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

[InformationGeek]

And here's Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson standing up for Greene. Sure, he says he would not vote for her, but the fact he passes off her insane comments and conspiracy theories as non-concerns is horrifying.

ABC: Marjorie Taylor Greene has voiced support for executing Nancy Pelosi. Is she fit to serve?

GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON: I'm not gonna answer that question as to whether she's fit to serve, because she believes in something that everybody else does not accept.

“The people of her district elected her and that should mean a lot,” Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson tells @MarthaRaddatz when asked about Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, but adds, “I would not vote for her.” https://abcn.ws/2YsN7TO

[Mister Mets]

Most people didn't know what qanon was in Jun because it sounded like a left wing smear? By Jun we knew what quackery qanon is yet these people still voted for her.

People who participate in a left-leaning political discussion thread are going to be much more informed about politics than the average voter, and we're also going to be more familiar with things that get outsized attention on MSNBC.

[GindyPosts]

The question is, how can people vote for someone so detached from reality?

That's super easy.

People don't do their homework when voting. General motivation is limited to political ideology and campaign ads, but you'd be hard pressed to see the average voter take time to examine news articles, social media, and campaign websites to see who they are thanks to a combination of busy lives, laziness, lack of motivation, or partisanship.

You're bound to sneak in some wretched creatures this way.

[DrNewGod]

If Trump represents himself, that would make for a bigger circus than anything Ringling Bros. could churn out. Whatever lawyers Trump has left would have to literally truss him up to keep him from testifying because he'd immolate himself like crazy.

I can see almost everybody doing all within their might to prevent Trump representing himself. His family, his lawyers (if he still has any left), even most of his congressional bootlickers. They all know that if he gets sworn, he is almost guaranteed to perjure himself. Even the Dems don't want the kind of inflammatory blowback that might result.

The only ones I can see being for it are the congressional Qs, who actually seem to hope we spawn a class/race war out of all this, and the few like Cruz who might think they'll have an easier time harnessing Trump's enraged mob if Trump himself is safely incarcerated somewhere.

[Amadeus Arkham]

Sanders says Democrats have the votes to pass Covid-19 relief bill through reconciliation

[4saken1]

You're describing Confirmation Bias.
The right-wing media outlets have weaponized it to radicalize the base and make them easier to manipulate.

Yes. Who woulda thunk that confirmation bias would lead to mass delusion, though......

[Kirby101]

Yes. Who woulda thunk that confirmation bias would lead to mass delusion, though......

There are a number of Churches saying, here hold my beer.

[kidfresh512]

Sanders says Democrats have the votes to pass Covid-19 relief bill through reconciliation

Its clearly the only viable route. That 600 billion dollar GOP proposal is a joke

[4saken1]

That's super easy.

People don't do their homework when voting. General motivation is limited to political ideology and campaign ads, but you'd be hard pressed to see the average voter take time to examine news articles, social media, and campaign websites to see who they are thanks to a combination of busy lives, laziness, lack of motivation, or partisanship.

You're bound to sneak in some wretched creatures this way.

It also helps that 56% of Republicans actually believe in the QAnon conspiracy theory.

[Powerboy]

That's super easy.

People don't do their homework when voting. General motivation is limited to political ideology and campaign ads, but you'd be hard pressed to see the average voter take time to examine news articles, social media, and campaign websites to see who they are thanks to a combination of busy lives, laziness, lack of motivation, or partisanship.

You're bound to sneak in some wretched creatures this way.

Plus, even when they do seek out "information", nowadays, it's only from sources they know will reaffirm what they already believe both for confirmation bias and entertainment. The things that have happened in the last four years and even the last three months make it obvious that bias and cognitive dissonance have reached an amazing height.

I recently saw an interview with Hilary Clinton where she told a story of a friend of hers' who was going door to door in 2016 campaigning for her. She talked to one man who said he could not possibly vote for Hilary because Benghazi blah suicide/ murders blah Pizzagate blah blah. She explained that she had known Hilary since they were five and in kindergarten and that all of that stuff was propaganda and sheer fabrication. He said he was sure she believed that but he knew the accusations were true because he had read them on the Internet, heard them from Rush Limbaugh and seen them on Fox News.

In this time when anyone can post or say anything without any corroboration or evidence, it's just so easy to find sources that you can use to support what you already believe ans want to go on believing.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Its clearly the only viable route. That 600 billion dollar GOP proposal is a joke

That number is lower than the Obama-era stimulus (and that itself was a number too small and inadequate to have immediate effects as economists then and now have pointed out), and it's proferred for overlapping crises far greater in magnitude than the Great Recession of 2007-2008.

It's not a good faith offer at all.

...And what is with Republicans and their fixation with the number 600? They whittled down the stimulus from 2000 to an essentially useless 600, and now it's dropping down from $1.9trn to $600bn.

[kidfresh512]

'We traffic in lies': A House Republican launches campaign to 'take back our party'

As the Republican Party wrestles with its identity in the wake of former President Trump, an Illinois Republican is out to prove there is a GOP voter base that wants to give up the division and conspiracy theories that he says have come to define the party.

“The biggest danger right now is that we’ve become a party that dabbles — not just dabbles — we traffic in conspiracies and we traffic in lies,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who on Sunday plans to release a video and website, country1st.com, to start the campaign.

“Would we lose the Proud Boys? Maybe. I’m fine with that,” he said, referring to the violent extremist group. “But we’d be bringing in … that Republican who maybe voted Biden and then Republican down-ballot because they couldn’t stand Donald Trump but they gave the Republican Party one last shot.”

I mean at least he is trying. And somewhat operating in reality. I know we have been saying where the hell are the Republicans that are horrified at the MAGA, Right wing overhaul of the party. Hes exactly on the right track of jettisoning the racist base. They need to be expelled to the fringes of society and given no "wink or nod" that their idiocy and conspiracy is tolerated.

The problem is the majority of the party is right in line with the fringe now. Kinzinger and the few that speak up like him are "punished". Expect Gaetz to be flying over to whip up the MAGA crowd against him etc.

That number is lower than the Obama-era stimulus (and that itself was a number too small and inadequate to have immediate effects as economists then and now have pointed out), and it's proferred for overlapping crises far greater in magnitude than the Great Recession of 2007-2008.

It's not a good faith offer at all.

...And what is with Republicans and their fixation with the number 600? They whittled down the stimulus from 2000 to an essentially useless 600, and now it's dropping down from $1.9trn to $600bn.

Its only so they can blame Biden and attack his "Unity" message when its rightly rejected. They keep whining about the cost of the Biden package but why is it so high? Because the trump administration and GOP screwed up the Covid pandemic response in epic proportions. In every way imaginable they made the suffering worse. From denying the problem in the first place, to making mitigation measures like mask wearing and social distancing "political". To the horrific vaccine rollout that Biden is going to have to quickly fix.

The cost is caused by the level of screw up in the first place.

They want to cut out the 15 dollar minimum wage. Lower the direct payments and eligibility for them. But, they are so quick to pass money to the rich and corporations who have greatly profited during the pandemic while regular people suffered. They didn't worry about cost then. Its disingenuous and even their constituents should say shut the hell up and give us our checks. Its their money better going to regular Americans than wasted on wars and useless walls.

[Hellion]

It doesn't help that a lot of Republican voters are so concerned with their religious beliefs and practices and "America First" that their general knowledge base has all the depth of a kiddie pool.

The two gems I've come across in my travels are one person sincerely believing Rhode Island is a literal island, and another person being astonished that non-white human beings existed in Australia long before the whiteys arrived. These are people who have no interest at all in learning about the world outside their preferred bubbles.

[OopsIdiditagain]

UK applying to Asia-Pacific trade bloc

welp.

[Kevinroc]

Its clearly the only viable route. That 600 billion dollar GOP proposal is a joke

And we should be glad that Democrats seem to be treating it as a joke. They aren't going to be making the same mistakes they made in 2009-2010.