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

[Tendrin]

https://twitter.com/KailiJoy/status/1489430926459392002

The head of the RNC calls the violent attack on the Capitol “legitimate political discourse” because that’s officially where the Republican Party is today.

[JB]

They have a technically correct but clearly bad faith argument to try and dress up their opposition to voting rights for residents by painting them as a civil rights violation of a group they don't really care about. The type of people who are the most strongly opposed to non-citizens voting are also strongly opposed to any measure that would make it easier or more convenient for those black voters they're so "concerned" about to be able to vote themselves. If you pay as much attention to the news as you must to continuously post anti-Democratic/anti-Biden articles you probably already know this though.

I'm really not following what you're saying here. Four African-American voters in NYC asked PILF, an organization which has a history of fighting for election fairness, for help as they feel wronged by the new law. Are you saying these voters "don't really care" about black voters? Because that doesn't make sense to me.

And the lawsuit states their issue is not about non-citizens voting, it's about the new law being racially motivated.

“Sponsors of the foreigner voting bill were explicit that race motivated their legislation and not merely giving non-citizens the right to vote,” said PILF President J. Christian Adams. “When election laws are passed with a racial motive, they violate the 15th Amendment and are invalid. The 15th Amendment prohibits any race-based voting restrictions. Legislators made statements that this was about race. This law violates the Constitution. We are confident the Court will rule in our favor.”

[Tendrin]

South Florida seniors alarmed after political party was unknowingly changed to Republican

More on this: https://twitter.com/GlennaWPLG/statu...94777598664704

[worstblogever]

https://twitter.com/KailiJoy/status/1489430926459392002

The GOP, the party of sedition, domestic terrorism, and violence.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2018, and in 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Ron Castorina Jr., a member of the New York Assembly since April of 2016, when he got to run for the office unopposed in a special election. He was not challenged for that seat by a Democrat in the 2016 election, either In May of 2017, he was also victorious in the race to be the new Chairman of the GOP for Staten Island. In his one term and change, he as a legislator that threw the New York State Assembly into a cacophony of disgusted shouts. The first was only two months into his career, when he referred to abortion as “African American genocide” and continued by claiming that millions of African-Americans have been "murdered" since Roe was decided. This prompted outrage from not just the defenders of a woman’s right to choose, but obviously the African American community, who would rather not have Castorina spin them into any argument. This was the first, but not last sign that his political style is just “being a racist troll”. The second, of course, would probably be when Castorina submitted a “Blue Lives Matter” bill to make attacks that target police a form of hate crime. He claimed the bill was necessary because of supposed planned attacks against police by Black Lives Matter protesters (that weren’t actually happening). If you weren’t getting the idea yet of the kind of loon we’re talking about, Castorina also touts conspiracy theories about socialism in the United States, and has a nasty habit of insinuating all sorts of evil things that happened at Benghazi on Twitter. Here’s your good news… Castorina was becoming a little too infamous, and the New York GOP opted to coax him out of running for re-election to the New York State Assembly in 2018. We’re guessing he’ll be floating around local politics in Staten Island, at worst, going forward.

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, and in 2020, “Crazy Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, who since winning office in 2012 despite outing himself as an Agenda 21 Conspiracy Theorist, has failed the Tar Heel State in more ways than one would think possible. Picking the biggest “screw you” he’s delivered to his constituents is hard to pick… for women, they have to deal with the anger of knowing when he was asked during the last debate for governor in 2012 about what abortion restrictions he would sign, and McCrory said, “None,” and yet, he immediately began serving as a rubber-stamp for the radically conservative, GOP-controlled state legislature, signing one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the nation the minute it hit his desk, and when women came to the capitol to protest that law, he tried to placate them by sending them a plate of cookies.

Minorities in North Carolina were horrified that he immediately began to execute a campaign of voter disenfranchisement, not just through Voter ID laws, but shaving a week off the number of early voting days, changing election law so young voters about to turn 18 couldn’t pre-register to vote until they WERE 18, and if that wasn’t enough, he signed the repeal of the Racial Justice Act. McCrory’s administration was a horror show of cronyism, as he slashed taxes for his rich pals while high-paying jobs to his key campaign fundraisers, and then gave them raises on top of that… all while slashing the state’s education budget by half a billion dollars, causing droves of teachers to move out of the state elsewhere for higher pay at a rate three times the national average. McCrory also shook his fist at the Obama administration, trying to refuse to resettle any Syrian refugees that the federal government might send.

But what finally sent McCrory’s approval ratings into the 30s was when he signed North Carolina’s HB 2, a “religious freedom” law that allows for the legal discrimination against LGBTQ citizens, and bans transgendered people from using public bathrooms designated by the gender of their birth. That started causing major corporations from relocating their businesses out of the state, musicians to cancel appearances, and events like the NBA All-Star Game to pull out of North Carolina, at a loss of billions of dollars in expended revenue. That’s why that even with all the voter suppression he set up in North Carolina, not at all shocking that Pat McCrory lost in the 2016 elections to Democrat Roy Cooper by around 15,000 votes.

What was shocking was the horrible way both McCrory and the North Carolina GOP reacted to this loss. Gov. McCrory stamped his foot and started crying about voter fraud for almost a full month after Election Day, without any evidence. Meanwhile, the GOP-controlled state legislature tried passing legislation to suddenly limit the powers of the governor of the state, and make Roy Cooper as toothless as possible, and before leaving office, Pat McCrory spitefully signed their undemocratic idea into law. It mercifully was blocked by a judge’s ruling after a legal challenge by Governor Cooper, so McCrory’s last effort to subvert the will of the people of the Tar Heel State was for naught. He still took time to release a video to North Carolinans as he left office where he chastised the citizenry for rejecting him and HB 2, because he wasn’t being enough of a d*** already.

And YET… in spite of being so loathed, Pat McCrory was hinting he would try and run to avenge his 2016 loss in 2020. Alas, as polls and public sentiment in North Carolina made is abundantly clear that in 2020, McCrory still needed to f*** right off, he has decided against a run to reclaim the Governor’s Mansion. Instead, he’s believed to be planning a run for U.S. Senate in 2022, when he’ll try to claim the seat currently held by Sen. Richard Burr, who will retire. He's currently in a contentious primary with North Carolina Congressman Ted Budd, who is endorsed by Donald Trump.

On this date in 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, profiled Ignacio Cruz, a 2020 candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in California’s 19th Congressional District and also the latest in candidates for office we’ve profiled who openly supported the Qanon conspiracy theory. Cruz kept sharing Qanon posts and using the Qanon hashtag, but that’s not the only bulls*** he shared on social media during his run for office. He also shared a “satirical” article that Congresswoman Ilhan Omar offered her condolences to deceased ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi when he was killed by U.S. forces. The question at this point is if he knew it was false and was knowingly smearing her, or stupid enough to have believed the lie. Considering the Qanon angle, it’s probably the latter. Cruz finished third in the open primary for CA-19 with 11%, missing the mark to qualify for the November general election by about 1300 votes. Had he won, he would have gotten stomped in that race by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren anyway. We are hoping the stain of “Q” on his political profile makes him unviable as a candidate in any election, going forward. Since he has little to no chance of reaching office, we will set aside his profile at this time to cover another wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 1072-50, since this was established in July 2014.

[worstblogever]

Amy Phan West

Welcome to what is the 1072nd original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing Amy Phan West , a 2020 Republican candidate for U.S. House of Representatives in California’s 47th Congressional District looking to knock off Democratic Congresswoman and master of the white board, Katie Porter.

That would be a tall order in a Democratic-leaning district like this one, but then there’s the fact that Amy Phan West has some pretty unique and terrible opinions she likes to share on social media about Covid-19 vaccines and mask mandates, but we’re more concerned about how she’s so spooked by the nefarious threat of “Antifa”. One such example:

”Cities controlled by Dems are defunding the police. Police have been asked to stand down and allow Antifa and BLM to destroy property, steal, in some cases rape, and physically attack innocent bystanders all in the name of racial justice. Is this justice?”

Nothing in that statement, of course, is true, but you know she definitely FEELS like it is.

While under normal circumstances, the story of a woman whose parents fled a Communist country to come to the United States as immigrants might be inspiring, Amy Phan West takes it another direction completely, as she has sided with an anti-immigrant party and supports the construction of a border wall on the U.S./Mexico border, and instead, has decided that the Democratic Party’s “Squad” have plans to turn the United States into a communist country.

”My family fled Communism & found freedom in America Now, Democrats are turning America into the next Leftist disaster: banning dissent & stripping your freedoms I will stop this radical squad so America never becomes a Communist country”.

Meanwhile, she thinks the felonious hacks at Project Veritas are “patriots” and are the ones “exposing liars and traitors”, thinks that Breitbart and the Epoch Times are actual news websites, that there’s a secret conspiracy to stifle conservative opinions online that violates their First Amendment rights (there isn’t), and seems intent on spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about George Soros.

Oh, and the photo we used for this profile? That's Amy Phan West speaking at a pro-Trump rally on November 9th, 2020, after he lost the presidential election. The man on her right is Alan Hostetler, a yoga instructor who was arrested for taking part in the Jan. 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. So great company she keeps.

After redistricting and in a year where Democrats are trying to fend off the pattern of losing seats in the House and Senate after gaining the White House, it bears watching of if Katie Porter’s seat is actually at risk to someone, and if the someone who emerges out of a crowded primary is Amy Phan West. Should that happen, we’re guessing she’ll get a chance to embarrass herself in a debate against Porter, whether she’s allowed to bring a white board for visual aids or not.

[CaptainEurope]

So, going by the jobs report, the Biden Boom is still going strong.

[CaptainEurope]

Also, those revisions from previous months are ridiculous. Why can't they wait a little longer and come out with more precise numbers right away?

The big takeaway from the jobs report = The US jobs market is even stronger than we thought.

+476,000 jobs added in January
+510,000 jobs added in Dec. (prior estimate was 199k)
+647,000 jobs added in Nov. (prior estimate was 249k)

https://twitter.com/byHeatherLong/st...vAzko4bN4CixtQ

[CSTowle]

I'm really not following what you're saying here. Four African-American voters in NYC asked PILF, an organization which has a history of fighting for election fairness, for help as they feel wronged by the new law. Are you saying these voters "don't really care" about black voters? Because that doesn't make sense to me.

And the lawsuit states their issue is not about non-citizens voting, it's about the new law being racially motivated.

Well gosh, I guess you're really just confused and concerned then. Man, well keep up the good fight.

[Catlady in training]

Book burning is apparently once again not just a metaphor.

https://www.cbr.com/tennessee-book-b...tter-twilight/

Book burnings in Tennessee target youth literature titles like Harry Potter and Twilight.

Greg Locke, a pastor and far-right conspiracy theorist, organized a book burning for his congregation in Mt. Juliet, TN. As reported by Nashville Scene, Locke delivered a sermon before the burning, where he encouraged attendees to throw young adult titles such as JK Rowling's Harry Potter and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight, into a large bonfire on the basis that the books promoted devil worship and witchcraft.

"We have a Constitutional right and a Biblical right to do what we're going to do tonight," Locke said. "We have a burn permit, but even without one a church has a religious right to burn occultic materials that they deem are a threat to their religious rights and freedoms and belief system." Other items to be burned included Ouija boards and tarot cards.

According to Nashville Scene, there was one counterprotester at the book burning, who threw what he claimed was the Bible into the flames while holding copies of books like Fahrenheit 451 and On the Origin of Species. Published in 1953, Ray Bradbury's novel Fahrenheit 451 depicts a dystopian, American future wherein books are outlawed, and "firemen" are tasked with burning any books they find.

The bolding is mine - I am especially concerned about this entitled attitude that religious belief is above the law. I hope they at least had some firemen present. It's not like we can annualy see what damage a fire can cause.

Any bets what books are next, once they move from the popular fantasy?

[Kirby101]

I'm really not following what you're saying here. Four African-American voters in NYC asked PILF, an organization which has a history of fighting for election fairness, for help as they feel wronged by the new law. Are you saying these voters "don't really care" about black voters? Because that doesn't make sense to me.

And the lawsuit states their issue is not about non-citizens voting, it's about the new law being racially motivated.

PILF does not fight for "election fairness", they are a right wing group that helps purge legitimate voters off the rolls.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) is an American conservative legal group based in Indianapolis, Indiana,[2] which is known for suing states and local governments to purge voters from election rolls.[3] The nonprofit was constituted in 2012.

PILF asserts that "large numbers of ineligible aliens are registering to vote and casting ballots", although lists that they have displayed of such supposed voters prove to actually include American natives who are eligible voters. PILF said its lists had been based on state government lists of declared “non-citizens” removed from local voter rolls, but some U.S. citizens were wrongfully purged in the process. The group has made false claims about the extent of voter fraud in the United States,and the organization has published the information of eligible voters online, including Social Security numbers, falsely accusing them of being fraudulent voters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public...gal_Foundation

[Catlady in training]

Things go from bad to worse to much worse for Boris Johnson…it’s sadly got to point that the old joke about politicians lying patently applies to him (“How do you tell he’s lying? Simple…check whether his lips are moving.”)

The latest episode is one of his chief aides resigning because Boris made obviously untrue and slanderous remarks about Sir Keir Starmer in Parliament…remarks which would result in Boris paying massive damages if he repeated them outside Parliament. Once Boris was exposed…as usual it was everybody else’s fault for misunderstanding what he said, etc, etc.

It’s got to point where you wonder how any Conservative mp with integrity can really want him as leader. I suppose if he was a genius leader in other respects you might hold your nose, and soldier on with him in charge…but basically he’s pretty useless all round.

Who would be a suitable person to replace him? I've seen Priti Patel's name mentioned, but I cannot imagine how she could be more popular than Johnson.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Book burning is apparently once again not just a metaphor.

https://www.cbr.com/tennessee-book-b...tter-twilight/



The bolding is mine - I am especially concerned about this entitled attitude that religious belief is above the law. I hope they at least had some firemen present. It's not like we can annualy see what damage a fire can cause.

Any bets what books are next, once they move from the popular fantasy?

My guess? Textbooks about evolution which, in no way, jibe with the myth about how that ol’ sky dude up in the heavens created the Earth in six days and Jesus regularly rode a T-Rex like a horse.

[CaptainEurope]

I find it a little odd that in the middle of the Ukraine crisis, NATO secretary general Stoltenberg quits to head the Norwegian central bank.

[JB]

PILF does not fight for "election fairness", they are a right wing group that helps purge legitimate voters off the rolls.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public...gal_Foundation

But is it not the courts that decide if their lawsuits have merit and rule as they see just? PILF doesn't have the power to change voter rolls, they file lawsuits on behalf of clients and the courts decide. And in this case four voters in NYC came to them and they agreed to represent them. I don't know the political affiliation of these voters but I don't think it matters with what they're arguing.
They're stating that approximately 1 million voters were added to the electorate overnight, and approximately 831,000 at least are not black, thus further diluting their voting power. I don't think it's an unreasonable argument at all.