy of a free press and intellectuals. America’s ambassador to Hungary, David Cornstein, a friend for decades of Donald Trump, told the magazine that the president would “love to have the situation that Viktor Orbán has.”

Reporter Franklin Foer said in a tweet when the story appeared Thursday: “My jaw hit the floor.”

Trump is scheduled to welcome Orbán to the White House on Monday, giving a significant status boost to a leader whom critics see as heralding in another era of fascism in Europe.

Another strongman Trump appears to have fallen in love with. Wonderful.

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Trump Reportedly Asked Don McGahn To Say He Didn’t Obstruct Justice

After Mueller’s report came out, the former White House counsel was reportedly asked to say it wasn’t obstruction when Trump told him to fire the special counsel. Well, of course it wasn't obstruction. Sheesh! Talk about malfeasance!

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MyPillow Lays Off 150 Workers After Praising Trump’s Tax Cuts, ‘Booming Economy’

The brand’s CEO, Mike Lindell, penned an op-ed last year where he claimed “Trump is winning” for Minnesotans. Now, he’s laying off employees for a new business venture. Ne business venture, eh? Yeah, right. Tell me another story, dady.

[numberthirty]

While there was obviously a lot of other things that deserved to get the air time that they got this week, it was good to see this at least get a little bit of coverage. Don't know if it has any sort of a realistic chance of going very far, but something like this even getting a mention is at least a sort of progress. All that said, Trump is the usual dead weight. Pointing out an issue without so much as leaning on Republicans as far as even taking a serious run at this.

- https://www.vox.com/2019/5/9/1855127...bills-congress

Trump to Congress: pass legislation to end surprise medical bills