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

[the4thpip]

OF COURSE HE DIDN'T. The people who keep making this a big deal have NO CLUE about anything in regards to the law or criminal justice.

This is a homicide investigation. The investigation will determine if it was a justifiable homicide or not but you NEVER have the homicide suspect fill out a police report. Oh you take his statement many times in interviews but you don't have him fill out a police report.

So I guess Wilson was the only cop in Ferguson not on sick leave that day so not a single other policeman came to the scene of the murder afterwards who could have written up a report?

[Darrell D.]

That's... still unarmed to sane people.

His blackness was a weapon of rage.

[the4thpip]

His blackness was a weapon of rage.

That would actually not be a bad tag line for a movie called Shaft 2014: Cleaning Up Ferguson.

[Kasper Cole]

That would actually not be a bad tag line for a movie called BLACK DYNAMITE 2014: Cleaning Up Ferguson.

Fixed that for ya

[worstblogever]

Mitch McConnell's campaign manager just had to resign because of his involvement in a bribery scandal that took place during the 2012 GOP Presidential Primary.

Bad news for Tommy Turtle, who's already neck and neck with Grimes.

[Tendrin]

Mitch McConnell's campaign manager just had to resign because of his involvement in a bribery scandal that took place during the 2012 GOP Presidential Primary.

Bad news for Tommy Turtle, who's already neck and neck with Grimes.

God, I hope he loses.

[worstblogever]

It's our latest reminder of what a crock the statement "Nuh uh. Both parties are just as bad," actually is...

It’s Your Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day!

(And please, for those who those who really felt the "Both Parties are Just as Bad" statement is defensible, remember, I'm still challenging you to write your own essays each day, to keep pace with me, if it's actually "just as bad". Keep in mind, you have to pick someone from politics who has either ran for, held office within the past 5 years, and have multiple verifiable news sources to any quotes/beliefs they might have to build a solid, established track record of stupid that clearly isn't a fluke. Hell, we'll even accept people who help write party platforms within that time frame. Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 44-0, since this was established on 7-18-14)


Kyle Tasker
Okay… this guy… this is Kyle Tasker. He’s a State Representative in New Hampshire who’s been blessed with the temperance of your average adolescent internet troll, but somehow got voted into a job where he gets to help dictate what the laws are for an entire state. My own memory had me recalling news stories about individual offensive things said and done in some state in New England by some state legislator, but then as I tried to look back on them, I found out that the ones I was thinking of were all in New Hampshire. And the legislator involved was Kyle Tasker. EVERY TIME. And there were stories involving him that I hadn’t heard. So… this young man has built quite a reputation these past three years or so. Let’s take a look…

• He drew the attention of his colleagues (who apparently are a bit perturbed by him) when in 2011, he made a Facebook post where, for whatever reason, he advocated that it was reasonable to to point guns at police officers, and shoot back, provided you were quicker on the draw.
  

  Tasker questioned whether police should have any more right than a law-abiding individual to point a gun at someone.
  “When a police officer points his firearm that’s not gonna make me feel threatened? If I’ve been trained to respond to that with force am I justified in blowing a cop away because I’m quicker on the draw, and he already pointed his firearm at me?” Tasker posted.
  “Police are just citizens with badges and all laws should apply equally.”

  Within an hour of the leak, Tasker issued a statement explaining himself, claiming he didn’t really mean that, it was just part of an “intellectual discussion” he wanted to have. (The more of the stories that you’re about to hear, you’ll see why Kyle Tasker’s claim for any kind of intellectual discussion is a bit dubious.)
• What really made Kyle Tasker notorious was when he dropped his gun during a committee meeting in March of 2012. Now, guns are legal in the state legislature in “Live Free or Die” New Hampshire, but the story had a bit more legs because of the ironic fact that it was a safety meeting. Also, people were a bit more weirded out about the fact that the story specified it was one of Tasker’s guns. He wears two holstered pistols, apparently ready for a Wild West shootout where he might need to go John Woo style on somebody.
  
  Tasker had a statement released that his clumsiness keeping tabs on a loaded weapon was because he had donated blood earlier that day.
• Tasker had to make a statement to say he “did not think black women were unfit mothers” after posting a link from his Facebook to controversial Atlanta radio host Tommy Sotomayor referring to African American women as “the worst stewards of children on the planet” in response to a video of a woman throwing her baby to a passerby before engaging in a fight on a bus. At this point, even Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte was weighing in to chastise Tasker.
• A month later, in July 2013, Tasker was asked on Facebook how he dealth with bipartisan committee meetings with Democrats week after week and he answered with one word:
  
  “Alcohol.”
  
  Which depending on how it’s interpreted, might sound like he just confessed to drinking on the job. Or, he’s just drinking because of it. In any event, what was worse was during his Facebook tirade, Tasker teased, “I'm gonna start dropping stuff in committee just to see their reaction,”, referencing his careless handling of firearms, and indicating he might be willing to risk dropping it again just to intimidate, or troll his colleagues from across the aisle. Now that’s classy. But he’s far from done!
• February 2nd and 3rd, 2014, Rep. Kyle Tasker (R-Nottingham) is one of the sponsors of HB 1442, which would allow circuit and superior courts to establish mental health courts. Those courts could lead to treatment for mentally ill, nonviolent offenders rather than incarceration. He apparently lamented this decision after making it, taking to Facebook to go on another skreed.
  

  Tasker commented that "The idea that being crazy is a shield against the full force of the justice system is laughable. Texas doesn’t have any problem executing the mentaly ill."
  "Crazy people need to face consequences equal or greater than everyone else," Tasker wrote.
  "Damn it this is why you need the full language before you sign off on bills like this...now my name is attached to this turd," Tasker said in a separate comment.

• In 2013, Republican New Hampshire State Representative Mark Warden was criticized for a comment he made last year during a hearing on a bill related to domestic violence laws.
  "Some people could make the argument that a lot of people like being in abusive relationships," Warden said, according to WMUR News, "It's a love-hate relationship."
  Now, that’s pretty offensive. Well, in March 2014, Kyle Tasker let us know he didn’t think so. In fact, he decided to give a shout out to Mark Warden about it, in the tackiest way possible. He posted a graphic joke on Facebook, tagging Warden with it.
  ”50,000 battered women. I still eat mine plain.”
  The discussion online from there, went as you might expect. People were justifiably offended, and Tasker acted like his office shouldn’t require him to be more tactful, and it was the fault of others for being too sensitive.
• In August 2014, Tasker sarcastically asked if he could join the legislature’s Black Caucus, because as he explained “I’m fond of rap music.”
  
  He explained himself further by linking to Nelly’s “Country Grammar”.

Unfortunately for the people of New Hampshire, they didn’t try and have a recall election for Tasker, instead waiting it out until this November. One would hope that he doesn’t get granted another two years to practice politics in the same dignified manner he’s shown himself to be capable of.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

My God. Teenage boys have better impulse control mechanisms than Tasker. How is it this fool hasn't already been recalled as he's the classic example of a loose cannon. But I suppose the GOP is probably quite proud of this troll.

[worstblogever]

My God. Teenage boys have better impulse control mechanisms than Tasker. How is it this fool hasn't already been recalled as he's the classic example of a loose cannon. But I suppose the GOP is probably quite proud of this troll.

Republican Party opinion on him is mixed. Like I said, he's been left on a limb by people like Kelly Ayotte before, but some of the chuckleheads in his state legislature play along with his antics.

[Tendrin]

Meanwhile, the Examiner declares that the CIA is now admitting Obama is a ISLAMIC TERRORIST1

http://www.examiner.com/article/cia-...emy-of-america

Dear god. These people are /insane/.

[heretic]

Meanwhile, the Examiner declares that the CIA is now admitting Obama is a ISLAMIC TERRORIST1

http://www.examiner.com/article/cia-...emy-of-america

Dear god. These people are /insane/.

But at least we cannot claim they are racist if Allan West agrees....

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Meanwhile, the Examiner declares that the CIA is now admitting Obama is a ISLAMIC TERRORIST1

http://www.examiner.com/article/cia-...emy-of-america

Dear god. These people are /insane/.

Insane, warped, call it what you will, to me, this was just another example of the sort of lunacy from idiots who's brains melted down like Chernobyl when a black man with a Muslim sounding name was elected president. Reading that article made me shake my head because it was all so ridiculous. I would imagine most of the knuckleheads who posted comments to that joke of an article are probably daily listeners of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of those right wing blowhards.

[Tendrin]

Insane, warped, call it what you will, to me, this was just another example of the sort of lunacy from idiots who's brains melted down like Chernobyl when a black man with a Muslim sounding name was elected president. Reading that article made me shake my head because it was all so ridiculous. I would imagine most of the knuckleheads who posted comments to that joke of an article are probably daily listeners of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of those right wing blowhards.

Honestly, we've seen the freak show before. It's just louder. They did it to Bill Clinton first, after all.

I mean, who can forget 'The Clinton Murders'?

Don't worry if you have. We'll see it all again when Hillary runs.

That said, the biggest problem in all of this is the fact that the person who delivered that interview actually used to make decisions about intelligence.

[heretic]

Honestly, we've seen the freak show before. It's just louder. They did it to Bill Clinton first, after all.

I mean, who can forget 'The Clinton Murders'?

Don't worry if you have. We'll see it all again when Hillary runs.

It was quite bad back then, but I still say the "Army of Gangbangers" & "Closet Jihadist Agent" panic is new and different on a qualitative level.

[Tendrin]

It was quite bad back then, but I still say the "Army of Gangbangers" & "Closet Jihadist Agent" panic is new and different on a qualitative level.

The fact of the matter is that we're always going to see this kind of stuff whenever a Democratic president is elected due to the de facto illegitimacy of the democratic party in the eyes of the right wing freak show. It's certainly taken on a much more racist tone (army of gangbangers) but is it substantively different than claiming Kennedy was wanted for treason and selling the country out to the Commies in Soviet Russia, or that Bill Clinton had had thirty people whacked and murdered Vince Foster?

What it has done is moved mainstream.