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

[Revolutionary_Jack]

That's a fairer criticism. But it is flatout wrong to say that the government isn't doing anything about the militia idiots in Michigan when the FBI arrested them.

The FBI isn't Trump's personal squad, they are an independent institution. The FBI doing its job doesn't absolve the Trump admin and his lackeys and enablers.

I agree, I think President Trash Panda would do a better job of leading this country until Biden takes over in January.

The only thing is now Trump can use the "racoon excuse" from Friends (the TV Show) for his latest f--k up and it would actually be semi-plausible.

[Hypestyle]

While it's not exactly easy to get into that whole wonky militia mindset...

"College Football..." would be the first thing out of my mouth if you asked for a short "First Reaction..." response to you saying "Michigan Wolverines..."

there's plenty of low-key support for militia culture in Michigan. The state is pretty "deep red" outside of some of the major cities and prominent college towns (Detroit, Lansing, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo)... grand rapids is solidly republican, as are most rural/exurban parts of the state where most state legislators tend to be Republican and especially for the past 30 years in particular the ideological bent has been further right, from the Gingrich-era neocons to today's Trumpists and Tea Party folks. It has led to far-right lurching in state policies for most of the past 30 years.. a democrat was elected as governor in Jennifer Granholm (2002-2010) but she had limited success in bypassing their influence... Republican Rick Snyder served from 2010-2018; he officially promoted himself as a moderate but co-signed on most of the bills the republican-led legislature proposed.. the only nominally progressive accomplishment was to expand Medicaid in the state circa 2014.. of course, Snyder was also responsible for all the emergency management appointments that among other things led to the flint water crisis and detroit's bankruptcy.. Repubs still dominate the legislature after Whitmer's election in 2018... similar scenarios are playing out as in Granholm's tenure.. GOP representatives want full-bore tea-party tax cuts on everything and chopping up of social programs (and adding a drug testing context to everything).. Now that coronavirus has likely dramatically altered the results of the 2020 Census, (especially with 45 heading up the federal government), my only hope is that the (purportedly) independent commission to redistrict Michigan's voting precincts will not fall under arch-conservative sway (officially, the commission is supposed to be four Democrats, four Republicans and five Independents)... we'll see what happens..

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, as well as 2019, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Tennessee's 4th Congressional District, Scott Desjarlais, an Episcopalian physician from Tennessee whose religious background would have made him the perfect Republican to push their social agenda against abortion, contraceptives, and gay rights, while also giving them a guy with the credibility to argue against the Affordable Care Act. The problem with that, though, is Desjarlais has proven to be an embarrassing hypocrite, because while he portrays himself a champion of the pro-life movement, his divorce records were unsealed, and the media discovered he protected the sanctity of marriage by cheating on his wife with four women, and pressured not only his wife (on tape, no less) into getting an abortion, but one of his mistresses. And that mistress was also apparently one of his patients (and she wasn’t the only patient he slept with)… so there went the credibility of the “doctor against the ACA” angle. Also, the “family values Republican” angle, considering he admitted sleeping with six women — including two patients, three co-workers and a drug company representative — during his three-year marriage. But don’t worry, he’s assured everyone that “God has forgiven him”.

Desjarlais is also a big hard-liner on immigration, what with the time he told an 11 year old girl that he was going to deport her dad, and all. Desjarlains again survived a primary threat in 2018, winning with 70% of the vote before going on into the general election and cruising to a victory with 63% of the vote there. He has returned to Washington, and joined the House Freedom Caucus.
Desjarlais has been dodging facing his constituents like a coward these past few years.

His voting record sure would make it seem like that’s the case, and he’s joined the ranks of the hard right extremists:

• May 2nd, 2018: Scott Desjarlais is one of 18 Republicans who sign on to a letter asking to nominate Donald Trump for a Nobel Prize for meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
• January 22nd, 2019: Desjarlais votes against HR 676, which would prevent Donald Trump from doing the unthinkable and walking away from our allies in NATO to appease the Russians.
• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Desjarlais voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/116-2019/h49
• January 27th, 2019: Scott Desjarlais votes against HJR 30, which was meant to express disapproval of Donald Trump not acting against Russian Federation for attack Desjarlais our democracy. You see, he’s fine with our nation being sublet to Vladimir Putin.
• February 28th, 2019: Scott Desjarlais 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. Desjarlais 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: Scott Desjarlais 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: Desjarlais votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
• June 4th, 2019: Rep. Desjarlais votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
• July 16th, 2019: Scott Desjarlais 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 17th, 2019: Desjarlais votes against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
• December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Desjarlais votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
• December 18th, 2019: Desjarlais 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: Desjarlais votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Inexplicably, even as the #MeToo movement continues, Scott Desjarlais remains in Congress, and is seeking a sixth term in office in 2020, this time escaping the GOP Primary without a scratch, and he will battle Democrat Christopher Hale in about three and a half weeks. Hale is a former executive director of a progressive Catholic political advocacy organization and a former Obama/Biden campaign staffer. We’re hoping he pulls a big upset, as Tennessee’s 4th has seemingly come to terms with the fact that their Congressman is a hypocritical, unscrupulous, and clueless creep after re-electing him two years ago with 64% of the vote. He has literally been in office now for a decade, in spite of his unseemly personal/professional life prior to reaching office. We don’t know when they get the brooms to sweep Desjarlais out of office, but it won’t be soon enough.  

[Joker]

Trump to undergo a medical examination on Tucker's show tonight. Marc Siegel will perform the examination. He has apparently spread misinformation about Covid on Fox "news" before.

So that's cool.

[PaulBullion]

Trump is telling Rush Limbaugh right now that there is a "cure" already available for Covid-19. “We have a cure. More than just a therapeutic, we have a cure.”

Yes, he's lying, per usual. But this is dangerous and unhinged lying, coming from someone jacked up on medications.

https://twitter.com/TimOBrien/status...750131714?s=20

[PaulBullion]

Trump is telling Rush Limbaugh right now that there is a "cure" already available for Covid-19. “We have a cure. More than just a therapeutic, we have a cure.”

Yes, he's lying, per usual. But this is dangerous and unhinged lying, coming from someone jacked up on medications.

https://twitter.com/TimOBrien/status...750131714?s=20

[The Chou Lives]

The FBI isn't Trump's personal squad, they are an independent institution. The FBI doing its job doesn't absolve the Trump admin and his lackeys and enablers.



The only thing is now Trump can use the "racoon excuse" from Friends (the TV Show) for his latest f--k up and it would actually be semi-plausible.

THIS. The fbi are law, of government politicians. Sure they answer to them and funding. What I am trying to say is this president act has not acknowledge or condemned an act of domestic terror. Because those clowns were white and it’s a liberal governor.

Had it been republican and a minority, would had been a war zone. Nope. Nothing.

And I know Trump supports calling for national guard on everything and making this a true police state and for the sake of “safety.”

Safety is about facts, knowing what to do and not to do. Not excessive force. These NY republican wanna es do not know what bro g from a Republican state is like. It’s like the third world, but in America I know due to my roots.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump to undergo a medical examination on Tucker's show tonight. Marc Siegel will perform the examination. He has apparently spread misinformation about Covid on Fox "news" before.

So that's cool.

Wait. What? Seriously? Hmm! Do I pass up on watching the finale of the Yankees-Rays divisional series tonight in the faint hope Siegel gives Trump a rectal check? Decisions, decisions!

[Bruce Wayne]

https://twitter.com/TimOBrien/status...750131714?s=20

I thought he already cured COVID with sunlight and bleach.

[PaulBullion]

Look, Trump was 99% always going to survive. A team of doctors, dedicated to that one task, most people are going to survive.

Surviving Covid was never the real concern.

Saying things like "covid was never gonna kill him" is awfully close to conspiracy theories like "there is a cure for cancer they're not giving us."

There is no cure for covid-19.

Oh good lord. This is so dumb. Don’t put quotes on things no one ever said.

I apologize, you did not verbatim say that. You just said something a whole lot like it, and just as wrong and dangerous.

[GindyPosts]

FOX 17 in Detroit interviewed the sheriff of Barry County, Michigan, Dar Leaf. Unsurprisingly, given Leaf's history and views, Leaf found the people who planed the attempted coup on the governor "innocent".

[PaulBullion]

These are the posts you seem to be referring to. I think you're reading things into it that aren't there as he never said Trump was guaranteed to survive. He said it was likely, but that it was also too early to tell.

Those were NOT the droids I was looking for, I mean the posts I was referring to. But thanks for playing.

[Powerboy]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...?ocid=msedgdhp

The GOP seems desperate to draw some sort of false equivalency. Apparently, now, Megan Markle and Prince Harry encouraging people to vote and implying that four more years of Trump might not be the best idea is "interfering in the election". Um, no. Expressing opinions is not interfering and is blatantly drawing a false equivalency to leaking secret documents to influence an election as the Russians did to help Trump get elected.

[PaulBullion]

One of those guys is 21. Whole life in front of him. Gone now.

He can get a new career radicalizing white guys in prison.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

FOX 17 in Detroit interviewed the sheriff of Barry County, Michigan, Dar Leaf. Unsurprisingly, given Leaf's history and views, Leaf found the people who planed the attempted coup on the governor "innocent".

The racism and double standard is obvious.

The sentimentalism, the identification of these criminals which would not be extended one jot to Al Qaeda or anyone else.