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

[PaulBullion]

New Hampshire Republicans skipped mourning, and instead went immediately into fighting over who gets his job.

I don't know this, but I kind of know this. The ghoulish reaction to RBG showed who they really are.

Actually, there seems to be some infighting... but about Republicans who believe in science blaming those who refused to wear masks for killing their leader.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of John Kavanagh, an Arizona State Senator a man who proudly roasted his good pal, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, by forgetting at a roast you harass the guest of honor, and instead, chose to make a series of racially insensitive jokes at the expense of Hispanics. Kavanagh is also a big beneficiary of the prison industrial complex, having once been labelled by John Oliver on Last Week Tonight as a man who Satan waits in hell for, sharpening his pitchfork, because he defended Arizona's prison hospitals showing pure sugar into a woman's c-section surgical wound as a story that "should be taken with a grain of salt, or in this case, a grain of sugar". Kavanagh is also wildly anti-immigrant, supporting SB1070, and wanting birthright citizenship granted by the 14th Amendment to be ignored. He's widening his portfolio of bigotry over time, though, trying to create a bill to criminalize transgendered individuals from using the "wrong" bathroom. Inexplicably, he's an Arizona politician who resents the use of solar power, as well. Kavanagh supported another one of those insane bills to allow any coin with gold or silver content to it to be used as legal tender in Arizona, and as a former police officer (because of course), Kavanagh was pulling for a bill in February 2015 which would have prevented the release of an officer's name from the media if they were involved in an incident where they had to use deadly force. That's right... in one of the worst eras in recent memory for police violence against the public, Kavanagh and his fellow Republicans decided to provide cover for the police to continue their behavior, or even allow it to get worse without the public being made aware. While a few years ago, Kavanagh also sponsored legislation that would allow a pharmacist to deny to prescribe birth control or other abortion drugs to patients no “moral grounds”, that law had some very sad consequences in June of 2018 when a Walgreens worker refused to fill a prescription for a woman seeking a drug to treat herself with following a miscarriage, and a CVS pharmacist refused to fill a hormone prescription for a transgender customer.

Kavanagh has continued to make Arizona a more dangerous place to live, sponsoring legislation to attempt to eliminate background checks on gun sales at gun shows completely (so criminals or potential terrorists can buy them without worry), and also an insane anti-abortion bill to try and force doctors to attempt to “revive viable fetuses” after an abortion. This man makes the term “extremist” seem inadequate to describe his lunacy. He also likes to champion legislation to attempt to allow people to sue cities who don’t enforce immigration laws harshly enough for his liking, in particular cities like Tucson.

Kavanagh continues to be not just a man who Satan sharpens his pitchfork and waits for, but also a legislator, because he was just re-elected to another two year term in the 2020 elections, but only getting 37% of the vote in the effort. He seems content to try and stay in office like a bloated tick by abusing loopholes in Arizona’s term limits system, that lets you be in the state house for 8 years, then run for State Senate to interrupt that cycle, then go back to the lower chamber to start a new 8 year cycle. He pulled this trick off, and is not term-limited in the Arizona House of Representatives until 2026.

Well, that’s just f***ing great.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Actually, there seems to be some infighting... but about Republicans who believe in science blaming those who refused to wear masks for killing their leader.

It’s delightful when Republicans devour each other.

[PaulBullion]

GOPay in Disarray!

[BeastieRunner]

House GOP ready to sacrifice military bill and troop pay to appease Trump



Another example of the absurd from the Republicans. It's like a babysitter telling parents that he/she would definitely support their rules about feeding the kid dinner at 6:00 then putting him to bed, that is unless the kid insists on staying up past mid-night and eating junk-food while watching TV.

I thought this was passed and veto proof already?

Remind me again which side it is that says, all the damn time, that celebrities should not talk about politics? Does "dribble and shut up" ring a bell?

Conservatives.

Which side bans books from libraries and curricula?

Liberals.

This is a bad argument as there are far more examples of the left censoring than the right in these instances.

But the right is catching up.

[Tami]

The leaders of Pennsylvania's General Assembly have filed a brief supporting Texas' effort to have the Supreme Court throw out the results of the presidential election in their state.

I've heard this said by others, but if they are going to throw out the Presidential results, might as well throw out all other election results. I wonder how many of these people would lose their seats as a result?

[BeastieRunner]

Are we REALLY living in a country that does this?

WTF America!?

[Joker]

I was answering your question "Also, what exactly are the controversial opinions liberals need to hide?" so it is absurd that you're criticizing me for not answering a different point about labels.

I did pick views that are unpopular, although the level of support among self-identified progressives/ liberals would vary.

The **** you listed are hardly even liberal opinions.

Open Boarders. We've always had open boarders. That's how a country that is 99% immigrant works. It's not a "liberal opinion" to have open boarders so much as it's a Conservative opinion that they, for once, shouldn't be. I'm not defending how the country operates because some people think it should be different now that open racism is chill.

Late Term Abortion isn't even an actual thing. It's a construct. And it's one largely propagated by conservatives in their anti abortion arguments. Define "late term abortion" for me. Then tell me who gets them, how often and why. You can't, because "later term abortion" is nothing. It isn't a thing. Nobody defines it the same way. There is no definable parameter for "late term abortion." Abortions will happen regardless, so they should be legal so they can be performed safely. Being against healthcare is again a conservative ideal, not a liberal one. It's also a religious one, which:

Lack of respect for religious people. This is just more conservative boogeyman bullshit. We're happy to leave you be, if you'd let us live our lives how we best see fit. Go scream about Sharia Law while trying to enact your own version of it somewhere else.

Reparations are never happening, so why even talk about it? I don't know the last time I honestly heard a "liberal" talk about reparations seriously. This is just nonsense, dude.

All Cops Are Bastards... This is not a liberal belief. It just isn't. Spray painting **** on walls after protests doesn't make something a political belief. More conservative boogeyman hogwash.

how far they're willing to go to lower the rate of gun violence. This has been said time and time and time and time again. But nobody, and I mean nobody, is actually trying to take the guns away. Never mind the complete lack of infrastructure to do it, and the bloodshed it would cause in trying. Sensible gun laws going forward.

The rest, well, those involve far more nuanced conversations than I'm having on here.

But, the point stands that nothing on your list is something I would feel the need to hide my opinion on if asked, nor anything that would make me feel the need to hide my "liberal" values and opinions, because I don't think basic human rights, and healthcare access are wild ideas that I need to hide from the public.

Next.

[Robotman]

I just can’t anymore

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-...a-are-at-risk/


All the public services are on the chopping block *except* police. It’s a neoliberal dystopia. They engineer poverty & social unrest & then rely on police violence to maintain control. I fear an economic catastrophe will happen when all of these people get evicted. This is horrifying, not only because that many people are at risk of eviction, but also because eviction is not a one-and-done situation. most people won’t be able to find adequate, safe, and stable housing for YEARS after this because of how evictions follow you.

[Tami]

The leaders of Pennsylvania's General Assembly have filed a brief supporting Texas' effort to have the Supreme Court throw out the results of the presidential election in their state.

I've heard this said by others, but if they are going to throw out the Presidential results, might as well throw out all other election results. I wonder how many of these people would lose their seats as a result?

JUST IN: Amicus brief from 106 Republican House members who claim their reelections were illegitimate.

JUST IN: New amicus brief from 106 Republican House members in support of Texas' bid to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win in the Supreme Court.

Page one:

[Robotman]

JUST IN: Amicus brief from 106 Republican House members who claim their reelections were illegitimate.

JUST IN: New amicus brief from 106 Republican House members in support of Texas' bid to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's win in the Supreme Court.

Page one:

The media really needs to start calling this what it is. An attempt at a fascist coup. Call these brainless Trump cult members what they truly are.

[Tami]

GEORGIA ELECTION UPDATE: Georgia House Speaker David Ralston says he will ask for legislation for a constitutional amendment for the Secretary of State to be selected by the General Assembly, instead of being elected. Voters would have to approve it. #gapol

Twitter Link

[Tami]

The GOP Abandons Democracy

When Donald Trump was granted a coat of arms for his Scottish golf courses in 2012 (after a lengthy court battle, of course), he chose as its motto “Numquam concedere”: Never concede. He has not, even as it has become clear that he lost the presidential election by a wide margin.

In the first few weeks after the election, anonymous Republicans and White House officials insisted that Trump’s lack of a concession was no reason for alarm. They assured reporters that Trump knew he’d lost and just needed time to process his defeat—and to put up enough of a fight that he could maintain his image. Perhaps that was true, and perhaps it remains true now, but Trump isn’t acting like someone working through the stages of grief. He’s acting like someone working through a slow-motion (and probably doomed) autogolpe.

[Hellion]

Goddammit. Our Attorney General, Tim Fox, made Montana part of the 17-state cabal stuck in Trump's crack. I voted for Fox for governor in the primaries this year. Indeed, he was probably the last Republican politician in this state I could vote for with a clean conscience. Not any more. He's dead to me.

*for the record, I tend to vote Republican in the primaries in my state in the hopes of eliminating "the worst option" candidates, this year's being our new governor, Greg "Punches Journalists and Undermines Retirement on Religious Grounds" Gianforte.