All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Tazirai]

It’s a rare night when liberals and conservatives can come together and laugh at a common foe. Bloomberg’s disastrous debate performance has united a nation!

Damn, I thought you were talking about Chuck Todd...

[Robotman]

Damn, I thought you were talking about Chuck Todd...

It can be both.

[Tazirai]

Okay. Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews are the worst people on MSNBC...

[numberthirty]

Told you Bloomberg on stage would make this Liz' night.

Politely...

You were trying to hip folks to that they've got fries at McDonald's.

Everybody already knew that...

[PaulBullion]

Hopefully this debate is the end of Bloomberg. He looked bad and that means it was a good night for Biden. Warren was not trying to make any friends tonight. Klobuchar and Buttigieg at times tried to lighten the mood but Liz wasn’t having it. It’ll be interesting to see how viewers/voters respond to her going on the attack. Some will probably see it as strength and some will see it as going too negative.

Bloomberg and Bernie had bullseyes on them tonight and only Bernie was able to fight off the attacks.

Bloomberg being so horrible and Warren shining the way she did is very good news for Biden: She will take votes away from Sanders (who will not be remembered as the dragon slayer, she will), and Biden will inherit disappointed Bloomberg voters to a large part.

[PaulBullion]

Okay, so it is NBC/MSNBC's fault here. It truly is terrible; Chuck Todd should stick to Meet the Press.

We all know Chuck hates being overprepared, so he prepared for this debate by listening to his Starship 8-track tape of "We Built This City."

[PaulBullion]

Warren won, but Bernie got a godsend in Bloomberg. Literally everyone on that stage was seething that he was there and he was attacked like crazy. This probably was the time for them to all pound Bernie before Nevada and potentially build to a turnaround on Super Tuesday. Bloomberg was basically a lightning rod that took all the steam away. Super Tuesday is so close to SC and that debate that I can't see that swinging things enough in time. You really needed this week to be the start of a trend change.

At least this finally made Warren relevant again. Hopefully she can stick around. Honestly this is probably the last hurah for Pete and Amy.

Pete did get one good line in, I'll give him that.

"Let's put forward somebody who's actually a Democrat. Look, we shouldn't have to choose between one candidate who wants to burn this party down and another candidate who wants to buy this party out. We can do better."

[PaulBullion]

In a world anything like "Just...", Chuck Todd would be ring announcing for something along the lines of Smokey Mountain Wrestling.

One of those rare moments where you and I agree on something.

[PaulBullion]

Politely...

You were trying to hip folks to that they've got fries at McDonald's.

Everybody already knew that...

It could have been Sanders' night, if Sanders were a better debater and prepared better. But I guess we all knew that up front, too.

[PaulBullion]

A rare instance of a mass shooting in a European country with gun control, and there might be a white supremacist background.

Eleven people were killed in shooting incidents on Wednesday night in the German town of Hanau near Frankfurt in what Bild newspaper said may have been a right-wing extremist attack.

Nine died at two separate locations and two other people, including the suspected perpetrator, were found dead at another address, police said in a statement. An investigation into the identity of the suspected killer and the victims is continuing, they added.

The suspect, who Bild named as Tobias R., left behind a video and a letter, in which he refers to the “extermination of certain peoples” who Germany is unable to deport, the paper said. Some of the victims were of Kurdish origin, Bild added, without naming the source of its information.

[worstblogever]

Told you Bloomberg on stage would make this Liz' night.

Trump already has made noise about refusing to debate the Democratic nominee like the coward he is, and seeing Warren toss the rest of the field around like ragdolls tonight probably has him trying to find a corner of the Oval Office to hide in.

Okay. Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews are the worst people on MSNBC...

On this, we agree. But we have to remember that MSNBC once employed Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, as well as 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Bill Zedler, a member of the Texas House of Representatives and a man who has been trying to get creationism taught not just in public schools, but insists that institutions of higher education should be doing so, as well. He also sponsored Birther legislation, and another bill to prevent “foreign laws” from being considered from judges, which is about the nicest way to describe what was actually an anti-Sharia bill. Zedler also tried to defund all LGBTQ resource centers in Texas based on his logic that they “promote and support high risk behavior for AIDS, HIV, Hepatitis B, and any sexually transmitted disease”, as if those diseases can’t be contracted heterosexually. He currently has begun trying to circumvent the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling by way of submitting “religious freedom” legislation, as well. Zedler is also a joke on women’s issues, proposing legislation to have doctors violate patient confidentiality and report to the state of Texas whatever information they have on their patients who are suffering from complications due to abortions, and calling the protesters who railed against SB 5 in Texas during State Senator Wendy Davis’ filibuster “terrorists”. Zedler’s other fine suggestions for laws include trying to force strippers to carry a physical license on themselves while working, and trying to force married couples to enter special “covenant marriages” where they were forced to be married for two years while undergoing mandatory state marriage counseling… because that’s exactly what screams smaller government ideas, right?

In May of 2017, Zedler proposed an amendment to a bill aimed on getting doctors in foster care to examine children suspected of being abused or neglected... following the lead of fellow CSGOPOTD Tony Tinderholt’s paranoia over vaccines, Zedler’s amendment wanted to make it illegal for doctors in foster care to vaccinate children during these exams, with Zedler insisting vaccines are “dangerous” to children. But that hardly is the only insane quest Zedler has been undertaking… only two months later in July of 2017, Zedler began making moves to try and oust the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, Joe Straus, who was nominated to his position by a bi-partisan 150-0 vote only months earlier. The reason? Straus paid attention to what happened to the state of North Carolina after it passed its anti-LGBT bill, HB 2, and refused to allow a bill similar to it to come to a vote in the Texas House, because he didn’t want his state to face boycotts and lose trillions of dollars like North Carolina did. Well, Bill Zedler has no patience for people who aren’t zealots, and wanted to vote to oust Straus from office. All because he doesn’t want to dictate to transgender citizens what bathroom they use… that’s Zedler’s reasoning.

Zedler narrowly won re-election in 2018 with 50.8% of the vote, and has gone right back to helping the people of Tex- HA! Just kidding, he tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which is something that state legislators can’t do, anyway.

Now, there’s been a big swing to the left in Texas politics, and Democrats have begun winning in places all over the state after decades of Republican dominance. Zedler barely got back into office in 2018, and he’s seen the writing on the wall and opted to not run for re-election in 2020. We would like to give him our finest “GOOD RIDDANCE” salutes at this time.

[PaulBullion]

Wtf?

greta.jpg

[Superbat]

BERNIE SANDERS LEADS IN ALL 10 NATIONAL POLLS RELEASED THIS WEEK AHEAD OF NEVADA CAUCUSES

https://www.newsweek.com/bernie-sand...ucuses-1488141

Senator Bernie Sanders leads the Democratic presidential field in all 10 national polls released this week ahead of the Nevada caucuses, with former Vice President Joe Biden and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg roughly tying for second.

Ten polls released since Monday shows Sanders as the Democratic frontrunner, with the senator's percentage of supporters ranging from the mid 20s to early 30s.

A Hill/HarrisX poll, released Wednesday, showed 22 percent of voters supporting Sanders, while Biden came in second place with 19 percent and Bloomberg following closely behind with 18.

A recent Economist/YouGov poll showed Sanders leading the field by six points with 24 percent of support from voters. Biden trailed behind in second with 18 percent, Senator Elizabeth Warren following closely in third with 16 percent and Bloomberg in fourth with 12.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll showed Sanders doubling the candidate in second place with 32 percent of support, while Biden received 16 percent and Bloomberg came in third with 14 percent.

An Emerson College poll had Sanders at 29 percent, leading Biden's 22 percent by seven points. Bloomberg came in third with 14 percent of support from voters nationally.

Morning Consult's latest poll showed Sanders leading by eight points with 28 percent, while Bloomberg came in second with 20 percent and Biden following closely behind on 19 percent.

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll saw Sanders leading by double digits with 27 percent, while Biden followed 12 points behind on 15 percent. Bloomberg and Warren tied for third, each garnering 14 percent.

According to the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, Sanders, again, led the field with 25 percent, with Bloomberg in second at 17 percent. Biden followed in third with 13 percent and Buttigieg in fourth garnering 11 percent.

A recent SurveyUSA poll showed Sanders leading the field by 11 points with 29 percent of support among voters, while Bloomberg and Biden tied for second after having garnered 18 percent each.

This week's NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College poll showed Sanders maintaining a strong lead with 31 percent. Bloomberg came in second with 19 percent, and Biden fell to third at 15 percent.

Lastly, a Zogby Analytics survey had Sanders in first place by four points with 24 percent of support. Bloomberg and Biden followed in second and third with 20 and 18 percent respectively.

Newsweek reached out to Sanders' campaign for comment.

"There is one clear and inescapable set of results: Bernie Sanders is the definitive front-runner, and the current numbers do not represent his ceiling, but instead his base with room to grow," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who co-conducted the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll with Republican pollster Bill McInturff.

According to FiveThirtyEight, a polling website that focuses on politics, economics and sports, Sanders' national polling average, after taking into account the 10 polls this week, is currently at 25.3 percent, a three point increase from his position 10 days ago.

While Bloomberg and Biden are roughly tied for second place, they both appear to be moving in opposite directions. Bloomberg, a newcomer to the field who will take the debate stage for the first time in Nevada tonight, has been trending up in the polls, while Biden has seen a drop in his support after a disappointing run in early voting states.

[Steel Inquisitor]

Okay. Chuck Todd and Chris Matthews are the worst people on MSNBC...

That they are, and Turner was agreeing with Matthews that he hasn't released everything hoping all we have to do go on "trust" about the future president's health when he had a heart attack and he's pushing 80. If he is that secure with his health he's have nothing to hide and yet...

It could have been Sanders' night, if Sanders were a better debater and prepared better. But I guess we all knew that up front, too.

This is why it's great to have a candidate who's got a plan for everything.