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

[Tami]

DeSantis: My name is Reek.
Biden: Good boy.

Wait a minute, it’s been reported Biden isn’t scheduled to fly into Florida until Wednesday. When was this picture taken?

Joe Biden and Ron DeSantis Praised for Putting Unity Above Politics After Condo Collapse - 7/3/21

President Joe Biden and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis received praise for setting aside their political differences this week to present a united front in the aftermath of the Surfside condo collapse.

[Tami]

The Star-Ledger endorsement: Tom Malinowski over Tom Kean Jr. | Editorial

To take the measure of Republican Tom Kean Jr.’s character, start with a visit to his campaign web site, where you will not see a single word about abortion.

But know that he has a second web site, one that his campaign pushes only to conservative voters. There is no link from the main campaign site. Kean apparently doesn’t want all of us to see it.

That one talks plainly about abortion: “Tom is a fierce defender of the sanctity of life, fighting every step of the way to protect the unborn from the egregious abortion laws proposed in New Jersey, and will continue to do so in Congress,” it reads.

Kean’s attempt to hide this from mainstream voters is plainly dishonest. His final vote as a state senator came in January, when he opposed a bill codifying the right to abortion in New Jersey. He voted repeatedly to cut all funding for Planned Parenthood, forcing a half dozen clinics to close. And now, on his secret web site, he explicitly promises to fight for federal restrictions on abortion rights here -- no matter what people in New Jersey think.

But the son is not the father. The elder Kean has a moral compass and has denounced Trump as unfit to serve as president, describing his behavior on Jan. 6 as a “dereliction of duty.” The father never had a secret web site designed to deceive. He broke from party leadership frequently, based on his own convictions. He won respect because he earned it.

The son is a different sort entirely. When he is not flat-out dishonest, he is secretive, simply refusing to say where he stands on core issues. He refuses interviews with nearly every New Jersey publication, while granting audiences to Fox News and Breitbart. He doesn’t hold public events, and he refuses even to answer questions in writing.

[Tendrin]

I'd imagine though that all of this probably just makes me biased, as opposed to particularly informed about the topic, in your opinion? That's a good way to turn even the loudest minority voice into a whisper.

Only cis white men are 'unbiased', after all.

[Adam Allen]

Only cis white men are 'unbiased', after all.

Well, no. The rest of us get to be "unbiased" when we agree with them.

[CaptainEurope]

DeSantis: My name is Reek.
Biden: Good boy.

Wait a minute, it’s been reported Biden isn’t scheduled to fly into Florida until Wednesday. When was this picture taken?

Yeah, my bad, fell for fake news. It's from the Surfside tragedy .

[CaptainEurope]

Well, I am and have been nonbinary for nearly 50 years at this point, but I can't say I was ever counted as nonbinary. It's not like I've ever had the option, really. Since people like myself were largely invisible to the general population as recently as 20, even 10 years ago, I'm not sure when all of us older folks would have been counted.

And not joking in the slightest, this is a very real issue/question in my actual not-online life: To what degree am I required to become a standard-bearer, at this late stage? I mean, I have been misgendered and misunderstood on this into middle age ... on a personal level, is there any point in becoming super loud and vocal about it, now?

In my humble genderqueer opinion, kids today just have the language and the options to actually consider gender beyond what is assigned at birth. I think it's disingenuous to pretend this was always the case. Because, again, even ten years ago the vast majority of people were not having these discussions. (I can again personally testify to that part: I'd found the language to accurately define my identify myself by that point, but it seriously is not as if most people were talking about it at all.)

I'd imagine though that all of this probably just makes me biased, as opposed to particularly informed about the topic, in your opinion? That's a good way to turn even the loudest minority voice into a whisper.





(Edit: If it helps, I have also worked in mental health nearly 15 years, with kids specifically about 5, and just over a year that the majority of those have -- really, just happened to be -- trans/nonbinary kids. Not as if I set out with any particular goal to become any authority on trans kids -- but, I kinda think I am at least a little, anyway? Compared to folks for whom this is all an abstract?)

I once talked to an older trans woman who even was a bit jealous of the younger generation, because of the way society had progressed. She said she was basically forced to give up her genitals to transition, while today trans and nonbinary kids have more options.

[CaptainEurope]

Brazil will head to a runoff election. Lula won the first round, but with a smaller lead than predicted based on polls.

[CaptainEurope]

Yesterday, Liz Truss answered in the affirmative to this question: "Are you absolutely committed to abolishing the 45p tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country?"

Today, her government scrapped those plans.

The British government has announced it will reverse plans to scrap the highest rate of income tax, following a major backlash to its proposed “growth plan.”

In a statement posted online Monday, finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng said the plan “had become a distraction.”

“We get it, and we have listened,” he said.

The announcement marks a major climb-down for new Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose government has been roiled by the reaction to its sweeping proposed tax cuts, which included slashing the top rate of income tax to 40% from 45%.

The radical cuts sent the pound plunging to historic lows and sparked market chaos, leading to a revolt within the governing Conservative Party.

[JackDaw]

Yesterday, Liz Truss answered in the affirmative to this question: "Are you absolutely committed to abolishing the 45p tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country?"

Today, her government scrapped those plans.

She’s making Bojo look like a genius. A difficult task, but I feared all along she would be up to it.

I suppose at some level we ought to give credit for reversing an obvious error. But as one guy put it on a radio phone in this morning “Is it really too much to ask that really, really obvious errors are nearly always avoided in the first place?”

It does look particularly bad that measure was not discussed even at cabinet level (it was just discussed between PM and Chancellor), and it does seem surprising that 2 high level experienced politicians could not predict it would be profoundly unpopular.

Hope things improve. Not super optimistic.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Star-Ledger endorsement: Tom Malinowski over Tom Kean Jr. | Editorial

This guy sounds like a real prize. I'm sure daddy must be plenty disgusted with his scumbag son.

[CaptainEurope]

She’s making Bojo look like a genius. A difficult task, but I feared all along she would be up to it.

I suppose at some level we ought to give credit for reversing an obvious error. But as one guy put it on a radio phone in this morning “Is it really too much to ask that really, really obvious errors are nearly always avoided in the first place?”

It does look particularly bad that measure was not discussed even at cabinet level (it was just discussed between PM and Chancellor), and it does seem surprising that 2 high level experienced politicians could not predict it would be profoundly unpopular.

Hope things improve. Not super optimistic.

Usually when a hard-line conservative comes to power with big plans to cut taxes and **** over the poor, they had a moderate or liberal government before them leaving them a somewhat intact economy. Truss followed on a succession of conservative PMs who threw the country into chaos with Brexit and did a very bad job with pandemic response.

[CaptainEurope]

Gavin Newsom this week signed or vetoed a big flurry of bills having to do with criminal justice & prison.

Twitter thread about them.

Good stuff.

[JackDaw]

Usually when a hard-line conservative comes to power with big plans to cut taxes and **** over the poor, they had a moderate or liberal government before them leaving them a somewhat intact economy. Truss followed on a succession of conservative PMs who threw the country into chaos with Brexit and did a very bad job with pandemic response.

I usually take the line that when Prime Minister is replaced in between scheduled General Elections that no there is no case for an early election…we don’t have a Presidential system in UK, and Prime Ministers have often been changed mid term.

But, Liz Truss’s clear intentions depart radically from the manifesto that got the Bojo government elected, the claim then (apart from “Get Brexit done”) was that the economy would be re-balanced to help poorer regions of UK (“levelling up”). Ms Truss has no intentions of “levelling up”. (Mind you not sure anybody ever knew what it meant.)

There is therefore a case in equity for an early General Election. But obviously not going to happen.

[Mister Mets]

Well, I am and have been nonbinary for nearly 50 years at this point, but I can't say I was ever counted as nonbinary. It's not like I've ever had the option, really. Since people like myself were largely invisible to the general population as recently as 20, even 10 years ago, I'm not sure when all of us older folks would have been counted.

And not joking in the slightest, this is a very real issue/question in my actual not-online life: To what degree am I required to become a standard-bearer, at this late stage? I mean, I have been misgendered and misunderstood on this into middle age ... on a personal level, is there any point in becoming super loud and vocal about it, now?

In my humble genderqueer opinion, kids today just have the language and the options to actually consider gender beyond what is assigned at birth. I think it's disingenuous to pretend this was always the case. Because, again, even ten years ago the vast majority of people were not having these discussions. (I can again personally testify to that part: I'd found the language to accurately define my identify myself by that point, but it seriously is not as if most people were talking about it at all.)

I'd imagine though that all of this probably just makes me biased, as opposed to particularly informed about the topic, in your opinion? That's a good way to turn even the loudest minority voice into a whisper.





(Edit: If it helps, I have also worked in mental health nearly 15 years, with kids specifically about 5, and just over a year that the majority of those have -- really, just happened to be -- trans/nonbinary kids. Not as if I set out with any particular goal to become any authority on trans kids -- but, I kinda think I am at least a little, anyway? Compared to folks for whom this is all an abstract?)

I don't think your background would bias you.

I certainly agree that things are changing rapidly on this topic. I don't pretend that things have always been the same here, and am generally interested in figuring out what's going on.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” ran a profile of Joshua Black, a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives in the 2014 elections whose aspirations for office at first were the sort of thing that the GOP loved… an African-American taxi-driver turned street preacher who hated President Obama enough to call for his impeachment over Benghazi. Of course, their new favored son fell out of favor fast when he started calling for Barack Obama to be hanged as a traitor like Benedict Arnold… on MLK Day, of all times. While this got him a visit from the Secret Service, the only apology Black ever gave was that he was incorrect that Benedict Arnold was ever hanged, as he died back in England of old age. It seems like Joshua Black won’t be a viable candidate for anything but a Secret Service watch list going forward.

It was on this date in 2015 that “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”profiled former House Speaker John Boehner, the weepy wanker who wielded a speaker's gavel that was the most cartoonish example of overcompensation anyone could have ever imagined. Boehner's reign as speaker saw our Congress become a complete circus where he lost control of insurrectionists who were IN HIS OWN PARTY, eventually leading to several votes for Speaker where members of the House Freedom Caucus went out of their way to embarrass him with protest votes for other candidates for the role, and threats for votes for non-confidence that led to him opting to just resign. Boehner should not be pitied, however, because he led the charge to repeatedly, again and again attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act knowing the effort would either be stopped by a filibustered Senate, or be vetoed by President Obama, but insisting on repeating the lie that it was a "job-killing" healthcare plan. Boehner once denied climate change and disregarded that carbon dioxide played a role in it, mentioning how it's as harmless as cow flatulence. When confronted with the fact that the Congressional sessions he led were the least productive in modern history, he scoffed, saying he should be judged by the bills they didn't pass, rather than the ones they had. Boehner allowed Ted Cruz to practically usurp him and lead the GOP off a cliff and into the 2013 Government Shutdown without any plan as how to proceed in governing our country. He tried blaming cries from his Republican colleagues to impeach the president were actually "a scam perpetuated by the White House", who had somehow tricked them into suggesting such a thing. He frequently would insinuate that President Obama was loyal to forces outside the country, in particular Iran, during nuclear negotiations with them. Boehner, always a notorious chain smoker who once handed out checks from the tobacco lobby right before Congress was about to vote on legislation that directly affected the tobacco industry, has after retiring from Congress gone on to... big surprise... work for the tobacco lobby. We only credit him for having the redeeming quality of having a sense of humor and being brutally honest about hating Ted Cruz since he left office.

In both 2016, as well as 2017, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who in our first discussion was just U.S. Senator from Alabama Jeff Sessions. Now, we covered ALLLLLL the racist crap that Sessions had done including but not limited to his full-throated in his opposition to immigration, his die-hard support of the presidential aspirations of President Trump and helping write his vague and insane national security and anti-immigration policies, appeared on stage with him wearing a "Make America Great" hat as far back as August of 2015, and was the first Republican to defend Trump's idea of banning the entry of all Muslims entering the United States, saying it was "an appropriate time to begin discussion" of something that bigoted and obviously unconstitutional. We talked about how he opposes LGBT rights so fiercely that he was the person who introduced a bill for a Constitutional Amendment to ban same sex marriage in 2006. Long before he was in the Senate, back in 1986, Jeff Sessions was a U.S. Attorney for Southern Alabama nominated by President Ronald Reagan to be a U.S. District Court judge. During the hearing to confirm him, however, four lawyers from the U.S. Department Justice came and testified to report on Sessions' history of making racist statements. He was quoted as having said that the NAACP and ACLU were "un-American" and "Communist" because they "forced Civil Rights down the throats of people" and had told an assistant U.S. Attorney once that he "thought the Klan was okay until I found out they smoked pot", which is a revolting place to draw a line, frankly. The Reagan administration withdrew his nomination, making him only the second person denied the office after being nominated in 48 years. That forced Sessions to go skulking back to Alabama, where he would remain a U.S. Attorney until 1993, before running for Alabama Attorney General and serving for all of two years before making the jump to replace the late Sen. Howard Heflin, coincidentally one of the senators in that Judiciary Committee hearing who refused to confirm him to the U.S. District Court. Back in 2005: Sen. Sessions insulted protesters of the Iraq War, saying "They did not represent the American ideals of freedom, liberty and spreading that around the world. I frankly don't know what they represent, other than to blame America first.", In 2010, Sessions gave his humble opinion that President Obama "sees the Constitution as an inconvenience." and in June of 2016 spoke before the Faith and Freedom Coalition, claims that his anti-immigration position is "The Biblical One", citing the Book of Nehemiah from the Hebrew Bible. (Of course, in the actual Christian Bible, that Sessions is supposed to follow the tenets of, Jesus Christ kind of talks about welcoming strangrs from other lands with open arms as the mark of a True Christian (Romans 12:13), so...) Jeff Sessions helped fuel the anti-immigrant fever of the Trump presidential campaign, allowing his own creepy-ass white nationalist communications director, Stephen Miller, to join the Trump campaign, and Miller helped write the dystopian nightmare speech that Donald Trump delivered at the 2016 Republican National Convention. Sessions was rewarded for his loyalty with Trump to be nominated to be Attorney General, which filled every civil rights organization with dread, as this racist little Keebler Elf is openly opposed to every policy that would promote racial equality, criminal justice reform, and reducing the prison population that tends to lean disproportionately in favor of locking up minorities for longer periods of time for minor criminal offenses. He's proven them pretty right, too, as he's been focusing on things like trying to coordinate mass deportations of immigrants, reverse affirmative action at college universities, and re-direct funding away from investigations into white supremacist organizations as terrorist threats, even though they’re the most likely to carry out such attacks, statistically speaking.

But, the thing we're happy to report, is that this bigoted hobbit is still thankfully quite incompetent. Before he ever took the job as Attorney General, he had set the stage for ending up being thrown out of office, if not going to prison. You see, it seems people involved in the Trump 2016 campaign, which still did include Jeff Sessions were colluding with foreign entities from Russia to steal the presidential election (the United States Intelligence community are in unanimous agreement that this is the case). And did Jeff Sessions get caught up in the conspiracy to commit treason? Why, it certainly would seem so, what with there being secret meetings between himself and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak on at least THREE CONFIRMED occasions? But hey, a Senator meeting with foreign dignitaries might be something that you could explain, right? It's not like Jeff Sessions would lie under oath when asked about meeting Russians during his confirmation hearing to be Attorney General and risk being charged with perjury at some point... OH WAIT, HE F***ING DID THAT TOO. As a result of Attorney General Sessions being a complete moron aiding Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, his hand was forced and he had to recuse himself in the matter of the investigations into Russian tampering in the 2016 election. Big surprise... Donald Trump is not happy about that! It seems as so many dots are turning up for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to connect that it's almost going to be a slam dunk to prove not only did Trump campaign people were aiding a foreign power, but Donald Trump knew about it. And Trump is kicking himself that he's powerless to have his A.G. do anything to save his ass. Trump demanded Jeff Sessions resign, and wanted to toss him out of the White House in his pointy-heeled shoes, but was pressured by sane members of his administration that doing so would only accelerate his downfall. Instead, Trump has comforted himself by publicly ridiculing his own Attorney General in interviews and on social media in July of 2017, something he continued to do for over a year, and has even admitted he would have never nominated him if he knew Sessions wasn't going to play defense for him in the Trump/Russia investigation. Sessions eventually resigned in November of 2018.