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

[Gray Lensman]

I fully expect to get a blanket party over this: Aren't AOC and The Squad the Dem's version of The Tea Party?

Only by a very loose definition, although that IS a popular way to portray them in the media.

The Tea Party wasn't actually a grassroots movement for starters, but an Astroturfed one.

Someone with more time (I am on a short break at work) can give a lot more reasons and details than I can at the moment.

[worstblogever]

I fully expect to get a blanket party over this: Aren't AOC and The Squad the Dem's version of The Tea Party?

Considering the Tea Party was funded and bought by the Koch Brothers to push corporate-funded policies of a libertarian bent to profit, and like... The Squad are just four people of color with ideals to the left of most members of Congress who won by being candidates with ideas people in their districts actually liked...

The comparison was never really great, but it seems to be best described as opposites on an axis of politically "has no empathy/has empathy".

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I fully expect to get a blanket party over this: Aren't AOC and The Squad the Dem's version of The Tea Party?

"Blanket party". Damn, I haven't heard that term since I retired from the Navy, and that was a quarter century ago! Meanwhile, as others have already said, The Squad is amateur hour in Dixie compared to the craziness of the Tea Party.

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Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s Report Bares Lawmakers’ Posts Bashing Election Before Capitol Riot

No congressional member can serve who has taken an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection, noted the California Democrat. And all because those asswipe Qpublicans supported Trump's big like about the election having been "stolen" from him.

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Ex-House Speaker Paul Ryan Is Fundraising For Pro-Impeachment Rep. Liz Cheney

The upcoming event highlights a continuing GOP divide. Well now, an interesting move by Eddie Munster.

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Biden Makes Republicans Feel Like ‘Deplorable Neanderthals,’ Complains Meghan McCain

McCain attacked Biden’s “Neanderthal thinking” critique of ending mask mandates — yet previously defended Trump calling people “animals.” That whiny bitch REALLY needs to shut the **** up.

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Revealed: The Star-Spangled Trumper Filmed Attacking Cops At The Capitol

Robert Scott Palmer assaulted police with a fire extinguisher on Jan. 6 — and he’s still at large. Meet one of the online sleuths working to change that. Find that shitstain. Arrest that shitstain. Charge that shitstain. JAIL THAT SHITSTAIN.

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Paul Gosar Spoke At A White Nationalist Conference. The GOP Doesn’t Care.

The congressman was the keynote speaker at a conference run by a virulent racist and anti-Semite. HuffPost tried to find a Republican lawmaker to rebuke him. And that's not going to happen either. White supremacists are a key demographic for the GQP.

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Street Artist Goes Full ‘Pulp Fiction’ To Encourage COVID-19 Vaccinations

“Injections save lives, both yours and mine, as anyone that has watched ‘Pulp Fiction’ will know,” artist John D’oh said of his John Travolta art in Bristol, England. Since Pulp Fiction is my all-time favorite film, I rather liked that.

[worstblogever]

The congressman was the keynote speaker at a conference run by a virulent racist and anti-Semite. HuffPost tried to find a Republican lawmaker to rebuke him. And that's not going to happen either. White supremacists are a key demographic for the GQP.

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Accountability is anathema to the GOP. A lot of the reason they won't be holding any individual member of Congress accountable for this sort of thing is, they've all been chatting with white nationalists for some time. It's like, "Did you ever appear anywhere with Steve Bannon? Stephen Miller? Roger Stone? How do you feel about Steve King? Marjorie Taylor Greene?"

This is why Tucker Carlson has been stanning on his White Power Power Hour every night for white nationalists after 1/6. "THEY'RE COMING FOR YOU. THEY'RE GONNA DECLARE ALL WHITE PEOPLE WHITE NATIONALISTS AND CANCEL YOU."

As if it's the new red scare... the white scare. But they're not coming for everyone. Just the actual perpetrators of domestic terrorism who are, y'know, white nationalists doing domestic terrorism.

But Tucker's trying to get Fox News' viewers foaming at the mouth to defend this sort of s***stain. Because that's who Tucker is, himself. And the politicians he adores.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Tom Kirby, of the Georgia House of Representatives, who supports the drug testing of welfare recipients, legalizing firearms in bars and college campuses, supporting bills to allow state officials to deny marriage licenses to LGBTQ citizens, his backing of the unconstitutional idea to put monuments of the Ten Commandments in government buildings, how he voted to authorize the concealed carry of firearms on college campuses, and votes for Georgia Republicans’ attempts at passing both a fetal heartbeat ban and a bill to try and permit Georgia teachers from teaching biblical classes in high schools… But that isn’t even the craziest part. That would have to have been his sponsorship of HB 287, a bill to prevent experimentations with human embryos and animal tissue. While no one anywhere was thinking about conducting such a study, but Kirby specified a scenario where human/jellyfish hybrid embyros might be created that would “glow in the dark”.

While he normally keeps his interests at the state level, Kirby was still willing to weigh in on Twitter that he felt the “rise of Radical Islam” was when “President Carter abandoned the Shaw of Iran”… which really explains a lot about the mind that could be worried about mutant jellyfish people. In spite of Kirby’s weird stance on potential mad science that isn’t even being suggested, he was allowed to run for re-election in 2020 completely unopposed, and hasn’t had any for his seat since 2016.

 

[numberthirty]

Sounds about right...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...-bill-n1259734

Senate Democrats reach deal to rework jobless benefits after Covid bill stalls

On the verge of passing a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief bill, Senate Democrats spent more than nine hours hammering out a deal that will make the jobless benefits less generous and adjust the time they will be available.

[Gray Lensman]

Sounds about right...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...-bill-n1259734

On the plus side, the duration of the benefits is a week or two longer and the benefits are now exempt from federal taxes.

Part of the problem with having such a razor thin majority is that even one member can force a deal more in line with what they want than the majority of the party. Still, it's better than being in the minority. The "Death to Democracy" party would be even worse about allowing legislation for Biden than they were for Obama.

[numberthirty]

On the plus side, the duration of the benefits is a week or two longer and the benefits are now exempt from federal taxes.

Part of the problem with having such a razor thin majority is that even one member can force a deal more in line with what they want than the majority of the party. Still, it's better than being in the minority. The "Death to Democracy" party would be even worse about allowing legislation for Biden than they were for Obama.

If the voters remember how they were nickel and dimed?

What are the odds that avoid winding up in the minority?

[Gray Lensman]

If the voters remember how they were nickel and dimed?

What are the odds that avoid winding up in the minority?

Better odds now than if they were a minority all along, seeing as how the Republican plan is "You'll get nothing and like it. And it's the Democrats fault.". The Dems need to make sure that the voting public doesn't forget that, and hopefully get them that 51st vote without relying on the VP, preferably more.

The GQP is feeling cornered, and that makes them more dangerous than ever.

[Tami]

F.B.I. Finds Contact Between Proud Boys Member and Trump Associate Before Riot

WASHINGTON — A member of the far-right nationalist Proud Boys was in communication with a person associated with the White House in the days just before the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.

Location, cellular and call record data revealed a call tying a Proud Boys member to the Trump White House, the official said. The F.B.I. has not determined what they discussed, and the official would not reveal the names of either party.

The connection revealed by the communications data comes as the F.B.I. intensifies its investigation of contacts among far-right extremists, Trump White House associates and conservative members of Congress in the days before the attack.

The same data has revealed no evidence of communications between the rioters and members of Congress during the deadly attack, the official said. That undercuts Democratic allegations that some Republican lawmakers were active participants that day.

A law enforcement official said that it was not Mr. Tarrio’s communication with Mr. Stone that was being scrutinized, and that the call made in front of Mr. Rubio’s home was a different matter. That two members of the group were in communication with people associated with the White House underscores the access that violent extremist groups like the Proud Boys had to the White House and to people close to the former president.

Mr. Stone denied “any involvement or knowledge of the attack on the Capitol” in a statement last month to The Times.

Mr. Tarrio was arrested in Washington on Jan. 4 on charges of destruction of property for his role in the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner that had been torn from a historic Black church during a protest in Washington in December. He was asked to leave the city, and was not present when the Capitol was attacked. His case is pending.

A law enforcement official said that it was not Mr. Tarrio’s communication with Mr. Stone that was being scrutinized, and that the call made in front of Mr. Rubio’s home was a different matter. That two members of the group were in communication with people associated with the White House underscores the access that violent extremist groups like the Proud Boys had to the White House and to people close to the former president.

Mr. Stone denied “any involvement or knowledge of the attack on the Capitol” in a statement last month to The Times.

Mr. Tarrio was arrested in Washington on Jan. 4 on charges of destruction of property for his role in the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner that had been torn from a historic Black church during a protest in Washington in December. He was asked to leave the city, and was not present when the Capitol was attacked. His case is pending.

The F.B.I. also obtained a “geofence” warrant for all the Android devices that Google recorded within the building during the assault, the officials said. A geofence warrant legally gives law enforcement a list of mobile devices that are able to be identified in a particular geographic area. Jill Sanborn, the head of counterterrorism at the F.B.I., testified before a Senate panel on Wednesday that all the data the F.B.I. had gathered in its investigation into the riot was obtained legally through subpoenas and search warrants.

Although investigators have found no contact between the rioters and members of Congress during the attack, those records have shown evidence in the days leading up to Jan. 6 of communications between far-right extremists and lawmakers who were planning to appear at the rally featuring Mr. Trump that occurred just before the assault, according to one of the officials.

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From back in December, while Trump was still in the WH

Enrique Tarrio, Proud Boys leader, visits White House as Trump supporters rally in D.C. - December 12, 2020

The White House played host Saturday to Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the controversial mens-only group called the Proud Boys whose members President Trump famously told to “stand back and standby.”

Mr. Tarrio shared photographs on the social media service Parler that showed him on the grounds of the White House, including one of him posing outside its entrance and another of its main portico.

The White House denied inviting Mr. Tarrio and said that he was on a public Christmas tour and did not meet with the president. Neither responded to messages requesting further information.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, was among prominent critics of the president to call him out as images spread on social media showing the Proud Boys leader at the White House.

[Mister Mets]

So, I heard ex-NYT writer, Bari Weiss considers her former workplace increasingly alienating for journalists whom she says are reduced to little more than unwilling sock puppets regurgitating the talking points of the far left. Thoughts?

This is why it would be helpful to include a link. The handful of people familiar with the story might have heard different versions of it. The Mary Sue is going to have a different take on it than Joe Rogan.

I fully expect to get a blanket party over this: Aren't AOC and The Squad the Dem's version of The Tea Party?

Not really. They're just too small.

The Tea Party caucus included twelve Senators, dozens of members of Congress and a lot of state legislators. The squad is a handful of members of Congress.

The squad might be part of a larger movement including former Bernie supporters, and other left-wing groups.

[PwrdOn]

Better odds now than if they were a minority all along, seeing as how the Republican plan is "You'll get nothing and like it. And it's the Democrats fault.". The Dems need to make sure that the voting public doesn't forget that, and hopefully get them that 51st vote without relying on the VP, preferably more.

The GQP is feeling cornered, and that makes them more dangerous than ever.

That's going to be difficult to accomplish if the Democrats keep trying to shut down the most active part of their voting base and failing to pass any of their policy objectives. The center-left base of the Democratic party is mostly burnt out from politics at this stage and just wants to go back to eating brunch, and the center-right voters they keep trying to court are just not going to vote for GOP-lite when they can just go for the real thing. And besides, since the Democrats seem to be willing neither to discipline their unruly caucus or nuke the filibuster, they'll have to win like 70+ seats to get any legislation passed.

[Jack Dracula]

On the plus side, the duration of the benefits is a week or two longer and the benefits are now exempt from federal taxes.

Part of the problem with having such a razor thin majority is that even one member can force a deal more in line with what they want than the majority of the party. Still, it's better than being in the minority. The "Death to Democracy" party would be even worse about allowing legislation for Biden than they were for Obama.

There is no plus side with certain people. For them, it's either the Democrats are flawlessly winning every battle or they're losing the entire war.
May as well get used to it now because they'll continue to beat that drum throughout Biden's administration and, god willing, Harris'.

[PwrdOn]

There is no plus side with certain people. For them, it's either the Democrats are flawlessly winning every battle or they're losing the entire war.
May as well get used to it now because they'll continue to beat that drum throughout Biden's administration and, god willing, Harris'.

The Democrats are losing the war though, they've been losing since the 1980s and they keep trotting out the same old strategy and expecting a different result.

[Tami]

The Democrats are losing the war though, they've been losing since the 1980s and they keep trotting out the same old strategy and expecting a different result.

I think the Dems are learning from past mistakes, though its' a slow process.