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

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who used her office to serve, alternatively as a puppet for Florida Governor Rick Scott, and to waste taxpayer money on failed lawsuits to try and overturn the Affordable Care Act, or same sex marriage. The latter case fascinating because she has been divorced multiple times, but is supposedly obsessed with “upholding the sanctity of marriage”. Among her more disturbing abuses of power include signing an amicus brief to provide support for Arizona's controversial anti-immigration law, SB 1070, trying to overturn laws to allow gun sales to 18 to 20 year olds (Note: This was in the wake of the trial of George Zimmerman in Florida after the death of Trayvon Martin.) asking Florida Governor Rick Scott to reschedule the execution of a death row inmate because it conflicted with her personal schedule so she could host her re-election fundraiser party, and an investigation that revealed that both Pam Bondi and Rick Scott had violated Florida's "Sunshine Laws" for transparency by destroying e-mails and failing to retain text messages. For someone in charge of ensuring the law is upheld, she’s remarkable for defying courts whenever possible and breaking the law quite a bit. After winning re-election in 2014, Bondi immediately used the power of her position to dig her heels in and try to do everything she could to keep same sex couples from getting married in Florida, even beyond the point where the Supreme Court ruled in the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, asking for delays before allowing gay marriage to happen for… reasons, and threatening to arrest individuals who performed marriage ceremonies during that would-be interim. Most could only guess as to her motivations, other than trying to make herself a martyr and later parlay that into running for higher office. Maybe she should have been more focused on the fact that up until April, unmarried couples in Florida were forbidden from living together since 1868. Convenient that she never bothered enforcing one edict about romantic partners, and hell bent about another one, right? She probably wished people didn’t remember that fact about her at one point… As tragedy struck in Orlando, Florida and the biggest mass shooting in the history of the United States took place at Pulse, a gay nightclub in the city that claimed the lives of 49 victims, Pam Bondi began After YEARS of fighting to file whatever lawsuits she could to prevent marriage equality and insisting that allowing it would cause “public harm” in the wake of the shooting, she began to posture herself as a champion of the LGBTQ community that would keep them safe. What she didn’t realize, though, was that she would be interviewed by the Silver Fox himself, Anderson Cooper, who was having none of it, and as professionally as a journalist can do so, effectively let her know, “I haven’t forgotten about you motherf***er.” Feel free to watch CNN’s Cooper remind her of all of her previous work with the LGBTQ community, and her hypocrisy at trying to play at being their friends now. It’s… breathtaking. So the good news is, love won, and Pam Bondi lost (as she frequently does in her quixotic quests, at taxpayer expense). But there’s a far more interesting news story involving her floating around, and it just so happens to also tied into the corruption scandals of one Donald Trump. There was talk about while Trump was being investigated for fraud in relation to Trump University, his online real-estate education program that most describe succinctly as “straight up fraud” that the New York Attorney general pursued several lawsuits on the behalf of individuals wronged by Trump’s business dealings. But as it turns out, New York wasn’t the only state to file a lawsuit on behalf of a large number of people defrauded… both Texas and Florida saw people file complaints as well. Pam Bondi received those complaints back in 2013, and shortly thereafter, Donald Trump, out of the kindness of his heart (yeah, right) decided to donate $25,000 to her re-election campaign. She never did anything to help the people he wronged, and effectively filed the case in the trash. Pam Bondi, of course, has not commented on her failure to do her job, and get $25,000 to sit on her hands by Trump (who she endorsed for president, of course). But it’s sure a disgusting bit of quid pro quo that amounts to bribery. Bondi continued her shady relationship with Cheeto Mussolini has seen her appointed to a White House position to serve on a commission to curtail our nation’s opioid abuse epidemic, serving under New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and doing… nothing except collecting a paycheck. Considering most of Bondi’s career as an attorney general ended in her failing to execute her agenda, for the time being, we have been spared seeing her run for higher office.

It was on this date in 2019 that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Loretta Miller, a 2018 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives for Florida’s 15th Congressional District who was, for a brief time, the only Republican on the ballot in the race after long time Republican Congressman Dennis Ross abruptly announced his retirement in April of 2018. The Republican Party quickly scrambled to find someone… ANYONE else to get on their primary ballot, because Loretta Miller was really into spreading conspiracy theories, including the legendary “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory about the Clinton family running a child sex ring out of the basement of a pizzeria in Washington, D.C. that doesn’t actually have anything below the ground floor of it. The former member of the Israeli Defense Force also was advocating for the xenophobic policy of “English only” to be the only language spoken by U.S. citizens, which is, of course, unconstitutional. The Florida GOP managed to keep Loretta Miller off the ballot in 2018, and she passed away in April of 2020.

On this date in 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Irina Vilarino, a 2020 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 26th Congressional District. Yes, Vilarino had designs on upsetting Congresswoman Debbie Murcasel-Powell, and was so eager to fundraise to take her down, she didn’t bother discriminating on where she was accepting donations from, getting caught taking donations that had been funneled to her from Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro. But that’s not even the beginning of the problems that Vilarino would have had as a candidate. She has promoted several conspiracy theories on social media through the past several years, including the Birther Conspiracy about Barack Obama, a conspiracy started by Dinesh D’Souza that Obama’s academic history at Columbia University is false, and an anti-Semitic conspiracy claiming that George Soros was behind a secret campaign to tank Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court. And boy, did she dig in hard to support an accused sexual predator in Kavanaugh. Vilarino was one of five Republican women who excused him in a CNN interview, and was questioning why Christine Blasey Ford was “still stuck on that?” because it was 36 years ago. Meanwhile online, Vilarino continued promoting Qanon conspiracy theory member accounts that were slandering the victim, and accusing her of promiscuity in high school. So of course Vilarino had become a darling favorite of Donald Trump. She was invited to the White House for Hispanic Heritage Month as a Cuban immigrant… and proceeded to call for an “American Heritage Month”, because she’s apparently got some self-loathing. Alas, once better candidates joined the race who started to do a better job of fundraising than her (without accepting money from dictators, even), she dropped out of the race on April 23rd, 2020, and will hopefully not run for office at any point in the future. As she’s not doing so to our knowledge, we will set aside her profile at this time to take a look at a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 993-50, since this was established in July 2014.

[worstblogever]

KW Miller

Welcome to what is the 993rd profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling K.W. Miller, who only registered himself on the ballot as an Independent because he couldn’t manage to register in time as a Republican, like he wanted (and is). Miller is yet the latest in our long line of folks who ran for office in 2020 while being a die-hard supporter of the Qanon conspiracy theory. Miller constantly tagged posts with Qanon hashtags, the Qanon motto, and “The Great Awakening”, but was also known to tag posts with #Pizzagate while he was at it.

But K.W. Miller… well, he’s a special kind of stupid. Because over July 4th weekend in 2020, he decided to posit several conspiracy theories on Twitter, one after another. The first was that Beyonce Knowles wasn’t actually black, and was doing the bidding of George Soros. Y’know, run of the mill stuff:

“Beyoncé is not even African American. She is faking this for exposure. Her real name is Ann Marie Lastrassi. She is Italian. This is all part of the Soros Deep State agenda for the Black Lives Matter movement. BEYONCÉ YOU ARE ON NOTICE!”

As if this bizarre conspiracy theory about Beyonce’s heritage wasn’t kooky enough, K.W. Miller wasn’t done, and then decided to try and link Patti LaBelle to the Illuminati, the Deep State, and Lucifer. We’re serious.

”Patti LaBelle is another Illuminati globalist puppet. 1991: ‘I’m under your spell. I don’t want to break free. You can make a slave out of me. I worship you and nobody else. I pledge my love to you forever.’ Who was she professing this to? Moloch? Lucifer? Who? What does Deep State Operative Patti Labelle know about a secret plan to reinstall Barack Obama as POTUS?”

We don’t think K.W. Miller will ever win office, whether it’s as a Republican or any other affiliation, considering he managed all of 2.2% of the vote, which is probably 2.2% more than he deserves.

[Mister Mets]

There has not been a full investigation. That is what the Commission is for.. My article is from May and this has not been resolved.
And yes Members of Congress who give info to people planning an insurrection is against the law.

Looks like you will never accept how culpable your Party was in all this.

Your article was from January 15. The link says 01/15.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01...eachment-trump

The Times updated a part of the article in March 24, rather than May, but that had nothing to do with the section about the capitol police opening an investigation based on speculation during Democratic lawmakers. It was about how initial speculation about the death of a police officer was incorrect.

UPDATE: New information has emerged regarding the death of the Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick that questions the initial cause of his death provided by officials close to the Capitol Police.

The F.B.I. has conducted dozens of interviews in the killing of the Capitol Police officer who died after confronting the pro-Trump mob last week and other assaults on law enforcement during the violence, according to a bureau official.

An earlier F.B.I. memo, sent to the private sector and others, had wrongly said that the bureau was investigating 37 people in the death of the officer, Brian Sicknick, but it relied on incorrect internal information; the F.B.I. official confirmed that the figure was inaccurate. It was not clear how many people the F.B.I. have identified who might have information about Mr. Sicknick’s killing.

Law enforcement officials initially said Mr. Sicknick was struck with a fire extinguisher, but weeks later, police sources and investigators were at odds over whether he was hit. Medical experts have said he did not die of blunt force trauma, according to one law enforcement official.

[Tami]

Opinion: Marjorie Taylor Greene led early in the House’s crazy stakes. But a dark horse has emerged.

It’s a real horse race to determine who will be the looniest House Republican of 2021.

Much as in real horse racing, there will be no Triple Crown winner this year. Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby, but the victory was marred by evidence of doping, and Medina Spirit then lost the Preakness to Rombauer. Rombauer’s reign was brief, falling to Essential Quality at the Belmont.

In the House of Representatives’ crazy stakes, likewise, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-QAnon) made an early Run for the Roses with talk of Jewish “space lasers,” stalking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and claiming that mask mandates are tantamount to the Holocaust. But Greene fell back into the crazy pack after Churchill Downs, and, in a surprise development, Louie Gohmert (R-Tex.), a perennial also-ran, took top honors at Pimlico by calling the Jan. 6 insurrection a nothingburger and by attending a QAnon conference at which the violent overthrow of the U.S. government was discussed.

But the final leg of crazytown’s Triple Crown has just gone to a dark horse, Rep. Andrew S. Clyde. The first-term Georgia Republican put himself on the map with his notion that the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “was a normal tourist visit.” And now, with an assist from Gohmert and from former Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli (a crazy horse long ago put to pasture), Clyde has filed a federal lawsuit on a matter of the most pressing constitutional importance.

“This is a direct assault on a foundational legal principle of our republic and it should cause great alarm in all of us,” Clyde, wearing a tie clip in the shape of an automatic weapon, announced to reporters outside the Capitol Monday.

Furlongs of grave allegations raced from his lips. “Unconstitutional!” “Authoritarian conduct!” “An active ongoing attack on our democracy!”

What existential threat to our country had Clyde uncovered? The Chinese? The Russians? The Proud Boys?

No. Clyde is mad about magnetometers.

Since the insurrection, he and all 434 of his colleagues have been required to walk through metal detectors to get to the House floor. Clyde, a former gun shop owner (in which capacity he fought the IRS), is along with Gohmert one of a small few who have refused to cooperate with the Capitol Police’s efforts to keep guns out of the chamber. His refusal cost him $15,000 in fines.

Now, Clyde is suing because he wants “to do everything within my power to expose House Resolution 73 [the magnetometer rule] for the danger it poses to our Republic.” Apparently, the danger it poses is mostly to Clyde and Gohmert. The ethics committee dropped fines against Reps. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).

[shooshoomanjoe]

Five months ago they investigated whether members of Congress gave tours to anyone who did something dumb.

That's not the same thing as anyone giving inside information. It is legal for members of Congress to give tours, even to people who do something criminal and stupid later. I'll note that five months and eight days later, there's no proof this happened, despite records of everyone who takes congressional tours being a COVID protocol, and all the cameras in the capitol.

The question of whether the investigation is meaningful is complicated. If members of congress call for an investigation, their concerns should be taken seriously. But it's not evidence of serious concerns. Members of congress you disagree with are going to call for investigations for the wrong reasons, but it's often better to have the investigation just to avoid the talking point.


Which of these approaches fits Clyburn?

He does not appear to fit "Just America" given his concern about "defund the police" hurting Democrats politically.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-c...-lives-matter/

There's also no indication Packer views all approaches as equally deficient.

The US Capitol website says, to today, that it's closed for tours due to COVID. So why were GOP Congressional members giving tours when it was shut down?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Opinion: Marjorie Taylor Greene led early in the House’s crazy stakes. But a dark horse has emerged.

I pity poor WBE. His liver is gonna end up in worse shape than James Bond's after dealing with all the GQP loonies in his queue to profile. And Clyde sounds like a first class nutter.

[BeastieRunner]

Maybe he was just stealing a down payment for the CSGOPOTD support fund?

[Kirby101]

Republican cognitive dissonance. Electing a an idiotic nut case to Congress because they have an R after their name, and when they show themselves to be even more idiotic and nuttier than they first appeared, doubling down on your support.

[Jack Dracula]

Never mind. It was a dumb joke anyway.

[Malvolio]

KW Miller

Welcome to what is the 993rd profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling K.W. Miller, who only registered himself on the ballot as an Independent because he couldn’t manage to register in time as a Republican, like he wanted (and is). Miller is yet the latest in our long line of folks who ran for office in 2020 while being a die-hard supporter of the Qanon conspiracy theory. Miller constantly tagged posts with Qanon hashtags, the Qanon motto, and “The Great Awakening”, but was also known to tag posts with #Pizzagate while he was at it.

But K.W. Miller… well, he’s a special kind of stupid. Because over July 4th weekend in 2020, he decided to posit several conspiracy theories on Twitter, one after another. The first was that Beyonce Knowles wasn’t actually black, and was doing the bidding of George Soros. Y’know, run of the mill stuff:



As if this bizarre conspiracy theory about Beyonce’s heritage wasn’t kooky enough, K.W. Miller wasn’t done, and then decided to try and link Patti LaBelle to the Illuminati, the Deep State, and Lucifer. We’re serious.



We don’t think K.W. Miller will ever win office, whether it’s as a Republican or any other affiliation, considering he managed all of 2.2% of the vote, which is probably 2.2% more than he deserves.

You don't mention which State this piece of work is registered in. Not that it matters, I guess, if he only gets 2.2% of the vote.

[worstblogever]

You don't mention which State this piece of work is registered in. Not that it matters, I guess, if he only gets 2.2% of the vote.

Florida's 18th.

[worstblogever]

Meanwhile, the Trump/Gaetz GOP candidate who lost to Charlie Crist in FL-13 back in November, Anna Paulina Luna, just accused all three of her prospective 2022 primary opponents of conspiring to murder her.

[AnakinFlair]

Oh God, we're in the 90s now.

I can't do this again!

I liked the 90's. Good music, flannel shirts, getting my first car ('72 Buick Skylark)....

Guess what I got in the mail.....

From the Electric company....



You would THINK freezing most of Texas would get them to prepare for the heatwave or at least make sure we have power.

3 of the major school districts are still having school this week. It was so hot in my office-I had to go home.

Nah, they have to put all that money into building a wall. They have nothing left to shore up their grid.

[Gray Lensman]

Never mind. It was a dumb joke anyway.

The problem with political jokes is that sometimes they get elected.

[Tami]

The problem with political jokes is that sometimes they get elected.

Good one, I like that.