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

[numberthirty]

I am trying to speak to you in a language you understand. "grift" seems to be a portmanteau word in your vocabulary for everything politicians do.

If someone got "All..." politicians out of that?

I would politely suggest that a second look might be in order.

The hustle is the same as it ever was.

Be a "Business As Usual..." Republican/Make a huge pile of money off of doing so.

Which one obviously cannot do if being a Republican is so poisoned that it throws a wrench into the "Money Making..." works.

The idea that someone who is willing to be a "Business As Usual.." Republican has any legitimate love for democracy?

The idea that someone is looking out for their ability to eventually profit off of being a "Business As Usual..." Republican?

Far more likely. Doubly so when you have snowed folks on the "Left..." into leaping to your defense..

[numberthirty]

Unless there is a reasonably valid case for that Republicans, to a man, are not in it for the bag.

I haven't seen one yet.

[Tendrin]

I am trying to speak to you in a language you understand. "grift" seems to be a portmanteau word in your vocabulary for everything politicians do.

Here. Let me help you grasp the deep complexity of 30's politics.

fuckdemocrats.jpg

[worstblogever]

It was on this date in 2015 that “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Troy Mader, a former member of the Wyoming House of Representatives who after being appointed to his position, garnered the attention of the media after he complained too much about “dangerous” animals on the endangered species list, and they found essays he wrote online where he compared environmentalists to Hitler wanting to commit genocide. A few other reporters noted that his own country and music CD featured a rant in the insert where most give thanks to their bandmates featured complaints about how society has too much tolerance nowadays, and before long, reporters dug up a copy of a book Mader wrote back in 1987 where he reported false information about the spread of HIV and AIDS, and claimed that homosexuals willfully spread the HIV virus and want to have sex with children. Not surprisingly, in his first primary campaign to win office, Mader was defeated, and rebuffed by the voters of his district.


In both 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, as well as 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” presented its original profile of the current U.S. House Representative from Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District, Blaine Luetkemeyer, who has sponsored legislation to try and deregulate community banks altogether, and to enable the payday loan industry to undertake some of the most predatory practices outside of the mafia, in terms of radical loan interest rates. Hell, he introduced legislation back in 2014 that would have made it easier for payday lenders to launder money (Gee, call me crazy, but I don’t think the average voter in his district wanted him to put effort towards something like that). And for most of his four terms in office, Rep. Luetkemeyer kept his mouth shut, his head down, and didn’t make much in the way of headlines. He broke that streak in a big way, though, in March 2016, when he chimed in about Senator Elizabeth Warren, a notorious thorn in the side of Wall Street executives, in less-than-flattering, terms that show he has trouble using simile and metaphor. You see, he referred to Sen. Warren as “the Darth Vader of the financial services world”, and added that Wall Street should “find a way to neuter her”.

All right, first off, someone who stands up to big banks is hardly a Darth Vader, as he was all about crushing a rebellion, not the empire. Second, she’s a lady, and ladies don’t get neutered, look it up if you’re having trouble with female anatomy, Blaine. Third, I don’t need to defend Elizabeth Warren, because she responded and sufficiently handed Luetkemeyer his own ass on a plate, with her kindest remark being that the former bank regulator (who didn’t regulate banks so well) was “a Wall Street Yes-man”. Elizabeth Warren is not the only female lawmaker who Luetkemeyer has ever taken issue with, though, as he was frequently seen campaigning with “Fire Pelosi” signs during the Tea Party Wave in 2010.

(It’s almost like he has a problem with women in authority, or something.)

So other than Blaine Luetkemeyer having a huge hard-on for big money interests and seems turned off by the idea of women having equal rights. But his whole voting record is pretty much garbage, including votes against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, for bans on abortion at 20 weeks (including ones without exceptions for rape or incest), two votes to defund Planned Parenthood, votes against Dodd-Frank or regulations upon the oil industry after the Deepwater Horizon spill, votes against raising the debt ceiling (which would have collapsed the global economy), voting for not just the 2013 Government Shutdown, but voted to keep it closed rather than reopen it, votes against LGBTQ rights such as hate crime protections or anti-discrimination protections, and oh yeah… a vote for every attempt to repeal the successful Affordable Care Act.

[worstblogever]

For whatever reason, Luetkemeyer does not seem to ever develop a reputation as a stooge for the 1%, and his district s re-elected him in the 2020 elections with 69% of the vote. That’s probably because in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, Missouri’s 3rd District had a +13 Republican lean. Back in Washington for a seventh term, Luetkemeyer has jumped right back on the leash his corporate banking supporters keep him on:

• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• February 28th, 2019: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• June 4th, 2019: Luetkemeyer votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
• October 17th, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
• December 18th, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
• May 15th, 2020: Luetkemeyer votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• December 10th, 2020: Luetkemeyer signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
• January 6th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
• February 4th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
• February 25th, 2021: Luetkemeyer votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Luetkemeyer votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 19th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• November 5th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• March 31st, 2022: Luetkemeyer votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. Blaine Luetkemeyer would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
• May 18th, 2022: Blaine Luetkemeyer is one of 192 Republicans who vote against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
• May 18th, 2022: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against HR 350, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
• May 19th, 2022: Luetkemeyer votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.

Blaine Luetkemeyer never stops thinking with his wallet, as evidenced in 2021 when he tried gaslighting everyone on Twitter by claiming that keeping children out of school classrooms together during the Covid-19 pandemic until they can be safely vaccinated is somehow “harmful to students’ health”, before he immediately gave the game away and said that it was also that “the economy could feel the affect of school closures for years to come”.

Don’t get it twisted, this man gives f*** all about the health of children and all about his and his pals’ stock portfolios.

In 2022, there were rumors that Blaine Luetkemeyer might be taking a crack at the U.S. Senate of retiring Sen. Roy Blunt, but instead, he’s opted to again run for his seat in the U.S. House, letting people like former Gov. Eric Greitens, Congressman Billy Long, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, and the also-rans like Mike McCloskey duke it out. Missouri’s 3rd District has been gerrymandered even more in Luetkemeyer’s favor, as evidenced by the maps listed here, so whomever emerges from the Democratic primary in August, they have an uphill battle against that, and all the corporate donors to Luetkemeyer’s campaign to deal with.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

For whatever reason, Luetkemeyer does not seem to ever develop a reputation as a stooge for the 1%, and his district s re-elected him in the 2020 elections with 69% of the vote. That’s probably because in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, Missouri’s 3rd District had a +13 Republican lean. Back in Washington for a seventh term, Luetkemeyer has jumped right back on the leash his corporate banking supporters keep him on:

• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• February 28th, 2019: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• June 4th, 2019: Luetkemeyer votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
• October 17th, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
• December 18th, 2019: Rep. Luetkemeyer ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the first impeachment of Donald Trump.
• May 15th, 2020: Luetkemeyer votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• December 10th, 2020: Luetkemeyer signs his name to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, begging them to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The same election that he won re-election in.
• January 6th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes for the objection to the electoral college’s votes in the 2020 election, a failure to send any sort of message that he wasn’t intimidated or sympathetic to those who attacked the Capitol to attempt a violent coup.
• January 13th, 2021: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against the second impeachment of Donald Trump, because the Republican Party no longer feels like they should be accountable for anything, including failed coups that result in the deaths of both their participants and police officers.
• February 4th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene’s committee assignments, because he wouldn’t want her to be accountable for all the bigoted remarks and conspiracy theories she’s spread online (probably because she’s a kindred spirit).
• February 25th, 2021: Luetkemeyer votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against HR 1, a bill created to prevent the corruption of money in politics, and protect voter access to the ballot box.
• March 3rd, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Luetkemeyer votes against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• May 19th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• November 5th, 2021: Blaine Luetkemeyer votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• March 31st, 2022: Luetkemeyer votes against HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would limit the cost that drug companies could list insulin at to $35 and make sure no diabetic was priced out of surviving their condition. Blaine Luetkemeyer would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
• May 18th, 2022: Blaine Luetkemeyer is one of 192 Republicans who vote against HR 7790, to create supplemental funding for infant formula (while claiming to be pro- life).
• May 18th, 2022: Rep. Luetkemeyer votes against HR 350, the Domestic Violence Prevention Act, because these days, a plank of the Republican Party is ostensibly domestic terror.
• May 19th, 2022: Luetkemeyer votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.

Blaine Luetkemeyer never stops thinking with his wallet, as evidenced in 2021 when he tried gaslighting everyone on Twitter by claiming that keeping children out of school classrooms together during the Covid-19 pandemic until they can be safely vaccinated is somehow “harmful to students’ health”, before he immediately gave the game away and said that it was also that “the economy could feel the affect of school closures for years to come”.

Don’t get it twisted, this man gives f*** all about the health of children and all about his and his pals’ stock portfolios.

In 2022, there were rumors that Blaine Luetkemeyer might be taking a crack at the U.S. Senate of retiring Sen. Roy Blunt, but instead, he’s opted to again run for his seat in the U.S. House, letting people like former Gov. Eric Greitens, Congressman Billy Long, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, and the also-rans like Mike McCloskey duke it out. Missouri’s 3rd District has been gerrymandered even more in Luetkemeyer’s favor, as evidenced by the maps listed here, so whomever emerges from the Democratic primary in August, they have an uphill battle against that, and all the corporate donors to Luetkemeyer’s campaign to deal with.

Yeah, this guy is a real prize, just like ALL Qpublicans who put the party before everything else. But, this guy sounds smarmier than most in the GQP.

[shooshoomanjoe]

Since President Biden won the election, Fox has been going nonstop about the danger of undocumented migrants entering the US. Meanwhile, in Idaho, police arrest 31 Nazis in combat gear near a pride event.

Idaho police on Saturday arrested 31 members of the Patriot Front hate group who planned to “riot” at a Pride event in downtown Coeur d’Alene, officials announced.

Members of the group — who all appeared to be white men — were crammed into a U-Haul truck and were discovered when it was pulled over by police who had received a tip from a “concerned citizen.”

The tipster saw the members of the white supremacist organization — which “looked like a little army” – loading into the truck with masks and shields, according to officials. Police also found shin guards, at least one smoke bomb, and what was described as an “operations plan,” which officials declined to detail. They wore arm bands and hat patches saying “Patriot Front,” according to police.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Since President Biden won the election, Fox has been going nonstop about the danger of undocumented migrants entering the US. Meanwhile, in Idaho, police arrest 31 Nazis in combat gear near a pride event.

How much you wanna bet nobody on Faux News uttered so much as a word about the Idaho Nazis? It’s like experts have said, the greater threat to the country’s security and safety comes from WHITE, homegrown terrorists, not migrants.

[babyblob]

How much you wanna bet nobody on Faux News uttered so much as a word about the Idaho Nazis? It’s like experts have said, the greater threat to the country’s security and safety comes from WHITE, homegrown terrorists, not migrants.

You know the other story they are not covering? The story of Thomas sending those letters to the law makers wanting to over turn Biden's win.

[Jack Dracula]

Here. Let me help you grasp the deep complexity of 30's politics.

fuckdemocrats.jpg

It all makes so much sense now.

It is bad that Trump's family profited from his dealings in the White House.

But there are some distinctions between Hunter Biden's art show and Ginny Thomas's actions.

Hunter Biden's art show was an opportunity for people to give the president's family a lot of money. Hunter was charging up to $500,000 a painting, and sold several prints for $75,000 each, despite not having anything close to a reputation that would justify those prices.

If Hunter Biden wants to be an activist, he can do so. He can send a form letter to state legislators.

The more right-wing Republicans would agree with Ginni Thomas, so they don't care about questions of propriety. However, the center-right and establishment Republicans are inclined to believe that people should not be held responsible for the views of spouses, who have their own agency, so they're not likely to think this is a big deal.

She can plan a rally. She can take part in it. She can write to lawmakers. That's different from trying to profit from her connection to her husband.

I suspect that if someone loses a recall with 62 percent in San Francisco because he's seen as too progressive, he has made serious mistakes.

Two important differences: 1) Hunter Biden isn't actively pushing a political agenda, certainly not one undermining people's faith in the democratic election process. That very being process responsible for the seat her husband holds and giving her access to so many influential people in the first place.
2) Ginny Thomas' actions cast doubt on the impartiality of Justice Thomas and by association the SCOTUS itself. If he sincerely had any concern for the damage he and his wife are doing, he'd either resign or demand she cease her activism. There can be no middle ground. In fact, his refusal to do either of those points to his impartiality and is arguably grounds for dismissal.

[AnakinFlair]

Haven't seen this mentioned yet:

31 linked to white nationalist group arrested near Pride event in Idaho

Thirty-one people affiliated with the white nationalist group Patriot Front were arrested near an annual LGBTQ+ event Saturday in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, police said.

The suspects were booked on suspicion of conspiracy to riot, Coeur d'Alene Police Chief Lee White said at an afternoon news conference. Among those in custody late Saturday was a man with the same name as Patriot Front's Dallas-based founder, Thomas Ryan Rousseau.

White said police were made aware in recent days that a number of groups planned to disrupt Pride in the Park, an annual event highlighting the civil rights struggles of LGBTQ+ communities.

Staffing was increased and awareness was heightened by the time dispatchers fielded a report of 20 people in a U-Haul vehicle Saturday afternoon, he said.

The suspects wore masks, had shields, and "looked like a little army," the chief said, quoting the caller who reported the suspicious activity.

Ten minutes after that 1:38 p.m. U-Haul report, police stopped the vehicle and 31 people in "similar attire" were arrested, White said.

Suspects resided in multiple states, including Texas, Utah, Idaho, Colorado, South Dakota, Illinois, Arkansas, Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Virginia, he said.

"They came to riot," White said.

[Mister Mets]

Man with gun, knife arrested near Justice Kavanaugh's residence



It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. To be honest, I'm surprised no one has been stopped AT the Supreme Court with weapons yet.

This story did not get the media attention it should have. It is a good thing that this idiot had a moment of clarity and turned himself in.

[AnakinFlair]

This one makes my blood boil.

$1.5M to be paid to police chief who displayed Nazi insignia

KENT, Wash. — A suburban Seattle city will pay more than $1.5 million to settle a dispute with a former assistant police chief who was disciplined for posting a Nazi rank insignia on his office door and joking about the Holocaust.

Former Kent Assistant Police Chief Derek Kammerzell, who had been with the department for nearly three decades, was initially given two weeks of unpaid leave after the 2020 incident. Outraged residents and members of the Jewish community prompted Mayor Dana Ralph to put Kammerzell on paid administrative leave and demand his resignation.

The city’s attempt to essentially discipline Kammerzell a second time led to a dispute between his lawyers and the city that appeared headed for litigation. But interim city Chief Administrative Officer Arthur “Pat” Fitzpatrick, who is also the city attorney, said Friday the city had resolved the matter through negotiation, The Seattle Times reported.

Ralph, in calling for Kammerzell’s resignation in January, acknowledged that the decision to revisit the discipline issue would likely “come at a high cost.” The city said Friday it would pay him $1,520,000 to resign.

Had the city simply fired him, officials said, he likely would have won back his job through arbitration due to federal and state labor laws.

An internal investigation concluded Kammerzell knew the meaning of the insignia he placed above the nameplate on his office door in September 2020 — that of an “obergruppenfuhrer” — a high official in Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for the systematic murders of millions of Jews and others in Europe during World War II.

The insignia was taken down after four days when a detective in the investigations bureau, which Kammerzell commanded, filed a complaint.

Kammerzell also was overheard joking about the Holocaust, according to the internal investigation.

Messages left by the newspaper with Kammerzell’s attorney and with the Kent Police Officers Association were not immediately returned.

Nazi f*** gets paid to resign.

[AnakinFlair]

This story did not get the media attention it should have. It is a good thing that this idiot had a moment of clarity and turned himself in.

Honestly, the most galling part of this whole affair was how quickly McConnell moved to introduce legislation to protect the Supreme Court Justices. Meanwhile kids have been getting gunned down in their schools for the past 20 years, and he's done jack.

[babyblob]

This story did not get the media attention it should have. It is a good thing that this idiot had a moment of clarity and turned himself in.

I agree. Not matter what side of the isle you are on no should be allowed to threaten the life of a SC justice or any elected official at all.