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

[Mister Mets]

1 in 25 is pretty rare. Still alarmingly high, though, especially when a disproportionate number of them are people of color. When the victims are anything but white, the perpetrators are also far less likely to get the death penalty.

University of Michigan law professor Samuel Gross led a team of experts in the law and in statistics that estimated the likely number of unjust convictions. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences determined that at least 4% of people on death penalty/death row were and are likely innocent. People have no doubt that some innocent people have been executed.

Thanks for the link. Scientific American looks at the study.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...lly-convicted/

It doesn't actually prove that anyone was posthumously found innocent. It worked a bit differently than that.

The study, led by a team of lawyers and statisticians, examined data on both 7,482 defendants who were given death sentences between 1973 and 2004 and death row exonerations during that time. By applying survival analysis—a statistical method often used to calculate how well new treatments help patients survive—they determined how often a prisoner under threat of execution was exonerated. The method usually tracks patients to see if a new therapy prolongs the period of time until a person dies from the illness in question but it can also be applied to policy questions that have clear end points. In this study the end point of tracking was exoneration (being found innocent and freed) or the actual execution. “Survival” was defined as remaining in prison. The “therapy” here would be removal of the threat of execution.

Here’s how their analysis works. It says that if all death-sentenced defendants remained under this sentence indefinitely, as opposed to being taken off death row due to being resentenced to life in prison or their fate being artificially cut off by the study ending, then 4.1 percent of those prisoners would have otherwise been exonerated. (And being exonerated and freed by legal action here is used as the best proxy for innocence.) The analysis also takes into account other occurrences such as suicide or death of a prisoner from natural causes. The number of false convictions among the death-sentenced has been particularly hard to estimate, Gross says, because many prisoners who are on death row are eventually moved off of it but remain in prison, which often reduces their chances of exoneration.

The issue affects a significant number of people. Since 1973 144 death-sentenced defendants have been exonerated in the U.S. But Gross says that the analysis indicates that at least 340 people would have been put to death unjustly in that same time period. “There are no other reliable estimates of the rate of false conviction in any context,” the researchers wrote in the study, published online on April 28 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[numberthirty]

I'm with the Watergate prosecutor on this one over the comic book fan, charming though he may be.

A Watergate prosecutor who probably got paid to be on the air on a network that has an angle...

Which is not to say there is nothing to what he said. Just that it is not exactly as simple as an ex-prosecutor volunteering an opinion without any money being involved.

[worstblogever]

On the plus side after 3+ years I will be free of my aunt. She has the trunk rented it is confirmed and she has people to help. And she is moving out.

I got tired of the racism and terrorist support I got tired of throwing her friends out and getting into the yelling matches because I would not let them come over when they are openly homophobic, I got tired of not being able to talk to my dad about politics or watch a news show with out the yelling and screaming. I have had enough. Told her in not so polite terms I am tired of living in stress and on eggshells in my own house. I have given her more then enough time to find a place of her own and a job and save money. I have had it. And told her to go live with her daughter.

So as of this weekend my biggest set of stress will be gone.

it is not even that she is a Republican. it is all of it, the racism the transhomophobia, the Batshit Big lie claims, Hunters emails, Biden is a Pedophile, Biden is a Russian agent. The telling me my mental health disorder is not real or if I have a rough night because of bad dreams from ym prison days I just need to man up and get the Hell over it.

UGH!!!!!

To be honest when she leaves I doubt I will say much to her and I am not overly sorry about that.

Congratulations, and might I say... 3+ years... you are the most patient soul I've ever crossed paths with on the internet outside of my missus, who ghosted me on it before dating me, and has to put up with me all the time.

[worstblogever]

So... the Texas Republican Party platform...

- Seeks to ban same sex marraige.
- opposes all attempts to validate transgender identity
- states its support for "reintegrative therapy", or "pray the gay away" or "torture gay people until they're straight" policies...
- states its belief that Joe Biden is an "illegitimate president".


Think I can see why they threw the Log Cabin Republicans out of the room. Also, how dedicated they are to a seditious, authoritarian madman and his "Big Lie".

[Tendrin]

So... the Texas Republican Party platform...

- Seeks to ban same sex marraige.
- opposes all attempts to validate transgender identity
- states its support for "reintegrative therapy", or "pray the gay away" or "torture gay people until they're straight" policies...
- states its belief that Joe Biden is an "illegitimate president".


Think I can see why they threw the Log Cabin Republicans out of the room. Also, how dedicated they are to a seditious, authoritarian madman and his "Big Lie".

But WBE, both parties are just as bad!

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published profiles of Sheila Butt, a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives who we gave special attention to for responding to the existence of the Council of American-Islamic Relations on Facebook by suggesting that she should start a Council of Christian Relations and a NAAWP (which would presumably be the National Association for the Advancement of White People). What Butt might have wanted to check before she shot her mouth off that there already WAS a NAAWP back in 1953, founded by a White Supremacist in response to the NAACP. It fell apart within two years, but made a comeback in 1979, being run by none other than former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke. Sheila Butt refused to apologize, claimed she was being unfairly targeted by a liberal conspiracy for her remarks, and was offended that anyone would even suggest she was racist because of them. Butt, who is a pastor’s wife, also wrote a book in 2008 that gave advice like to not date outside one’s race to avoid having biracial children, along with other tips like “find a young man who believes he is a breadwinner so his wife could be a stay home mom someday”, that “we did not come from ‘goo’ as the theory of evolution suggests”, and that “being gay is a choice” that is typically made because of “Satan, a bad sexual experience with members of the opposite sex, or a mom who didn’t encourage her son’s masculinity”. As a legislator, Butt has racked up the kind of voting record you might expect from a Tennessee Republican, including trying to nullify federal firearms laws, declare abortion as against the law because there’s nothing in the Constitution regarding it, and to try and name the Bible as the state book. And yes, she’s quite the theocrat, having produced legislation that would ban public schools from mentioning other religions during world history lessons, because she felt Islam was being given too much attention in it., being concerned that acknowledging it exists and played a role in world history could amount to “indoctrination”. Go figure, she also started haranguing Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to block the admission of Syrian Refugees that might be resettled into the state in November of 2015. She’s also currently on board with Tennessee Republicans’ attempts to prevent the removal of Confederate monuments (but she still insists she’s not racist). But perhaps her lowest moment was when she argued against putting rape and incest exceptions into an abortion bill because they are “not verifiable”, which would be news to a lot of crime labs with rape kits and genetic testing, but it’s still sad to see a woman who believes anyone who seeks an abortion due to rape should be immediately be under suspicion of deception. Oh, and we weren’t the only ones who noticed the phenomenon that is Sheila Butt, as Samantha Bee gave her a special spotlight on Season One of her TBS show, Full Frontal, back in April of 2016, where she mocked Butt not only for her new stance on transgender citizens using public bathrooms (Hint: Butt’s ideas are on the intolerant side of the issue) for all of what we covered, and referred to Butt’s book for advice for girls, “Instead, do all the stuff Sheila Butt suggests, or as she may call it, ‘Butt Stuff.’ This Tennessee state representative wants you to do lots and lots of Butt stuff. Do Butt stuff until it hurts!” All the criticism and mockery finally withered away enough on Sheila Butt that she has decided to retire after four terms in office, and did not be running for re-election in 2018.

On this date in 2019, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profile, profiled John Fitzgerald, a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for California’s 11th Congressional District who was going to challenge Democrat Mark DeSaulnier by campaigning on the issues that really matter to GOP voters these days… like denying the existence of the Holocaust. Yes, that’s right… the Republican Party had yet another anti-Semitiic lunatic on the ballot in 2018, and Fitzgerald “campaigned” by going on Neo-Nazi podcasts to talk about his dedication to “exposing the Holocaust as a fabricated lie”. He insisted he wasn’t anti-Semitic and was “just stating facts”, but that’s hard to believe considering he actually ordered robocalls that warned about “Jews taking over the world”, while blaming them for 9/11. Fitzgerald is also such a moron that he paid for the calls to be made outside of the district he was running for office in. And, one would think that Republican voters aren’t just brain dead enough to vote for anything with an “R” next to their name… and yet, Fitzgerald still got 26% of the vote. It seems highly unlikely that this bigot will ever be elected to office in California, though, so we will set aside his profile at this time and take a look at another wacky Republican today instead.

On this date in 2020, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Corey Lewandowski, who most people will remember was one of the multiple Trump 2016 campaign managers unafraid to go on cable news and incessantly lie on Trump’s behalf, but in 2020, Lewandowski also became a candidate for U.S. Senate from New Hampshire, hoping to unseat Senator Jean Shaheen. Back in 1994, he also had a failed campaign for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, so he’s been a loser for about a quarter century now. In 1999, Lewandowski managed to further be an embarrassment while working as an aide on Capitol Hill, and security caught him “accidentally” bringing a gun into the Longworth building in a laundry bag. (He wasn’t even disciplined for this by Congressman Bob Ney’s office, and it was chalked up to being an “accident” and not a crime because white privilege is that bad.) Corey Lewandowski’s rise into national Republican politics came through his being hired by Americans for Prosperity, the 501(c) political group started and run by the Koch brothers, that pushed back against Demcoratic gains in 2006 and 2008 by beginning the Tea Party movement, that, y’know, gave the GOP a case of rabies in 2009 that it has yet to recover from, if it ever will. That was enough to pad his resume to get to work on a presidential campaign… For Donald Trump. And his time on the campaign involved him trying to set up back-door channel meetings with UK political analyst company (and data thieves) Cambridge Analytica to get their help in finding people dumb enough to vote for Trump. To this day, Lewandowski denies he did this while working for the Trump campaign, but then again, he denied assaulting a reporter, Michelle Fields, after a Trump press conference even though other reporters filmed it, and has denied sexually assaulting a woman at a party, smacking her on the ass, getting warned, laughing, and then smacking her again. Among the worst moments of Lewandowski playing defense for Trump, him claiming Trump “had nothing to apologize for” after attacking the Mexican heritage of the judge in the Trump University case is right up there. After he was let go after the Fields incident, and replaced by Russian colluder Paul Manafort, Lewandowski was bizarrely hired to be a commentator by CNN (while he was still being paid and kept on conference calls with the Trump campaign), the One America News Network, and then Fox News. Around this time, he was cheating on his wife with Hope Hicks, and leak damaging information about White House staffers who were competition for her romantically about their own domestic abuse cases. Lewandowski’s career as a racist conservative Trump-fellating pundit came to a screeching halt, however, during the stretch where the Trump administration began the family separation policy, and he responded to the story of an immigrant girl with Down’s Syndrome being ripped from her family by mockingly making a sad trombone noise and saying, “WOMP, WOMP.” He refused to apologize for that, because yes, he’s an unrepentant monster. Anyhow, Corey Lewandowski was being pressed by Donald Trump to run for U.S. Senate in 2020, because of course he thought a ghoul like Lewandowski would make a great Senator. Hell, Lewandowski just about reveled in the fact that he was going into the race in the middle of his testimony in September of 2019 before the House Judiciary Committee. Alas, he backed off prior to the filing deadline, and announced he would not run on New Year’s Eve 2019, but making the ridiculous boast that if he had ran, “I would have won”. Sure you would have, douchebag. Sure you would have. Anyway, at this point, we’re just hoping Lewandowski f***s out of American politics forever, because his legacy seems to be whatever he touches turns into failure, or success with the caveat of an FBI investigation for criminal activity.

[worstblogever]

On this date one year ago, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” first profiled the sitting U.S. House Representative from Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, Tom Tiffany, who after losing in races for Wisconsin State Senate in 2004 and 2008 and served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2010-2012. He then greased himself up with his prior jobs in the petroleum industry to grab a spot in Congress in a special election in May of 2020 to replace the utter dumbass who we kept track of for years, former Congressman Sean Duffy. Barely 13 months into the gig, we’re not sure of who’s worse, but in a short amount of time, Tiffany has made it more of a debate then we thought there possibly could be.

We’re not even kidding that it didn’t take long, as only two days after Tiffany had won his special election, he made headlines for using the racist term “Wuhan Virus” to refer to Covid-19 in a letter where he called for the Wisconsin Secretary of Health to resign, furious that she recommended business closures to prevent the spread of the pandemic, attacking her and Governor Tony Evers:

”The recent Supreme Court ruling confirmed that Ms. Palm’s power grab exceeded her authority. Her shotgun approach to lock down Wisconsin has produced disastrous consequences. New data shows us how we can make a targeted response to the Wuhan virus, but Ms. Palm will hear none of it. A native New Yorker, ally of Hillary Clinton’s, and Washington, D.C. insider, Ms. Palm understands very little of our Midwestern values or how her decisions have devastated our way of life.

Wisconsin’s economy and health care system are collapsing. Small businesses are closing their doors for good. Tens of thousands of people are struggling to apply for unemployment in an attempt to survive the storm she caused. Ms. Palm came here as Governor Evers’ hired gun, and she will leave with Wisconsin’s corpse if she continues.”

Facing a November rematch with the Democrat he defeated in the special election, Andrea Junker, Tiffany released a “Back the Blue” ad in October of 2020 that accused Junker of wanting to “defund the police”. Which, of course, isn’t something that Junker actually wanted to do. Meanwhile, Junker pointed out something we’ll note below, that Tom Tiffany was one of only 17 Republicans who voted against a resolution to condemn the Qanon conspiracy theory after one Congressman started getting death threats, and Tiffany claimed he voted against it because it was “political posturing” by Nancy Pelosi.

Which, holding a posture that isn’t sympathetic to conspiracy theorists motivated to threaten to kill a member of Congress might be y’know, just having a backbone at all. Like supporting democracy and not being an active participant in “The Big Lie” post-election and the build-up to January 6th. And if he had any principles, he wouldn’t show up to a maskless rally only DAYS after an attempted coup in our nation’s capitol to speak at a forum hosted by a right-wing radio host who openly called for “war” over the results of the election. Y’know, not that such rhetoric isn’t exactly the sort of incitement that caused 1/6 in the first place.

But what Tom Tiffany will take a stand on? Anti-vaccination paranoia, like in March of 2021, when he made it a point to tell everyone that he was advising his daughters not to get the Covid-19 vaccine, while also lying and claiming that no one their age had died of the virus (Two had.) He did this unmasked, at a town hall, filled with people who were also unmasked. Way to have a potential super-spreader event a year into the pandemic when we should know better and set a good example for the public, s***bird.

Rather than focus on the pandemic, Tom Tiffany worried about the voters in his district… by traveling the opposite border, over a thousand miles away, to throw tantrums about the less fascist approach the Biden administration was taking on undocumented migrants, and act like all fifty states were under attack by Mexico. Yes, within the same fortnight.

[worstblogever]

Just… seriously, look at this lunatic’s voting record, and try and not be shocked at how unbelievably partisan he is:

• October 2nd, 2020: Tom Tiffany is one of 17 Republicans who vote against a resolution to condemn the Qanon conspiracy theory after its followers started to make death threats against Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski.
• December 10th, 2020: Tiffany 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: Tom Tiffany 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. Tiffany 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: Tom Tiffany 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: Tiffany votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Tiffany 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: Tom Tiffany votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Tiffany doesn’t even bother to show up to vote on the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, because he feels people deserve to die in poverty during a pandemic.
• March 17th, 2021: Rep. Tiffany 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: Tom Tiffany votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• May 20th, 2021: Tiffany is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
• June 16th, 2021: Tom Tiffany is one of 14 Republicans who vote against celebrating Juneteenth as a federal holiday.
• June 29th, 2021: Tiffany is one of 8 Republicans who travel to the U.S./Mexico border to do photo-ops to stir up anti-immigrant furor, but also appear on camera with Capitol insurrectionist Anthony Aguero, as if he wasn’t a part of an attack on Congress less than six months prior.
• November 5th, 2021: Tom Tiffany votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• March 31st, 2022: Tiffany 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.
• May 18th, 2022: Tom Tiffany 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. Tiffany 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: Tiffany votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.

We’re not sure how long an uncaring, science-denying, insurrection-supporting s***stain like Tom Tiffany holds Congressional office, but we are not only rooting for his attempts at re-election to fail, but we’re rooting for him to end up paying the price in court for his part in supporting Donald Trump’s coup attempt, as lawsuits have been filed against Wisconsin’s Congressional delegation for their role in “The Big Lie”.

But hey, he hates Critical Race Theory, so that outweighs the sedition as far as making him worthy of office, right? (It doesn’t).

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Qpublican slugs like Tiffany are a clear and present danger to the country. Full stop.

[Sharpandpointies]

On the plus side after 3+ years I will be free of my aunt. She has the trunk rented it is confirmed and she has people to help. And she is moving out.

I got tired of the racism and terrorist support I got tired of throwing her friends out and getting into the yelling matches because I would not let them come over when they are openly homophobic, I got tired of not being able to talk to my dad about politics or watch a news show with out the yelling and screaming. I have had enough. Told her in not so polite terms I am tired of living in stress and on eggshells in my own house. I have given her more then enough time to find a place of her own and a job and save money. I have had it. And told her to go live with her daughter.

So as of this weekend my biggest set of stress will be gone.

it is not even that she is a Republican. it is all of it, the racism the transhomophobia, the Batshit Big lie claims, Hunters emails, Biden is a Pedophile, Biden is a Russian agent. The telling me my mental health disorder is not real or if I have a rough night because of bad dreams from ym prison days I just need to man up and get the Hell over it.

UGH!!!!!

To be honest when she leaves I doubt I will say much to her and I am not overly sorry about that.

Good for you. You deserve (much) better, and family is not some Hallmark crap where the abused must take the higher ground and forgive the abuser. Abuse is abuse, and you owe an abuser nothing.

Stay safe.

[Dalak]

Ill be fine. i get sad whenever someones little furry family passes. I know how much we all love our little friends.

My deepest synpathies. My family and I had several dogs and cats. When they reach the limit of old age, we would euthanize them. I miss most of them.

Thanks guys, it's been rough. I watched my Dad go through 2 rounds of chemo before he passed years ago, and I don't think pets can comprehend that the suffering it causes is meant to make them better in the end. So it was just give him pain meds until he stopped eating.


And blob, I'd like to add my voice to those wishing you the best after getting rid of your abusive aunt.

[Gray Lensman]

Thanks guys, it's been rough. I watched my Dad go through 2 rounds of chemo before he passed years ago, and I don't think pets can comprehend that the suffering it causes is meant to make them better in the end. So it was just give him pain meds until he stopped eating.


And blob, I'd like to add my voice to those wishing you the best after getting rid of your abusive aunt.

I'll as in my voice to those giving sympathies. My wife and I lost one of our cats a couple of months ago - he was an adopted feral we had for 10 years almost to the day. We went out onto the porch and he had just died suddenly, we think from asthma related complications.

In about 3 hours we are picking up a pair of half-siamese kittens so I have to do the last steps of kitten proofing the house before they arrive. We haven't had a kitten (much less 2) in about 20 years, so it will be a bit of relearning.

[4saken1]

Thanks for the link. Scientific American looks at the study.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...lly-convicted/

It doesn't actually prove that anyone was posthumously found innocent. It worked a bit differently than that.

You are correct, it doesn't prove anything, since doing so would be nigh impossible. They did, however, a statistically sound methodology to conservatively estimate this figure. They said the number was likely even higher, as pointed out by the link you provided:

The researchers also note that a 4.1 percent rate of false conviction is conservative, given that separate calculations gauging the accuracy of the assumptions that took an even more conservative stance—assuming that people who were executed had zero chance of false conviction and that the chances of exoneration after retrial would be twice that of people on death row—would still produce a larger figure than their 4.1 percent estimate.

[Tendrin]

"J.R. Majewski, a Republican candidate for Congress in Ohio, ran an ad (since taken down for copyright issues) in which images of President Joe Biden, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Colin Kaepernick (?!) are flashed on the screen, and then Majewski casually walks around with a rifle and says he’ll 'do whatever it takes to return this country back to its former glory,'" wrote Coolican. "Blake Masters, the Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate in Arizona, builds his own guns and recently showed one off on social media with the caption: 'I will remind everyone in Congress what ‘shall not be infringed’ means.' It’s an especially sinister message, given that Masters’ potential opponent is U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, whose wife former Rep. Gabby Giffords was badly injured in a 2011 mall shooting."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...edf7603252629b

[CaptainEurope]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...edf7603252629b

The story is new, the ad ran back in February, though.

Brand new though, is sexual deviant Eric Greitens' ad, in which he suggest hunting and killing fellow Republicans if they are considered "RINOS".