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

[worstblogever]

Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District has a +25 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, helping him get re-elected in 2020 with 68% of the vote. Thus, he has returned to Washington to do the following:

• December 18th, 2019: Burchett ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.
• May 15th, 2020: Burchett votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
• December 10th, 2020: Burchett 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 7th, 2021: Tim Burchett 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. Burchett 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: Tim Burchett 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: Burchett votes against HR 5, the latest version of the Equality Act, that would provide workplace protections for LGBTQ Americans.
• March 3rd, 2021: Rep. Burchett 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: Tim Burchett votes against the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021.
• March 10th, 2021: Burchett 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. Burchett 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: Tim Burchett votes against HR 3233, the creation of a commission to investigate the Capitol Attack.
• May 20th, 2021: Burchett is one of 63 Republicans who vote against the Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act.
• November 5th, 2021: Tim Burchett votes against HR 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• March 31st, 2022: Burchett 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. Tim Burchett would rather they be gouged by pharmaceutical giants and/or die.
• May 18th, 2022: Tim Burchett 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. Burchett 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: Burchett votes against HR 7688, a bill which would help prevent gas companies from gouging customers on prices.
• July 15th, 2022: Tim Burchett votes against House Amendment 262, which would require the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Secretary of Defense to publish a report on the infiltration of American law enforcement by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, offer measures to be taken to remove them from their ranks, and prevent further infiltration by others.
• July 13th, 2022: Burchett votes against the Honoring Our PACT Act, to provide healthcare to veterans affected by toxic burn pits while serving in the War on Terror that leave them more susceptible to forms of cancer.
• July 19th, 2022: Rep. Burchett is one of 157 Republicans who doesn’t even show up for the vote on the “Respect for Marriage Act”, which would codify same sex marriage into law nationally.
• July 21st, 2022: Burchett is one of 195 Republicans who doesn’t even show up for the vote on the Right to Contraception Act, which codified the right of Americans to have access to birth control.

With Denver Riggleman having lost in his own Virginia district in 2020, Tim Burchett is now the only openly proud sasquatch enthusiast in Congress. And, if that wasn’t weird enough already, on June 16th, 2021, Burchett chatted with a reporter from TMZ about the existence of UFOs, citing passages from the Bible he felt indicate they exist, and his belief that there was a coverup of a recovered UFO in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947. Next up, we’re going to find out he believes in the Loch Ness Monster and Mothman, too. Or, y’know, he’ll try to drum up conspiracy theories about “the real origin of Covid-19”.

Here's the thing… Tennessee’s 2nd Congressional District has a +18 lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, so for all his quirks about crytpids or other “out there” tales… unseating Tim Burchett will be a tall order for his Democratic opponent in November, Mark Harmon (apparently no relation to the star of NCIS). We’re hoping, however, that if he’s going to stick around for another term in office, he gets a little less weird and/or partisan.

[hyped78]

Russia sanctions Sean Penn and Ben Stiller over Ukraine support - they must be so worried :P

https://news.sky.com/story/russia-sa...pport-12691130

[CaptainEurope]

Newly obtained surveillance video shows fake Trump elector escorted operatives into Georgia county's elections office before voting machine breach

(CNN)A Republican county official in Georgia escorted two operatives working with an attorney for former President Donald Trump into the county's election offices on the same day a voting system there was breached, newly obtained video shows.
The breach is now under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and is of interest to the Fulton County District Attorney, who is conducting a wider criminal probe of interference in the 2020 election.

In the surveillance video, which was obtained by CNN, Cathy Latham, a former GOP chairwoman of Coffee County who is under criminal investigation for posing as a fake elector in 2020, escorts a team of pro-Trump operatives to the county's elections office on January 7, 2021, the same day a voting system there is known to have been breached.

The two men seen in the video with Latham, Scott Hall and Paul Maggio, have acknowledged that they successfully gained access to a voting machine in Coffee County at the behest of Trump lawyer Sidney Powell.

...

Three days after the breach, Latham texted the Coffee County elections supervisor, "Did you all finish with the scanner?" According to court documents, Latham testified she did not know what Hall was doing in Coffee County. But when confronted with her texts about the scanner, she asserted her Fifth Amendment rights.

...
The newly obtained surveillance video and text messages in the civil lawsuit suggest the fake elector plot and the effort to breach voting machines in Georgia were part of a larger, coordinated plan to subvert the 2020 election. Some of the same Trump lawyers and allies who helped orchestrate the effort to seat fake electors in states Trump lost in 2020 were also involved in attempts to gain unauthorized access to voting machines in numerous counties in states around the country seen as friendly toward the former president.

[Dalak]

Newly obtained surveillance video shows fake Trump elector escorted operatives into Georgia county's elections office before voting machine breach

As we know, Jan 6th wasn't at all involved with corruption before, during, or after the riot. Never question that!

[hyped78]

You’re floating the idea that the results of children not attending school in person is equally as bad as or worse than furthering the spread of an extremely contagious virus with a fairly high mortality rate. That’s a pretty poor argument.

Fairly high mortality rate for children? For vaccinated adults?

The effect of school closures is quite far reaching, it can't be disregarded (I've posted several links but here's another one):

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/15/10860...iggest-impacts

[Ragged Maw]

Unless you have a Democratic member of the House or Senate taking money from Russians or hate groups, your argument remains ridiculous and without an understanding.

Also, perhaps this would be a good time to remind everyone that unlimited political donations as "free speech" were a policy that solely the Republican-appointed conservatives on the Supreme Court green lit with the Citizens United decision.

Conservatives are trying to make a false comparison that if it exists in ANY form, it's because of a stupid policy they created in the first place, but blame the other side for.

Regardless of who “started it” or which party’s donors are the shadier lot, the fact that this form of thinly-disguised bribery has infected both parties is a problem that needs serious addressing.

[hyped78]

Regardless of who “started it” or which party’s donors are the shadier lot, the fact that this form of thinly-disguised bribery has infected both parties is a problem that needs serious addressing.

Exactly! That was the whole point around this topic.

It's an institutionalized and legal form of mass bribery.

[numberthirty]

Regardless of who “started it” or which party’s donors are the shadier lot, the fact that this form of thinly-disguised bribery has infected both parties is a problem that needs serious addressing.

Exactly...

No one if forcing either party to be in anyone's pocket. Last I heard, someone could still turn that sort of thing down.

[worstblogever]

Regardless of who “started it” or which party’s donors are the shadier lot, the fact that this form of thinly-disguised bribery has infected both parties is a problem that needs serious addressing.

Exactly! That was the whole point around this topic.

It's an institutionalized and legal form of mass bribery.

Exactly...

No one if forcing either party to be in anyone's pocket. Last I heard, someone could still turn that sort of thing down.

HEY LOOK!

One party has a member submitting proposed Constitutional amendments to overturn Citizens United. They've pushed legislation to undo it every session of Congress since 2010. It's been a part of their policies listed for presidential candidates.

Guess which party's Supreme Court Justices set up the undemocratic, plutocratic status quo, and does nothing to change it, even though even 66% of their party members want it gone? And they make sure that nowhere near the requisite 67 votes are there to overturn it? *cough*Republicans*cough*

But hey, BOTH SIDES!

I would trust CAPTCHA bots to spot differences more right now, for being able to tell differences.

[hyped78]

HEY LOOK!

One party has a member submitting proposed Constitutional amendments to overturn Citizens United. They've pushed legislation to undo it every session of Congress since 2010. It's been a part of their policies listed for presidential candidates.

Guess which party's Supreme Court Justices set up the undemocratic, plutocratic status quo, and does nothing to change it, even though even 66% of their party members want it gone? And they make sure that nowhere near the requisite 67 votes are there to overturn it? *cough*Republicans*cough*

But hey, BOTH SIDES!

I would trust CAPTCHA bots to spot differences more right now, for being able to tell differences.

Again, with all due respect - are you saying that Democrat candidates/ politicians don't receive money from corporations, wealthy individuals, PACs and interest groups, which in turn influences/ conditions the way they vote and legislate? (and it's fine to agree more with those interest groups vs. GOP interest groups, Democrat interest groups are also more aligned with what I believe in)

Are you aware, for example, that Democrats have been pouring money to boost MAGA candidates in Republican primaries?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-was-that-wise
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/202...can-primaries/
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022...ga-republicans

[Tendrin]

Again, with all due respect - are you saying that Democrat candidates/ politicians don't receive money from corporations, wealthy individuals, PACs and interest groups, which in turn influences/ conditions the way they vote and legislate? (and it's fine to agree more with those interest groups vs. GOP interest groups, Democrat interest groups are also more aligned with what I believe in)

Are you aware, for example, that Democrats have been pouring money to boost MAGA candidates in Republican primaries?
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-was-that-wise
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/202...can-primaries/
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022...ga-republicans

Are you suggesting Democrats unilaterally disarm for purity's sake, or just wanting to wave the 'both sides flag' some more?

[hyped78]

Are you suggesting Democrats unilaterally disarm for purity's sake, or just wanting to wave the 'both sides flag' some more?

The question was whether both parties vote according to special interests (regardless of whether we agree with special interest A or B) that stem from campaign donations - my take on it is that, yes, both sides do it. I think the whole campaign funding set up in the US is quite toxic, a form of accepted collective bribery.

Obviously, if the GOP does it, then the Democrats should also do it - and vice-versa - it would be naive for them to shy away from it. In fact, last time I saw the Democrats have been able to raise more money than the GOP thus far for the Midterms.

[Tendrin]

SANTA FE — A New Mexico judge ordered Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin be removed from office, effective immediately, ruling that the attack on the Capitol was an insurrection and that Griffin’s participation in it disqualified him under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. This decision marks the first time since 1869 that a court has disqualified a public official under Section 3, and the first time that any court has ruled the events of January 6, 2021 an insurrection.

Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Disqualification Clause, bars any person from holding federal or state office who took an “oath…to support the Constitution of the United States” as an “officer of any State” and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” or gave “aid or comfort” to insurrectionists. Griffin, as an Otero County Commissioner since January 2019, took an oath to “support and uphold the Constitution and laws of the State of New Mexico, and the Constitution of the United States.”

Good.

https://www.citizensforethics.org/ne...-insurrection/

[kidfresh512]

Fox producer's warning against Jeanine Pirro surfaces in Dominion defamation suit

The November 2020 email from an anguished Fox News news producer to colleagues sent up a flare amid a fusillade of false claims.

The producer warned: Fox cannot let host Jeanine Pirro back on the air. She is pulling conspiracy theories from dark corners of the Web to justify then-President Donald Trump's lies that the election had been stolen from him. The existence of the email, confirmed by two people with direct knowledge of it, is first publicly disclosed by NPR in this story. Fox News declined comment.

Pirro was far from alone in broadcasting such false claims. In the weeks that followed Election Day 2020, other prominent Fox stars, commentators and their guests heavily promoted them.

The Dominion lawsuits just keep digging up all the right wing media dirt. I don't see how Fox etc get out of this without a settlement at least. How could they possibly let this go to trial? They clearly were adding to the defamatory conspiracies against Dominion. It was clear as day before you get all the internal emails and warnings like these from the depositions and interviews.

[Ragged Maw]

HEY LOOK!

One party has a member submitting proposed Constitutional amendments to overturn Citizens United. They've pushed legislation to undo it every session of Congress since 2010. It's been a part of their policies listed for presidential candidates.

Guess which party's Supreme Court Justices set up the undemocratic, plutocratic status quo, and does nothing to change it, even though even 66% of their party members want it gone? And they make sure that nowhere near the requisite 67 votes are there to overturn it? *cough*Republicans*cough*

But hey, BOTH SIDES!

I would trust CAPTCHA bots to spot differences more right now, for being able to tell differences.

I think there's a quotable maxim somewhere about more than one thing being true. Maybe you've heard of it, wbe?