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

[numberthirty]

It’s a really good insight, thanks! And I think this is where posters like PwrdOn are both right and wrong. Right in the sense that there’s no decent chance that Democrats can swing the mythical moderate Republican because they have gone so far off the deep end and are delusional, but also wrong in the same vein because America is a right-wing/conservative country that will never accept leftist politics.

You've got to accept a lot of most likely nonsensical assertions to really buy into that. For instance...

- That Americans have been presented with actual "Leftist..." options to(or not to...) embrace.
- That the actual minority that decides most elections actually in any way represents the actual perspective of America as a country.
- That what you seem to believe is not the result of massive amounts of money being spent and versus a reflection of America's politics.

[Surf]

Let’s not forget the likes of Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh and Faux News have contributed greatly to the dumbing down of Republicans as a whole while ramping up their paranoia and bottomless white grievance. The latter played a big part in this mess, whites see the country becoming more and more of a melting pot in terms of races, faiths and sexual orientation, none of which they can stomach, they see themselves as no longer being at the top of the societal food chain, and that frightens them, of course, as is always the case, people invariably hate what they fear. Trump tapped into all that hate and fear and rode it all the way to the Oval Office, now he’s weaponized both to use for his shot at a second term.

I'm sayin', this whole Bannon thing has got me kinda shook. For all the utter bullshit about conspiracies and those who promote them are able to be elected and govern, fam, it's like there are scores and scores of whites who don't mind being grifted. What else am I supposed to believe? Such a brazen con too, there IS AN ACTUAL CONSORTIUM GANG OF GRIFTERS WHO ARE FLEECING THIS COUNTRY EMPLOYED BY THE PRESIDENT. I can't even feel bad for these people who have been bilked, I tell my kids that all the time, it's a BIG country, way bigger than most people realize. Clearly there are tens of thousands, likely many more, suckers willing to give up their money for a private boarder wall scheme. Brian Kolfage, it is way tough on disabled guys in prison so you know.

[Kirby101]

It’s a really good insight, thanks! And I think this is where posters like PwrdOn are both right and wrong. Right in the sense that there’s no decent chance that Democrats can swing the mythical moderate Republican because they have gone so far off the deep end and are delusional, but also wrong in the same vein because America is a right-wing/conservative country that will never accept leftist politics.

Actually, when the questions are asked in terms of rights and policy, and not in terms of Democrat/Republican, America is quite progressive. Even if they don't identify themselves as "liberal".

https://prospect.org/power/americans-liberal-even-know/

This is consistent with other polls I have seen over the years.

[The Cool Thatguy]

I'm sayin', this whole Bannon thing has got me kinda shook. For all the utter bullshit about conspiracies and those who promote them are able to be elected and govern, fam, it's like there are scores and scores of whites who don't mind being grifted. What else am I supposed to believe? Such a brazen con too, there IS AN ACTUAL CONSORTIUM GANG OF GRIFTERS WHO ARE FLEECING THIS COUNTRY EMPLOYED BY THE PRESIDENT. I can't even feel bad for these people who have been bilked, I tell my kids that all the time, it's a BIG country, way bigger than most people realize. Clearly there are tens of thousands, likely many more, suckers willing to give up their money for a private boarder wall scheme. Brian Kolfage, it is way tough on disabled guys in prison so you know.

Ya know, I always wondered how they expected to get away with this BS. Is there an actual, legal way they could have donated all that money to one government project?

[Username taken]

I'm sayin', this whole Bannon thing has got me kinda shook. For all the utter bullshit about conspiracies and those who promote them are able to be elected and govern, fam, it's like there are scores and scores of whites who don't mind being grifted. What else am I supposed to believe? Such a brazen con too, there IS AN ACTUAL CONSORTIUM GANG OF GRIFTERS WHO ARE FLEECING THIS COUNTRY EMPLOYED BY THE PRESIDENT. I can't even feel bad for these people who have been bilked, I tell my kids that all the time, it's a BIG country, way bigger than most people realize. Clearly there are tens of thousands, likely many more, suckers willing to give up their money for a private boarder wall scheme. Brian Kolfage, it is way tough on disabled guys in prison so you know.

I have zero empathy for the guys that were duped.

The problem with these guys is they have their heads so far up their asses that they would rather believe a lie than face the truth.

F..k those guys!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I have zero empathy for the guys that were duped.

The problem with these guys is they have their heads so far up their asses that they would rather believe a lie than face the truth.

F..k those guys!

My sentiment exactly. Bannon and his grifting buddies played to the racism of those clueless dopes who were all too willing to fork over their money for the fantasy of a wall to keep out brown skinned people. Those idiots deserved to have been fleeced.

[Surf]

Ya know, I always wondered how they expected to get away with this BS. Is there an actual, legal way they could have donated all that money to one government project?

Hell yes there is, form a private lobbying group. Which the hardest part because everything else after- finding a politician to play ball and getting him to pull federal money for a project is the easier part. Only thing is your average high end lobby deals in billions of dollars, Ma and Pa Kent who have never had a Black or Brown neighbor scratches a couple checks of 2 grand at a time takes years of time. Kolfage and Bannon know the time frame for a con is short. Ma and Pa Kent aren't playing the long game in terms of outcomes, their only cognizant long game is ideology... and entertainment don't forget about that.

[Surf]

I have zero empathy for the guys that were duped.

The problem with these guys is they have their heads so far up their asses that they would rather believe a lie than face the truth.

F..k those guys!

My sentiment exactly. Bannon and his grifting buddies played to the racism of those clueless dopes who were all too willing to fork over their money for the fantasy of a wall to keep out brown skinned people. Those idiots deserved to have been fleeced.

I get that, all day but that's a broad brush. It's more sinister than that. Not every body that donated was some mark, rural American's have disposable income too and they've thrown it at the IDEA of this 'fundraiser'. Sure there were some rubes but a lot of that money were from people who were like- "HEY, I like vibe you are putting out". An ACTUAL STRUCTURE probably is hoping for the best so it's secondary consideration, third in line more than likely. Thumbing the nose at all those animals in the city. Again, entertainment on some level. It's reported Bannon netted a million dollars, I mean that's on this particular end of the hustle, THAT'S NOTHIN' if you're facing Fed time for a scheme. I'd gather only slightly more than half of the donations came from true fools. That's the song they like the hear that the Ethnic monsters are coming and they'll pay to hear more of it. That's how they get high imo.

[worstblogever]

I'm sayin', this whole Bannon thing has got me kinda shook. For all the utter bullshit about conspiracies and those who promote them are able to be elected and govern, fam, it's like there are scores and scores of whites who don't mind being grifted. What else am I supposed to believe? Such a brazen con too, there IS AN ACTUAL CONSORTIUM GANG OF GRIFTERS WHO ARE FLEECING THIS COUNTRY EMPLOYED BY THE PRESIDENT. I can't even feel bad for these people who have been bilked, I tell my kids that all the time, it's a BIG country, way bigger than most people realize. Clearly there are tens of thousands, likely many more, suckers willing to give up their money for a private boarder wall scheme. Brian Kolfage, it is way tough on disabled guys in prison so you know.

In many ways, the rise of Trump parallels what D.C. Stephenson did a century ago. His racist carinval barker style of speeches led him to turn Indiana politics into a graft mill, charged his Klansmen expensive membership fees for their Klan robes and pocketed it, declared himself "the law" in the state, and was getting rich and powerful off of hate. 1 in 3 men in Indiana, at the height of his power, were in the clan. It took murdering a girl he raped to try to cover it up to bring an end to his madness and the people who realized he'd conned them ended him. That's the only real difference, Trump just tried to pay women to go away, or insulted them after assaulting them.

If there's someone whose playbook Trump seems to crib from in politics... it's that guy.

[worstblogever]

The Summer QAnon Went Mainstream



It's as if H.P. Lovecraft, Adolf Hitler, Charles Manson, and Donald Trump collaborated to create a dark, disturbing, twisted, and dangerious version of Pokemon Go.

I worked on planning out when I could post about Qanon folks in CSGOPOTD...

I still won't have covered all of the current batch of kooks who ran for office until the end of 2021. No lie. 16 months of new profiles just to cover QAnon lunacy. With a lot of Covidiots wedged in the middle of that, too.

[Tami]

I worked on planning out when I could post about Qanon folks in CSGOPOTD...

I still won't have covered all of the current batch of kooks who ran for office until the end of 2021. No lie. 16 months of new profiles just to cover QAnon lunacy. With a lot of Covidiots wedged in the middle of that, too.

Speaking of which

Screenshot_2020-08-21 (2) Tom Malinowski on Twitter We've heard from constituents about a push p.jpg

We've heard from constituents about a push poll conducted either by the Kean campaign or some GOP group asking about me allegedly belonging to a "child sex ring."

That's right - they are using a poll to push out the main QAnon conspiracy theory in our district.

Twitter Link

related:

Sad but very predictable the way @DSteinhardtEsq runs the @NJGOP

[Surf]

1 in 3 men in Indiana, at the height of his power, were in the clan. It took murdering a girl he raped to try to cover it up to bring an end to his madness and the people who realized he'd conned them ended him.

True enough, however brief, they ran the government, this is no new con. On my Dad's side I can trace back family as far as I can and it's never outside of Indiana. That 1 in 3 sounds ominous but you gotta remember the other 2 out of the 3 were well aware of the tide of hate and most of that 1/3 had families and wife's who tended those robes and sent their kids to school spouting those lines. Without going on and on one of the oldest heirlooms I had at one time was a revolver from a great, great Uncle who owned part of a store in Marion he owned for personal protection. It took decades to fight that infestation and in most ways it just became cooled and moved to the back burner.



This plaque I pass nearly every day on my way to the hospital. This ain't ancient history, we're about a hundred years out and if one thinks that period didn't plant certain seeds, you don't wanna think of it at all.

[worstblogever]

True enough, however brief, they ran the government, this is no new con. On my Dad's side I can trace back family as far as I can and it's never outside of Indiana. That 1 in 3 sounds ominous but you gotta remember the other 2 out of the 3 were well aware of the tide of hate and most of that 1/3 had families and wife's who tended those robes and sent their kids to school spouting those lines. Without going on and on one of the oldest heirlooms I had at one time was a revolver from a great, great Uncle who owned part of a store in Marion he owned for personal protection. It took decades to fight that infestation and in most ways it just became cooled and moved to the back burner.



This plaque I pass nearly every day on my way to the hospital. This ain't ancient history, we're about a hundred years out and if one thinks that period didn't plant certain seeds, you don't wanna think of it at all.

Keep the family legacy of fighting the good fight, man.

[Powerboy]

LetÂ’s not forget the likes of Alex Jones, Rush Limbaugh and Faux News have contributed greatly to the dumbing down of Republicans as a whole while ramping up their paranoia and bottomless white grievance. The latter played a big part in this mess, whites see the country becoming more and more of a melting pot in terms of races, faiths and sexual orientation, none of which they can stomach, they see themselves as no longer being at the top of the societal food chain, and that frightens them, of course, as is always the case, people invariably hate what they fear. Trump tapped into all that hate and fear and rode it all the way to the Oval Office, now heÂ’s weaponized both to use for his shot at a second term.

In addition to Limbaugh, Fox, and so on, I would also not underestimate the "contributions" of Falwell, Roberts, Jim Baker, and their ilk. They turned Christianity into a cartoon and then, in the late 1970s, their sort, the Christian Right, hijacked the Republican party.

I didn't know this until recently but, well into the 1970s, Billy Graham was still Pro-Choice. But the Christian Right took a hard anti-abortion stance, probably in response to Roe vs. Wade. This is doubly ironic because, even if one is a biblical literalist, there is no biblical defense for an anti-abortion stance. Women were executed for having sex outside of marriage under laws allegedly decreed by "God" and those executions took place while the women were still "with child", executing the "child" as well. The Bible makes it clear when it counts as a person. "The breath is the life". When the umbilical cord is cut and it breathes on it's own, that's when it is a "real" human being. This has to do with air being an invisible, life sustaining mystical force. Of course, the literalists who believe they are true to ancient traditions and see the Bible as unchanging are really following a tradition of belief that's maybe fifty to a hundred years old at best on this particular issue. But try to tell them that.

But my main point is that the takeover by the Religious Right put the Republican party into a position of Science denial as well as well as having to bring religious beliefs into the political and law making system. Even Barry Goldwater, who was considered the classic conservative in his time, would today be rejected by the Republican party in the same way they rejected John McCain for being too sane and reasonable.

https://hollowverse.com/barry-goldwa...upon%20freedom.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the Georgia Governor Nathan Deal, a man so inept that he couldn’t handle two inches of snow without declaring it a state of emergency, a man so corrupt he was under ethics investigations for half a decade, and a man so bigoted that he appointed a former spokesman for an anti-immigrant hate group to a state immigration board, wants the 14th Amendment repealed, tried to block Syrian refugees from coming to his state, wrote the White House to demand a copy of Barack Obama’s birth certificate, and made it a point to justify why Georgia should have Confederate-themed license plates. Oh, and Deal was forced to apologize after he referred to African Americans as “colored people” in November of 2016. Mercifully, Nathan Deal left office in early 2019, and has yet to run for any other office.

On this date in 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Jim Renacci, who served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives for Ohio’s 16th Congressional District, first arriving in the Tea Party Wave in 2010. He was the tenth wealthiest member of Congress at the time, and that had a lot to do with his acquisition of a car dealership in 2007 by buying it off a guy about to go to prison for apparently laundering drug money. Renacci won re-election three times after the GOP gerrymandered the Congressional map, and then after a brief flirtation with running for Governor of Ohio to replace John Kasich, opting for an ill-fated attempt at getting elected to U.S. Senate in the 2018 Blue Wave year, thinking he could knock off Demoratic Senator Sherrod Brown. Late in that last campaign, as Renacci was trailing by double-digits, he and Ohio Republicans led a misinformation campaign to accuse Sherrod Brown of committing sexual harassment against supposedly multiple three decades prior. Bizarrely, while they deemed Christine Blasey Ford’s accusations against Brett Kavanaugh as “not credible”, with all her ability to show she had been attacked and said as much years prior to going public to her therapist and others… Brown’s accuser never came forward publicly, who had no one to corroborate her, at all, as “credible”. Effectively, Renacci said, “I heard from a woman that said…” and never produced that woman.He might have well have been touting an imaginary girlfriend from Canada. Instead, he also decided to accuse Sherrod Brown of also committing domestic abuse back in 1986, again, without any evidence. Other than being a scumbag of a campaigner, we’ll also note that Renacci actually had the balls to defend Donald Trump’s comments about “s***hole countries” in 2018. His voting record included multiple attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, twice voting to defund Planned Parenthood, voting against Disaster Relief Funding for victims of Hurricane Sandy, but for the 2013 Government Shutdown,voting for Trumpcare and the GOP Tax Plan/Scam in 2017, and voted to strip protections from the Americans with Disabilities Act. We personally hope he never runs for office again, and just goes back to being a shady car salesman. As such, we’ll set aside his profile at this time, and take a look at another wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 903-45, since this was established in July 2014.


Jason Smith

Welcome to what is the 903rd original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing the sitting U.S. House Representative from Missouri’s 8th District, Jason Smith, who was first elected to Congress back in 2012 after serving eight years as a member of the Missouri House of Representatives. Our interest in profiling Rep. Smith began as far back as 2016, when during a sit-in led by the legendary Congressman John Lewis where Democrats sat on the House floor because Republicans were stubborn enough on gun laws to hold up legislation that would have prevented those on the terror watch list from buying guns. Smith deemed the protest “ridiculous”, and claiming they were “politicizing a very horrible tragedy” in the Pulse massacre to hold it.

In 2017, Smith threw a tantrum about the Affordable Care Act having a tax upon tanning salons, claiming that they should tax THE SUN because it causes more skin cancer than they do, and that the tax somehow sexist because women use tanning salons more than men:

"Whoever decided to impose this tax seven years ago, before I was here, I’d be quite curious of why did they just randomly pick this tax to have it paid for on the backs of so many females. When you just look at the facts, roughly 80 percent of the individuals who are burdened with this tax are females. It looks like an interesting target, which I think is inappropriate."

Ah yes. A champion of feminist rights who votes to defund Planned Parenthood and refers to women as "females". Totally not full of s***, there.
It was in early 2019, though, once his party became the minority in the House that we really saw who Jason Smith is. Our country was weeks into the longest government shutdown in its history, engineered by Smith and the GOP. And as House Democrats began working to undo the mess Smith deliberately created, he screamed, “Go back to Puerto Rico!”at California Congressman Tony Cardenas. Smith’s Chief of Staff claimed the comment was directed at Democrats who were “vacationing in Puerto Rico” the prior week, when the reality is, they were there still assessing the island’s recovery almost two years after Hurricane Maria struck and the Trump administration’s lack of a response.

By the end of that year, Smith was criticizing Democrats’ attempts to impeach Donald Trump for soliciting Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election, calling it a “circus”:

”I continue to stand with President Trump and defend him against these outrageous attacks from the liberal mob majority that consistently puts politics before people. This impeachment circus should have never been started; it has been a complete disgrace to our country and has caused complete chaos in government. I look forward to seeing the President acquitted on both charges by the United States Senate in a timely manner so we can get back to addressing the issues that face the American people.”

If the above quote wasn’t a clear indicator that Jason Smith is completely in the tank for Donald Trump, in spite of his rampant corruption and incompetence, in March of 2020, as Trump was ignoring the threat of Covid-19 as it began spreading throughout the United States, Smith lectured Democrats that Trump “deserved more praise” because of what Trump was doing to protect American farmers from China (when Trump’s policies were sending more farmers into bankruptcy and there was a statistical rise in farmer suicides).

"China has exploited our farmers and workers again and again and again. Decades have gone by with no change. And now, when President Trump decides to fight back? Just bickering and politics from Democrats. Disgraceful."