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

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Exactly. They are the new version of a Fascist Party, well most of them are but not all of them.

But, more than enough to make the party a clear and present danger to democracy as we know it. As others here have already said, Qpublicans don't want to govern, they want to rule, and that makes them a terrible menace.

[CSTowle]

Neo-Fascism, American Fascism, evidence is now out there that this is what we are facing and it's worse than the old fashioned form of fascism.

It's not a good thing, but it has a long slog before it comes close to the old fashioned form of fascism. If for no other reason than it's less likely to result in taking over our neighbors and throwing millions into ovens than it is to break up and Balkanize the US into regional powers, in the event that it's allowed to come to pass. Which is exactly what countries like Russia and China would like to see happen (and not for no reason, but a good chunk of the world probably given our history). A less powerful and less relevant US, brought down by "patriots" who'd rather see the whole thing burn than turn into something else (namely, a country that doesn't exclusively cater to white/rural/christian norms like the "good old days").

[Tami]

It's not a good thing, but it has a long slog before it comes close to the old fashioned form of fascism. If for no other reason than it's less likely to result in taking over our neighbors and throwing millions into ovens than it is to break up and Balkanize the US into regional powers, in the event that it's allowed to come to pass. Which is exactly what countries like Russia and China would like to see happen (and not for no reason, but a good chunk of the world probably given our history). A less powerful and less relevant US, brought down by "patriots" who'd rather see the whole thing burn than turn into something else (namely, a country that doesn't exclusively cater to white/rural/christian norms like the "good old days").

Which is why Russia is actively behind spreading Fascism around the world.

[numberthirty]

Neo-Fascism, American Fascism, evidence is now out there that this is what we are facing and it's worse than the old fashioned form of fascism.

Politely, this sounds about like the various flavors of "Oath Keeper..." types.

For what probably isn't even the fifth or sixth time, you've got at least two groups who sound like they think that they are living in the end times.

No one so far has actually been living in them, and I'd put a box of jellybeans down that we are not living in them now.

[numberthirty]

It's not a good thing, but it has a long slog before it comes close to the old fashioned form of fascism. If for no other reason than it's less likely to result in taking over our neighbors and throwing millions into ovens than it is to break up and Balkanize the US into regional powers, in the event that it's allowed to come to pass. Which is exactly what countries like Russia and China would like to see happen (and not for no reason, but a good chunk of the world probably given our history). A less powerful and less relevant US, brought down by "patriots" who'd rather see the whole thing burn than turn into something else (namely, a country that doesn't exclusively cater to white/rural/christian norms like the "good old days").

It's also worth noting that America has a government that is largely bought and paid for in a way that none of the governments of those forms of fascism were.

Anyone that really sets out on that road would realistically have to contend with moneyed interests who have more than enough resources to put them in the dirt if it ever actually came down to it.

[worstblogever]

In 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of Tony Shipley, a now former member of the Tennessee House of Representatives who won office in 2008 in a race that saw him use the underhanded tactic of running websites in his opponent's name to misrepresent his positions, and send out racist fliers that featured the head of that African American opponent mounted on a Blackbird. He also went off in 2009 and threatened to do something "like what happened in 1860" should gay marriage pass, and that if it did, "God drops California off into the sea". A few days after that rant, he complained about gay adoption and made mention of "Sodom and Gomorrah". A short time later, he submitted legislation to attempt to allow law enforcement to conduct warrantless searches if they had reason to "suspect terrorism" (4th Amendment much?) and when his colleagues tried asking what possible plots he thought might justify it, he pretended to be privy to top secret information. While in office, Shipley also voted to attempt to nullify the Affordable Care Act, to prevent the United Nations' Agenda 21 Environmental Treaty from being implemented, and several blatantly unconstitutional attempts to outlaw abortion, outright. In the 2016 elections, Shipley lost in the GOP Primary for that seat after finishing second in a four-candidate field with only 21% of the vote., over 30 points shy of what he needed for victory. He has not resurfaced in an election since, as of this posting. At this time, we have yet to see any indication that Shipley will attempt to return to office somewhere in Tennessee.



On this date in both 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” had its first profile of the sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s 8th District, Warren Davidson, who was first elected to office in June of 2016, shortly after former Speaker of the House John Boehner said, “F*** this s***,” and peaced out of of Congress. As part of the GOP gerrymandering of House districts after the 2010 elections, Boehner made sure that his own home district was galvanized to protect him from being booted by any Democratic challenger, making it the reddest district in all of Ohio. So when he retired, no less than fifteen…. Yes FIFTEEN Republicans battled it out like it was the goddamned Hunger Games to take his place in Ohio’s 6th for the remainder of his term, which Davidson then coasted to victory in the general special election to establish himself as the incumbent. A short time later, the vote was practically just done over again for the November election, this time with a SIXTEENTH Republican in the primary, and again breezed to victory against a Democrat, because of the +17 Republican lean for the district in the Cook Partisan Voting Index.

Almost immediately after arriving in Washington, D.C., Davidson issued what could be interpreted as a final “F*** you” to Boehner as he left office, immediately joining the Republican House Freedom Caucus that constantly was trying to bring about his downfall, and ultimately made Boehner resign in frustration to go work for the medical marijuana lobby.

Now, our fair readers might be wondering… how the heck did a guy who’s only been in office for just about two years earn himself a place in CSGOPOTD?

Well, that’s easy enough to answer. Warren Davidson seems to REALLY hate poor people.

This series of posts never hesitates to thank Republicans who served in our armed forces for that service. However, we still reserve the right to call out those veterans for bulls*** unrelated to it when necessary. And while we’ll salute Warren Davidson for his time as a U.S. Army Ranger without hesitation, we still think it’s truly f***ed up that he went to a gathering of veterans to gripe about “moochers” who were within the V.A. Medical system, and kick them out of it. For someone well off like Davidson, maybe having your medical care paid for by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs isn’t a choice he has to make… but for every blue-collar veteran with injuries endured in the service without a six-figure salary to pay for physical or mental health treatments to be turned away? That… is some bulls***. And it’s frankly outrageous that someone would begin playing the “welfare queens” card on fellow service members like that. When people enlist, part of the agreement with the government that a service member gets is, after your service is over, the government helps you take care of your medical needs. That’s it. And there’s no whining about the cost, because men put their lives on the line.

Sorry if we got up on a soapbox there, but that’s a topic near and dear to CSGOPOTD’s heart.

Anyway, that one-off comment wasn’t the only time that Rep. Davidson popped off about who actually “deserves” medical coverage. At his first town hall as a Congressman in early 2017, Davidson was hammered with questions about the GOP’s wishes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, even if there was no replacement for it. Thus, the following exchange occurred, resulting in gasps and boos from those assembled:

Constiuent: “My son did not have health insurance for four years, until the ACA when Medicaid was accepted. He didn’t have health insurance because he’s in the service industry. And that industry pays minimum wage and they keep their employees below a certain number of hours so that they cannot -- so that they don’t have to pay health insurance. So, many of the people that are on Medicaid are working, and they are the working poor. Under Trumpcare, one of the major ways to make health insurance affordable is to bring back catastrophic insurance, which is basically no insurance at all. Given that, given that preventative health care is the number one way to keep people healthy in our society, can you explain why my son and millions of others in his situation are not deserving of affordable, decent healthcare that has essential benefits so that he can stay healthy and continue working?”
Warren Davidson: “OK, I don’t know anything about your son, but as you described him, his skills are focused in an industry that doesn’t have the kind of options that you want him to have for health care. So, I don’t believe that these taxpayers here are entitled [sic] to give that to him. I believe he’s got the opportunity to go earn those health benefits.”

Yes, he pretty much just told a woman that her son deserved to die because he wasn’t “skilled” enough, and that he has to “earn” the right to keep living. Great work, Warren. Making the GOP look real sympathetic out there. And if you’re wondering if he just misspoke, no, he doubled down on his statement.

As Republican control of the House was lost in the 2018 Blue Wave election, in the last days of the 115TH Congress were winding down, Warren Davidson sponsored the “Buy a Brick, Build the Wall Act” that would have tried to secure funding for Donald Trump’s stupid f***ing xenophobic, and impractically useless idea for a physical wall on the U.S./Mexico border by allowing public donations made (not “Mexico will pay for it”), and even proposed outside of the bill that the United States could use “Wall Coins”, accepting donations via Bitcoin to be accepted to fund the project.

” “(The bill) lets the American people, or whomever should choose to donate – Mexicans or otherwise – to donate to the program. You could do with this sort of, like, crowdfunding site. Or you could even do blockchain, and you could have wall coins. But you could raise the money. And frankly, if we get it right at the Treasury, you could even accept Mexican pesos.”

That… is insane. In more ways than we can count. Including the complete improbability that there are private citizens in Mexico who might want to chip in.

[worstblogever]

Davidson is also a climate change denier, thinks Sharia Law is a threat to the United States and our Constitution (even though the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment would defend against it quite nicely, but hey, why not be an Islamophobe?), would like to redefine marriage as only between one man and one woman while allowing businesses the “religious freedom” to discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and is a supporter of Personhood.

If you’re thinking the above two stories might be an indicator that Warren Davidson’s voting record has a mile-wide streak of being uncaring for his fellow Americans, you might be right:

• December 3rd, 2019: Warren Davidson is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
• December 18th, 2019: Rep. Davidson 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: Davidson votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• October 2nd, 2020: Warren Davidson votes against a resolution is presented in the House to condemn the Qanon conspiracy theory after its followers started to make death threats against Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski.
• January 6th, 2021: Warren Davidson 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. Davidson 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: Warren Davidson 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: Davidson votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Davidson 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: Warren Davidson votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Davidson 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. Davidson votes 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).
• May 19th, 2021: Warren Davidson votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• May 20th, 2021: Davidson is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.

Now, we’ve pointed out that Warren Davidson’s seat in the House was gerrymandered to be one of the safest in the entire state by his predecessor, former Speaker John Boehner, so unless he gets knocked out of office via a primary challenge , he isn’t going anywhere. However, in a sign that the GOP/GQP is still clearly at war with itself, he has been feuding publicly with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, whose modest measures to help stop the spread of Covid-19 like mask mandates or closing public venues irked Davidson enough to call DeWine’s moves “Orwellian”.

This has caused many to speculate that at some point in the very near future, there could be an announcement from Davidson that he’s going to challenge DeWine for the governor’s mansion and leave Washington, D.C. Whatever office Davidson runs for, we hope he loses and shuffles off into obscurity before he bumblef***s into any ill-conceived ideas he’s got.

[Zauriel]

The guy is even dumber to think right wingers in Texas would vote for a black man for the highest office in the state. They'd sooner abolish Friday night high school football before putting a brutha in the governor's mansion.

Vernon Jones is running in Georgia, not Texas, unless you are talking about Allen West.

South Carolina did elect a black Republican to the United States senate.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Vernon Jones is running in Georgia, not Texas, unless you are talking about Allen West.

South Carolina did elect a black Republican to the United States senate.

Quite right. I was thinking of Allen West. Thanks for the correction.

[CSTowle]

It's also worth noting that America has a government that is largely bought and paid for in a way that none of the governments of those forms of fascism were.

Anyone that really sets out on that road would realistically have to contend with moneyed interests who have more than enough resources to put them in the dirt if it ever actually came down to it.

My fear would be the moneyed interests (who long ago realized they had nothing to gain from actual patriotism or the success of the country and its people, part of why China builds nearly everything sold here) could decide that things weren't so bad in the Nazi days, plenty of people still making money from them even in the Allied countries, and if worst case collapse of US society/government were to occur they could move their assets elsewhere and take advantage of the less restrictive (to business) governments in the territories that would make up what used to be the US. Luckily don't think this will ever happen, but I wouldn't count on moneyed interests as even a possible hedge against it.

[Zauriel]

Oh, that dipshit who talked at the Republican Convention last year, and is notorious for being a shitty landlord?

Well, it's a good thing that Vernon isn't in charge of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, though I don't see how he is worse than Ben Carson, the former HUD secretary.

[Tami]

Hackers demand $70 million to unlock businesses hit by sprawling ransomware attack

A hacking group that experts said was behind the sprawling ransomware attack that hit hours before the beginning of the July Fourth holiday weekend is demanding $70 million to unlock the thousands of businesses affected by the hack.

REvil, the same Russian-language group that was behind the attack on meat processor JBS, posted the demand on a dark-Web site associated with the group.

The group wants the funds in bitcoin, a popular cryptocurrency, and said if it receives the money it will publish a “decryptor key,” or a computer code that will unlock the victims’ files.

The attack was carried out through software that helps businesses manage their computer systems, made by Miami-based firm Kaseya. Kaseya sells its tool to many large managed service providers, who in turn help small and midsize businesses monitor and control their computer networks.

Kaseya admitted this weekend it had been a victim of a “sophisticated cyberattack.” In an interview with the Associated Press, Kaseya chief executive Fred Voccola estimated the number of affected companies to be in the low thousands, made up almost entirely of small businesses. In an update Monday on its website, the company said “fewer than 1,500 downstream businesses,” had been affected.

Already, the ransomware attack has temporarily shut down hundreds of Sweden’s Coop grocery stores because the cash registers were locked up. In New Zealand, nine schools were affected in some ways, forcing some students to shut down their computers, according to the New Zealand Herald. ESET Research said on Twitter it had identified victims in 17 countries so far.

The full scope of the attack probably won’t be known for quite some time — especially as many workers are still off for the holiday weekend in the United States. Researchers say hackers often plan their attacks for holidays to take advantage of fewer eyes on computer systems.

REvil’s request for a joint ransom is likely an acknowledgment that the hacking group wants to end the attack quickly, said Allan Liska, a researcher with the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

“To me that's a sign that they realize that this is a bigger problem than they originally thought,” Liska said. “But I think behind the scenes, this is a lot more than they probably anticipated.”

[BeastieRunner]

Coming out of New York ...

Ivanka Trump could be the next target for Manhattan's district attorney, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Ivanka Trump might flip on her dad because she has more to lose, Mary Trump says: 'Her husband's family is legitimately very wealthy'

[worstblogever]

Marjorie Taylor-Greene is in the news for all the wrong reasons again, as she went on a Twitter rant yesterday where she attacked Fox News (LOL, well, there goes one friend), and more importantly, she started claiming "all voters are over Covid", as the Delta variant surges in red states where there's already vaccine hesitancy.

Oh, and in court, GOP Rep. Mo Brooks, infamous for his "war on whites" comments and telling the rioters on 1/6 to "start taking names and kick ass", in court Rep. Brooks had to explain what the f*** he was actually doing inciting the mob that day, and Brooks' defense included an admission that his remarks were coordinated with and signed off on by Trump White House staff, who specifically asked him to be there.

[Jack Dracula]

Coming out of New York ...

Ivanka Trump could be the next target for Manhattan's district attorney, according to a former federal prosecutor.

Ivanka Trump might flip on her dad because she has more to lose, Mary Trump says: 'Her husband's family is legitimately very wealthy'

Ivanka and Jared made over $143 million over the four years her father was President.
They did it from offices in the White House with unsecured personal email servers and cell phones.
But, hey “Hunter Biden’s laptop!” and all that.