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

[SquirrelMan]

Weiss seems to show the most integrity regarding the Twitter disputes.

How is she showing more integrity than, say Aaron Rupar or Taylor Lorenz?
She allowed herself to be instrumentalized for the "Twitter Files" nothingburger and then voiced some mild both-siding when Musk went all Mussolini.

[mogwen]

Funny that I recently posted something from Wikipedia assuring donors that Wikipedia will never be up for sale, especially to someone like Musk. [My paraphrasing and interpretation]

Yes, that was absolutely predictive.
For those that are interested, this is the site that contains all the Musk's text exchanges released by the court of chancery for the Twitter lawsuit.

https://jusgu.github.io/elon-musks-texts/

[Kirby101]

Musk is running a poll on whether he should step down from Twitter. You can't make this up.

[scourge]

Musk is running a poll on whether he should step down from Twitter. You can't make this up.

Predicting that he's either going to react to it the same way as the last poll that didn't go his way now.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Predicting that he's either going to react to it the same way as the last poll that didn't go his way now.

Mature, and like an adult?

Heh...

[Mister Mets]

How is she showing more integrity than, say Aaron Rupar or Taylor Lorenz?
She allowed herself to be instrumentalized for the "Twitter Files" nothingburger and then voiced some mild both-siding when Musk went all Mussolini.

Weiss is willing to criticize someone who had recently promoted her. She believes in existing principles, and sticks to those consistently, even if this situation is awkward.

There are quite a few people on the right who have a "serves you right" attitude regarding journalists they view as being on the left complaining about things conservatives were worried about under previous management (vague standards) while there are also people on the left complaining only when people on their side were penalized.

Taylor Lorenz seems to have been written about a lot online, but getting briefly kicked off of Twitter is the first time she's mentioned on this thread. She did not appear to be sympathetic to people on the right (or center) navigating obscure standards.

[mogwen]

Musk is running a poll on whether he should step down from Twitter. You can't make this up.

He was spotted with Kushner and the Saudis at the world cup earlier today, and he had a sad face. Wonder who asked him to step down?
The poll is just obfuscation, he was ordered to step down by his masters.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

He was spotted with Kushner and the Saudis at the world cup earlier today, and he had a sad face. Wonder who asked him to step down?
The poll is just obfuscation, he was ordered to step down by his masters.

Rumor has it Tesla stockholders are NOT happy because the stock is said to be tanking because of Muskrat and his disastrous handling of Twitter.

[CaptainEurope]

Rumor has it Tesla stockholders are NOT happy because the stock is said to be tanking because of Muskrat and his disastrous handling of Twitter.

It has been quite a year for Tesla stock holders.

Unbenannt.jpg

[Username taken]

Rumor has it Tesla stockholders are NOT happy because the stock is said to be tanking because of Muskrat and his disastrous handling of Twitter.

It has been quite a year for Tesla stock holders.

Unbenannt.jpg

Tesla stock has really taken a nose dive and Musk keeps selling the stock to fund Twitter.

It’s a complete mess, Tesla shareholders are boiling right now.

[CaptainEurope]

German foreign minister Baerbock is in Nigeria today to return 20 "Benin Bronze" artifact that were stolen from the ancient kingdom of Benin by the British and bought by German museums over the decades.

[JackDaw]

He was spotted with Kushner and the Saudis at the world cup earlier today, and he had a sad face. Wonder who asked him to step down?
The poll is just obfuscation, he was ordered to step down by his masters.

If I was a twitter user, would be voting for him to stay, as that result would be one he doesn’t want.

But guess if actual result was “stay” it would be fixed some way?

[CaptainEurope]

So much cringe.

Jack won, that policy was scrapped 12 hours later, the tweets announcing it deleted. Nobody shall ever talk about it again, or be punished with a Neuralink chip in their brains.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day posted profiles of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, who has expressed a desire to pass anti-immigrant laws in his state similar to Arizona’s controversial SB1070, tried to prevent a single Syrian refugee from being resettled into his state, and has signed a myriad of insane bills that have hit his desk from Republicans in the Tennessee state legislature, including ones to legalize firearms being carried in state and local parks (because we need headlines about playgrounds being turned into battlegrounds), prevent sex education teachers from discussing “gateway sexual activities” like touching of the thigh or buttocks, ordering welfare recipients to be drug tested (which proved again to be a failed policy where they only found 1 person out of 812 until a judge overturned the law), and legalizing the use of the electric chair for executions in his state again. Gov. Haslam also spent some time arguing with a federal judge that same-sex marriage should be allowed in his state, filing an appeal because the decision was “frustrating the will of the people of Tennessee”. It has been a mostly quiet year for Gov. Haslam, as he has gone into full lame duck mode now that he’s term-limited as governor… and the federal fraud scandal surrounding his family’s trucking company made him think twice about running for U.S. Senate to replace the retiring Sen. Bob Corker in 2018. So this very well will be our last entry about Bill Haslam, who we hope will spend his future trying to hide from federal investigators, and watching his brother’s NFL team, the Cleveland Browns, continue to be the laughing stock of football.

On this date in both 2019, as well as 2020, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” first profiled Oklahoma State Senator Joseph Silk, who was first elected to the Oklahoma State Senate back in 2014, specifically to represent District 5 in that body. Silkwas of particular concern to us because of his aspirations for higher office, seeking to be the next U.S. House Representative for Oklahoma’s 2nd Congressoinal District, challenging CSGOPOTD Markwayne Mullin. Joseph Silk first came to our attention a few years ago in January of 2017 when he submitted legislation to make it possible for Oklahoma to secede from the union. No, really, this numbnuts was ready to go full Antebellum South Carolina and have Oklahoma secede from the union, because it’s not like we know how that would go after having had a Civil War at one point, you know? Maybe folks shouldn’t be so surprised, considering he campaigned for office on nullifying federal law. When he submitted legislation in the Oklahoma state legislature that specifically would classify any attempt at terminating a pregnancy as criminal murder, and he was very clear that he didn’t care if the procedure was being performed to save a mother’s life. The doctor performing the procedure would be charged with murder, and there was no indication in the writing of the bill if the mother or other medical staff would also be charged as an accessory or not. And in case you were wondering… this would, under Oklahoma law, mean the doctor performing the procedure would be charged with a capitol offense, and face the death penalty. Facing criticism, a jaded Silk responded: “We either protect life as a state, or we don’. A 4-week-old fetus in the womb is no different than a 1-year-old child.” So zygotes and toddlers. Same difference. Let’s execute any doctor who disagrees with that in the interest of saving a woman’s life. As you might expect from a Fundamentalist lunatic who argues that not only is there no separation of church and state, but that the two are inherently intertwined, and was the co-sponsor of Oklahoma’s attempts to legalize putting monuments of the Ten Commandments on state property, Silk has also submitted bills to make it legal to discriminate against LGBTQ citizens (called the Right of Conscience Act), for adoption agencies to refuse to allow LGBTQ couples from adopting children (Heaven forbid they end up finding a child a loving home!), and supported legislation to discriminate against transgender citizens using public bathrooms. And wouldn’t you know it? He has ties to the anti-gay hate group, the Family Research Council. But Silk’s weirdness isn’t limited to just God-fearing ideas. Back in 2016, he submitted a bill to study the effects of “EMP Pulse Attacks” upon the electrical grid, even though such a weapon is not believed to exist. We’re going to wrap up by pointing out that Joseph Silk is running for Congress because he feels the GOP leadership in the Oklahoma state legislature is “too liberal”, which blows our minds considering some of the profiles we’ve run on Oklahoma state legislators over the past five years. But yes, that’s his reason. At this point, even his attendance record is pathetic, as he’s missed almost a third, literally almost a third of the votes in the Oklahoma State Senate this session. And… he wants to go to Congress, based on his performance record, by running to the right of Markwayne Mullin. Mercifully, he lost, only getting 12% of the vote.

On this date in 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Nellie “Truly” Heiskell, a 2020 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in Texas’ 18th Congressional Distric who was hoping to unseat fourteen-term Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Her campaign strategy involved appearing with positively bats*** former Florida Congressman and at-the-time inexplicably the Chairman of the Texas GOP Allen West, and like many Texas Republicans, made it a point to bastardize Christian scripture to justify conservative policies, including defunding Planned Parenthood and building a border wall along the U.S./Mexico border, which is exactly the sort of xenophobic message Jesus talked about in the New Testament, no doubt. OH WAIT, THAT’S THE OPPOSITE MESSAGE. Nellie Heiskell also is yet the latest in our seemingly never-ending line of Republicans who ran for Congress in 2020 who were promoting the Qanon conspiracy, linking to videos from Qanon accounts on her Twitter page. It didn’t seem to help her, as Nellie Heiskell got all of 638 votes in her attempt to get elected to Congress, which translated to finishing sixth out of a possible six candidates in the GOP Primary, with 6.5% of the vote.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

McConnell says Marjorie Taylor Greene is a "cancer for the Republican Party"

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell denounced newly elected Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, calling the far-right Georgia Republican's embrace of conspiracy theories and "loony lies" a "cancer for the Republican Party."

"Somebody who's suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.'s airplane is not living in reality," said McConnell, of Kentucky, referring to a handful of conspiracy theories that Greene has publicized in the past. "This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party."

The Republican leader also came to the defense of Representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 House Republican who has come under fire from members of her own party for her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.

"Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them," McConnell said in a statement on Tuesday. "She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation."

McConnell's explicit condemnation of Greene adds to pressure on House Republicans to take action against her even as she is claiming renewed support from Mr. Trump. It comes as House Democrats moved Monday to strip Greene of her committee assignments if Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California refuses to do so himself.

Dark Turtle versus Mad As A Hatter Marge! I'd pay to watch that steel cage match: