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

[worstblogever]

It was on this date in both 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, that “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” first profiled Jim Lucas, who has served as a member of the Indiana House of Representatives from District 69 since 2012 (he would not be challenged for his seat by a Democrat in either 2014 or 2016). In the six years he’s been in office, he has become synonymous in the Hoosier State with conservative douchebaggery. And it would be one thing if he was infamous for his voting record, but it’s honestly Lucas’ social media presence that tends to be what defines him as an unrepentant ***hole.

Not long after the 2016 election, Lucas twice made headlines for extremely misogynistic posts, the first when on Dec. 19, 2016 Lucas shared on his page the photo of a woman in a car trunk with the words, "Wanna know who loves you more your wife or your dog? Lock them both in your trunk and see who's happy to see you when you let them out". A month later in January of 2017, Lucas was criticized for a Facebook post he shared over the weekend that showed a police officer in riot gear pepper spraying a woman in the face, with the words: “Participation trophies, now in liquid form.”The Indiana GOP chose to not punish him for pushing the boundaries of good taste in spite of numerous complaints, and thus, Lucas didn’t learn his lesson to keep his stupid mouth shut about how much he resents women. So five months later, he took to Facebook again to attack a reporter from the Indianapolis Star, and wrote about how women who get raped are at fault for not doing enough to prevent their assault:

“After reading your front page article in the Sunday Star about the tragedy of rape, it would be nice to see a follow up article about the thousands of Hoosier women that are taking steps & learning how not to be a victim.”

But it isn’t just that Jim Lucas has issues with women that’s a bother, it’s his fascist ideas to attack the media by demanding that all journalists be licensed by state police to do their jobs. And of course, the guy who wants licensing of the press and wants the First Amendment restricted so much believes there should be zero restrictions on the Second Amendment, so everyone can have a tactical on it.

While what we’ve already listed should be more than enough to qualify Jim Lucas for a FRED profile, we’ll also add that he has co-sponsored, and frequently votes for attempts by the Indiana GOP to drug test welfare recipients (even though when enacted, it catches next to no one on drugs on government assistance before courts overturn the laws as violations of the 4th Amendment), and didn’t just vote for a state constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between “one man and one woman” back in 2014, but was a sponsor of Indiana’s SB 101, the disastrous “religious freedom” bill that was written poorly enough that it amounted to legal discrimination.

He has not kept his foot out of his mouth online, having responded to the news of an African American man pleading guilty to rape charges in court by posting noose emojis under the article. This would be in Indiana, the state where at one point a century ago, 30% of white men had a membership in the Ku Klux Klan. So there’s no unseemly history with lynchings and the state, or anything.

Throughout the remainder of 2020, Jim Lucas showed he did not learn his lesson, choosing to further his strategy of “governance via stupid memes” that included posts where he posted a criticism of government assistance that was, oh, y’know, just two black children dancing with the caption, “WE GON’ GET FREE MONEY!” That got him pulled from two committees he was on. That was his punishment. He tried deflecting while insisting he wasn’t a racist by posting the same caption over an image of a white person with bad dental health… which is just all sorts of s***ty. Maybe not as bad when he started attacking Gov. Greg Holcomb for having any kind of precautionary advisement on wearing masks during the Covid-19 pandemic with yet another s***post meme. This time, it was a post of a picture of a gun and a copy of the Constitution captioned:

”Starting Monday, the governor wants to lock me in a cage for 180 days and fine me $1,000 if I don't wear a mask that has no published standards for effectiveness. What if I don't comply, Governor Eric Holcomb?”

The Indiana GOP took the bold step of getting a primary challenger for Lucas… HAHAHAHA, just kidding, they let him run for re-election without a primary challenger at all and he coasted to victory against his Democratic challenger in the general election with 67% of the vote.

And has Jim Lucas managed to listen to his party’s advice and dial back his online rhetoric yet? F*** NO! In May of 2021, he was approached on Facebook by an African American orthopedic surgeon named James Carson where Lucas kept insisting his mindset always had the Constitution in mind, Lucas was reminded that when the Constitution was written, his constituent wasn’t deemed a person in it. What he responded was completely racist, historically misleading, and repulsive:

"The first slave owner in America was black. Blacks captured and sold blacks as slaves. Slavery is vile and repugnant, but has, and is tragically a way of humanity."

Lucas would go on to question if Carson had actually achieved his success as a surgeon on “his own”, or if he got any kind of “special help” by being a minority:

"You say you're a surgeon, congratulations on your accomplishment. Did you get any scholarships or financial assistance because of your skin color? Any minority scholarships?"

If it isn’t clear yet, it’s no longer a question if the GOP is a white nationalist party, but if they want to exist as anything but one anymore.

[CaptainEurope]

I dont see how it can affect his standing. Doesnt he have to retire? he cant be fired from what I understand. is there a process for removing a judge by congress? And if there is will Congress have the guts to go through with it? I know half that wont.

Impeachment. Hasn't been done in 200 years, as far as I am aware.

[CaptainEurope]

Well, fingers crossed anyway, hope you guys can get rid of him.

So do we in Germany. I could see how his longtime support of Putin is energizing the opposition to show up at the polls, at the same time his abandoning Putin might disappoint some pro-Russia voters.

[CaptainEurope]

"Sources close to the Kremlin" are now saying that defense minister Shoigu has had "heart problems" or "a heart attack" to explain his absence of about 2 weeks.

Might be the Gwen Stacy kind of heart attack.

[babyblob]

@ Mets

You asked What position have I expressed that you believe no reasonable person should hold?

How about not supporting a party that is TransPhobic, HomoPhobic, Supports Treason, Supports cutting back womans rights.

You said people vote for the party they view as the lesser of two evils.

Anyone who at this point feels the GOP is the lesser of two evils needs to take a long look at their moral enter and how they got there.

[Kirby101]

And I am curious as to the "evil" platform of the Democratic Party. The actual Party, not an editorial from a fringe left writer. As opposed to the evil of sitting GOP politicians

[Johnathan]

@ Mets

You asked What position have I expressed that you believe no reasonable person should hold?

How about not supporting a party that is TransPhobic, HomoPhobic, Supports Treason, Supports cutting back womans rights.

You said people vote for the party they view as the lesser of two evils.

Anyone who at this point feels the GOP is the lesser of two evils needs to take a long look at their moral enter and how they got there.

I've heard that lesser of two evils theory, but most people vote on emotion. Mostly anger and fear. Ideally, politics is about interests and people would vote for platforms that maximize their own interests, but most people can barely balance their budgets for a month or even understand the deductions on paychecks, so I don't think many are giving much consideration to the long-term impact of any policy platform they end up voting for.

[AnakinFlair]

So the real news here is that Kavanaugh, Coney-Barrett and Chief Justice Roberts sided with the three liberal Justices. Interesting.

Not really. Historically, in cases like this the Supreme Court almost always sides with the military.

[Tami]

Jeff Fortenberry: The US lawmaker toppled by a Nigerian billionaire

Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican from Nebraska, lied to the FBI about taking illegal donations from Gilbert Chagoury, a high-flying Nigerian businessman, a federal jury found.

He could be sentenced to 15 years in prison on three felony counts.

The case has also renewed attention on the access of foreign influencers on US politics.

It is illegal for foreign nationals to make political contributions, but Mr Chagoury, 75, has made several. In 2019, he was fined $1.8m (£1.4m) by the US government, and some recipients of his donations were investigated.

In 2016, he illegally donated $30,000 (£22,736) in 2016 to Fortenberry, funnelling the funds to the congressman through donors at a Los Angeles event.

In a recorded phone call, Fortenberry was told that he had likely received $30,000 illegally through associates of Mr Chagoury.

But in meetings with FBI agents, Fortenberry denied any knowledge, telling them he would have been "horrified" to hear such a claim.

Prosecutors argued he then "repeatedly" concealed the donation in order "to protect his job, his reputation and his close associates".

On Thursday, jurors at his trial in Los Angeles deliberated for about two hours before finding him guilty on charges of making false states and concealing facts to federal agents.

[Tami]

Russian troops attack own commanding officer after suffering heavy losses

Russian troops reportedly attacked their own commanding officer by running him over with a tank after many in their brigade were killed amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk said in a post on Facebook that Russian Col. Yuri Medvedev was attacked after fighting in Ukraine left nearly half of the men in the 37th Motor Rifle Brigade dead, The Washington Post reported.

Tsymbaliuk said the brigade injured both of Medvedev's legs by hitting him with a tank, causing him to be hospitalized, according to the newspaper.

Russian troops reportedly attack commanding officer after heavy losses

[Jack Dracula]

We have a lot of those as well. They are not concerned that our neighbor country is viciously attacked and people are systematically murdered and deported, they think of it as someone else's problem and are worried how sanctions will affect prices. Some are even jealous of refugees getting feee housing, bus tickets, etc. It's really despicable. Some of it, I guess, is a general lack of empathy, but a lot is the result of at least 8 years of russian trolling. It's mostly the same people who are also anti-vax and anti-mask, against minorities, you get the idea.

Yes, unfortunately I am quite familiar with that type of person.

[Tendrin]

Oh WBE-Eeeeeeee....

NEW: Robert Foster, a Mississippi Republican businessman who ran for governor in 2019, says he wants supporters of transgender rights "to be lined up against (a) wall before a firing squad to be sent to an early judgment."

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/st...527875/photo/1

https://www.mississippifreepress.org...olitical-foes/

But, yeah. The conservatives are just scared kids might change their mind about 'fertility'.

God, I can't believe anyone here is actively credulous enough to buy that.

[Catlady in training]

"Sources close to the Kremlin" are now saying that defense minister Shoigu has had "heart problems" or "a heart attack" to explain his absence of about 2 weeks.

Might be the Gwen Stacy kind of heart attack.

Who knows, we might soon see a new, contagious type of heart attacks spreading in Russia.

[Malvolio]

Oh WBE-Eeeeeeee....



https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/st...527875/photo/1

https://www.mississippifreepress.org...olitical-foes/

But, yeah. The conservatives are just scared kids might change their mind about 'fertility'.

God, I can't believe anyone here is actively credulous enough to buy that.

Mississippi: Consistently On the Wrong Side of History

[Tami]

Who knows, we might soon see a new, contagious type of heart attacks spreading in Russia.

My concern is that Ukraine will blame NATO, as well as Russia, for the war. Not passing judgment on NATO, but if Ukraine backs away from forging ties with the west, that could leave the country vulnerable to future threats.