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

[BeastieRunner]

One of the better Roe v. Wade summaries I have seen.

[Panfoot]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...alflow_twitter

President Joe Biden struck a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to nominate Chad Meredith, a Republican anti-abortion advocate, to a federal judgeship on the Eastern District of Kentucky, Slate has confirmed. Under the arrangement, Meredith would take the seat currently occupied by Judge Karen Kaye Caldwell, a George W. Bush nominee. Caldwell submitted her move to senior status on June 22, which, once complete, will allow Meredith to take the seat. A lawyer with connections to the Kentucky governor’s office who is familiar with the agreement told Slate that Caldwell conditioned her move upon the confirmation a successor—specifically, the conservative Meredith. In exchange, McConnell will allow Biden to nominate and confirm two U.S. Attorneys to Kentucky.

Update to the Biden/McConnell deal situation, which sure doesn't seem like a great deal to me and is abysmal optics.

[babyblob]

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...alflow_twitter



Update to the Biden/McConnell deal situation, which sure doesn't seem like a great deal to me and is abysmal optics.

It doesnt sound great to me. Two Attorneys for a Federal Judge.

[Mister Mets]

They just made law rather than interpreting it. They didn't rule an EPA policy to be unconstitutional, but their ability to do so was declared to be so. There was no policy in place, which would normally mean no one has standing to sue - a lack of standing was how they dismissed suits over the Texas abortion bounty law.

This is the most political court since the Dred Scott case was decided, and makes the Lochner era court look restrained.

I disagree with your interpretation, but I do understand it.

It is different from the point I was responding to, which implied that the justices should make decisions to bring upon preferred legislative outcomes.

Activists/extremists, they're still treated the same way by the right-wing and the defenders of the status quo centrists (who I'd call the real conservatives in this country, there are many things I could label the MAGA GOP of today but "conservative" is not one of them) who control the Democratic Party. I'd love to think they'd try to pull this off and somehow Bernie Sanders gets an $18 minimum wage and 3 months maternity leave Constitutional Amendment on the books, but you know and I know that's not what would happen.

We'd more than likely see a move away from what the founders intended to something more like a theocracy/oligarchy. Like Russia today, but the sucking up to the church not being lip service. Again, hope I'm wrong and you're right and that it'll never come to pass or even come close. But a lot of things I thought would never come to pass in my lifetime are here or close to being here so I'm going to keep an eye out just in case.



As the Commander in Chief would say, "C'mon, man!" Whatever ideal they're supposed to adhere to you know as well as I do or anyone posting here that we're able to call this a 6-3 conservative (or again, radical right-wing activist) Court because that's the reality of things now. I can't say when that started, or if that ideal is like much of the American myth in that it's only ever existed as a possibility and aspiration to look towards but that has never actually manifested in reality. But I can say with absolute certainty that it's not the way things are now.

I honestly have no idea what would happen in a second conventional convention.

The likeliest answer is nothing. This is a divided country, and you would need all sorts of supermajority votes for anything close to a new constitution. That seems hard to pull off.

There will also be all sorts of legal wrangling, as this is an option that's been on the books for centuries but hasn't been utilized. There would be all sorts of legal fights. Are the procedures affected by the 14th amendment which changed the relationship with the states? What counts as a state ratifying an amendment? Would decisions to make procedures be easier be legal (IE- can a supermajority vote to allow future amendments to pass if a majority of delegates agree)?

But it would be unpredictable. If Bernie supporters have the level of organization for a convention as they did for Democratic caucuses, they might very well punch above their weight in rules committees. Or some other group might dominate.

I completely understand the argument that the current court is failing to do its job. But I don't think the right response is to suggest that progressive judges fight for progressive causes the same way conservative judges are perceived as fighting for conservative causes.

It doesnt sound great to me. Two Attorneys for a Federal Judge.

It's a resignation that only occurred because of the promise of a deal.

[worstblogever]

In 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of the current U.S. House Representative from New York’s 27th Congressional District, Chris Collins, a man who while running for Governor of New York in 2010, compared the Speaker of the New York House of Representatives to the Anti-Christ and Hitler, which was super-awkward because he was Jewish. He also sexually harassed a colleague by telling her she should offer up a lap dance to get a seat at the State of the State address that year, and tried deriding the need for healthcare reform by saying that people nowadays "don't die from prostate cancer" (except for the tens of thousands of people a year who do). Upon being elected to office in 2012, he quickly made himself a laughing stock by accidentally attending a Democratic Caucus meeting, grabbing breakfast, and then bolting after he realized he was in the wrong room. not only voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown, but voting to keep the government closed when the vote came up to re-open it. Collins also has the dubious honor of being the first Congressional Republican to endorse Donald Trump for president, and tried squaring up Trump’s hardline conservative stance on immigration by claiming that his statements were only “rhetorical” and not actually policies. On the day of the shooting of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, Collins claimed that it was the “dangerous rhetoric” of Democrats that caused the shooter to act, and they need to “tone it down”. In 2017, Chris Collins he admitted voting for Trumpcare without even reading the bill in a live CNN interview. While Rep. Mark Sanford and Rep. Tom Garrett also admitted to doing the same, the difference is a provision in Trumpcare would have cost the state of New York $3 billion in funding, which, y’know, is where Collins is from. But in a bizarre turn of events, it turns out that Chris Collins feels like maybe Donald Trump’s statements shouldn’t just be considered “rhetorical”, after he recently came out in defense of Trump, and saying that the American people should take his Twitter account seriously, only a short time after Trump’s infamous “covfefe” post. But really, Chris Collins was trying to defend Donald Trump’s artful choice to attack the mayor of London on social media on the day London had experienced a terror attack, saying that Mayor Sadiq Khan “had started it”. Collins was eventually placed under an ethics investigation for violating the Stock Act, after voting on bills that helped a company he’s a major shareholder in profit. Perhaps no one would have noticed that conflict of interests had Collins himself not bragged in the House Speakers' Lobby about “how many millionaires I’ve made in Buffalo the past few months.” And perhaps no one would have thought much of the accusations if Collins hadn’t drawn more attention to it by responding by claiming it was a “witch hunt” and calling fellow Congresswoman Louise Slaughter a “despicable human being” for putting him under ethics review for it. In fact, Collins’ actions outright led to his arrest, indictment, and conviction for insider trading, He only served a few weeks out of a 26 month sentence because Donald Trump f***ing pardoned this crooked-*ss mother***er. It will be hard for him to make a political comeback, in any event.

On this date in 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Amber Krabach, a 2018 and 2020 candidate for District 45 of the Washington House of Representatives, who is the latest Republican we’ve covered who actively promoted of the Qanon conspiracy theory. She’s a little more “extra” than the average loon, though, as she has ties to more dangerous militia/hate groups like Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys. But alas, Krabach, like others of conspiratorial ilk, cannot be content with just one paranoid, raving plot being undertaken to ramble about. Behold, in April of 2020, where she began making up a conspiracy theory during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic when the supply chain was negatively impacted while simultaneously the public panicked and began hoarding basic supplies like bottled water, non-perishable food, and toilet paper. You see, Amber’s local grocery store was temporarily out of flour, but she saw online that someone else was donating 3,000 lbs. of flour to charity, and then connected the dots about an Antifa/communist plot to… hoard baking supplies. Anyway, in her second attempt at getting elected to the Washington state legislature, Amber Krabach fell far short, getting just 33% of the vote and losing by a two-to-one margin. We’re going to set aside her profile at this time to cover another wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 1115-55, since this was established in July 2014.


Alex Stovall

Welcome to what is the 1115th original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Alex Stovall, a supposed U.S. Army chaplain running for U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona’s 7th Congressional District in 2022, hoping to unseat Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva for his seat in Congress. While his faith and his service to his country may have been a good start for Stovall to get a groundswell of support among the Republican voting base, as well as his promise to “take on AOC”, but there almost immediately were problems with his candidacy. Like that Stovall claimed to be a military chaplain, but in fact, there’s no record he is one. Also, it’s frowned upon for active-duty members of our armed forces to campaign in uniform, as Stovall chose to do. Also, he went along with a lot of GOP candidates current insistence of running for office in 2022 by campaigning and saying that Joe Biden is not the legitimate President of the Hunited States… which is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. As was the comment we mentioned above about Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.

Past the violations of the oath he swore to the Armed Forces, Stovall just so also happens to be a regional director of BLEXIT, Candace Owens’ brain-dead appeal to African-Americans to leave the Democratic Party since all the white nationalism Republicans seem to be promoting would be so much better for them.

Now, before you get to concerned about Alex Stovall potentially getting into office… it seems that from the start, he didn’t believe a lot of the s*** he was saying, and was just saying whatever he could to get elected. Because, in December of 2021, he was with a staffer and speaking candidly, where he told him, “The Republican Party is disgusting”, citing the criminality of many of its members, the hypocrisy, and cowardice of its members, naming several members of Republican leadership. That staffer passed the audio along to Project Veritas, who quickly destroyed any chance Stovall might have had of being elected as a Republican.

So to recap, this guy told a bunch of lies that may jeopardize his military career, and then told the truth once, which was anathema to the GOP, and made them abandon him as well.

Alex Stovall, one of our current champions at the game of stepping on your own d***, folks.

[kidfresh512]

As Ohio restricts abortions, 10-year-old girl travels to Indiana for procedure

On Monday three days after the Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, took a call from a colleague, a child abuse doctor in Ohio.

Hours after the Supreme Court action, the Buckeye state had outlawed any abortion after six weeks. Now this doctor had a 10-year-old patient in the office who was six weeks and three days pregnant.

Could Bernard help?

Indiana lawmakers are poised to further restrict or ban abortion in mere weeks. The Indiana General Assembly will convene in a special session July 25 when it will discuss restrictions to abortion policy along with inflation relief.

But for now, the procedure still is legal in Indiana. And so the girl soon was on her way to Indiana to Bernard's care.

[thwhtGuardian]

So, in news that is sure to be unsurprising to anyone who saw the court's ruling on Roe as an abomination, Alabama has used the court's decision to ban gender affirming care.

[Tami]

As Ohio restricts abortions, 10-year-old girl travels to Indiana for procedure

On Monday three days after the Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, took a call from a colleague, a child abuse doctor in Ohio.

Hours after the Supreme Court action, the Buckeye state had outlawed any abortion after six weeks. Now this doctor had a 10-year-old patient in the office who was six weeks and three days pregnant.

Could Bernard help?

Indiana lawmakers are poised to further restrict or ban abortion in mere weeks. The Indiana General Assembly will convene in a special session July 25 when it will discuss restrictio ns to abortion policy along with inflation relief.

[Tami]

The highlights from yesterday's debate featuring the Republican candidates for the Governor of Arizona



Warning, it's insane.

[Tami]

Maybe there is a lesson to be learned from this about how to deal with the GOP

Minnesota legalizes low-dose pot edibles, to the surprise of GOP legislator

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CN) — The sale and consumption of some low-dose marijuana edibles became legal in Minnesota on Friday, bringing celebration from weed advocates and incredulity from at least one legislator who said he wasn’t aware what he voted for.

A new state law allows Minnesotans over the age of 21 to buy food and beverages containing up to 5 milligrams of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per serving– up to 50 milligrams per package. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana that gives users a high, one of many psychoactive compounds found in the drug. Consumers could be seen lining up outside the state’s relatively few hemp-product stores, eager to get a taste of newly legal gummies, chocolates and drinks.

Legalization comes as something of a side effect, having been part of an effort to regulate an existing market for delta-8 THC, a cannabis derivative not previously regulated under state or federal law. State law prevented the sale of hemp and cannabidiol products with more than 0.3% delta-9 THC, the primary intoxicant in smokable marijuana. Delta-8 is typically found in much smaller quantities in marijuana, and is extracted through more complicated and varied chemical processes than its cousin delta-9.

Democratic state Representative Heather Edelson, of the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, sponsored the legislation in the Minnesota House and has said that the law was designed to rein in the delta-8 market, which has raised some health concerns among critics. The low-level legalization, she said, was a known and necessary effect to attain that goal. Edelson’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

One of those skeptics may be Jim Abeler, a Republican state senator and chair of the Human Services Reform, Finance and Policy Committee. Abeler told Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Ryan Faircloth Thursday night that he wasn’t aware of the legalization effect when Senate Republicans voted with Democrats to approve the bill. Abeler called for a rollback of the bill, which supporters were quick to quash.

“He voted for it. He signed the conference report,” Democratic House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler said.

[CaptainEurope]

So it turns out after all the takes about Cassidy Hutchinson’s credibility being at-risk over lunge-gate, CNN confirms via Secret Service sources that Trump lunged for steering wheel.

https://twitter.com/SawyerHackett/st...DIfoPy_vGKRXTQ

This is my shocked face. I was right.


2 Secret Service sources told CNN that Trump angrily demanded to be taken to the Capitol on January 6, partly confirming Cassidy Hutchinson's explosive testimony

[numberthirty]

So it turns out after all the takes about Cassidy Hutchinson’s credibility being at-risk over lunge-gate, CNN confirms via Secret Service sources that Trump lunged for steering wheel.

https://twitter.com/SawyerHackett/st...DIfoPy_vGKRXTQ

This is my shocked face. I was right.


2 Secret Service sources told CNN that Trump angrily demanded to be taken to the Capitol on January 6, partly confirming Cassidy Hutchinson's explosive testimony

"Confirmed..." is a bit of a stretch...

Sounds a lot more like...

A couple more "Second Hand..." versions of the initial story told by the guy that lies pretty often.

[CaptainEurope]

(CNN)Then-President Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didn't get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred.
The sources tell CNN that stories circulated about the incident -- including details that are similar to how former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described it to the House select committee investigating January 6 -- in the months immediately afterward the US Capitol attack and before she testified this week.
While the details from those who heard the accounts differ, the Secret Service sources say they were told an angry confrontation did occur. And their accounts align with significant parts of Hutchinson's testimony, which has been attacked as hearsay by Trump and his allies who also have tried to discredit her overall testimony.

Lungegate.

[CaptainEurope]

"Confirmed..." is a bit of a stretch...

Sounds a lot more like...

A couple more "Second Hand..." versions of the initial story told by the guy that lies pretty often.

So now you have sworn testimony by a woman who puts herself at risk from doing it, who saw the actual emotions of the people after it happened, and you have stories that stories about the incident circulated for years. And some anonymous claims that it did not happen, and your belief that Trump is a sweet teddy bear.

Sounds legit.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

As Ohio restricts abortions, 10-year-old girl travels to Indiana for procedure

The notion of a TEN YEAR OLD CHILD being forced to give birth is obscene on more levels than I can possibly imagine.