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

[Gray Lensman]

Usually when we think of worst presidents the easy go to is to first look at the one term presidents, but Trump was so terrible that he now makes many one term presidents look good.

It really depends on your criteria - Buchanan, for example, is widely considered the worst PotUS of all time, but did he really have any ability to stop the march towards secession? It doesn't make him a good president by even the biggest stretch imaginable, but if you think the march towards the Civil War was coming no matter what, that might be enough to keep him from the bottom. The truly great ones rise to the challenge. Conversely, the truly awful ones create problems that can last generations - something Wilson and Andrew Johnson both did - and it looks like Dubya and Trump have likely done as well.

I rank them in a loose set of criteria....

Rose to monumental challenges.

Made the country, maybe the world a better place in some lasting way, especially if they fixed issues before becoming too big. Only the lack of a crisis might keep them from the top, and thankfully there wasn't one. Living through a crisis sucks.

Didn't mess things up - not bad, but never given the opportunity to prove themselves as anything potentially great.

Unable to rise to the occasion when needed.

Left the country a worse place than they found it, as a direct result of their policies. I personally rank burning the place down when it was fine beforehand as being worse than being unable to put out a pre-existing fire.

[Tami]

Much of California got slammed with heavy snow and ice storms, over the holiday break, resulting in tree loss and power outages all over the place in the more mountainous areas. Many are still without power, cell phone coverage, etc. and have been since before Christmas. Where I live in the southern California mountains we are still thawing out. Had a big section of tree top fall onto my roof but I was able to get it cleared away yesterday and it appears to have not done any damage to the roof itself.

Sorry you got hit like that, but I'm glad you house made it in one piece. We got hit when Ida rolled through last year, so who knows what this year will be like.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

It really depends on your criteria - Buchanan, for example, is widely considered the worst PotUS of all time, but did he really have any ability to stop the march towards secession? It doesn't make him a good president by even the biggest stretch imaginable, but if you think the march towards the Civil War was coming no matter what, that might be enough to keep him from the bottom. The truly great ones rise to the challenge. Conversely, the truly awful ones create problems that can last generations - something Wilson and Andrew Johnson both did - and it looks like Dubya and Trump have likely done as well.

I rank them in a loose set of criteria....

Rose to monumental challenges.

Made the country, maybe the world a better place in some lasting way, especially if they fixed issues before becoming too big. Only the lack of a crisis might keep them from the top, and thankfully there wasn't one. Living through a crisis sucks.

Didn't mess things up - not bad, but never given the opportunity to prove themselves as anything potentially great.

Unable to rise to the occasion when needed.

Left the country a worse place than they found it, as a direct result of their policies. I personally rank burning the place down when it was fine beforehand as being worse than being unable to put out a pre-existing fire.

I’d put Trump in the last category. He catered to racists and white supremacists; loaded his cabinet with grifters, sociopaths and spineless bootlickers and exacerbated the already widening divide between the parties, a divide that might never be repaired. Then there’s his response to the virus which needlessly cost the lives of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands. A century from now when we’re all dust, historians will look back on Trump’s presidency and ask in one voice: “How the ever loving **** did this lunatic ever become president?”

[Kirby101]

I’d put Trump in the last category. He catered to racists and white supremacists; loaded his cabinet with grifters, sociopaths and spineless bootlickers and exacerbated the already widening divide between the parties, a divide that might never be repaired. Then there’s his response to the virus which needlessly cost the lives of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands. A century from now when we’re all dust, historians will look back on Trump’s presidency and ask in one voice: “How the ever loving **** did this lunatic ever become president?”

Because we keep a system that allows a person with fewer votes to win. This mostly benefits one Party.

[Gray Lensman]

I’d put Trump in the last category. He catered to racists and white supremacists; loaded his cabinet with grifters, sociopaths and spineless bootlickers and exacerbated the already widening divide between the parties, a divide that might never be repaired. Then there’s his response to the virus which needlessly cost the lives of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands. A century from now when we’re all dust, historians will look back on Trump’s presidency and ask in one voice: “How the ever loving **** did this lunatic ever become president?”

I absolutely agree with you there. We are currently too close to figure out exactly HOW bad he was, but we can comfortably place him near the bottom.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Because we keep a system that allows a person with fewer votes to win. This mostly benefits one Party.

It also says a lot about the scores of people who voted for that madman, not just once, but twice, despite his having plunged the country into near insanity during the course of his four years in office.

I absolutely agree with you there. We are currently too close to figure out exactly HOW bad he was, but we can comfortably place him near the bottom.

The members of Trump’s inner circle no doubt know the whole truth about his incompetence and sociopathy. I’m surprised there haven’t been scores of tell all books published about his presidency, perhaps NDA’s have kept such books off the shelves.

[numberthirty]

Starting to look like "Guts..." is going to be hard to come by in 2022...

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5...ek-re-election

Rep. Bobby Rush becomes latest House Democrat not seeking reelection

[Kirby101]

Starting to look like "Guts..." is going to be hard to come by in 2022...

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5...ek-re-election

Why are you calling Bobby Rush a coward?

[CSTowle]

The Stimulus was pushed by the Democrats, who controlled Congress. No reason not to be sure, it is what really happened. And Biden pushed for more stimulus. So again, no need to speculate when we see what happened.
Trump, worst....President...ever!

They controlled the House, but without McConnell and the Senate caving into Trump's demands (and having Trump making the demand for political purposes, rather than sticking to the company line of "no handouts") it wouldn't have happened. And again, especially with the centrist Clinton/Biden wing of the party, I think optics sometimes trump (need a better word for that now, override?) principles. Once it's been established and was clearly politically popular (even if poorly executed and wasteful by not being means-tested, and people will be studying PPP loan fraud for the next generation at least) there was no pressure on Biden not to do it again when he got into office. I'm talking about a scenario in which only Democrats were in charge and had to deal with their instinct to be timid about standing up for their principles.

[numberthirty]

Why are you calling Bobby Rush a coward?

"Basics 101..."

Someone not having the guts for something?

That is no more cowardice than someone being too dumb to know they are rushing into a situation they have right around "Zero..." chance of coming out of top of is taking part in a display of bravery.

Past that?

I'm not just saying that Rush doesn't have the guts for what is coming up. Plenty of other Dems have already decided to fold.

[Kirby101]

And what is "coming"?

[numberthirty]

And what is "coming"?

For starters?

An election where Trump fumbling the handling of a pandemic will not be working in their favor.

Past that...

Almost everywhere you look, there's someone telling you that things are pretty bad. That American democracy itself may very will be at stake.

If that is indeed the case?

What's coming is a rather pivotal midterm.

Just odd how many folks are headed for the exits if that is what is coming up.

[Kirby101]

For starters?

An election where Trump fumbling the handling of a pandemic will not be working in their favor.

Past that...

Almost everywhere you look, there's someone telling you that things are pretty bad. That American democracy itself may very will be at stake.

If that is indeed the case?

What's coming is a rather pivotal midterm.

Just odd how many folks are headed for the exits if that is what is coming up.

He's from a safe Democratic district. He has also served through Republican majorities. But any chance to slam the Dems I guess?

[numberthirty]

If they are actually heading for the exits when someone says "Hey, they are heading for the exits..."?

It's about as much of a "Slam..." as saying "Man, Wile E. is opening up that Acme catalog again..."

It is a simple statement of fact.

[worstblogever]

In 2015, in 2016, and in 2017, “Crazy Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of John Fleming, the former U.S. House Representative for Louisiana’s 1st District did not face a Democratic Challenger in the general election since winning office by a mere 342 votes in 2008, in a district that prior to Fleming taking office, Democrats had held since Reconstruction. Fleming famously criticized President Obama’s tax plan in 2011, saying that it was unfair because he, a man worth over $6 million dollars, would annually “only have $400,000 left over” to work with under it. Fleming has also used “evidence” to support his pro-life arguments from article he found on The Onion, unaware that they were parody, to justify shutting down Planned Parenthood. He made the hyperbolic argument that “Obamacare was the single most dangerous piece of legislation ever passed by Congress”, that you can kind of scrutinize by knowing your history well enough to realize the Fugitive Slave Act was a thing. John Fleming was a huge proponent of the 2013 Government Shutdown, literally saying “This isn’t over…” as part of the “NAY” votes to reopen the government. He also has defended footage of oil companies using the advanced technology of trash bags and duct tape to seal leaky pipes transporting oil, so he’s not exactly a friend of the environment, either. Rep. Fleming is also a frequent guest of the leader of the anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council’s leader, Tony Perkins, appearing on his “Washington Watch” show, to stir fears that President Obama is secretly a Muslim, or that he supposedly doesn’t care about violence towards Christians in other countries around the globe. in the 2016 elections. Fleming failed in an effort to get elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016, finishing fifth in the primary race with only 10.6% of the vote.

On this date in 2018, “Crazy Stupid Republican of the Day” published our profile of Taylor Rose, a candidate for District 3 of the Montana House of Representatives in the 2016 elections. His primary qualification for running for office as a legislator was that he was a writer for WorldNetDaily, the one-stop shop for all paranoid right-wing conspiracy theories online that features regular columns by Ann Coulter and Andy Schlafly (the deranged son of FRED Phyllis Schlafly). Suffice to say, it’s not just being a wingnut that makes Taylor Rose a terrifying proposition in our government. He also has drawn the interest of the Southern Poverty Law Center for his various trips to Europe to meet with right wing extremists, his ties to the American Sovereign Citizen Movement. He denies that he is a White Nationalist, claiming his values are just “supportive of Western Civilization”, and claiming that if he had espoused the views he had while at Liberty University, he would have been expelled (because Falwell’s Liberty is known for being a bastion of tolerance). M ake no mistake, the group he founded, “Youth for Western Civilization” is precisely a White Nationalist group with its more racist language replaced with buzzwords to sound only slightly less sinister.The SPLC also did a quick check of Rose’s Facebook page, and noted that Rose ”expressed revulsion at the prospect of a white couple giving birth to two black babies via artificial insemination. He also bitterly complained when it was announced that Harriet Tubman, the black woman who helped lead the Underground Railroad during the Civil War, would replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. He compared the action to the removal of Confederate monuments around the nation in the wake of the mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, S.C., by a white-supremacist Confederacy admirer.” It should come as little surprise then, that Rose has ranted against immigrants, as well as Muslims as well, has written articles in the newspaper of the Neo-Confederate organization, the Council for Conservative Citizens, and praises Nigel Farage and UKIP, the far-right, white nationalist party he runs in the United Kingdom. Luckily, the people of Montana’s District 3 did not elect Taylor Rose, and his disturbing background with ties to various White Nationalist groups and militias assured he lost to Democrat Zac Perry… by all of 271 votes.

On this date in 2019, “Crazy Stupid Republican of the Day” published our profile of John Ritzheimer, who took his paranoid militia act back home and ran for Congress to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District in 2018, hoping that maybe he could get lucky and win the special election to replace FRED alumni Trent Franks. Ritzheimer was one of the militia lunatics who occupied the Malheur Wildlife Refuge with Ammon Bundy back in January and February of 2016. Prior to that, Ritzheimer was making extra cash as a professional hatemonger in Arizona, printing and selling T-shirts bearing a profanity-laced denunciation of Islam. In May of 2016, he organized a “protest” that drew about 250 mostly armed anti-Muslim demonstrators to a Phoenix mosque, where Ritzheimer, carrying a 9mm Glock 26, and with others wielding automatic weapons, called it a patriotic sign of resistance against what he deemed the tyranny of Islam in the United States. He also has hosted “Draw Muhammed” contests and posted videos online where he shoots up copies of the Koran with a gun, just to remind everyone he’s a certain combination of unstable and bigoted. Also, Ritzheimer is so insane that even the militia group known as the OathKeepers have disowned him after he called for the arrest of Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow. Now, for those who remember the occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, you may remember that the militia bros who holed up there came woefully unprepared for a cold winter, didn’t bring, y’know, FOOD, and almost immediately started begging fellow “patriots” online to send them money and supplies. The internet responded by sending… something less helpful. And thus, your memory of the Malheur Occupation might include or even consist solely of Jon Ritzheimer opening a care package mailed to him and his lunatic pals that was filled with dildos, and going berserk with rage. Clearly, Congressional material, right there. So why didn’t Jon Ritzheimer end up shocking the political world? Well, he was forced to drop out of the race because he was scheduled to go to prison on January 12th, 2018. What with getting arrested for occupying federal property. However, Ritzheimer assured the lunatic fringe that, ”This won’t be the last the people of Arizona see of me.” We’re going to advise people to support his political endeavors while he’s in or out of prison by mailing him more dildos.