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

[Gray Lensman]

They beat up police officers using American flags, they then call themselves Patriots, they have no concept of what America is.

One cannot be both a nazi and a patriot. Being either one prevents a person from being the other.

[Gray Lensman]

Of note, from what I have been reading elsehwere...

10 Republicans voting in favor of impeachment might seem like a paltry amount to us (and I agree with that sentiment), its the largest number of votes to impeach any president by members of his own party, ever.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Of note, from what I have been reading elsehwere...

10 Republicans voting in favor of impeachment might seem like a paltry amount to us (and I agree with that sentiment), its the largest number of votes to impeach any president by members of his own party, ever.

That's true. The fact that it isn't more is truly shocking. Some of the GOP members who were vocally condemning Trump like Nancy Mace backed off from joining, I presume in fear of their lives. She and a few other voices who condemned Trump and joined the Dems in certifying the election declined to vote yes.

To be honest, it's becoming apparent that the GOP is an out and out organized crime syndicate. It maintains itself on violence, enforces strict omerta, and forces moderate and centrists to toe their line or I guess a mob or something like that will get them and their family. The GOP is becoming a fascist party.

It's not beyond the possibility that newcomers Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Greene have more actual power in the GOP than even Kevin McCarthy or Liz Cheney does.

One article by Lucian K. Truscott lays out the possibile dangers in the years to come:
https://luciantruscott.********.com/...s-parting-gift

Basically, it's possible America's on the brink of a civil war. How Trump is handled and the narrative is controlled will shape what happens. Marjorie Greene said on twitter after today that she plans to introduce articles of impeachment in January 21, i.e. Biden's second day. Obviously with the Dems in charge that won't come to pass but basically means that if the GOP wins the house, and most are Magats, then they will Impeach the Dem candidate for no reason whatsoever solely to delegitmize the candidate.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

GOP Rep. Paul Gosar's Siblings Call for his Removal, Citing Involvement in Capitol Riot.



His brother Tim also noted that Gosar was a birther and said Obama was an illegitimate president, believes the Pope is a leftist politician and that George Soros is a Nazi sympathizer who "gave up his people to the Nazis". I'd be willing to bet that he also believes the moon landing was fake and that Elvis is still alive.

And that the Earth is flat.

They beat up police officers using American flags, they then call themselves Patriots, they have no concept of what America is.

Patriots my ebony posterior. They're terrorists, plain and simple.

[Amadeus Arkham]

Neal Kirby, the son of Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby, was distressed to see some of the January 6 terrorists/rioters wearing shirts with versions of his dad’s creation corrupted by the image of the outgoing president. His message to them:

[worstblogever]

They beat up police officers using American flags, they then call themselves Patriots, they have no concept of what America is.

If you look around your "protest", and there are literally Nazis wearing "Camp Auschwitz" and "6MWE" shirts among your number, I would be so bold as to say your side it not the patriotic or morally right side.

[Kirby101]

Neal Kirby, the son of Captain America co-creator Jack Kirby, was distressed to see some of the January 6 terrorists/rioters wearing shirts with versions of his dad’s creation corrupted by the image of the outgoing president. His message to them:

I bet Jack would approve of this.

[worstblogever]

It was on this day in both 2015, as well as 2016, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Dave Agema, a former Michigan state legislator and former member of the Republican National Committee from Michigan who served three terms before being done in by term limits, and since becoming a member of the RNC, has only narrowly avoided having his resignation forced upon him after a series of controversial and bigoted remarks over the past several years. Among Agema’s worst quotes that we covered in that first profile were comparing gays to alcoholics and claiming that they only want free health care because they're all dying of AIDS, the time he questioned whether anyone of the Muslim faith have ever made positive contributions to America, and the time he circulated the inaccurate and mathematically-challenged claim that President Obama is "50% white, 43.75% Arabic and 6,26% black." There was also the time when Agema posted what he called a “very enlightening” article from a white supremacist magazine on African-American crime about how by their nature, people of that race are “violent and prone to violence”. Needless to say, he comes off as quite the hate-monger. Agema decided to not run for re-election to the Republican National Committee after helping write the most extreme party platform in the history of the GOP at the 2016 RNC, meaning his career has likely come to an end.


On this date in 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as in 2020, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published its first profile of Jim Wheeler, a five-term member of the Nevada State Assembly who represents District 39, and was first elected in 2012. Wheeler’s district leans just a wee bit conservative, to say the least, so much so that no Democrat to this point has bothered running to challenge him for his seat. It was back during his first term in August of 2013 at a town hall where Wheeler was touting his dedication to catering to the whims of his constituents, and someone asked him if he would vote for slavery if they wanted… and Wheeler said YES HE WOULD. (This is one of those easy trick questions you should probably still say “HELL NO!” to, Jim.) And, like many a Republican that we’ve covered at CSGOPOTD caught literally on tape making racist statements, Jim Wheeler insisted he was just being “taken out of context”. Well, in context, his remarks were revolting enough that he earned the criticism of even higher-ranking Republicans like Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller. It was shocking enough that he even made the Colbert Report for it, where Stephen Colbert suggested that his constituents should all hypothetically suggest Wheeler punch himself in the balls, and he’d do it, because that’s how he works.

That controversy barely had time to die down, however, before Wheeler again made the papers, this time on allegations that his financial disclosure forms prior to running for office were inaccurate, and failed to mention a tax lien he owed in Michigan, as well as a challenge to his residency within his district. To the former, Wheeler plead ignorance to the rules, and then amended the report. For a while, Wheeler was also blogging his deep thoughts on politics, and you can kind of see how he’s deeply partisan when he discusses gun control and those who support it like this:

”The current administration’s position is ‘facts be damned’, thereby misleading the American people about actual facts and statistics dealing with violent crime in America. Facts are something that most Liberals really hate. Facts tend to get in the way of the well-orchestrated sound bites that liberal politicians put out to the media which is, nine times out of ten, too busy to check those facts. These non-factual sound bites are shouted from the rooftops and repeated over and over again until the unaware voter takes them as holy words.
On the other hand, as a business person, I like facts. I wouldn’t make a move in business without some hard facts. Let’s take a look at these pesky facts. We keep hearing that America is an extremely violent country…much more violent than our civilized European cousins who have enacted “sensible” gun controls -- countries like Great Britain for instance. Really? I don’t think so.”

Without irony, ladies and gentlemen. But how about some hypocrisy for you? Back in May of 2013, Wheeler voted against Nevada’s SB 139, which would have made crimes committed based on the victim’s gender identity or expression a felony. Okay, so apparently Jim doesn’t like the idea of an assault on a transgendered citizen simply for that reason being a hate crime. But guess what he DOES qualify for a hate crime? When people attack police dogs, THAT is a hate crime. Think about that… he’s prioritizes police dogs over actual people. Wheeler also voted against AB 284, which would allow victims of domestic violence to terminate rental agreements and not fear any financial repercussions of fleeing their abusers. Apparently, the inconvenience of a landlord having to find a new tenant should take priority over a spouse being beaten by their husband or wife. At least in Jim Wheeler’s twisted mind. Wheeler also voted against the police being required to wear body cameras, and voted against automatic voter registration for anyone getting a driver’s license, because he hates the idea of democracy (because when more people vote, Republicans lose).

And, apparently the Nevada GOP have no interest in ever winning the minority vote again, because over the summer, they chose Jim Wheeler, a man who once stated his willingness to vote for slavery if that’s what his constituents wanted, to be the Minority Leader of the Nevada Assembly. Wheeler, going into 2018 also was endorsing Dennis Hof, the notorious reality-television pimp from the Bunny Ranch, as a state legislator. In 2019, he voted against common sense legislation to prevent the negligent storage of firearms around minors, as well as a minimum wage increase.

We’re at least happy to update our profile on Jim Wheeler to note in 2019 he resigned as Nevada’s House Minority Leader, however, he still won re-election in 2020.

However, Wheeler’s Twitter feed has spent the past few months spreading conspiracy theories about the validity of the election he won a fifth term in (Yes, Twitter flagged several), sharing posts on Twitter from lunatics in and around the Republican Party leadership (note: Cruz and Hawley are both linked to the attack on the Capitol Building on 1/6), as well as attacking Nevada Gov. Pete Sisolak regarding all Covid-19 measures he’s taken to save lives. In recent days he’s pretending that social media platforms banning conspiracy theorists and Neo-Nazis is an attack on free speech, when that’s not how the First Amendment works, at all. But considering we’re talking about a guy willing to bring back slavery, him having backwards-ass views on the pandemic and the election should be expected, really.

[worstblogever]

I bet Jack would approve of this.

With everything I've read about Jack, if he was still alive to meet Trump from 2013 on, he probably would have taken a swing himself.

[Tami]

The Jolt: Election deniers in state Senate stripped of chairmanships

It’s payback time. The Republican rift in the state Senate came to a head Tuesday when Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan demoted three Republican senators who have backed attempts to overturn the presidential vote in Georgia over baseless allegations of irregularities.

When the bloodletting was over, state Sens. Brandon Beach of Alpharetta, Matt Brass of Newnan and Burt Jones of Jackson were sapped of their political influence on the second day of the winter session.

As our AJC colleague Maya T. Prabhu reports, Duncan stripped Beach of his chairmanship of the Transportation Committee, while Jones will no longer lead the Insurance and Labor Committee. Neither will serve as even a rank-and-file member on the two panels they once led.

And though state Sen. Matt Brass of Newnan will still be a committee chairman this term, he was shelved to a lesser posting. Instead of serving as chairman of the committee that is set to redraw the political map later this year, he’ll oversee a banking committee.

[Tami]

“No One Took Us Seriously”: Black Cops Warned About Racist Capitol Police Officers for Years

When Kim Dine took over as the new chief of the U.S. Capitol Police in 2012, he knew he had a serious problem.

Since 2001, hundreds of Black officers had sued the department for racial discrimination. They alleged that white officers called Black colleagues slurs like the N-word and that one officer found a hangman’s noose on his locker. White officers were called “huk lovers” or “FOGs” — short for “friends of gangsters” — if they were friendly with their Black colleagues. Black officers faced “unprovoked traffic stops” from fellow Capitol Police officers. One Black officer claimed he heard a colleague say, “Obama monkey, go back to Africa.”

[BeastieRunner]

“No One Took Us Seriously”: Black Cops Warned About Racist Capitol Police Officers for Years

I'm beyond tired of these stories.

It is time to do something about the ability of people like that to gain power.

[master of read]

as a reminder, steve rogers was originally disqualified due to various health issues from being admitting into the army during WWII. and yet he kept trying.

trump got out of serving due to.....ahem....."bone spurs".

[Amadeus Arkham]

Yep. That’s to be expected. The GOP voters do the worst mental gymnastics to excuse his behavior. The president could nuke Iran tomorrow and they majority would still support him. It’s honestly mind boggling.

[Surf]

“No One Took Us Seriously”: Black Cops Warned About Racist Capitol Police Officers for Years

The 2001 case, which started with more than 250 plaintiffs, remains pending.

The entire basis of the law enforcement infrastructure in the United States was to shield (Whites) by force (on African-Americans). It will be the last vestige of systematic oppression to come down and we're nowhere close to that.

The Capitol Police force is only 29% Black in a city thatÂ’s 46% Black.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser did this country a great civil service when during the siege she implored DC citizens NOT to descend on the Capital grounds where insurgents that came from all over the country came to topple the government. That action and actions by other actions by black folks mitigated the damage this insurrection caused.