All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Kevinroc]

I've never thought the GOP would convict. Even if more people come to view his removal is a good idea I don't expect the GOP to convict. I do expect it to be an anchor in 2020 for Republicans up and down the ticket.

Those are my expectations as well. Although we got to 51% pretty quickly (relatively speaking). Curious to see how high that number goes.

[Kirby101]

I think the question is not if he will be convicted, he won't. But that is 2/3 of the Senate. The question is do some Republican Senators decide to choose Country over Party and vote against him? If so and there is a majority of votes to convict, Trump saying he was proven innocent will not carry any weight.

[Tami]

I think the question is not if he will be convicted, he won't. But that is 2/3 of the Senate. The question is do some Republican Senators decide to choose Country over Party and vote against him? If so and there is a majority of votes to convict, Trump saying he was proven innocent will not carry any weight.

All it takes is a handful of Republicans to vote with the Democrats in the Senate, even of it isn't enough to convict. That would show that there is a bi-partisan agreement on this. Which could place those Republicans who voted against indictment to be questioned as to their motives.

[Tami]

Possible pay-to-play scheme for ambassador role in Trump administration uncovered by CBS News

A CBS News investigation has uncovered a possible pay-for-play scheme involving the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to the Bahamas. Emails obtained by CBS News show the nominee, San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester, was asked by the RNC to donate half a million dollars as his confirmation in the Senate hung in the balance, chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.

When Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Bahamas in September, Manchester wanted to help. So the San Diego real estate developer, who prefers the nickname "Papa Doug," loaded up his private jet with supplies and headed for the hard-hit Caribbean country where he owned a home – and hoped to soon be serving as U.S. ambassador.

A Trump supporter, Manchester donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. He was offered the Bahamas post the day after Mr. Trump was sworn in. Manchester said Trump told him, "I should probably be the ambassador to the Bahamas and you should be president."

Then, for two and a half years, Manchester's nomination stalled in the Senate.

His Bahamas relief trip caught the attention of the President. Trump tweeted, "I would also like to thank 'Papa' Doug Manchester, hopefully the next Ambassador to the Bahamas, for the incredible amount of time, money and passion he has spent on helping to bring safety to the Bahamas."

Three days after the tweet, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel hit up Manchester for a donation. It was no small sum. In an email, obtained exclusively by CBS News, she asked Manchester, "Would you consider putting together $500,000 worth of contributions from your family to ensure we hit our ambitious fundraising goal?"

[PwrdOn]

https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...ous-protesters

Make no mistake, the blood is all on our hands here. We wanted a more pliable puppet in power in Bolivia and now we have exactly that. Lots of people will suffer, but we can just wave that off as just how Latin America is these days, conveniently forgetting that Latin America is only that way because the United States wants it to be that way. And it's not a partisan thing either, that green future that progressives dream of isn't going to happen without Bolivian lithium, and the new government is going to throw open the doors for American companies to start strip mining it with zero regard for the well being of the locals.

[worstblogever]

On this date, in 2014, in 2015, and in 2016, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of former Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon, noting that Congressman Salmon was first elected to Congress back in 1994, and pledged to only serve three terms. While he did step down in 2000 and honor that promise, after a failed bid for Governor of Arizona in 2002 and a decade as a lobbyist, he broke it by running for a U.S. House seat again in 2012 and 2014. His rap sheet included producing a bill in 1999 to have Ronald Reagan's image added to Mount Rushmore for "winning the Cold War", saying that President Obama should be impeached over his executive orders on immigration, and advocating for the 2013 Government Shutdown even though he should have remembered how disastrous such things are not just for the country, but for his party, as he voted for two of them back during the Clinton administration. Rep. Salmon also visited an elementary school where he was supposed to give kids a basic lecture on civics and how bills become law and proceeded to terrify a group of second and third graders by talking about Iran getting their hands on nuclear weapons, or that ISIS is training kids their own age to be suicide bombers. Because that's the sort of thing you need keeping you up at night when you're aged 7 to 9. Matt Salmon also just doesn't have a record of voting against LGBT interests, but has a bit of personal history on getting those matters wrong, having once placed his son, currently a Log Cabin Republican, in gay reparative therapy. Salmon is now a twice-retired Congressman, and we hope he stays that way.



On this date in 2017, as well as 2018, and Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” first profiled Jeff Pogue, a member of the Missouri House of Representatives since 2012 who just was re-elected in 2018 after simply winning the GOP Primary with 75% of the vote. In the six years he’s been in office, Pogue has become one of the most radical extremists in the Missouri Republican Party, and that’s really saying something. It’s not just the bills he votes for, but the plainly unconstitutional ones he submits that have garnered our notice.

In February of 2014, Pogue and a bunch of other Missiouri GOP legislators filed articles of impeachment against then Governor Jay Nixon for allowing married same-sex couples to jointly file their state taxes. When a state judge ruled eight months later that Missouri must recognize same-sex couples from other states, Pogue called on any officials who recognized same-sex marriages to be removed from office as a means to “stop this Midstate crisis”. In March of 2015, we really began hearing Pogue’s name when he became one of the early supporters of transphobic bathroom bans by sponsoring not just one, but two separate bills to try and eliminate unisex public bathrooms, and to block state funding to any company that ignored that edict. This came on the heels of other anti-LGBT legislation from Pogue, including HB 1337, which would allow government officials to refuse to solemnize same-sex couples’ marriages if doing so violated their religious beliefs.

If you’re still not getting the picture, during the current term of the Missouri State legislature, Pogue sponsored an abortion ban. To be clear, that’s not a ban on abortion at 20 weeks, or a ban if a fetal heartbeat can be detected, he just up and pretended that the Roe v. Wade ruling isn’t a thing and tried to criminalize abortion, declaring it first degree murder. He’s also riding the coat tails of the Center for Medical Progress, attempting to ban the donation of fetal tissue to medical research laboratories based on the fraudulent “sting” videos used by conservatives to attack Planned Parenthood in 2016.

Some of the more extreme bills in Missouri that Pogue has simply voted for include a constant dedication to pushing for unnecessary enhancement of Voter ID regulations to help suppress the vote, various votes against raising the minimum wage during the greatest period of income inequality in our nation in almost a century, an attempt at forcing school children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance… in ENGLISH, a vote to nullify federal firearms laws, a vote to prevent “the enforcement of foreign laws” based on paranoid Islamophobes fearing a rise of Sharia Law in the United States, and a vote to prevent the implementation of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 Environmental Treaty based on the fever dreams of hard-right loons convinced it was a secret plot for global domination.

Jeff Pogue’s spent the current term in office continuing his personal campaign against the LGBTQ community, sponsoring a series of bills to allow for discrimination against same sex couples seeking to get married, and other measures that look plainl like the sort of things a judge would have bounced out of court if they ever were brought before a judge as unconstitutional.

Suffice to say, we know term limits will keep Pogue from running again for the Missouri House of Representatives in 2020, and we’re hoping that he doesn’t seek higher office this year.

[AnakinFlair]

Possible pay-to-play scheme for ambassador role in Trump administration uncovered by CBS News

That's pretty much was Sondland did. Donate $1 million to Trump and the Republicans, and got an Ambassadorship as a result.

[Iron Maiden]

Possible pay-to-play scheme for ambassador role in Trump administration uncovered by CBS News

I may be wrong but my thought is that to a small degree ambassadorships always went to the rich supporters of a President. And they were usually plush, sought after spots like the Bahamas, Great Britain, France, Japan, Spain etc. They would be contributing to the campaign fund no matter what but it's a reward for their support and even Obama was criticized for doing it . It's a small difference I suppose. But speaking of fundraising, It's no surprise that Trump has been raising tons of money lately. But I think he diverts a lot of it to the numerous lawyers defending him and paying his own businesses like hotel and restaurant fees.

[Tami]

‘Zone Rouge’: An army of children toils in African mine

TARANTA-BAS, Madagascar — A boy climbs out of a pit in the ground and shields his eyes from the sun. His hands and feet are covered in dust, his T-shirt and shorts covered in rips.

The boy has spent the last several hours working inside the pit. Now above ground, he proudly holds up an example of his labor: a silvery sheet of mica, the iridescent mineral shimmering in the afternoon light.

The boy is 10 years old, but he doesn’t go to school. He works for much of the day — and sometimes through the night — crawling through pitch-black tunnels inside the makeshift mine, his fingers picking through the earth, collecting and sorting shards of mica.

The minerals he picks up will soon make their way through an opaque supply chain from Africa to Asia before landing in millions of products — electronics, appliances, even trains — that wind up in America.

“My mother doesn’t make enough money,” says the boy, whose name is Manjoraza. “So I have to help her make money.”

[Tendrin]

Guys...

https://www.argusleader.com/story/ne...it/4227949002/

Noem launched her new anti-meth campaign on Monday to bring awareness to the meth epidemic in South Dakota that will include a new TV ad, billboards, posters and website. The campaign's motto features the phrase, "Meth. We're on it," over an outline of South Dakota, and the ad and posters feature people of differing in ages and races saying, "I'm on meth."

[kidfresh512]

Chick-fil-A is ending donations criticized by LGBTQ activists after years of backlash

On Monday, Chick-fil-A announced it was making a major change to perhaps the most controversial part of the company: its charitable-giving arm.
In a press release, the company said it would "deepen its giving to a smaller number of organizations working exclusively in the areas of education, homelessness and hunger." A Chick-fil-A representative confirmed that the company would no longer donate to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Salvation Army, two organizations that have been criticized by LGBTQ advocates.

"We made multiyear commitments to both organizations, and we fulfilled those obligations in 2018. Moving forward you will see that the Chick-fil-A Foundation will support the three specific initiatives of homelessness, hunger and education," the representative said in a statement to Business Insider.

Gotta do something when the only chicken sandwich making headlines lately is Popeye's!

[worstblogever]

Guys...

https://www.argusleader.com/story/ne...it/4227949002/

I'm reasonably certain if they had given me a half a million dollars, I could've come up with something better than indicating the state government was all high on goofballs.

[worstblogever]

Chick-fil-A is ending donations criticized by LGBTQ activists after years of backlash

Gotta do something when the only chicken sandwich making headlines lately is Popeye's!

My take:

Nice of you to finally admit it. Volkswagen also was pretty tight with the Nazi Party in Germany, so forgive us for not all running out to buy one after the war. When there's that much dedication to hate, I still need some time for the room to air out, y'know?

[Celgress]

A great video about why Trump's Republican Party is merely the Republican Party without a filter -

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Guys...

https://www.argusleader.com/story/ne...it/4227949002/

To say that ad campaign was poorly worded would be an understatement.