All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[jetengine]

It was never about the truth, it was about a smear.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of Joel Kleefisch, a former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and the husband of former Wisconsin Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, who had over a decade long history of writing extreme anti-abortion legislation in Wisconsin, as well as his attempt to amend the Wisconsin state constitution to include a ban on same sex marriage. Kleefisch’s ugliest legislative efforts, however, seem to be when he has supported bills to change child support payment rules on behalf of a wealthy campaign donor of his, and the specific change to the law that Kleefisch was asking for would have allowed a specific deadbeat dad and donor to get off scot free. But the most hypocritically frustrating thing in Joel Kleefisch’s voting record would have to be his fervent support for Wisconsin’s strict new Voter ID laws, because he insisted the statistically non-existent problem of in-person voter fraud is widespread, and we need to put a stop of it. There is, however, actual video of Joel Kleefisch pushing buttons on the desks of absent legislators in the Wisconsin Assembly to vote on their behalf as he sees fit, which IS actual in person Voter Fraud but Kleefisch has zero problem with that kind. He also wanted to eliminate the age restriction on hunting so that parents can take their two or three-year olds out to bag a buck (really). Oh, and did we mention that on a local conservative talk radio show, Joel Kleefisch defended his belief that Jesus co-existed at the same time as the dinosaurs? Because yes, that also really happened. Kleefisch also failed in his efforts to find a back-door around the 4th Amendment to allow Gov. Scott Walker to drug test welfare recipients, in the form of a bill he filed that would have required all high school students who participate in an extracurricular activity or park a car on a school campus to undergo random drug testing. And mercifully, after 2018, Kleefisch called it a career after seven years of stupidity in office.

On this date in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Matt Manweller, a former schoolteacher and former member of the Washington House of Representatives from 2012-2018. And sure, legislatively, he might not have been the wildest extremist we’ve seen, with the harshest things we could find in his voting record being his minority party votes in a blue state against things like minimum wage increases, a ban on bump stocks, or any bill that would try to make it easier to register to vote in the state. No, the real reason we’re profiling Manweller is the wave of accusations of sexual assault and misconduct that plagued him during his tenure at Central Washington University and forced him to resign in disgrace in September of 2018. How bad were they? Well, one of his accusers mentioned that he had an improper sexual relationship with her when she was still his 17 year old underage student (and she had a diary from the time proving it). Adding to the scumbag factor is as a legislator, Manweller’s voting record also showed he voted against a bill to allow victims of sexual assault to receive permanent orders of protection against their attackers, instead of just temporary ones, and that he considered how he was pressured to leave office “McCarthyism”. Since this creeper won’t be in office again, we will thus retire his profile and we’ll look at another wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 860-45, since this was established in July 2014.)


Robert Hyde

Welcome to what is the 860th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Robert Hyde, a 2020 Republican candidate seeking to become the next U.S. House Representative from Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District, one of five members of the GOP seeking to unseat Democratic Congresswoman Jahana Hayes. Now, the first time Robert Hyde made the news during his early candidacy was when in December of 2019, he posted a vulgar, sexist tweet directed at Sen. Kamala Harris when she dropped out of the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary. Thus, the media wanted to learn more about the MAGA meathead running for Congress who said awful things about Sen. Harris, and lo and behold, they discovered he had plenty of cash lying around to donate money to Trump’s SuperPAC, but alas, could not find a single dime to give towards child support he owes. Real stand-up human being, isn’t he?

But it didn’t take long before the rabbit hole got deeper. During the Trump impeachment hearings, word came out that Robert Hyde was a known associate of Lev Parnas, aka one half of Lev & Igor, aka one of the two goons who worked for Trump and Rudy Giuliani who were involved in trying to smear Ukrainian Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and help pressure Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 elections. Text messages between Giuliani and Hyde seemed to show that he may have offered help in providing surveillance on Yovanovitch’s whereabouts and daily movements. Because, y’know, it’s a good look to be spying on a U.S. Ambassador, especially one who was threatened to “go through some things” by Trump.

It seems that Robert Hyde is simply a little remora trying to swim with some bigger sharks by hanging out around the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., and is nothing more than a deadbeat landscaper who threw around enough cash to make the acquaintance of said sharks and is in way, way over his head. And he has a history of paranoid behavior, including a raving outburst that was deranged enough to have security escort him off the premises of Mar-A-Lago that had him involuntarily committed in May of 2019.

Robert Hyde has little to no campaign staff, a bunch of controversy and mental instability tied to the news that’s out there, and won’t speak to any media figures currently, so it seems unlikely that he’ll bumble his was to Washington, D.C. in November, given the amount of ink already spent on him that says he’s a “crank”.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

U.S. Postal Service Funding Shortfall Could Derail Vote-By-Mail Efforts During Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic threatens the life of the Postal Service just as it is needed help the most. Call this another version of voter suppression by Republicans who've stayed silent while Trump tries to kill the USPS because of his vendetta against Jeff Bezos and Amazon.

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Ben Shapiro Suggests Older People Dying Of COVID-19 Is ‘Tragic,’ But Also Not So Bad

The conservative commenter said Wednesday that an 81-year-old dying of the coronavirus “is not the same thing” as a younger person dying from it. But hey, don't forget the GOP is the "Party of Life".

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Jared Kushner Mocked For Calling Coronavirus Response ‘A Great Success Story’

As the U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpassed that of the Vietnam War, the president’s son-in-law went on “Fox & Friends” for some self-congratulation. God in heaven, talk about a colossal smacked ass!

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Los Angeles Offers Free Coronavirus Testing For All Residents

The nation’s second-largest city will provide free COVID-19 testing to all 10 million residents of Los Angeles County, including those who don’t appear to be sick.

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How Coronavirus Created The Perfect Conditions For Conspiracy Theories

An interview with misinformation expert Claire Wardle on why false information thrives in a pandemic.

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Sen. Tammy Duckworth Says Trump Values TV Ratings Over Health Of West Point Cadets

One thousand graduating cadets must return to New York state so the president can “stroke his own ego,” the war veteran said.

[Darkspellmaster]

It was never about the truth, it was about a smear.

And how many people are still gonna run with it probably by claiming that her father got the idea from her assault, or some such. I'm starting to wonder if she's on some ones bankroll now.

[PaulBullion]

And how many people are still gonna run with it probably by claiming that her father got the idea from her assault, or some such. I'm starting to wonder if she's on some ones bankroll now.

What kind of father would use the description of assault on his daughter as a tantalizing description of consensual sex in his novel?

[jetengine]

What kind of father would use the description of assault on his daughter as a tantalizing description of consensual sex in his novel?

What kind of man in a televised interview talks about assaulting women ? We live in strange times

[PaulBullion]

Where is their god now?

Evangelicals who defied social distancing guidelines are dying of coronavirus in frightening numbers

“Dozens of pastors across the Bible Belt have succumbed to coronavirus after churches and televangelists played down the pandemic and actively encouraged churchgoers to flout self-distancing guidelines,” Woodward reports. “As many as 30 church leaders from the nation’s largest African-American Pentecostal denomination have now been confirmed to have died in the outbreak, as members defied public health warnings to avoid large gatherings to prevent transmitting the virus.”

[Ragged Maw]

“ But many Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals have been irresponsibly downplaying the dangers of COVID-19 and doing so with deadly results:”

I’m starting to think “fundamentalist” means ”stereotypically medieval”, complete with belief that all illness is literal demonic possession.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Only in a red state could something like THIS happen:

Florida is now blocking medical examiners from releasing COVID-19 death totals

The state of Florida has now stopped its medical examiners from releasing numbers about people who have died from COVID-19.

The Tampa Bay Times reports that Florida’s state health department intervened earlier this month to suppress the medical examiners’ reports, which regularly showed death totals that were 10 percent higher than the official tallies put out by the state.

For the past nine days, no reports from the medical examiners have been made available to the public, and there’s no indication of when they will be released in the future.

[WillieMorgan]

Where is their god now?

Evangelicals who defied social distancing guidelines are dying of coronavirus in frightening numbers

That is absolutely batshit crazy. We live in the year 2020 and this can still be a thing. I wonder how many members of each pastors flock were also infected and died. So f--king irresponsible.

Religion is just an affliction. I honestly can't separate this insanity from the actions of the likes of the Heaven's Gate group. People are dying for needless reasons in both cases.

[Gray Lensman]

That is absolutely batshit crazy. We live in the year 2020 and this can still be a thing. I wonder how many members of each pastors flock were also infected and died. So f--king irresponsible.

Religion is just an affliction. I honestly can't separate this insanity from the actions of the likes of the Heaven's Gate group. People are dying for needless reasons in both cases.

I was raised religious myself but I was never taught to reject medical science. It mystifies me to see that mentality. I was taught that God doesn't intervene to save people from their own stupidity. And while faith can heal, don't skip the chemo if you have cancer. God might just be working through your doctor.

[WillieMorgan]

I was raised religious myself but I was never taught to reject medical science. It mystifies me to see that mentality. I was taught that God doesn't intervene to save people from their own stupidity. And while faith can heal, don't skip the chemo if you have cancer. God might just be working through your doctor.

I actually regret my choice of words in that last post and nearly went back to alter it. I'm sure the vast majority of Christians worldwide have taken social distancing measures just as seriously as any right-minded human being. I know they have here in the UK. Conversely, there's probably just as many secular idiots that have flaunted the rules too. My Grandmother was a Baptist and I would never, ever think of her as being 'afflicted' in any way. Definitely a bit harsh that.

It's still grossly irresponsible though. To actually spread gospel that coronavirus is some sort of myth borders on being a criminal act. People WILL believe this shit and will take their lives into their own hands to 'prove it'. Again, not that far removed from the Flat Earth crowd.

[godisawesome]

I actually regret my choice of words in that last post and nearly went back to alter it. I'm sure the vast majority of Christians worldwide have taken social distancing measures just as seriously as any right-minded human being. I know they have here in the UK. Conversely, there's probably just as many secular idiots that have flaunted the rules too. My Grandmother was a Baptist and I would never, ever think of her as being 'afflicted' in any way. Definitely a bit harsh that.

It's still grossly irresponsible though. To actually spread gospel that coronavirus is some sort of myth borders on being a criminal act. People WILL believe this shit and will take their lives into their own hands to 'prove it'. Again, not that far removed from the Flat Earth crowd.

Bad shepherds crying wolf at phantom threats always do worse when actual wolves arrive.

There’s a definitely a correlation between Christians who feed themselves as much of the insane persecution complex as they can and the churches with the irresponsible-to -just-downright-dangerous ministers.

[Jack Dracula]

It was never about the truth, it was about a smear.

Absolutely this. Much like the Ukraine scandal, the goal is to open an investigation.

“ But many Christian fundamentalists and evangelicals have been irresponsibly downplaying the dangers of COVID-19 and doing so with deadly results:”

I’m starting to think “fundamentalist” means ”stereotypically medieval”, complete with belief that all illness is literal demonic possession.

I'd think there'd be some grounds for Reckless Endangerment charges.

[Malvolio]

Let's get something straight here. Biden is not going to pick a VP candidate from a solidly blue state. There's just no percentage in it. So as qualified as they all are, that means no to Katie Porter, no to Kamala Harris and no to Elizabeth Warren. If it were up to me, I would go with Gretchen Whitmer, but I could also see Biden picking Amy Klobucher or Stacey Abrams.