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

[worstblogever]

Mike Folmer

Welcome to what is the 908th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing former Pennsylvania State Senator Mike Folmer, who was first elected to represent State Senate District 48 back in the 2006 elections, and held his seat through 2019. It’s not his voting record that concerns us, even though he sponsored anti-choice bills, support for the death penalty, and how he continuously found new ways to cut the social safety net, and increased voter suppression tactics through voter ID laws…

No, Mike Folmer is getting a profile because in 2019, he was arrested on child pornography charges and forced to resign. He gave the bizarre excuse to police “that he had been dealing with some personal problems/issues and that he had received child pornography through his Tumblr blog.” (We don’t care what kinds of s*** you’re going through, Mike. You don’t get to indulge in the victimization of a child because you “had a rough stretch”, you absolute f***ing monster.)

Mike Folmer was sentenced in July of 2020 to serve a one to two-year sentence in county prison, and after that, will have eight years of probation and be required to register as a sex offender.

Another fine example of “the party of family values”.

[Mister Mets]

Haha way to miss the point. Has nothing to do with an obligation to support progressives. She made a big deal about not endorsing primary challenges. Then the first high profile moderate to challenge a progressive (one she worked with for 25 years) she makes an uncharacteristic endorsement for. Yeah she open the floodgates to people not caring what she thinks on primary challenges.

It was dumb of Pelosi to get involved in the primary, especially with Joe as the underdog, and the establishment's message against primaries of incumbents, but for many, this wasn't a progressive VS moderate race.

Their political positions were generally rather similar.

The main argument against Markey was that he was a nonentity as a Senator, and failed to follow in the footsteps of prominent leaders like JFK, Ted Kennedy, Paul Tsongas, John Kerry and Elizabeth Warren. He had been in Congress since 1976, and most voters had no impression of him.

The main argument against Kennedy was that his reason for running was personal ambition.

Markey's people did a great job rebranding him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/u...sultPosition=2

One frustration for the Kennedy camp was that many of the criticisms against Joe Biden apply just as well to Markey, who supported the 1990s-era crime bill, the Iraq war, the Patriot Act, and busing. However, they forgot that Biden won the primary quite comfortably, even in Massachusetts, where he was against a home state favorite and the most prominent Senator from New England.

Wow. So the first female President was actually Edith Wilson. Never knew that.



I think his assassination put a permanent halo over RFK's head. Maybe he was the best of the Kennedy's, but I've also heard he was a right bastard as well and had a vicious mean streak to anyone he considered an enemy.


A question for someone who doesn't live in Massachusetts: are the Kennedy's still a big deal there? It doesn't feel like they should be to me, but I'm not from that area.

It's probably likely that if Bobby hadn't been assassinated, he would have lost the primary. At the time of his death, McCarthy hadn't withdrawn and Humphrey, the eventual nominee, was leading in delegates.

Bobby could have been well-positioned for a nomination in 1972, although considering Nixon would win a 49 state landslide, it seems unlikely that any Democrat would have been able to win that one.

One of my favorite polls was of Massachusetts voters asked about an imaginary Kennedy. He had a 24 percent approval rating, and 1 person disapproval despite not existing.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Someone with far more compassion than me might actually feel sorry for Republicans who, day after day after day are forced to defend the indefensible every time Trump opens his yap to spew hairbrained, batshit crazy nonsense like his rumor the other day about an airplane full of black clothed anarchists and how "dark shadows" were controlling Joe Biden (aside: I didn't know Barnabas Collins was into politics). But hey, Moscow Mitch and rest of the craven cowards in the GOP willingly got into bed with the Orange Menace, and now, they're constantly scratching themselves, so I have zero empathy for the lot of those assclowns.

[worstblogever]

Someone with far more compassion than me might actually feel sorry for Republicans who, day after day after day are forced to defend the indefensible every time Trump opens his yap to spew hairbrained, batshit crazy nonsense like his rumor the other day about an airplane full of black clothed anarchists and how "dark shadows" were controlling Joe Biden (aside: I didn't know Barnabas Collins was into politics). But hey, Moscow Mitch and rest of the craven cowards in the GOP willingly got into bed with the Orange Menace, and now, they're constantly scratching themselves, so I have zero empathy for the lot of those assclowns.

The GOP and their voters have invented a dark fantasy version of the left that doesn't exist, and paint themselves as the heroes to stop them.

And as we watch them wrestle with their own scarecrow, we're supposed to think that's effective leadership, and put these kooks into office in November.

Like... we have some real f***ing problems to deal with, and we have one party that wants to deal with them, and another that wants to play make-believe with a threat that's not there, and even if it was, it wouldn't be threatening. Like, what will these militant leftists do with power? Give us universal healthcare? Promote racial tolerance? *Fox News shudders*

EDIT for relevant cartoon:

[Mister Mets]

Because of the high number of Democrats who plan to vote by mail, it may take a while to find out who won the White House. It may also initially seem like a comfortable Trump win.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020...in-voting.html

For a good while now, a number of us political obsessives have been playing Paul Revere in warning of an Election Night phenomenon that could lead to a contested presidential election and perhaps a constitutional crisis. The issue is an unprecedented number of mail ballots (thanks to COVID-19 fears and the polling-place chaos we saw in many primaries this spring and summer) accompanied by a big partisan split in willingness to vote by mail, mostly created by the president’s interminable attacks on that method of voting. Since, for the most part, Election Day in-person ballots will be counted before mail ballots, Trump and other Republicans may assume an early lead on Election Night that will inevitably be reduced and in many cases erased as mail ballots drift in. Trump being Trump, it doesn’t take much imagination to envision him claiming victory on Election Night and then attacking subsequent Democratic-leaning mail ballots as fraudulent.

Now, the digital data firm Hawkfish has come up with an empirically solid scenario of how this “red mirage” (as they call it) might unfold. An extensive survey conducted by the firm confirmed the partisan split in voting methodologies, and its significance. They explained, via email:

Over 40% of voters intend to vote by mail, nearly double the number who voted by mail in 2016.

Far more Democrats than Republicans intend to vote by mail. Over 50% of Biden’s supporters intend to vote by mail, compared to less than 20% of Trump’s supporters.

The partisan divide in voting method is greater in most battleground states. Over two thirds of Biden supporters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, and Arizona intend to vote by mail; less than one quarter of Trump supporters in these states intend to exercise that same option.

Using the baseline of the 9.3 percent national Biden lead (and a 334–204 advantage in the Electoral College) shown by FiveThirtyEight in August, and information on vote counts in the recent past, Hawkfish shows that an ultimate nine-point Biden national popular vote win could look like a four-point Trump lead (and a 339–199 electoral vote lead) on Election Night:

[I]f by election night all polling place ballots and 40% of vote-by-mail ballots (in states where vote-by-mail will surge high above historical levels) are counted, Trump will temporarily lead in even safely blue states. Given his history of false claims and dismissal of vote-by-mail, Trump may exploit this Red Mirage to claim victory and dispute any subsequent change to the electoral map.

Needless to say, if the presidential race tightens (and Biden’s lead in the FiveThirtyEight polling averages is already down to 7.1 percent), Trump’s Election Night lead could be even larger, even if he’s doomed to defeat. And according to Hawkfish’s estimates, Biden might not take the lead until 75 percent of mail ballots have been counted, which could take several days.

This is something to be aware of, and something the media has to be responsible in communicating.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Because of the high number of Democrats who plan to vote by mail, it may take a while to find out who won the White House. It may also initially seem like a comfortable Trump win.

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020...in-voting.html



This is something to be aware of, and something the media has to be responsible in communicating.

Oh, that'll be fun. I'm still gonna vote absentee ASAP in my state

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Oh, that'll be fun. I'm still gonna vote absentee ASAP in my state

Same here. I expect to get my ballot later this month, as soon as I fill it out, I'll be dropping it off right away. I'm taking no chances, not with the USPS handicapped by one of Trump's stooges, or being in a polling place while COVID-19 is still making the rounds.

[Username taken]

Yes it's been very effective strategy for Trump, recent polls have him winning in Michigan.

The democratic governor of Oregon finally did what the inept mayor of Portland could not do though, brought in the riot squad, and cracked down on the protestors by sweeping them off the street through mass arrests.

Perhaps that will drive the point home that once you engage in property damage, and continually set things on fire, you lose the right to protest.

Once Portland is out of play, Trump will have to find a new point of reference for leftist lawlessness, if Democratic governors are smart, they'll crack down on any unruly mobs, so the media attention goes back onto the Republican States who have failed to keep COVID under control, because of their own will full irresponsibility. The person who wins this election will be the one who controls the narrative.

Exactly this.

Some Minnesota democrats just a few days ago came out to say the state might be in play. While I believe Biden will win that state, there's an issue with Biden's campaign being too "quiet".

Biden has to try and get out in front because Trump is the President and that allows his words and statements tend to get a lot more attention by default.

[Tendrin]

We keep saying Biden needs to control the narrative, but he can only do that if the media actually reports what he says and does.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Saw this story circulating on Twitter. Make of it what you will:

Trump urged Sarah Sanders to ‘take one for the team’ after Kim Jong-un winked at her

[shooshoomanjoe]

Saw this story circulating on Twitter. Make of it what you will:

Trump urged Sarah Sanders to ‘take one for the team’ after Kim Jong-un winked at her

"“Well, Sarah, that settles it,” Trump said, according to Sanders. “You’re going to North Korea and taking one for the team! Your husband and kids will miss you, but you’ll be a hero to your country!”"

So literally sleeping with the enemy is being a hero.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

"“Well, Sarah, that settles it,” Trump said, according to Sanders. “You’re going to North Korea and taking one for the team! Your husband and kids will miss you, but you’ll be a hero to your country!”"

So literally sleeping with the enemy is being a hero.

Can you imagine the hellspawn that would result from a union of Rocketman and Baghdad Betty? Talk about the stuff of nightmares! Come to think of it, has Kim ever been seen with women other than his sister or fawning female soldiers? Things that make you go HMMMMMMMM!

[Joker]

We keep saying Biden needs to control the narrative, but he can only do that if the media actually reports what he says and does.

To be fair, the pizza delivery and animal crossing lawn signs have been in the news... :eyeroll:

I'm not sure what he's supposed to be doing given his age and covid. And really, anything Trump does or says is going to be a bigger story at this point. But there is a lack of Biden in the news for sure.

[The no face guy]

One poll from the Trafalgar Group shows that.

The ASSUMPTION is that this is good for Trump has not actually been borne out in actually reputable polls, which the Trafalgar group isn't, despite their luck in 2016 they are a below average accuracy firm.

Also, as someone who lives in Portland, people outside the city such as yourself have an incredibly distorted view of what's happening here.

Trump is the guy fanning the flames. It's pretty obvious. Law and order only works when you aren't holding the matchbook in plain view.

I would think the people fanning the flames, are the one's who marched towards the left wing mayor's house on his birthday, lit a picnic bench on fire, smashed up a small owners store front window, and tried to enter into his apartment building, while holding up a banner calling him a war criminal. People can view the you tube footage for themselves. Stay home!

Yeah as much as it sucks if you people think the protests and riots are going to come to their neighborhood and Trump is selling himself as the tough guy who will crackdown, it’s going to win over people who just want to have security. Comfort is big in this country. It was the same issue with the economy. When it was good about 6 months ago, Trump always had a shot.

Thank you, Trump is very close to Roger Stone, who served briefly in the Nixon Whitehouse, and engaged in dubious campaign tactics to get him elected.

They are currently using Nixon's "law & order" campaign strategy to get re-elected, to deflect from his incompetence in handling the COVID crisis, alongside the Republican governors of Florida & Texas. Trump was sinking in the polls before the riots and shootings started.

I would go so far as to gander that he his trying to deliberatly gode left wing radicals into action, so that he can look like the face of stability, and Trump's personality is the farthest thing from stability.

Unless you want him managing you through the COVID crisis for the next 4 years, stay home, and let his own incompetence unravel itself.

[Tendrin]

https://twitter.com/brynstole/status...921153542?s=21

Clay Higgins is Clay Higginsing again.