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

[Surf]

‘Why Do We Deserve to Die?’ Kabul’s Hazaras Bury Their Daughters.

Yea, Charlie D'Agata got his piece on CBS this morning and that was a lot to see not long after you wake up.


Been watching a lot of the India Covid 2nd wave disater via NDTV and now families are dumping their deceased into the Ganga river. Compounding an already bad situation. I look to hear from the strongest strain to come from this part of the world in the near future.

Meanwhile, people in Buxar, Bihar were shocked to see dead bodies washed up on the banks of river Ganga. According to a report in NDTV, dozens of bodies were seen floating in the river in Chausa town which is a border town between Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. People were later horrified to see bodies piling up on the river bank. They alerted the local administration.


"Some 40-45 bodies were seen floating," said Chausa district official Ashok Kumar, was quoted as saying by NDTV. There is a strong fear amid people now of contracting the COVID infection from the bloated bodies and the river water. There was a talk of burying the bodies too.


But with these bodies, a blame-game between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has also erupted. However, there is a stark sense of fear, anxiety and uncertainty amid people of both the state.

Link

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented profiles of Arizona State Senator Judy Burges, who we noted in her early career, was a key defender of fellow Arizona state legislator Barbara Blewster, whose litany of racist, homophobic, and ignorant comments were dismissed by Burges who assured everyone Blewster had “impeccable moral character, integrity and honesty”. Once Barack Obama got elected president back in 2008, though, Burges went off the deep end, telling local newspapers her belief that the president was secretly a Muslim, and submitting a bill to try and force him to release his long form birth certificate from Hawaii (which he did anyway). Burgess was also a co-sponsor of Arizona’s controversial law SB 1070, which allowed law enforcement to racially profile Hispanic citizens as potential illegal immigrants, as well as sponsoring several nullification bills in the past few years. Those sorts of legislative ideas made her a chief ally of the super-racist Maricopa County Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, as well as the co-founder of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps militia group, Chris Simcox, who she endorsed as a challenger to Sen. John McCain in the 2010 elections (apparently unaware that Simcox was a child molester, but aware that he was a racist anti-government pyschopath). When Cliven Bundy and his militia buddies in the Oath Keepers were having an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management, Burges was one of several Arizona state legislators to caravan up to Nevada to meet the “hero” Bundy, and she even went on to endorse Oath Keepers co-founder Richard Mack in his bid to become sheriff of Navajo County, Arizona (in spite of Mack talking about using women at the standoff as human shields). Burges has also campaigned hard against the implementation of the United Nations’ Agenda 21 Environmental Treaty, insisting that it’s a secret communist plot to set up a new world order. Rounding out her legislative priorities, she has submitted bills to require gold and silver be accepted as legal tender in Arizona, teach creationism or argue against climate change in Arizona schools, voted to drug test welfare recipients, and voted against expanding Medicaid in Arizona. Burges also supported SB 1468, a bill Arizona Republicans made in impotent rage after not being able to block Syrian refugees from being resettled in Arizona. So what does the bill do? Well, it targeted the charities that help resettle refugees, threatening to fine them $1,000 for each refugee they helped. You read that right… Judy Burges and the Republican Party, the supposed party of “Christian values” wanted to fine charities (citing a Catholic one in particular) for helping refugees. Her quote from February 2017: Lastly, we have to report on Judy Burges’ loony e-mail exchange with an 82-year old Scottsdale woman, a widow who worked on political campaigns, and was opposed to HB 2404, a bill that would have changed the pay scale for those who gather signatures for political campaigns… rather than be paid by the hour, they would only be paid by the signature. Burges responses began earnestly enough, but quickly devolved into accusing her constituent of working for Bill and Hillary Clinton, before just flat out name calling and saying she must be a “paid troll”. During a teacher’s strike in 2018 in Arizona, she sent insulting messages to teachers who contacted her, and daring them to vote her out of office in the fall. Which they probably would have, had Judy Burges faced term limits in 2018.

On this date in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled former Arizona State Senator Don Shooter, who was first elected to office back in… of course, the 2010 Tea Party Wave. During his time in office, he had his fingerprints on some of the most insane legislation the Arizona GOP could cook up, from unconstitutional bills to try and make English the official language of Arizona, to Arizona’s “Birther Bill”, a bill calling for states to be able to nullify federal law (for the Affordable Care Act, naturally), for welfare drug testing, support for to allow employers to reject the birth control coverage on the health insurance plans of their employees, a bill to legalize gold and silver as legal tender in Arizona, and even an anti-choice bill aimed at forcing abortion providers to have to attempt to revive a “viable fetus” after an abortion. Don Shooter served three terms in the Arizona State Senate before taking a step into the lower chamber in 2016 to the Arizona House of Representatives, but then… well… things got a wee bit complicated. Because over his career working in the state capitol, Don Shooter sexually harassed no less than nine women, including fellow Republican legislator Michelle Ugenti-Rita. He handled the charges by claiming that his criminal conduct was that he simply just was being a sex pest in order to make sure he was “annoying liberals”. He then tried to accuse Ugenti-Rita of having an extramarital affair, as if that would negate her claims, during his “apology” before the legislature. Yeah, Don Shooter did all that. And that’s why the Arizona House of Representatives voted 59-3 to expel him from the legislature. He still didn’t just skulk away, mounting a lawsuit over his expulsion, demanding that the “whole investigation” the legislature had into his conduct be made public (as if that would exonerate him), and he tried to run again for a seat in the Arizona State Senate in 2018, even though he didn’t actually live in Yuma, which he was supposed to be representing. His campaign strategy? To call upon Republicans to vote for him, a serial sexual harasser, because that would “make liberals heads explode”. Spoiler alert: He still finished third. Sadly, he still got 20% of the vote, because one in five Republican voters in Yuma are either poorly informed, just straight up that awful in their opinions of how women should be respected, or some combination of the two.



On This date one year ago, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” first profiled Brandon Martin, who attempted unsuccessfully to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018, losing in the GOP Primary for that seat by about 4,000 votes.

Martin is unflinchingly heartless in his fiscal conservative rhetoric, outright saying he wants to end Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid (those latter two, in particular, should be great issue stances for a winning political strategy to have in the middle of a pandemic, right?

What’s more, what’s little that is known about his other issue positions includes the fact that he’s a Personhood supporter, and he supports Donald Trump’s brainless idea for a border wall on the U.S./Mexico border.

But if there’s one issue that brought Brandon Martin to our attention, it’s his stance on guns. Not just that he’s opposed to gun control completely, but it’s how he fundraises on that topic. In October of 2019, he sent out a fundraising e-mail loaded with as many gun metaphors as you could stack into a paragraph:

”Ann Kirkpatrick sits on the Appropriations Committee. ($$ Big money donations $$) She's going to have a war chest in November 2020. I need 'ammunition' to remove her from office. Will you load me up with a donation of $5, $10, $25 or more so I can 'train my sights' on Ann Kirkpatrick and remove her from office in 2020?" ”

Keep in mind, the Congressional District that Martin wants to win office in is Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, also known as “Gabby Giffords district”, where that Congresswoman was shot along with 17 people, 6 of whom died in the attack, and it happened after Sarah Palin was running ads that but a sniper’s target over it on a map online back in 2010.

Brandon Martin gaslighted Rep. Kirkpatrick after she called him out on his attempts at getting cash (and/or a stochastic terrorist to carry out an assassination on his behalf), and tried pretending like everyone was reading into things too much. Yes, he’s that much of a craven ***hole, who’s trying to play coy when he knew exactly what he was doing. He ended up losing to her in November, getting only 45% of the vote. We are unsure at this time if with Ann Kirkpatrick announcing she will retire at the end of this term, if Brandon Martin will make a third attempt at getting elected in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, but all we know is he fails again and gets a hat trick of electoral defeat.

[BeastieRunner]

There have been 5-6 of these defenses already. Kind of sad that it has a name. The legacy of the Jan 6th riot continues.

The Foxitis and Foxmania Defense, Because of Course.

(45 second video link)

One guy last week interrupted that judge and his lawyer when he was called to stand to have had suffered from Foxmania.

Wonder if part of a large-scale mental health push will be a detox of crap like Fox?

[Kirby101]

While I don't want to see this bullshit work to absolve any of these traitors. I would love to see FoxNews confirmed as a disease in Federal Court.

[Tami]

Is it fair to compare Beto O'Rourke with Stacy Abrams in terms of organizing and mobilizing people in their states?

[Revolutionary_Jack]

Is it fair to compare Beto O'Rourke with Stacy Abrams in terms of organizing and mobilizing people in their states?

To some extent, maybe.

I think Texas is very different from Georgia, a US Senate seat is very different from a Governorship.

[Gray Lensman]

Is it fair to compare Beto O'Rourke with Stacy Abrams in terms of organizing and mobilizing people in their states?

Beto isn't quite as successful as Abrams yet, but he can be, if the Stop the Vote laws can be overcome.

[numberthirty]

Is it fair to compare Beto O'Rourke with Stacy Abrams in terms of organizing and mobilizing people in their states?

While I'd have to dig the article up?

When he ran against Cruz, some of the folks working on Latino outreach were pretty critical of the effort he put in.

I can't ever recall anyone saying anything like that about Abrams.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

There have been 5-6 of these defenses already. Kind of sad that it has a name. The legacy of the Jan 6th riot continues.

The Foxitis and Foxmania Defense, Because of Course.

(45 second video link)

One guy last week interrupted that judge and his lawyer when he was called to stand to have had suffered from Foxmania.

Wonder if part of a large-scale mental health push will be a detox of crap like Fox?

"Foxmania", eh? That's right up there with Dan White and the notorious "Twinkie Defense".

[Mister Mets]

To some extent, maybe.

I think Texas is very different from Georgia, a US Senate seat is very different from a Governorship.

Honestly, it's probably easier to get elected Governor than Senator if you're a member of a party that's weak in a state.

A Senator will be seen as a rubber stamp for a controversial national figure.

A Governor is more independent of national trends.

This is why Maryland, Vermont and Massachusetts have Republican Governors, while Kansas, Louisiana and Kentucky have Democratic Governors.

[CSTowle]

I'd agree with the point on the Governors. I'm in New Hampshire, which is considered purple but has been pretty solidly blue for a while. Still have a Republican Governor and people were pretty happy with his handling of the Covid situation (blue-state Republicans tend to be less crazy than red staters, because they're trying to appeal to all sides rather than look out for people flanking them from the right). I'll still vote against him because I believe in the cause of the Democratic Party (if not some of its leadership) and leftist politics in general. But it won't surprise me if he's easily reelected, despite the blue state status.

[Kirby101]

The Family name helped him.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The question that must be asked is why didn't Beto's big surge in the 2018 Senate Race against Ted Cruz, which propelled him to national spotlight didn't lead to an increased turnout for the Dems in 2020 in Texas, while Abrams mobilized her base after defeat in 2018?

I think the answer is that Abrams kept her eyes on the prize. She stayed in Georgia and worked alongside other activists and involved herself fully in increasing voter registrations. Whereas O'Rourke was overhyped. Running Ted Cruz to a dead heat in Texas propelled unrealistic expectations about Beto and he became a national figure and put himself in the Presidential race rather that consolidating his challenge to Cruz and converting it into a valid support base for the Dems.

At least that's my two-cents. I am not saying O'Rourke did nothing, or that he wasn't involved in activism and mobilization and registration, I gather he was but I think that lack of full commitment in one region was the difference.

[Powerboy]

There have been 5-6 of these defenses already. Kind of sad that it has a name. The legacy of the Jan 6th riot continues.

The Foxitis and Foxmania Defense, Because of Course.

(45 second video link)

One guy last week interrupted that judge and his lawyer when he was called to stand to have had suffered from Foxmania.

Wonder if part of a large-scale mental health push will be a detox of crap like Fox?

The irony is that Conservatives on a jury won't accept that defense but might acquit because, hey, it's not a delusion, it's true. OR they won't buy it because Fox is now a Liberal network and you need to go to some even more whackjob conservative network to get "THE TRUTH". tm

[Powerboy]

"Foxmania", eh? That's right up there with Dan White and the notorious "Twinkie Defense".

It's kind of, "Being stupid enough to believe everything you hear is not a defense". Especially when you know there has been no evidence (of mass voter fraud) and overwhelming evidence against it but you believe it anyway because you want to.