1. #49921
    Ultimate Member babyblob's Avatar
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    I have to say I am shocked at the number of Establishment liberals on such a Far Left Thread!
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  2. #49922
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by babyblob View Post
    I have to say I am shocked at the number of Establishment liberals on such a Far Left Thread!
    Never saw THAT coming!
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  3. #49923

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    In 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of the former U.S. House Representative from Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, Jim Bridenstine. We noted the first time we turned our eye to Bridenstine that he said on the floor of the House that he didn’t want to impeach the president because he felt VP Joe Biden would be more of an embarrassment. He also denies that when the Supreme Court rules something constitutional, that it actually IS then constitutional. Bridenstine’s most disgusting moment, though, was probably when he hosted a town hall and had a constituent tell him “President Obama should be executed as an enemy combatant,” and he made no attempt to dissuade her ideas, instead fueling them further by, in response, telling her the falsehoods that the Toomey-Manchin gun control bill would create a national gun registry and that the legalization of marijuana in Colorado had made the whole state overrun with organized crime. In our second look at Jim Bridenstine, we added that he has stated his desire to privatize Social Security, continued to deny the science behind climate change by saying “there’s no credible evidence CO2 levels effect the environment“,and signed onto a letter with many Congressmen demanding the GOP House work together to defund Planned Parenthood, or else they would shut down the federal government. After the 2016 elections, there was a line in the sand drawn by many regarding the website Breitbart News, owned by Trump campaign strategist and administration member Steve Bannon because… well, it was Alt-Right. And by Alt-Right, we mean White Nationalist. Guess who was discovered to be a paid writer at Breitbart News? Congressman Jim Bridenstine. The Trump administration actually did, in their tradition of nominating the absolute dirt-worst people for any government post, pick Bridenstine to be the new administrator of NASA, in spite of the fact that he has an enormous track record of denying scientific facts.

    On this date in 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Ryan Costello, the former GOP Congressman from Pennsylvania’s 6th Congressional District from 2014-2018, who was sent to Washington at the ripe age of 38. While CNN and some tracking organizations heralded Costello for being “one of the more bipartisan members of the Republican caucus”, that still means he would vote outside of party lines less than 5% of the time. Costello voted for the GOP Tax Plan/Scam, voted to allow mentally ill veterans not have their firearms taken away through gun control laws, voted for several several 20-week Abortion Bans, and voted to defund Planned Parenthood. He should be credited, at least, for the fact that when foreign hackers tried to give him hacked information about his Democratic opponent in 2016, Costello’s campaign manager did what you’re supposed to, and notified the FBI. It seems the latest GOP “Young Gun” was feeling the squeeze after his prospective opponent for 2018 ended up being Democrat Chrissy Houlahan, and with the Blue Wave behind her, Costello got scared. So, his campaign came up with a unique strategy… to try to frame Houlahan for what he claimed were “two operatives” of Houlahan’s going to his home and threatening his wife. Which only raised questions like, “How did you know they were there on behalf of Houlahan?” As it turns out, the supposed trespassing individuals were simply a part of a normal weekend Planned Parenthood canvassing campaign to inform the public of the effect of proposed legislation on the Trump tax bill, and what it would mean for American healthcare. So if nothing else, Costello showed everyone how scared he really was. A month later, when the courts declared the gerrymandered Congressional map that Republicans wrote for themselves in Pennsylvania unconstitutional. Costello’s level-headed response was to call the courts’ order “political corruption”, and calling for the impeachment of the judges who ordered it. And, facing the prospect of *GASP* a fair election, Ryan Costello chickened out, and opted to not run for a third term in 2018. His seat obviously was flipped, and Chrissy Houlahan is now a Congresswoman, who is still not sending thugs to threaten anybody. We won’t be shocked if Ryan Costello re-emerges at some point when political fortunes might favor him, but for the time being.

    On this date in 2020, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Ron Curtis, a 2018 candidate for U.S. Senate who got thrashed by Sen. Mazie Hirono in the general election that year, and a 2020 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District. There’s oddly not a lot of details to be found about Curtis, other than he’s a retired former government contractor who is a fan of Ayn Rand (uh oh), and likes “historical movies” produced by Mel Gibson like Braveheart or the Patriot. Oh, and he also loves the QAnon conspiracy theory. And it’s one thing to buy into the conspiracy theory a little bit… it’s another thing to retweet the posts of Vincent Fusca, the individual that QAnon lunatics think is the late JFK Jr. (who in their alternate reality, faked his death and is coming out of hiding to serve as Donald Trump’s new VP candidate). He also has repeatedly shared videos from people taking the QAnon oath, and shared posts warning that “the QAnon movement must not become comatose.” As of July 23rd, 2020, Ron Curtis looked like he was already trying to explain what will be a likely loss by also sharing conspiracy theories about voter fraud by mail. He ended up only getting 28% of the vote.

    On this date in 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Mindy Robinson, a 2020 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District looking to unseat Democratic Congresswoman Susie Lee, with a prior resume of being a D-List actress who has been featured more in reality shows than TV or film, while also being a love interest of former UFC star Randy Couture. That’s almost enough celebrity status to get her a leg up in Las Vegas, but she was also yet the latest in our far-too-long line of actual Republican candidates for Congress who were promoting the Qanon conspiracy theory. And it doesn’t seem like she was just trying to ride the Q movement’s insanity into office, she seems to legitimately be out of her gourd herself. We’d show you more examples from her Twitter account, but it got suspended because… well, she kept posting deranged Qanon stuff. Robinson went into detail about Qanon in an interview with Newsweek: "It is not a 'conspiracy theory' to think these people exist and that it's not conspiracy theory' to think compromised government officials protect and cover up child sexual trafficking rings. you want to talk about how it was allowed to go on so long until Trump got into office, or how what should be the most-watched-after prisoner in the country managed to 'kill himself' while the camera magically 'malfunctions'? Who's it really dangerous too? Pedos, corrupt government officials, and every degenerate Hollywood celebrity on Epstein's flight logs? Honestly, all this very specific persecution and purging of Q accounts across the platforms, only proves their point that the powers that be are indeed capable of suppressing and controlling all dissenting opinions against them. "If the Left thinks it's only 'crazy conspiracy theorists' that don't trust the government, want to protect children from sexual trafficking, and don't want to be forced to inject some untested vaccine into them....I hate to tell you this, but that's most normal people." Among the conspiracy theories she shared online other than the main Qanon theory included linking to a Qanon video about E. Jean Carroll “falsely accusing” Donald Trump of sexual assault, shared conspiracy theory posts about Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg, claiming Jeffrey Epstein was murdered on the orders of Hillary Clinton, claiming Hillary Clinton was behind the murder of the late Arkansas State Senator Linda Collins-Smith, alleging that the NSA is spying on Tucker Carlson on Facebook, falsely claiming hundreds of thousands of people died after being given the Covid-19 vaccine, and repeatedly spreading conspiracy theories about election fraud and lies claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 election. She was present in Washington, D.C. during the Capitol Attack, and in its wake, as Senator Lindsey Graham offered meager disapproval towards the domestic terrorists present, she ran into his media access to call him… well, it rhymes with “piece of s***”, but she also called HIM a traitor. Mindy Robinson ended up getting just 13% of the vote, finishing a distant third out of six candidates in the GOP Primary for this seat and losing to former WWE developmental talent and alleged domestic abuser, Daniel Rodimer. As she has little chance of ever reaching office, we will set aside her profile at this time to cover another wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 1125-55, since this was established in July 2014.
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  4. #49924

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    Jackson Lahmeyer
    Welcome to what is the 1125th original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling Jackson Lahmeyer, a 2022 candidate for U.S. Senate from Oklahoma, who hoped to knock sitting Senator James Lankford out of office in the GOP primary for his seat.

    Now, immediately, our first instinct would be to get a partisan wanker like Lankford out of office by any means possible… but whomever wins a Republican primary in Oklahoma is almost guaranteed a win in the general election… so you’re effectively just swapping folks out. Sure, provided Lahmeyer wasn’t trying to run to Lankford’s right, that would be fine.

    But holy f***, he was running to his right. And by that, we mean he was hanging out with disgraced General Michael Flynn and claiming that Sen. Lankford “didn’t support Trump enough” because he changed his mind and withdrew himself from the votes who were objecting the electoral count on January 6th after the whole, y’know… failed coup attempt. Other luminaries campaigning with Lahmeyer included lost Batman Rogues Gallery member and seditionist-already-pardoned-once, Roger Stone, MyPillow CEO and person in need of an intervention Mike Lindell, as well as John Bennett, the former Oklahoma state legislator we’ve profiled before as being particularly bats***.

    Jackson Lahmeyer was campaigning on Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen, and pledging his impeachment votes in the Senate for “The Stone Plan”, a fever dream concocted by Roger Stone wherein the GOP would return Donald Trump to power not after the 2024 election… but in 2023 after hypothetically Republicans would win back the House and Senate in 2022, be sworn in early 2023, vote Donald Trump the Speaker of the House, then see to having Joe Biden would be removed from office due to “mental decline”, before impeaching new President Kamala Harris for unnamed “reasons” and placing Trump back in the Presidency without need of electing him president again.

    Y’know, NORMAL politics.

    With as much of a white nationalist kook as Lahmeyer was, James Lankford didn’t even deign to face him in a debate, referring to his antics as a “sideshow”. And while Lankford easily won, Jackson Lahmeyer still pulled down 26% of the vote among Republicans. There are over 95,000 Oklahoma Republicans who heard this guy was backed by convicted felons in Trump’s orbit, that after January 6th, were voting him into office to reinstall Donald Trump by legally improbable odds back into office two years earlier than the country could event potentially re-elect him.

    That might be the scariest part.

    The other one would be that Lahmeyer is only roughly 30 years old, so there’s a far-too-high chance he’s going to be running for office somewhere in Oklahoma for years to come… and there might be places deep red enough in a red state that he could win. And… that’s a terrifying enough thought to keep us spooked until Halloween, at least.
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  5. #49925
    Astonishing Member Panfoot's Avatar
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    I got Progressive Left, I suppose I'm the woke boogeyman!

  6. #49926
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    Quote Originally Posted by Panfoot View Post
    I got Progressive Left, I suppose I'm the woke boogeyman!
    So if I say Critical race theory three times in a mirror, you'll appear?

  7. #49927
    Old school comic book fan WestPhillyPunisher's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Panfoot View Post
    I got Progressive Left, I suppose I'm the woke boogeyman!
    Boo! Hiss!
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  8. #49928
    Ultimate Member Mister Mets's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by babyblob View Post
    I have to say I am shocked at the number of Establishment liberals on such a Far Left Thread!
    I am not shocked that the majority of the people here are to the left of 81% of the population.
    Sincerely,
    Thomas Mets

  9. #49929
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    I am not shocked that the majority of the people here are to the left of 81% of the population.
    As I said, I thought I was more moderate. But I guess things happen. There was at least one question that I couldn't answer honestly, so I had to pick one of two choices. Not sure if that made any difference.
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  10. #49930
    Ultimate Member babyblob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    As I said, I thought I was more moderate. But I guess things happen. There was at least one question that I couldn't answer honestly, so I had to pick one of two choices. Not sure if that made any difference.
    Well thanks for messing up the survey!
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  11. #49931
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    Quote Originally Posted by hyped78 View Post
    I think they kill Palestinians as Palestinians/ Arabs also kill Jews. It's tit for tat, unfortunately, and I don't think it's fair - at all - to attribute all the killing to Israel. In fact, during the Intifadas, when Israel shoots rockets at Gaza or the West Bank they warn the Palestinian Authorities where they're going to strike so civilians can get out of the way. Palestinians are known to use human shields. And haven't you seen news or footage of Arab Israelis burning Synagogues and Jewish owned businesses in places like Lod and other "mixed cities"?
    Usually, when missiles are fired if you look closely at the timeline (we can discuss specific recent examples, if you want to), you'll see that Hamas and Hezbollah shoot missiles first, the latter from Lebanon. Hamas is a terrorist organization and Hezbollah is another one, created/ supported by Iran. Almost always, Israel only shoots missiles in response.

    Stealing land - the current/ latest borders of Israel were defined during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, the fourth Arab-Israeli war when the Arabs launched a surprise attack against Israel on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. The previous borders were a result of the 1948 Arab-Israel war (there's more conflicts in between, but I'm trying not to write a history thesis here). Again, these are examples of Israel being attacked/ threatened by coalitions of surrounding countries and the results of these conflicts have changed the borders in different places. The West Bank and Gaza, for example, were only occupied by Israel as a result of the Six-day war in 1967 (they also occupied the Sinai and the Golan Heights).

    "As for apartheid, allowing some to work and live as second-class (as non-Jewish/non-Hebrew) citizens" - I think you're confused, as officially the Arab citizens of Israel have equal rights (this is written in law, I can share sources), the only major difference is that Arab citizens of Israel do not have to serve in the IDF (but they can, even if they mostly choose not to), unlike Jewish Israelis. There were restrictions when Israel was founded but those have been removed (e.g. separated schools, labor laws).
    There are several Arab Israelis who have worked on the Supreme Court, the Foreign Service, some are Ambassadors, in Civil Service, while others are Judges in lower courts, Mayors or doctors in Israel's healthcare system (NHI). I can search for a list of names to demonstrate this, if needed.

    I think it's important to distinguish:
    - The Arab citizens of Israel, who are ~20% of the population, possess the same rights as Jewish Israelis under the law. The recent assassinations of Orthodox Jews in Israel were (all?) carried out by Arab citizens of Israel, not by Palestinians.
    - They are distinct from most Palestinians in the West Bank, who are governed by the Palestinian Authority, and Palestinians in Gaza, who are ruled by Hamas, as well as (most) Arab residents of East Jerusalem who have more restricted rights.

    Now, separately, the reason why Israel doesn't give citizenship to all Arabs (Palestinians, as per the distinction above; but Palestinians have their own separate governments) within its borders is simply because, the day when they recognize everyone as Israeli full-fledged citizens, the state of Israel and the Jewish homeland will cease to exist - as Jews will quickly become a minority within Israel (~5 million Palestinians + ~2 million Israeli Arabs vs. about ~7 million Jewish Israelis and birth rate %s are higher for Arabs).
    Recently, an Islamist party entered a government coalition for the first time ever, the Ra'Am (United Arab List) - demographics and political power are a huge risk to the future of Israel. This is widely known and debated. What would you do if you were them? Arab parties have 10 of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

    There is a more complex situation with the Palestinians who reside in East Jerusalem, after the 1967 War, but I wouldn't get into that.

    Israel is a democracy, they have elections and, as stated, even had an Islamic party in the government coalition which recently fell. The same can't be said for most Arab nations. I've also mentioned that they have a far higher Human Development Index that Arab countries, as well as a human rights track record.
    HDI data here: https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/hum...#/indicies/HDI

    Do Arab Israelis, as a minority, face discrimination and have lower income than Israeli Jews? Sure, that's undeniable and unfortunate... but isn't it the same with minorities in the US and elsewhere? (also unfortunately)

    I am not saying that Israel doesn't do "bad things" or that they don't have blood on their hands. But to consider them the "evil guys" and Arabs the "good guys" is quite naive and, quite frankly, doesn't meet the test of reality. I'm happy to continue this discussion, though; I've tried to keep this post "short" for now.
    On the bolded, this is good. We got to look at a textbook example of "whataboutism" the other day, and now we have a follow-up textbook example of what the kids call a "strawman". That is, when you manufacture a position that's easier to argue against and defeat than the argument actually made by the other side.

    In this case, pointing out how while we do criticize those things when non-Jewish Middle Eastern countries do them people don't notice it because it's agreed upon and understood. It's when you do it with Israel and a portion of the commenters seem to blank out reality and act as if it isn't happening with them, and any suggestion of anything nefarious is in reality thinly veiled antisemitism.

    I've literally said and repeated (and am repeating) that both sides do it, but both sides don't get equal condemnation. That's bad, because when you do that you enable that bad behavior to continue. You encourage it. As to naive/out of touch with reality, you're literally not reading (or intentionally misreading, because again much easier) what I've said and are manufacturing an argument of "Arabs always good, Jews always bad". Please show me where I said such a thing, or even suggested such a thing.

    On the border, they've expanded slowly since then and are continuing to. It's not a new development or a hidden one. I imagine if you care about politics at all you've read or heard about it. So why ignore it?

    On Arab minority status, fine to freeze them out but then don't declare yourself a democracy because like Turkey or Russia you have elections. Elections sadly don't make a democracy. Actions and treatment of all citizens do. It's why I criticize my own country.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Mets View Post
    A key distinction is that Olmstead v. L.C. was based on law.

    It's a bit of a leap to go from speculation to certainty.

    The original piece isn't opinion as much as it seems to be people trying to figure out the implications of a view of the world that they don't share.

    This isn't a conservative jurist saying that a decision was ruled incorrectly, as much as it is activists worried about what someone else may think.

    If you're comparing Israel to Russia and North Korea in terms of international condemnation, Israel would need to be on the same level.

    Because Israel is called out more often than other countries, they actually need to be significantly worse for this to be anything but bias that should be called out immediately and unambiguously.

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...-rest-of-world

    There is an argument that Israel views itself as a western democracy, and should be held to that standard, but this should be made explicitly to make it clear that Israel is superior to its neighbors, and many of the countries that condemn it in the UN.
    You don't have to make it clear that Israel is superior to its neighbors or that they're better overall than Russia or North Korea. You only have to point out that they have deep flaws that need addressing, and be able to point that out without denial or accusations of antisemitism. Otherwise you're attempting to change the argument to a more comfortable one.

    Saying that if they're not exactly as bad as one country or another then comparisons can't be made (in which case I'd say look up the definition of "comparison") is absurd.

    Unsurprisingly I'm on the left end of the spectrum (didn't give the Democratic Party a high score, but not sure if that helped or hurt).

  12. #49932
    I am invenitable Jack Dracula's Avatar
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    I came up as Progressive Left which doesn't surprise me. It might surprise some others here though.
    The Cover Contest Weekly Winners ThreadSo much winning!!

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  13. #49933
    Astonishing Member useridgoeshere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tami View Post
    As I said, I thought I was more moderate. But I guess things happen. There was at least one question that I couldn't answer honestly, so I had to pick one of two choices. Not sure if that made any difference.
    Well, some of the questions did force extremes where, like a good liberal, I was, like, it depends. I went with the least objectionable extreme. Nothing really on climate change, which I found odd. But giving Republicans a zero probably cinched my place on the spectrum.

  14. #49934
    Invincible Jersey Ninja Tami's Avatar
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    Cheney calls Trump a ‘coward’ in campaign ad for his daughter

    Former vice president Dick Cheney, in a campaign ad for his eldest daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), said former president Donald Trump is a “coward” and the greatest threat to the nation in its 246-year history.

    “He is a coward,” Cheney says in the ad, which was released Thursday. “A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election, and he lost big. I know it, he knows it, and deep down I think most Republicans know it.”

    Liz Cheney faces a tough primary on Aug. 16 for Wyoming’s sole congressional seat, with Trump-backed Harriet Hageman favored to win.

    Trump, Cheney said, “tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him.”

    The former president has repeatedly spread false claims of voter fraud and a rigged election. The House impeached him on a charge of inciting an insurrection for the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol by a mob of his supporters intent on stopping the confirmation of Joe Biden’s electoral college win.

    “In our nation’s 246 year history there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our Republic than Donald Trump.” Dick Cheney
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  15. #49935
    Astonishing Member Panfoot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The Cool Thatguy View Post
    So if I say Critical race theory three times in a mirror, you'll appear?
    Appear AND turn you gay!

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