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 posted profiles of Washington State Senator Michael Baumgartner, who has policy stances like putting an end to no-fault divorce, a return to the gold standard (which economists say would tank not just the American economy, but the global economy), U.S. withdrawal from the United Nations and the World Trade Organization (based off of Agenda 21 conspiracy theory fervor), and privatizing Social Security. He has not only voted against the legalization of gay marriage, but also would like gay couples to be prevented from adopting children. He also showed himself to be bizarre on the campaign trail in 2012, running attack ads against Maria Cantwell for being “unmarried” and undermining the role of the mother in child rearing, as well as responding to a reporter’s question about his thoughts on Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” comments by later e-mailing that reporter a picture of a Navy SEAL who died in Afghanistan and a note telling him to “go f*** himself”. He apologized for the latter unprofessional reaction, only to later say his apology was only sent on behalf of his staff, and retract even that apology. The 2018 Blue Wave scared Baumgartner enough that he didn’t run for re-election.

On this date in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Rhode Island State Senator Nicholas Kettle, who first stumbled his way into office to represent District 21 at the age of but twenty in the 2010 Tea Party Wave, after winning the GOP Primary by only 23 votes, and then the general election with only 51% of the vote. He became the youngest person elected to the State Senate at the time. That historic milestone will not, however, be what is remembered about Kettle, who kept narrowly hanging on for four terms in office. In February of 2018, he was arrested after his girlfriend found his iPad lying about, and discovered that on it, Kettle had taken nude photos of her without her consent. What was Kettle’s motive? To trade the nudes for nude photos of a friend’s wife. Kettle’s text message history showed he asked for tips on how to film but be “stealthy”, so he was well aware he was committing a crime. Also, Kettle and his “friend” talked about trying to swap partners, proposing group sex with their girlfriends, and a tendency to share pictures of their own genitalia with each other… While police were investigating that matter, a second complaint got filed by a former page within the Rhode Island State Senate in 2011, who claimed Kettle tried extorting him for sexual favors when he was a teenager, (yes, it’s another Republican caught chasing boys) threatening he would end his own political aspirations if he did not concede. Kettle had even boasted of the sexual encounter with two friends, who came forward to help investigators. Nicholas Kettle’s colleagues were ready to vote on his expulsion when he resigned, and in his resignation letter, he whined about not receiving due process. That due process saw him end up pleading guilty to two counts video voyeurism and getting three years of probation to avoid jail time. He’ll likely be on sex offender lists for the rest of his life, which means we aren’t foreseeing him having a political comeback.


Rob Brooks

On this date one year ago, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” first profiled Rob Brooks, who has served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from District 60 since first being elected in the 2014 mid-term elections. However, Brooks’ career nearly came to a screeching halt in late 2018 when he drunkenly wandered into a bar with several female Republican colleagues, and declared he was buying everyone drinks while refusing to do so for fellow Republican Jessie Rodriguez, announcing, “except Jessie because she's Hispanic.” While the other legislators present did confirm that exchange took place, they chose not to speak publicly about the never-ending spray of inappropriate sexual remarks that continued to fall out of Brooks’ cake hole throughout the evening. He was even called on to resign by Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker of all people. Yes, THAT Scott Walker.

On the legislative end, Rob Brooks is a Personhood supporter, who voted for legislation to require “potential abortion-reversal drugs be made available” (as if abortion is reversible), as well as sponsoring AB 179, a bill aimed at creating requirements for abortions that “result in premature birth”. Meanwhile, he’s so “pro-life” that he voted for AB 455, to authorize any child of any age to hunt with an adult, so that toddlers can legally carry a handgun if their parents are dumb enough to let them.

He’s also got draconian ideas for welfare recipients, including voting to increase work requirements for them, and supporting the failed conservative policy of drug testing people on welfare, even though the results discover that there’s statistically no drug use by people on assisted benefits because they can’t afford drugs. (Not to mention it’s a violation of their 4th Amendment rights.)

Rob Brooks overwhelmingly survived a primary challenge in 2020, and then in the general election, only had to win over a few write-in candidates to get a fourth term in office. He immediately got to work helping his state by… sponsoring legislation that would prohibit Gov. Tony Evers from having the power to use emergency orders to create mask mandates or stay-at-home orders to prevent the spread of Covid-19. During the height of the pandemic to date. Because there apparently isn’t a way that this guy isn’t an ***hole.

[Tendrin]

Hey, WBE. Got this loon?

Chaos. Incivility. Lack of respect for authority.

Those are the things a Montana lawmaker accuses anti-fascists of in a new resolution intended to designate the movement a “domestic terrorist organization.”

But the measure is struggling to get off the ground, and the 20-year-old MAGA acolyte-turned-state lawmaker pushing it seems to be the reason why.

Days after far-right rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol, Montana state Rep. Braxton Mitchell introduced a resolution aimed at the opposite end of the political spectrum: “antifa,” the loosely affiliated left-wing anti-fascist movement. Nevermind that “antifa” is not a centralized group, nor that the United States government makes no such designations of “domestic terror.”

The bill is the latest attempt to push penalties on the left even as national security experts plead with lawmakers to watch for new attacks from the far right. Unlike previous anti-anti-fascist bills, however, this one’s biggest stumbling block might be its own sponsor.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/20-old-ma...095703192.html

[mogwen]

If only we could follow the French model and jail an ex-president if he's a criminal.

Yes, we did it. Unfortunately, he won't be making prison time, you can escape jail if your sentence is less than 2 years. Amusingly, Sarkozy himself came publicly against this when he was seeking election back in 2015, if he has any integrity he will not accept an electronic bracelet and ask to do his prison time. Hint: he has none.
That's why I posted yesterday, yet no one seemed interested by it.
Alas, for me it sadly exemplifies something I saw on this thread.
If it's outside your "american bubble", you're not really interested by what happens elsewhere.
Not you personally of course, worstblogever. It saddens me a lot because I like this thread, but the more time I spend on it the more I discover people here are more interested in their own narratives than curiosity about what the others aredoing, even if that could help them understand what is happening in their own country.
Only UK politics (probably because they speak english too) finds a little resonance in these threads.
I find it sad because I take time to be curious about your news, your politics, I make efforts to read your articles, and offer my point of view on what heppens in your country, yet you don't seem interested at all in what happens in my world.
That's far from being the first time I notice this.

[Mister Mets]

I don't know why you seem to think that hiring new teachers will somehow lead to more experienced teachers being pushed out, because as it is now the turnover has nothing to do with that and everything to do with teaching largely being regarded as a thankless, dead end career path, and many of them quite reasonably will seek to switch to more lucrative jobs if the opportunity presents itself. Programs like Teach for America exist in order to plug this gap, but it is still not nearly enough, and while it might not be ideal to have a fresh college grad trying to manage a class of rowdy teenagers, schools don't really have much of a choice, because they don't have the luxury of putting prospective teachers through a prolonged apprenticeship before giving them any responsibilities.

I don't think hiring new teachers leads to more experienced teachers getting pushed out. It's more that programs meant to hire smart people to be teachers for a few years, like Teach For America or a new approach modeled on the GI Bill, mean that there's less incentive to fix the problem of high turnover. It's not that it pushes out experienced teachers; it doesn't result in enough experienced teachers.

It would be better to prioritize ways to get good teachers to stick around, to provide new teachers with better training, and to change the promotion structure so that teaching isn't seen as a dead end profession.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Heard a report on my local TV station this morning that Trump and Melania got the vaccine before leaving the White House. Considering Trump spent months last year calling COVID a hoax created by Democrats, then downplaying the virus while deaths skyrocketed from coast to coast, the fact he finagled his way into getting a shot irritates me no end.

[Mister Mets]

Heard a report on my local TV station this morning that Trump and Melania got the vaccine before leaving the White House. Considering Trump spent months last year calling COVID a hoax created by Democrats, then downplaying the virus while deaths skyrocketed from coast to coast, the fact he finagled his way into getting a shot irritates me no end.

Many politicians got a shot of the vaccine, including Pence. If Pence was eligible, an older, fatter guy was too.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...rance-n1251655

If anything, the problem isn't that Trump got the vaccine, but that he didn't promote it enough. He should have been doing more to encourage people to get the vaccine.

[Kirby101]

But why was healthy, 50 year old Melania eligible? And yes, that they did it in secret, while still calling for everything to open, condemn mask wearing and social distancing is the problem.

[Tami]

Many politicians got a shot of the vaccine, including Pence. If Pence was eligible, an older, fatter guy was too.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...rance-n1251655

If anything, the problem isn't that Trump got the vaccine, but that he didn't promote it enough. He should have been doing more to encourage people to get the vaccine.

Many of his supporters are anti-vaxxers, or became so because of him, somehow. I'm not sure of the mental path that took, but if you take a president (now ex-president)who won't wear a mask and kept underplaying the pandemic and encouraging the idea that it was a hoax, that it wasn't so bad and that no one would really get sick or die from it, then I guess it's not a long stretch to embolden anti-vaxxers as well.

I think Mary Trump is even more right than we realize. Trump's followers 'Are Trump' in that they are not only his followers but also that they want to be like him. Which means being given permission to be their worse selves, even if it means partying like it's 1999 and getting themselves, and those around them, killed.

Jim Jones made a batch of poisoned Kool Aiade and got his followers to drink it, Trump is doing something similar yet slower, encouraging his supporters to be reckless enough to land them in the hospital or in prison.

They see Trump as Invincible, and they think of themselves as invincible, untouchable, as if by magic. Magical thinking is the term I think.

As far as Trump is concerned, he is just culling the herd and those followers who survive will be 'stronger'

Trump actually reminds me of Naraku from InuYasha. There was an episode where Naraku trapped hundreds of demons and put them together in a magical containment device (I can't remember the exact details). The idea being that they fight it out, or consume each other, to the point where there was only one demon left and that demon would be the strongest, only it didn't work out very well for him.


Anyway, Trump is culling his followers to create a stronger, more loyal, and dedicated army of followers who will adore him no matter what. But that is pure fiction on his part.

Given enough time, all he will find is that he is alone. Trump, alone, is nothing. He incapable of doing anything, or getting away with anything, if everyone else turns their back on him.

I knew this right from the beginning, I even wrote about it and posted it on Twitter back in 2017, that Trump could only survive if he had people enabling him. But the more he uses and throws away people, the fewer people he will have to support him. The more likely he is to fall off of his pedestal in a big way.

With only 55% support at CPAC, the numbers are starting to go down, and over the years they may continue to do so.

[PwrdOn]

I don't think hiring new teachers leads to more experienced teachers getting pushed out. It's more that programs meant to hire smart people to be teachers for a few years, like Teach For America or a new approach modeled on the GI Bill, mean that there's less incentive to fix the problem of high turnover. It's not that it pushes out experienced teachers; it doesn't result in enough experienced teachers.

It would be better to prioritize ways to get good teachers to stick around, to provide new teachers with better training, and to change the promotion structure so that teaching isn't seen as a dead end profession.

How exactly would you propose doing that? What incentives do the best and brightest have to go into a career as an underpaid and overworked public servant, when there are so many more lucrative jobs available in the private sector? Even if you were really passionate about teaching, you're going to struggle to pay off your student debt and justify the investment you made in your education, even if your societal contribution would be much greater than it would be had you gone into business or finance instead. And don't count on finding some hidden mountain of cash that is currently being siphoned off by corrupt school administrators, there is of course some of that but it's not nearly significant enough to make up the shortfall.

[DrNewGod]

Or he goes on trial, is convicted of his crimes and winds up in the big house.

(Yeah, I know, pipe dream)

Even then, unless he dies in there, I'm not sure that bleeds out the poison. I can see a group of nutbars clinging to hope that Trump will emerge and lead them to greatness ala Nelson Mandela (although, they'd never admit to taking "one of those people" as a model).

It might be possible that some other charismatic Wannabe-Mussolini seizes Trump's Dark Sabre whilst he's a'hoosegow. But unless that somebody's named Trump, Jr., I'd bet on La Familia Trump and their lackeys doing all in their might to sabotage said usurper. Even Donnie J might get undercut if Trump's still alive and able to communicate.

[shooshoomanjoe]

But why was healthy, 50 year old Melania eligible? And yes, that they did it in secret, while still calling for everything to open, condemn mask wearing and social distancing is the problem.

Just like how trump voted by mail but told his supporters don't vote by mail.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Even then, unless he dies in there, I'm not sure that bleeds out the poison. I can see a group of nutbars clinging to hope that Trump will emerge and lead them to greatness ala Nelson Mandela (although, they'd never admit to taking "one of those people" as a model).

It might be possible that some other charismatic Wannabe-Mussolini seizes Trump's Dark Sabre whilst he's a'hoosegow. But unless that somebody's named Trump, Jr., I'd bet on La Familia Trump and their lackeys doing all in their might to sabotage said usurper. Even Donnie J might get undercut if Trump's still alive and able to communicate.

Donnie Junior is even more of an idiot than his daddy. I doubt even the most fervent Trumpanzee or Qpublican would take Junior seriously as a presidential candidate.

I know what you're thinking: "But yeah, no one took Trump seriously in 2016 and look what happened!" Still, I doubt lightning would strike twice.

[DrNewGod]

Donnie Junior is even more of an idiot than his daddy. I doubt even the most fervent Trumpanzee or Qpublican would take Junior seriously as a presidential candidate.

I know what you're thinking: "But yeah, no one took Trump seriously in 2016 and look what happened!" Still, I doubt lightning would strike twice.

I have abandoned "surely, nobody could be that stupid" reasoning when it comes to the GQP.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Donnie Junior is even more of an idiot than his daddy. I doubt even the most fervent Trumpanzee or Qpublican would take Junior seriously as a presidential candidate.

I know what you're thinking: "But yeah, no one took Trump seriously in 2016 and look what happened!" Still, I doubt lightning would strike twice.

Trump Jr. Doesn't even have lightning. He's like a two watt spark, at best. His foot has a permanent residence in his mouth.

[Kirby101]

https://twitter.com/TBishUp/status/1366778043365163010

This literally just happened at the Supreme Court

Justice Barrett: What is the interest of the GOP in keeping (laws that suppress minority voters) on the books?

Republican Lawyer: It puts us at a competitive disadvantage relative to Democrats. Politics is a zero-sum game.
10:50 AM · Mar 2, 2021·Twitter Web App

But the GOP doesn't suppress voter's rights.