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

[JackDaw]

Yes. The normal thoughts and prayers from the GOP and this is tragic and we have to take steps to keep it from happening again.

Meanwhile they will keep fighting gun control measures and keep forgiving and over looking and praising white supremists that make up their base.

What systematic program to radically improve gun control is Democratic Party actioning? Or any senior Democrat politician consistently advocating day after day?

( I take it as read that Republican Party isn’t busting a gut to change things, but puzzled that really there doesn’t really seem any strong appetite in Democrat Party to change gun laws.)

[CaptainEurope]

No, it's definitely fair to put Khan on a list of all time butchers. While we have reason to be wary of many of the accounts of his empire's barbarity, it's not 'presentism' because they were unmatched in brutality by the standards of their time, and the things we tend to assume were 'natural' when it comes to brutality and more usually weren't.



While this isn't about Ghengis Khan himself, his descendents followed the standard of brutality he himself set.



The Mongols had ample reason to believe they would make good on their threats. They usually had before.

Great. Now I am feeling bad about one of our more successful Eurovision entries.

[Tendrin]

Great. Now I am feeling bad about one of our more successful Eurovision entries.

I know what you speak of and you should absolutely NEVER feel bad over it.

[CaptainEurope]

https://twitter.com/nickmartin/statu...60311914614784

Remember, this is the person that the governor of Arizona said was 'better than a democrat'.

It's either Antifa or a false flag by the Feds. This is how they live with themselves.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

NEW: A mass shooter in Buffalo, NY who killed at least 10 people had posted a manifesto online espousing the White Replacement Theory, per
@BNONews

White Replacement Theory has been long promoted and championed by Tucker Carlson on Fox News.

https://twitter.com/briantylercohen/...81101623758848

********************

The Buffalo shooter's manifesto focuses on "White birth rates."

The Supreme Court's opinion overturning Roe cites the "domestic supply of infants."

This is not a coincidence.

https://twitter.com/TristanSnell/sta...19883404304387

********************

Hey New York - remember consequences?

@EliseStefanik
bought Facebook ads pushing 'great replacement theory' claiming white people are intentionally being replaced by migrants.

IMO, her words encouraged hate and division and the type of violence we witnessed in Buffalo today.

https://twitter.com/donwinslow/statu...56144059846658

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Meanwhile, here in Pennsylvania:

Trump endorses Mastriano in Pennsylvania governor's race

No big surprise there. Mastriano was in Washington on 1/6 and has supported the Big Lie about the election having been stolen from Trump. That's more than enough ass kissing to earn Mastriano the blessing from TFG.

[babyblob]

What systematic program to radically improve gun control is Democratic Party actioning? Or any senior Democrat politician consistently advocating day after day?

( I take it as read that Republican Party isn’t busting a gut to change things, but puzzled that really there doesn’t really seem any strong appetite in Democrat Party to change gun laws.)

At the moment they are not really trying anything. Though the shooting Saturday may change that. But we all know for years any time any gun reform measure has been brought up on the state or natinal level the GOP has fallen all over themselves to stop it. or gun rights groups have gone to court suing about "Muh Freedoms." when it comes to gun laws.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

At the moment they are not really trying anything. Though the shooting Saturday may change that. But we all know for years any time any gun reform measure has been brought up on the state or natinal level the GOP has fallen all over themselves to stop it. or gun rights groups have gone to court suing about "Muh Freedoms." when it comes to gun laws.

A lot of people have said that if Sandy Hook didn’t result in real and lasting gun control laws, nothing would, and that grim prediction has been proven right. Sadly, yesterday’s horror won’t change anything either. Even worse, in the eyes of right wingers, they’re no doubt elated because the “right” people, namely people of color were killed instead of whites. The fact I haven’t seen the usual empty “thoughts and prayers” platitudes since yesterday justifies that opinion.

[Tami]

Kalush Orchestra showed a video for the song Stefania, shot in Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and Borodyanka, destroyed by the Russian army. They didn't want to publish it before #Eurovision not to get accused of politicizing the contest. The video ends with a call: Stand with #Ukraine!

Twitter Link

[babyblob]

A lot of people have said that if Sandy Hook didn’t result in real and lasting gun control laws, nothing would, and that grim prediction has been proven right. Sadly, yesterday’s horror won’t change anything either. Even worse, in the eyes of right wingers, they’re no doubt elated because the “right” people, namely people of color were killed instead of whites. The fact I haven’t seen the usual empty “thoughts and prayers” platitudes since yesterday justifies that opinion.

Agreed. Normally every politician wants to get on with the "Look how much I care." Tweets. With the "This is tragic, should not have happened Thoughts and Prayers and we stand with the family."

Yet a lot of politicians have been strangely silent. i wonder why right?

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of South Dakota State Senator Phil Jensen, a man who drew national headlines back in March of 2013 for producing legislation that would allow businesses to discriminate against whoever they want, Civil Rights Act be damned. Jensen actually tried claiming that if a bakery owned by the KKK tried discriminating against an African American, that the matter would take care of itself, because customers would be too offended to patronize such a place. This logic, of course then fails to understand everything about the Jim Crow era South. Anyway, South Dakota Republicans threw Jensen under the bus for his remarks, but have never said anything about other extreme legislation he's produced or supported, including drug testing welfare recipients, an unnecessary ban on Sharia Law in the United States, an attempt to criminalize abortions as "attacks on a fetus", co-sponsoring “religious freedom” legislation to allow people to discriminate against LGBT citizens, and Jensen’s sponsorship of transphobic legislation including not just a ban on transgendered citizens using public bathrooms, but also to forbid transgendered athletes from participating in high school sports. (Because that just reeks of a “party of smaller government”, right?)

While the South Dakota GOP spent two years aghast and trying to do damage control over Phil Jensen’s remarks about the Klan, in 2016, he survived Jacqueline Sly, a primary challenger and he still won re-election comfortably in Rapid City with 61% of the vote. Has he dialed back the extremism since we last checked in? Hell no, he hasn’t! Phil Jensen has continued his attacks upon this LGBTQ community, but apparently isn’t content to only do so as a legislator. At a town hall in February of 2017, as David Hubbard, from the Human Rights campaign asked “Who will protect the people of South Dakota from discrimination??”, Jensen’s response drew groans from the audience for its sheer bigotry:

"Should a known pedophile… be allowed, be allowed to adopt. There are reasons this is not allowed."

Now, equating a transgendered person to a “known pedophile” did not go over, especially because there was a transgendered man in attendance who HAD adopted a child, and lambasted Jensen for believing a child should not find a loving family to care for them.

So far in 2018, Phil Jensen has swapped out his focus on homophobia to instead, move back to transphobia again, as he sponsored legislation to try and force businesses with public restrooms to place signs to warn users that “someone of the opposite gender may be inside”, because that’s a “smaller government” thing to do. Just like the other bill Jensen sponsored, where he tried to place a ban on public school teachers from being able to teach anything about gender identity in classrooms. He also decided to use that political capital to sponsor legislation to allow school children to challenge the lesson plans of any science teacher who dares to try and educate the youth of their state about climate change, claiming teachers “worship at the altar of climate change”, and calling any plans to teach kids about it “indoctrination”.

Jensen has also spent his current term in office trying to imagine new ways to hunt down and stop any kids who might be undergoing feelings of gender dysphoria, submitting legislation that would require school counselors to notify parents if any children reported such feelings to them to make sure those children could not begin any transition to a gender outside of the one they were born as.

The only good news about that fact is… Jensen was term-limited and cannot run for re-election to the South Dakota State Senate in 2020. Instead, the absolute bigot opted to run for a seat in the South Dakota House of Representatives instead, and he’s taken his new lease on legislative life to be a partisan motherf***er completely, submitting a bill to teach “Celebrate Black History Month” by distorting history and claiming that Democrats founded the modern Ku Klux Klan. Which, not for nothing, is an outright lie, if anyone thought it might not be.

And, that’s why we can’t say we were surprised to learn that in October of 2021, Rolling Stone magazine published an article revealing that it had come to light that Phil Jensen is a registered member of the GOP’s favorite domestic terror outlet, the Oath Keepers. This would be the same Oathkeepers who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, in a deranged coup attempt upon the certification of the electoral college vote on behalf of Donald Trump. Phil Jensen is apparently an Oathkeeper. He admitted to signing up in 2014, and saw no reason why anyone should see his membership as a negative, feeling the dips***s who attempted to overthrow American democracy were “unfairly maligned”.

Because he jumped to the lower chamber, Phil Jensen can hold office until 2028, and his current term will last through the end of 2022. Just… f***, man.

[Zelena]

At the moment they are not really trying anything. Though the shooting Saturday may change that. But we all know for years any time any gun reform measure has been brought up on the state or natinal level the GOP has fallen all over themselves to stop it. or gun rights groups have gone to court suing about "Muh Freedoms." when it comes to gun laws.

I guess some freedoms are more valued than the others because you should be free continuing your life when you walk into a store too…

[Tami]

Americans don't get how inflation works. That's a problem for Biden.

Democrats have traditionally had at least a slight advantage over Republicans when it comes to being the party voters trust more to handle the economy. But President Joe Biden is deep underwater on that front in recent polls.

That’s crystal clear in a Monday poll from CNN and SSRS. According to their findings, "a majority of US adults say Biden’s policies have hurt the economy, and 8 in 10 say the government isn't doing enough to combat inflation.” Moreover, only 34 percent of respondents approve of his handling of the economy, while 66 percent disapprove. (Apparently nobody CNN asked was undecided this time around.)

The political implications for the downward trend line of Biden’s numbers aren’t great. But what’s got to be frustrating for the White House is that so much of what’s being measured here is the country’s mood — which can be both fickle and resistant to any fixes the president has in his toolbox.

Let’s use the inflation question from this poll as a prime example. Respondents were asked: “Do you think the U.S. government is doing (too much), (too little), or the right amount to try to reduce inflation?” Eighty-one percent said “too little,” while 15 percent answered it’s doing just enough. (Another 4 percent responded “too much,” and I have follow-up questions for them.)

[Catlady in training]

I'm surprised that you're completely unfamiliar with the argument against abortion. It's fine to dismiss the argument (just as it's fine to think that other stuff is more important) but it is surprising that you don't seem familiar with it.

The argument on the pro-life/ anti-abortion side is that the fetus is a living thing, which should be protected. It is not just an extension of the mother.

Most on the pro-life side (and many on the pro-choice side) would believe that it has a soul.

Don't you worry, I'm familiar with that argument (although nice way of trying to put words in my mouth). I still fail to see how is that relevant to your comparison with workplace discrimination, unless you are trying to compare a fetus to an employee that is being discriminated against and a woman who wants the autonomy of her body to an abuser.

Since we are comparing abortions to other stuff, here's one argument I wish more people were making:

If the government is supposed to have rights over a person's body with the justification of someone else's protection, does that mean that government should also be able to mandate that everyone has to give blood? When there's blood shortage because of an accident, everyone with the needed bloodtype should be required to go give blood, unless they are currently doing some necessary job. Which means that everyone has to at least be in the register, to know what is everyone's blood type so that they can be contacted in such a case.
Same with donating bone marrow, everyone should be required to register, it could potentially save lives.

And more radical, but it could be applied to any organs that can be donated without endangering the life of the donor, like a kidney.
Of course, no question about the option to opt out of donating organs after death. Why should dead bodies have more bodily autonomy than live women?

[Mister Mets]

Don't you worry, I'm familiar with that argument (although nice way of trying to put words in my mouth). I still fail to see how is that relevant to your comparison with workplace discrimination, unless you are trying to compare a fetus to an employee that is being discriminated against and a woman who wants the autonomy of her body to an abuser.

Since we are comparing abortions to other stuff, here's one argument I wish more people were making:

If the government is supposed to have rights over a person's body with the justification of someone else's protection, does that mean that government should also be able to mandate that everyone has to give blood? When there's blood shortage because of an accident, everyone with the needed bloodtype should be required to go give blood, unless they are currently doing some necessary job. Which means that everyone has to at least be in the register, to know what is everyone's blood type so that they can be contacted in such a case.
Same with donating bone marrow, everyone should be required to register, it could potentially save lives.

And more radical, but it could be applied to any organs that can be donated without endangering the life of the donor, like a kidney.
Of course, no question about the option to opt out of donating organs after death. Why should dead bodies have more bodily autonomy than live women?

You did say abortion affects just the woman, so that would imply that no one thinks a fetus is alive in any meaningful way, when that's the main reason for opposition to abortion.

From a legal perspective, there is a difference between mandating a procedure and banning it, so that's one way to square the circle.

In addition, the situations you pose, like mandating blood transfusions and kidney donations (which do have significant risks), require a state legislature to make the law and for a Governor to approve it. There's no hint that there's the political will for it.

Do you not understand that LGTB isn't only gay men?

*Edit*

Also, the leaked draft pretty much nukes the right to privacy. So we'd see the return of anti-sodomy laws and striking down same sex marriage.

So yes, gay men would be very much affected.

The statement is about people disproportionately affected by abortion bans.

The reference to the LGBTQ community lumps together different groups, and it's odd to me to have a comment about abortion that mentions gay men but not women.

With Trump's sycophant followers, there's no such thing as bad optics when it comes to him.

Yeah, I don't think it's the likeliest explanation.

It goes without saying that it affects women. However, the only way gay men are directly effected is if a gay transgender man who still has a uterus is raped and impregnated. I can't see any other way a gay man, even a transgender gay man could get accidentally pregnant.

Expanding, I'm curious if there's any evidence that people from any subgroup within the LGBTQ umbrella including lesbians, bisexual women, trans men, or nonbinary individuals raised as girls are more likely to seek abortions than straight women would be.