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

[numberthirty]

Not victimhood, those are extra-legal (reputational, financial - his criminal lawyer fees) and potentially civil legal (reputational, financial) punishments he's endured (and is still enduring) for his actions. That's my point.

Dude...

Don't cry to me about your legal fees if you chose to intentionally step outside of the law. If you thought it was for the greater good, your call. That doesn't mean you don't have to answer for that you did and get yourself a lawyer you will need to compensate.

[Tendrin]

Hard to believe right?
What's also shocking is the amount of sympathy expressed for this old white guy who frankly, brought all of his troubles on himself, but evidently there is no sympathy felt for the prisoners who died in his camp with no real explanation given.
But yeah, "poor old Joe." *sniff*

Well, of course. But, hey, who cares about those people, right? They're 'illegals' or 'thugs' and 'deserve it'. They deserved dead babies due to medieval prison conditions. They deserve to die in sweltering heat where their corpses are measured at 109 degrees. They deserve to have their necks nearly broken for asking for medical assistance, and they definitely deserve to have their puppy murdered because they're ''bad'.

That is the law enforcement structure Joe Arpaio created. That is the culture of casual brutality and dehumanization he created, and that is the culture that Maricopa county approved of over and over again because he was 'tough' on 'criminals', which really just meant keeping the browns down. People say 'it can't happen here', but Arpaio is living proof that it can, just like Trump is.

I'm an atheist but I hope he rots in the hell he richly deserves.

[Malvolio]

Dude...

Don't cry to me about your legal fees if you chose to intentionally step outside of the law. If you thought it was for the greater good, your call. That doesn't mean you don't have to answer for that you did and get yourself a lawyer you will need to compensate.

Check it out. #30 and JBats in a cage match! It's bigger than Mayweather vs. McGregor!

[Spike-X]

Behind the scenes, Trump knows the Phoenix rally last week was a failure. They demoted the aide who was in charge of organizing it due to poor turnout.

What, 15,000 wasn't enough?

[numberthirty]

Check it out. #30 and JBats in a cage match! It's bigger than Mayweather vs. McGregor!

What's a "Mayweather"?

[zinderel]

What's a "Mayweather"?

A multiple-count domestic abuser who made a several million dollar pay day beating up a homophobic racist this weekend. *shrug*

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Behind the scenes, Trump knows the Phoenix rally last week was a failure. They demoted the aide who was in charge of organizing it due to poor turnout.

I'm surprised said aide wasn't outright fired. Trump must be getting soft.

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Here’s What You Need To Know About Hurricane Harvey

Texas and Louisiana are bracing for more flooding as rain continues. Meanwhile....

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Hurricane Harvey And The Potential Hypocrisy Of Texas Republicans

They opposed aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy. Now that it’s their state in need...

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Mueller Team Reportedly Questioning If Trump Hid Knowledge Of Russia Meeting

The special counsel is focusing on how much the president knew about his son’s 2016 meeting, NBC reports. Meanwhile....

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Republican floats measure to kill Mueller probe after 6 months

And who says Republicans AREN'T obstructionists?

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Trump Again Threatens Government Shutdown If He Doesn’t Get Border Wall Money

As to his past explanation to the Mexican president that he understood Mexico really wouldn’t pay for it? Never mind.

[worstblogever]

I'm surprised said aide wasn't outright fired. Trump must be getting soft.

At this point, I think Trump might realize nobody wants to work for him, so he can't fire people when he knows nobody wants to get on board a sinking ship.

Mueller Team Reportedly Questioning If Trump Hid Knowledge Of Russia Meeting

The special counsel is focusing on how much the president knew about his son’s 2016 meeting, NBC reports.

Trump knew. He totally f***ing knew. There's even some reports that he wandered into his son's meeting with Natalia V. and all the Russian spies at one point while it was going on.

Republican floats measure to kill Mueller probe after 6 months

And... Ron DeSantis may have just guaranteed he's going f***ing down in 2018, depending on how much Mueller uncovers in the next 14 months. He'll look complicit.

Trump Again Threatens Government Shutdown If He Doesn’t Get Border Wall Money
As to his past explanation to the Mexican president that he understood Mexico really wouldn’t pay for it? Never mind.

Again, things that will look awful come 2018.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, as well as 2016, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from California’s 49th District, Darrell Issa, who remains the wealthiest man in all of Congress. Issa’s past includes being arrested for stealing a car, and investigated for potential arson in an insurance fraud scheme, and after throwing millions of dollars at a couple unsuccessful Congressional campaigns in the late nineties, he finally found his way to Washington, D.C. in the 2000 election. Issa has made a name for himself the past several years as the Chairman of the House Oversight committee, where he set records for the number of subpoenas he issued to people while leading witch hunts whenever a "scandal" broke in the conservative news media. Sadly, in calling hearings over Solyndra, the IRS investigations into 501c4 groups, Wikileaks, and double-digit investigations into Benghazi... in all those Congressional hearings, exactly zero convictions or criminal charges have been filed, and a small fortune in taxpayer dollars have been wasted in his mad quest to root out corruption that doesn't exist. Rep. Issa himself bragged in 2010 that under his watch, the House Oversight Committee would hold hearings "seven hearings a week for 40 weeks". He issued my subpoenas during his tenure than his three predecessors combined. In 2016, he called for the Republican Party to have another government shutdown to protest if Hillary Clinton was not charged with a crime for using a private e-mail server while serving as Secretary of State, because that’s not an unreasonable demand. You'd think with all the s*** the man threw at the wall over a seven year tenure in that position, he could have managed to find something that would stick, but all it did at best was hurt the poll numbers of whomever he was attacking at the time.

Darrell Issa eked out a victory over Democrat Doug Applegate in the 2016 elections, winning with 50.3% of the vote (a difference of about 1400 total votes). So far in his ninth term in office, he’s frustrated the people in his home district:

• February 16th, 2017: Issa votes for HJR 69, to make it legal for hunters on wildlife reserves to kill several species of hibernating bears or wolves while they’re sleeping. Because… well, the logic really isn’t there as to why, it’s just awful.
• March 16th, 2017: Darrell Issa votes for HR 1181, which would allow veterans deemed mentally incompetent to continue to own firearms, and not have them taken away without a judge's written order. We feel safer already.
• March 28th, 2017: Rep. Issa votes for SJ Res 34, which allowed internet providers to sell the data information of their customers' internet usage to businesses. Well, so much for privacy.
• May 4th, 2017: Issa votes for the House GOP's healthcare plan, that would kick roughly 24 million people off their health insurance plans, allow up to 28,000 more people to die a year, give $50,000 in tax breaks to millionaires, and would eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions which would include such medical conditions as pregnancy (current or past), postpartum depression, or prior sexual assault. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Issa would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA, which would be repealed for the rest of the country. He and his Republican compatriots threw themselves a beer bash to celebrate taking away healthcare from millions and then gloated about it with Donald Trump at a White House press conference, as well.
• June 8th, 2017: Darrell Issa votes for HR 10, the GOP’s attempt to repeal Dodd-Frank financial reform, because what the country really needs is to allow the big banks to make the same mistakes that imploded the economy only a decade earlier.

Now, what’s new with Rep. Issa is rather timely. Back on June 28th, 2017, Issa went to speak before the Federation for American Immigration Reform, aka FAIR, aka an honest-to-not-goodness hate group whose founder likes to talk a lot about the white race being superior because eugenics prove it. And after the Neo-Nazis were marching through Charlottesville and carried out a terror attack, suddenly Issa wanted hearings on white supremacy in Congress. Hey, Darrell? Maybe you should go back through your day planner and invite some of your pals, y’know?

California’s 49th District currently has a +4 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, and while that isn’t exactly insurmountable, there’s the matter of Issa’s massive wealth supplementing his fundraising to consider. Still, he’s in a California swing district, and his actions so far this term have already drawn the ire of his constituents, so much so that he apparently ran up to the roof of his building to avoid them, and went out of his way to plan a “town hall” where he had a special invitation list of people who were conservative, so he wouldn’t have any confrontations with people who actually disagree with them.

All signs are starting to point towards 2018 being the year where Darrell Issa is forced into retirement, leaving a legacy of wasteful partisan hackery behind.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

It's been reported that Trump will travel to Texas today to see the damage from Harvey first hand. After the dumpster fire that was Dubya's response to Katrina, all eyes will be on the Abominable Administration to see what happens as this will be Dolt45's first major disaster of his term.

[worstblogever]

It's been reported that Trump will travel to Texas today to see the damage from Harvey first hand. After the dumpster fire that was Dubya's response to Katrina, all eyes will be on the Abominable Administration to see what happens as this will be Dolt45's first major disaster of his term.

I wonder if he'll go to hand out Play-Doh for two minutes in a cheap photo-op like he did against the advice of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards during the presidential campaign.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I wonder if he'll go to hand out Play-Doh for two minutes in a cheap photo-op like he did against the advice of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards during the presidential campaign.

Upon further review, I wonder if Trump going down to Texas while Harvey is still in the region is a smart idea since some of the resources devoted to rescuing people from the flood waters might have to be diverted to protecting him, depending upon his itinerary. It would be advisable if Trump waited until after the storm ends before making his visit. Just saying.

[numberthirty]

Upon further review, I wonder if Trump going down to Texas while Harvey is still in the region is a smart idea since some of the resources devoted to rescuing people from the flood waters might have to be diverted to protecting him, depending upon his itinerary. It would be advisable if Trump waited until after the storm ends before making his visit. Just saying.

In a post George W. world, I get the feeling that "Stay Away" or "Go" will be equally wrong.

[worstblogever]

Upon further review, I wonder if Trump going down to Texas while Harvey is still in the region is a smart idea since some of the resources devoted to rescuing people from the flood waters might have to be diverted to protecting him, depending upon his itinerary. It would be advisable if Trump waited until after the storm ends before making his visit. Just saying.

Fun fact: Trump was told in that previous example not to come, because bringing a whole security detail into an active situation can make it harder for rescuers to finish their job, because of resources being dedicated to that security. Going to a nearby city and not into the worst of it is best. Hell, just give a speech where you lay out what resources you're sending in. Talk about how much of the national guard you're calling up. That'll do Houston way better than a goddamned photo-op.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Fun fact: Trump was told in that previous example not to come, because bringing a whole security detail into an active situation can make it harder for rescuers to finish their job, because of resources being dedicated to that security. Going to a nearby city and not into the worst of it is best. Hell, just give a speech where you lay out what resources you're sending in. Talk about how much of the national guard you're calling up. That'll do Houston way better than a goddamned photo-op.

I only just heard Trump is said to be going to Corpus Christi. Perhaps that will be as close as he gets to the Houston area.