All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Tami]

Trump’s talk of Afghanistan cease-fire appears to surprise the Taliban, Afghan government

President Trump’s confident assertion that the Taliban is ready and even eager for a cease-fire demanded by the United States in Afghanistan’s 18-year-old war may be more wishful thinking than reality.

Declaring that the U.S.-Taliban talks he abruptly canceled in September are back in motion, Trump said during a Thanksgiving Day visit to troops in Afghanistan that the Taliban “wants to make a deal. And we’re meeting with them, and we’re saying it has to be a cease-fire.”

“They didn’t want to do a cease-fire, but now they do want to do a cease-fire,” Trump said of the militants. “It will probably work out that way. . . . We’ve made tremendous progress,” he added.

But on Friday neither the Taliban nor the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani indicated that a cease-fire was near, or even being discussed in resumed U.S. negotiations.

At the time the U.S.-Taliban talks ended, the two sides were preparing to sign a draft agreement that called for a reduction in violence. But it specifically declared that any discussion of a cease-fire was to be left to follow-on negotiations between the militants and the government in Kabul.

In a statement, the Taliban said that remains its understanding. “We are ready to talk, but we have the same stance to resume the talks from where it was suspended,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told The Post.

Ghani spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said Trump’s brief visit to Afghanistan was “important” but that “we will have to see” whether there has been any change in the status of peace talks.

“It is too early to comment on any changes or any perceived changes,” Seddiqi said.

[Tami]

Iran, China and Russia will 'send a message to the world' with first ever joint war drills

Iran, Russia and China are set to hold their first-ever joint military drills in a show of power to the West.

Admiral Hussein Khanzadi revealed yesterday that the three navies would hold military exercises in the northern Indian Ocean in the 'near future'.

Design and planning for the drills took place last month and troops are already preparing for the exercise, he said.

The joint operation will 'send a message to the world', Khanzadi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

The wargame seeks to deliver this message to the world that any kind of security at sea must include the interests of all concerned countries.

'We do not condone the kind of security that only caters to the benefits of one specific country at a specific time and which disregards the security of others.'

Khanzadi made the announcement on the country's Navy Day, which celebrates an Iranian naval success during the Iran-Iraq War in 1980.

The naval drills come after a tense summer in which Gulf tankers and Saudi oil facilities were hit by a series of mysterious attacks that the US blamed on Iran.

[Tami]

Massive search launched for ‘missing’ kite surfer who was at home the whole time

NEPTUNE, N.J. – For the benefit of missing kite, there will be no rescue tonight in New Jersey.

After the Coast Guard received a report that a kite surfer was stranded about 500 yards off the coast of Ocean City, it turned out that the man had actually made it home safely. He had no idea there was a search effort going on for him, the Coast Guard said in a release on Friday.

On Thursday, the Coast Guard station in Atlantic City received a 911 call reporting that a kite surfer had fallen of a board and was drifting out to sea near the Corson Inlet.

On Friday at 10 a.m., the suspected drifter, who authorities didn’t identify, contacted the Coast Guard to give them the real story: His kite had malfunctioned, forcing him to cut it loose. He then paddled in on his board and went home, oblivious to the large-scale search going on for him.

[Tami]

Mick Mulvaney’s Air Force One Outfit Becomes A Hilarious Meme: ‘Trump’s Caddy’

A photograph of acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney set Twitter alight on Friday.

Reuters photographer Tom Brenner snapped Mulvaney walking under the wing of Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Florida, following President Donald Trump’s surprise Thanksgiving trip to Afghanistan.

He was wearing a stars and stripes shirt ― and a hat emblazoned with the words “Space Force,” in reference to Trump’s planned new intergalactic branch of the U.S. military.

Tweeters inevitably had some thoughts on Mulvaney’s outfit.

“He totally looks like Trump’s caddy in this photo,” wrote one.

[Tami]

O.K., Mayor: Why 37-Year-Old Pete Buttigieg Is Attracting Boomers

DENISON, Iowa — Pete Buttigieg likes a crisp white button-down — no fuss, no flash — and his favorite novel is by a man who died in 1941.

He has taken to calling himself “the retirement guy,” after introducing a plan this week for long-term care.

He recently referenced the “Bull Moose progressive movement,” a nod to the politics of Teddy Roosevelt.

As Mr. Buttigieg, 37, looks to solidify his support in the remaining weeks before the Democratic primary season begins, he has found a wellspring of enthusiasm among a critical bloc of voters more frequently associated with Joseph R. Biden Jr.: older white Americans.

Their support helps explain why Mr. Buttigieg, whose only governing experience is as the mayor of South Bend, Ind., has joined Mr. Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, all Washington veterans, in the top tier of candidates.

During a burst of campaign stops in Iowa this week, his first trip to the state since a Des Moines Register/CNN poll showed him with a commanding, nine-point lead here, Mr. Buttigieg repeatedly made appeals to older Iowans that were hardly subtle.

“We’ve got to act not just to shore up Social Security but to make sure everybody can retire and live in dignity,” he said at a rally on Monday evening in Council Bluffs, Iowa. “Call it my ‘Gray New Deal.’”

[Tami]

A Pennsylvania County’s Election Day Nightmare Underscores Voting Machine Concerns

EASTON, Pa. — It was a few minutes after the polls closed here on Election Day when panic began to spread through the county election offices.

Vote totals in a Northampton County judge’s race showed one candidate, Abe Kassis, a Democrat, had just 164 votes out of 55,000 ballots across more than 100 precincts. Some machines reported zero votes for him. In a county with the ability to vote for a straight-party ticket, one candidate’s zero votes was a near statistical impossibility. Something had gone quite wrong.

Lee Snover, the chairwoman of the county Republicans, said her anxiety began to pick up at 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 5. She had trouble getting someone from the election office on the phone. When she eventually got through, she said: “I’m coming down there and you better let me in.”

With clearly faulty results in at least the judge’s election, officials began counting the paper backup ballots generated by the same machines. The paper ballots showed Mr. Kassis winning narrowly, 26,142 to 25,137, over his opponent, the Republican Victor Scomillio.

“People were questioning, and even I questioned, that if some of the numbers are wrong, how do we know that there aren’t mistakes with anything else?” said Matthew Munsey, the chairman of the Northampton County Democrats, who, along with Ms. Snover, was among the observers as county officials worked through the night to count the paper ballots by hand.

The snafu in Northampton County did not just expose flaws in both the election machine testing and procurement process. It also highlighted the fears, frustrations and mistrust over election security that many voters are feeling ahead of the 2020 presidential contest, given how faith in American elections has never been more fragile. The problematic machines were also used in Philadelphia and its surrounding suburbs — areas of Pennsylvania that could prove decisive next year in one of the most critical presidential swing states in the country.

[Tami]

Gaetz warns Georgia governor of possible primary challenge if he doesn't tap Trump's favored Senate pick

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) warned Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on Friday that he could face a primary challenger when running for reelection if he doesn’t select President Trump’s favored candidate for the Senate seat soon to be vacated by Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).

Gaetz’s tweet Friday comes amid reports that Kemp is expected to announce that financial executive Kelly Loeffler will be chosen over Trump’s preferred selection of Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.).

“You are ignoring his request because you THINK you know better than @POTUS,” Gaetz tweeted. “If you substitute your judgement for the President’s, maybe you need a primary in 2022. Let’s see if you can win one w/o Trump.”

[Mister Mets]

I think the HK fear of mainland China taking more and more control over HK has just as much a strong rational basis as the emotional ones you cite. (Not saying the emotions you cite aren’t important..just saying there are also strong rational reasons.)

In mainland China the government maintains a strong control over many aspects of daily life..and worker rights and conditions are low by HK standards. I can see why HK residents prefer their “own” lifestyle!

Yeah, the main impetus for the protests was a new policy to allow for the extradition of residents to mainland China.

Past protests have been about a proposed national security law which would have made it harder to express anti-China views, the implementation of a pro-China national education curriculum in public schools, and a desire for universal suffrage in electing Hong Kong’s Chief Executive.

https://hbr.org/2019/09/understandin...rbulent-summer

[Tami]

Here is an interesting accusation, I woudl love to see it fleshed out more if possible. To see if there are any facts behind it.

According to my Justice Department sources @realDonaldTrump
is blackmailing @LindseyGrahamSC


I was a private investigator for 15 years before becoming a writer. Happy to get into depositions and discovery, Lindsey.

Twitter Link

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Here is an interesting accusation, I woudl love to see it fleshed out more if possible. To see if there are any facts behind it.

Twitter Link

For Graham to go from one of THE most vociferous opponents of Trump to THE biggest Trump bootlicker who, from the way he acts, would gladly take a bullet for the Donald, there has got to be blackmail involved in one way or another.

[Tami]

Teacher Fired After Asking Trump to ‘Remove’ Immigrants Wins Her Appeal

A high school English teacher in Texas who was fired after she sent tweets to President Trump asking him to rid her school of undocumented immigrants should be reinstated or be paid a year’s salary, a state agency ruled this week.

But the ruling is probably not the last turn in the story, as the Fort Worth Independent School District said that it believed her firing was appropriate and that it would appeal the state’s ruling.

“We stand by our decision because we firmly believe this is in the best interests of all students,” Kent P. Scribner, the superintendent of the school district, said in a statement this week.

The state found that the teacher, Georgia Clark, should be reinstated and get back pay and employment benefits, or instead of being allowed to return to her job, she could receive one year’s salary from the date she would have been reinstated, according to its ruling.

Ms. Clark has not received a paycheck from the district since June, a district spokesman said.

The district said it would appeal; an appeal would be heard by the state agency that ruled in Ms. Clark’s favor, a district spokesman said.

On May 17, in a series of tweets directed to President Trump’s Twitter account and addressed to “Mr. President,” Ms. Clark said that her school district was “loaded” with undocumented students from Mexico, that her high school had been “taken over by them” and that drug dealers had not been punished.

She blamed an assistant principal, whom she referred to as a “Hispanic assistant principal who protects certain students from criminal prosecution.”

A student separately said that on that same day, Ms. Clark had made “ethnically demeaning” comments in class, according to a report from an independent examiner that heard Ms. Clark’s appeal and recommended that she be reinstated. She was accused of asking for a student’s “papers” to go to the restroom, among other statements.

On May 22, in more tweets directed to Mr. Trump, she wrote, “I really do need a contact here in Fort Worth who should be actively investigating and removing the illegals” from the public school system.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of of Charles Fuqua, a candidate for the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2012, who after winning the Republican primary for his seat, the press started to notice had some interesting opinions that he wrote about in his book, “God’s Law”. Like say, that all Muslims should be expelled from the United States. Or that parents should have the right to execute their children, if they’re too “rebellious” by stoning them to death. As you might expect, he did not win office, and seems to know he never will, as he hasn’t resurfaced since in an election.

On this date in 2015, we published our original "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profile of Debbie Dunnegan Waters, the County Recorder for Jefferson County, Missouri. But in October 2014, she drew a hell of a lot of attention after she got on Facebook to post some of her deep thoughts, wondering to everyone why the military just doesn’t take out President Barack Obama in a coup, writing, "I have a question for all my friends who have served or are currently serving in our military … having not put on a uniform nor taken any type military oath, there has to be something that I am just not aware of. But I cannot and do not understand why no action is being taken against our domestic enemy. I know he is supposedly the commander in chief, but the constitution gives you the authority. What am I missing? Thank you for your bravery and may God keep you safe.” Now, obviously, what Ms. Dunnegan Waters was missing was how our nation’s military swear an oath to uphold the constitution, and serving the orders of the rightfully elected president, our chief executive, have a lot to do with that. But when media outlets reported on her comments, she claimed that she meant “no ill intent” by suggesting a military coup take place and that the media was taking something “simple and innocent and twisting it”.

On this date in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published a profile about Mitch Holmes, who served as a Kansas state senator from 2012 through 2012, and prior to that, he spent eight years serving in the Kansas House of Representatives. Holmes has a brutally conservative voting record that includes sponsoring a bill to prevent “dismemberment abortions” (to terrify anyone who thinks that’s a thing), support for the failed policy of trying to drug test welfare recipients, and trying to make it easier to impeach Kansas Supreme Court judges (which he resents for overturning a lot of the unconstitutional ideas Holmes and the Kansas GOP have sent to the desk of Gov. Sam Brownback to get rubber-stamped). What truly made Mitch Holmes infamous, though, even among in one of the most conservative state legislatures in the country, was in January of 2016, where for whatever reason, he decided that the State Senate Committee on Ethics and Elections should have an 11 point dress code, all of which was directed at what women wear, and not men. A bipartisan effort by the women of the Kansas State legislature all united to tell Holmes to effectively get bent, and the weight of both Democrats and Republicans giving him the business wilted Holmes enough to warrant an apology for his dress code suggestions. Holmes retired as an embarrassment in 2016.

One this date in both 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Jason Spencer, a member of the Georgia House of Representatives since the Tea Party Wave in 2010, pictured above with a memorial to another fellow loser from below the Mason-Dixon Line. That’s not a coincidental photo, by any chance, as Spencer’s love of monuments to a failed rebellion fought because 19th century plantation owners were not about to let the federal government tell them they couldn’t keep slaves. And when a Democratic colleague, LaDawn Jones, saw him post the above photo she commented that he should “that he should “get it in … before it is torn down.” Spencer did not take her observation well, and began to retort in a way that sounded like he was threatening to lynch her, responding, “You got that right, they go missing in the Okefenokee .Too many necks they are red around here. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. I cant guarantee you won’t be met with torches but something a lot more definitive.” And after this ugly exchange on social media, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reached him for comment, he doubled down. Now, if you still have any doubts about whether or not Jason Spencer is a bigoted ***hole, rest assured, there’s more. In November of 2016, he sponsored a ban on burqas in his state. Would you expect that Jason Spencer is also hell bent on anti-immigration law while he’s at it? Because, yeah, he’s got that kind of hatred in spades, too. Back in 2011, while still a freshman lawmaker, he voted for HB 87, Georgia’s draconian anti-immigration law that was so brilliant, it left the state’s agriculture industry with crops rotting in the sun and no workers available to harvest them. Spencer also voted for the state to establish “English only” driver’s tests, which, guess what, the Supreme Court has already ruled that sort of thing unconstitutional. But not all of Jason Spencer’s terrible votes are based on bigotry, some are just motivated by being steeped in conservative ideology that’s either going to be overturned by courts, like his vote for a 20 week abortion ban, his vote to require a Ten Commandments monument be built at the Georgia capitol (again, one state over in Alabama this sort of idiocy was deemed unconstitutional, see Roy Moore), or his desire to see welfare recipients forced to undergo drug testing (a violation of their fourth amendment rights). In 2018, Jason Spencer was one of several Republicans who were interviewed by Sasha Baron Cohen in disguise on his Showtime series “Who is America?”, and in his meeting with Cohen, he was inexplicably suckered into dropping his pants and chasing Cohen around threatening him to touch him with his exposed buttocks, as well as shouting the n-word several times as a part of “anti-terrorist training” on the show, purportedly to “avoid being kidnapped”. Shortly after the footage made it to air and made Spencer even more of a laughing stock than he should have been, he resigned and did not run for re-election. As such, we will also set aside his profile at this time, and go ahead and take a look at a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 802-40, since this was established in July 2014.)

[worstblogever]

Van Wanggaard

Welcome to what is the 802nd original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where we’ll be discussing Wisconsin State Senator Van Wanggaard, who prior to reaching office, was a 29 year veteran of the Racine Police Department. We will pause for a moment for everyone to giggle, because yes, his name sounds like an SUV that looks like a giant athletic supporter.

Alright, so Van Wanggaard (snicker) first ran for the Wisconsin State Senate in 2006 in District 21, and then was narrowly elected to office for the first time back in the 2010 Tea Party Wave. Almost immediately upon taking power in Wisconsin in 2011, Gov. Scott Walker and the now GOP-controlled legislature pushed legislation forward to strip voting rights, restructure the district map to gerrymander themselves in control for a decade, and then tried to push forward right-to-work legislation within months of Wanggaard’s first term in office. Outraged constituents were out protesting in force, and signatures were gathered to recall Gov. Walker, and while they were at it, recall several other officials elected in 2010 who carried out their regressive agenda. Among four Republican State Senators facing recall in 2012 was Wanggaard.

And… Van Wanggaard was defeated by Democrat John Lehman over 700 votes in the recall election… and then demanded a recount, simply hoping to keep Lehman out of office as long as possible. The recounted total showed he actually lost by over 800 votes. Still, the legislative map being alredady redrawn by Republicans meant District 21 would be far more conservative in the next election in the normal cycle (it is now shaped like a horseshoe, and went from being a 50/50 Democrat to Republican split to now being +16 Republican), 2014. John Lehman didn’t even bother running for re-election at those odds, and Wanggaard won with 67% of the vote. He won re-election again in 2018 with 58% of the vote (aided by “accidentally” using state websites to link to his own campaign’s Twitter accounts, an ethics violation), and in the time he’s been in office, Wanggaard has racked up a complelely partisan voting record, including anti-choice legislation and support for bills to cut welfare benefits make it harder to get government assistance, in general.

But in 2015, only a few months into Van Wanggaard’s second run in office, he turned heads with his nonchalant attitude about guns. Wanggaard not just by sponsoring legislation to try to allow off-duty and retired police officers to carry guns on public school campuses, but he boasted that he was strapped while serving on committee meetings where the bill was being debated, because of course the ex-cop with a name like Van Wanggaard needs to overcompensate. He's currently trying to completely eliminate the 48 hour waiting period for background checks to get a gun, because holy s***, what?

Van Wanggaard will be up for re-election in 2022, and it remains to be seen if his district will be redrawn, or if the configuration of the electoral map in Wisconsin will remain the same and make it easy for him to remain in power.

[Jack Dracula]

Iran, China and Russia will 'send a message to the world' with first ever joint war drills

Russia is establishing their military allegiance with the next economic power-house of this century, and our greatest threat in the Middle East right now is joining in.
These are the sort of things that would worry a normal, qualified President.

[Iron Maiden]

Russia is establishing their military allegiance with the next economic power-house of this century, and our greatest threat in the Middle East right now is joining in.
These are the sort of things that would worry a normal, qualified President.

Worry him? He probably helped Putin create this as part of his debt to whatever Russian oligarch allegedly (*cough*) co-signed his loans at Deutsche Bank. He's had 2 billion in loans since 2003.

Some key points from the NYT article:

In 2003, Deutsche Bank helped Mr. Trump’s casino company sell hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds. (The salesmen were rewarded with a trip to Mar-a-Lago.) Mr. Trump’s company defaulted in 2004, leaving Deutsche Bank’s clients with deep losses. The bank’s investment division that sold the bonds vowed to not do business again with Mr. Trump.

"A year later, though, Mr. Trump approached another part of the investment division for a $640 million loan to build a skyscraper in Chicago. It made the loan — and in 2008, Mr. Trump defaulted and sued Deutsche Bank. That prompted the whole investment division to sever ties with Mr. Trump"

"And then, three years after his previous default, Deutsche Bank started lending to him again, this time through the private-banking division that catered to the superrich. In fact, it lent Mr. Trump money that he used to repay what he still owed Deutsche Bank’s investment division for the Chicago loan."

This "genius" defaults on loans yet still gets financing. Why was Deutsche Bank still throwing money away on this guy unless someone somehow is profiting from this? Was someone covering Deutsche Bank's losses for them? Did Deutsche Bank Sweep Possible Money Laundering by Trump under the rug?