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

[Malvolio]

Not saying he isn't...

Just that he doesn't seem to have any problem kicking a hornet's nest.

Not only that, but he really ought to own up to the fact that he had a hand in setting the stage for pieces of work like Greene and Gosar.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day posted profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, Thomas Massie, who you would expect to be reasonably intelligent, what with a successful tech company with two dozen patents to his credit and a Master’s Degree from MIT. Sadly, though, Massie at some point became a disciple of Ron Paul, even apparently trying to emulate Rand Paul’s awful hairstyle so he can blend in as a member of the family. Massie’s dedication to libertarian smaller government to an extent that you wonder if he’s doing it in the hopes that it’s some sort of magic ritual to get Ayn Rand to rise from the grave. But three weeks after the Newtown shootings, and as the new session of Congress began after it, Massie had the unmitigated gall to submit a bill to allow guns in school zones, by repealing a law passed by the first Bush administration and supported by the NRA at its passage. He also shrugged and claimed that the nine victims of Dylann Roof at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina were to blame for their own deaths because the church had "disallowed guns", which is goddamned awful. He has voted against the new version of the Violence Against Women Act, Hurricane Sandy Relief, and is one of only 3 people in Congress to have voted against the Stolen Valor Act, all because he thinks the government should instead do NOTHING. And he’s unafraid of being the one lone vote against any and all legislation, like when he was the lone vote against naming Israel as a strategic partner of the United States. He voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown and called the compromise over the fiscal cliff as “a really big turd sandwich without the bread”. But on top over everything else, we noted Massie has the quality of his hero Ron Paul where he hitches his caboose onto anti-government conspiracy theories, including falsely claiming the military gave a “stand down” order during the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi and alluding to “knowing the truth” about 9/11 that would change everything Americans know about that dark day, and wanting the 28 page report about it declassified completely. Meanwhile, he’s the same moron who in April of 2017 who went on CNN to push back against reports that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad gassed his own people again, saying, “I don’t think he could have done that.” In February of 2017, Rep. Massie co-sponsored legislation to attempt to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency completely, and on October 10th, 2017 only days after a shooter in Las Vegas uses bump stocks in semi-automatic firearms to make them fully-automatic weapons and mass murder 58 people… Rep. Massie argued in favor of legalizing bump stocks nationwide, because apparently not enough people died in Vegas to appease his twisted libertarian worldview.

How are things looking for Thomas Massie in Kentucky? Do they love him there? Well, let’s put it this way, after that very libertarian vote he made against disaster relief aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce literally called him a “piece of s***” on Twitter. That’s not some random liberal we’re talking about… a friggin’ Chamber of Commerce went with that. He’s been defending international dictators and endorsing pedophiles like Roy Moore for Senate.

And, much as we are loathe to report it, Thomas Massie just won a fourth term in office in the 2018 elections, earning 62% of the vote. He didn’t even get sworn in for this term in office without drawing headlines again, this time for, days after Thanksgiving, mocking progressives for wanting Healthcare for All by arguing against the idea that human beings have a right to food:

”How long until someone runs on the platform of #FoodStampsForAll? If healthcare is a right, is food as well?”

Spoiler alert, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights confirmed food was a human right. Also, Massie’s supposed influence, Jesus Christ, was rather vocal about the value of feeding the hungry, so…

In 2019, Thomas Massie also embarrassed himself when he showed a lack of understanding about how Bachelor’s Degrees work as he bizarrely interrogated former Secretary fo State John Kerry about it in a Congressional hearing in regards to climate change. For a painful stretch of minutes, Massie kept conflating social sciences with natural sciences, as everyone in the room, particularly Kerry, wondered what the hell he was getting at.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Not saying he isn't...

Just that he doesn't seem to have any problem kicking a hornet's nest.

Yeah, that sure stirred up the MAGA Maggots, thus putting a bullseye on his back.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My Lord! You just CAN'T make up **** like this:

The Fox News Christmas Tree is on fire in NYC

[CaptainEurope]

Social Democrats win the German Bundestag election. They have the plurality of votes but not the majority. They got only 25.7% of the Bundestag seats. CDU/CSU has 24%. So the Frau Kanzlerin Angela Merkel will step down as chancellor after 16 years in power.

Since, no party has won a majority of votes and the parliament fails to elect a new chancellor, the German President will either appoint a new chancellor or dissolve the parliament.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_G...deral_election

The Bundestag can't dismiss a chancellor without first agreeing to appoint a new chancellor. That was one of several things the Germans learned from the failure of the Weimar Constitution. Weimar Republic had a dozen chancellors in 12 years, because Reichstag was able to dismiss most of the chancellors in a short time.

And of course, everything happened in a very civilized manner: The Social Democrats, Greens and FDP market liberals agreed on a coalition treaty and today, Olaf Scholz was voted by parliament to succeed Merkel as chancellor. The president then made it official.

Oh, and Scholz is only the 2nd German chancellor in post war history who took the oath of office without adding "so help me God." The other was Merkel's predecessor, Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder.

[Tami]

My Lord! You just CAN'T make up **** like this:

The Fox News Christmas Tree is on fire in NYC

Fox News Christmas tree set on fire in Midtown Manhattan; suspect identified

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- A large Christmas tree outside Fox's Midtown headquarters was set ablaze by an arsonist who was quickly taken into custody.

The 50-foot tree on Sixth Avenue went up in flames just before 12:15 a.m. Wednesday.

[Kirby101]

Did FoxNews have Clark Griswold do their lights?

[Hellion]

My Lord! You just CAN'T make up **** like this:

The Fox News Christmas Tree is on fire in NYC

I guess this is more grist for the GQP's "War on Christmas" mill...

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I guess this is more grist for the GQP's "War on Christmas" mill...

Well, for Faux News, that particular war came home.

[Xheight]

Well, for Faux News, that particular war came home.

puts Left wing violence back on the front page.

[babyblob]

Fox News Christmas tree set on fire in Midtown Manhattan; suspect identified

It was a dumb and dangerous thing for this guy to do. Someone could have been hurt. I get not liking Fox News but this was dumb as hell.

[Xheight]

Ruh Roh...

https://www.salon.com/2021/12/07/civ...s-in-congress/

Civil War or dissident? - off comments that illustrate mild critique are seized upon as a split? Crenshaw has never been mild in his rhetoric and this seems a likely extension of his background as a Vet supporting a fellow Vet in the case of his support of Kinzinger. He has been drifting away from the party core regardless of Trump's 's writing "2 down 8 to go!" about GOP Rep. Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, who also voted to impeach Trump, after Kinzinger also announced last month his plans to leave Congress. Crenshaw is clearly showing that he wants to be part of an establishment party not a revolutionary one and will probably find that TX voters will be happier with someone else if a challenger comes along.

While Crenshaw did not vote to impeach he do co-sign with
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC)
Rep. John Curtis (R-UT)
a letter condemning the pressure on Pence to hold up the electoral votes. The Steal happened and Crenshaw has been on the other side of the issue. Having won reelection in '20 he thinks he is untouchable. Stupid for a former SEAL.

https://bigleaguepolitics.com/dan-cr...e-rittenhouse/

[Xheight]

Meanwhile over at the trial of one of CNN's Lemon pals.

Jussie Smollett Asks Prosecutor To Stop Saying N-Word While Quoting His Text Messages

This follows on the news

CNN anchor Don Lemon warned disgraced actor Jussie Smollett in 2019 that Chicago police did not believe he was the victim of a hate crime, the actor revealed in court Monday.

The former Empire actor told the court that, according to Lemon, the Chicago police did not believe Smollett's story. Lemon admitted in 2019 he had contacted Smollett "every day" following the attack but said nothing about his knowledge of the police investigation. On Monday night, the anchor discussed the trial on his show, Don Lemon Tonight. He did not respond to Smollett's testimony that he tipped the actor off about the investigation.

The news comes just days after CNN fired star anchor Chris Cuomo for using his position to help his brother, former New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D.), combat allegations of sexual harassment. The network had suspended Cuomo after a New York attorney general report revealed the anchor worked with aides to unmask the governor's accusers and had probed other journalists about whether they were writing stories about the governor. Cuomo is reportedly preparing to sue the network to recoup financial losses from his now-terminated contract, which was worth $6 million annually.

https://freebeacon.com/media/cnns-do...or-tells-jury/

[Xheight]

It was a dumb and dangerous thing for this guy to do. Someone could have been hurt. I get not liking Fox News but this was dumb as hell.

I get people not liking congress and the awful things they have done but isn't this the real terrorism? Reminds us all of Another Homegrown Domestic Terrorist who has been radicalized by the left wing extremist rhetoric!

[babyblob]

I get people not liking congress and the awful things they have done but isn't this the real terrorism? Reminds us all of Another Homegrown Domestic Terrorist who has been radicalized by the left wing extremist rhetoric!

I dont think the burning of the Christmas tree was Terrorism. not on the level of lets say storming the capital. Setting fire to the tree was dangerous and he should be punished.