1. #28741
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Last edited by Tami; 05-14-2021 at 05:37 AM.
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    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    Congressional Democrats have a 100% vaccination rate





    Rand Paul, the guy who has made it his life's work to prove he is smarter than Dr. Anthony Fauci. [hint: He isn't]

    Paul, who has ZERO expertise when it comes to diseases is just grandstanding/slurping Trump and has no business being taken seriously. Fauci shouldn't even give that knuckledragging clown oxygen with his mindless and foolish attacks.
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    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    Paul, who has ZERO expertise when it comes to diseases is just grandstanding/slurping Trump and has no business being taken seriously. Fauci shouldn't even give that knuckledragging clown oxygen with his mindless and foolish attacks.
    I don't think Fauci has a choice. If he is called in to a hearing, he has to appear and deal with whomever it is asking the questions, even if it is Rand Paul [Whose name seems as backward as he is].
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    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    Unless you have evidence for the latter, there's no point spreading conspiracy theories from the left. If you have reason to suggest why that might be the case, please present evidence otherwise I must ask you to withdraw that accusation. People who make claims bear the burden of proof. Extraordinary claims carry an higher burden than otherwise.



    There's no meaningful evidence, at least electorally to suggest it did. This article points out that electorally it didn't make any real dent:
    https://www.thenation.com/article/po...ng-the-police/



    To which I say, in the words of Richard Nixon in SECRET HONOR:


    If people, educated adults of voting age, are so easily cheesed off by a slogan that they cannot overcome their curiosity, then those folks are never allies to start with.

    From an electoral perspective in a 2-party system with FPTP obviously messaging is important and so on but again that's not the fault of the activists.



    Hmmm...this quotation came from BLM George Floyd protestors who went out marching and started the biggest protest movement in the 1960s creating a groundswell of public support and anger (none of which has faded) for creating some of the first meaningful police reforms in decades.

    So I question this assertion, this hiding behind flimsy proverbs, which implies that the people who formed this slogan or used the slogan in 2020 weren't part of the solution. Let's be clear the Democrat Party are not the protagonists or main characters of the story for the struggle against police brutality. Activists have mobilized at multiple levels for decades with and without the support of the party functionaries.

    Unless the Democrats are willing to become the Bolshevik party and Comintern and start policing and micromanaging or dictating activist movements, they have no grounds to criticize the latter.
    On "extraordinary claims", I didn't make any. I speculated. I had grounds to speculate, because the phrase "Defund the Police" was so distracting from the issues at hand that you'd almost want to give the benefit of the doubt to activists who you assume conjured the phrase as their rallying cry for police reform. I'd never suggest you can't or shouldn't make that assumption. You're free to make any assumption you like. On the other hand, I'm also free to speculate. If/when I make a bold claim I will give the evidence/argument I have, but assigning one to me because it seems like an easier lift than addressing my actual argument is I believe what the kids call a "strawman".

    On the article, while the clickbait title suggests they should continue to use the phrase the body of the article is just saying (which I agree with) we should focus on on progressive issues and not allow the Democratic Party to pay lip service to them when convenient and then move on as they so often do, and we should try and get out all of the untapped (well, under-tapped) potential of the youth vote. I also agree. I don't share their optimism that it's going to happen, we've been trying to do that for generations. Not saying we shouldn't try, we should. Just don't get your hopes up. And focusing on issues like police reform is a good way to motivate minority voters who might otherwise not bother to come out to the polls. Again, I'm completely on board for the police reform movement. That's why I feel as strongly as I do about the phrase "Defund the Police".

    On bad allies. You (and many others active on this issue) may believe that poor allies or part-time allies are as bad or worse than enemies, or enemies of a lesser type. That's your right. I strongly disagree. I believe that given the way our political system works it's too hard to get anything done without making some concessions and working hard to get people on board (even if only reluctantly or temporarily). It might feel good on a message board or on Twitter to say, "F##k those guys if they can't see the way things are." But that doesn't achieve anything aside from someone momentarily feeling good about sticking it to someone else (who likely won't care). I believe the reality is, again, part of the privilege of whiteness is often not having to hear about or consider these issues. When that's the starting point, and they'd rather focus on their own (real) issues or at least not have to think or do anything about it because (they believe) it doesn't impact them you're going to have to do some work to get them on board. And make no mistake, you do need votes to get things done. I'll take real police reform over ideological purity any day.

    On the Democratic Party's place in this, as the only one of the two major parties that would actually do anything to push police reform they are vital to the police reform movement. It doesn't get done without them. Period. The thing of it is, no they aren't pushing it (and I didn't claim otherwise). The leadership is of the Biden/Clinton centrist stripe and would love to nibble at the edges while patting themselves on the back for minor reforms and pay lip service to the movement while believing it's politically harmful to the goal of bringing in swing voters (see people who enjoy that privilege of either viewing this topic very differently than your average person of color or not viewing it at all unless forced to) and doing their best to distance themselves from it. That's why it's important to do and say things to keep the pressure on them. When you hand them the phrase "Defund the Police", which to the casual observer (see swing voter/uninformed voter) looks and sounds an awful like "Abolish the Police" or is at least step one on the path to doing so you give them the out they desperately want. You also give the right an easy soundbite for their base, and give those swing voters a reason to say, "Yeah that does sound unreasonable. Maybe those guys on the right are onto something."

    And whether what it sounds like was the intent, there are always a few extremists who those on the right opposed to police reform can pull a quote/tweet/video from that actually does believe in abolishing the police and allow the movement to be painted with an absurd extremist brush. And it's a lot more convincing to people when your phrase sounds a lot like what the opposition is saying than something clearer but less snappy like, "Police Reform Now!"

    On who has the right to criticize activists or their phrasing, I again strongly disagree. Anyone is free to criticize, but those who support police reform in particular need to discuss/debate and where necessary criticize the strategy and messaging of the cause they believe in. While that might not include the leadership it does include a good chunk of the Democratic Party. Nobody's saying they get to or should (or even can) determine who gets to say what/where when it comes to police reform. That's another strawman. But they can and should say something if they think it does more harm than good. Some people obviously are effected by this issue more than others. But nobody owns this issue, anybody who cares about it and wants to further the goal can and should be talking about and voting on this issue.

    Quote Originally Posted by numberthirty View Post
    Long story short...

    If someone is taking a look at every single thing that is happening right now and that seems like even the littlest bit of a priority?

    It may very well be time to take a step back and seriously rethink things.
    As with the discussion on whether a writer should be talking about one topic when another is a higher priority, we can do multiple things at once. If we see something small but stupid it doesn't take much energy to point it out, and it doesn't prevent us from expending energy towards other causes. Having a small rock in my shoe isn't as worrisome as a cancer diagnosis, but I can still take a second to pluck it out. And as it's not a mistake or a trendy way to phrase Democratic Party, but a deliberate (if, as I said stupid and silly) attempt to undermine it's worth pointing out that intent for the sake of awareness if nothing else. It might not be of interest to you, but the same could be said of almost any topic for someone. Doesn't undermine the interests of others or require an examination of oneself.
    Last edited by CSTowle; 05-14-2021 at 07:09 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CSTowle View Post
    On "extraordinary claims", I didn't make any. I speculated.
    You trotted out a conspiracy theory.

    I had grounds to speculate,
    Show me your evidence for these grounds to speculate.

    If/when I make a bold claim...
    You did. You said "Defund the Police" was created by an agent provocateur or so on. That is a bold claim. One I have not come across. I demand you present your evidence for making this assertion, otherwise I insist you withdraw it.

    And let's be clear..."defund the police" is the mild audience-friendly version. The real radical slogan is "Abolish the Police" which is an actual radical idea that the likes of Angela Davis among others have advocated. Police abolitionism is an actual idea in radical, anarchist, and anarcho-syndicalist circles. There's also the famous song by NWA which adds a four-letter verb to the Mad-Libs of "___ the Police" which isn't so far in attitude anyway.

    I don't share their optimism that it's going to happen, we've been trying to do that for generations. Not saying we shouldn't try, we should.
    You act as if the blame and responsibility is on the activists for being fickle when in fact The Dems have time and again betrayed the activist base as and when it's convenient, and then scapegoating them groundlessly just because low-propensity Republican voters also turned up in a Pandemic election with a huge section of the people furloughed and they had to justify why their centrist candidates didn't do as well as they expected. Again the Democratic party are not the protagonists of this story.

    On bad allies. You (and many others active on this issue) may believe that poor allies or part-time allies are as bad or worse than enemies, or enemies of a lesser type.
    I do not believe that. I am not as radical as you assume I am. I am simply calling things as they are. This kvetching about "Defund the Police" and identity politics is centrist policing and chasing a right-wing boogeyman.

    The leadership is of the Biden/Clinton centrist stripe
    Biden hasn't been, historically or now, as centrist as Clinton. I don't think it's right to pair them.

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    It was on this date in 2015, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” had a profile of Jeffrey Wood, a former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly who over the course of several years, was arrested for DUI on five separate occasions. In one incident, he flipped his vehicle, and police arriving on scene found him trapped inside, in possession of marijuana. That sort of hinders Wood’s argument made as Republican to support the drug testing of welfare recipients, when you think about it. At least he’s not a hypocrite on other legislation he supported, like stricter Voter ID laws or trying to ban same sex marriage, he’s just terrible for it. As Wood was charged and convicted of felony offenses and ended up with a 9 month prison sentence, a political comeback for him seems pretty unlikely.

    On this date in 2016, 2017, and 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented profiles of Jesse Kremer, a former member of the Wisconsin State Assembly who pushed for anti-choice extremism, in the form of a ban on abortion at 20 weeks, his push to allow for the concealed carry of firearms in schools to prevent hypothetical “terrorist attacks”, or his repeated calls for transphobic bathroom bills, which he has repeatedly submitted since being elected. Kremer is closely allied with Julaine Appling, the head of the Wisconsin Family Action group, a Pro-Life and anti-LGBT rights group that has warned the legalization of same sex marriage could lead to adult-child covenants. Kremer and Appling insist that transphobic bathroom bills are in no way discriminatory and have been caught exchanging e-mails that show they’re going out of their way to make more experienced legislators look like “the bad guy” if they’re afraid to push it forward based on their fearmongering of transgendered citizens. Kremer has gone far enough to insist that “the real war on women” is the fact that transgendered attackers are being allowed to go into the wrong restroom and attack women and pretending that anyone who opposes the bills are allowing the attacks (which aren’t based in reality) to continue. After Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker failed to deliver on his promise that Wisconsin would see 250,000 new jobs produced under his leadership, critics took him to task for it. Rushing to his defense came Jesse Kremer, who explained that the real problem behind the job crisis wasn’t a failure of opportunities (which it is), but instead, the blame lies on “entitled graduating college students” seeking too much pay and those on public assistance who feel getting a job will “cut into their benefits”. Kremer has also supported the drug testing of welfare recipients, stricter Voter ID laws to combat the statistically non-existent problem of “in person voter fraud” at the cost of disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters and also decided there was too much “rampant fraud” happening with EBT cards by people on public assistance, so he sponsored legislation to require Photo Identification for when people want to use them to be able to buy food to curtail his imagined abuse. This in spite of the fact that the USDA warns that such measures would stop family members who the food is also supposed to go to can’t use the card. Y’know, say if a single mother sends a teen to the store on her behalf… no food for you, get out to the store yourself, mom! Kremer also tried to exploit the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, as proof that "Our country has been torn apart by President Obama's divisive racism, hatred of Christianity and lambasting of the military and law enforcement” In 2017, Kremer, he completely embarrassed himself by stating his “Biblical belief” that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. Kremer opted to not run for re-election in 2018, likely because the Wisconsin GOP preferred a candidate that wasn’t bats*** crazy.

    On this date in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Burt Minor, a candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives for District 42 in that body in 2018. His candidacy, however, was damaged from a member of his own party, as Erika Harold, a GOP candidate for Illinois Attorney general, went public with the fact that Minor had asked her if she was a “lesbo” and used the N-word around her (and yes, she is African-American) after she announced her own candidacy. Harold let Minor know, that no one should ever use that word to express her discomfort. He repeated it. So she repeated her warning, and he said it a third time, as if he was trying to summon some sort of racist Beetlejuice. Once Harold made Minor’s comments public knowledge, he claimed his comments were “misinterpreted” and tried to play the victim. Burt Minor lost in the GOP Primary, only getting 22% of the vote. We’re not sure if this will be his only run for the state legislature or not.




    On this date one year ago, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, first profiled U.S. Senator from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy who first got his Senate seat back in the 2014 elections, after serving three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, and was just re-elected in 2020. Perhaps during the Covid-19 pandemic that it was best that we looked at Sen. Cassidy’s passion for denying health insurance to the American people. He opposed the passage of the Affordable Care Act, supported repealing it once the GOP retook the House in 2011, and as a senator in 2017, worked hand in hand with Sen. Lindsey Graham to try and repeal the Affordable Care Act with the Graham-Cassidy Bill.

    Now, the public debate on this bill was what really told you everything you needed to know about Bill Cassidy. He appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live, likely expecting a softball interview, only to be surprised when Kimmel pitched him a healthcare situation that was absolutely not hypothetical. Kimmel’s son was born with a congenital heart disease, and he asked Cassidy if such a child born with a pre-existing condition would be able to get everything he or she would need in that first year of life under Cassidy’s plan, and if their parents would have the surgeries required to keep their infant alive paid for under it. Cassidy, in front of a national audience, lied and said it would. However, after experts and analysts took a hard look at Cassidy’s bill, they determined that the bill would cut healthcare by just shy of $300 billion in the year 2027 and leave 32 million more Americans not covered… and oh yeah… it would have not covered Jimmy Kimmel’s kid. Kimmel, in a monologue, called Cassidy a liar, and Cassidy responded that Kimmel just “doesn’t understand” his bill, and went on to double down and claim it would cover MORE people than the ACA, which was utter bulls***.

    But that’s Bill Cassidy. There’s a pathological nature to his mendacity and cruelty… he just doesn’t care who lives or dies, as long as he can avoid tax dollars going towards paying for the poor, and money staying in the pockets of the rich. He was even bored during the hearings on his doomed piece of legislation, lazily yawning as protesters in wheelchairs were carried out by capitol police in front of him.

    We should also note that after Donald Trump made national headlines for his “s***hole countries” comments regarding African nations and Haiti, that Bill Cassidy had some harsh words of criticism… for Senator Dick Durbin, for telling the media how much of a disgusting racist the president is. Yup, he didn’t seem to object that Trump said it, just that the public found out, thanks to Durbin.

    And that’s not the only moment where Senator Cassidy chose the side of bigots in our national political discussion. As white nationalists repeatedly were making the news for carrying out mass shootings and other domestic terror attacks over the summer of 2019, Cassidy and Senator Ted Cruz thought it was a great time to draft a resolution to criticize the real problem…antifa. Only a few weeks later, he used the Senate's time to address the very important problem that he was upset about the New Orleans Saints getting hosed by referees in the NFL playoffs six months earlier.
    Last edited by worstblogever; 05-14-2021 at 09:09 AM.
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    Your tax dollars at work.

    Taking a look at Cassidy’s worst moments as a legislator… well, there’s a lot to choose from:



    And yet, AND YET… this conscienceless douche-nozzle was re-elected in 2020, winning every parish in the state except one for 59% of the vote. Since returning to the Senate, Sen. Cassidy voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 because he would rather do nothing to help Americans during a pandemic, against raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and has voted against the majority of President Biden’s Cabinet nominations.

    After he was one of the six Republicans who voted to convict Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial for inciting the Capitol attack on Jan. 6th, Cassidy has likely assured himself a primary challenge the next time he’s up for re-election. However, barring any scandals forcing his resignation, that won’t be happening until 2026.
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  8. #28748
    Silver Sentinel BeastieRunner's Avatar
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    Am I alone in thinking the end of masking when not even 50% of the people are vaccinated is really, really stupid?

    Like the 180 logic behind it is very Trumpian to me.

    WTFDIK??
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    Quote Originally Posted by BeastieRunner View Post
    Am I alone in thinking the end of masking when not even 50% of the people are vaccinated is really, really stupid?

    Like the 180 logic behind it is very Trumpian to me.

    WTFDIK??
    The CDC is trying to carrot-and-stick I think. Fully vaccinated can go Pre-Pandemic while unvaccinated need to get the shots to join the cool kids.

    The problem is that the unvaccinated can blend in with vaccinated. Alright say you ask for paperwork and so on, that can be forged pretty easily.

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    Ultimate Member Malvolio's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    I don't think Fauci has a choice. If he is called in to a hearing, he has to appear and deal with whomever it is asking the questions, even if it is Rand Paul [Whose name seems as backward as he is].
    His father, Ron Paul, is as libertarian as Rand Paul is, so he named him after infamous libertarian author Ayn Rand.
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    Quote Originally Posted by WestPhillyPunisher View Post
    Trying to set herself up as some sort of foil for AOC.
    I hope AOC just ignores her.
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChadH View Post
    Trying to set herself up as some sort of foil for AOC.
    I hope AOC just ignores her.
    It's a bit like the Condiment King trying to make itself Batman's arch-nemesis.

    AOC is so far above Greene's level, it's not funny. She's one of the top-5 fundraisers in the House of Representatives, second highest for Dems after the Speaker, while Greene ain't even Top 10. That's using House Inside-Baseball stats.

    In terms of morals, values, professionalism, dressing style, and yeah, looks...AOC is far above blonde trust-fund girl too.
    Last edited by Revolutionary_Jack; 05-14-2021 at 10:25 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Revolutionary_Jack View Post
    It's a bit like the Condiment King trying to make itself Batman's arch-nemesis.

    AOC is so far above Greene's level, it's not funny. She's one of the top-5 fundraisers in the House of Representatives, second highest for Dems after the Speaker, while Greene ain't even Top 10. That's using House Inside-Baseball stats.

    In terms of morals, values, professionalism, dressing style, and yeah, looks...AOC is far above blonde trust-fund girl too.
    Well Batman is about to Guy Gardner her ass.

    AOC suggests GOP leadership expel Marjorie Taylor Greene and calls her ‘deeply unwell’.
    AOC: “These are the kinds of people that I threw out of bars all the time.”
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    I am invenitable Jack Dracula's Avatar
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    That’s just giving her the attention she wants to raise her status among the base.
    If people ask AOC about Greene her response should just be “Who? Is that someone important?”
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    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Should the Secret Service and the Capitol Police be renamed?

    Secret Service sounds too much like something Putin or Hitler might have had, and the Capitol Police, according to news reports, believe they need to be treated less like Municipal police and more like, well, the Secret Service. That they need access to info regarding threats and so on.

    I was thinking something more like the Executive Security Service or the Executive Protective Service, and the Capital Protective Service or the Capital Security Service.
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