All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Mr. Mastermind]

Can Bernie do anything wrong? In your mind, can he do anything wrong? If anyone is the least bit critical, do you always need to rush in and declare anyone speaking against him a shill for the "Establishment"?

Bernie has done plenty of things wrong, he's far too right wing. He hasn't said anything positive about the Castros or Chomsky in years, the bloody traitor.

[Vegan Daddy]

Can Bernie do anything wrong? In your mind, can he do anything wrong? If anyone is the least bit critical, do you always need to rush in and declare anyone speaking against him a shill for the "Establishment"?

Silence, you shill. Bernie 2020!

Attachment 64251

[Mister Mets]

Hey Conservatives. One More Time. The First Amendment does not apply to Private Businesses.
I thought you guys were all about letting Businesses make the decisions for their employees and trade practices.
AH! Unless it negatively affects you. Those other people you're okay with. But not me.


Nurse Fired For Saying Stephon Clark Deserved To Die Raises $20,000 For Herself
Faith Linthicum started a self-promoting GoFundMe campaign after she was fired for her heartless comment on Facebook.

600 people who respond to a GoFundMe page don't represent an ideological movement.

On this date in 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of the current U.S. Speaker of the House and U.S. House Representative for Wisconsin’s 1st District, Paul Ryan, and in that breakdown of the 2012 Vice-Presidential candidate, we covered everything from his bizarre fascination with the P90X workout system, to his immense hard-on for the philosophies of Ayn Rand, to the fact that he was literally in bed with a lobbyist, who he ended up marrying. His voting record was laid bare, from his support for fetal Personhood bills, to his staggeringly anti-gay voting record, to the budgets he's written that favor the rich over the poor so much that nuns are willing to follow him around to deal a heaping dose of Catholic guilt in his direction for ignoring Christian values (while purporting himself to have them). Paul Ryan may have been the "ringer" that conservatives were clamoring for to save the presidential aspirations of Mitt Romney, but all they did was shine a spotlight on the Congressman who used to be content fading into the background and grinding out budgets and trying to keep a low profile. That went out the window when he was forced into a position of leadership after the resignation of House Speaker John Boehner, because the Plan A to Boehner’s successor, Eric Cantor, got beat in a primary election and the Plan B to be Boehner's heir apparent that the establishment GOP picked, California Congressman Kevin McCarthy, completely botched his step out into the limelight. The GOP's "House Freedom Caucus" at that point was refusing to accept any establishment candidate as House Speaker, save one... Paul Ryan. Begrudgingly, Congressman Ryan agreed to take the worst job in Washington and hope he could herd cats better than Speaker Boehner did. But he did so only after making a demand that the gig wouldn’t get in the way of his family time. Which is hilarious, because this Randian disciple has previously voted against family leave when the issue’s come up in Congress. (Classic conservative hypocrisy… the people should get no entitlements, BUT I SHOULD!) But yeah, we’re talking about the GOP’s THIRD pick for a job that he didn’t even want. And boy, has he been terrible at it. Barely a few months into the job, he was already fighting with the House Freedom Caucus, too. Hell, they already hated his guts seven weeks into the job, when he first tried passing a budget.

And that’s not Paul Ryan’s only headache. All through the 2016 GOP Presidential Primary, Donald Trump, for a lack of a better term, said a lot of stupid, crazy s***. Comments from Trump that were so outrageous that Speaker Ryan was left with no choice but to condemn him when the Beltway media asks him to comment on it. And while he is forced to distance his party from the frontrunner of the presidential primary, he also went out of his way to still say he’d have to support Trump if he is the nominee. Meanwhile, at the first perceived sign of disloyalty, Donald Trump was threatening to support Ryan’s own hard-right opponent, Phil Nehlen, in his primary for his seat. That’s how insane things are right now, the GOP candidate for president was backbiting and chafing at their Speaker of the House and nearly sabotaged his own chances at re-election as late as AUGUST of a campaign. Spoiler alert, though… Paul Ryan was re-elected rather easily. But maybe he’d be happier if he’d lost, after all, his daily routine has become… the Beltway media throw a Donald Trump quote, or read a Twitter post from him at Paul Ryan, and he has to pretend like it’s not the ravings of a lunatic, even if it’s straight up tinfoil hat paranoia about having his phone tapped by President Obama himself. Meanwhile, these days any perceived disloyalty or failure Ryan might display trigger Trump and his lackeys at Fox News to lay the blame at Ryan’s feet, with right-wing vultures like Judge Jeanine Pirro calling for his resignation.

Paul Ryan looks different.

[ZombieHavoc]

Paul Ryan looks different.

I'm pretty sure that is a picture of a guy who just measured Ryan's heart, compassion and courage and is showing us the results.

[Mister Mets]

Bernie Sanders was down in Jackson, Mississippi and... ah...



Dissing Obama on MLK' s assassination anniversary and to a state with a large black population from my understanding... Bernie ain't doing so well with optics here, is he?

The focus on optics here seems really misguided.

I've noticed liberals tend to be worried about whether things are said on the right or wrong dates, which doesn't seem all that productive. Should prominent Democrats carry a list of days when they shouldn't say anything that can be construed as mild criticism of Obama?

Mississippi has a large African-American population but if there's a competitive election (and there might be due to the nontrivial chance Chris McDaniel will be the Republican nominee for Senate) they're going to need to persuade others to go with their candidate.

Sanders is also basically complimenting Obama, in the context of a larger point about the Democratic party, which is that they lost a lot of seats in Congress and in state legislatures since November 2008. It's a good thing if the leader in the party is grappling with this in public, especially a guy who wants to have policies that inspire people. A problem with the party is that the voters get inspired by individuals, either supporting one guy (Obama) or opposing a prominent Republican (W, Trump) which doesn't work in the long term.

It's also worth noting that one of the reasons Hillary Clinton lost key swing states is that she was unwilling to address the concerns of voters whose quality of life had declined in the last decade, because she was worried that it would be tantamount to criticizing Obama.

[Tami]

WH reviewing proposal that would roll back protections for threatened species

Washington (CNN)The White House is reviewing a proposal that environmentalists fear would remove protections for hundreds of threatened species, according to a government database.

The proposal's obscure name -- "Removal of Blanket Section 4(d) Rule" -- refers to protections covering approximately 300 animal and plant species, such as the northern spotted owl and manatee, that are at risk of becoming endangered.

The Fish and Wildlife Service has for 40 years used the blanket rule to cover the majority of threatened species, the category considered at risk of endangerment under the Endangered Species Act.

A spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service told CNN that to suggest the rule would overturn the protections is inaccurate. But the spokesman, Gavin Shire, would not elaborate about how that characterization was incorrect or what the proposal calls for, and he declined to provide a copy of the document.

The proposal has not yet been publicly released, and Shire said it is a "draft" that is "under internal review." He said it would be "premature" to discuss the proposal before the department releases it.

A listing in a government database shows the agency on Monday sent the proposal to the White House office that reviews proposed rules. The database entry includes only a one-line summary of the proposal.

[PaulBullion]

For our next non-discussion I think we should cover how crappy MOONLIGHT was next to THE BOYS IN THE BAND.

Is it the amount of white people on a cast that makes or breaks a movie for you, then?

[Ragged Maw]

Silence, you shill. Bernie 2020!

Attachment 64251

Romanticizing politicians is something I advise against, regardless of which part of the spectrum your views land on.

[PaulBullion]

Careful Bernie haters Activated. I repeat, Bernie Bashers Activated. MUST.PROTECT.ESTABLISHMENT!

Lol. Democrats look in the broken Mirror and find nothing wrong. When pointed out that something is wrong to say LOOK AT WHO'S starting to win. Yeah, Establishment by 1-2 points. Progressives by large numbers, and losing by smaller numbers, while also swinging said numbers towards a victory next go around. But if you point out issues, then you're bashing.
So there's absolutely nothing wrong in the party. Must keep up the facade.

You're the Bernie expert... Do you have a ballpark figure on the amount of black staffers Bernie hired in his many years in DC? I mean, he marched with Dr King and the job was in a very diverse city, so there certainly must be... at least... one?

[PaulBullion]

I'm thinking of hanging up a sign.

It would be a lot easier if Bernie just went back to being a Senator for his state instead of constantly running for higher office.

[PaulBullion]

On the other side we have several posters who think he can do no right. And when criticism is levelled by them it is easy to dismiss.

I used to be a big fan, followed him on Twitter before most people outside Vermont knew him. Then I started to get to know him better, and it turned.

[Mr. Mastermind]

Bernie Sanders was down in Jackson, Mississippi and... ah...



Dissing Obama on MLK' s assassination anniversary and to a state with a large black population from my understanding... Bernie ain't doing so well with optics here, is he?

Okay on what he actually said... where's the lie?

The Democratic Party has lost a record number of seats since 2008. If it's goal is to win elections, it's an absolute failure. And that's ignoring how it's a right of centre party with no desire to change America in a truly meaningful way. He doesn't even attack Obama's horrible Presidency in that quote.

[PaulBullion]

I like to think I'm somewhere in the middle, I don't hate Bernie, but I don't fawn over him either. However, I won't deny I'm tired of the deification of Sanders and the intolerance of ANY criticism against him which, in turn, riles up the haters to level more criticism, resulting in an endless cycle of nonsense.

For whatever it's worth, if Sanders were to run for president again, I suspect he'd fare even worse than Hillary. Republicans would have a field day with him, cranking up their smear machine to churn out bullshit equating Sanders' socialist views with communism, and communism with Vlad Putin and Russia. And voters, gullible as the day is long would fall for that crap hook, line and sinker, meanwhile, Trump would shout from the rooftops: "A vote for Bernie is a vote for communism! He's a bad hombre!" Outlandish? Improbable? Sure, but I could totally see a scenario like that taking place.

Russ Feingold did worse in Wisconsin than Hillary Clinton did. Considerably.

That's all you need to know about the "Sanders would have won" fallacy.

[Mister Mets]

It would be a lot easier if Bernie just went back to being a Senator for his state instead of constantly running for higher office.

His approval rating in his home state is pretty high.

http://thehill.com/senators/341501-p...any-home-state

I'm curious how Democrats plan to win the White House without seeking national office. Is the new standard that no Democrat should run for President who also holds elected office?

Russ Feingold did worse in Wisconsin than Hillary Clinton did. Considerably.

That's all you need to know about the "Sanders would have won" fallacy.

To be fair, Ron Johnson was a better candidate for Senate than Donald Trump was for President.

[Malvolio]

You're the Bernie expert... Do you have a ballpark figure on the amount of black staffers Bernie hired in his many years in DC? I mean, he marched with Dr King and the job was in a very diverse city, so there certainly must be... at least... one?

Let's remember that Bernie represents a very, very white state. If he hired more people from DC, regardless of their race, there might have been some heat from his home state that he wasn't hiring his own.