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

[ed2962]

"Well, um...see what had happened was..."

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/s...37149329575936

MTG claims that Feds set up "honeypots and traps" to trick people into the Jan 6th riots.

[Deathstroke]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like that teacher had permission to show the film, but when some snowflake parent bitched, suddenly, that aforementioned permission wasn’t enough, and the teacher wound up in trouble. Short and sweet: the deck was stacked against her.

Welcome to Florida 2023 and beyond...where they think it is 1523 and apply the rules of law from back then to the here and now.

[CaptainEurope]

Lordy, there are tapes.

Trump regretted not declassifying retained military document in recording

Federal prosecutors obtained audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting where Donald Trump suggested he should have declassified a military document about Iran he admitted retaining, according to people familiar with the criminal investigation into his retention of national security papers.

The document at issue is understood to be classified as “secret” – significant as the justice department typically prefers to charge espionage cases involving retention of materials at that level, rather than “top secret” papers that might be too sensitive or “confidential” papers that are too low.

The recording was made at Trump’s Bedminster golf club in July 2021, when the former president met with people helping his former chief of staff Mark Meadows write a book, by his aide Margo Martin who regularly taped conversations with authors to ensure they accurately recounted his remarks.

For several minutes of the audio recording, the sources said, Trump talks about how he cannot discuss the document because he no longer possesses the sweeping presidential power to declassify now out of office, but suggests that he should have done so when he was still in the White House.

But the previously unreported suggestion that he should have declassified the document presents a potentially perilous moment, as it indicates Trump knew that he had retained material which remained sensitive to national security – as well as the limitations on discussing it with unauthorized people. CNN earlier reported that prosecutors had the recording.

Prosecutors in the office of special counsel Jack Smith appear to have obtained the recording around March, as the criminal investigation targeting Trump intensified and numerous Trump aides were subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury hearing evidence in the case in Washington.

(more)

His entire flimsy defense has been to falsely claim that he automatically declassified everything the moment he removed documents from the WH. Now there is a tape proving he knew better.
Ooops.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Lordy, there are tapes.

Trump regretted not declassifying retained military document in recording



His entire flimsy defense has been to falsely claim that he automatically declassified everything the moment he removed documents from the WH. Now there is a tape proving he knew better.
Ooops.

Doesn’t matter. Trump will deny everything while Qpublicans and talking heads on Faux News bend over backwards to defend him. In other words, nothing changes.

[worstblogever]

It was on this date in 2015 that “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Chip Rogers, who at one point was the Majority Leader for the Georgia State Senate, but his career started to fall apart after he began to host conferences for Georgia Republicans to warn about the threat of the Agenda 21 Conspiracy Theory, and that President Obama was using “the Delphi Technique”, a supposed form of mind control to that could be utilized to coerce large segments of the populations into city centers where they could be more easily be controlled. Rogers also had a prolifically extreme conservative record, supporting legislation like 20 week abortion bans without exceptions for rape or incest, as well as drug testing. Rogers went on to retire and become a lobbyist, because of course he did.

It was on this date in 2016 that “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” posted a profile of John Diehl, a former member of the Missouri House of Representatives who went and put himself at the center of a sex scandal, where he was sexting with a 19 year old college intern who just so happened to be three decades his junior, who he wanted to (hold your lunches) leave “quivering”. When news first broke that Missouri Southern university was scrapping their entire program to send interns to the capital, rumors began to swirl, and when they led back to Diehl, he actually spend some time hiding in his office, trying to deny any wrongdoing until the texts themselves were dug up by the Kansas City Star, and at that point he released a public apology, decided to spend time at home resolving some… well, marital issues that were now presenting themselves, and resigned. Diehl was supposedly a “family values” Republican, who counted himself a member of the local branch of that anti-gay hate group, the Family Research Council (who have a knack for having members cheat on their wives), fiercely defended biblical marriage (except apparently his own), and even led a move by the Missouri GOP to try and ban any extracurricular activity in public schools that might ever “discuss sexual orientation other than its purpose for human reproduction”. As a member of the legislature prior to his affair being exposed, Diehl had no inkling of how to work across the aisle and would talk of impeaching Governor Jay Nixon for… reasons, we guess. Diehl never seemed to specify. His voting record hardly paints a picture of a stable individual, as he voted for the most insane legislation Missouri Republicans came up with over his career. That includes their attempts to ban Sharia Law, prevent the Agenda 21 controversy, to nullify federal firearms laws, to attempt to nullify the Affordable Care Act, to assure presidential candidates submit their birth certificates (yes, he’s a Birther, too), responding to the Sandy Hook Massacre by trying to put more guns in schools, creating stricter Voter ID Laws, adding additional requirements for a woman having an abortion, cutting the amount of time a person could collect unemployment, to drug test welfare recipients, and to force children in public schools to not just participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, but to make them do so in English. Diehl has been publicly humiliated and run out of office.

[worstblogever]

It was on this date in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, as well as 2022, that “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of Missouri State Senator Mike Moon, who we’ve been covering since 2013, when he was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. He remains the only person we’ve profiled whose name can be spelled by Tom Cullen. Moon first took office in 2013 after a special election and spent eight years in the lower chamber making himself a polarizing figure in Missouri politics.

That was probably because of his tendency to have made some of the most embarrassing remarks from a Republican anywhere in the country regarding abortion over the past few years, and that truly is saying something. In January of 2016, he sponsored legislation called the “All Lives Matter” act (uh oh). But don’t worry, it didn’t have anything to do with police violence, it was just a slap in the face to folks in Ferguson, Missouri added on to a Personhood bill he filed. It was even more of a bit of an eyebrow-raiser back in March of 2016 when during debate on a bill that would ban abortion at any stage of development, Moon was laughed out of the room when he compared abortion to the enslavement of African Americans for a moment before he claimed to be a “reproductive expert” based on his qualifications of being a “former embryo”. Alas, Mike Moon did not learn his lesson about looking like a boob for trying to get high and mighty about fetal development without knowing what the hell he was talking about. In February of 2017, Missouri Republicans were again looking to pass some form of Personhood legislation, even though it would obviously be overturned. And this time, Mike Moon didn’t just compare abortion to slavery. We mean, he did that, mentioning the Dred Scott ruling during debate, but this time, he also compared legalized abortion to “Jews being slaughtered by Nazis”, because why not add Godwin’s Law while we’re at it? But he STILL wasn’t done. He then began to argue that life begins farther than people think, comparing sperm to tadpoles, rhetorically asking, “Is a sperm alive?” Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, asked during a hearing Tuesday night on a bill that would enshrine in the Missouri Constitution the statement that life begins at conception. “Have you ever seen a tadpole? Is a tadpole alive?”

So, since Mike Moon cares so much about life at all stages, you would think he would care a lot about saving the lives of refugee children fleeing war, right? HA HA! Trick question! Are those kids Muslims? Because if so, Mike Moon wrote a nice letter in November of 2015 where he explained he would like those kids placed in camps, and sent back home at the first opportunity, especially because you can’t trust ‘em because they lie so danged much.

”I do realize that the refugees we should be scrutinizing most is one who professes the muslim faith. Unless I'm mistaken, a practicing muslim can do whatever is necessary for the ‘good’ of the faith - telling ‘fibs’ is a smallpart of what they might do. Our preference, as a nation, should be to place the refugees in camps so that they can be properly cared for and returned safely home when the time is right.”

Mike Moon doesn’t like the idea of special protections in schools for transgender youth, and in his arguments against them, he cites the work of Dr. Paul McHugh, who classifies being transgendered as a “mental disorder”, even though the American Psychiatric Association stopped classifying “gender dysphoria” as a mental disorder years ago. He also introduced a resolution that he and his fellow legislators should appeal to Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act with “manly firmness”, as if they would be able to pull it off if they just took an extra large dose of Viagra, or something? As you’d expect, Mike Moon’s whole voting record is pretty “out there”, including a vote to try and block the implementation of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 Environmental Treaty, votes to attempt to nullify federal firearms laws, and a vote for the unconstitutional HB 499, which would have forced schoolchildren to recite the pledge of allegiance… specifically in English.

In June of 2017, how he decided to put up a video on his Facebook page to announce he was introducing new anti-choice legislation in Missouri, and he did so by discussing it as he decapitated a chicken. That is not a typo, Mike Moon cut off a chicken’s head and started to pull its innards out while discussing abortion.

Now, if that isn’t crazy enough, there’s also the matter of former Governor of Missouri Eric Greitens, who resigned in disgrace after he was accused of taking nude photos of his mistress without her consent, assaulting her during rough sex, and threatening to release the nude photos of her if she ever exposed him as an adulterer. After Mike Moon spent four years trying to impeach Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon without any real cause, when a governor comes along who isn’t just a sexual predator, but is caught breaking the law in multiple campaign finance violations and abusing charitable organizations to further his own political career, can you guess what Moon wants to do? NOTHING. Mike Moon thought it would be unfair to impeach Gov. Greitens for ANY of his moral, or legal failings.

In 2019, Moon’s focus turned to a direct theocratic bent, as he voted for legislation to have public schools teach Bible courses, and voted for a bill that prohibited all abortion in Missouri “if Roe v. Wade is overturned”... which... y'know...

In 2020, Mike Moon was term-limited in the Missouri House of Representatives and took on the former Chairman of the Missouri GOP, David Cole in a primary that he narrowly won with 52% of the vote. It seems that Cole struck a nerve in that primary, as Moon has been throwing a strop in the Missouri State Senate and feuding with Gov. Mike Parson after he named Cole to a position as a circuit judge in Southwest Missouri.

And while you would think becoming a regular headache to those ostensibly leading your party in your own state would not be something that would be rewarded with any kind of advancement to higher office, Mike Moon is running for U.S. House of Representatives in 2022, and finished fourth out of an eight candidate GOP Primary to try to replace the retiring Missouri Congressman, Billy Long.

While we know he’s up for re-election in 2024 in what would be his final term in in office, should he be re-elected, we’re hoping he doesn’t get a second term in the Missouri State Senate, considering that he passionately argued in April of 2023 for the right of twelve year olds to be available to be married in his state. I know, go figure, a man who dismembers chickens to protest abortion would still be around in the 21st century flipping out because he still wants child marriage to happen.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Lordy, there are tapes.

Trump regretted not declassifying retained military document in recording



His entire flimsy defense has been to falsely claim that he automatically declassified everything the moment he removed documents from the WH. Now there is a tape proving he knew better.
Ooops.

Is there any stupid cliche he doesn't fall into?

[CaptainEurope]

Doesn’t matter. Trump will deny everything while Qpublicans and talking heads on Faux News bend over backwards to defend him. In other words, nothing changes.

I disagree, it might not matter in the court of opinion, but **** the court of opinion. It will mater in a court of laws.

[CaptainEurope]

Several former U.S. intelligence officials told USA TODAY that they were puzzled by Reade's actions and public statements − and highly suspicious of them.

Former CIA analyst Gail Helt watched the entire Russian media broadcast and said Reade’s sudden appearance in Moscow, and her association with Butina, has all the hallmarks of a Russian information operation – whether Reade knows it or not.

“She acknowledges and thanks Maria Butina, calls her a friend and suggests that they've been friends for years. So, if you have known her for years, was she influencing you in 2019 when you accused Joe Biden? I mean, there's a lot that was really fishy about that” TV appearance, Helt told USA TODAY.

...
Butina was a young American University graduate student who charmed Republican and NRA high rollers before the FBI arrested her in Washington in 2018 on suspicion of acting as a Russian intelligence asset. Since returning to Russia, she has become a media star and celebrity of sorts, and now serves in the Russian parliament as a representative of Putin’s political party.

During their joint media appearance Tuesday, Reade praised Russia and Putin specifically, and criticized America – especially the “few Washington elites who are determined to cause problems” between the two superpowers.

...

Javed Ali, a former senior U.S. law enforcement and intelligence official, said that given Reade's self-described relationship with Butina, it's possible that Russia helped facilitate her move to Russia as part of an anti-U.S. propaganda campaign.

"Reade's recent defection to Russia, combined with her past activities and unusual behavior seems to fit more the pattern of a pro-Russian American sympathizer (than) a trained asset of the Russian intelligence services or an actual intelligence officer themselves," said Ali, a senior National Security Council official in the Trump administration, who also spent 16 years in top national security positions at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security and FBI.

Given her Biden-bashing, "At some point Russian intelligence personnel may have tried to recruit Reade and carry out taskings on their behalf," Ali said. But if so, "those efforts seem to have been fallen far short of their original objectives. "

On the broadcast, Reade is highly critical of the United States and very complimentary of Russia, and Butina and Putin himself.

“She's out there downplaying and dissing the United States, saying that our inflation is at 40%, which of course it is not, that gas prices have never been higher, that child poverty has never been higher, homelessness has never been higher,” said Helt, who left the CIA in 2014 after a dozen years traveling the world, and writing for and briefing the senior-most U.S. policymakers. “I mean, you want to talk about a Russian information operation, that is one. I was just horrified. It offended me viscerally.”

Helt said that one of Russia’s specialties is persuading unwitting Americans to do their bidding, including undermining the United States through the criticism of one of its own citizens. “To me, if I'm an intelligence officer watching that, I think she could absolutely be a Russian asset. She could be witting or unwitting. But when she shows up in Moscow, I think she's witting at that point.”

Biden accuser Tara Reade bolts US for Russia

[Vakanai]

Is there any stupid cliche he doesn't fall into?

Sadly only one - the cliche of being hoisted up by his own petards, getting his just desserts, or otherwise facing consequences for his stupid actions. Somehow facing justice for his stupid yet heinous acts is the one stupid thing he never falls into.

[Vakanai]

I disagree, it might not matter in the court of opinion, but **** the court of opinion. It will mater in a court of laws.

Might not matter there depending on the judge. The political right has stuffed the legal system with conservative judges, and I'm afraid that's going to come to a very disturbing and disruptive moment pretty soon, even more than Roe v Wade. Whether it's someone deciding in Trump's favor in a criminal court, or a Supreme Court decision like former (Republican) presidents can't be tried, who's to say. But I'm deeply worried we haven't heard the last of the twisted farce US courts have become with these conservative machinations over the years.

[babyblob]

UGH. Pence is expected to announce his run next week on the 7TH. He has to know that he has no chance. Is he really dumb enough to think he can pull MAGA voters away from Trump? I can honestly not think of a reason he is entering the race. He is going to lose so badly and Trump will eat him alive, he will look like a joke and that cant be good for his image if he wants to run for another office later.

[Tendrin]

By now, it’s obvious that the reactionary culture warriors who want to reshape American education are inspiring a serious liberal counter-mobilization in response. Remarkably, this backlash to the backlash is gaining momentum in some of the reddest parts of the country.

A raucous school board meeting in Hernando County, Fla., on Tuesday night captured what’s striking about this new phenomenon. The scene featured teachers pointedly declaring that right-wing attacks are driving them to quit, even as parents and students forcefully stood up on their behalf, demanding a halt to the hysteria.

“I have never seen such fear from my colleagues as I have seen in the last two months,” social studies teacher Victoria Hunt told the board.

The whole affair really put the culture-war-mongers to shame. Not that they’ll see it that way; as the meeting also showed, scenes like this — with maximum rage, fear, tension and suspicion surging between parents and educators — are precisely the outcome they want.

Pushback at the local, school level is beginning to take shape.

https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/st...69417520459781

The thread here includes a free link to the WaPo article I am quoting.

[The Cool Thatguy]

A crowded GOP feild and Trump. Golly, haven't seen that before

[Malvolio]

UGH. Pence is expected to announce his run next week on the 7TH. He has to know that he has no chance. Is he really dumb enough to think he can pull MAGA voters away from Trump? I can honestly not think of a reason he is entering the race. He is going to lose so badly and Trump will eat him alive, he will look like a joke and that cant be good for his image if he wants to run for another office later.

Maybe he's writing a book?