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

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Ed Martin, a not-so-lovable loser in Missouri elections who has lost every election he’s run for any office since 2005. In fact, his political high water mark was still when he was appointed to be former Gov. Matt Blunt’s chief of staff, but was forced to resign for sending out anti-abortion e-mails from his government e-mail account, and when caught, violated Missouri’s Sunshine Laws by trying to delete any evidence of his wrongdoing and was forced to resign. During his 2010 campaign against Congressman Russ Carnahan, he spread as many lies as possible as he could about the Affordable Care Act, like that it funded abortions, and started launching attacks at both Carnahan’s wife, for working with Planned Parenthood, and Carnahan’s late father, while cheering on a crowd that burned a photo of Carnahan while chanting “death to the dictator”. He also said the 80% of the country who supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” were “out of touch”, that “climate change science is garbage”, and on a local radio show, claimed that President Obama and Russ Carnahan wanted to “take away your chance to find the Lord,” in the ultimate example of a victimized Christian. While Martin didn’t win a trip to Washington, D.C., he did win the election to become the new leader of the Missouri Republican Party, in spite of all that for a stint, and currently is being surgically excised from Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum via lawsuit. When you’re too nutty for them, that says a lot.

On this date in 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as in 2019, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published its profiles of Kansas State Senator Steve Fitzgerald, who back in 2012, was a guest at a forum where he was introduced by a Ernest Evans, a political science professor at Kansas City Community College, who opened up the question and answer session with a joke, of sorts, sarcastically asking the famous loaded question of, “When did you stop beating your wife?” to get a laugh from the audience. Y’know, it’s the classic “the media is out to get you” reference. Well, what Evans probably wasn’t expecting was Steve Fitzgerald took the bait, and joked back, “Who said I stopped?” and then was surprised when nobody thought making light of abusing your spouse was hilarious. Fitzgerald also once told a group of Catholics that “one cannot support the Democratic platform and be a true follower of Christ” because Democrats support gay marriage. When you consider Jesus never said anything about gays, and was pretty specific about feeding the hungry and aiding the poor, the GOP platform seems a lot more out of synch with his teachings. Just to nitpick. Fitzgerald also has a staunchly conservative legislative record, including showing his Pro-Life credentials by sponsoring the “Kansas Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act”, his vote to drug test welfare recipients, his attempts to nullify federal firearms laws, his cooperation with insane Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on his tax breaks for the rich at the expense of the poor, and his sponsorship of a bill to legalize concealed carry without a permit in Kansas. In March of 2017, Fitzgerald added to his extremist anti-abortion statements by, upon learning that someone made a donation to Planned Parenthood in his name, comparing Planned Parenthood to the Nazi concentration camp at Dauchau. When asked if he sent the letter by the media, Fitzgerald admitted he did, called the letter he received “harassment” and “political theatre”, but thought that people should be confused over who should be offended, saying, “I think the Nazis ought to be incensed by the comparison.” He went on to then compare Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan, while he was at it. In July of 2018, Steve Fitzgerald decided to go full-on white nationalist in his talking points, when during a meeting of the Leavenworth County GOP, he spoke about how “Christendom is under attack”, and that “outside of Western civilization, there is barbarism”. For whatever reason, he thought that meant he’d be a great U.S. Congressman, and in 2018, ran for the U.S. House seat for Kansas 2nd Congressional District, to replace the retiring Congresswoman, Lynn Jenkins. After finishing fourth in the primary, Fitzgerald announced he was retiring from politics.

On this date in 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled the long-time U.S. Senator from Kansas, Pat Roberts, who was in Congress since 1981, serving eight terms in the U.S. House of Representatives for Kansas’ 1st District before winning a seat in the upper chamber in 1997 and sticking around until 2020. During his 1996 campaign for Senate, Roberts was the only major party candidate for Senate that year to not sign an agreement to honor term limits. He did, however, pledge that he would only serve two terms in the Senate. (Spoiler alert, his second term started in 2003, and he still ran for re-election for a third and fourth term in 2008 and 2014.) And that’s how there was an 84 year old Senator Pat Roberts. Well, that and you don’t pay attention to the fact that he hasn’t actually lived in Kansas since 2014, and lists a rental property he never actually visits as a golf course as his “home” back there. Seriously, he never went back to Kansas. If you needed that underlined any more for you, consider that Sen. Roberts’ personal website used a sunflower field that isn’t, in fact, in Kansas, but is actually a stock photo from Ukraine. While for some time, Pat Roberts has been thought of as one of the “more responsible” Republican Senators as the Tea Party wave gave way to the GOP becoming the “Party of Trump”, he has, in his old age, caved to the extremists within his own party repeatedly. In 2014, he actually followed Sen. Ted Cruz’s lead and voted against the Farm Bill… even though Roberts is from Kansas… and was the one who wrote the Farm Bill. He also allied himself with the loons when Bob Dole begged the Republican Party to vote for the United Nations’ treaty with people with disabilities, which is even sadder given Dole campaigned for Roberts’ 1996 Senate campaign back in Kansas while he was running for president. In 2016, Sen. Roberts may have put the cherry on top of his long, long history of anti-LGBTQ votes (including against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and for the Defense of Marriage Act) when he unilaterally blocked Eric Fanning as a nominee for Secretary of the Army because Fanning was openly gay. Roberts tried claiming it was because Fanning wanted to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, but critics noted, he was full of s***, because he’d voted for other nominees who also wanted Gitmo shut down. Pat Roberts was, like most Republicans, opposed to federal healthcare. After serving as one of the most staunch critics of the Affordable Care Act or any of the early versions of it that were up for votes in 2009, he supported every repeal of the bill that came forth in its wake from Republicans. In 2017, Sen. Roberts made some headlines during debate on the AHCA, aka Trumpcare, when he was arguing against funding for it also covering maternity and women’s health coverage. When asked about it by Alice Olstein, Roberts sarcastically quipped, “I wouldn’t want to lose my mammograms.” After facing widespread criticism for mocking breast cancer screenings, he reluctantly apologized on social media. Go figure, he also resents women’s rights so much that he stated in 2014 that calling Roe V. Wade “settled law” was “unconscionable”, and celebrating the ruling in the Supreme Court case that allowed employers to reject the contraceptive coverage of women on “religious grounds”. Oh, and he also shrugged when asked about investigations into Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh being accused by multiple women of sexual assault, arguing against the FBI investigating the claims because, “What else could we learn?” As far as gun control discussions go, how typical is Pat Roberts, and his “A” rating from the NRA? Even in the wake of the Las Vegas Shooting, where more people were killed in a single mass shooting in American history by a madman with modified semi-automatic rifles who used bump stocks to effectively turn them into automatic weapons… even then, in the wake of the shooting when people thought gun stocks should be banned, Roberts insisted “I think it’s too early for that,” regarding ANY measures that could be taken. As he is now retired, we’ll set aside his profile and take a look at another kooky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 953-45, since this was established in July 2014.

[worstblogever]

John Green
Welcome to what is the 953rd profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing John Green, who was elected in 2018 to represent District 2 of Idaho’s House of Representatives, and we’re starting to wonder if there’s some sort of curse on that seat. Because Green was preceded in office by one Eric Redman, who we covered a short time ago for having ties to Islamophobic hate groups who were writing bills for him to submit. After Green’s tenure, well, he got Tim Remington, who we’re going to have to profile for being a pastor and big Ted Cruz ally who railed against Covid-19 restrictions because he might have to close his church. (We’ll get around to him at some point).

Anyway, we’re just gonna focus on John Green… his campaign for office was almost solely based on his die-hard belief in the 2nd Amendment, his further obsession with the 10th Amendment, and his loathing for the 14th Amendment, thinking that state legislatures should choose U.S. Senators for the state, and not allow the voters to do so themselves. On domestic issues, he was over-the-top kooky, supporting Personhood in regards to reproductive rights, and as a state legislator, far and away the most revolting thing you might notice would be that he voted against a ban on child marriage in Idaho.

But we profile John Green not because of that extremism as a state legislator, but because a year into his term, he was convicted of tax fraud in a case in Texas where he worked as an attorney for a couple and helped them hide their wealth from the IRS. Once he was convicted, the Idaho House of Representatives had a vote to expel him from his elected position, and that vote was unanimous. He is the only person to have ever been granted this dishonor in the history of the Gem State.

Bizarrely, John Green decided that being a convicted felon appealing his tax fraud case would make him a great candidate for sheriff and wanted to run for that in 2020. He was of course not regarded as a credible candidate given his legal woes. Green is still hoping to win on appeal, because if he doesn’t, he is looking at a five year prison sentence.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

That's really depressing. Leave it Trump to rain on our parade.

Which was his intention. I'm glad Trump passed on attention the inaguration, his being there would turn the event into a circus.

[Korath]

Which was his intention. I'm glad Trump passed on attention the inaguration, his being there would turn the event into a circus.

It also makes it easier for his followers to attack it if they want, he'll be safe whatever happen.

Still.

I can't help but smile at the way the right-twittos would have lost it if Obama hadn't attended Trump's inauguration. Today they are mute.

[worstblogever]

Which was his intention. I'm glad Trump passed on attention the inaguration, his being there would turn the event into a circus.

He wouldn't go unless he could march a mob into the proceedings at this point. He's more likely to want to set it on literal fire. His ego can't take it just happening.

[Tami]

[worstblogever]

It's almost like electing a conspiracy theorist with a criminal record to Congress is a bad idea, or something.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

There are probably men and women languishing in prison with rap sheets not as long as Boebert.

[Tami]

Tribes slam GOP lawmaker for trying to derail Haaland nomination

WASHINGTON — A group of Native American tribes is rushing to the defense of Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Interior secretary, and blasting a Republican lawmaker’s campaign to derail Haaland’s historic nomination as a slap in the face to his constituents.

Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., the top Republican on the House’s subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples, has been asking fellow lawmakers to join him in urging Biden’s transition team to withdraw Haaland’s nomination. In a draft of a letter obtained by NBC News, Stauber cites Haaland’s support for the Green New Deal and opposition to oil and gas drilling on public lands.

“Nominating Representative Haaland is a direct threat to working men and women and a rejection of responsible development of America’s natural resources,” Stauber wrote in his letter, a copy of which he circulated to fellow House members asking them to add their names.

Now all five tribes in Stauber’s congressional district are accusing him of blindsiding them and appeasing big industrial interests at their expense.

“This historic nomination is more important to us and all of Indian country than any other Cabinet nomination in recent history,” leaders of the five tribes wrote in a letter dated Jan. 14 and reviewed by NBC News. “Your opposition to the first and only American Indian ever nominated to a Cabinet position is likely to reverberate across Indian country.”

The letter was signed by the chairs of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Bois Forte Band of Chippewa, Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe.

[DrNewGod]

He wouldn't go unless he could march a mob into the proceedings at this point. He's more likely to want to set it on literal fire. His ego can't take it just happening.

The politician that needs bunkering in an undisclosed location is Pelosi. I'm unsure what the constitution says about the VP's status if unsworn before the president-elect dies, but I'm confident of who ascends if a POTUS term expires without successor.

[Amadeus Arkham]

[Powerboy]

It also makes it easier for his followers to attack it if they want, he'll be safe whatever happen.

Still.

I can't help but smile at the way the right-twittos would have lost it if Obama hadn't attended Trump's inauguration. Today they are mute.

It's also been pointed out that, in a situation where a mob gathered like they did on January 6th, the first action of the Secret Service would be to get the President out of there by any way necessary, a tunnel, a helicopter, whatever. The fact that they did nothing to evacuate him demonstrates clearly that they knew he was safe because he was the instigator of the whole thing.

[CSTowle]

Notice how the Chinese government's One Belt, One Road initiative is omitted from the conversation as well as their financial investment in Maduro's regime in Venezuela. Countries exploiting trade is, in theory, a good angle to attack however when it's weaponised against countries while overlooked by others it becomes bad faith. Plus, y'know, the Chinese government history with Muslims and other marginalised groups being evaded yet upheld as having higher standards in uplifting those same groups than America. Because America's bad, it can't ever do something good.

It's only bad faith if I were saying we're the only bad actor in the world. Obviously we're not. China's a bad actor in many ways (including helping us exploit their labor force for the state's profit), and many European nations as close allies are able to join in on the exploitation bandwagon with us (they also benefit from our military projection power keeping shipping lanes and markets open to the West). I am an American so I do tend to care more about and criticize what's done with my tax dollars and in part in my name. I have no voice in what China (or any other nation) does. There are some small measures I can take to try and avoid rewarding that exploitation, but it's so widespread and baked-in that you can't avoid it entirely.

And while I wouldn't assume that your response is necessarily a deflection or "What-about"-ism, I'd point out that it really doesn't diminish the bad done by America to point out that others are bad actors as well. It's still wrong when we do it. And we do do it, all of the time. Almost everywhere in the world where there's opportunity. And when you're, again, the world's largest economic and military power that's something worth discussing.

[Kirby101]

Hey, stop the America bashing. It is a great country that is the leading light of Democracy. Okay, there might have been the worse form of slavery in history for a few hundred years, and a little genocide of the indigenous people, and some exploitation of third world countries, a few immoral wars...But hey, what about Hollywood, Jazz and Comic Books.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Hey, stop the America bashing.

Agreed but let's not respond in kind with hagiography.

It is a great country that is the leading light of Democracy.

"Leading light of Democracy" is not true.

When we think of the great innovations in democratic government, America has been a follower and not a leader:
-- The French Revolution in 1792 introduced universale male suffrage without any property qualifications or conditions, unlike America where voting was restricted only to men who had property or met a certain tax threshold (aka oligarchy).
-- The French Revolution also abolished slavery in 1794, and introduced the concept of a multicultural democracy with rights to Jews, non-Christians, and other minorities, including African-French generals like Thomas Alexandre Dumas who got a rank that nobody in America at that time who looked like he did would have gotten (and unfortunately for Europe, remains the highest ranking POC in any military to this day). Napoleon unfortunately reversed a lot of this, but it's Napoleon who the US government cut a deal with you know.
-- Female suffrage was introduced and instituted in New Zealand and in Scandinavian countries well before England or USA. The English government gave women the vote before Americans did.
-- Weimar Republic Germany introduced the most progressive LGBTQ laws of any major democracy in the 1920s (the Nazis of course reversed all of this and part of their platform was triggering rural voters against those decadent cosmopolitan urban people).
-- In terms of social democracy, the UK Labour Party passed the NHS and a whole slew of legislation that's far beyond stuff like the New Deal, the Great Society, and Obamacare.

As far as America and democracy goes, "doing the right thing after doing everything else" is more accurate than "leading light of Democracy".

But hey, what about Hollywood, Jazz and Comic Books.

As far as Hollywood goes, well you have the likes of Harvey Weinstein and many other predators in the industry (and some have argued many producers early in the industry were no different), you have a history of cinema that propagated harmful stereotypes against minorities of all kinds, while restricting the roles of women and non-white professionals above the line and below the lines.

As for Comic Books, the history of exploitation of creators from Siegel and Shuster all the way to Alan Moore is enough to make one pause about celebrating that.

As for Jazz...many of the greatest Jazz geniuses were forced to perform in segregated areas to non-mixed crowds, to come in to clubs and venues through the back door, got exploited by managers and agents and so on. And hardly ever get respect or support because the National Endowment of Arts is notoriously underfunded and the Republicans want to gut funding for it time and again.

Let's not toot America's horn too much. Let's all be humble.

I will say one thing...America invented the Internet. That's all us. So yay.