All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[WestPhillyPunisher]

It is the Trumpist plan to get MAGA candidates elected as governor and secretary of state in as many "swing" States as possible, so that in 2024 those officials will refuse to certify winning slates of Democratic electors and will certify their own slates of Republican electors instead.

Yeah, if you can’t win honestly, and that’s tough since Qpublican policies only work with a minority of voters, then cheat like hell by stacking the deck before the election.

This article might make WBE crawl into a bottle.

https://www.carolinajournal.com/sand...-abuse-claims/

EWWW! I feel like I need to take a shower after reading that piece. But hey, both sides, right? RIGHT?

[Malvolio]

Find me an existing "Militia..." to go along with that "Well Regulated...", and we've got something to discuss...

Otherwise?

District Of Columbia v. Heller says different.

"Militia" is a very broad term. It does not apply only to groups that officially call themselves a Militia. In fact, when the 2nd Amendment was written, we didn't have much of a standing Army, so state and local militias were there to supplement them, which turned out to be a good thing when the British invaded in 1812. However, that war showed how much we needed a more official standing national military. And now that we have that, we no longer need the state and local militias. Of course, we do still have those types, who think they're going to secure the border or their neighborhood. I think we could regulate those "Militias," right?

[Jack Dracula]

Find me an existing "Militia..." to go along with that "Well Regulated...", and we've got something to discuss...

Otherwise?

District Of Columbia v. Heller says different.

At this point 22 states and Puerto Rico have some form of state-sanctioned militia or defense force.

My comment wasn't about militias anyway. I was referring to states setting up digital data bases to track gun owners and dealers . The federal government isn't allowed to set up a digital database for this purpose and it's an immense burden for the ATF to monitor sales and distribution by gun dealers. Since Roe v Wade is actually a personal privacy issue, reinterpreting it as a states-rights decision rather than a federal law opens the doors for states to circumvent other federal laws regarding personal privacy, such as that degree on anonymity enjoyed by gun owners and dealers.
As far as reproductive rights go, canceling Roe could theoretically allow states to mandate use of contraception by women until a certain age. If a state can force women to carry a child to term, in theory it could force women to use contraception to forestall pregnancy in the first place.

[Zelena]

The “Spider-Man” of Sudan: the real-life super-hero of the protest movement

It’s rather… startling to see him on his bike.

[kidfresh512]

New York corrections officer suspended for allegedly sharing social media post mocking Buffalo supermarket shooting

A New York corrections officer has been suspended without pay after allegedly sharing a social media post joking about the Tops supermarket shooting over the weekend that left 10 dead and three others injured.

Gregory C. Foster II, a correction officer at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, about a hour away from Buffalo, shared a "despicable social media post," the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) said in a Tuesday statement.

He allegedly shared a meme on Facebook that showed a photo of the Tops supermarket with a caption about a “clean up” in multiple aisles DOCCS confirmed.

I never understand this level of stupidity really. Even racists have to know if you are doing stupid stuff like this on social media it is going to get you fired. I mean and the "friends and co workers that "liked" and laughed. Racism and sub humanity aside, what idiots.

[seismic-2]

Modern-day America has a "well regulated militia". It's called the National Guard. These vigilante bands that call themselves "militias" are self-regulated, which is not the same thing as well-regulated. Is a street gang of thugs a "militia"?

[4saken1]

In some good news, Madison Cawthorne appears to have lost his primary.

https://twitter.com/Redistrict/statu...41238803836928

I wonder how much of it was because of his sexual misconduct vs homophobia by the GOP base from the recent video that was released. Hard to believe it was the former, because, well........Trump.

[Kirby101]

While all the crap attached to him help him lose his seat, he only lost by 1%, so it's not like GOP voters didn't continue to support this POS, Hitler loving asshat.

[worstblogever]

This article might make WBE crawl into a bottle.

https://www.carolinajournal.com/sand...-abuse-claims/

Honestly, "being an abusive wife and s***ty lingerie saleswoman" seems like it ranks a lot lower than "is a member of a domestic terror group that attacked the capitol".

It qualifies, but I don't know that I'm going for the 100 proof over Smith. Maybe just some malt liquor.

[jetengine]

Yeah the "Sells saucy clothing" thing isnt a big deal unless your a nutter.

[Jack Dracula]

Modern-day America has a "well regulated militia". It's called the National Guard. These vigilante bands that call themselves "militias" are self-regulated, which is not the same thing as well-regulated. Is a street gang of thugs a "militia"?

The groups I mentioned in my previous post are state-funded and answer to the Governor or state governments. DeSantis recently requested a force be recruited for Florida. I haven’t any idea where he is with it at the moment.

[worstblogever]

Yeah the "Sells saucy clothing" thing isnt a big deal unless your a nutter.

Yeah, right? It's maybe not the "family values" image the GOP wants...

Unless it's straight-up gimp gear. Then I think we're all gonna laugh about it a lot more.

[worstblogever]

It was on this date in 2015 that “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” had a profile of [B]Randy Rives[B], a former candidate for the Texas House of Representatives who has gained infamy more as the board president of the Ector County School Board, doing his best to turn public school lessons into Fundamentalist indoctrination. Among his more heinous works in that role include making sex education abstinence-only, getting the school district sued for trying to make Bible study a part of the course curriculum, and throwing a tantrum because textbooks had recognized Christians’ role in committing some atrocities during the Crusades, but in his mind, giving Muslims a free pass for far greater ones. Being a Texas Republican, of course, means he’s also opposed to gay marriage and LGBT rights, as well as a big proponent of the death penalty. In any event, it seems like he’s never going to win any office higher than the school board (one would hope).



On this date in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” presented profiles of Arkansas State Senator Bart Hester, who represents District 1 in the state, was first elected in 2012 with a lot of help from funding from the Koch Brothers and their Americans for Prosperity SUPERPAC. But that, ironically, is not the alliance Hester maintains that draws our attention to him. You see, since he arrived on the political scene, Bart Hester has been a staunch ally of anti-LGBTQ groups in Arkansas, particularly the Duggar Family, and by extension, the Family Research Council. Back in November of 2014, the duo appeared together at an event in Little Rock scheduled to “protect same sex marriage” from those pesky gays, and protest a judge’s decision to overturn Arkansas’ same sex marriage ban. If you’re curious what Hester said, exactly, feel free to take a look at his rant against “homosexual marriage” on Youtube.

Now, here’s where things get a bit hypocritical for Bart Hester… his boy, Josh Duggar, was protesting same sex marriage while cheating on his wife, which he in no way finds problematic. And in fact, when news broke that Josh Duggar had been investigated by Arkansas police back in 2006 for molesting five girls, the majority of whom were his own sisters… Bart Hester had an interesting reaction… he called for the police chief of Rock Springs to be fired for releasing the report. Never mind that the chief and his staff were simply complying with freedom of information laws and no laws were broken, Hester still thought that records release was a greater crime than the actual child molestation by his homophobic brother in arms. Which is pretty disgusting, really.

[Tendrin]

Yeah, right? It's maybe not the "family values" image the GOP wants...

Unless it's straight-up gimp gear. Then I think we're all gonna laugh about it a lot more.

It's not worse than Mastriano, but the infighting is *delicious*.,

[worstblogever]

But that’s not where Bart Hester’s revolting ideas end, by a long shot. In February of 2015, he sponsored a bill to try and prevent any individual municipality in Arkansas from passing civil rights protections unless the federal government already had them. While he named it the “Intrastate Commerce Improvement Act”, critics were quick to appropriately nicknamed it the “Right to Discriminate Bill”, and the big one that Bart Hester talked about, of course, was LGBTQ protections. As he put it, to have protections for sexual identity or sexual orientation would grant gays “special rights” that he doesn’t have, and he tried explaining that HE is the actual true victim of discrimination, claiming that HE is “singled out for being married to one woman”. It was only a few weeks later that Hester sponsored Arkansas’ “Religious Freedom Restoration Act”, which yes, was one of those “religious freedom” laws that Republicans were pushing for at the state level around the country so that they could discriminate against LGBTQ citizens, and claim that preventing them from doing so was infringing upon their “deeply held faith” (which some will recall was also the argument used by some Southerners to argue why they should be able to discriminate against African Americans, once upon a time).

Well, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson refused to sign the bill, afraid Arkansas would face similar repercussions like Indiana did after signing one into place, and Bart Hester was invited to go on CNN to be interviewed by Jake Tapper about it. During a four-minute interview, Hester did not seem smart enough to understand that his bill even allowed discrimination to take place, and Tapper didn’t let up on him… for four whole minutes of glorious journalism.

Regrettably, Hester’s fanaticism is not limited to one issue. He’s also dedicated to stripping women of their right to choose, because it is his personal belief that life begins at conception. This would mean he not only believes all abortion is murder, but so are the majority of forms of birth control. And it’s not just talk, either, as Hester has sponsored fetal heartbeat bills that would effectively ban all abortion at 6 weeks.

Now, surely, such a pious Christian man such as Bart Hester would apply his Christian values to aiding the poor, right? HA! Of course not. Since he’s taken office, he’s gone out of his way to sponsor or co-sponsor legislation to reduce unemployment benefits, pushed for the failed conservative policy of drug-testing welfare recipients not just once but twice, and even tried to raise taxes on food. Hester has argued against them having the private option for health insurance by claiming families of four make an average of $96,000 a year, live comfortably, and don’t need the help (which is amazing considering the actual number is $36,000. Hester was talking casually about being “in a game of chicken” in a funding shutdown in Arkansas that would leave funding for over 100,000 elderly citizens in nursing homes, over a thousand blind citizens, hundreds of thousands of underprivileged children, and tens of thousands of the disabled without financial support to just survive. I mean, the least egregious things we have to say about Bart Hester include his support of strict Voter ID registration to combat the statistically non-existent problem of in-person voter fraud.

Bart Hester’s includes his fetish for firearms got really out of control in the past few months. Without realizing it, Hester voted for HB 1429 along with a lot of Arkansas Republicans, which would allow the concealed carry of firearms at bars, schools, and public universities. At some point, Hester and his fellow conservatives forgot that their wording of the bill would make it legal for people to bring guns into University of Arkansas football games with around 70,000 people present for potential mass shootings. Which, y'know, is a big security risk, and ironic because the stadium won't let people bring in umbrellas or blankets. Gov. Asa Hutchison had to veto the bill send them back to the drawing board to write a second bill to exempt the stadium, after the fact.

Bart Hester managed to embarrass himself with a post on Twitter that led to a former Miss America from Arkansas turning up in his feed to serve him his own ass. It all started in February of 2018, when Hester was driving around town, and saw a billboard advertising for for University of Arkansas at Little Rock that featured a dancer on it, and promoting the university’s school of dance, in particular.

Hester was suddenly possessed with the fury of the preacher played by John Lithgow in Footloose, and enraged by dancing, he got on Twitter and wrote:

“Why higher ed does NOT need increase funding. They lease a sign to encourage computer science degrees or math teachers? No they push for dance majors. Lots of hardworking Arkansans subsidizing this! Not ok @UALR"

Former Miss America Savvy Shields came along to talk some sense, responding, “I disagree with this on so many levels. As an artist and a dancer, I have seen the arts influence, inspire, challenge, and transform society. Art education is crucial in the advancement of Arkansas.” Then the University of Arkansas Little Rock responded that this was an entire ad campaign, and various billboards were up with each one depicting a different major the school offers. And then Microsoft executives came along to point out that as much focus should be placed on the arts as math and science in education, and that they not only hold that opinion, but their chief competitor at Apple, Steve Jobs, used to say the same prior to his passing.

So… yeah, that backfired.

And, in the current term so far, just in the past four months, he has supported some of the worst bills any legislature in the nation has submitted since being sworn back in:

• January 21st, 2021: Bart Hester sponsors the “Back the Blue Act”, which would prevent any government agency from defunding police departments in Arkansas, which, we’ll note, no one anywhere was trying to do anyway.
• February 3rd, 2021: Hester co-sponsors a bit of theocratic Covid-19 idiocy, HB 1211, to prohibit the state from closing churches due to Covid-19 emergency provisions (not that Gov. Asa Hutchison was doing much to stop the spread of the virus, anyway).
• February 22nd, 2021: Hester co-sponsors and votes for SB 6, to outlaw all abortions in the state.
• March 18th, 2021: Bart Hester co-sponsors and votes for SB 289, a bill to allow doctors to ignore their Hippocratic oath and deny healthcare “on the basis of religious principles”.
• March 31st, 2021: Hester votes for SB 590, which would supposedly “repeal all mask mandates by government entities”… except that any state law could not override a federal mandate… also, a pandemic is still going on, so maybe quashing things started in the name of public health is a bit ignorant, you know?
• April 6th, 2021: Bart Hester votes for HB 1570, a transphobic, overreaching bit of fascism aimed at denying minors any healthcare related to hormone therapy towards gender transitions.

We’ve kept an eye on Bart Hester for five years, and surmised he was becoming emblematic of the dysfunction of Arkansas Republicans. That was so true, in fact, he has been named the next President Pro Tempore of the Arkansas State Senate, unopposed.

Because f***ing of course.