All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Haley Barbour, who early in his career, was confronted with the knowledge that one of his aides had referred to African Americans as “coons”, and responded to that fact by telling the New York Times reporter who asked him about it that the aide “deserved to be reincarnated as a watermelon and placed at the mercy of blacks”. So it should come as little surprise that during his run for Mississippi governor in 2003, that he was featured on the website of the Neo-Confederate group, the Council of Conservative Citizens, and Barbour has been a staunch defender of the Confederate flag remaining a part of the “heritage” of the Mississippi state flag. Barbour also argued against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” because he thought gay soldiers would have amorous thoughts in the middle of a key firefight, funneled Hurricane Katrina relief money to his closest friends and allies, and controversially pardoned 208 violent criminals in his last 48 hours in office, and their full pardons also meant that the several rapists amongst that group would also be able to re-enter society without having to register as sex offenders. Barbour is still a force to be reckoned with in Mississippi politics, but these days does so as the “power behind the throne” rather than being elected in office himself.


In 2015, 2016, 2017, and in 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted profiles of Terry Baxter, a last-minute entry into the race for District 8 of the Iowa House of Representatives in the 2014 elections, getting thrown on the ballot as an emergency replacement for long-time incumbent Henry Rayhons.

Only two months into his tenure that Baxter turned some heads when he sponsored a gun bill that would remove the age restriction Iowa has on gun ownership so toddlers could pack heat if their parents chose to allow it, and also sponsored a resolution to propose an Amendment to the Iowa state Constitution that would recognize the “right to life of every person at every stage of development” that sounds like Personhood, and a flagrant violation of the Supreme Court’s authority regarding the Roe v. Wade decision. Oh, and for whatever reason, he also submitted a bill outlaw professional midwifery in Iowa, which is a bizarre approach to someone so extremely "pro-life". Baxter took to social media to opine that the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges ruling had “crucified both freedom of speech and the freedom of religion as guaranteed in our constitution” and added the alarmist lie that preaching from the Bible “can now be prosecuted as legally incorrect" as part of an extended rant on the subject.

Baxter's extremist has defined his career in the Iowa House of Representatives, as he sponsored a bill to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency (Hint: you can’t nullify federal law, we had a Civil War over that), tried and prevent the sale of fetal tissue after abortions, and voted for a Personhood bill. Most recently, he voted a fetal heartbeat bill aimed at banning abortion at six weeks, and during debate on the floor of the Iowa House, blamed abortions for Iowa’s declining school enrollments, worker shortage and insufficient payments into Social Security.

Suffice to say, he’s still a fanatic and that’s why we were hoping he would be booted from office in the 2018 elections when he faced off against Democrat Connie Price. Alas, Baxter’s district is rural, and that means he can easily be re-elected even during a year like 2018 with 67% of the vote. He will continue to imagine new ways to put more guns in more hands until the NRA has enough money (precisely never) until next year, when hopefully, mercifully, he can be defeated in the 2020 elections.
 

[Tami]

Whodunit in the Library: Someone Keeps Hiding the Anti-Trump Books

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho — From her office next to the public computer terminals, Bette Ammon finds herself peering through a window to watch patrons moving through the Coeur d’Alene library’s nonfiction stacks.

Someone has been hiding books lately — specifically, those that explore politics through a progressive lens, or criticize President Trump. They wind up misfiled in out-of-the-way corners where readers will be sure not to find them.

“I am going to continue hiding these books in the most obscure places I can find to keep this propaganda out of the hands of young minds,” the mystery book relocator wrote in a note left for Ms. Ammon, the library director, in the facility’s comment box. “Your liberal angst gives me great pleasure.”

The incidents over this past year — including a missing book that was discovered only this week — were not the first time books have mysteriously disappeared. Thirty years ago, the library lost so many books on human rights to theft that they had to be placed in a locked cabinet. The latest works to be targeted cover a wide range of topics, from gun control and women’s suffrage to LGBTQ issues and how people of color fare in the criminal justice system. About half the books specifically deal with President Trump.

While none of the books in the latest incidents appear to have been stolen, some have been hidden in ways that made it nearly impossible to find them when patrons wanted to check them out. They have been discovered inexplicably filed in the wrong sections, hidden behind a row of Stuart Woods novels, or shelved with the spine facing inward.

Over the decades, Coeur d’Alene had become a magnet for people looking for a lower cost of living or an outdoors lifestyle away from a major city. Many moved in from California, eager to escape the traffic, crime and smog.

One of them was Richard G. Butler, a former engineer at Lockheed Martin in California, who bought land north of Coeur d’Alene in the 1970s to build a compound for a white supremacist group known as the Aryan Nations. The group regularly distributed fliers and staged parades around town, and held annual summits that brought in neo-Nazis from around the world.

City leaders led efforts to combat the racists, who responded with an intimidation campaign that included a series of bombings in the mid-1980s.

The city was awarded a Raoul Wallenberg Civic Courage Award in 1986 for its role in combating the hate group and used funds from that prize to establish a collection of human rights literature in the library. It included books about the Holocaust, the persecution of African-Americans and the history of various religions.

Then the books started disappearing.

[jetengine]

Dumb question, do they not have CCTV ?

[InformationGeek]

Look at this *******.

OMG - @LindseyGrahamSC blocked a resolution in that Senate that passed in the House 405-11 condemning Armenian genocide, after meeting with Trump and Erdogan. This is so deeply troubling, and happening in the light of day! What is wrong with this man! https://t.co/Btl929xOez

[worstblogever]

For those who haven't been watching Fox News as the public impeachment hearings have started...

The void left by Shep Smith has been filled with moonbats. The diGenovas were on Lou Dobbs yesterday to link the impeachment hearings to George Soros, for but one example of their "fair and balanced" coverage, and every witness called was labelled with demeaning graphics.

State television, man.

[Gray Lensman]

Dumb question, do they not have CCTV ?

Not enough time to review everything and still help the legit people using the library. I read the same, or similar article from another source a few days ago.

How about they post a policy of replacing those books by taking any budget allotted to any right wing literature?

[Tami]

Dumb question, do they not have CCTV ?

The article said they couldn't afford it, and I know how tight library budgets are. However, having to reorder new copies of books costs money as well. So they can make a case with the town government that it would be worth the money to get surveillance video.

And yeah, it's not enough to get the video, but someone would have to be available to review it on a regular basis. Most CCTV is designed and intended to actual crimes, not for low grade mischief of hiding books.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Got an alert about a shooting in a southern California high school.

[Tami]

Got an alert about a shooting in a southern California high school.

Yeah, watching it on the news. Suggested that 5 students were shot and the shooter is on the run. Shooter was dressed all in black, but speculated to be 15 years old. News is still sketchy.

Update:

'Suspect has been located and is no longer a threat'

[Darkspellmaster]

Yeah, watching it on the news. Suggested that 5 students were shot and the shooter is on the run. Shooter was dressed all in black, but speculated to be 15 years old. News is still sketchy.

Update:

'Suspect has been located and is no longer a threat'

Do we know if he or she is dead or just in custody?

Regarding the library's issue, maybe group said books in one place and have someone watch them. The whole thing is horrible.

[Tami]

Do we know if he or she is dead or just in custody?

Regarding the library's issue, maybe group said books in one place and have someone watch them. The whole thing is horrible.

Library: They did that once before when books were being stolen. They may end up doing it again, however the downside is that normal library patrons won't be able to easily browse those boosk as many do. It's nicer if you can take a book off the shelf, find a place to sit, and just read, instead of having to ask for it at the front desk.

Shooting: Last I heard, it was a male, 15 years old. Don't know about the status yet.

[Nine Crocodile]

The LA times is saying the shooter is in custody. Haven't seen it confirmed anywhere else, though.

[Tami]

The LA times is saying the shooter is in custody. Haven't seen it confirmed anywhere else, though.

Just heard that they caught him, but the shooter then shot himself. He survived and is being treated. Other reports now saying the suspect is dead from self-inflicted gunshot wound.

[Malvolio]

Just heard that they caught him, but the shooter then shot himself. He survived and is being treated. Other reports now saying the suspect is dead from self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Another Columbine wannabe. SMH.

[Iron Maiden]

Funny to see Jim Jordan get #Welched. Yeah, Rep. Jordan is a real crime solver, except when it's happening right under his nose when he was a coach at OSU. Now a referee has said he reported the sexual misconduct of team doctor Richard Strauss directly to the Head Coach Hellickson and asst. coach Jim Jordan their reply was "Yeah, that's just Strauss". This is the second witness that said they reported Strauss directly to Jordan. The records at OSU show that Strauss committed over 1,400 sexual assaults and 47 rapes during his time at OSU.