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

[worstblogever]

The NDAs are coming down.

https://protectdemocracy.org/update/...rump-campaign/

Between Gaetzgate, Trump NDAs, and the investigations into 1/6, the idea that the GQP is going to take back the House and/or Senate in 2022 while offering the American people nothing but opposition to all the laws they want passed is... well, it's a bit perplexing how they're expecting that math to work out. Especially with the party's political corporate donors starting to reject them over voter suppression and transphobia/bigotry bills they're pushing hard for at the state level. And Sen. McConnell making empty threats at them in the response.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a profile of Warren Chisum, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives who forwarded an e-mail to the entire legislature that claimed evolution was religious heresy promoted in the texts of the Pharisees and denied the concept of heliocentricism over geocentricism, and that “Copernicus was in league with the Jews”. Chisum was also big on trying to deny gays not just the right to marry, but the right to adopt, but his focus on marriage was so intense that he actually wanted to make it harder for married couples to get divorced, drafting legislation that would force them to first go through 10 hours of marriage counseling. Chisum was particularly noteworthy for how he would “gamble” in the early 1990s by paying men infected with AIDS a percentage of the face value for life insurance policies, that would pay out him as the primary beneficiary if (usually when) they died of the terminal virus. He told a reporter, “if they die in a month, you know, the settlements do really good.” Chisum supposedly made $200,000 off of six people who died of AIDS this way, which is one of the worst things I’ve ever had to write about. His lasting legacy of trying to ban same sex marriage and sodomy in Texas have been overturned by the Supreme Court.

On this date in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a profile of Cynthia Lummis, former U.S. House Representative for Wyoming's "At Large" Congressional District and now, U.S. Senator from Wyoming. Prior to running for Congress in 2008, Lummis was a long time member of the Wyoming state legislature and multi-millionaire heir to a ranching family. Once she got to the Capitol, she obsessively kept trying to chip away at Social Security, including when she introduced HR 1160 to the floor of the House, a bill that would raise the minimum retirement age to qualify for Social Security from 65 to 70. It mercifully failed to advance, but she has railed against Social Security and any other government program she feels is an unnecessary entitlement. Just like she did against the Affordable Care Act, lying and claiming that its passage would lead to “healthcare rationing”, one of the biggest political lies going in 2009 and 2010. Her rage against the ACA was taken to a whole new level in December of 2014… and out on Jonathon Gruber, the ACA Architect, during a hearing about the initial glitches on the Obamacare website by blaming the technical mishaps of the healthcare website on her husband’s recent death. Now, why was that a load of bulls***? The Affordable Care Act was designed to provide healthcare for those who otherwise would not be able to afford medical insurance… people who tend to be less well off. Cynthia Lummis and her husband were worth an estimated $20-75 million. AND he had health insurance. He could have just paid for the one test Lummis claims he didn’t get that would have saved his life, because he was, according to her, confused about his enrollment status. Lummis also spent her last debate for office for her Congressional seat in 2014 fear-mongering about the Ebola Virus, and calling for a travel ban from West Africa until “things settle down” (against the advisement of the CDC). Her voting record also has consistent votes against equal pay for women, votes against all LGBTQ rights, votes to defund Planned Parenthood, a vote against Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief, votes to shut down the government in 2013 and a vote not to reopen it, and a vote against even the Zadroga bill, to provide healthcare for first responders from 9/11.

On this date in 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted its first profile of Iowa State Senator Mark Chelgren, who was first elected in, but of course, the 2010 Tea Party Wave by a whopping 10 votes. You heard us right, TEN VOTES. Chelgren has since spent his two terms in the Iowa State Senate not just pushing for fanatically conservative policies, but going as far out of his way as possible to antagonize Democratic members of the state legislature, then playing the victim when they take offense and actually put him in his place. But what would you expect from a guy paranoid enough that he compared Iowa’s voluntary preschool classes for four year old children to Nazi indoctrination? Or that he’s so vulnerable to attack that he could be offended by the actions of Stanford’s marching band when they played the University of Iowa in the Rose Bowl, and he demanded a personal apology from them for making jokes about cow-tipping during a halftime show? Mark Chelgren also has some wild views on illegal immigration. like the modest idea that we use the death penalty on any illegal immigrant who’s got any kind of felony offense on their record while they’re being detained, rather than deport them like he did in December of 2015. Democrats have no respect for Mark Chelgren at this point, as was evidenced in April of 2012 when he submitted an amendment to a budget bill to try and force divorced mothers to undergo drug testing in order to continue to receive child support to prove they’re not just spending it on drugs. This has now moved to open mockery because just days after Chelgren attempted to pass legislation to require universities to begin having quotas for party affiliation amongst its staff so they would have to hire an equal number of Republicans and Democrats (which yes, is insane), it was just discovered that Mark Chelgren’s profile on the Iowa State Senate’s website involved him claiming to have a “business degree from Forbco Management School”. Further research showed Forbco Management owned a Sizzler Restaurant in California, and Chelgren’s “business degree” (which he has no physical record of) was in effect, a piece of paper handed to him by the owners of a steakhouse. Chelgren may have well been touting a Master’s Degree from McDonald’s “Hamburger University”. At one point, Chelgren was briefly on the ballot in 2016 for Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, but backed out, and amid all the controversy over his educational background and the Blue Wave combined, Chelgren opted to not run for re-election in 2018.

On this date in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled former Florida State Senator Jack Latvala, who served in that body on and off since 1994 in three separate districts, but resigned in December of 2017, about a year before he would have faced term limits after a platoon of women came forth from within the state capitol to accuse Latvala of sexual misconduct. Not just harassment, but there were reports that he was willing to exchange legislative favors for sexual ones (only narrowly avoiding being charged with a crime). During his time in office, Latvala was also an extreme partisan hack (provided he wasn’t solicited to be “moderate”), including anti-choice and pro-gun votes, as well as his co-sponsorship of the Florida GOP’s attempts to nullify the Affordable Care Act. Since the MeToo Movement claimed another sum-bitch and he’s now out of office.

On this date in 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, profiled Stony Rushing, a no-s*** Boss Hogg impersonator and gun range owner who ran for office in the 2019 special election for North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rushing did so with the blessing of Mark Harris, the man whose 2018 run for Congress for the same seat was tainted by voter fraud. His father, Rocky, named him Stony because he was a fan of the Flintstones. (None of that is made up.) But what Rushing insisted WAS made up were all the charges of voter fraud that were leveled against Mark Harris and his corrupt proxy, McRae Dowless. In spite of a large portion of the North Carolina Republican Party coming forward to acknowledge they knew Dowless was dirty, and several people, including Harris’ own son admitting that Harris was warned against hiring him in the first place. But if you asked Stony Rushing, the real fraud was perpetuated by Mark Harris’ Democratic opponent, Dan McCready, and spread conspiracy theories about election fraud everywhere else except where, y’know, it happened. Rushing was also that excellent combination of hypocrite that was staunchly pro-life, referring to abortion as “infanticide” (zygotes are not infants), but simultaneously believed in no restrictions upon firearms even though tens of thousands of people are killed by gun violence a year. His entire campaign was bizarre from the jump, and continued to be weird, including an ad he released on social media where he promised to fight the swamp by posing… with an albino snake around his neck? Which is only a good thing if you’re Britney Spears at the VMAs. And that isn’t even half as bizarre as his personal life, like that he tried to cover up an extramarital affair by having his daughter accuse his mistress of a variety of sex crimes.Stony Rushing lost the GOP Primary in the special election, at least finishing second, but failing to get even 20% of the vote. We’d like to think this would be the end of his political career, but in today’s GOP, he seems far closer to the median for candidates. In any event, we will set aside his profile at this time to take a look at a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 977-50, since this was established in July 2014.

[worstblogever]

Glen Casada

Welcome to what is the 977th profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be profiling Glen Casada, who has served in the Tennessee House of Representatives for District 63 since 2002, and at one point, rose to be the Tennessee House Speaker back in 2019. His tenure, however, lasted only a few months due to a series of shocking revelations about how he conducted himself with his top aide, Cade Cothren. Their text messages ended up becoming public knowledge, and were sexually explicit in nature, and Cothren frequently used racist language while contacting his boss. Which… is not the sort of work relationship any real leader would tolerate as appropriate. Perhaps the thing that sealed the fate of both was Cothren’s texts to Casada also included discussion of him using drugs on the job, and he confessed that he was abusing cocaine in his office in the Tennessee legislature.

So… yeah, probably a toxic work environment, just given that.

Glen Casada fervently defended Cothren until the bitter end of his tenure as House Speaker, but did not resign in disgrace from the legislature entirely. Which, given the abuse of power and that Casada was caught paying a former political operative from his employ on the state payroll to… effectively just collect a paycheck… yeah, no idea how he survived without resigning. The Tennessee GOP didn’t bother trying to get anyone to primary Casada, because hey, he only was tolerant of racism, sexism, and drug use… nothing disqualifying from any other Republican these days… so he managed to get re-elected in his highly conservative district with 59% of the vote in November of 2020.

And then… on January 8th, 2021, only days into the new term of the state legislature, the FBI raided Glen Casada’s home. It seems during a tied vote on school vouchers while Casada was still House Speaker, he allegedly offered a bribe to someone on the opposing side to try and get them to change their vote. But who did the legwork on Casada’s alleged bribe attempt? Cade Cothren, again, that scamp. So that might explain why Casada was “ride or die” on his guy… Cothren might know about oodles of potential corruption charges like this, and throwing him to the wolves would mean he could turn on his old boss. At this point, a bunch of people with skeletons in their closet seem to be sweating bullets as the FBI’s investigators continue to be seen around the Tennessee capitol.

Alright, so we have covered just about all the main points of Glen Casada making the news for being a corrupt f***er. But is he a partisan extremist? Let’s check on is voting record:

• April 7th, 2011: Casada votes for HB 368, to limit teachers’ ability to challenge students who give “opposing viewpoints” on scientific theories in public school classrooms. (In other words, deny the existence of evolution, or the age of the Earth.)
• April 14th, 2011: Glen Casada votes for SB 16, a stricter Voter ID law aimed at suppressing the vote using the pretense of in-person voter fraud that is statistically non-existent.
• March 15th, 2012: Casada co-sponsors and votes for HJR 587, a resolution against the United Nations Agenda 21 treaty, for fears from hard-right conspiracy theorists that it’s a plot to establish global domination.
• March 29th, 2012: Glen Casada votes for HB 3808, a bill that would “require the publication of abortion statistics” that also included the addresses of the people performing, and receiving the procedure. Because the radical anti-choice movement wouldn’t then harass or attack those people at their own homes, like they already do.
• April 11th, 2012: Casada votes for yet another attempt by Republicans to violate the 4th Amendment rights of people on welfare and demand that they be drug tested to receive their benefits. The practice remains not just unconstitutional, but continues to fail to prove any drug use when its enacted, and costs states a fortune in drug testing to enact, effectively spending that money to just shame and humiliate poor people for being poor. (And Tennessee found all of 84 people over YEARS before being told to stop by a judge’s order.)
• February 4th, 2013: Casada co-sponsors legislation to prevent renaming Confederate War Monuments.
• April 16th, 2014: Glen Casada votes for SB 2580, to allow the return of the electric chair as a means of execution in the state of Tennessee.
• April 15th, 2015: Casada votes for patently unconstitutional legislation to make the Bible the state book of Tennessee.
• April 18th, 2016: Glen Casada votes for HSR 467, to plead with the Attorney General of the state to file a lawsuit over Syrian refugees being allowed to resettle Tennessee.
• April 23rd, 2018: Casada votes for HB 2381, to create a “monument to the unborn” at the Tennessee state capitol.
• March 7th, 2019: Glen Casada co-sponsors and votes for a fetal heartbeat abortion bill that would effectively outlaw abortion at 6 weeks, before many women even realize they are pregnant.
• June 3rd, 2020: Casada co-sponsors and votes for a transphobic bill to prohibit public school athletes from participating in sports that do not match their sex at birth.

At this point, we’re not sure how long Glen Casada can hang onto office, whether it be from the pressure of numerous scandals, or from the fact that the FBI seem determined to put him behind bars for graft. Either way, the Volunteer State would be better off without the mother***er.

[Gray Lensman]

Between Gaetzgate, Trump NDAs, and the investigations into 1/6, the idea that the GQP is going to take back the House and/or Senate in 2022 while offering the American people nothing but opposition to all the laws they want passed is... well, it's a bit perplexing how they're expecting that math to work out. Especially with the party's political corporate donors starting to reject them over voter suppression and transphobia/bigotry bills they're pushing hard for at the state level. And Sen. McConnell making empty threats at them in the response.

Maybe the 1% has finally realized what happens when autocrats come into power - they try to destroy any other source of power that isn't beholden to themselves. How many of the Russian oligarchs from before Putin's rise to power are still in the same position? How many are not in prison (or served time while their fortunes were transferred)? Or even still alive?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Between Gaetzgate, Trump NDAs, and the investigations into 1/6, the idea that the GQP is going to take back the House and/or Senate in 2022 while offering the American people nothing but opposition to all the laws they want passed is... well, it's a bit perplexing how they're expecting that math to work out. Especially with the party's political corporate donors starting to reject them over voter suppression and transphobia/bigotry bills they're pushing hard for at the state level. And Sen. McConnell making empty threats at them in the response.

Kentucky Fried Turtle wants that juicy cash from corporations, but not their opinions....unless they jibe with his of course. Sorry, Mitch, it doesn't work that way.

[worstblogever]

Maybe the 1% has finally realized what happens when autocrats come into power - they try to destroy any other source of power that isn't beholden to themselves. How many of the Russian oligarchs from before Putin's rise to power are still in the same position? How many are not in prison (or served time while their fortunes were transferred)? Or even still alive?

Kentucky Fried Turtle wants that juicy cash from corporations, but not their opinions....unless they jibe with his of course. Sorry, Mitch, it doesn't work that way.

Big tech also just spent the past several years with Trump threatening them for not allowing conservatives to violate the terms of the sites' user agreements with hate speech or calls for violence, and the GOP went along with Trump on it, falling into line to do the same.

Like... I think they might be overplaying their hands. They're asking their bloc to boycott EVERYTHING to defend the worst ideas in the name of not wanting to be challenged on even the dumbest or most fascist policy ideas. And I don't think they're going to win with such tactics.

If the GOP turn on corporations and demand their money but want to silence them... they're not gonna get the money that keeps them in power. This is all fait accompli. I never thought they could get this stupid to think they're this invincible, but the Trump bluster that was always fake... they haven't realized the country is turning away from their bulls*** more and more every day. And that they're alienating more and more people.

Not that I'm the one who's gonna feel bad for them. If only they'd listened to all the people who asked them to reject white nationalism and fascism the past 5-6 years and to not elevate the worst the country had to offer. If only.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Big tech also just spent the past several years with Trump threatening them for not allowing conservatives to violate the terms of the sites' user agreements with hate speech or calls for violence, and the GOP went along with Trump on it, falling into line to do the same.

Like... I think they might be overplaying their hands. They're asking their bloc to boycott EVERYTHING to defend the worst ideas in the name of not wanting to be challenged on even the dumbest or most fascist policy ideas. And I don't think they're going to win with such tactics.

If the GOP turn on corporations and demand their money but want to silence them... they're not gonna get the money that keeps them in power. This is all fait accompli. I never thought they could get this stupid to think they're this invincible, but the Trump bluster that was always fake... they haven't realized the country is turning away from their bulls*** more and more every day. And that they're alienating more and more people.

Not that I'm the one who's gonna feel bad for them. If only they'd listened to all the people who asked them to reject white nationalism and fascism the past 5-6 years and to not elevate the worst the country had to offer. If only.

Moscow Mitch and the GQP wants their corporate cake and eat it too.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Gaetz will roll on his fellow Trumpettes when he is indicted.

What would he even know?

[worstblogever]

Moscow Mitch and the GQP wants their corporate cake and eat it too.

I don't think all these CEOs are going to take threats from old turtle men with no visible backbones kindly.

[Tami]

I don't think all these CEOs are going to take threats from old turtle men with no visible backbones kindly.

Some CEO's might roll over and let Mitch rub their tummy like good obedient conservatives ready to continue to dole out money without saying a word. Most are going to feel threatened and respond negatively to this.

There may even be legal action taken by some CEO's who wish to cement their ability to be political under the concept of Corporate Personhood that Mitch McConnell was partially responsible for. Most notably Citizens United.

[worstblogever]

Some CEO's might roll over and let Mitch rub their tummy like good obedient conservatives ready to continue to dole out money without saying a word. Most are going to feel threatened and respond negatively to this.

There may even be legal action taken by some CEO's who wish to cement their ability to be political under the concept of Corporate Personhood that Mitch McConnell was partially responsible for. Most notably Citizens United.

The threat towards Major League Baseball is very real. They have been conveniently overlooked by government oversight in relation to antitrust laws for almost a century... and I'm already hearing rumblings that daring to stand up for voting rights means the Republicans are suddenly wanting to be monopoly-busters for the first time.

[Tami]

The threat towards Major League Baseball is very real. They have been conveniently overlooked by government oversight in relation to antitrust laws for almost a century... and I'm already hearing rumblings that daring to stand up for voting rights means the Republicans are suddenly wanting to be monopoly-busters for the first time.

That's going to put Elizabeth Warren in a bind (if I remember correctly). I think that she's been advocating breaking up big corporations, but not like this and not for reasons like this.

[Agent Z]

https://www.theroot.com/new-********...-no-1846630346

New Research States the Obvious: White Racist Fears, Not Economic Anxiety, Likely Drove the Capitol Insurrection

[The Cool Thatguy]

https://www.theroot.com/new-********...-no-1846630346

New Research States the Obvious: White Racist Fears, Not Economic Anxiety, Likely Drove the Capitol Insurrection

No doubt the same people who'd claim that there's nothing wrong with being a minority in America

[WestPhillyPunisher]

https://www.theroot.com/new-********...-no-1846630346

New Research States the Obvious: White Racist Fears, Not Economic Anxiety, Likely Drove the Capitol Insurrection

DING DING! January 6th was never about jobs lost and broken bank accounts from the virus, if that had been the case, then people of every race would've been protesting since minorities were hit hardest by the economic downturn. Angry white men feared losing their orange skinned leader who gave them free rein to hate for four years, and they weren't having it. Nothing more complicated than that.