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

[Kirby101]

Because there is nothing better than a Justice Dept. supporting the usurping the function the Justice Dept. If there was any crime committed to begin with should that not be the Justice Dept. leading that? Oh wait they have been.

Congress has the power of investigation. The DOJ enforces contempt of Congress.

[Mister Mets]

It was almost exactly one year ago that the markets realized that Trump was over as president.

Something else happened around that time that was probably a bigger deal.

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-re...didate-against

[babyblob]

Are you just making this stuff up Blob or is there something supporting these supposed contradictions.

I mean the fact that the GOP members of the house voted down the formation of a commission with both Dems and GOP on it. That is a fact. It was talked about heavy on the news. And the fact that Trump has sued the DOJ to prevent the release of stuff related to the 6th. Also all over the news. And the fact that so far Steve B has ignored a subpoena and Trump is encouraging everyone else to do the same. Also all over the news.

[skyvolt2000]

Glad someone else sees it.

I think more folks see it than you think.

One of the issues in all this is way too much cherry picking, hearsay and agendas that bury the truth.

A point many are saying with Dave. What is it in that special and others that is the issue.

It's like with Ray Fisher's war with Warner Brothers-what was this think Harmada did that Ray is so mad about. He refuses to say.
Comicsgate screams political agendas in books but can't tell you what they are.

I think when more folks begin to single out and point out what the issues are-we can see change.

What is the context?

If attacks on Trans like Asians have gone up-what is the REAL source of it? It can't just be a comedian fanning flames. It has to be more.

Dave is NOT passing or creating laws like Abbott in Texas is doing. When do we go after the source?

[The Cool Thatguy]

Alright I have just 2 questions.

1.Why do all these comedians get canceled but South Park stays on TV? Trey Parker and Matt Stone must have a magical protection spell.

2.Would this be accurate for the types of jokes that are ok?

Not ok: jokes on all ethnicities except white, all genders except male, trans, yo mama jokes, fat jokes, rightwing humor

Approved: why did the chicken cross the road, knock knock jokes, dad humor, white men, leftwing humor

Generally speaking, punching down is disapproved of, because you're adding to an already existing weight.

You should ask yourself why that leaves so few remaining targets.

Also, bashing your own group is fine. Again, no rocket science.

[Tami]

Funny or pathetic or desperate?

New via CNN: To portray President Biden’s tenure as “chaos,” House Republicans’ latest attack ad uses at least three images of street chaos under Trump in 2020.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” ran a profile of Loy Mauch, who was elected during the 2010 Tea Party Wave, and shortly thereafter, people in Arkansas discovered the revelation that they had elected a member of the Neo-Confederate group known as the League of the South who considered the Ol' Stars & Bars to be "a symbol of Jesus Christ and biblical government", and compares the founder of the Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln, to Marxists and Nazis. He also believes the 14th Amendment of the Constitution is unconstitutional, that the Civil War was not fought over slavery, and even if it was, he thinks "slavery isn't that bad because Jesus never spoke out against it." Needless to say, being that overpoweringly racist was enough to get him the boot from voters when they discovered what ugly opinions he had, even by red state standards.

It was on this date in 2015 we published our original “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profile of Cindy Gamrat, a former member of the Michigan House of Representatives who served less than one term in office before being expelled from office by a vote of 91-12 by her colleagues. Gamrat was a passionate Christian "defender of the sanctity of marriage", who also just so happened to be carrying on an affair with fellow anti-gay legislator Todd Courser. After rumors of the affair began to be noticed, the two plotted a scheme to bury the lead about them burying the bone by planting a story in the news media that Courser had been accused of having gay sex behind a nightclub in Lansing. One of Courser's top aides realized how insane both Gamrat and Courser were, and blew the whistle that both were planning on using government e-mail to perpetuate they cover story, a grievous enough misuse of resources to get both tossed from office. Gamrat had the unmitigated, fanatical gall to make an attempt at trying to win back her state in the special electon for it, but lost in the GOP Primary. She was lucky enough to have the criminal charges against her tossed out, and sued her former colleagues with Todd Courser for "ruining their careers" (not successfully). In the meantime she has also filed for divorce, and now hosts what is likely an insane conservative radio show with Courser.

It was on this date in 2016, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published a profile about Jon Girodes, who wanted to serve the district where Harlem is, which would be hard already given his party's demonizing of "inner cities", or their policies that impact African Americans negatively from education standardization to voting rights, to civil rights, to... you get the idea. But how could Jon Girodes find a way to be even MORE abhorrent to African American voters in Harlem, by not just being a Republican? Well, Girodes gave himself the October surprise of sending out an e-mail promising “Kool-Aid, KFC and watermelons” to people who attended a Harlem campaign rally. When people immediately reacted that it was racist as f***, Girodes, inexplicably DOUBLED DOWN, saying, “What I think is anyone who gives free food to people is doing them a favor. Get a bunch of people who say it’s offensive and let me go into their neighborhood and give it out for free and see if they take it.” Residents of Harlem admirably responded to Girodes' offer by offering "to donate various foots to his ass". Now, if it weren't enough that Girodes was a Republican who apparently took his candidacy as an excuse to be a racist troll towards African Americans... he wasn't done with scandals in October. Within eight days of the news breaking about Girodes' racist food giveaway, he was back in the news again for being arrested on grand larceny charges in a rental scheme where he would collect deposit money from potential tenants and then still leave them without a place to live. He collected deposits from twelve people on one apartment, and left them unable to reside there, and responded with various lies to most of them, threats for others. Perhaps the most outrageous is that he threatened to rape a disabled prospective tenant in a phone call who he had swindled not just out of the deposit, but several months of advanced rent. And it’s that scheme that got Girodes a three-to-six year prison sentence back in September of 2017.

On this date in 2017, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published a profile about former Florida State Senator Greg Evers, who served in that body from 2010-2016 after previously having served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2000-2010. Evers was considered a favorite to potentially win office in Florida’s 1st Congressional District to replace the retiring GOP Congressman from there, Jeff Miller in 2016, and had a long record of being radically anti-choice, pro-gun, and supporting conservative policies like instituting prayer in schools or drug testing welfare recipients that the Constitution sort of frowns upon. But when we say he was pro-gun, that included not just votes for things like “Stand Your Ground” laws in Florida that would lead to deaths like those of Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman… but he actually would go on quixotic missions to stifle criticism of firearms, including submitting legislation to forbid a doctor from asking his patients if they own a gun (which might be something you would want to determine if your patient is being treated for suicidal thoughts), as well as his “Pop Tart bill”, which was inspired by a news story about a student in Maryland who chewed a pop tart into the shape of a gun which he used to threaten another student, and that got the kid suspended from school. Only one week after Omar Matteen murdered 49 people at the Pulse nightclub in Miami, Evers thought it would be a great time to further demonstrate his commitment to the 2nd Amendment by announcing the “Homeland Defender Giveaway”, where you could win an AR-15. Needless to say, even in his conservative district, people were rather annoyed by the tacky and tactless attempt to garner support, and Facebook actually pulled his post, claiming it violated their user terms for “promoting violence”. Evers’ aspirations in 2016 to head to Washington, D.C. cost him in a wide-open GOP primary. We would like to tell you that Greg Evers is currently enjoying his retirement as a legislator and back just enjoying strawberry farming, but he was tragically killed in a car accident back in August of 2017, when he crashed into a creek and was partially ejected through the windshield, apparently getting stuck and drowning.

On this date in 2018, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profile, where we’ll be talking about former Minnesota House of Representatives member Jim Knoblach, who served as a state legislator from 1995-2007, and then after a six year break from politics, returned to office with a win in the 2014 elections to serve two more terms in office. While Minnesota’s state legislature has trended left just slightly over the past few years, Knoblach still was staunchly anti-choice, and voting for stricter Voter ID requirement to suppress the vote. Perhaps his most heinous act of legislative obstruction, though, was his unilateral move to prevent a hate crimes law from going on the books in Minnesota back in 2016, without explanation. The real reason that we are profiling Jim Knoblach is because he made headlines when four months after he announced his campaign to run for a ninth non-consecutive term representing Minnesota’s District 14B, in September of 2018, Knoblach’s 23-year old daughter reported to the media that she had been molested and sexually abused by her father from the ages of 9 until she was 21. Knoblach denies any of the behavior described, and described his daughter as “estranged” from the family (gee, wonder why, Jim). Local police did not pursue charges, with investigators assessing that what behavior was done by Knoblach was “inappropriate but not criminal”, which might be a polite way of saying doing things like sliding into bed with your underage daughter and licking her neck or biting her ear in the middle of the night is “creepy as f***”. In any event, Jim Knoblach withdrew from the ballot, and has left politics.

On this date in 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled the U.S. House Representative from Utah’s 1st Congressional District, Rob Bishop, who held office from 2003 through 2020. Prior to that, he was a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1979-1994. As if it wasn’t enough that he’s tried undoing the entire legacy of President Theodore Roosevelt by selling off protected lands, he was trying to invalidate the Endangered Species Act, and referred to Democratic ideas as modest as the Green New Deal as “tantamount to genocide”. Because that’s not hyperbole. Bizarrely, when asked to explain HOW the Green New Deal was like genocide, Bishop responded, ”I’m an ethnic. I’m a westerner. If you actually implement everything they want to. Killing would be positive if you implement everything the Green New Deal actually wants to. That’s why the Green New Deal is not ready for prime time." ” Rob Bishop’s record as a legislator is sad not just for how partisan his voting record was, but how often he’s absent and doesn’t vote to represent his constituents (7% of the time, which the average member of Congress misses more like 2%). Bishop retired at the end of 2020.

[worstblogever]

On this date one year ago, "Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” first profiled Mike Nearman, who served in the Oregon House of Representatives in District 23 since first winning office back in the 2014 elections. We could summarize Nearman’s entire legislative career as “NO”, because he’s pushed back against any and all bills submitted by Democrats in Oregon since he took office. The most regressive stances he’s taken have been to vote against a minimum wage increase during the greatest period in our nation’s history, taking firearms away from domestic abusers, voting against prohibitions on exemptions to vaccinations for public school children, and yes, even against a ban on gay conversion therapy on minors.

In 2018, Nearman was outed by the Corvallis Advocate as the vice-president of Oregonians for Immigration Control, which is, per the Southern Poverty Law Center, an anti-immigrant hate group. We’ll note OFIR disputes that label, but if they were any more linked to white nationalism, they would have to be wearing hoods and robes. Nearman denied being the vice-president of the group, in spite of all the evidence. Once upon a time, a member of the GOP would resign when revealed to be a member of, if not a core leader of a hate group. These are, of course, darker times, and Nearman remained in office.

With the media closely watching his activities as a white nationalist, Nearman instead focused his energy in a different direction, getting hired as the leader of an anti-union group, the Oregon Freedom Foundation. Not shockingly, he also was proud to endorse a Qanon conspiracy theorist for U.S. Senate, so there’s that.

Now, even though he was revealed to have hate group ties prior to the 2018 elections, somehow, Nearman managed to still be re-elected in a conservative district with 54% of the vote that year. The Oregon GOP were so concerned about that fact that they didn’t find anyone to challenge him in the GOP Primary in 2020, and he faced off against Democrat Sean Scorvo, who was looking to improve upon Democrats’ performance only two years ago. And, on Election Day, it ended up that Nearman got 58% of the vote and was set to serve another two year term in office even though he was running a hate group.

Well, at least if Mike Nearman had done nothing to support domestic terrorists personally, he might have had two more years in office. However, Nearman did exactly that on December 21st, 2020, by opening a door to anti-mask and anti-vaccine lunatics from the group Patriot Prayer who were calling for the arrest of Governor Kate Brown. It was premeditated, and not an accidentally security breach, as there’s also video of Nearman telling the group days earlier they could text him on his cell phone and he’d open the gates.

On June 14th, 2021, Mike Nearman became the first man expelled from the Oregon state legislature as a result, and could still face up to a one year jail sentence on two criminal charges. We would wish him our finest “GOOD RIDDANCE” salutes at this time, and hope he enjoys his vacation in the penitentiary.

[Gray Lensman]

I think more folks see it than you think.

One of the issues in all this is way too much cherry picking, hearsay and agendas that bury the truth.

A point many are saying with Dave. What is it in that special and others that is the issue.

It's like with Ray Fisher's war with Warner Brothers-what was this think Harmada did that Ray is so mad about. He refuses to say.
Comicsgate screams political agendas in books but can't tell you what they are.

I think when more folks begin to single out and point out what the issues are-we can see change.

What is the context?

If attacks on Trans like Asians have gone up-what is the REAL source of it? It can't just be a comedian fanning flames. It has to be more.

Dave is NOT passing or creating laws like Abbott in Texas is doing. When do we go after the source?

I think the real source is the same as it has been for the last several years - Trans people have been made into the current boogeyman de jour for the Culture Wars, only currently eclipsed by Critical Race Theory (which has been expanded by the right to include teaching about ANY racial injustice ever committed during the history of the country)

[numberthirty]

I think the real source is the same as it has been for the last several years - Trans people have been made into the current boogeyman de jour for the Culture Wars, only currently eclipsed by Critical Race Theory (which has been expanded by the right to include teaching about ANY racial injustice ever committed during the history of the country)

If I have a dozen eggs?

I don't have to sweat the little stuff like who I will be throwing one at.

Dave is the "Source..." of this issue the same as them. No reason to get stingy about who we should be taking issue with.

[CSTowle]

Something else happened around that time that was probably a bigger deal.

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-re...didate-against

Well, a big deal also but maybe not a bigger deal.

I mean the fact that the GOP members of the house voted down the formation of a commission with both Dems and GOP on it. That is a fact. It was talked about heavy on the news. And the fact that Trump has sued the DOJ to prevent the release of stuff related to the 6th. Also all over the news. And the fact that so far Steve B has ignored a subpoena and Trump is encouraging everyone else to do the same. Also all over the news.

I'd also be curious which of your points he sees as false. It doesn't take much time to research if he doesn't want to take your word. Republicans haven't been shy about their obstruction of an investigation.

[Tendrin]

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), signaled on Monday that a candidate being accused of strangling his wife isn’t a dealbreaker for the GOP’s top Senate fundraising organization.

During an appearance on CNN, Scott was asked about Laurie Snell, the wife of GOP Pennsylvania Senate candidate Sean Parnell who testified under oath earlier this month that the Republican had choked her until she bit him to get free. Snell also alleged during the same child custody hearing that Parnell physically abused their kids.

Profiles in moral courage, that GOP.

[worstblogever]

Profiles in moral courage, that GOP.

At least they're becoming consistent about their policy of supporting candidates with a history of violence towards women.

[Tendrin]

At least they're becoming consistent about their policy of supporting candidates with a history of violence towards women.

You have a long career ahead of you.

[JCAll]

I think the real source is the same as it has been for the last several years - Trans people have been made into the current boogeyman de jour for the Culture Wars, only currently eclipsed by Critical Race Theory (which has been expanded by the right to include teaching about ANY racial injustice ever committed during the history of the country)

When enough people with big platforms decide to make someone not just an acceptable target but a righteous one the hate starts to feed into itself. I first saw that after 9/11.