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

[InformationGeek]

Found this video on YouTube. Very recommended, detailing Trump's horrible track record with LGBT Rights.

[InformationGeek]

Meanwhile, Ron Johnson continues to be a jackass.

More pushback within GOP. Ron Johnson: “I am not going to authorize a dime until I understand what we’ve done.”

“I don’t think at this point in time, in the next three weeks, (we can) quickly rush through another trillion dollars of spending. I just don’t see the need for it.”

And then there is Rand Paul over being the same as usual.

GOP sen. Rand Paul just called for the impeachment of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo over his handling of the state's coronavirus outbreak.

[Mister Mets]

Right, well I agree with you on the Southern strategy, Nixon converted the Dixiecrats to Republicans to siphon of the George Wallace votes in 1968, and it is clear that Trump is trying to exasperate a culture war through a law and order campaign that has shades of Nixon. (The interesting thing about the 68 election is that George Wallace also did tremendously well amongst blue collar whites in the North East and mid West, perhaps an ominous sign of things to come in 2016?)

It should be noted that the Republican Party has traditionally garnered a large percentage of Hispanic vote from Reagan onwards, particularly in 2004, when Bush gathered 40 to 44% of their vote to ensure re-election, which is no easy task amongst a lower income group, but after the 2012 election loss, two options were available. Continue to try to increase the Hispanic vote, or Trump's path of increasing the white vote by appealing to dispossessed whites in the rust belt, which alas... brings us today.

At any rate, I don't forsee Trump winning again in the fall, he's too far to the right. Before 2016, Trump had the utopia card advantage of offering a vision different from Clinton/Bush because the Pat Buchanan/Ross Perot wing of the party hadn't had any considerable influence since the Nixon era. Now that people have had a taste of the Kool Aid, I'm pretty sure that the general public just wants to return to normalacy.

Definitely looking forward to a return to normalcy.

One weird twist here is that Trump has more support among Hispanics than he did in 2016.

https://www.vox.com/2020/7/2/2130848...te-trump-biden

[worstblogever]

On this date in both 2014, as well as 2015, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published a profile on Joe Walsh, the former Illinois Congressman. After news leaked that he refused to pay a six figure sum in child support to his ex-wife, threw several temper-tantrums directed at constituents, went out of his way to take part in the slut-shaming of Sandra Fluke by telling her she needed to “GET A JOB” and stop asking for birth control to be covered by her insurance, and then his disgusting attempt to attack the military service of his opponent, Purple Heart winner and multiple amputee Tammy Duckworth, he failed to get re-elected to the U.S. House in the 2012 elections. Since, Walsh has gone into, what else? Right-wing talk radio. Since taking that job, he decided to complain about African Americans “being on the government plantation” to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Then, he decided he would try and make the case for why a certain NFL team from Washington, D.C. should be allowed to keep their racist nickname by blurting out as many racial slurs, including the n-word, on air as he could, and then acted surprised when he got suspended for it. We waited a year, and then got to update Walsh’s profile to talk about how in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack, Walsh went on Twitter to rage against CNN and MSNBC for refusing to show the controversial cartoons of the prophet, Mohammed, on air, and said because they were “appeasing cowards”, he hoped that their offices would “be where the Islamists strike next”. After the mass shooting that took the lives of several Dallas police officers by a lone wolf shooter motivated by racial animas, Joe Walsh decided to get on Twitter again, and warn President Obama and Black Lives Matter that it was all out race war, because “real America” was coming for them. Oddly, these days Walsh’s shows have shown him with varying states of sanity, where one minute he’s raving about conspiracy theories and the next he’s leveling criticism at Donald Trump where it’s warranted. Seems to depend on what day you tune in, and where whatever medication he’s taking is working or not, on which Joe Walsh you get.

On this date in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” shared our profile of Scott Jones, a Sacramento County sheriff who challenged Democratic Rep. Ami Bera for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for California's 7th Congressional District in the 2016 elections. Well... the GOP probably should have had another option. Jones registered to be on the ballot in November of 2015. Fast forward six months to May of 2016, and a lawsuit against Sacramento County Sheriff's Department awarded the plaintiffs $3.5 million dollars (which the taxpayers will have to pay). Apparently the SCSD had a pervasive environment of bias for giving preferential treatment or promotions to men, at the expense of female sheriffs, and when those women reported it, the men in the department started to retaliate by harassing them for blowing the whistle, siccing internal affairs on them in retribution, or punitively transferring them. Now, with all that happening under Jones' watchful eye, maybe the dots would be hard to connect to show he was directly responsible for a culture of misogyny. Well, forget about that... unsealed court documents have revealed a deposition from a woman not among the plaintiffs saying that he had a sexual relationship with a subordinate female deputy, who described being groped and kissed by Jones in the office repeatedly, and that he was trying to persuade her to attend conventions with him in Reno. (Jones is married with four children, like so many other Republicans representing "family values"). If that weren't enough, Sheriff Jones has also drawn the attention of the Black Lives Matter movement, who have staged protests outside his offices as part of their overall movement, and the fact that there have been two African American men killed by the SCSD the past few years. While he may not be the worst Republican, or the worst sheriff we've ever profiled, to be sure, but Scott Jones is not looking like he's going to be elected to higher office.

On this date in 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Arizona State Senator Steve Montenegro, elected to serve District 13 in that body after spending 2009-2016 working in the Arizona House of Representatives. He is a rarity among Republicans… Montenegro isn’t just a Latino Republican… he’s actually an immigrant from El Salvador. And, that made him an interesting individual to watch during the debate over Arizona’s SB 1070 a few years ago, where he voted in favor of it, and argued that a law which allowed Arizona law enforcement to racially profile suspects and detain individuals based on their own judgment if they were suspected of being an illegal immigrant wasn’t racist, in its premise. Montenegro would lamented that most of SB 1070 was overturned by the courts, and still insisted that it was meant to “target coyotes”. But, where things are getting even more interesting is that Montenegro is a is the son of a Pentacostal minister, and is ordained himself. But after he supported SB 1070, a local Christian AM radio station began to get phone calls from the Montenegro’s church, saying that they were illegal immigrants who went there, and that they had donated money towards Montenegro’s college. Montenegro, of course, claims it was “scholarships, loans, and help from his family”. Either way, a lot of the Hispanic community accuse him of being a sellout. When you factor in his background in ministry, and that he once served as an intern to the quite bats*** Evangelical Arizona Congressman Trent Franks, it should come as little surprise that he’s other full-blown GOP theocrat. After an atheist colleague gave a “prayer” to open up a session in the state legislature by thanking Carl Sagan and others, Montenegro respond by freaking out and changing the rules so that prayers within the legislature MUST mention God. And it’s only part of a sign that Montenegro isn’t so keen on the whole separation of church and state. He’s also sponsored bills so that the clergy can turn away gay couples, sponsored a “religious freedom” law so that Arizona businesses could discriminate against the LGBTQ community, and even tried working to prevent same sex couples from adopting children. Because heaven forbid they end up in a loving home if it’s not with straight people. Even more concerning to us is that Montenegro also changed rules for the media covering the Arizona state legislature, forcing the entire pool of reporters to first undergo background checks before having access to the legislature. When the media cleared their background checks and got to ask him why the hell he did it, he effectively played dumb and pretended he didn’t know the reason for the policy change. Montenegro also co-sponsored SB 1433, a bill aimed at trying to justify why Arizona should be allowed to nullify federal law, bills to have elective courses about the Bible taught in public high schools, voted for a bill to allow Arizona employers to refuse to provide health insurance coverage for employees’ contraception. Montenegro aslo supported bill which would allow law enforcement to make unannounced inspections of abortion facilities, as well as Arizona Republicans’ bonkers bill to have citizens start regarding gold and silver as legal tender. Steve Montenegro took a chance in the 2018 elections, and rather than run for re-election to the State Senate, he opted to run for Arizona Secretary of State, instead. And, as it turns out, Montenegro chose poorly, and lost in the GOP Primary for Arizona Secretary of State, and then in desperation, he tried running for the seat in Congress vacated by his old mentor, Trent Franks, after Franks tried adapting the Handmaid’s Tale to real life and got exposed by the #MeToo movement. Which, SURPRISE! Montengro’s a bit of a hypocrite, as text messages were uncovered between him and an aide where she sent him topless photos and he lamented not having her around (remember, “family values” ordained minister with a family, here). He is currently out of office, and may never recover from the hypocrisy of a sexting scandal as a minister.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Craig Brittain, a 2018 GOP Primary candidate for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, who was seeking the seat left by the retiring Jeff Flake. While we feel like maybe being a pornography mogul would be something that would be make someone a long shot to be a successful political candidate, we think the fact that Craig Brittain has made his living as a purveyor of REVENGE porn is what makes him utterly unfit for any office, unless if by “office” we mean “prison cell”. We’re not going to mince words, if you make money off of the victimization of women whose nude images were given to you to spread without their consent, and you only take them down if they offer you $200-$500, you belong in a jail for extortion, not the U.S. Senate. (Although, given how corrupt most Republican Senators act these days, maybe he would fit right in.) What should not come as a revelation is Brittain continues to have a generally disgusting way of talking to women, sometimes calling them unflattering c-words online, or flat-out telling them their “womanlives” are worth nothing. Because how else can you run a revenge porn site unless you think women are subhuman? Brittains’ “business” is under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, which not shockingly, he wants to abolish. Also, in the interest of being a libertarian-wing Republican who takes the ideology to near anarchic levels of non-governance, he would like to also abolish the Federal Communications Commission, Internal Revenue Service, United Nations, Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Reserve, Transportation Security Administration, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. As far as campaign rhetoric, Brittain claimed to want to be the biggest ally he could for Donald Trump, constantly harassed journalists on social media for not supporting his campaign in print like he would prefer, and accused Democratic Primary candidate Deedra Abboud of being “a sponsor of terror” which we’re sure had nothing to do with the fact that she’s a Muslim and he’s a deranged bigot. And that’s not an isolated event, as he has yelled at a venture capitalist on Twitter and called them “towelhead piece of s*** invader” and “raghead”. Which is even more strange because there’s no indication that the person he was screaming at is in any way Muslim, Sikh, or of any African or Asian descent. Brittain’s defense against all these incidents of abusive behavior on Twitter? “It wasn’t me, it was some messenger”. Yes, he went with the Family Circus Ghost defense. Craig Brittain’s campaign for U.S. Senate faced several challenges. The first being, he’s still Craig Brittain, bigoted revenge porn mogul. The second being is he is currently banned from Twitter, for accusing several survivors of the Parkland shooting of lying about being on campus during the rampage. He filed a lawsuit in protest of his banning, and we’re pretty sure that Twitter is going to win it based on previous precedent over their terms of use and kicking people off the site for “abusive behavior” (I mean, the slurs and misogyny are one thing, but the conspiracy theory stuff… what the?). We’re not certain his claims that he’s going to have a campaign event with a combination of white national guests like Ann Coulter, Tucker Carlson, Milo Yiannopolous, would be appearing on stage with Snoop Dogg and Run the Jewels… but it seems more likely that Brittain is just bats*** koo-koo. As he seems to be unlikely to ever reach elected office, we’ll set aside his profile at this time and take a look at another kooky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 892-45, since this was established in July 2014.)

[sammy_hansen]

The whole argument is about whether progressives would stand up for conservatives were the situation reversed.

In this case, progressives are upset about a specific example where one can reasonably argue that people to whom they are politically simpatico are wronged by Republican officeholders/ appointees. So to determine how they would act if the situation were reversed, we should consider whether there is any example of progressives standing up for conservatives arguably wronged by Democratic officeholders/ appointees.

If there aren't any such examples, that fits the idea that the response to this would largely be partisan.

No, the argument was about what the narrative would be if such authoritarian and extrajudicial tactics were being used in countries with a less than stellar track record on human rights and the rule of law. You twisted it to make it some dichotomy about political ideologies, as that’s the only prism through which you can argue things.

So let’s get back on topic and stop diverting. What would people and the media be saying if these police activities were happening in:

Hong Kong?
Russia?
Venezuela?
Brazil?
Palestine?
Myanmar?
(Apartheid) South Africa?
Sudan?
The Philippines?
Xinjiang?

Would the narrative be that a fair and honest government was simply trying to restore peace and order? Or that it was brutally crushing dissent? That was the point of my supposition. This administration doesn’t like dissent and opposition and is using deplorable tactics to crush that.

I’m really disappointed in this whataboutism. You claim to be against “loaded questions” and bad faith arguments, but here we are. I always saw you as willing to engage fairly and decently on the issues, but I was wrong. I can see you are simply a partisan.

Which is fine. But don’t couch it in lawyer speak and gobbledegook and phrases like “There’s an argument to be made.” Say what you think. At least someone like PwrdOn doesn’t mask their views behind wishy-washy statements.

Aja was right. There really is no point engaging with you.

[worstblogever]

Kevin Hern

Welcome to what is the 892nd original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing the U.S. House Representatives from Oklahoma’s Kevin Hern, from Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District, a McDonald’s franchisee who has now finishing up his freshman term in Congress. He survived a GOP Primary with 55% of the vote, and then won in the general election with 59% against Democrat Tim Gilpin, sliding into the House seat formerly held by Jim Bridenstine.

Kevin Hern is also brazenly corrupt, as his friends’ companies back home in Oklahoma and all its McDonald’s franchise were apparently one of the first in line to snatch up every last dollar in PPP loans to line his pockets with $1-2 million in taxpayer dollars during the Covid-19 pandemic, while all the peasants in his district could wait for their $1200 pittance. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as he has refused to abstain from voting against legislation that would directly affect his businesses since being sworn in, actively campaigning against bills to affect fast food franchisees.

But it’s not always self-serving corruption for Hern, sometimes he rallies behind corruption within the White House, as when he tried defending Donald Trump from impeachment by being one of the 41 Republicans to follow Matt Gaetz into a classified hearing “protest” that the GOP was more than welcome to just participate in.

Rep. Hern also lauded Donald Trump’s stupid f***ing idea to host his first campaign rally in months in Tulsa during the Covid-19 pandemic as “a testament to the people of Oklahoma”. The predictions of health experts warning against it have come true and over 500 infections occurred from that event alone… so apparently Hern wants to celebrate Trump killing people like the dumb s*** he is.

Now, let’s explore Hern’s voting record in his first term:

• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Hern voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• January 27th, 2019: Kevin Hern votes against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attack Hern our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
• February 28th, 2019: Hern 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. Hern 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.
• April 4th, 2019: Kevin Hern is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote 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 17th, 2019: Hern votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Hern votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Kevin Hern 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 23rd, 2019: Hern is one of 41 Republicans who, while staring down the possibility of Donald Trump being impeached, stage a ridiculous publicity stunt in response by crashing a classified impeachment inquiry hearing for a “protest”.
• December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Hern is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
• December 18th, 2019: Hern 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.
• March 13th, 2020: Rep. Hern votes against the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
• May 15th, 2020: Hern votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

This is what he’s doing in his first term in office. Maybe someone should think about keeping him around long term, y’know? His challenger in November is Kojo Asamoa-Caesar, the first African-American and youngest candidate to ever run for Oklahoma’s 1st Congressional District. It's going to be a big hill for Asamoa-Caesar to climb, as the district has a +17 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index. Still, a lot can happen, and the country looks to be particularly fed up with Team Red, especially given the handling of the Covid-19 crisis… which Kevin Hern has already shown he only views as an opportunity to exploit to make himself richer while everyday Americans are exposed to the virus and die.

[Jack Dracula]

Because your news sources may be limited.

No, my news sources aren't limited.
It's because the modern Republican party somehow convinces conservative voters they have their best interests at heart while screwing them and the rest of us over.

[The no face guy]

Definitely looking forward to a return to normalcy.

One weird twist here is that Trump has more support among Hispanics than he did in 2016.

https://www.vox.com/2020/7/2/2130848...te-trump-biden

Interesting article, but nothing to worry about, in order for the Hispanic vote to have an impact for Republicans, Trump would have to be polling in the mid 30's with today's demographics, and there may be even a ground swell in the Hispanic turn out this election, as they didn't show up to vote for Clinton. Biden also won the primary in Florida, that has one of the largest democratic Hispanic voting blocks.

Still I confess Florida worries me, but with that state about to turn into the epicenter for COVID 19, it will most likely be Trump's curtain call, but you never know, a lot can happen between now and November, for he who wins Florida wins the election.

[kidfresh512]

Derek Chauvin and wife face felony tax fraud charges

Racking up the assortment of charges.

[BeastieRunner]

Derek Chauvin and wife face felony tax fraud charges

Racking up the assortment of charges.

Eh, Trump will pardon them all.

[sammy_hansen]

Eh, Trump will pardon them all.

And give them the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

[numberthirty]

Interesting article, but nothing to worry about, in order for the Hispanic vote to have an impact for Republicans, Trump would have to be polling in the mid 30's with today's demographics, and there may be even a ground swell in the Hispanic turn out this election, as they didn't show up to vote for Clinton. Biden also won the primary in Florida, that has one of the largest democratic Hispanic voting blocks.

Still I confess Florida worries me, but with that state about to turn into the epicenter for COVID 19, it will most likely be Trump's curtain call, but you never know, a lot can happen between now and November, for he who wins Florida wins the election.

In this particular instance?

I would say that might not be the near certainty that it usually is. Trump is doing an incredibly capable job of talking folks out of whatever reasons they may believe that they have to vote for Trump in the fall.

The only potential "From Out Of Left Field..." factor that I could see actually working in Trump's favor could be a workable vaccine by election time.

[Mister Mets]

No, my news sources aren't limited.
It's because the modern Republican party somehow convinces conservative voters they have their best interests at heart while screwing them and the rest of us over.

If you can't come up with any examples of situations in the last dozen years in which anyone can reasonably argue that conservatives were wronged by Democratic officeholders/ appointees (which I admit is a really broad goal post) the problem is with your news sources rather than with there being no situation in twelve years in which any conservative was arguably wronged by Democratic officeholders/ appointees.

Interesting article, but nothing to worry about, in order for the Hispanic vote to have an impact for Republicans, Trump would have to be polling in the mid 30's with today's demographics, and there may be even a ground swell in the Hispanic turn out this election, as they didn't show up to vote for Clinton. Biden also won the primary in Florida, that has one of the largest democratic Hispanic voting blocks.

Still I confess Florida worries me, but with that state about to turn into the epicenter for COVID 19, it will most likely be Trump's curtain call, but you never know, a lot can happen between now and November, for he who wins Florida wins the election.

Yeah, Biden's more than making up for it with his numbers among old white voters.

[AnakinFlair]

Especially when those protestors got the tear gas from over-zealous, militarized police who see no problem using toxic chemicals on peaceful protesters. Or are we saying that protestors are brewing up military grade tear gas in their basements, now too?

Darn those wacky protestors for fighting back! Why cant they take a quiet beating and slink back to their mommies' basements, like the good old days!?

Oh....what's that? Their moms are ALSO protesting and getting gassed and assaulted by bastards in uniform?

Huh...

I especially like the story that there was also a group of dads marching with the moms- and one of them brought a leaf blower to blow back the tear gas. Ingenious.

The only protestors 'using tear gas against police' that _I_ have seen are the ones who pick up the canister the police used on them FIRST and throw it back at the piggies to give them a small taste of their own medicine.

Which I call fair game.

After all, if those cops weren't doing anything wrong, they wouldn't get their own chemical weapons tossed back at them.

Not that it would bother the cops that much, since they were all wearing gas masks.