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

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” ran a profile of of Michael Duvall, a former member of the California State Assembly who was a big supporter of Republican "family values" that compelled him to vote for Proposition 8 a few years back to "protect the sanctity of marriage". What he probably should have done to protect marriages, though, was to not get multiple mistresses to run around behind his wife's back with. This all came to light, and led to Duvall's resignation, after he was boasting about a new gal pal in the Assembly itself while a hot microphone picked up him boasting about the details to a colleague, including what panties his new paramour wore, and how she was into spanking. Adding to the seediness of the whole affair? This mystery woman turned out to be a lobbyist that he was literally in bed with. Duvall resigned in disgrace back in 2010.

On this date in 2015, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Kathleen Tonn, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska in the 2014 elections who appeared in a Youtube video where she blamed a perceived lack of growth of daisies in the natural flora in Alaska on the presidency of Barack Obama and his support of same sex marriage. For whatever reason, that insane correlation that flies in the face of the scientific method did not garner Ms. Tonn’s video a ton of views, go figure. She then also decided to prove her credentials as a candidate by posting a video where she went to a local sauna fully clothed, and “sang in tongues” to, as she later explained, “save” a woman therein, because thankfully Satan cannot decipher when Christians speak in tongues. Now, just because she didn’t get elected doesn’t mean that Kathleen Tonn has decided to fade away into obscurity just yet. She turned up at an Anchorage Assembly, where she pulled out a multitude of props to make a spectacle of herself, including a Bible, a trumpet, and a tampon. During her alotted time to speak, she angrily read a passage from the Second Epistle of Peter about the Judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah, and was outraged that the city was considering an ordinance for LGBT protections so people could not be fired for their sexual orientation. Instead, she asked them to consider an ordinance to protect against the real afflicted minority, people who speak in tongues which as far assignature issues go, is not one likely to see her ever elected to office.

On this date in 2016, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” published a profile about Richard Cash, a man who decided to challenge Senator Lindsay Graham in the 2014 GOP Primary for his seat in the Senate representing South Carolina, based on his qualifications of owning a fleet of ice cream trucks. Cash, as it stood, is a climate change denier, who felt there wasn't enough evidence to do anything about the phenomenon, and seemed more convinced that climate change scientists were running a "scam". We're going to go out on a limb and assume he only doesn't want to do anything about increasing temperatures because it would help him increase his ice cream sales. But what was far more concerning was that Richard Cash was quite the social conservative, to terrifying extremes. He was opposed to same sex marriage because "God designed men and women for a unique type of companionship", and he was a supporter of Personhood, which because he believes life begins at conception, he thus would prevent such "murders" by not just outlawing abortion, but most forms of birth control. How far to the lunatic fringe did his views on abortion get? While speaking before a Tea Party group on Martin Luther King Day, he referenced MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, and then segued to his own "I Have a Dream" speech about preventing all abortions, and granting unborn babies Constitutional rights. Richard Cash finished third in that primary with only 8% of the vote, and went back to slinging ice cream.

On this date in 2017, 2018, 2019, as well as 2020, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” had its first profile of Bryan Zollinger, who was first elected to the Idaho House of Representatives in 2016 to represent District 33B, after his predecessor Lindon Bateman was forced to retire due to term limits. After Charlottesville, Virginia saw a group of Neo-Nazis and White Nationalists in effect, plan a riot, showing up wielding torches, and several people appearing with homemade shields and clubs in early August. A few discussed online were documented as having discussed their desire to crash their cars or trucks into counter protesters who would show up to shout down their intolerant and disgusting views. And then, after a weekend where they terrorized the town, assaulted minorities, and law enforcement sat on their hands and let it all happen, one of the Neo-Nazis drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing lawyer and activist Heather Heyer in an act of domestic terrorism. But Zollinger began spreading the lie that the events in Charlottesville were a false flag operation orchestrated by Jewish billionaire George Soros, former President Barack Obama, Virginia Governor Terry MacAuliffe, Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer, or some combination of them to make it seem like Donald Trump is racist. Zollinger added, ”I'm not saying it is true but I am suggesting that it is completely plausible. We know that many protestors were Soros funded and we also know that Donald Trump is not a racist. The man was in the public spotlight for twenty plus years with zero allegations of racism. He has clearly and unequivocally denounced by name these hate groups as he well should have. The media has chosen to push this narrative until even some of the president's own party are sucking up to the media, mind you only those that know they are part of the swamp that Trump avowed to drain. So while I'm not saying I believe the article, I'm glad to see someone out there asking people to think for themselves and use some logic and reason rather than spout what the media, otherwise known as the communications branch of the Democratic Party is selling.“ A few days after posting this insane conspiracy theory, on August 19th, 2017, Zollinger posted again, whining about the removal of Confederate statues, which is a great wedge issue to dig in on when you’re in f***ing Idaho, one of the states that most definitely wasn’t a part of the Confederacy, and is the furthest away from the Mason Dixon line in the continental United States. But hey, at least Zollinger deleted his post and backed down, right? Ha! No. This tool actually has bragged, without proof, that he has donors that specifically would donate money to his re-election in 2018 based on the number of negative Facebook comments and Twitter responses he got for his post. By October of 2017, local reporters decided that maybe they should research Bryan Zollinger as much as possible, to find out how “out there” the little-known freshman lawmaker actually was. Lo and behold, an extensive criminal record was unearthed that included felony grand theft, misdemeanor driving under the influence, two misdemeanor malicious injury to property charges, and several other alcohol-related offenses. As a freshman lawmaker, we wish we had an extensive voting record on Zollinger to detail to further underline how twisted this guy is, but instead, all we can find on him politically outside of his sympathies towards conspiracy theorists and Neo-Nazis is he also spreads lies about the Affordable Care Act, and that reflected his sponsorship of a bill to target the Medicaid of Idaho residents this past year. He also voted for “Stand Your Ground” laws to be applied in Idaho, as well as a vote to prevent courts from making “rulings based on foreign law”, because wouldn’t you know it, he’s a Islamophobic idiot who is paranoid about Sharia Law being a thing in the United States. Zollinger also spent most of his first term in office campaigning to elect Congressman Raul Labrador to be Governor of Idaho when he wasn’t running south and leaving his state to go to college football games at the University of Utah, because… priorities Alas, rubbing elbows with White Supremacists is no longer a dealbreaker for Republican voters, and Zollinger was re-elected in 2018 with 59% of the vote. He’s was one of the big players in the Idaho state legislature on whether or not the state will finally approve the Medicaid expansion, and critics noted that maybe he should have recused himself from the debate and the vote, considering he’s a lawyer who represents a medical debt collection agency. Because why don’t we just add “corrupt” to the list of adjectives like “bigoted”, “dishonest” and “criminal” that we can use to describe Bryan Zollinger, while we’re at it? We are relieved to report that since the last time we profiled Bryan Zollinger, he was presented with his first primary challenge since taking office in 2016, and mercifully, he was defeated by 134 votes by that challenger, Marco Erickson and was forced to leave.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2021, “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day” profiled Idaho Lieutenant Govenor Janice McGeachin, who was first elected to office in 2018, and makes the current Republican Governor Brad Little seem tame and understanding in comparison to her own known association with right-wing militiia groups (y’know, domestic terrorists) her tendency to pose with a gun in one hand and a Bible in the other in campaign ads, and her habit of waiting until every time Gov. Little leaves the state where she can become acting Governor of the state for a few days and overturn every executive order he makes in the interest of keeping Idahoans alive. There was already some concern when the Little/McGeachin power structure was sworn in, as she had hired members of the “3 percent” domestic terrorist outfit/militia group as her personal security during her 2018 campaign, but it took about two months for the mainstream Idaho GOP to realize they truly had a wingnut problem on their hands. McGeachin posed outside her office at the state capitol with members of the “3 percenters” to send well wishes to Todd Engel, one of the members of the Bundy Ranch standoff serving time in jail, and seemed unbothered that both the guys she posed with were flashing white power hand gestures. This was, for those unaware, on the exact date of the 24th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing, which sure as hell means a lot to these anti-government twits. A month later, while Gov. Little was away from the state, and she was acting governor, she used the power to swear in a bunch of “3 percenters” as acting members of the Idaho National Guard. A year later, her support for right-wing lunatic causes would kick into overdrive as Gov. Little did ANYTHING AT ALL to try and halt the spread of Covid-19 in the state. She started attending protests alongside people demanding businesses stay open in early May 2020, and after Gov. Brad Little ordered all the bars in the state to remain closed through June 13th, 2020, during a lockdown… and McGeachin opened her own pub in defiance of the state’s chief executive in May 2020, as a big “f*** you” to the guy who is nominally her boss. By August of 2020, McGeachin was playing up Christian victimhood, whining about church closures Little was enforcing while headlining a protest staged by the John Birch Society. In October 2020, she went full guano-brain, filming a video where she did one of her poses with a Bible and gun while considering that the Covid-19 “pandemic may or may not be occurring” (by this point 200,000 people had already died). McGeachin began to babble about “Critical Race Theory”, in April of 2021, and a month later, she announced a bid to wrest the Governor’s mansion away from Brad Little. By June of 2021 she by going on Tucker Carlson’s white nationalist power-hour on Fox News to further rave about “Critical Race Theory” (without seeming to understand it’s not a thing being taught in schools anyway), and being the dumb cable news-obsessed jagoff he is, Donald Trump was almost definitely watching that night from one of his golf courses because he met with her personally shortly thereafter, and is almost definitely going to be campaigning with her at some point this year. By this point, Brad Little and Janice McGeachin are obviously not talking, but she’s also grown petty enough that whenever he leaves the state for any reason, and she’s acting governor, she starts reversing whatever executive orders he has in place out of spite, only to force him to issue fresh ones to undo hers when he returns. The first time this happened was in early June 2021, when Little when to a Republican Governors’ Association meeting only to learn via Twitter that she had overturned all mask mandates back in Idaho. By October 2021, McGeachin was using her brief moments in power to try and send Idaho National Guard troops to the U.S. Mexico border (only to be told by the commander that Little told him to stand down), Little also responded on Twitter by letting Idahoans know that he’s going to flat out reverse any order McGeachin makes while he’s away. In November of 2021, Gov. Little again left the state to attend a conservative policy conference in Florida, and McGeachin was claiming she wasn’t informed he had left the state and it was “a violation of the law”, before starting to ask a lot of questions about if she gets a pay rate at the governor’s level when she’s serving in his stead, because of course she’s in this for the money. McGeachin ran against her own 2018 running mate in 2022, trying to officially supplant him as governor, and lost in the GOP Primary. As she is soon to be out of office, we will set aside her profile at this time to cover another wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 1156-55, since this was established in July 2014.


Tim Remington
Welcome to what is the 1156th original profile here at “Fanatical Republican Extremist of the Day”, where we’re profiling Tim Remington, who was a member of the Idaho House of Representatives for less than a year, specifically January of 2020 through December of 2020. Remington is also a pastor who survived being shot six times in 2016 from a man who believed Pastor Remington was a part of a conspiracy where aliens would enslave all humans on the planet. The miraculous story of his survival of the attack made him a known quantity in conservative circles in Idaho, so Gov. Brad Little appointed him to finish out the term of former legislator John Green, and for a second, it seemed like there might be something positive to come out of the story of Green’s corruption.Then again, if he had begun supporting gun control measures so that no one would have to be shot like him, that would have been nice, but not so much.

And then Covid-19 happened, and as Gov. Little issued a stay-at-home order to try and prevent the disease, his new appointee in the state legislature defied him and continued holding in-person church services. Church members were popping positive on Covid-19 tests, and he still viewed the situation as a “test” from God that he would not be deterred from hosting services from out of fear… while he got people sick and put their lives on the line. He straight up lied to his congregation, and told them Covid-19 was no worse than the flu, and that “no one had died” of Covid-19 in Idaho at the time. After weeks of getting people sick, Remington finally went to virtual services, which was an option the whole time.

Remington’s time in office showed he voted like a pastor, focused on trying to ban abortion in Idaho, avoid acknowledging the gender identity of transgender Americans, or let transgender girls participate in school sports.

Tim Remington never wanted to be a legislator in the first place, and left office at the end of the half term he served as one. Nothing of value was lost.

[babyblob]

The Senate race in AZ has been called for Mark Kelly, about time.

This is great news.

I am still waiting for The Lake race to be called. Though she already said she is already calling fraud it will be nice to have her officially lose.

[worstblogever]

On November 5th, the Kari Lake campaign received an envelope they say contained white powder (which would have sparked anthrax fears twenty years ago).

The police investigated and... there was nothing found in the envelope, at all.

Unless it was a key bump that Kari snorted, I have only the explanation that they're lying idiots.

[Mister Mets]

A weird thing about Senate elections is that it's often based on circumstances from earlier cycles, with some incumbents benefitting from earlier wave years. Republicans had decent years in 2010 and 2016, which meant they were defending 60 percent of seats in 2022 (still no excuse for awful candidates in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Georgia.) The class of 2024 comes after strong Democratic cycles in 2006, 2012 and 2018.

Looking at the states up in 2024, this is how I see the landscape.

Democrats heavily favored to keep a seat
California- Whether it's an open election, or whoever is appointed to replace Dianne Feinstein is running for a full term.
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Jersey
New York
Rhode Island
Washington

Republicans heavily favored to keep a seat
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nebraska (Special Election)- Ben Sasse is retiring, but this is a state Republicans win by around 20 points.
North Dakota
Tennessee
Utah
Wyoming

Democrats favored to keep a seat
Maine- Angus King is an independent who caucuses with Democrats. He may decide not to run for a third term at 80, but an open election in Maine favors Democrats.
Michigan- It's a swing state where a Republican came within two points of unseating an incumbent in 2020, although Stabenow seems like a stronger incumbent.
New Mexico- It's a bit more competitive than New York or Maryland.
Pennsylvania- It's a swing state, although the incumbent is popular.
Virginia- The popular Republican Governor defeated a former Democratic Governor, so Republicans have a shot with a good nominee.
Wisconsin- It's a swing state, although the incumbent is popular.

Republicans favored to keep a seat
Florida- It's more of a red state than a swing state now.
Indiana- Open election
Texas- Ted Cruz did win by only three points last time.

Democrats hold a really competitive seat
Arizona- Likely competitive primary in swing state.
Montana- Incumbent holds seat in state Trump won by 16 points.
Nevada- The incumbent Democratic Governor lost. The incumbent Senator is likely to stay on narrowly.
Ohio- Incumbent holds seat in increasingly red state.
West Virginia- Incumbent holds seat in state Trump won by nearly 40 points.

Republicans hold a really competitive seat
None really

This may be why there's some talk about whether Sotomayor (a 68 year old with a major health condition) should leave the court. It's entirely possible that after 2024, there won't be the combination of a Democratic President and Senate for some time.

Much is unpredictable. There could easily be a Democratic wave year, especially if Republicans nominate Trump, or if he loses the nomination and torches the party. Politicians can have scandals, and lose sure things. Strong candidates can make a difference, as can weak candidates.

[Mister Mets]

This is great news.

I am still waiting for The Lake race to be called. Though she already said she is already calling fraud it will be nice to have her officially lose.

I am pleased it looks like she'll lose.

I was concerned about her as a top choice for Vice President in '24 and a contender for the Trump base in her own right in '28 or later.

Bets on how quick it takes him to fall out a window?

Let's not forget the odds he falls down the stairs. It would make sense for him to avoid any place with a second floor.

[CaptainEurope]

The only problem is that Putin is a moderate by Russian standards, as fantastic as that seems, so next guy in line unlikely to be any better.

Who says that?

[kidfresh512]

Police: No powder in envelope reported by candidate's office

PHOENIX (AP) — There was no powder in an envelope that was opened at the Phoenix campaign headquarters of Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, police said.

Phoenix police spokesperson Donna Rossi said Friday that “the state lab tested the items turned over to them,” The Arizona Republic reported. The lab “determined there was no substance inside.”

Phoenix police and fire officials said they were called to the building around 2 a.m. Sunday, on a report of an envelope containing suspicious white powder.

Oh Kari Lake....

[The Cool Thatguy]

Who says that?

Yeah, I have a hard time seeing Putin as a moderate.

And at the same time, I can't imagine that the next Russian leader wouldn't recognize the harm being done to their country by this pointless war.

They're wasting their army in a pathetic attempt to save face. The next leader will have to spend half their life rebuilding it

[Gray Lensman]

Yeah, I have a hard time seeing Putin as a moderate.

And at the same time, I can't imagine that the next Russian leader wouldn't recognize the harm being done to their country by this pointless war.

They're wasting their army in a pathetic attempt to save face. The next leader will have to spend half their life rebuilding it

There ARE people with influence in Russia who are much more hard line on Ukraine than Putin - ones openly calling for genocide.

[babyblob]

The problem in Russia is the so called next leader we all keep talking about would have to come from Putin's inner circle or some one well known enough by the people. And for someone like that they would have to have not pissed off Putin enough for Putin to speak out against or jail.

So that person would have to hold close to the same views and thoughts as Putin. So that would in my view that could make them just as bad.

[Robotman]

Trump called in to a Breitbart show and endorsed Rick Scott for Republican Senate Leader: “I think Rick Scott would be much better than McConnell. I know McConnell well. His wife, I call her CoCo Chao. I wasn’t sad to see her go. I’m not a fan of McConnell and I am a fan of Rick Scott.”

In other Republican in-fighting news:

GOP candidate who reportedly misrepresented military service says House Republicans ‘left the campaign to die’


J.R. Majewski, the Republican nominee for Ohio’s 9th Congressional District, said on Friday that Republican establishment leaders are to blame for the party’s performance in the midterm elections this year, not former President Trump.

Majewski said in a post in the right-wing media outlet The National Pulse that House Republicans abandoned him and “left the campaign to die” before he lost to Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) this week.

He said corporate media is working to perpetuate a “myth” that Trump cost the GOP seats in Congress, but this is a “complete lie” and ignores that “McLeadership,” an apparent reference to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), set Trump-backed candidates up to fail.

Or maybe it’s because you lied about your military service, you were at the Capital on Jan. 6, and you create comedically bad rap videos?

I’m just happy that a true piece of sh!t like this guy lost.

[scourge]

There ARE people with influence in Russia who are much more hard line on Ukraine than Putin - ones openly calling for genocide.

Seems more likely they're saying exactly what Putin wants them to say and he's only putting up a public image of being more 'moderate'.

[babyblob]

One thing I was happy to see. There was not the wide spread violence on election day like we feared.

[Gray Lensman]

Seems more likely they're saying exactly what Putin wants them to say and he's only putting up a public image of being more 'moderate'.

Putin's control is tight, but not absolute. If it was, he wouldn't need to split the military into so many different command structures to keep them from being unified.