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

[worstblogever]

In both 2015 and 2016, on this date, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” posted a profile of Milton Wolf, a man who was somehow a legitimate Tea Party challenger to Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas in the 2014 mid-term elections, which is amazing considering he's President Obama's second cousin. Mind you, blood is not thicker than water between the POTUS and Wolf, who publicly lambasted the Affordable Care Act, compared Obama to King George III of England, said the USDA were hoarding assault rifles in some sort of sinister plot they were going to carry out, tried to gin up support by perpetuating the right-wing myth of "Obama phones" and claims as a result he was vindictively audited by the IRS for being too critical of the president. Wolf had a highly radical agenda as a candidate, wanting to repeal the 17th Amendment of the Constitution, abolish the IRS, close off our borders, and completely ban abortion. While he did come within surprising striking distance of Pat Roberts at the polls, he came up short after being caught trying to pander to gun enthusiasts by buying a lifetime membership to the NRA and a semi-automatic rifle (but sending the dealer a thank you note for helping get him into the "big black scary gun community"), and more importantly, having it revealed by the Roberts campaign that he had the nasty habit of, at his day job as a radiologist, leaking X-Rays from patients on social media where he'd make jokes about their injuries. Wolf was rumored to be considering a challenge in 2016 to Sen. Jerry Moran (he ambushed Moran at a town hall), or perhaps making an attempt at taking the U.S. House seat of Kevin Yoder, but instead, chose to sit things out.

On this date in 2017, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Gia Arnold, a former Tea Party candidate for New York State Senate, who tried using that momentum to get elected in 2014, probably about four years later than if it actually would have been a benefit to her. Making matters difficult was that the 24-year-old Arnold, who was hell bent on getting New York’s assault weapons ban overturned, and was running almost solely on that issue. This, not long after the Newtown Massacre, and a wave of gun violence across the country, mind you, and in a blue state where people are fine with gun control. Her efforts were hampered when she managed to have it leak to the public that she had an extramarital affair in April of 2014 (while campaigning), dropped out of the race after confessing to infidelity, but then after a few days she changed her mind and jumping back in. She claimed people in her district took no issue with her affair, and were begging her to stay in the race. She may have been exaggerating, because she got crushed by over fifty points in the GOP Primary for that seat. In and of itself, that is a strange series of events. But then the saga of Gia Arnold got weirder. About a year and a half after her campaign fizzled, she made headlines again for a decidedly different reason… Arnold and her 18-year-old boyfriend got arrested near the U.S./Canada border near Niagra Falls in February of 2016 with a whole arsenal of assault weapons in her car. A spokesman for her again railed against New York’s assault weapon ban, and claimed the duo was stopped because her boyfriend was racially profiled, which is about the only time we’ve ever heard a Republican admit law enforcement would do such a thing. Arnold was indicted in July of 2016, and eventually sentenced to five years of probation (rather generous). That criminal history makes her an unlikely candidate to win office.

On this date in 2018, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled former Oregon State Senator Jeff Kruse, who had hung around the Oregon state legislature overall since 1996. While Kruse spent his last few years in office voting to try and stop Oregon Democrats from doing sensible things like attempt to ban gay conversion therapy on minors, or raise the minimum wage, he also sponsored SB 215, a bill created to allow state high schools to continue the practice of using Native American themed mascots, because he cares that much about being able to subtely project racist iconography at indigenous people. But how Kruse truly earned a FRED profile was because he had a long history of sexually harassing women around the capitol, repeatedly groping, touching, and giving unwanted hugs to women over his decades long tenure.

On this date in 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Cliff Rosenberger, a former House Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives who served in office as a state legislator from 2010-2018. Rosenberger rose to the role of Speaker by his third term in office in 2015, becoming the youngest person ever to hold that position before an abrupt end to his career sent shockwaves through Buckeye State politics. Let’s first cover his voting record and general statements… Rosenberger openly criticized Barack Obama’s brilliant initiative to have two years of paid college tuition for American students, would sponsor extreme anti-Choice legislation like fetal heartbeat bills, had an A rating from the NRA because he’d even vote for firearm laws as extreme as legalizing silencers, and voted to try and block Syrian refugees from being resettled in United States. Nobody seemed to know why it was that Rosenberger suddenly resigned in April of 2018, but in August of 2018, it was confirmed that Rosenberger under FBI investigation for bribery and extortion with several lobbyists. The Bureau’s findings also seemed to indicate Rosenberger was using his office to allow himself to be sent on vacations around the globe on taxpayer dime, to the tune of $40,000 in 2018 alone, and spent 111 days of the 2017 calendar out of the state, including a trip to London where he tried to crash the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (really). In effect, Rosenberger was just getting ahead of a forthcoming scandal, and hoping it wouldn’t harm the Ohio GOP’s chances in the 2018 elections. This guy saw himself as a future president, and if you needed any more proof, there’s the fact that he had a doctored painting by Andy Thomas (known for his bats*** takes on Republican politics as is) where he had himself painted in at a card game being played by former Republican presidents.

On this date in both 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” first profiled Erin Cruz, who was a failed candidate for U.S. Senate in 2018 in California (finishing sixth in the open primary with 4% of the vote), but was in the midst of a 2020 run to be the U.S. House Representative from California’s 36th District. Among her campaign strategies? To listen to the “legitimate concerns” of Qanon Conspiracy theorists, saying, “There is someone out there putting information on the internet as part of QAnon. A conspiracy theory only sounds crazy until it’s proven.” Wouldn’t you know it, Cruz is a “journalist” working for the new paranoid right-wing “news” site, One America News Network. This would be the same network you may have recently heard about that is noted for having less scruples or shame than Fox News, while promoting conspiracy theories like the Seth Rich Conspiracy theory. Erin Cruz lost to Democratic Congressman Raul Ruiz in November, not even getting past the 40% of the vote threshhold. She could end up being a perennial candidate in California politics for some time, as she was already planning a 2022 U.S. Senate campaign challenge for the seat formerly held by Kamala Harris while constantly unsuccessfully trying to get Gov. Gavin Newsom recalled. Her Twitter account is a constant stream of outrage that people on the left even exist and want to do ANY good whatsoever while portraying herself as the victim for not getting to wipe them out of existence.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2022, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Annie Black, who served District 19 of the Nevada State Assembly after unseating the incumbent Republican for that seat and not facing a challenger in the 2020 general election and was a 2022 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District… and that’s a bold attempt at elevating oneself to Washington, D.C., given she has been regarded back at home as “a sad puppet who was at the insurrection to protest a legit election”.

Yes, Annie Black was one of over a dozen state legislators who were around, or on the ellipse on January 6th, 2021, during the “Stop the Steal” rally, and while Black does not deny having been there, she claims the physical violence that day was no different than what happened at Black Lives Matter protests over the summer of 2020 (*cough*bullshit*couch*), and subscribes to the conspiracy theory that activists from “the left” infiltrated the crowd and egged on Trump supporters to storm the Capitol Building (again, we know the Oathkeepers were specifically planning this for weeks, and the White House communications we’ve seen released to the press indicate they were planning on an attack happening to stop the counting of the electoral votes). Eventually, on social media, she began furthering the conspiracy theory that “Antifa” actually attacked on January 6th, so it’s pretty clear no one should ever believe anything she says. Like, for example, that she likens Democrats to the Nazis during World War II, without any logic to the comparison.

At the time of the attack, Annie Black was still a legislator-elect, and she was sworn in four weeks later, on February 1st, 2021. She has proven to continue to be a headache for her party, and well… everyone, in the months that followed. Black, like so many Republicans around the country, started to stupidly fight back against vaccine and mask mandates during the worst parts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and removed her mask on the floor of the Nevada House, earning her a ban from speaking, or voting, per House rules, for the remainder of her first term in office. This was only four months into her career in the Nevada state legislature, and this bonehead thought her resume would be enough to get her into Congress, and she made a run in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District.

She lost in the GOP Primary, but not by much… she missed by only 2500 votes. She is now out of office, rambling about the “dangerous of drag queens around children” on Twitter (we will not link to that homophobic nonsense), and we hope she remains out of office. For now, we will give her one of our heartiest “GOOD RIDDANCE” salutes.

[InformationGeek]

And now, your moment of zen.

Today, Floridians with @wvswfl protested Republicans’ creepy obsession with people’s genitals and dumped underwear on their heads as they debated several anti-trans bills. One fell directly on the bill sponsor @RachelPlakon’s head

[WestPhillyPunisher]

And now, your moment of zen.

Zen indeed. I can only hope that underwear was clean. Gotta keep things classy after all.

[Deathstroke]

In case you thought Elon Musk had run out of fuel to thrown on the Twitter dumpster fire, nope. Apparently trans protections in their conduct policy have been removed.

Apparently he refuses to find a bottom.

[JackDaw]

The context of the discussion is about calls to remove Clarence Thomas from the court, so it's just not about what we expect of the justices, and when we would call for a slap on the wrist, but when we should insist they step down or face criminal and civil penalties, regardless of how we feel about the justice's legal philosophy or the political context (IE- the calls should be the same regardless of which side is helped, or by how much.) I think if we want to reform the courts, we should come up with clear standards going forward, where we don't know who will be helped or hurt, since efforts to shape the current composition will inevitably get politically heated because it's likely to be more about how to go after individual justices, rather than a principled philosophy about how members of the judiciary should interact with others, especially powerful people. For example, Clarence Thomas isn't the only sitting Supreme Court justice to get an advance of over a million dollars for his memoirs.

My comments weren't about Clarence Thomas's integrity, as much as his consistent judicial philosophy. Looking at his record, is there a judicial decision where he appears to have been swayed?

There are other potential corrupt things a Supreme Court justice could do for a friend/ customer, like persuading political allies to go for favors like presidential pardons, or giving advance notice of a decision that could be used to make major investments. There doesn't appear to be evidence of this with Thomas and crow.

There are two major reasons Harlan Crow may want to hang out with Clarence Thomas, beyond wanting to influence him. He may very well like Clarence Thomas' company. The two men have some things in common as powerful conservatives, and Clarence Thomas seems to be a friendly guy in private (Sotomayor has praised him). Crow also seems to view Clarence Thomas as an important historical figure (he's not alone in this among conservatives), so he would see any connection to that as a major part of his legacy.

Looking at overall American Justice system from outside there are things I admire…the ability to be more effective when dealing with “white collar crime” (such as fraud) than the UK system for example.

But there are certainly facets that baffle me . The ones that would worry me the most (if I was American) are:-

1/ The sheer number of people that end up in jail.
2/ The extensive use of pardons for what I regard as the wrong reason. (In British system pardons tend to be used very rarely, and are reserved to correct miscarriages of justice. It seems to me pardons are used far more frequently in America and often to free people that actually did the crime, but have friends in high places.)
3/ The naked political bias of most (all?) the Supreme Court Judges…I suspect you could go through the entire card and accurately say “Democrat” or “Republican” against each and every one. Naively, I’d hope for less political bias, and more concentration on extreme legal ability.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

CNN’s Pam Brown Asks Dominion Lawyer Point-Blank Why They Didn’t Force Fox News Hosts ‘To Make On-air Apologies’

After sifting through all that word salad from Dominion’s lawyer, it sounds to this ignorant layman that his client may have been leery about going to trial, perhaps fearing the possibility of a hung jury, or worse, a loss, in which case, they wouldn’t get one red cent. Or, there might have been a prearranged agreement between Dominion and Faux News was that, as part of the deal, there wouldn’t be an on air apology, something that wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

[ed2962]

Dude goes viral after destroying cases of Busch Lite in a Walmart. I'm assuming over the recent Bud controversy.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnov...h=26951e0179b6

https://twitter.com/EuphoriTori/stat...48942969495553

However the icing on the cake is he was also arrested for exposing himself to teens

https://twitter.com/Esqueer_/status/1648423619939426304

But, hey...it's the LGBT community who are after our kids, right?

[AnakinFlair]

Oh hey, now it appears that two teen cheerleaders were shot when they accidentally got into the wrong car.

For f*cks sake...

[Username taken]

Yes, it's well past time this situation be addressed before there's more tragedies:

Shootings of young people who went to wrong houses draw attention to ‘stand your ground’ laws

This is the thing, when lawmakers are trying very hard to create an atmosphere that fuels unnecessary violence, innocent people get hurt and sometimes without any justice. Look at Texas, the governor is looking to pardon a man that was tried and convicted in a court of law, what signal does that send? It’s a slippery slope into state-sanctioned violence. This isn’t new though, the use of violence against certain segments of society has always been a thing and it has never really gone away, it’s only transformed into different forms.

We’ve seen widespread police excesses against every every race but because it affects minorities disproportionately it’s somehow acceptable among some people. Lawmakers making “stand your ground” laws to allow people use deadly violence (that has been interpreted to protect instigators) like Ron Zimmerman that stalked and murdered an innocent black child. We have states that have passed laws that allow the use of deadly force against protestors. Now, there’s the push to militarize schools by having armed guards and possibly armed teachers in schools (as an aside I can NEVER send my child to a school where teachers are allowed to carry firearms..jeez!). I mean, states are considering punishing people very harshly for dressing in drag!!

Worse still, what some people in society don’t understand is that taking a stance against some of this stuff isn’t necessarily a political issue, it’s more a case of working towards a safe society. I’m pretty sure the families of the young man and woman that were shot would never have imagined their kids could be shot for something as innocuous as entering a wrong compound by accident.

As a person that comes from a religious background, this severe anger and hatred of others, super defense of gun lobbyists and push for state sanctioned violence is just….satanic!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Oh hey, now it appears that two teen cheerleaders were shot when they accidentally got into the wrong car.

For f*cks sake...

This is maddening!

[AnakinFlair]

In some good news, 2 teen suspects have been arrested in the Sweet 16 shooting. There is a press conference going on now.

[ed2962]

I should have brought up this guy as well. Ali Alexander, one of the founders of the Stop the Steal movement has been accused of sending inappropriate messages to teens. One of people snitching on him is Milo Yiannopoulos, who himself was cancelled for being pro-groomer, although it seems like Milo's reasons for outing Ali might be more personal than out of any concern for children.

https://news.yahoo.com/stop-steal-fo...205025178.html

[Username taken]

In case you thought Elon Musk had run out of fuel to thrown on the Twitter dumpster fire, nope. Apparently trans protections in their conduct policy have been removed.

Apparently he refuses to find a bottom.

I disabled my twitter account months ago.

I would actually advise everyone do the same.

The place is a mess.

[Username taken]

I should have brought up this guy as well. Ali Alexander, one of the founders of the Stop the Steal movement has been accused of sending inappropriate messages to teens. One of people snitching on him is Milo Yiannopoulos, who himself was cancelled for being pro-groomer, although it seems like Milo's reasons for outing Ali might be more personal than out of any concern for children.

https://news.yahoo.com/stop-steal-fo...205025178.html

I'm not surprised.

The way some folks on the "reactionary right" call everyone a "groomer" speaks to these folks perversion.

It's also hiding a darker secret because they're using the groomer accusations to throw off attention from real-life cases of child abuse.