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

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Some Democrats in Congress are worried their colleagues might kill them

WASHINGTON — After last week's deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump, members of Congress are expressing something once unthinkable: that some of their own colleagues may be endangering their lives. Not in a rhetorical sense, but in a direct and immediate way.

"It's the most poisonous I've ever seen," Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said in an interview. "There's the overall sense that maybe if some of them have guns — and likely the ones who are more into conspiracy theories and QAnon with the pedophilic satanic rings — are we safe from them?"

Since the deadly riot Jan. 6, lawmakers have suggested — not, so far, backed up by evidence — that far-right colleagues may have helped plan or guide the attack. There are particular concerns about some newly elected members who have espoused extremist views, including comments supportive of the QAnon lie that accuses perceived enemies of Trump of being part of a child-abusing cult.

One House freshman is pushing to carry firearms on Capitol grounds, and another recounts being armed during the attack, further putting their colleagues on edge. With the support of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., security officials have installed metal detectors outside the House floor, causing tension among some Republicans and effectively suggesting that members themselves may pose a danger.

Democrats are outraged at 147 Republicans who they say abided by the rioters' calls and voted to overturn the election results even after the violent attack, which left five people dead and forced lawmakers to hide in their offices and safe rooms.

But, Beyer said, the issue "that has the greater emotional impact is the sense that there's perhaps actual physical danger from our colleagues."

[VideoGamesandMetalGuy]

I mean, yeah, of course any losses in Trump's approval is going to come from Republicans. Pretty sure most Dems and sane Independents' approval is pretty much already bottomed out.

[Gray Lensman]

Well last month they had to change the Secret Service detail around Trump because it seemed like some of them were starting to drink the orange Kool Aid.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-trump-loyalty

Joe Biden is expected to receive Secret Service protection with a new team that is more familiar to him and replacing some agents amid concerns that they may be politically allied with Donald Trump.

It’s not surprising that Biden would want secret service agents that he’s familiar with, but it is disturbing to think that even these guys are susceptible to the MAGA cult.

How long can a person be around a cult leader before they get pulled in themselves?

[Ragged Maw]

Some Democrats in Congress are worried their colleagues might kill them

Funny and ironic thing is, some GOP-ers may want to attend while strapped because they’re afraid of the angrier portion of their own voter base now, and don’t see security detail alone as reassurance enough.

[Godzilla2099]

Some Democrats in Congress are worried their colleagues might kill them

Pence: Donald, that mob was ready to hang me. I called for backup but you took credit for it.
Trump: So what?!! You wanna do something about it?! You want your political career to be over?!!
Pence: ...no sir

Cruz's Wife: Trump posted slanderous pictures of me
Cruz's Father: Trump said I participated in Kennedy's Assassination
Trump: Ted! You help me right now!
Ted Cruz: Yes Sir! Right away sir!

Whether you like Trump or not, he chose his party correctly (You don't get more spineless than that)

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Ed Orcutt, a former forester who is currently still serving in the Washington State House of Representatives, serving District 20. Orcutt became a bit of a laughing stock a few years back when he proposed a tax upon bicyclists for creating more damage to the atmosphere than automobiles, because all the physical action required to pedal a bike causes increased respiration, and thus, in his mind, greater CO2 output, which damages that atmosphere. Scientists explained to him it doesn’t quite work like that, and bike enthusiasts online made mincemeat out of his proposed legislation (beware the “Big Bike” Lobby, apparently).

We also recognized Orcutt for his opposition to public works projects, even after the Skagit River Bridge collapsed in 2012, for trying to use the argument that “11 of the 12 sections of the bridge are still standing”, which kind of indicates he might be dumb enough to not understand bridges need to GO ALL THE WAY ACROSS. To round things out, Orcutt is also decidedly socially conservative, having voted against minimum wage increases (during the greatest period of income equality in the United States in almost a century), against police body cameras being made mandatory (during the greatest period of police violence in our country in decades), voting for abortion restrictions without exceptions for rape, incest, or risk to the life of the mother, trying to not only prevent gay marriage and even gay adoption, while voting against a statewide ban on gay conversion therapy multiple times over the past few years. Orcutt has also beenvoting against automatic voter registration, and even voted against a ban on bump stocks for firearms. He is legitimately that regressive of a conservative.

Since we last checked in on Orcutt’s hijinks, he had voted against Washington state’s Native American Voting Rights Act, which only two Republicans in the state legislature voted against. One of the other two? Oh, just domestic terrorist Matt Shea.

Ed Orcutt faced a Democrat in an election for his rural seat since 2008, but still won re-election to a tenth term in office with 73% of the vote. Orcutt is still only 56, even after being in office for 18 years with no term limits to stop him from continually winning office, and reminding us just how stupid modern Republicans are.

[TheDarman]

I mean, yeah, of course any losses in Trump's approval is going to come from Republicans. Pretty sure most Dems and sane Independents' approval is pretty much already bottomed out.

The fact of the matter is that is still important. Rubio has to make some important considerations now that Trump's approval is at roughly half of the party--and underwater among critical independent voters. That means that half of primary voters likely wouldn't punish him for indicting Trump and he would have a stronger general election case to his state, which is more Republican than the country overall, but still a state that is closer than most states in the union. Eroded support among Republicans might embolden some to even cast Trump aside for their political fortunes moving forward (stop him from running again and 2024 looks more wide open for you).

[Iron Maiden]

All the bad stuff that Nixon did -- his paranoia, his thin skin, his dog whistle campaigning, his coup-happy foreign policy coup, Watergate -- still remains true. Bear in mind.

Nixon's administration in terms of policy oversaw the shift from the gold standard to fiat currency which is basically the monetary system still in place today with the Dollar being the value the global currency is pegged on. He created the EPA, and he was pretty close to introducing a health care system that would have been far more advanced to Obamacare and give people the public option back in the '70s. Medicare For All is even more radical of course.

He also started the trade partnership between USA and China that remains in place though honestly I am not sure if that's entirely a good thing on record. The idea that capitalism would make China democratic never happened and indeed the Chinese have bent capitalism to a form of tyranny and social bribery and they are swallowing places like Hong Kong and eventually aim to take over Taiwan.



Absolutely, the French dictator Robespierre during the Reign of Terror while he guillotined people around him also played a part in abolishing slavery for the first time. Castro is a hero to Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa for his help in ending apartheid even if he is a dictator in Cuba who imprisoned and killed people, and had an anti-LGBT policy (granted his dictatorship on balance is less murderous than other commie tyrannies or Pinochet's government in Chile, and he reformed and apologized for his homophobia...but that's a pretty low bar that doesn't cancel out burying democracy for the people of Cuba).

So yeah, Nixon belongs to that category of interesting, flawed, figures with good and bad on their ledger. A bit like Doctor Doom. I mean Richard Nixon is very much like Doom -- intelligent, insecure, ashamed of his looks, thin-skinner, and resentful of how much people like that idiot JFK...errr RIIICHARDS!!!!!



If you look at it objectively, it's hard to find any substantive good done under his administration. The tax cuts for the rich...lol. That's basically his big domestic policy accomplishment. Then there's the stacking of judiciary for the service of one party done by McConnell...yeah, more oligarchy. In Foreign Policy, there's stabbing the Kurds in the back and basically handing the Middle East peace policy to Putin (his premature withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan will also help with that). I suppose Jared "Peace in the Middle East" Kushner will boast of recognition of some gulf states and Sudan of Israel but mostly that's confirming what's already happening and it doesn't rise to the status of the Camp David Accords or Oslo Accords (done by Jimmy Carter, who no joke, was exemplary on Foreign Policy), and indeed it's mostly undone Oslo, what with recognizing Jerusalem as the capital. There's not much here you will like or recommend unless you are a die-hard Republican. A democrat can praise Eisenhower for Brown v. Board and sending the troops to enforce it, for the infrastructure stuff he started (though that came at the price of public transport and probably a big question mark these days), and for DARPA (which created the Internet eventually) and NASA.

This kind of policy is mild, mediocre, and banal and it doesn't compensate for the great harm and evil done by his administration in terms of walking out of the Climate Accords, turning a blind eye to Bolsonaro's bats--t insane polices in the Amazon, cozying up with Kim in North Korea, alienating and angering the EU and the NATO alliance pushing them towards China (recently Germany and others signed a trade deal with China even if Biden told them to hold the pen...but the EU can't guarantee or depend on a bipartisan foreign policy anymore and can't bank on Democrats maintaining an uber-mandate for decades), this dumb trade war with China and so on. And of course inflaming tensions with Iran and walking out of the Nuclear Deal. Trump's weakened America substantially economically and globally from when he started out. Obama restored Prestige to America after the W. years, but Trump f--ked it all away.

The family separation policy, the "Muslim ban", the Ukrainian Hustle, lying about COVID and letting people die, the Putsch of January 6. Those things tower over everything else. Would Republicans really like Trump or have voted for him if he just talked about tax cuts for the rich on the campaign trail, or about stacking the judiciary or cozying up to North Korea? No the reason the GOP voted for him was these things. So it doesn't make sense to talk about Trump and policy.

For all his flaws, I have come to see Nixon as probably the most progressive of our generation's Republican presidents. I'm glad you bring up the EPA. Trump and his GOP enablers have been bowing down to the oil industry and others by tearing down a lot of the protections of our environment that resulted from that. Nixon's administration also ended the draft, oversaw the desegregation of schools in the South and lowered the voting age to 18.

Doom as Nixon? well now that you mention. Another thing that is similar is that Kennedy family was considered higher up the social ladder than Nixon's Quaker parents. IIRC Reed's father Nathaniel is a billionaire industrialist/inventor compared to Doom's humble Roma beginnings.

One thing that should be mentioned is that JFK had the glamor of being a Kennedy, although the family itself was considered nouveau riche. Joe Kennedy's wealth only went back one generation. His grandparents all immigrated from Ireland during the famine of the 1940s. And it's always been rumored that Joe was involved with bootlegging during Prohibition but it could have been a case of mistaken identity since there were bootleggers with the same last name but unrelated to the family. He did score a big deal just before Prohibition ended by securing the import rights to some prominent British labels like DeWars, Gordon's gin and Haig & Haig scotch whiskey.

[Malvolio]

Pence: Donald, that mob was ready to hang me. I called for backup but you took credit for it.
Trump: So what?!! You wanna do something about it?! You want your political career to be over?!!
Pence: ...no sir

Cruz's Wife: Trump posted slanderous pictures of me
Cruz's Father: Trump said I participated in Kennedy's Assassination
Trump: Ted! You help me right now!
Ted Cruz: Yes Sir! Right away sir!

Whether you like Trump or not, he chose his party correctly (You don't get more spineless than that)

Yeah, while that supposed quote from People Magazine of Trump talking about how dumb Republicans are was a fake, it's easy to see why so many of us believed it.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Doom as Nixon? well now that you mention. Another thing that is similar is that Kennedy family was considered higher up the social ladder than Nixon's Quaker parents. IIRC Reed's father Nathaniel is a billionaire industrialist/inventor compared to Doom's humble Roma beginnings.

One thing that should be mentioned is that JFK had the glamor of being a Kennedy, although the family itself was considered nouveau riche. Joe Kennedy's wealth only went back one generation. His grandparents all immigrated from Ireland during the famine of the 1940s. And it's always been rumored that Joe was involved with bootlegging during Prohibition but it could have been a case of mistaken identity since there were bootleggers with the same last name but unrelated to the family. He did score a big deal just before Prohibition ended by securing the impor rights to some prominent British labels like DeWars, Gordon's gin and Haig & Haig scotch whiskey.

Joseph Kennedy Sr. was a first-rate piece of sh-t, who basically destroyed his daughter and lobotomized her. He was also a far bigger womanizer than JFK, and basically liable to be #MeToo'd if he was around today (as would JFK himself btw). Kennedy Sr. got fired from being ambassador to UK when he basically said that he expected UK to surrender and was pro-appeasement and sorta willing to deal with the Nazis. Joe Kennedy was also a major friend of Joseph McCarthy and arranged to have RFK get a job working for him. So yeah, Joe Kennedy was a bad bad dude. JFK, RFK and Ted for that matter proved to better than their old man and definitely reformed and moved in a progressive direction.

Nixon was born poor and worked his way to the top. But he was also a very nasty and cheap campaigner, doing some illegal interference in the highly politicized and controversial Alger Hiss trial, and then going after Helen Douglas in a very misogynist campaign where he called her "pink down to her underwear" and she in return called him "Tricky Dick" (a nickname he hated).

Partisan political rivalries are comparable to comic book rivalries. I mean Obama and Trump are basically arch-enemies. Trump has spent all his time shadowboxing Obama's legacy.

[Robotman]

Some Democrats in Congress are worried their colleagues might kill them

If I was a Dem Representative I sure as hell wouldn't want to be locked in a room with a gun totting Lauren Boebert. The woman who was Tweeting Pelosi's location to the terrorists.

[TheDarman]

If I was a Dem Representative I sure as hell wouldn't want to be locked in a room with a gun totting Lauren Boebert. The woman who was Tweeting Pelosi's location to the terrorists.

If she doesn't get ousted from Congress by law, there needs to be someone sensible to run against her. That district is quite red, but she needs to at least be primaried by someone closer to the middle. She brings my state nothing but embarrassment.

[Robotman]

[Amadeus Arkham]

Mike Pence has contacted Kamala Harris to congratulate her on becoming the new VP and has offered her help. Of course, it would be more optimal to actually have her in the White House so he could show her around the place but I’d imagine that Donald wouldn’t be too enthused about that so she won’t enter the White House until Inauguration Day after Trump is gone.

[Robotman]

Mike Pence has contacted Kamala Harris to congratulate her on becoming the new VP and has offered her help. Of course, it would be more optimal to actually have her in the White House so he could show her around the place but I’d imagine that Donald wouldn’t be too enthused about that so she won’t enter the White House until Inauguration Day after Trump is gone.

With all the COVID cases in the White House and so many of them refusing to wear masks, I don't think Biden, Harris, or their staff should go near that place until it's thoroughly cleaned and fumigated. Plus they have to wait for the Trump stink to dissipate.