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

[worstblogever]

"got more aggressive" is not exactly the same as "passing a big stimulus in a global crisis and standing up for more minorities than previously."

How many discussions about Both Siding do we need to have with you and Charley Barkley?

It's almost like Republicans think doing anything at all with power is strictly done to spite them and deny them their desire to do nothing while people suffer.

[worstblogever]

In 2015, in 2016, and in 2017, “Crazy Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of Virgil Peck, a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives, whose most despicable moment, by far, came in 2011, when he discussed combating the problem of illegal immigration by shooting undocumented migrants from helicopters with sniper rifles, comparing them to “feral hogs”. That prompted tens of thousands of people to petition for his resignation, and among the voices calling for him to do so was Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. Eventually, but only after all the outcry, Peck offered a meager apology for his remarks. Among the more radical legislation Peck supports include votes for a Personhood bill, stricter Voter ID laws to combat the statistically non-existent problem of “in-person voter fraud”, his vote to nullify federal gun laws, and a “religious freedom” law to allow for the discrimination of LGBTQ citizens. Peck Sponsored legislation to prohibit university professors from citing their titles or credentials in opinion editorials to prevent them from criticizing Kansas’ decidedly insane state legislature, voted to authorize the concealed carry of firearms without a license, voted to outlaw D&E abortions (which is obviously unconstitutional via Roe v Wade) and he also wet himself after the terror attack in Paris, sponsoring legislation to prohibit the relocation of refugees from Syria into Kansas. In August of 2016, the Kansas GOP finally got around to giving Peck a primary challenger in Dan Goddard, and successfully gave him the boot from office by a total of 171 votes.



It was on this date in both 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled, the sitting U.S. House Representative from Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District, Mike Rogers, who was first elected to office back in 2002 after serving for 8 years in the Alabama state legislature. Back in 2017, Rogers kicked off the new session of Congress in delightfully insane fashion by hastily submitting a bill to remove the United States from the United Nations on January 3rd, the first day of that term, because he doesn’t understand how things like diplomacy work. Back during the furor over the fraudulent videos created by the Center for Medical Progress, Rep. Rogers actually co-sponsored two different bills to attack the funding of Planned Parenthood, because apparently for him, irrational anti-choice legislation is like potato chips, he can’t just have one.

But really, Rogers has bigger, weirder aspirations for our country. Donald Trump's befuddling insistence on starting a “Space Force”, a branch of the military that would defend America from threats from… space? Well, while Trump is clearly demented, but a lot of times, his ideas aren’t his own. They’re his rambling interpretations of crazy s*** other people whisper in his ear. And, that’s why it seems clear that Congressman Rogers’ repeated calls for a “Space Corps”, in effect a militarized version of NASA (to defend against… intergalactic armies that don’t exist) are the origin of Trump’s nutty suggestion.

Of course, Rep. Rogers also has had a habit over the past few years of putting his foot in his mouth, including in a 2014 speech where he made a homophobic joke, and how in the past year, he’s opined about how NFL players protesting police violence by kneeling during the national anthem as “Un-American”. Never mind that there’s nothing more American than having the freedom of speech to make such a statement… Rogers has racist GOP voters in Alabama to appeal to.

Anyway, after having held office now for eightteen years and change, Roger hass voted for such insane legislation as the Terry Schiavo Incapacitated Persons Protection Bill, the resolution to create a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, and every attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, while voting against all equal pay legislation and LGBTQ protections that crossed his path, to name but a few of his more extreme positions.

[worstblogever]

Mike Rogers has the benefit of having a district that isn’t just in a red state as crimson as Alabama, the 3rd District there has a +16 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index that helped him win a tenth term in office in 2020 with 68% of the vote.

He thus returned to Washington, D.C., to continue polishing the turd that is his voting record:

• January 27th, 2019: Mike Rogers voted against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attacking our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Rogers also voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• February 28th, 2019: Mike Rogers votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 7th, 2019: Rogers votes against HR 183, a resolution to condemn anti-Semitism as a hateful extension of intolerance.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Rogers votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Rogers votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Mike Rogers votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
• December 18th, 2019: Rep. Rogers ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
• May 15th, 2020: Rogers votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• January 6th, 2021: Mike Rogers votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Rogers votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
• February 4th, 2021: Mike Rogers votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
• February 25th, 2021: Rogers votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Rogers votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Mike Rogers votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Rogers votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Rogers is one of 172 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).

We’re going to wrap this up by pointing out Mike Rogers is currently s***ting his pants at the thought of what might happen if Democrats actually successfully pass immigration reform, and 11 million migrants become *gasp* non-white American citizens. Maybe if he wasn’t complicit in spreading the Big Lie that caused a bunch of domestic terrorists to attempt a coup, he wouldn’t be trying to distract people away from it with xenophobia.

Kind of like he tries to distract from a hair loss problem with whatever that thing on his head is.

[PwrdOn]

You know what, nevermind. I've said enough.

The chart remains inaccurate except for *maybe* in a very narrow way, and I don't even think it's all that accurate there either.

Just because European social democracy isn't really as left-wing as some of its admirers would like to think it is, doesn't mean that there isn't significant room to the left of Bernie that American politicians are afraid to occupy, because of course if the GOP is going to call Joe fucking Biden a socialist, then what are they going to say about someone who actually advocates for socialist policies? And even on social issues, the Democrats aren't really left wing in any sense of the term because their entire strategy is simply to elevate a handful of minorities into the elite class and hope that their achievements will trickle down to the rest, which you know, if it didn't happen with Obama being president it's probably not going to happen with some random box ticker being named deputy undersecretary of whatever. Representation is good, but it's not a substitute for policies that target the actual structural issues creating all of these problems, and the Democratic party is unwilling to do any of that because their ability to pass legislation is held hostage by the likes of Joe Manchin.

[Mister Mets]

Minors, let alone anyone, shouldn't be forced to come forward to "prove" sexual assault allegations.

That's up to the court and their ID should ALWAYS be protected.

Innocent or guilty, the victims are risking a lot coming forward.

I am under the impression that none of his accusers is currently a minor.

I want to be clear that my comment on women coming forward is based on the way these scandals usually go. Roy Moore, Al Franken, Harvey Weinstein and Andrew Cuomo had multiple accusers come forward after the initial story broke. I'm not trying to imply that there's an unusual absence of accusers against Gaetz, whose news did break at an unusual time (the weekend heading into Easter Sunday.)

With Gaetz having shown nude pics of his young dates to SEVERAL lawmakers, you'd think somebody would have warned the president they had a cult like devotion to.

There are two reasons this wouldn't happen.

1. Gaetz allegedly bragged to colleagues in the Florida legislature. Those guys don't necessarily want to let anyone know about the ways in which they screwed up. It may also be in their best interests for Gaetz to collapse, leaving an open congressional seat in a conservative Florida district.
2. Trump's seen the photos.

It will be interesting, depending on who is willing to talk, and to what kind of news outlet and the format (print, TV, radio). If it's a right-leaning outlet, the women will be attacked.

It gets more complex than that. Anyone who goes to a particular outlet will usually be dealt with sympathetically, because networks want to encourage exclusives. In some cases, right wing outlets might be mean while left wing outlets respond differently. It is largely context-based, with responses differing based on how much trouble a politician is in, and how serious the allegation is (the latter informs the former.) Did Fox News, the Wall Street Journal or National Review treat Roy Moore's accusers poorly?

[Mister Mets]

I think the issue with Democrats is they have finally realized that Republicans stopped acting in good faith a decade ago. Now they aren't willing to offer anything without something concrete first.

They are also asking for more.

It's also worth noting that the problem in the past wasn't limited to Republicans. In the beginning of the Obama administration, Democrats had a veto-proof supermajority in the Senate, and a majority in the White House. The moderate Democrats were the ones limiting the party from going further.

It's the Republicans who are moving Right. The Dems standing still look like they are moving Left.

If we can agree that Democrats have moved left on some issues, in order for the party to be standing still, they'd need to move right on something significant. Has that happened?

Are there protected classes who have lost legal protections in the last generation under democrats? Are there categories of spending (infrastructure, education, health care, etc.) where Democrats want to spend less per person adjusted for inflation than they did in 2009?

It seems to be that the main times the party can be said to move right would be to close a loophole, although in that case the left-wing benefits of the loophole were not intentional.

"got more aggressive" is not exactly the same as "passing a big stimulus in a global crisis and standing up for more minorities than previously."

How many discussions about Both Siding do we need to have with you and Charley Barkley?

Advocating for and proposing more ambitious legislation would be getting more aggressive. It doesn't seem like a reason for a newspaper to fact-check a real estate agent interviewed because he knew a suspect.

This. You don't get to complain about the monster you helped create.

What did Boehner do to create the monster?

[worstblogever]

What did Boehner do to create the monster?

Well, a government shutdown happened on his watch due to a complete failure of leadership and inability to stop his caucus from doing something incredibly stupid. With no goal as to what they would get once they shut the government down. Which led to what could have been the prototype to 1/6, where Ted Cruz led a mob to throw barricades on the White House lawn as militia groups like the Oathkeepers waved Confederate flags at the first black president. That happened because John Boehner was SO GOOD at his job.

There were also 60+ failed attempts at repealing the ACA, and a parade of bills aimed at non-scandals like ACORN, Solyndra, the IRS, Agenda 21, and Planned Parenthood during his tenure, where he let his party run on paranoia.

One might be able to notice these things if they weren't blindly fanatically loyal to the GOP as they embarrass themselves repeatedly for the past decade. That's kind of the key.

[SquirrelMan]

Advocating for and proposing more ambitious legislation would be getting more aggressive. It doesn't seem like a reason for a newspaper to fact-check a real estate agent interviewed because he knew a suspect.

They were talking about "beating policemen senseless" aggressive here, not "aggressively moving on a buffet breakfast."


Why does context never matter to Regressives?

[Agent Z]

'I'm Facing 8 Years in Prison': Georgia Rep. Park Cannon Speaks Out for First Time Since Arrest for Being Anti-Voter Suppression

https://www.theroot.com/im-facing-8-...n-s-1846605913

11 Alive reports Cannon spoke during a press conference in front of the John Lewis mural on Auburn Avenue on Thursday morning. After describing her experience as “painful, both physically and emotionally,” she dropped a bomb that should only further enrage people who are already enraged at the injustice of voter laws that even Kemp sort of admitted are largely arbitrary—Cannon said she’s facing eight years for knocking on a door.

“I felt as if time was moving in slow motion,” Cannon said while holding back tears. “As difficult as it is to acknowledge that I am facing eight years in prison on unfounded charges...I believe the governor’s signing into law the most comprehensive voter suppression bill in the country is a far more serious crime. A law with such nefarious qualities that several of Georgia’s Fortune 500 companies have begun knocking on the door.”

Despite what the caucasity-infused Georgia state patrol officer who arrested her implied, Cannon did not storm a Capitol building with violent intent, so the idea that she should be facing even a day in prison is as ridiculous and racist as the legislation that led to her arrest in the first place.

Cannon also spoke with CNN’s Don Lemon about her “terrifying” arrest on Thursday.

“I was afraid, just like many Americans are when they come into contact with law enforcement, that there would be a need for me to protect myself. But instead, I was able to just continue to think about the world was watching, people could see, and it was still very terrifying.”

When Lemon asked her how watching the video of her arrest made her feel, Cannon said, “It makes me wonder, why?”

“Why were they arresting me? Why were they doing this? Why did the world have to experience another traumatic arrest?” she continued.

She also said that during her arrest, she was “hopeful that people would see that I was being nonviolent.”

[Malvolio]

Because America is practically synonymous right wing capitalism worldwide, and has probably been the single greatest force in holding down left wing movements pretty much wherever we have a military presence, which is everywhere. The American left has never accomplished a goddamn thing yet we love to pat ourselves on the back for meaningless milestones like getting a black woman elected to an entirely powerless position, or celebrating that there are no longer any kids in cages at the border, because all of the fences have been replaced with plastic sheets.

"...never accomplished a goddamn thing..."

Hmm, let's see. Social Security. Medicare. Medicaid. Yes, those were a long time ago and yes, we need to do a lot more, but you ought to be more careful making such absolutist arguments.

[Kirby101]

"...never accomplished a goddamn thing..."

Hmm, let's see. Social Security. Medicare. Medicaid. Yes, those were a long time ago and yes, we need to do a lot more, but you ought to be more careful making such absolutist arguments.

The Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, The Ledbetter equal pay act. Title 9, Gay Marriage (yes, it was the Supreme Court that made it National, but that was because so many States enacted it. legalizing weed, Trans Rights.....Even the ACA as much a half measure as it was, was a step forward.

[Amadeus Arkham]

[Tami]

Reynolds signs gun bill easing background checks, permits

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill Friday that will make handgun carry permits and background checks on unlicensed sales optional in Iowa.

As of July 1, people can buy handguns from private non-licensed sources such as websites, gun shows and individuals without a permit or background check. People also will be able to carry a gun into public places such as grocery stores and malls without prior safety training or a permit.

Reynolds said in a statement that the bill protects the Second Amendment rights of Iowa’s law-abiding citizens.

"We will never be able to outlaw or prevent every single bad actor from getting a gun, but what we can do is ensure law-abiding citizens have full access to their constitutional rights while keeping Iowans safe,” she said.

Democrats opposed the bill, calling it a dangerous reversal of commonsense safety measures that have helped keep Iowa safer than states that have lifted such restrictions.

Why do Republicans do stupid things? Because they can.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

If Moronic Mike wants to "identify as Chinese", then he can get the unholy **** beat out of him as has been the case with Asian-Americans of late. Calling Huckabee a smacked ass is an insult to asses.

[Mister Mets]

GPB News (A PBS/ NPR collaboration) looks at the Georgia voting reform legislation so controversial the MLB was pushed to cancel the All-Star game.

https://www.gpb.org/news/2021/03/27/...-law-sb-202-do

Will Saletan of Slate sums it up, suggesting that many of the criticisms were overblown.

https://twitter.com/saletan/status/1378394751339261961

Based on this @stphnfwlr analysis of the GA elections law, here's my list of which parts are good, bad, fine, or overhyped, based on my biases that 1) easier voting is good, 2) partisan control is bad, and 3) ID is a reasonable and manageable concern...

Bad stuff:
- shorter window to request absentee ballot
- later mailing of absentee ballots
- limiting drop boxes (The stated concern is security, but this is already addressed by moving them inside voting sites)
- shorter runoffs, which could limit the window for early voting

Good stuff:
- requires at least one drop box per county
- expands days/hours available for early in-person voting
- requires polls with long waits to add staff or another precinct (for next election)
- online option for ballot applications (already begun, but now formalized)

Overhyped:
- Only poll workers can give water to voters in line, and nobody can do it within 150 feet of polling place. The idea is to limit influence. Excessive IMO, but there are loopholes: poll workers, 150 feet, and "third-party groups [can] have food and water available."

Also overhyped:
- Election board now chaired by legislative appointee instead of secretary of state. Status quo was arguably worse: SOS is an elected officer (currently GOP). Also, the appointee can't have participated in a party organization or donated recently to a campaign.

Debatable:
- Government can no longer send unsolicited absentee ballot applications. IMO, the stated concern, risk of fraud, is solved by voter ID.
- Drop boxes now accessible only during early voting hours. I think this is just because they now have to be inside voting sites.

TBD:
- "Requesting and returning a ballot" will require a "driver's license number, state ID number or ... a copy of acceptable voter ID." I view this as sensible standardization, an upgrade from signature matching. But for equity, the state has to facilitate ID acquisition.

Stacey Abrams was disappointed by the decision as it will hurt Georgia families.

https://twitter.com/staceyabrams/sta...109193/photo/1

Cobb County estimates a $100,000,000 cost in lost economic revenue.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...t-tourism-100m

Georgia's Cobb County estimates that MLB's decision to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta will cost the tourism industry in the area $100 million.

MLB pulled the All-Star Game out of Georgia on Friday in protest of the state’s controversial new voting restrictions, signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) last month.

The decision was the furthest a company has gone in protest of the legislation.

The law has drawn a wave of backlash from Democrats and voting rights activists who say the new law is a form of voter suppression.

Holly Quinlan, president and CEO of Cobb Travel and Tourism, told CNN in a statement that the “estimated lost economic impact” of the league’s decision is more than $100 million.

“In the initial stages of the pandemic, many Cobb hotels saw single digit occupancy numbers,” Quinlan told CNN. “The 8,000-plus contracted hotel room nights that will not actualize as a result of the MLB All-Star Game relocation will have a negative impact on Cobb's hospitality industry and other local businesses, further delaying recovery.”

Separately, Quinlan said in a news conference on Friday that the event “would have been a big boost to Cobb businesses and help with recovery efforts after the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“We are proud of the work that many community partners have dedicated to planning the All Star Game activities. And we will continue, as we always do, to show who we are in Cobb through our outreach, customer service and hard work,” she said.

While Georgia has become a swing state, Atlanta is reliably Democratic. The individuals hurt by this are going to include a lot of Democratic voters.

One argument conservatives have been happy to make is that Georgia's legislation resulted in much greater access than in many blue states like New York and New Jersey.

https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/sta...65130744942593

This is not a point in contention. The main counterarguments are that it's important to always move forward with voting access, and that New York's shortcomings aren't based on racist motives.

Common rhetoric on the bill was that it is the new Jim Crow, which led to some pushback that this is an absurd exaggeration.

Jamelle Bouie counters that the problem with looking at the text of the law is that enforcement was the problem.

I have covered it here and there but beginning to think it might be worth just writing a column explaining, exactly, how Jim crow voting laws worked.

The short story is that the fact that the 14th and 15th amendments were unenforced did not mean they did not exist, and this shaped how southern states disenfranchised their black (and poor white) populations.

This is nuance that wasn't a major part of the discussion about the law prior to the cancellation of the All-Star game. Republicans get to say that Democrats lied about popular legislation (the majority of Democrats support voter ID laws) and the citizens of Atlanta got punished.