All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[worstblogever]

Thus far in the current term of office, Matt Gaetz’s has been the highest level of s***lord imaginable:

• May 2nd, 2018: Matt Gaetz is one of 18 Republicans who sign on to a letter asking to nominate Donald Trump for a Nobel Prize for meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
• January 22nd, 2019: Gaetz votes against HR 676, which would prevent Donald Trump from doing the unthinkable and walking away from our allies in NATO to appease the Russians.
• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Gaetz voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• January 27th, 2019: Matt Gaetz can’t be arsed to vote against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attack Gaetz our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
• February 22nd, 2019: Gaetz posts on Twitter at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a pattern that emerged since she won her primary race where he shamelessly pretends to, or flirts with her, to change the subject away from solid policy points she makes in an inherently creepy way.
• February 26th, 2019: Rep. Gaetz decides to get on Twitter and threaten Michael Cohen a day before he is set to testify before Congress regarding Donald Trump’s corruption including his scheme to commit campaign finance fraud by paying off women he had affairs with before their stories could be published in the tabloids.
  On Twitter, Gaetz wrote, “Hey @MichaelCohen212 — Do your wife & father-in-law know about your girlfriends? Maybe tonight would be a good time for that chat. I wonder if she’ll remain faithful when you’re in prison. She’s about to learn a lot.”
• February 28th, 2019: Gaetz votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Gaetz votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• April 4th, 2019: Matt Gaetz is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 17th, 2019: Gaetz votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
  He justified his vote by saying it would only allow Donald Trump to declare himself “the first female president” and liberals wouldn’t like that. No, really.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Gaetz votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Matt Gaetz votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
• October 17th, 2019: Gaetz is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
• October 23rd, 2019: Rep. Gaetz leads 41 Republicans who, while staring down the possibility of Donald Trump being impeached, stage a ridiculous publicity stunt in response by crashing a classified impeachment inquiry hearing for a “protest”. After a few hours of them occupying an empty room and ordering and eating pizza, they abandon their delusions and wander out.
• December 3rd, 2019: Matt Gaetz is one of 71 Republicans who vote against House Resolution 546, which stated disapproval of any attempt to readmit the Russian federation back into the G7 and make it the G8.
• December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Gaetz is quoted as saying that the president that really deserves impeaching is Barack Obama, who has been out of office for almost three full years, because of supposed “wiretapping” he did that the intelligence community already had to confirm he never did (when Trump accused him of “wire tapps”).
• December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Gaetz makes a vague threat against Georgia Governor and fellow Republican Matt Kemp because he might not pick the Trump administration’s favored candidate for Senate to replace Sen. Johnny Isakson until a special election can be conducted.
• December 12th, 2019: After spending weeks trying to spread Russian propaganda about Joe and Hunter Biden, Gaetz begins attacking Hunter Biden about rumored substance abuse issues he might have, which led Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson to respond by reminding everyone that Matt Gaetz has been arrested for DUI, so maybe the pot is calling the kettle black.
• December 19th, 2019: Matt Gaetz votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump, in spite of glaring evidence of abuse of power.

We know that Florida’s 1st District has a +22 Republican lean, so we’re not expecting a Democrat to flip this district in 2020… however, can we at least get someone who isn’t a walking colostomy bag to challenge Matt Gaetz in a primary and note he’s been arrested for DUI, pals around with militia groups and Neo-Nazis and is generally just a creepy douchebag whose only political aspiration is to be a troll before bouncing him from office? Please and thank you.

[JackDaw]

I've been saying this for years.

Turning it into a national holiday would have the opposite effect of what people think it'll do.

Is it really that difficult to vote in USA?

In UK, it takes me about 5 minutes...I usually vote just after polls open at 7 in the morning, calling in polling station on way to work.

[Tendrin]

Is it really that difficult to vote in USA?

In UK, it takes me about 5 minutes...I usually vote just after polls open at 7 in the morning, calling in polling station on way to work.

https://www.vox.com/2018/11/6/180685...-york*********

Long lines. Broken voting machines. Hours-long waits that eat into workdays.
All these faced people who turned out to vote in the midterm elections on a misty Tuesday in New York City. A liberal stronghold, the city hasn’t raised the same concerns about voter suppression as Georgia or North Dakota. But voting difficulties here are emblematic of a nationwide problem: Polling places around the country have been quietly disappearing for years, especially in areas with a high percentage of voters of color.

And then that's not even getting into easily hackable machines with no paper trail. Much of this is largely on design. Updated, fast voting in GOP leaning areas, antiquated machines that break down in 'urban centers', and so on.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

So the House passed a bill limiting Trump's war powers in regards to Iran. It has some supporters mad over how they are stepping on Trump's toes. As I posted to a friend , this same situation played out in 2011 nearly with Barack Obama and Libya. The Republican House got worried over another war possibly and after Obama approved bombing to go along with Nato allies ,

No one wanted Barack Obama to have total war powers then in 2011 and now no one wants Trump to have it. I can see why Congress is moving quick on it.

[numberthirty]

So the House passed a bill limiting Trump's war powers in regards to Iran. It has some supporters mad over how they are stepping on Trump's toes. As I posted to a friend , this same situation played out in 2011 nearly with Barack Obama and Libya. The Republican House got worried over another war possibly and after Obama approved bombing to go along with Nato allies ,

No one wanted Barack Obama to have total war powers then in 2011 and now no one wants Trump to have it. I can see why Congress is moving quick on it.

Not sure just how much that will actually be the case though.

Unless I just misunderstood, it seems like it is non-binding.

[KOSLOX]

Not sure just how much that will actually be the case though.

Unless I just misunderstood, it seems like it is non-binding.

It has to be non-binding. He'd veto it otherwise and his sycophants would never vote to override.

[numberthirty]

It has to be non-binding. He'd veto it otherwise and his sycophants would never vote to override.

Sure.

That said, it being non-binding means part of Congress is essentially saying "Hey, Could You Not Do That?..." more than it is part of Congress saying "Hey, Don't Do That...."

I just don't know how much it actually "Steps On Trumps Toes..."

[Tami]

[Gray Lensman]

Is it really that difficult to vote in USA?

In UK, it takes me about 5 minutes...I usually vote just after polls open at 7 in the morning, calling in polling station on way to work.

Depends on where you live and your own financial situation.

The lines are often long, the polling place may be fairly far away, and there might not be any public transportation to get there. You might not be able to get enough time off from work in order to vote, especially if you are also a single parent, and the Voter ID laws being passed in many parts of the country are almost always followed by the closure of many of the places where one can actually get those IDs - especially if you aren't a Republican.

Other states even pass laws preventing the heavily populated counties from having more polling stations than the sparsely populated ones, require the original birth certificate from the original hospital without exception (even if that hospital has closed down, or in the case of immigrants from poor countries or those who were originally refugees, there may not have been a hospital in the first place, and the doctor from childbirth may very well be dead), require specific street addresses from native reservations (which often don't have them), and other such shenanigans.

[Tami]

Bloomberg to fund sizable campaign effort through November even if he loses Democratic nomination

WASHINGTON — Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s massive campaign apparatus and an army of some 500 staffers will march on through the general election in November even if he loses the Democratic nomination, campaign officials tell NBC News, shifting their efforts toward working to elect whomever the party selects to face President Donald Trump.

Bloomberg’s vast tech operation will also be redirected to help the eventual nominee, as Democrats struggle to compete with the vaunted digital operation built by Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale. Hawkfish, a digital company started by Bloomberg that’s carrying out his $100 million online ad campaign, will be retained through Election Day to help defeat Trump, the officials said.

Awaiting the eventual nominee would be a shadow field operation across the country that’s currently unparalleled in size by any of the other candidates in the presidential race. The roughly 500 staff members Bloomberg has committed to paying through November include those in battleground states like Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as in Arizona.

[Tami]

Trump-loving conspiracy nut who sent creepy texts to teen girls ends his congressional campaign after 10 days

Michael Moates, a Trump-loving conspiracy theorist who has been accused by multiple underage girls of making inappropriate sexual comments, has ended his congressional campaign just over one week after it was announced.

The Daily Beast reports that Moates on December 30th announced he would be running in Texas’s 26th congressional district in a bid to replace Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-TX).

[4saken1]

Is it really that difficult to vote in USA?

In UK, it takes me about 5 minutes...I usually vote just after polls open at 7 in the morning, calling in polling station on way to work.

Yeah, me too! Like me, you probably don't live in a State or County that is trying to keep blacks from voting, however.

[JCAll]

Is it really that difficult to vote in USA?

In UK, it takes me about 5 minutes...I usually vote just after polls open at 7 in the morning, calling in polling station on way to work.

It can be pretty rough, keeping voters away from the polls is a political strategy in some places. Around me, all of the rural towns used to have their own polling place, but the county cut down and rolled them into one. Now I would have to drive 20 miles to a town I've never even been just to vote.

[JackDaw]

It can be pretty rough, keeping voters away from the polls is a political strategy in some places. Around me, all of the rural towns used to have their own polling place, but the county cut down and rolled them into one. Now I would have to drive 20 miles to a town I've never even been just to vote.

That’s really concerning...and making it much easier and less time consuming to vote...ought to be a top priority, much more so than creating a new national holiday for the purpose.

This is one area where UK is so different to USA...in UK I actually have slight concerns it is too easy to vote. (In that to a lay man there seems to be relatively few controls to stop fake votes. Maybe there are hidden controls, and certainly I’m not aware of any significant abuses of the system.)

[zinderel]

That’s really concerning...and making it much easier and less time consuming to vote...ought to be a top priority, much more so than creating a new national holiday for the purpose.

This is one area where UK is so different to USA...in UK I actually have slight concerns it is too easy to vote. (In that to a lay man there seems to be relatively few controls to stop fake votes. Maybe there are hidden controls, and certainly I’m not aware of any significant abuses of the system.)

Well, but see...ensuring that everyone can vote easily - and can count on their vote not being tampered with - is not cost effective for American business leaders, for whom ‘profit at any cost’ is a far greater good than things like ‘civic duties’ or ‘the basis of the American Dream’. So they make sure that the politicians they buy and sell don’t enact any laws that make it easier for ‘undesireables’ to vote at the expense of the apparent core late-stage capitalist policy of ‘lifelong wage slavery in exchange for dying in poverty so that the masters can be so rich they can’t spend all their money in one lifetime’ that they have so generously enacted for the working class. And since money and power are the only things Republicans care about - other than subjugating women and queer folk and people of color for Jesus, of course - they see the closures of voting centers in poor or traditionally black, immigrant or indigenous precincts as a double win - less voters to vote against their heinous policies, and less ‘undesirables’ out there to get in the way of their policies of self-enrichment and consolidation of power and resources into the hands of the few. If they can purge entire neighborhoods from the voting rolls and then make it almost impossible to vote for those living in that same neighborhood, it ensures that Republicans stay in power and can keep gerrymandering districts until they have their jobs for life.

Now, this isn’t some nefarious plot to undermine voter confidence/effectiveness or ensure that people of color and poor people learn our place beneath our corporate masters boots or anything like that. It’s just Republicans doing what they believe is best for the most people. So don’t criticize them or those who support the party leadership that keeps doing this stuff.