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

[worstblogever]

Susan Wagle

Welcome to what is the 878th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Kansas State Senator Susan Wagle, who has served District 30 of that body since 2001, and is also a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2020, seeking the seat being vacated by the retiring Senator Pat Roberts.

Even prior to that, she served in the Kansas House of Representatives for a decade, arriving back in 1991. In 2006, she was the Chairman of ALEC, the conservative policy think-tank that seems intent to do harm to our nation’s working class to the benefit of the wealthy. Wagle has been in the Kansas state legislator for three decades, and in a leadership role for most of the last third of that. She was one of the main reasons the Kansas GOP under Sam Brownback ran the state into the ground, including her efforts to block the Medicaid Expansion, which she now is outrageously still holding as her hostage in order to try to force anti-choice votes with the lower chamber, including a bill that would change the Kansas state constitution to claim that women don’t have a right to an abortion. And that would probably have something do with her impotent rage at the Kansas Supreme Court for overturning the bill she sponsored the “Dismemberment Abortion Act” before it could be implemented in April of 2019.

Really, her entire voting record reads like a rap sheet of conservative misanthropy.

In 2018, she actually threw her support behind white nationalist Senate candidate Kris Kobach to be the next Governor of Kansas in the GOP Primary, and went so far as to have an aid post her endorsement from a computer at the capitol, a violation of ethics rules. In her current efforts to get elected to the U.S. Senate, it’s beginning to be easy to understand how Wagle could align herself as Kobach, as she has also mirrored his love of racist conspiracy theories, including that the Chinese government engineered Covid-19 and then released it on its own citizens.

Wagle never managed to poll better than single digits at any point in that U.S. Senate primary, and finally dropped out of the race on May 28th, 2020 after most of her anti-abortion supporters abandoned her and rallied behind Roger Marshall, instead. It seems like she’s going to instead, just for re-election to the same seat she’s festered in since 2001… unless we find out she’s retiring altogether to go run bingo halls with her husband, which would be a relief.

[Username taken]

Profound sympathy.

I tend to forget just how extreme and open the racism is in the US (NB...I am not pretending that racism is not widespread in the UK..it’s just not as openly hostile).

Maybe Elmo is right..such strong hostility might be rooted in fear. I’ll ponder the matter.

My experience is purely anecdotal but having stayed in the UK, the attitudes to other races is slightly different. I did my Masters degree in Cardiff Business school, had a Nigerian HOD and a close Professor that's British.

In the UK, many white people are like "we heard so and so about other races, is this true?" as opposed to the attitude in the US of "this race does this and this and this, so we must do this!!!!". There seems to be a lot more curiosity in the UK and far less open hostility.

Now, this is purely anecdotal and there are indeed white supremacists in the UK and racism is very real (you really only need to look at the coverage of white and black footballers and see the how the press treats them different differently) but my experience there is a person of color was quite different from what happens in some parts of the US.

[worstblogever]

I'm at least thrilled to see in election results coming in from Georgia that Renee Unterman lost in the primary in her attempt to get elected to Congress.

[Tendrin]

My experience is purely anecdotal but having stayed in the UK, the attitudes to other races is slightly different. I did my Masters degree in Cardiff Business school, had a Nigerian HOD and a close Professor that's British.

In the UK, many white people are like "we heard so and so about other races, is this true?" as opposed to the attitude in the US of "this race does this and this and this, so we must do this!!!!". There seems to be a lot more curiosity in the UK and far less open hostility.

Now, this is purely anecdotal and there are indeed white supremacists in the UK and racism is very real (you really only need to look at the coverage of white and black footballers and see the how the press treats them different differently) but my experience there is a person of color was quite different from what happens in some parts of the US.

Google 'Windrush'.

[Username taken]

Google 'Windrush'.

No need to google, i know everything about it.

It was an absolute, total and unbelievable disgrace.

Theresa May deserves a lot more criticism and frankly scrutiny for her role in that mess.

[aja_christopher]

Republican leadership.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

THIS, boys and girls, is why race relations in this country are at an all-time low:

White Counterprotesters in Franklinville, N.J., Mock George Floyd's Killing

The protest in the New Jersey township was similar to those that have unfolded across the United States since George Floyd was killed in police custody: About 70 people gathered to rally against police brutality and systemic racism.

But as the diverse group marched along Monday, waving signs and chanting slogans in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, it was met by several white men who had gathered near a sign that said “All Lives Matter” and in front of a pickup truck draped with an American flag and a pro-Trump sign.

One of the men yelled at the marchers angrily while kneeling on the neck of another who was facedown on the ground — an apparent attempt to mock the killing of Mr. Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis after a white officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Condemnation of the scene, which was captured on video, came quickly. The mayor and the police chief in Franklin Township, the South Jersey community where it happened, issued a statement calling the episode “revolting” and saying that it had left them “appalled and saddened.”

[aja_christopher]

No need to google, i know everything about it.

It was an absolute, total and unbelievable disgrace.

Theresa May deserves a lot more criticism and frankly scrutiny for her role in that mess.

I think the British sense of propriety prevents a lot of the most overt racism from rising to the surface.

But it likewise can prevent the kind of dialogue needed to address said issues.

Whereas in America some white people feel so entitled by racism that they think it's okay to drag black people behind trucks and shoot them with shotguns while they are out jogging -- much less look the other way while cops abuse and kill them in their own homes as the Republican party suppresses and gerrymanders their votes, obstructing and preventing redress via political action and the voting booth.

There's a reason the Nazi party looked to America for inspiration.

[Gray Lensman]

Republican leadership.

According to the Lincoln Project, the official name for a group of Republican Senators is a Coward. A coward of senators.

[sammy_hansen]

THIS, boys and girls, is why race relations in this country are at an all-time low:

White Counterprotesters in Franklinville, N.J., Mock George Floyd's Killing

This was sickening.

[AnakinFlair]

THIS, boys and girls, is why race relations in this country are at an all-time low:

White Counterprotesters in Franklinville, N.J., Mock George Floyd's Killing

I beleive both men in the photo were either suspended or fired from their jobs. So something of a happy resolution for this.


EDIT: Here is the story. Looks like one of the guys works for the New Jersey Department of Corrections, and he's been suspended and banned from their facilities pending an investigation.

[Tami]

Donald Trump’s Corruption Is Killing Americans

Trump’s record of inaction, incompetence, and inane remarks during the first months of the pandemic has been well documented. Yet he wasn’t merely flailing. He purposefully thwarted official action because of concerns about his own electoral prospects. He resisted an aggressive push for testing because that could yield higher numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases, and he believed that lower levels would be better for his reelection campaign. When Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar warned Trump of an impending pandemic in late January, Trump brushed him off as an alarmist. Azar’s message was not in sync with Trump’s decision to discount the coronavirus threat. In late February, Nancy Messonnier, an official at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, publicly said her agency expected widespread transmission and was preparing for a pandemic. Wall Street plunged, and an enraged Trump—who had recently declared that the virus “miraculously goes away” and the situation was “very much under control”—threatened to fire her.

Trump failed to move quickly and impeded a fast and comprehensive response. His self-interest was always paramount—to an absurd extent. He touted the “ratings” his coronavirus press conferences received and devoted more time during these briefings to deflecting responsibility, attacking journalists, and blaming Democratic politicians than to mourning the dead. And his administration oversaw a $2 trillion economic rescue and bailout that was practically designed to facilitate corruption. A huge piece of it was turned over to banks to manage, and the banks rigged the system for preferred customers, which froze out many small businesses, particularly outfits owned by people of color. (In several cases, the funds went to companies—some run by Trump donors—that hardly seemed the most needy.) This package also included a pot of $500 billion for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to distribute to large corporations with few strings attached and little public oversight. Democrats justifiably called it a “slush fund.” In a further blow to transparency, Trump ousted the inspector general who was leading the task force assigned to monitor this relief package. (This move was part of the war on IGs waged by Trump, who has sought watchdogs that are loyal to him, not the goal of corruption-busting.)

Trump’s attitude toward the federal government at the start of the pandemic—it’s all about me—was an extension of the rampant and more conventional corruption that’s defined his regime. Once Trump, the longtime narcissistic pitchman, entered the White House, he viewed the government as an expansion of his own business ventures and personal brand and showed not a whit of concern for rules, norms, and constitutional provisions that had been established to hinder corruption. He brazenly ignored the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits a president from accepting payments from foreign entities. His properties—particularly the Trump hotel in Washington, DC—became favorite spots for overseas visitors, including government officials, to stay, hold events, and wine and dine. This placed money into Trump’s bank account. (Ivanka Trump, who owns a big piece of the Washington hotel, also bags millions of dollars a year from its revenue.) Here was an easy way for foreign governments, Washington lobbyists, wannabe players, and others seeking preferential treatment and policies from Trump and his administration to engage in what amounts to legal bribery. In 2018, Trump reported income from at least 11 foreign countries. Several countries, including China, have granted Trump and Ivanka valuable trademarks—with one for Ivanka covering voting machines.

[Tami]

I think I once went to Ft Bragg, but I had no idea.

Pressure Mounts To Rename Army Bases That Honor Confederate Officers

It was the summer of 1917. America had declared war on Germany a few months earlier, and young men were streaming into the Army by the tens of thousands.

So the U.S. War Department rushed to create new camps and bases around the country for all the soldiers who would soon go to war. A July 2 memo to the Army Chief of Staff spelled out how to choose names for the new facilities. It was titled: "Names for cantonments, National Army, and camps, National Guard."

The memo said the bases and camps would be named after Americans — preferably those with short names, to "avoid clerical labor." The military would choose the names of "Federal commanders" for facilities in the North, the memo stated, and "Confederate commanders for camps of divisions from southern states."

Michael Newcity, a Duke University professor, has been researching the naming issue for several decades. He said his interest started with a simple question when he arrived in North Carolina from the Washington, D.C., area and visited Fort Bragg.

"Why would the U.S. Army name its largest base after one of the most senior generals in the Confederate Army?" he asked.

[Tami]

Detained migrants say they were forced to clean COVID-infected ICE facility

LOS ANGELES — Asylum-seeking migrants locked up inside an Arizona Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center with one of the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases say they were forced to clean the facility and are "begging" for protection from the virus, according to a letter obtained exclusively by NBC News.

"This is a life or death situation," said a translation of their message, dated May 18, and sent to the Florence Immigrants & Refugees Rights Project, a legal advocacy group that has filed a lawsuit on behalf of migrants in the facility.

The migrants appealed for help to the advocacy group from inside one of 24 "tanks," which hold 120 men each, in the La Palma Correctional Center outside of Phoenix, which is operated for ICE by the for-profit company CoreCivic.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I think I once went to Ft Bragg, but I had no idea.

Pressure Mounts To Rename Army Bases That Honor Confederate Officers

I had no idea either. Speaking as a retired sailor, I don't think the Navy ever named any ships or submarines after Confederate leaders, and shore installations are named after the cities/towns where they're located.