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

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Because the party failed to pressure its own caucus to all get behind nuking the filibuster, that means that if they use reconciliation to do the stimulus checks, then they'll have used up their one chance to pass anything this whole year which means they won't be able to get to anything about health care, the environment, immigration, or any of that.

You do realize that if Bernie Sanders became President, the likes of Manchin, Sinema, Feinstein would still be there, right?

Bernie Sanders, a progressive defender of the filibuster on record several times, would have the same issues of overcoming senate gridlock. He would also have difficulties getting his caucus in line, assuming that Manchin doesn't go "screw you" and changes his party affiliation (i.e. Independent or Republican) in response to Bernie becoming Prez.

This kind of problem isn't contingent on who's President. Unless of course you think Bernie Sanders is somehow the guy who can on taking the nomination immediately exert hive mind control on the US Senate in a way Joe Biden can't.

This kind of grudge-bearing and settling of scores and so on, isn't helpful, intelligent, or informative. It's not concerned with how politics work.

[Mister Mets]

It's laid out clearly here:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/14/polit...lus/index.html

Discussed in more detail by this nation's most respected economist here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/o...n-economy.html

I suspect that articles that came out two and a half weeks ago are not helpful in saying what is in the original plan that is not in the plan that was pitched in the last few days.

* Edit- I'm curious on how Paul Krugman is determined to be the nation's most respected economist. He has a Nobel memorial prize, but so do at least thirty living Americans.

[Gray Lensman]

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.

The fact that the Republican party has shown more outrage over anyone who has voted to impeach Trump than they can manage over Honey Cuckoo should tell everyone what they stand for.

[Tendrin]

The fact that the Republican party has shown more outrage over anyone who has voted to impeach Trump than they can manage over Honey Cuckoo should tell everyone what they stand for.

"Honey Cuckoo' XD

[kidfresh512]

The Gerrymander Battles Loom, as G.O.P. Looks to Press Its Advantage

Republicans hold total control of redistricting in 18 states, including Florida, North Carolina and Texas, which are growing in population and expected to gain seats after the 2020 census is tabulated. Some election experts believe the G.O.P. could retake the House in 2022 based solely on gains from newly drawn districts.

Already, Republicans are discussing redrawing two suburban Atlanta districts held by Democrats to make one of them more Republican; slicing Democratic sections out of a Houston district that Republicans lost in 2018; and carving up a northeastern Ohio district held by Democrats since 1985.

This year, Texas (with potentially three new seats) and Florida (two) are expected to be the biggest winners, while Illinois, New York and, for the first time, California will each lose seats once the Census Bureau makes the reapportionment figures official. That could give Republicans an inherent advantage in the midterm elections in November 2022 — regardless of Mr. Biden’s popularity then.

Important article that lays out the picture for midterms and beyond with the level of control the GOP has on state legislatures. Kind of highlights the need to go big now as big as possible that is because there is no guarantee that Dems will control either chamber after the gerrymandering

[WestPhillyPunisher]

10 GOP Senators Float Much Smaller COVID-19 Relief Proposal As Dems Prepare To Go It Alone

Brian Deese, Biden’s lead negotiator on coronavirus relief, said his team is “open” to the idea of more targeted stimulus payments. Republicans spent a king's ransom on Trump's tax breaks to the wealthy, but NOW they're practicing fiscal responsibility. Yeah, Democrats SHOULD go it alone!

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Trump Names 2 Lawyers To Impeachment Defense Team

David Schoen and Bruce Castor issued statements through Trump’s office saying that they were honored to take the job. Let's see how "honored" they'll be after the checks fail to clear.

**********

For Marjorie Taylor Greene, ‘Politics Trumps Truth,’ Mother Of Parkland Victim Says

“Her statement is clear because here I am with you and she’s not,” Linda Beigel Schulman, whose son, Scott, died in the 2018 attack, said. Meanwhile....

GOP Senator Calls For ‘Strong Response’ To Marjorie Taylor Greene Rhetoric

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Infectious Disease Expert Warns ‘Category 5’ COVID-19 Hurricane Is About To Hit

Michael Osterholm says the U.K. variant will take the U.S. to a frightening new level.

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GOP Lawmakers Seek Tougher Voting Rules After Record Turnout, Election Losses

Many Republican lawmakers at the state level are engaged in a widespread effort to restrict access to the vote after high turnout helped defeat their preferred candidates in 2020. If you can't win, then change the rules!

**********

Bodycam Captures Police Chief, Officer Defending Slavery, Using Racial Slurs

The two men, who have been forced from their Georgia police department, were reportedly recorded talking before a planned Black Lives Matter protest last year.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Sandy Adams, a former one-term Congresswoman from Florida’s 24th District who denied the science of evolution while fighting for Creationism to be taught in public schools, advocated for the strictest possible abortion restrictions, and wanted American public schools to all have monuments of the Ten Commandments in them. She also wanted to repeal both the 16th and 17th Amendments of the Constitution, because apparently the good voters of the United States can no longer be trusted to pick their own Senators. Her career really imploded, though, because of her ridiculous theory that Sharia Law was already thriving in American Muslim communities throughout the United States and should be stopped, believing the heart of the threat was sitting in Dearborn, Michigan, of all places. Voters gave her the boot for being a few tacos short of a combination plate five years ago and she has yet to resurface in politics.

On this date in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a profile of Jack Kingston, a former eleven-term Congressman from Georgia who infamously appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher in 2011, where he denied not just the existence of climate change, but evolution as well, asking for proof that “human beings emerged from the sea”, which leaves out quite a few hundred million years of evolution from amphibians developing on up. In 2013, Rep. Kingston was arguing against the entire social safety net, saying that children who received help in affording school lunches should have to “sweep the floor in the cafeteria” so they’re taught there’s “no such thing as a free lunch”. He also began openly talking of attempting to impeach President Obama during his failed campaign to replace Sen. Saxby Chambliss in the U.S. Senate, and was proposing drug testing all welfare recipients (that old chestnut of failed conservative policy). While serving as a Trump surrogate in September of 2016, Kingston actually said that black voters prefer “a backdrop in front of a burning car”. and had a disastrous interview the next day with NBC News’ Joy Reid, where he was cornered about the fact that he wouldn’t answer questions, to which he tried claiming the interview was unfair because the questions he was asking weren’t being answered (JESUS.) He is out of elected office and only serves as K Street lobbyist and a s***ty pundit these days.

On this date in 2017, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiled Scott Schneider, a former two-term Indiana State Senator who authored the homophobic “Religious Freedom Act” that ended up getting the whole Hoosier state shamed for its passage, and was quickly amended to assure it wouldn’t be thrown out by the courts for being discriminatory because it was specifically written to allow businesses to discriminate against LGBTQ citizens. At the time it was introduced, Schneider had already claimed it would shore up gaps in “religious liberty framework” in Indiana, and began trying to exploit the narrative that Christians in the United States. Said Schneider, "You don't have to look too far to find a growing hostility toward people of faith. This bill acts as a shield, not a sword.” When the backlash against SB 101 predictably came, Schneider continued to argue that it wasn’t authored to discriminate against gays, in spite of the fact that it was written with the intent to allow exactly that. Schneider’s legislative record also include several votes to attempt to ban same sex marriage, several votes to strip funding from Planned Parenthood and implement harsh anti-abortion regulations aimed to close down clinics, and attempts to drug test welfare recipients. But SB 101 was so disastrous that Schneider retired in disgrace, well aware he would never win office again.

On this date in 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiled Graham Hunt, a former member of the Washington House of Representatives who first took office after the 2014 elections, winning on the strength of his reputation as a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who was injured in combat. Immediately upon getting to the state legislature, Hunt became one of those moronic members of the GOP banging the drums of transphobia, and pretending that there needed to be bathroom bans to stop transgender citizens from attacking innocent women and children in public bathrooms. Despite of there being ZERO reported incidents of this kind of predatory behavior, Hunt and bigoted twits like him submitted legislation like this around the country through 2015 and 2016. But Graham Hunt INSISTED he talked to constituents who wanted a bathroom ban, because they were victimized. We can’t say that’s the only sort of paranoid fear that drove Graham Hunt’s daily routine, as he also sponsored a bill to prevent any sort of database of gun owners from being kept in the state, which exactly ZERO people were proposing should happen. But hey, why not score points with the pro-gun, ammosexual types by pretending, “They’re coming for our guns, and only I can stop them!” The bathroom ban and gun paranoia are actually not why CSGOPOTD is discussing Graham Hunt. No, we’re talking about Hunt because as it turns out, he wasn’t exactly the war hero he purported himself to be. The Seattle Times was running a story on the young rising star in the Washington GOP, and began to notice some… shall we say inconsistencies in his war stories. While some noted there were campaign letters where Hunt claimed he was shot in Iraq and stabbed in Afghanistan, that seemed unlikely because Graham Hunt had never even SEEN COMBAT let alone get injured in it. Further checks began to note that photos on Hunt’s Facebook page of him supposedly being “wounded in a mortar attack” were heavily doctored. The truth was, Graham Hunt was never a Marine, he was a member of the Air National Guard who simply performed security checks from… Saudi Arabia. All the stories of bloody war heroism were, simply put, lies. Hunt took the brave stance you’d expect a brave sentinel of liberty like him would, and tried blaming all the social media posts and campaign letters he lied in on an unnamed legislative aide, but the jig was up, and he resigned in complete disgrace.

On this date in 2019, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiled Todd Thomsen, a former member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from District 25 who first won office by a whopping TWO VOTES in 2006, and served six full terms and being undone by term limits in 2018. He did so on the name recognition of being the punter and kicker on the University of Oklahoma Sooners’ 1985 championship team, but his theocratic leanings as a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes seemed to be more of a factor in what voters got from the guy they elected. Perhaps the most famous of these efforts back in 2009, when Thomsen sponsored HR 1014 and HR 1015, two anti-evolution bills that were timed specifically as temper tantrums to protest scientist Richard Dawkins speaking at the University of Oklahoma. This actually made Dawkins’ speech far more entertaining, because he took a few moments to dunk on the former kicker, and mock him for his backwards views on science to laughter from the audience. (Guess helping win that national title didn’t win him any friends in the science department with the nerds, right?) Thomsen’s overall voting record showed his support of some of the dumbest pieces of legislation in the Sooner State during his tenure, including ones to allow religious expression (specifically, the Christian kind) in schools, a trap bill to place restrictions so impossible to meet upon all abortion clinics in Oklahoma to force them all to shut down, an obviously unconstitutional bill to declare English as the state’s official language, an anti-Sharia Law measure that is in no way constitutional, or necessary, Oklahoma’s version of the “Birther Bill”, to require presidential candidates provide a copy of their birth certificates, aa bill aimed at nullifying that Affordable Care Act that had no chance of holding up in court, a bill to reject compliance with the United Nations’ Agenda 21 Environmental Treaty, and his co-sponsorhip of HB 2632, a measure to allow church members to use the “Stand Your Ground” defense to kill anyone they feel is threatening them while they are at church services. As stated, Todd Thomsen came up against term limits in 2018, and we can only hope he shuffles off into retirement, and never makes a bid for any higher office. Maybe he’ll go back to his hobby of ironically showing up at high school science and engineering fairs, where he serves as the dumbest person present.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Johnnie Caldwell, a former judge and former member of the Georgia House of Representatives from District 131, which he has represented from 2013-2018. Through his six years in office, Caldwell signed off on some of the dumbest laws the Republican-controlled Georgia state legislature sent to the desk of former Gov. Nathan Deal, from legalizing concealed carry on college campuses, to the state’s disastrous anti-immigrant law HB 125, to voting for unconstitutional bills to drug test welfare recipients, or to require a monument of the Ten Commandments at the state capitol. But that’s not why we’re profiling Johnnie Caldwell. See, when he was Judge Caldwell, he was kicked off the bench for sexual misconduct, and then waited a year and squeaked into the state legislature two years later, before being allowed to run for re-election in 2014 and 2016 unopposed. Now, the MeToo Movement was a revelation for s***ty men facing consequences for their actions, and it was even more important to point out Johnnie Caldwell was a creepy pervert who started a push in the state legislature to abolish the same judicial watchdog group that pushed to have him turn in his gavel. The public just needed to be made aware of how outrageous the whole situation was, and to the rescue came Samantha Bee, who ran a segment on her show, Full Frontal, where she gave a nice little biography of Caldwell, and begged the Georgia GOP and someone, anyone, to run against him in 2018. Mercifully, Samantha Bee got her wish in 2018, when Ken Pullin bounced Johnnie Caldwell from office in the GOP Primary. was forced to retire, and as such we will retire his profile and take a look at another kooky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 956-45, since this was established in July 2014.


Jay Lawrence

Welcome to what is the 956th profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Jay Lawrence , a former member of the Arizona House of Representatives who was first elected to represent District 23 in 2014, and who had a voting record aligning himself with some of the more deranged extremists in the party. Let’s just take a quick peek at some of his voting record to illustrate our point…

• February 18th, 2015: Lawrence votes for HB 2173, to try and make gold and silver acceptable as legal tender in Arizona.
• March 11th, 2015: Jay Lawrence votes for HB 2643, another attempt by the Arizona GOP to nullify the Affordable Care Act.
• March 29th, 2017: Lawrence co-sponsors SB 1367, which would require that abortion providers try and resuscitate a “viable fetus” after an abortion, even though by definition, any fetus that is legally permitted to be aborted is already not viable.
• February 25th, 2019: Jay Lawrence votes for HCR 2009, which would declare pornography a public health crisis.
• February 6th, 2020: Lawrence votes for HB 2084, to authorize the construction of a border wall without any construction permits. By anyone.
• March 3rd, 2020: With the threat of Covid-19 looming, Jay Lawrence makes sure to address the probl- just kidding, he co-sponsors HB 2706, to ban transgender girls from participating in sports in public schools.

Hell, the closest response he mustered to stopping the spread of Covid-19 was to vote for a bill that would make it harder for people to sue businesses who choose to do nothing to keep their clientele safe from the disease. It was in his last term in office, though, where Lawrence immolated his career with repeated racist quotes regarding conservative policy.

The first is a bit of a head scratcher, because it involves the 2nd Amendment. While most Republicans have no desire to limit gun ownership to anyone, anywhere, Jay Lawrence is an exception in that he said the quiet part out loud. You see, as he spoke at a gun forum in 2019, Lawrence explained how, in his mind, that “black and brown communities” needed to have their firearms taken away because they were “better armed than the police who are supposed to be controlling them”:

”Black and brown communities, if you look at the weapons that they have, they are not licensed. They are better armed than the police officers who are supposed to be controlling them. They have firearms galore. Black and brown communities, black communities in particular, have gangs. And the gangs have to be stopped.”

Just. Wow. That’s… pretty racist, even by Arizona Republican standards. But that wasn’t Lawrence’s only moment of being blatantly intolerant. In January of 2020, he railed against the idea of having refugees resettle in Arizona, claiming that “they take from us”.

”I don’t want refugees settled here. They will take from us, they will make for lower wages for us, they will make for more expense in our schools, more expense in our emergency rooms. Call me a bigot, whatever you want, I just think it’s best for the state of Arizona.”

Why, we certainly will call you a bigot, Mr. Lawrence, as well as an ignorant bag of s***.

In September of 2020, Lawrence got the attention of many in the state legislature when on Twitter, he praised “Qanon Patriots who support President Trump”. When he received criticism for that post, he then actually started slagging Qanon supporters, claiming upon finding out what the movement actually was, that they were “nuts”. Which begs the question of why he praised someone for their patriotism without knowing anything about them. Anyway, that exchange happened only a few weeks after Lawrence finished third in the GOP Primary, ensuring he would not be getting a fourth term in office for his seat in the Arizona state legislature. We would like to wish him our finest “GOOD RIDDANCE” salutes at this time.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The Gerrymander Battles Loom, as G.O.P. Looks to Press Its Advantage



Important article that lays out the picture for midterms and beyond with the level of control the GOP has on state legislatures. Kind of highlights the need to go big now as big as possible that is because there is no guarantee that Dems will control either chamber after the gerrymandering

Gerrymandering is not going to be as bad in 2022 as it was after 2010 when the Republicans got bonanza, because some of the most egregious examples of that happened in states which have Dem governors, Dems in one part of the State Leg. or popular activism led to independent redistricting councils.

It will however still be hard going.

[worstblogever]

Gerrymandering is not going to be as bad in 2022 as it was after 2010 when the Republicans got bonanza, because some of the most egregious examples of that happened in states which have Dem governors, Dems in one part of the State Leg. or popular activism led to independent redistricting councils.

It will however still be hard going.

Also, the GOP no longer are supporting democracy, and are being quite up front that they don't.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Also, the GOP no longer are supporting democracy, and are being quite up front that they don't.

True.

And if they have a House Leader like Kevin McCarthy who is quite stupid, all things considered, then there's not likely to be much in terms of organization.

Still, the current GOP in charge of the House is not an inviting prospect. It's a guarantee that if the GOP take over the House they will Impeach Biden for no reason at all, to "even" the score and delegitimize Biden. It could be impeaching Biden three times or four times to wipe the stain of Trump even if it's for no reason at all.

[DrNewGod]

True.

And if they have a House Leader like Kevin McCarthy who is quite stupid, all things considered, then there's not likely to be much in terms of organization.

Still, the current GOP in charge of the House is not an inviting prospect. It's a guarantee that if the GOP take over the House they will Impeach Biden for no reason at all, to "even" the score and delegitimize Biden. It could be impeaching Biden three times or four times to wipe the stain of Trump even if it's for no reason at all.

...or simply to freeze the Senate.

[JackDaw]

In UK..a number of Premiership footballers are getting racial abuse online.

In UK..it’s about the only way you can do it (make unpleasant racial remarks) without expecting fairly swift legal consequences...the anonymity of the net effectively shields the criminals.

Should social media platforms insist on identity details...so that abuse like this can be tackled?

Personally I can (easily) understand the many people who want to see trace-ability. But I can’t see it happening anytime soon due partly to practical details. And more importantly..not sure it would be wise... we have to remember the very anonymity of the internet allows free expression to oppressed people all over the world.

[kidfresh512]

They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn't vote in

(CNN)They were there to "Stop the Steal" and to keep the President they revered in office, yet records show that some of the rioters who stormed the US Capitol did not vote in the very election they were protesting.

One was Donovan Crowl, an ex-Marine who charged toward a Capitol entrance in paramilitary garb on January 6 as the Pro-Trump crowd chanted "who's our President?"

Many involved in the insurrection professed to be motivated by patriotism, falsely declaring that Trump was the rightful winner of the election. Yet at least eight of the people who are now facing criminal charges for their involvement in the events at the Capitol did not vote in the November 2020 presidential election, according to an analysis of voting records from the states where protestors were arrested and those states where public records show they have lived. They came from states around the country and ranged in age from 21 to 65.

I find that so funny. They are willing to be domestic terrorists and complain about a steal. But some didn't even vote apparently.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

They stormed the Capitol to overturn the results of an election they didn't vote in





I find that so funny. They are willing to be domestic terrorists and complain about a steal. But some didn't even vote apparently.

That's both funny, and pathetic and only highlights the stupidity of those knuckledraggers who chose to support Trump.