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

[Bruce Wayne]

That is a valid point. But to the mother with three kids who may not have a place to live in a couple weeks they are going to give little thought to a foreign countries ling term economic that will take decades, or what her ancestors did to said country years ago.

To be honest, history has shown empire never benefits the general populace. The biggest example is of course the British Empire where the British Navy waged war on China for forced reparations to a bunch of British/American drug smugglers. The advantages always accrues to the top either to the very wealthy or to large corporations. The lower classes always get screwed such as the hollowing of the Rust Belt in America or the general flight of jobs been moved overseas to places where labor is cheap.

[worstblogever]

Bad but predictable news.

House fails to pass measure to increase stimulus checks to $2,000

Shouldn’t the headline be: “Republicans fail to have any decency and empathy for struggling Americans going through eviction, hunger, and homelessness to vote on an amount of money that could actually help them”? Guess the GOP really cares more about ‘debt’ than they do about people suffering and dying.

Both parties are not the same. One wants to allocate tax revenue to the masses to survive during pandemic, and survive eviction onto the streets... on Christmas.

The other are indifferent to suffering and death, but feel it's real Christian to be above and beyond the cruelty of Scrooge at his worst.


But hey, the second group makes people of color suffer more than white people, so poor racist white men get on board with it.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Texas’ 7th Congressional District, John Culberson, a particularly xenophobic Republican (and that’s saying something these days) who as far back as 2005 was claiming members of Al Qaeda were caught trying to sneak across the U.S./Mexico border, and in 2008 made the wild accusation that students at American universities from China were actually there to steal state secrets. Culberson has also proposed a plan to divide Texas up into smaller states to stack the U.S. Senate with more right-wing senators, told the public to “calm down” about the BP Gulf Oil Spill because it was a “statistical anomaly”, and proposed legislation to defund ACORN three years after it ceased to exist. Perhaps his tackiest moment, though, came during the 2013 Government Shutdown, when he said, “LET’S ROLL!” when it came time to vote, echoing the last known words from the passengers of Flight 93 when they tried to storm the cockpit of the hijackers. He more recently has panicked over Syrian refugees being resettled into the country, as well as attempting to defund Planned Parenthood over the hoax “sting” videos provided by the Center for Medical Progress. The latest session of Congress has not go well for Culberson back home, and as early as February of 2018, his attempt to meet with wealthy donors at a local country club was met with a massive protest, and his town hall did not go much better for him. After several constituents asked him questions that he seemed unable to answer, only being able to respond with a vague “freedom” answer on issues, and was booed when he affirmed his support for repealing the Affordable Care Act. One constituent asked him about net neutrality, which he showed even less understanding of. Culberson attempted to end the town hall early and exit out a side door to avoid further confrontation, but wandered right into a legion of protesters outside, causing him to flee even faster. Culberson was trailing in fundraising to all if his Democratic opponents in the 2018 elections, and he had reason to be nervous, as Texas’ 7th District only has a +7 partisan lean, and going into the election, generic Democrats had a +8 advantage. And then, as his final showdown in November approached, Culberson was being investigated for election campaign fraud, after it was found that he was using campaign funds to buy himself $50,000 of books and collectibles. So it was that Democrat Lizzie Fletcher managed to unseat John Culberson, and send him packing in the 2018 Blue Wave election.


Briscoe Cain

On this date one year ago, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” first profiled Briscoe Cain, who may be a puppet character who escaped from Lazy Town, but was nonetheless elected to District 128 of the Texas House of Representatives in 2016, when he upset the GOP incumbent, Wayne Smith, by all of 23 votes in a runoff election and then coasted to victory against a Libertarian in the general election. He has made it into office in spite of referring to violence against trans-women as “dudes waking around in dresses getting beat up”, which is somehow still far from the most offensive thing we’ll reveal in this profile.

In 2018, Cain was allowed to run for re-election unopposed. He currently has the most conservative voting record in the Texas House, which is saying something, because we’re talking about Texas. Cain is also the Texas legal counsel for the Fundamentalist fanatics, Operation Rescue, and is a member of the Texas House Freedom Caucus… but again, we can’t understate how much Cain takes extremism to a whole different level. Seriously, look at his voting record, and try to make sense how someone can crusade against a women’s right to choose and Planned Parenthood because they supposedly respect keeping babies alive, and try and figure out how that same person can literally vote against child car safety seats for children under 2 based on “smaller government” principles.

In his first year in office, Briscoe Cain caused several confrontations within the state legislature, including his puzzling attack on state funding towards pallative care, which he referred to as “death panels”, and wanted it removed. When questioned by his colleagues, it became abundantly clear that Cain had no idea what pallative care actually was, and had to have it explained to him on the floor of the legislature. But hey, f*** those terminally ill people dying in pain from getting any kind of pain relievers until they pass, right?

In October of 2017, Briscoe Cain was scheduled to speak at Texas Southern University, and after the event was cancelled at the last minute because protesters would not allow Cain to speak (similar to how Richard Spencer has been booed out of several college bookings), Cain whined about his First Amendment right to speak being infringed upon, which the protesters pointed out they had a First Amendment right to drown his punk ass out.

In a superbly classless move, upon the death of legendary astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, a self-identifying atheist in May of 2018, Briscoe Cain took a Creationist pot-shot at the deceased, posting on Twitter that, “Stephen Hawking now knows the truth of how the universe was made”.

But one of our main concerns about Briscoe Cain is the fact that he has, on more than one occasion, threatened people with a gun. In June of 2018, Cain crashed the Texas Democratic Party’s state convention, and started to pass out signs that read, “This home is a gun-free safe space” to dare those who want gun control to declare it publicly and then, y’know, get robbed because people wouldn’t be scared they weren’t armed (in theory). When an attendee asked Brisco when he went gun-free, he responded by lifting his shirt to show he was packing (this isn’t hearsay, there’s video of it). Cain was summarily thrown out.

The second incident, was far more publicized… during the second Democratic Presidential Primary debate in September of 2019, former Congressman Beto O’Rourke talked about gun control, proposed buy-backs of AR-15s, which enraged Brisco Cain enough to throw out a thinly-veiled death threat at O’Rourke:

"My AR is ready for you Robert Francis”

It was enough of a threat that Twitter deleted his post, and eventually gave him a 141 day ban, which is remarkable in and of itself because that platform censors almost nothing.

Briscoe Cain spent 2020 offering pro bono legal services to any Texan fined for refusing to wear a mask in public (because of course this supposed pro-life hypocritical ***hole did) before in November, he won re-election in 2020 with 68% of the vote. Cain could not be content with his own victory, instead abandoning Texas to travel up to Pennsylvania during a pandemic to offer his legal services to the aggrieved soon-to-be-former-president, Donald Trump, in his mad quest to have the election results tossed out so he could be declared president again for… reasons. Yes, that’s right, when you think about what kind of idiot lawyers were representing Donald Trump and submitting legal documents with spelling errors, fictitious accounts from people who may or may not exist, and from states that definitely don’t… rest assured that part of the reason is this moronic jackass was involved, and making sure that Rudy Giuliani wasn’t alone in being a f***up on the Trump legal team.

Now, about getting someone competent to take his place in the legislature…

[Mister Mets]

Republicans are doing their best to lose the Georgia Senate races, but it doesn't help Democrats that Rafael Warnock's ex-wife is on tape accusing him of running over her foot with his car, and of keeping the way he really is under wraps during the campaign.

Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock’s ex-wife told Atlanta police officers that her husband was a “great actor” after he denied her claims that he ran over her foot with his car, according to body cam footage of the March 2020 incident that aired late Tuesday on Fox News.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in March that Warnock wasn’t charged with a crime and an officer said in a police report that medical officials didn’t find visible signs of injury in the foot. The Democrat disputed Ouleye Warnock’s allegations, telling the AJC on March 7 that “it didn’t happen.”

The footage aired on Tucker Carlson Tonight two weeks before a Jan. 5 runoff against U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, one of two races that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. It does not raise any new allegations against Warnock, but it was amplified by Republicans who used the video to remind a broader audience of the dispute.

Loeffler said in a statement late Tuesday the footage was “deeply troubling.” Warnock spokesman Michael Brewer called it a “desperate and shameful” attempt by the Republican to gain traction in the high-stakes race.

Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Ouleye were amid divorce negotiations when the incident occurred and finalized their split about two months later. Ouleye Warnock has declined to be interviewed about the incident and court records indicate the divorce case has been sealed.

The video confirmed details in the police report, which documented an argument between the two over whether Raphael Warnock would allow his wife to apply for passports so that she could take their two children to West Africa for her grandfather’s funeral.

He told police that his wife refused to close the right rear passenger door of his car so that he could leave. He told authorities he began to “slowly” drive forward — and then heard his wife accuse him of driving over her foot.

The report said Ouleye Warnock was able to wiggle her toes and that Grady Hospital first-responders were “not able to locate any swelling, redness, or bruising or broken bones.”

In the body cam footage, Ouleye Warnock told the officer that she’s been “very quiet about the way that he is for the sake of my kids and his reputation” surrounding his U.S. Senate bid.

“I’ve tried to keep the way that he acts under wraps for a long time and today he crossed the line,” she said. “So that is what is going on here. And he’s a great actor. He is phenomenal at putting on a really good show.”

Warnock told the officers in the body came footage his wife was exaggerating the incident: “I barely move, and all of a sudden she’s screaming that I ran over her foot. I don’t believe it.”

[AnakinFlair]

Republicans are doing their best to lose the Georgia Senate races, but it doesn't help Democrats that Rafael Warnock's ex-wife is on tape accusing him of running over her foot with his car, and of keeping the way he really is under wraps during the campaign.

I'm all for believing the woman, but the fact that this is an ex-wife and the story aired on Tucker F'ing Carlson makes me believe this is BS.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

This issue seems like the Tara Reade thing, which if handled well could be a nothingburger as that ultimately turned out to be.

[AnakinFlair]

Both parties are not the same. One wants to allocate tax revenue to the masses to survive during pandemic, and survive eviction onto the streets... on Christmas.

The other are indifferent to suffering and death, but feel it's real Christian to be above and beyond the cruelty of Scrooge at his worst.


But hey, the second group makes people of color suffer more than white people, so poor racist white men get on board with it.

Well, come Monday Pelosi is going to hold a vote on a standalone bill to send out $2000 checks to the American public. She's going to force each and every Republican to vote on the record.

[Tami]

Frustrated Trump met with Pence before holiday break

Washington (CNN)Hours before President Donald Trump retweeted a message for his vice president to "act" in stopping the ratification of the Electoral College, he met for more than an hour in the Oval Office with Mike Pence, whom he has complained recently isn't doing enough to support his bid to overturn the election.

The discussion was "entirely unrelated" to the eventual tweet, one person familiar with the matter said, though would not specify whether the issue of the January 6 ratification in Congress arose. The two men went separate ways for the holiday.

As Trump enters the holiday stretch as fixated as ever on overturning the results of the election, the Electoral College certification is becoming a focal point for his efforts.

On Wednesday evening, as he was flying to Florida for his vacation, Trump retweeted a call from one of his supporters for Pence to refuse to ratify the Electoral College results on January 6 -- a prospect that has captured his imagination even if it remains completely impossible.

Trump has told people recently that Pence isn't doing enough to fight for him as his presidency ends, and has recently taken an interest in Pence's traditional role during the certification. As President of the Senate, Pence presides over the proceedings.

Sources say Trump in recent days has brought the matter up to the vice president and has been "confused" as to why Pence can't overturn the results of the election on January 6.

Pence and White House aides have tried to explain to him that his role is more of a formality and he cannot unilaterally reject the Electoral College votes.

Traditionally, the vice president presides over the electoral vote certification, though it's not a requirement. In 1969, then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey didn't preside over the process since he had just lost the presidential election to Richard Nixon. The president pro tempore of the Senate presided instead.

One source close to Pence said it is not seen as a good option for Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley -- the current president pro tempore -- to be there instead of Pence on January 6.

[babyblob]

Well, come Monday Pelosi is going to hold a vote on a standalone bill to send out $2000 checks to the American public. She's going to force each and every Republican to vote on the record.

So is this bill just for payments? No fluff or anything else? That is what Mitch said the Gop said they wanted so if this is it I will love to see them explain why they turned it down if they do.

[Adam Allen]

Republicans are doing their best to lose the Georgia Senate races, but it doesn't help Democrats that Rafael Warnock's ex-wife is on tape accusing him of running over her foot with his car, and of keeping the way he really is under wraps during the campaign.

Honestly, with all due respect to the ex-wife, given that the very second line in this story is that medical examination found no injury, I think reporting on the story at all is just irresponsible rumor-mongering.

I mean, your posting it suggests you think it's somehow newsworthy? Why is it?

[Kirby101]

Honestly, with all due respect to the ex-wife, given that the very second line in this story is that medical examination found no injury, I think reporting on the story at all is just irresponsible rumor-mongering.

I mean, your posting it suggests you think it's somehow newsworthy? Why is it?

You are talking to someone who thought a State level Democrat wearing a t-shirt was proved the Democratic Party wanted completely open boarders.
So why not have Tucker Carlson as a source for News.

Obviously Loeffer's financial shenanigans don't bother Mets in the least.

[AnakinFlair]

Michael Steele was just on The Beat with Ari Melber, joking with Ari and Larry Willmore when he dropped this zinger:

"The only way Trump gets to 270 is if he loses 50 pounds."

Ouch.

[AnakinFlair]

double post

[AnakinFlair]

So is this bill just for payments? No fluff or anything else? That is what Mitch said the Gop said they wanted so if this is it I will love to see them explain why they turned it down if they do.

That's what it looks like. If (when) it's voted down in the Senate, I can't wait for the Republicans to try and spin that in Georgia.

[DrNewGod]

Frustrated Trump met with Pence before holiday break

I repeat: Trump has never experienced a circumstance in which his lackeys see his power over them expiring, and thus never faced a moment where his wants aren't the most important thing in the room. He's flailing, with no idea what to do, other than pardon anybody that a) may prove useful later, or b) might have something damaging to tell an attorney general.