All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[worstblogever]

It was on this day in both 2015, as well as 2016, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Rob Maness, a failed candidate for U.S. Senate from Louisiana in 2014 and for Governor of Louisiana in 2015 who drew a fair share of notoriety for airing a political ad where he showed his worthiness for being a senator by honest-to-goodness wrestling a live alligator. And during the 2014 primary, Maness challenged Senator Mary Landrieu by claiming that she would still support slavery if the issue was voted upon, while declaring in another speech that racism and prejudice in America were over and that the nation had become “color blind”. It was puzzling to hear Maness argue against the Affordable Care Act, as the crux of his argument was that “healthcare is not a right because it has to be taken from another human being and given to you”, which makes no sense whatsoever. Adding into his bizarre candidacy, Maness also decried the government for issuing farm subsidies, even though he himself had been collecting them for years. It seems unlikely Maness will ever win election if he doesn’t set his sights lower than the U.S. Senate.

It was on this date in 2017 that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled former Florida State Senator Alan Hays, who served six years after reaching office in the 2010 Tea Party Wave. In his six years in office, Hays developed a reputation for submitting absolutely bonkers bills, including but not limited to one he spewed out in July of 2014 that insisted conservative filmmaker (and convicted felon) Dinesh D'Souza's "America" should be required viewing for all high school students, the time he tried to nullify the Affordable Care Act, or the fact that he once passed out fliers in the Florida State legislature decrying Islam as "a threat to the United States" and that during his efforts to try and get Florida to pass an unnecessary ban on Sharia Law, that he compared his measure to being like a "vaccination against a disease". Which shows that not only is he Islamophobic, but he doesn't quite understand how vaccines work. After court-ordered re-drawing of the Florida state legislature's electoral map, Alan Hays didn't think he could be re-elected to his seat in the State Senate, and instead ran to become the man who would oversee elections in Lake County, Florida. Because Florida Republicans have such a good track record of not stealing elections, right? And it's not like Hays has ever stated his own paranoid opinion that a lot of Hispanics in Florida vote illegally. Oh wait, he did in 2011.



On this date in 2018, as well as 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published its first profile of Justin Humphrey, a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from District 19 who just reached office for the first time in 2016 with 52% of the vote, and almost immediately popped up on our radar as an anti-abortion fanatic. This is not only because he is one of 19 sponsors of a bill, HR 1004, proposed in the Oklahoma state legislature that would direct every public official in Oklahoma to exercise their authority to stop murder of unborn children by abortion, because wow does that fly in the face of the Roe v. Wade ruling and contain inflammatory language… but it’s not even the most extreme statement Justin Humphrey has made on the issue. It's still no small feat to stand out among anti-abortion loons in Oklahoma. Honestly, there were 18 other co-sponsors of the bill we just mentioned. What makes Justin Humphrey special enough to warrant our attention?

Well, it might be that he volunteered his opinion that “men should have a say” because pregnant women are “hosts” once they’ve been “irresponsible” enough to have sex and get pregnant:

“I believe one of the breakdowns in our society is that we have excluded the man out of all of these types of decisions. I understand that they feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate — what I call them is, is you’re a ‘host.’ And you know when you enter into a relationship you’re going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that then take all precautions and don’t get pregnant. So that’s where I’m at. I’m like, hey, your body is your body and be responsible with it. But after you’re irresponsible then don’t claim, well, I can just go and do this with another body, when you’re the host and you invited that in.”

Now, if you are a sane person, you just read that and are trying to process if it sounds more like something out of “The Handmaid’s Tale” or Ridley Scott’s “Alien” saga. But that’s the mental state of being of Humphrey, who’s saying out loud what you might suspect a lot of anti-abortion Republicans think like.

But days after making that statement, Humphrey unflinchingly sponsored legislation, HB 1441, that would require a woman to get the father’s permission before seeking an abortion, which neglects that a paternity test can’t confirm who a baby’s father is during a pregnancy without risking a miscarriage or developmental defects to the fetus. So really, any random guy could stake claim to being the “father” and stop an abortion. Also, the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in 1992 that passed in Pennsylvania’s state legislature, so the legal precedent was this would be overturned as unconstitutional almost immediately. Of course, Humphrey claimed, without proof, to be on the receiving end of threats after all this utter dickery during his first six weeks on the job.

While we were hoping that with only 52% was all he managed in 2016, and prior to that election, Democrats held the seat from District 19 for over a decade, that maybe Humphrey would be a “one and done” legislator, we regret to report that he managed to be re-elected with 68% of the vote in 2018. The only other news we have to report is that this rejected villain from A Handmaid’s Tale broke his hip shortly after his re-election, and while he was laid up in bed, had over $40,000 worth of cattle stolen from him.


We don’t know where Humphrey will be getting the raw materials to support all the bulls*** he seems to bring forth in the legislature without them helping.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump Says Coronavirus Cure Cannot ‘Be Worse Than the Problem Itself’

President Trump on Sunday night said that the government would reassess the recommended period for keeping businesses shut and millions of workers at home after this week, amid millions of job losses caused by the efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF,” Mr. Trump tweeted in all capital letters shortly before midnight. “AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!”

Officials have said that the initial 15-day period for social distancing — limiting close contact between people by banning gatherings, closing schools and offices, encouraging remote work and urging people to maintain a six-foot distance from one another — is vital to slowing the spread of the virus, for which more than 30,000 people in the United States have tested positive. The 15-day period would end Monday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, an infectious diseases expert and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, has said in interviews that he believed that it would take several more weeks until people can start going about their lives in a more normal fashion. Other infectious disease experts suggest even harsher measures than social distancing are required to truly beat back the outbreaks in the United States.

But at the White House, in recent days, there has been a growing sentiment that medical experts were allowed to set policy that has hurt the economy, and there has been a push to find ways to let people start returning to work. Some Republican lawmakers have also pleaded with the White House to find ways to restart the economy, as financial markets continue to slide and job losses for April could be in the millions.

This says two things to me:

1) Trump has a monster case of cabin fever and is eager to lift the sanctions so he can go back to having his inane rallies so his lemmings can resume kissing his ass

2) The longer the quarantine lasts, the more the economy risks goes down the drain, and that's perhaps the only thing keeping Trump's poll numbers from completely tanking

And the end of the day, it's evident Trump doesn't give a **** how many scores of people contract COVID-19 and even die from it, all he cares about is how it affects his re-election chances. Nothing else matters to him.

[Darkspellmaster]

I remember final year of High School it was all about eh Computer field being the future. Which in a way it was, is, and wasn't. I did all the right things, and still hated working with Computers as a job, it became a chore and we kept programming ourselves out of new projects. Since at IBM, if became about the hardware and VERY slow software updates. I mean I graduated my hird degree in Architectural engineering in 1999, and the Company I went to work for were still using Autocad 12.

We kinda got the short end of the stick. High School movies and such made it seem like being a Programmer was going to be this exciting thing. So a lot of focus was placed on the tech field. But mainly on home goods based Electronics. Only a rare few saw the coming of the mobile age. So many programmers literally programmed themselves and their jobs into extinction.

Hell to this day I still have issues moving to a Laptop, over a desktop. So now the kids are being taught to be "future proofed" much to the chagrin of their parents, who still follow the 80's/90's educational structure.

Kids now are much more focused on STEM, but at the expense of a lot of the cultural aspects.

Politicians and state governments still need to figure out a good financial and cultural balance.

Highlighting this because it is correct. Don't get me wrong, STEM is a great thing and now some groups like FORD added an A to it, indicating Art, but a lot of Parents and kids lose sight of the fact that the arts feild are future proof. You always need art, writing, plays, fashion, etc. That's why I love games, while they do have the tech aspect a lot of culture has to go in it.

Look at Assassins Creed, yeah not perfect in history but it is clear that the Ubisoft team had a passion for history.

[Darkspellmaster]

Trump Says Coronavirus Cure Cannot ‘Be Worse Than the Problem Itself’



This says two things to me:

1) Trump has a monster case of cabin fever and is eager to lift the sanctions so he can go back to having his inane rallies so his lemmings can resume kissing his ass

2) The longer the quarantine lasts, the more the economy risks goes down the drain, and that's perhaps the only thing keeping Trump's poll numbers from completely tanking

And the end of the day, it's evident Trump doesn't give a **** how many scores of people contract COVID-19 and even die from it, all he cares about is how it affects his re-election chances. Nothing else matters to him.

I'm super suprised he hasn't gone off on the generals regarding the FEMA presser.

[TheDarman]

Speaker Pelosi releases her outline for the answer to the Republican bill, which includes vote-by-mail guarantees, funding for states to deal with inevitable hospital overloads, and worker protections rather than corporate welfare.

[kidfresh512]

Speaker Pelosi releases her outline for the answer to the Republican bill, which includes vote-by-mail guarantees, funding for states to deal with inevitable hospital overloads, and worker protections rather than corporate welfare.

GOP will never want the vote by mail. Limiting voting, to minorities, is one of their main concerns

[skyvolt2000]

Highlighting this because it is correct. Don't get me wrong, STEM is a great thing and now some groups like FORD added an A to it, indicating Art, but a lot of Parents and kids lose sight of the fact that the arts feild are future proof. You always need art, writing, plays, fashion, etc. That's why I love games, while they do have the tech aspect a lot of culture has to go in it.

Look at Assassins Creed, yeah not perfect in history but it is clear that the Ubisoft team had a passion for history.

Art programs tend to be the first thing butchered when it comes to budget cuts

Also when it comes to telling folks ESPECIALLY parents (especially those of color) about jobs in art-they never point out jobs like UBisoft. Because a lot of them never meet someone in that industry.

It took my high school 20+ years to comic book creation to be recognized and even made into a class. Yes my school is the only one in the district and maybe state that does this and the kids get to make and SALE their own comic books in stores. And among our alum is a comic book writer-Miles Gunther-who worked for dark Horse.

[Tazirai]

I agree with this article. Even now more people on the left and right are looking at Bernies and Yangs plans. If Biden is going to be the nominee he's got to come out of hiding. Bernie has switched his campaign to raising money for the needy instead of his campaign and has plans that align with the workers of the country. Joe has to prove the words he said about being prepared for something like this.
You don't need to be President to lead. You can get thoughts and ideas and show courage to people that things will be okay.

Instead he's talking to donors about his VP picks.

Bernie Sanders May Be Losing, But COVID-19 Is Keeping Medicare for All Alive and Well
IMG_20200323_144829.jpg

[TheDarman]

To the folks asking where Biden is:

Biden conducts his shadow briefing for the first time, attacking the Trump Administration’s slow response and offering solutions of his own.

Meanwhile...

Bernie Sanders is the only Senate member not suspected of having Coronavirus who did not vote for or against the Senate measure on Sunday.

[Gray Lensman]

To the folks asking where Biden is:

Biden conducts shadow briefing for the first time, attacking the Trump Administration’s slow response and offering solutions of his own.

Meanwhile...

Bernie Sanders is the only Senate member not suspected of having Coronavirus who did not vote for the Senate measure on Sunday.

At Bernie's age I'm not sure I can hold that against him. I wouldn't want to expose myself to a possibly fatal disease (that a couple of my co-workers are already diagnosed with) in order to vote on a bill that won't get through the House anyways.

[TheDarman]

At Bernie's age I'm not sure I can hold that against him. I wouldn't want to expose myself to a possibly fatal disease (that a couple of my co-workers are already diagnosed with) in order to vote on a bill that won't get through the House anyways.

I would argue that it is kinda hard to deal with a crisis if you can’t even be trusted, as a Senator, to vote on a measure that, for better or worse, is designed to do something about said crisis. Especially if you are gonna curse at a reporter, you probably should back that up with meaningful action. Unlike Biden, Sanders is in a position to actually do something. I would expect him to do so.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Decided to pull out my 401k but I couldn't get through the line. I guess they are overloaded with calls from folks that want to pull their money out too.

[PaulBullion]

Decided to pull out my 401k but I couldn't get through the line. I guess they are overloaded with calls from folks that want to pull their money out too.

I can't blame you. DJI has now dropped to the level of July, 2016.

Trump and the Coronavirus have teamed up to destroy half a year of Obama growth.

[TheDarman]

I can't blame you. DJI has now dropped to the level of July, 2016.

Trump and the Coronavirus have teamed up to destroy half a year of Obama growth.

I am worried about these purely economic arguments being used against Trump on a common basis though.

I fear it might be read as a request to restart the full capacity of the economy too soon.

[Tazirai]

To the folks asking where Biden is:

Biden conducts his shadow briefing for the first time, attacking the Trump Administration’s slow response and offering solutions of his own.

Meanwhile...

Bernie Sanders is the only Senate member not suspected of having Coronavirus who did not vote for or against the Senate measure on Sunday.

Bad faith attack Darman, and you know it.
If he had been there, you'd be criticizing him. Elizabeth Warren voted no, and the not there vote is basically the same as her no vote.

But again What are Bidens plans and ideas?

Joe Biden Rips Donald Trump’s Response To Coronavirus Pandemic
The former vice president said he’ll be delivering regular briefings on the COVID-19 crisis from his home in Delaware.