All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[worstblogever]

Tim Eyman

Welcome to what is the 856th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Tim Eyman, a 2020 Republican candidate to try and become the next Governor of Washington state. Eyman graduated from Washington State University at Pullman in 1988 with a Bachelor’s Degree in business after a career as a collegiate wrestler. For ten years out of college, Eyman didn’t turn up much in the news, but after a decade of trying to make a living as a watch salesman (now there’s a niche market that’s gone by the wayside in the digital age), he emerged as what can only be described as a professional ballot initiative lobbyist. With cartoonish glee, at different points he’s dressed up as a gorilla or even Darth Vader (yes, the enforcer of Emperor Palpatine who’s one of the biggest bad guys in film history) as has made a living overseeing these political ventures, and has managed over the past 22 years to get 17 initiatives on the ballot. Of those, 11 have been voted to be approved… but 8 of that 11 have been completely or partially overturned by courts as unconstitutional (at this time). Which would probably be something to consider before you lobby for it…

Unless you’re financial well-being is centered around working to get anything on the ballot, regardless of whether it’s a good idea or not.

Now, Eyman’s political affiliation has traditionally been more of an “independent conservative populist” that if you squint, you would identify as somewhat libertarian, given his overall distaste for taxation of any kind, but there also seems to be a pattern of him wanting to place ballot initiatives in place to eliminate workplace protections for the LGBTQ community that perhaps would indicate a pattern of homophobia in his “small government” focus.

As early as 2002, however, experienced political wonks in Washington noticed a pattern in Eyman’s activities… he frequently diverted campaign money into his own pockets. When caught, the state would fine him, and ban him from serving as a treasurer on any political campaign, and… that’s about it. But yet, he stuck around, and kept making a living with more and more filings. And thus he was a nuisance for another thirteen years…

That is, until 2015, when an investigation by the state (that Eyman fought every step of the way) found that again, Tim Eyman was self-dealing. That allowed Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to file a $2.1 million lawsuit against Eyman in 2017, and those legal woes meant Eyman would be facing more fines and be forced to pay back money he illegally procured… which of course, he was spending hand over fist. To the tune of $24,000 a month. Forced to pay those large sums, including up to $77,000 in legal fees, he was now going to be forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. His wife soon left him. Judges have upheld the state’s filings, and he’s still looking at massive debt. As of a couple days ago, judges have confirmed Tim Eyman owes the state $278,000, even while filing bankruptcy.

Now, you’re probably thinking this would be the end of his story, and wondering how someone who never ran for public office got a CSGOPOTD profile… And this is where we remind you how insane the Republican Party and its candidates are these days. Because Tim Eyman decided all of his legal woes could be solved if he mounted a run and could win election to be the next Governor of Washington as a Republican.

Now, odds are that a guy found to have ethical and legal issues who turned around and filed for bankruptcy and thus would be asking taxpayers to already pay for his idiocy would be a long-shot if trying to run as a populist, but Eyman was going to try. Could a man with so little to show for over two decades of political activity except illegal personal enrichment win the governor’s race and use the power of the office to sole all his problems?

Any hope of that happening probably fell by the wayside on March 14th, 2020, when after an executive order by Washington Governor Jay Inslee to ban gatherings of more than 250 people (quite reasonable for the moment) to stop the spread of Covid-19. Tim Eyman chose to respond like a douchebag on “The Price is Right” by putting out a press release that he would be hosting a campaign event where 251, we repeat TWO-HUNDRED AND FIFTY ONE people were invited, and he would be serving Corona beers to them.

That… doesn’t hold up well as a reaction given at the time of this writing, more people are dying from Covid-19 every day than died on 9-11. The pedantic, mocking defiance of Eyman was incredibly ignorant when the death toll was far lower last month. He now is almost certainly going to lose in the primary in the gubernatorial race, if not definitely in November, given how capable Inslee’s leadership has been through the crisis, and in spite of the fact that Inslee’s request for more respirators and N-94 masks have been denied by Donald Trump.

As we’re all dealing with this crisis, be ready for CSGOPOTD to continue to hot-shot Republicans who respond to the crisis as Tim Eyman did to the front of our queue of profiles. Eyman’s corruption was enough to have us profile him, but the attitudes being promoted by conservative ***holes like him trivializing this serious disease can, and will end up getting people who follow their lead killed. And we are going to call them out for that ignorance.

[shooshoomanjoe]

The US government needs to stop enabling and excusing trump's dangerous ignorance.

FDA commissioner says it's not wise to inject oneself with disinfectant but it's a logical question for patients to ask their doctors.

[Tami]

States smuggle COVID-19 medical supplies to avoid federal seizures as House probes Jared Kushner

States have been forced to resort to smuggling shipments of personal protective equipment (PPE) after federal officials seized supplies ordered by hospitals without informing officials.

Governors have long complained that the Trump administration has left them to bid against each other on the open market for critical supplies for health workers. However, numerous officials recently claimed that the federal government had seized supplies ordered by the states. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, told CNN that the state bought 500 ventilators before they were "swept up" by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, said the Trump administration "confiscated" its order of 3 million masks.

"Deals, some bizarre and convoluted, and many involving large sums of money, have dissolved at the last minute when we were outbid or outmuscled, sometimes by the federal government. Then we got lucky, but getting the supplies wasn't easy," he wrote, detailing the measures his supply chain team took to get the equipment.

"Two semi-trailer trucks, cleverly marked as food-service vehicles, met us at the warehouse. When fully loaded, the trucks would take two distinct routes back to Massachusetts to minimize the chances that their contents would be detained or redirected," he recalled. "Before we could send the funds by wire transfer, two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived, showed their badges, and started questioning me. No, this shipment was not headed for resale or the black market. The agents checked my credentials, and I tried to convince them that the shipment of PPE was bound for hospitals. After receiving my assurances and hearing about our health system's urgent needs, the agents let the boxes of equipment be released and loaded into the trucks. But I was soon shocked to learn that the Department of Homeland Security was still considering redirecting our PPE. Only some quick calls leading to intervention by our congressional representative prevented its seizure."

The seizures had already come under scrutiny from two other House committees after The New York Times reported that Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner had "surprised" FEMA officials by redirecting supplies. Kushner himself said during a White House coronavirus briefing that he had supplies delivered to New York after Trump got a call "from his friends" about the conditions in the city's hospitals.

[Tami]

Trump owes tens of millions to the Bank of China — and the loan is due soon

Donald Trump is warning “China will own the United States” if Joe Biden is elected president.

But Trump himself is tens of millions of dollars in debt to China: In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could be Trump’s second term, financial records show.

Steps away from Trump Tower in Manhattan, the 43-story 1290 Avenue of the Americas skyscraper spans an entire city block. Trump owns a 30 percent stake in the property valued at more than $1 billion, making it one of the priciest addresses in his portfolio, according to his financial disclosures.

Trump’s ownership of the building received a smattering of attention before and after his 2016 campaign. But the arrangement with the Bank of China — and its impending due date in 2022 — has gone largely unnoticed.

The revelation complicates one of Trump’s emerging campaign attacks against Biden: that the former vice president would be a gift to the Communist country and America’s chief economic rival.

Trump is, as usual, trying to reverse the arrows that are pointing at him. 'It's not me, look at him, look at him.'

[Tami]

What’s behind Trump’s fresh push to wrest control of Voice of America

Voice of America director Amanda Bennett seems, at first glance, to be the perfect target for a Donald Trump attack on the mainstream media: A former Philadelphia Inquirer editor, wife of ex-Washington Post owner Donald Graham and Barack Obama appointee, Bennett has strived to maintain VOA’s independence from the White House during the Trump era.

So when Trump and his aides began attacking VOA earlier this month, stirring up anger on the right, the broadcaster and its leader seemed like another shrewdly chosen foil for rallying his populist base against Washington elites. But since then, a deeper motive has emerged: Trump is using the dispute to demand the confirmation of conservative activist and filmmaker Michael Pack, a close associate of Steve Bannon, to head the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA.

[PaulBullion]

As Hillary said, 'Don't take medical advice from the man who looked directly into an eclipse."

Hillary was right.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

States smuggle COVID-19 medical supplies to avoid federal seizures as House probes Jared Kushner

So, Trump told states to procure their own supplies, then had his brownshirts confiscate whatever had been procured. Bogus as all hell.

[PaulBullion]

If our biggest problem is 'Biden is not as up as we'd like', well.... that's better than having to start from behind.

But what if coming from behind allowed for more Berniementum? Especially if he had made Tulsi Gabbard his running mate, who came from WAY behind.

[worstblogever]

So, Trump told states to procure their own supplies, then had his brownshirts confiscate whatever had been procured. Bogus as all hell.

"I'm not smart enough to broker a good deal on equipment, so I'll just steal it from the people who can."

It's almost like he's a wannabe mob boss without a clue of what he's supposed to be doing.

[worstblogever]

But what if coming from behind allowed for more Berniementum? Especially if he had made Tulsi Gabbard his running mate, who came from WAY behind.

Man, I'm hardly a big Bernie guy at this point, but the fella does deserve better than being associated with Tulsi. On the full-of-s*** meter, she's got Vegeta like:

[PaulBullion]

Man, I'm hardly a big Bernie guy at this point, but the fella does deserve better than being associated with Tulsi. On the full-of-s*** meter, she's got Vegeta like:

There was always a pretty big overlap of their respective fan clubs, though.

[PaulBullion]

Heh. Biden is ghosting Tulsi in this new "big tent" tweet:

https://twitter.com/JoeBiden/status/1253715322592354304

[TheDarman]

What stuck out(to me)...

You had folks try to frame things as "HRC Was A Singular Case When It Comes To Negatives..." in public opinion of her.

She was a candidate with unique disadvantages and was the second most unpopular presidential candidate in polling history. Biden doesn’t have that drawback. There are just more people who are likely unwilling to engage in political discussions this far out from the general election when there are more pressing concerns right now. Biden has a larger “I don’t know” percentage than Clinton had. That’s usually what people point to.

If that was absolutely the whole of it, shouldn't Biden have more than a five point lead in those states when Trump is taking a sledge to his reelection chances in the time since those statewide races?

Has he though? Trump is still immensely popular with his base and Republicans. These are states that lean more Republican than the country as a whole. These have been the trends for a while now. And it depends on where you look. Biden has an eight point lead over Trump in Pennsylvania and Michigan. In Florida, Biden is polling ahead of Trump in a state where Republicans have won the last three statewide elections. In Wisconsin, Biden is polling roughly alongside where Sanders was polling there against Trump. This is a state that voted for Scott Walker and only ousted him with record turnout from folks dissatisfied with Trump.

To me, I'm seeing the numbers not being decidedly different from 2016 even though the Democratic Party nominee is supposedly more popular and Trump is taking a what should be a figurative wrecking ball to his chances.

Again, we are in the middle of a public health crisis and looking at states that skew more Republican. The same is true of Ohio and Arizona, where Biden’s leads are higher than in Wisconsin. Trump is still experiencing a high in his approval ratings right now—not a low. He’s back to where he was right after impeachment and Republicans and right-leaning independents rallied behind him. Could things move? Sure. But, as I said initially, I have no real reason to believe that Trump’s political position will improve in the days and months ahead unless this miraculously goes away with an Administration-developed cure. Biden, however, is performing this well with little to no exposure in the media and can’t be presented as President of the United States giving briefings on the crisis. Now, part of this is his campaign’s fault for not elevating his platform and giving him more to do. They need to do more to get his virtual campaign up.

[Malvolio]

There was always a pretty big overlap of their respective fan clubs, though.

It's almost like they weren't Democrats at all, but just wanted to be different from everyone else.

[shooshoomanjoe]

New press secretary claims media is to blame for negative 'disinfectant' headlines. trump says he was being sarcastic. Know how incompetent he is, you'd think his administration would hire someone that knows how to do spin control.