All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[worstblogever]

It was on this date one year ago thatl “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled the current U.S. House Representative from Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, Denver Riggleman, who followed in the footsteps of white nationalist loon Tom Garrett, who retiried after one embarrassing term. While Riggleman, a local distillery owner, was chosen to be the nominee for what the Virginia GOP felt was their best chance to keep this seat from flipping blue in 2018, perhaps they should have done their due diligence while researching the candidate… Denver Riggleman was revealed to have penned several online stories that are, for a lack of a better term… sasquatch erotica.

Riggleman’s opponent, Leslie Cockburn, was simply doing some research into her opponent, who likes to campaign with fellow CSGOPOTD and Neo-Confederate loon Corey Stewart, and has campaigned with Isaac Smith, the co-founder of the group that put on the “Unite the Right” hate rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of Heather Heyer. Cockburn was doing some online research to see if she could find comments that would show Riggleman was as dedicated to white nationalism as Stewart, when she unearthed the treasure trove of Bigfoot porn, including drawings Riggleman had on his social media account of a Bigfoot standing with prolific genitalia. (In our opinion, the white nationalism is still the worse offense, but would be more typical.)

At first, Riggleman was insisting that the posts have nothing to do with erotica but were rather “a joke his military friends layed on him”. Riggleman did set his old social media accounts to private, so it was no longer possible to fully investigate the context in which the posts arose… HOWEVER… he did have a Facebook author page that listed a planned book to be titled The Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him, which sounds a bit less like his interest was Jack Links Jerky or Harry and the Hendersons, you know?

Anyway, by and large, Riggleman’s entire election strategy after being selected for the nomination by the Virginia GOP has mostly been to keep his mouth shut, hope no one realizes how closely he can be linked to Charlottesville, to pretend he never wrote anything about the missing link’s wang, and hope that Virginia’s 5th Congressional District is simply gerrymandered to be a sure-win for anyone with an “R” next to his name to win office. The less he said to the press, the better for his chances. Unfortunately for him, he did have to debate Cockburn before the election, and the event was scheduled right around the time of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings. When a question was asked what could be done to deter the high number of sexual assaults on college campuses, and he came up with a solution to prevent it… he put the onus on the women to educate themselves better on how to not be raped.

"I think a lot of it comes to educating females, right, specifically in the fraternities and sororities that they’re a part of."

Regrettably, Virginia’s 5th Congressional District has a +6 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, and that partisan lean was enough for Denver Riggleman to win office with 53% of the vote in 2018 over Leslie Cockburn. He thus has gone to Washington, D.C., and established the sort of voting record you might expect:

• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Riggleman voted against HR 648, because he was gleeully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• February 28th, 2019: Riggleman votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Riggleman votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• April 4th, 2019: Denver Riggleman is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 17th, 2019: Riggleman votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Riggleman votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Denver Riggleman votes 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 wher things might get interesting in 2020… Denver Riggleman’s fascination with human-on-sasquatch action wasn’t anything to concern the GOP in 2018… but in July of this year, he did something they couldn’t allow… he officiated a same sex wedding that took place for two of his former campaign staffers. And that act of acceptance of LGBTQ rights is enough that he’s got Republican groups back in Virginia demanding he be censured, and we’re almost certain he’ll face a primary challenge from someone less tolerant in 2020… and just like that… here comes Bob Good, an Associate Athletic Director from what school? Why, of course it’s Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.

Virginia’s 5th District could get interesting over the next year.

[zinderel]

Who makes the decision about who the ignorant people who must be kept from power and stripped of existing power are?

Do your views on human rights/politics/religion directly cause quantifiable harm (physical, emotional, financial, social) to a marginalized or oppressed people? Do your views on human rights/politics/religion cause a marginalized person to not be able to pursue life, liberty or happiness because of restrictions you put on them based on immutable traits like race, sex, ‘able’-ness, sexuality, or other inborn traits (religion and political affiliation do not count, I’m sorry. Those are chosen traits and can be changed with new information or experience)?

Congratulations. Your views are toxic and ignorant and you should be stripped of any power you may have over other people’s lives - and be kept from gaining power in the future - until you stop being a sh**bag. If you refuse to use the abundant resources available to you at your literal fingertips? If you never grow or evolve or stop being an ignorant, toxic tosser?

*shrug*

Die alone and unmourned in a fire, for all I care. No tolerance - and no excuses - for the intolerant, the willfully ignorant, the deliberately toxic, or the gleefully awful.

[4saken1]

Hillary Clinton backed regime change in Honduras because she saw the democratically elected president as a leftist troublemaker.

But who cares about authoritarian right-wing governments in other countries. She's not as bad as Trump, so we shouldn't criticize her.

Did Hillary Clinton stand by as Honduras coup ushered in era of violence?

In a recent interview with New York Daily News, Clinton said the legislature and judiciary “actually followed the law in removing President Zelaya. Now I didn’t like the way it looked or the way they did it, but they had a strong argument that they had followed the constitution and the legal precedents”.

Jesse Lehrich, the foreign policy spokesperson for the Clinton campaign, said that the US presidential candidate “immediately condemned those responsible” for removing President Zelaya in 2009, “and got to work with our allies to remedy the situation.”

“She helped lead an international charge to isolate the coup government, revoke the visas of those responsible, and slash foreign aid to the government while continuing to provide humanitarian aid. Her strong stance and her work with regional leaders like President Arias of Costa Rica helped pave the way for a political resolution that quickly led to a democratic election and the removal of the coup government.”

[Rosa Luxemburg]

Did Hillary Clinton stand by as Honduras coup ushered in era of violence?

The US always makes excuses for the terror it spreads around the world.

Hillary and her PR team can try and dodge blame, but the activists on the ground hold her responsible.

The article paints a clear picture, but you instead choose to focus on her excuses.

And as Hillary Clinton – who was secretary of state at the time – edges closer to the White House, there has been a renewed focus on the coup, its aftermath and America’s response. Clinton pushed for new elections, rather than the return of Zelaya, whom she considered a leftist troublemaker in the mould of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.

US ties to Honduras – and the millions of dollars of aid to the country’s security forces – have also come under scrutiny since the murder of Berta Cáceres, the celebrated environmentalist, who was murdered in March after years of battling against a hydroelectric dam project on indigenous Lenca territory.

Flores – who is Cáceres’ older sister – says that much of the violence in Honduras can be traced directly back to a sell-off of mining and hydroelectric concessions that followed the coup. “These concessions generated violence which eventually killed Berta. We’re still paying the consequences of the coup,” she said.

In a recent interview with New York Daily News, Clinton said the legislature and judiciary “actually followed the law in removing President Zelaya. Now I didn’t like the way it looked or the way they did it, but they had a strong argument that they had followed the constitution and the legal precedents”.

Yet the military’s actions were widely condemned as a coup by governments across Latin America, the UN, EU and the Organisation of American States (OAS), which suspended Honduras.

Hugo Llorens, the US ambassador to Tegucigalpa, agreed. In a diplomatic cable later released by WikiLeaks, he wrote that while it was possible that Zelaya may have “committed illegalities” there was “no doubt that the military, supreme court and National Congress conspired on June 28 in what constituted an illegal and unconstitutional coup against the executive branch”.

Jesse Lehrich, the foreign policy spokesperson for the Clinton campaign, said that the US presidential candidate “immediately condemned those responsible” for removing President Zelaya in 2009, “and got to work with our allies to remedy the situation.”

“She helped lead an international charge to isolate the coup government, revoke the visas of those responsible, and slash foreign aid to the government while continuing to provide humanitarian aid. Her strong stance and her work with regional leaders like President Arias of Costa Rica helped pave the way for a political resolution that quickly led to a democratic election and the removal of the coup government.”

But if the US had truly supported Zelaya’s return, Honduras might have taken a different course.

In the November elections, Zelaya had been expected to endorse the independent presidential candidate Carlos Reyes, a union leader, and his vice-presidential candidate, Berta Cáceres.

Cáceres’ daughter, Bertita Zúñiga, said US policies after the coup ignored the Honduran public and in effect legitimised an illegal takeover.

“Since then, we’ve lived with the militarisation of our society, serious violence and the criminalisation of social protest. My mum wanted to build a better Honduras, but that hope died with the coup.”

The US is the most evil nation on Earth.

[Tami]

The US always makes excuses for the terror it spreads around the world.

Hillary and her PR team can try and dodge blame, but the activists on the ground hold her responsible.

The article paints a clear picture, but you instead choose to focus on her excuses.







The US is the most evil nation on Earth.

So what country do you prefer more?

[skyvolt2000]

Who makes the decision about who the ignorant people who must be kept from power and stripped of existing power are?

An ignorant person does NOT waste his time arguing with a has been football player over kneeling when he needs to worry about way more important things.


Folks who have common sense and understand LOGIC would keep those folks out of power.

Logic says look over everything and then make a choice not go with whoever panders to your crap.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

So what country do you prefer more?

Nearly every other country in the world.

I make a few exceptions only because if they had the resources the US has, they'd probably be worse.

But as it stands, the US holds the most responsibility for the dire state of the world.

[PwrdOn]

So what country do you prefer more?

That's not really a fair question, because most of Latin America is only as messed up as it is because of US intervention. So if you somehow managed to take imperialism out of the equation entirely, they would all be much better off compared to now, whereas Americans would be much worse off. There may still be a significant gap economically, but it would undoubtedly be far smaller than it is now, and I don't think the average American can quite comprehend just how much our standard of living depends on exploiting and destabilizing our neighbors.

This is also the reason why America has a moral responsibility to take in more immigrants from the third world, because most of the time they only became refugees because of conflicts that we created. It's not really fair to go and take a huge dump in your neighbor's living room, and then complain when he demands to come stay at your house.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

The sad truth is that when you're given awful choices, and you believe in social justice, voting for someone that is complicit in so much terror doesn't make sense, but you're left with no choice because the other person is so much worse. It isn't just a compromise, it leaves you feeling hopeless.

So, it becomes easier to just buy the PR spin.

It also helps that the Republicans are so comically evil, that people look good just by being their opposition.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

That's not really a fair question, because most of Latin America is only as messed up as it is because of US intervention. So if you somehow managed to take imperialism out of the equation entirely, they would all be much better off compared to now, whereas Americans would be much worse off. There may still be a significant gap economically, but it would undoubtedly be far smaller than it is now, and I don't think the average American can quite comprehend just how much our standard of living depends on exploiting and destabilizing our neighbors.

This is also the reason why America has a moral responsibility to take in more immigrants from the third world, because most of the time they only became refugees because of conflicts that we created. It's not really fair to go and take a huge dump in your neighbor's living room, and then complain when he demands to come stay at your house.

Yup, exactly.

[numberthirty]

That's not really a fair question, because most of Latin America is only as messed up as it is because of US intervention. So if you somehow managed to take imperialism out of the equation entirely, they would all be much better off compared to now, whereas Americans would be much worse off. There may still be a significant gap economically, but it would undoubtedly be far smaller than it is now, and I don't think the average American can quite comprehend just how much our standard of living depends on exploiting and destabilizing our neighbors.

This is also the reason why America has a moral responsibility to take in more immigrants from the third world, because most of the time they only became refugees because of conflicts that we created. It's not really fair to go and take a huge dump in your neighbor's living room, and then complain when he demands to come stay at your house.

Exactly.

Try to name five other countries whose drug policy creates what the United States' does from Mexico South. Once you have, take a minute to ask yourself how long it has taken Democrats and Republicans alike to get to "Just Still Stupid And Making Things A Lot Worse..." when it comes to Federal drug policy.

Bill Clinton was out there justifying this garbage in front of Black Lives Matter as recently as the last Presidential General Election.

[Malvolio]

See, this is why I vote for Democrats. At least they seem reasonable enough to listen when we tell them that they're doing something horribly wrong in a third world country. The Republicans just send you a form letter thanking you for your interest in the issue. That's if they don't outright insult you for even bringing it up.

[PwrdOn]

See, this is why I vote for Democrats. At least they seem reasonable enough to listen when we tell them that they're doing something horribly wrong in a third world country. The Republicans just send you a form letter thanking you for your interest in the issue. That's if they don't outright insult you for even bringing it up.

It's not really a partisan issue though, the bottom line is that the USA as it is currently constructed MUST exploit the third world in order to continue functioning, and would collapse overnight if we ever attempted to actually live up to our lofty rhetoric about freedom and equality. We are 5% of the world's population but use 25% of the world's energy, and comparable percentages of all other resources, and that's assuredly not because other countries are gifting them to us out of the kindness of their hearts.

In some sense the Republicans are actually more honest about this because they are generally unapologetic about taking an America First stance, whereas Democrats always pretend like their actions are for the benefit of all mankind even though it's often the exact same policies. On the flipside though, the Democrats tend to at least be aware that overseas aggression will have consequences down the line, whereas Republicans seem to think that brown people are willing to suffer these indignities in perpetuity without ever trying to strike back at us.

[mogwen]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/...58055397969920

Am I reading what I am reading?
He openly admits it! Where are we?
Please tell me this is not a dream! I just found that while searching for his tweet about witholding federal aid to California against the fires. He's testing the waters. I've done it but it's alright is his new defense.

[worstblogever]

The US is the most evil nation on Earth.

I mean, as long as North Korea's out there, we're at least #2.