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

[Kirby101]

Trump won by 600,000 votes, but Cruz only won by 200,000 in 2018. This isn't about 2020, it's about 2022 and beyond.

[Username taken]

Dallas, Tarrant & Harris went to Biden. The other went to Trump.

Dallas, Tarrant and Harris-the top 3 places with votes. Collin was 6th. The top 5 went to Biden.

Trump lost Tarrant by 2K votes.

Biden lost Collin by 11K.

14 counties Trump won by 90% or higher-mainly SMALLER ones. 20+ were 80% and up.

Biden's highest? 71%.

6 out of 8 counties that had LESS than 50% were won by Biden.

Highest voter turn out for counties won by Biden 74% Trump 80%

3 out the top 12 most populated counties are Republican. If all of them went blue-Democrats still could not win Texas. Too many smaller counties.

Basically, the smaller counties in Texas will always vote red no matter what happens.

[Kirby101]

Basically, the smaller counties in Texas will always vote red no matter what happens.

As they do in Georgia or Arizona, but that doesn't mean the GOP will always win. Unless you stop the big counties from voting, as they are trying in Texas, Arizona and Georgia.

[Malvolio]

This constant talk of "stealing the election" could backfire on Republicans in 2022 the way it did in Georgia back in January. Trump voters boycotted what they felt was a rigged election allowing two Democrats to win Senate seats. Could that happen in other states next year? Maybe.

[PwrdOn]

This constant talk of "stealing the election" could backfire on Republicans in 2022 the way it did in Georgia back in January. Trump voters boycotted what they felt was a rigged election allowing two Democrats to win Senate seats. Could that happen in other states next year? Maybe.

Ugh, if the Democrats had any wits about them they'd totally be running psyops in red areas imploring voters to boycott the rigged election.

@Xheight - As official spokesman of the CCP, I am informing you that we now exert complete control over your electoral process and any true patriot that casts a vote will just be another entry in our database, to be processed and dealt with at a time and place of our choosing. You have been warned, your Constitution can't save you now. Muhahahahaha!

[babyblob]

Ugh, if the Democrats had any wits about them they'd totally be running psyops in red areas imploring voters to boycott the rigged election.

@Xheight - As official spokesman of the CCP, I am informing you that we now exert complete control over your electoral process and any true patriot that casts a vote will just be another entry in our database, to be processed and dealt with at a time and place of our choosing. You have been warned, your Constitution can't save you now. Muhahahahaha!

This right here. I have said the Dems need to change their play book when dealing with the GOP. They spend so much time raking the high road the GOP runs them over in the public relations click bait sound bite era.

And its not like the Dems would be doing dirty. Just pointing out if the GOP cult thinks the election is rigged and their votes dont matter why cast the votes. They can even use Trumps own sound bites in ads. Let it come back and bite the GOP in the ass.

[4saken1]

How do you stay in office after that?

This will likely make him even more popular among his supporters.

[Gray Lensman]

This right here. I have said the Dems need to change their play book when dealing with the GOP. They spend so much time raking the high road the GOP runs them over in the public relations click bait sound bite era.

And its not like the Dems would be doing dirty. Just pointing out if the GOP cult thinks the election is rigged and their votes dont matter why cast the votes. They can even use Trumps own sound bites in ads. Let it come back and bite the GOP in the ass.

With the SCOTUS decision helping big donors stay hidden, they should astroturf it and make it sound like an actual right wing group. Maybe find someone with the same last name as a big GQP donor to be the official head of the PAC too.

[4saken1]

So Cyber Ninja found jackshit. Strike that, they accidentally showed that Trump lost by an even larger margin.


Republican Review of Arizona Vote Fails to Show Stolen Election

After months of delays and blistering criticism, a review of the 2020 election in Arizona’s largest county, ordered up and financed by Republicans, has failed to show that former President Donald J. Trump was cheated of victory, according to draft versions of the report.

In fact, the draft report from the company Cyber Ninjas found just the opposite: It tallied 99 additional votes for President Biden and 261 fewer votes for Mr. Trump in Maricopa County, the fast-growing region that includes Phoenix.

I imagine they knew what the results would be before they started the audit and this was more about "See! You can trust Republicans with counting the vote."

[seismic-2]

This constant talk of "stealing the election" could backfire on Republicans in 2022 the way it did in Georgia back in January. Trump voters boycotted what they felt was a rigged election allowing two Democrats to win Senate seats. Could that happen in other states next year? Maybe.

The GOP now realizes this. In 2020 they kept telling people that voting by mail, and voting early using drop boxes, was unsafe and could no be trusted. The Democrats encouraged early voting by mail and using drop boxes, so that people who were afraid of contracting Covid (i.e., mainly Democrats) would be able to vote without having to come to the polls on election day. As a result, there was a heavy Democratic turnout. Republicans, on the other hand, relied very heavily on election day turnout, which is always subject to diminution due to bad weather, unforeseen travel, family emergencies, delays in leaving work, personal illness, etc. This year there aren't many elections (the main one is in Virginia), but Republicans are being encouraged to take advantage of early voting so that they can "beat the Democrats at their own game".

[babyblob]

With the SCOTUS decision helping big donors stay hidden, they should astroturf it and make it sound like an actual right wing group. Maybe find someone with the same last name as a big GQP donor to be the official head of the PAC too.

That would be great. Like name the group something like "The Foundation For Free and Fair Elections." or something. The GOP Cult will see that and eat it up. Like Pwrdon said the Dems should be doin g this and they are missing a huge chance by not.

[skyvolt2000]

As they do in Georgia or Arizona, but that doesn't mean the GOP will always win. Unless you stop the big counties from voting, as they are trying in Texas, Arizona and Georgia.

Looking at Texas- the smaller counties came out in larger numbers to vote.
All the counties Trump won had over 80% voter turnout.
Republicans SHOW UP at the polls. They show up so much that even with a DECLINE Ted Cruz was able to WIN over Beto, who saw an increase in voters.

Biden WON 7 of the 10 largest counties. 11 out of the 20 counties. 12 out of 30. 12 out of 50. 13 out of 80. 15 out of 150. 22 out all 255 counties.
35 out of 51 majority Hispanic counties went to TRUMP.

Georgia has 17 majority black counties. Biden got 15.
7 of the largest counties when to Biden.
The write ins tore Trump up in Georgia. It would not have made a difference for Biden in Texas.
Biden won over EVERYONE who was not white, Christian, only had a high school education or none or UNDER the age of 50.

Arizona
Biden won Phoenix and flipped a county.
He won the Latino, Native American, women and folks under 30 votes. He got folks who did not VOTE in 2016 to vote.

In almost every case he won the LGBTQA vote.

This was the Closest shot Democratic had to win Texas.

Democrats in Texas has to get folks out to VOTE in EVERYTHING. That is the bottom line.

[Tami]

Prosecutors in Mexico seeking arrest warrants for more than 30 scientists

Mexico’s scientific community has reacted with outrage after the country’s chief prosecutor requested arrest warrants for 31 scientists, researchers and academics on accusations of organised crime, money laundering and embezzlement – charges that could land them alongside drug cartel kingpins in one of the country’s most notorious lockups.

A judge at the maximum security Altiplano prison – from which Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán escaped in 2015 – denied granting the arrest warrants on Wednesday. But the federal prosecutor immediately announced plans to pursue arrest warrants for the third time.

The university professors have been accused of violating a law that prevents members of an advisory board from receiving money from a government science fund. But that law was passed in 2019, and the scientists got the $2.5m years earlier when it was apparently legal. Those involved have denied the funds were illegal or misused.

The National Council on Science and Technology (Conacyt) has described the reaction to the arrest warrant applications as “a concerted wave of disinformation,” which was spreading “terror” in the scientific community.

“They’re talking about funds from illicit origins, and they’re calling it organised crime when it was a [nonprofit] organisation,” said Alma Maldonado, investigator with the public research centre Cinvestav. “It’s completely absurd to take it to this level of accusation.”

But scientists and academics describe the prosecutions as an attempt at silencing them as the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador imposes punishing austerity policies and pays short shrift to science in his response to the pandemic.

“The message from Conacyt and the prosecutor to the national academic community is strong and clear: if you think differently than us, it’s best you find something else to do,” wrote political economist Javier Aparicio in the newspaper Excélsior.

The criminal accusations have deepened the acrimony between López Obrador administration and the scientific community. AMLO, as the president is known, liquidated public trusts for funding academic and scientific research, alleging corruption and claiming the money would pay for pandemic relief.

Elena Álvarez-Buylla, the Conacyt director, often attacks “neoliberal science,” and said in 2020 it “produced the most splashy, and perhaps most useless advances, like reaching the moon.”

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Texas’ 26th Congressional District, Mike Burgess, the U.S. House Representative from Texas’ 26th Congressional District whose claim to fame is discussing masturbating fetuses touching themselves in the womb for their own pleasure as part of his “pro-life” arguments before Congress.

Burgess has also openly discussed the impeachment of Barack Obama (declining to comment WHAT the impeachable offense he committed was), going on FOX News to call for witch hunts into the attacks in Benghazi, amongst other tacky quotes and votes. Not surprisingly, he also bought into the Center for Medical Progress’ “sting” video and tried defunding Plannned Parenthood. In 2017, Mike Burgess was looking forward to trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and when asked about the millions of people who would lose their insurance coverage as a result, he laughed it off and was excited to do so because it would mean “more freedom”. Ah yes. The freedom to die because you can’t afford your medical costs anymore. That’s something to strive for, Mike. Especially for someone who purports himself to be a “pro-life” physician.

Texas has been trending more and more blue every year, but Texas’ 26th Congressional District still has a +11 Republican lean. Burgess' voting record still shows us that Burgess is the same old frowny sack of nuts he’s always been, after winning re-election in 2020 with 61% of the vote:

• May 2nd, 2018: Mike Burgess is one of 18 Republicans who sign on to a letter asking to nominate Donald Trump for a Nobel Prize for meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
• December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Burgess votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
• December 18th, 2019: Burgess ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
• May 15th, 2020: Burgess votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• December 10th, 2020: Burgess signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
• January 7th, 2021: Michael Burgess votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Burgess votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
• February 4th, 2021: Michael Burgess votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
• February 25th, 2021: Burgess votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Burgess votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Michael Burgess votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Burgess votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Burgess votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 19th, 2021: Rep. Burgess votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.

Michael Burgess is currently trending more towards the anti-immgrant demographic, not blinking while, he was shouted down and booed by constituents outraged over the Trump administration’s family separation policy, which he dug in and stated his support for. By April 2019, he showed he’s far enough gone that he’d even support the extreme idea to completely shut down the U.S./Mexico border so no one crosses it in either direction. And even with Donald Trump gone, he’s still xenophobic enough to co-sponsor HR 2729, the “Finish the Wall” Act.

This bloated tick upon our legislative branch is now 71 years aold, and will regrettably be unlikely to leave office until he’s decided to retire or he shuffles off his mortal coil.

[Tami]

Arizona Republican demands a new audit after the Cyber Ninjas audit crashed and burned

The Republican-backed "audit" of ballots in Maricopa County that Trump supporters were hoping to confirm widespread election fraud in Arizona has ended — and not only did it fail to find any substantial fraud, it actually slightly revised down the number of Trump ballots and up the number of Biden ballots.

But Arizona GOP chairwoman Kelli Ward had a different conclusion. On Friday, she called for a do-over of the whole thing.

"Dr. Shiva" is a reference to Shiva Ayyadurai, an election conspiracist and anti-vaccine truther who has claimed he was the inventor of email and that Dr. Anthony Fauci is a "Deep State" agent. He was hired by the Arizona State Senate to take part in the audit.