All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Lori Klein, who served one term after sweeping into office as part of the Tea Party Wave, and quickly established herself to be one of the more racist and insane members of the Arizona state legislature. And THAT is saying something. Where to begin? Well, Klein introduced legislation that would deny giving birth certificates to children of immigrants born in the United States (which is obviously a gross unconstitutional violation of the 14th Amendment), doing so not just once, but twice. She also personally approached a crowd of people protesting Arizona's SB1070 and told them to "go back to Mexico", and when they pointed out they were of Mexican descent, but American citizens, she instead chose to call them "thugs" and demanded to know "who was paying them" to be there. She also read a racist letter on the floor of the Arizona State Senate, purportedly from a constituent who said they were a teacher, and that the "black and Hispanic children refuse to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance because America is stealing Mexican land, and they refuse to speak English because they want to be gang members." If you're not already mortified by Klein's rhetoric, there's also her defense of Herman Cain's sexual harassment allegations, where she said he never hit on her and she is "not an unattractive woman". Finally, we'll throw in the flap that occurred when she tried to walk into a speech with Governor Jan Brewer while carrying her pink Ruger revolver, and tried throwing a 2nd Amendment tantrum when the governor's security detail stopped her trying to do so. She was outraged enough to do an interview with a reporter for some public sympathy afterwards, but that backfired when she pointed the gun directly at the reporter in the interview to explain why it was a "harmless" gun. A gun without a safety. While it was loaded. Lori Klein lost in the 2014 GOP Primary just trying to get by in the Arizona House of Representatives and has yet to resurface politically.

On this date in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a profile of former Maryland Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, a 7th Day Adventist who supported every anti-gay and pro-life piece of legislation he ever saw cross his path in the House. Bartlett started to make people think he’d gone senile toward the end of his career, like how in September 2012, Bartlett told a crowd that federal student loans were unconstitutional, and could lead down a slippery slope to the Holocaust, warned people to “not live in cities” in a documentary about a potential smallpox outbreak, and fought to have hearings held on the United States' readiness for an attack from an outside entity using an electromagnetic pulse (which is not a viable technology right now outside of any sci-fi movie). Bartlett was so convinced that this threat was imminent that since retiring from politics, he has moved himself and his wife into a cabin "off the grid" without telephone service in the middle of the mountains of West Virginia with his wife.

On this date in 2017, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiled Charlie Janssen, a former Nebraska State Senator who made a run at the governor’s mansion in Lincoln back in 2014. Janssen was first elected to the Nebraska State Senate back in 2009, and his career has shown him with a tendency to vote against LGBT protections, and for things like 20 week abortion bans. After six years of establishing a bright red streak of conservative votes, Janssen felt he was ready to take a crack at becoming Governor. Like a lot of politicians during the 2014 mid-term elections, Janssen was looking to ride a surge in anti-immigrant paranoia into office. While most Republicans were content to ignorantly fear-monger about people bringing Ebola virus across the U.S./Mexico border (amazing because it was coming from Africa, like it always does)… Charlie Janssen decided to take a different tack in stirring up fears about immigrants. He once submitted a bill inspired by Arizona’s SB 1070 to try to let law enforcement racially profile people, and likes to talk at length about how he feels that immigrants are “a drain on public resources”. So, when Janssen began trying to exploit the rape and murder of a 93-year-old woman by a drunk 19-year old, which he blamed on our illegal immigration system. Most criticized Janssen for this, because illegal immigrants actually commit fewer crimes, especially violent crimes statistically far less than other citizens. Shortly after facing criticism for being such a xenophobic bigot, Janssen non-coincidentally dropped out of the governor’s race, saying that he “didn’t see a path to victory”. He’s still on the younger side at only 45 years old, so it bears watching if he makes a run at an officer higher than State Auditor, which he settled on (and barely won office for in 2014). It’s not uncommon for Nebraska State Auditors to try to make that jump, either. This guy is unlikely to stay quiet.



It was on this date in 2018, as well as 2019, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the day profiled Utah State Senator Todd Weiler, who first took office in 2012 when his predecessor, Dan Liljequist resigned his seat to try to unseat the methuselah who represents Utah in the U.S. Senate, Orrin Hatch.While Weiler got through his first years as a legislator without stirring up too much drama in Utah, it was in his second term that Weiler declared pornography a public health crisis and tried writing a bill that would let porn addicts sue internet pornography companies. Now, the obvious counter-argument to Weiler’s bill would be that it’s a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution. Well, he’d like to let all his critics know that online pornography actually violates HIS First Amendment rights, saying, “Someone may have the First Amendment right, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, to view pornography,” Weiler told Tony Perkins, host of “Washington Watch” radio show. “But what about my First Amendment right not to view it?” Of course, the “research” Weiler did on any of this was also not based in reality and as level-headed as Claude Frollo’s research into gypsies. And when you have to release a statement later to try to mitigate the damage where you compare porn to tobacco (Since it causes cancer, right?) and claim “I’m not trying to ban masturbation”, maybe you know you’ve taken your quest way too far. Guess what sorts of impropriety Todd Weiler doesn’t have a problem with? BIGAMY. Yeah, when Utah put a bill out to make bigamy a third degree felony in 2017, and he voted against it. Among the other things that Weiler doesn’t consider a public health crisis include bringing back public executions by firing squad, sex education being taught in public school.

When we last checked in with Todd Weiler… he’s been accused of extortion by a wealthy GOP donor, who even provided audio of the suggestion to offer her $1 million to make a false accusation against him. We tend to believe accusers here at CSGOPOTD, but we’re just noting in this story that it seems Weiler has made an enemy of a top political donor in the state. More than one, in fact, because Weiler’s not even up for election until 2020, and the Koch Brothers are also targeting him to be defeated in the GOP primary in 2020, sending out fliers deriding him well in advance. Meanwhile, Weiler has been pretty active, and pretty much gaslighting on Twitter, where he’s made half-assed defenses of Brett Kavanaugh and trying to show some sort of double standard that the media supposedly applies to him and other perpetrators of sexual assault, as well as misrepresenting the facts about investigations into Donald Trump not being biased upon review.

We’ll have to see what happens to this schmuck as we get closer to 2020.

[PaulBullion]

You know it would be nice if non-political news stories (including those from around the world) were posted in this thread sometimes. I'm just saying.

Yes, that should lighten the mood!

The monkey house in the zoo in Germany burned down after people threw fireworks at it, and not a single primate survived.


People suck.

[Tami]

Trump Threatens to Veto Bill on Foreign Influence in Elections

The White House on Wednesday threatened a veto of a bill backed by House Democrats aimed at stopping foreign interference in U.S. elections, even as an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump centered on the issue.

The measure’s “ambiguous language would ensnare American citizens and entities acting in good faith in its web of requirements and prohibitions,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.

The House passed the measure, known as the Shield Act, on Wednesday evening. It would require political campaigns to report contacts with foreigners to the FBI and the Federal Election Commission. It would also outlaw handing private campaign information to foreigners and bolster ad-reporting requirements.

[PaulBullion]

The Biden campaign should be happy with these poll results:

[Tendrin]

Those poll results are cringe inducing.

[shooshoomanjoe]

The homelessness population keeps increasing because housing keeps getting too expensive. It's like they didn't learn anything from the housing bubble burst.

[Kirby101]

I have doubts about that poll. I can't see Virginia going for Hillary by 5% and turning more Democratic after that, then going for Trump against any Democrat.

[GindyPosts]

The homelessness population keeps increasing because housing keeps getting too expensive. It's like they didn't learn anything from the housing bubble burst.

"How do we combat rampant homelessness?"

"Make housing more affordable by giving incentives for lower rent & not have the system be discriminatory against minorities and anyone with a criminal record?"

"Nah, build more luxury condominiums! The white yuppies will be all we need."

[worstblogever]

Those poll results are cringe inducing.

I have doubts about that poll. I can't see Virginia going for Hillary by 5% and turning more Democratic after that, then going for Trump against any Democrat.

Yeah, they only are rated B for accuracy by 538. Typically leans Republican more than the actual result.

[Tami]

I have doubts about that poll. I can't see Virginia going for Hillary by 5% and turning more Democratic after that, then going for Trump against any Democrat.

That's from RealClear. I checked FiveThirtyEight and saw the latest Economist/YouGov Poll.

Screenshot_2020-01-01 Latest Polls.jpg

The poll results are conflicting. When broken down by candidate, most respondents seem to think none of the top tier Democratic Candidates can beat Trump, but in terms of overall those polled seemed to be saying that Democrat will beat Trump.

It could mean that the candidate most likely to beat Trump isn't one fo the top tier candidates.

[Tami]

Say what Rudy?

Rudy Giuliani just retweeted this video of him bragging that he would “prosecute” the case against Trump (his own client) as a “racketeering case.”

Twitter Link with Video

Suggestion on Twitter is that Rudy got confused (possibly drunk) and thought he was talking about Biden instead of Trump.

[Mister Mets]

This, it's a bit naïve to think everyone, let alone politicians, do what they think is best for other people.

I didn't say everyone, but I do think most people in government, those I agree with and those I disagree with, generally do what they think is best for other people.

This doesn't mean they're right about their policy outcomes, or immune to motivated reasoning and self-justification.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Say what Rudy?

Twitter Link with Video

Suggestion on Twitter is that Rudy got confused (possibly drunk) and thought he was talking about Biden instead of Trump.

Or maybe Rudy’s meds hadn’t kicked in. In any event, Diaper Don won’t like that.

[Tami]

Alligator Skin, Human Clones and Other Things Being Banned in 2020

California lawmakers made their fashion ruling: Crocodile handbags were out. Alligator boots, too. But for Louisiana, the nation’s top producer of all things made from alligator skin, those were fighting words.

The state’s attorney general filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month to stop California’s ban on alligator and crocodile products from taking effect in 2020. Last week, a federal judge agreed to temporarily block the new law, meaning Louisiana and California are headed for a showdown in court.

Every year on Jan. 1, hundreds of new state and federal laws take effect across the country. Many are mundane, but some can be contentious — and not just in the world of fashion.

As 2020 arrives on Wednesday, Arkansas will ban state-funded human cloning, while Illinois will legalize marijuana. Texas will try to save lives in school shootings, but not by taking action on guns. Here’s a look at changes coming across the country.

[Tami]

In a Homecoming Video Meant to Unite Campus, Almost Everyone Was White

MADISON, Wis. — The video was just two minutes long: a sunny montage of life at the University of Wisconsin’s flagship campus in Madison. Here were hundreds of young men and women cheering at a football game, dancing in unison, riding bicycles in a sleek line, “throwing the W” for the camera, singing a cappella, leaping into a lake.

“Home is where we grow together,” a voice-over said. “It’s where the hills are. It’s eating our favorite foods. It’s where we can all harmonize as one. Home is Wisconsin cheese curds. It’s welcoming everyone into our home.”

Days before Homecoming Week, the student homecoming committee, tasked with producing the video, posted it online. The outrage was almost instantaneous. Virtually every student in the video was white.

The video was never supposed to attract much attention.

The homecoming committee, a group of several dozen students, has a simple mission: celebrating the university during Homecoming Week with a string of events including a 5K run, blood drive and parade.

A video would boost the promotional aspect of it all, the students decided, a short, visual ode to school spirit. The committee enlisted student organizations to be filmed — among them Alpha Kappa Alpha, a historically black sorority.

At the end of September, the video was finished and posted on Facebook. No one expected it to be seen very widely.

One evening, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha noticed that the video had been posted online.

Payton Wade, 21, a senior and member of Alpha Kappa Alpha: We were tagged on Facebook when they said a “thank you” to all of the organizations who participated in the video. And I watched the video and I realized that we weren’t in it.