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

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, as well as 2016, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the heir apparent to his father, Ron Paul’s political legacy and generally demented views. He’s a board-certified ophthalmologist*, has been repeatedly caught plagiarizing from other sources for speeches (including from Wikipedia articles), and has hired Neo-Confederates to serve on his campaign staff, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise because Rand also once told Rachel Maddow in an interview that he wouldn’t have voted for the Civil Rights Act. Rand’s also discussed conspiracy theories like the Bilderberg Group, the American Union, the Jade Helm conspiracy theory, and even some 9/11 Trutherism, and experts who analyze the speeches of Congressmen determined he speaks roughly at about the 8th Grade Level. A fine example was in 2014 when he blamed “political correctness” on people being afraid to declare a travel ban because of the Ebola Virus outbreak in Africa, as opposed to the actual doctors and epidemiologists who said a travel ban would only make things worse. Instead, he tried accusing the Obama administration of deliberately exposing 30,000 American troops to the disease. Rand Paul once sponsored a Personhood bill that would apply the 14th Amendment to fetuses, as well, showing he’s not exactly the libertartian “hands off” type he portrays himself as. After a long pattern of Rand Paul shushing female journalists emerged and was noted by political commentators as evidence of sexist behavior, Paul responded by telling critics that it was “sexist to call him sexist”, which is similar to how racists insist their accusers are the real racist ones.

There was a point when Rand Paul was considered a potential front-runner for the Republican nomination for president, since the Tea Party was originally fomented with the help of his father, Ron, and their “outsider” group of ultra-conservatives. But having a daddy like Ron Paul “helping” isn’t always as much of a benefit as one might like, as the scandal surrounding Ron Paul’s 2012 bid for president where adviser Jesse Benton handicapped Paul’s chances early on. Then, the Tea Party got hijacked over time by even more outspoken bigots than Rand, who was pulling punches, like Ted Cruz, and eventually Donald Trump, who whipped them up into an anti-immigrant frenzy before Rand even realized what happened. Paul lost so much heat that when he published a book to hype on the campaign trail, it sold only a few hundred copies. He couldn’t escape the bottom tier of the GOP, ending up polling somewhere around tenth and barely qualifying for most of the primary debates, and using what little time he had on stage to bicker with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who made it his own personal mission to destroy Rand with every opportunity given in the debates. In the midst of Rand Paul looking visibly depressed about his failed presidential campaign all year, he managed to prove n the rest of the year that he's the same libertarian wing lunatic, voting against the permanent approval of The Zadroga Act, talking about getting rid of the Postal Service, voting to make sure anyone found to be on a terror watch list during a background check should still be allowed to purchase a firearm or explosives (which they could use to carry out a terror attack) and reintroduces his own Personhood bill, the "Life at Conception Act", which would grant Constitutional rights to zygotes from the moment of fertilization.

Rand Paul staggered out of the 2016 GOP Presidential Primary in February of 2016, inexplicably hanging in far longer than he should have, after polling always down near 1%, and raising virtually no money from donors for his doomed campaign. He instead focused on defeating Jim Gray, the openly gay mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, to reclaim his U.S. Senate seat with 57% of the vote, which he now will not have to defend until 2022.

Rand is more partisan than ever, and not just because he voted to approve every member of the Trump Cabinet of Horrors, or to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, or even that he voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act back in July, and would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those pesky kids Murkowski, Collins, and McCain. Maybe it's no surprise then that in June 2017 he compared National Health Care to "the gulag". (which is amazing, because the gulag is where Stalin sent millions to DIE whereas healthcare does the EXACT OPPOSITE FOR PEOPLE).

His "smaller government" heartless principles also saw him vote against disaster relief for Houston after Hurricane Harvey. But we're still warming up...

Back in mid-February of 2017, the Trump administration had its first, and not last ties to the Trump campaign being tied to Russia, after General Michael Flynn resigned after it was revealed he failed to disclose several meetings with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the campaign and the transition. And while the Democrats thought that warranted an investigation and several Republicans like Sen. John McCain agreed... Rand Paul deemed such a move "excessive" and "it makes no sense for Republicans to investigate Republicans", proving that he views oversight as a partisan matter completely, and not the threat to our nation that it is.

...

We'll keep an eye on the man who calls himself Aqua Buddha, still, because he's apparently going to milk his dad's legacy for far longer than should have ever been possible.

[JCAll]

The outrage should really be read as ---

"LOOK! Nig.. Mr. Football Player. We don't care about your social justice issues. I don't give a **** if you get beat up by the police. Be proud of your country! Now go toss that ball, like a good lil boy!"

I would have gone with "Get back in the field."

[numberthirty]

Jeez...

While I'm not going to try to back what he is saying in terms of it being an "Overdose", I have seen folks mention having a bad reaction to edibles that were a bit potent.

[numberthirty]

That said, the idea that someone who is having a negative reaction to a potent edible(s) will be out in public gambling like a high roller just does not track.

[numberthirty]

On negative reactions to edibles(2:00)...

[TakoM]

Trump will scrap critical Obamacare subsidy

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/1...subsidy-243736



Obamacare no longer exists. It's Trumpcare now. The GOP owns this crap.

He also left the UNESCO but really he will be the most outrages president for a very long time. I can't have a good end.

[worstblogever]

Y'know, Puerto Rico, UNESCO, Obamacare subsidy, talk of him decertifying the Iraq deal and punting it to Congress... Trump will be attending an LGBT hate conference this weekend...

Trump is acting like he knows the end is near, and is just spitefully trying to do as much damage to the nation as possible before he is removed by impeachment or the 25th Amendment. Like, the pace that this stuff is coming... he's not even trying to let his people spin. It's, "F*** EVERYBODY" time.

[JCAll]

Trump is acting like he knows the end is near, and is just spitefully trying to do as much damage to the nation as possible before he is removed by impeachment or the 25th Amendment. Like, the pace that this stuff is coming... he's not even trying to let his people spin. It's, "F*** EVERYBODY" time.

Nah, he just knows there there are no rules or consequences for him anymore, so he'll do whatever he pleases. At this point I think there's a better chance of the Ghosts of Christmas sorting him out than the Government.

[mojotastic]

Why is everyone in Hollywood regreting not speaking about Weinstein earlier NOW?

Was that guy really that powerful? Well his fame didnt protect him now.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Why is everyone in Hollywood regreting not speaking about Weinstein earlier NOW?

Was that guy really that powerful? Well his fame didnt protect him now.

Yes, him and his brother both

I think the reason this is happening now is because a lot of people who would have protected him in the past are either dead or out of Hollywoods influence

that and the social climate is just rife for something like this to happen, im hoping it leads to a larger conversation about the culture of abuse in Hollywood

[Gray Lensman]

US withdraws from the UNESCO? That's so out of the blue lol.

Not to defend Trump, but the US has a rocky relationship with UNESCO even without him in the white house. Reagan pulled us out before, and we stayed out until Dubya rejoined, then Obama cut all funding (due to a pre-existing law about Palestinian membership) and we lost any voting rights.

It doesn't make Trump any better, but this is so far the scale of things he does that it really doesn't register.

[Kirby101]

Trump will scrap critical Obamacare subsidy

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/1...subsidy-243736



Obamacare no longer exists. It's Trumpcare now. The GOP owns this crap.

Those subsidies are part of the law, passed by Congress.
How does Trump simply say he is changing the law without Congress?
That is not how our Government works.

[Tami]

I see her and I remember when I was 19 and in uniform. It was very different of course, she's Black and I'm white, so I never had to consider someone calling me by a racial slur, but I do recall the sense of responsibility that came from being young and being in Uniform.

National guardswoman confronted by racial slur-hurling white man speaks out: ‘I will continue to stand tall’

Gem Aimable, a 19-year-old Army National Guard private, was in uniform when a white man she cut off in traffic followed her multiple blocks to accost her. It was the first time someone had ever called her the n-word to her face in her 19 years, and after a friend shared her ordeal on Twitter, she soon went viral.

“[The man] told me to never forget that I am nothing but a n**ger and that us n**gers do not deserve to serve this very country and to take off my uniform and to kill myself,” Aimable wrote in her post on October 10.

“I wanted to fight him. I wanted to make him take those words back,” she told Raw Story. “I also remembered that I am in uniform and I must conduct myself accordingly. Also, I, as an African American or a n**ger in his sense, I tend to be stereotyped as violent, so why fulfill their stereotypes?”

Though it was her first brush with such violent racism, Aimable said that living as an African American with the country’s current race relations has weighed heavy on her.

[Tami]

Top Bush aide to GOP: ‘It’s time to panic’

A former aide to President George W. Bush and opinion writer for the Washington Post wrote Friday morning that it’s time for the GOP to “panic” about President Trump’s fitness for office.

Michael Gerson, who served as a deputy assistant and director of speechwriting in the Bush administration, writes that Trump’s personal conflicts with his advisers, aides and lawmakers in his own party should concern leaders that Trump unfitness to serve as president could do permanent damage to the country.

“It is no longer possible to safely ignore the leaked cries for help coming from within the administration,” Gerson writes. “They reveal a president raging against enemies, obsessed by slights, deeply uninformed and incurious, unable to focus, and subject to destructive whims.”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Those subsidies are part of the law, passed by Congress.
How does Trump simply say he is changing the law without Congress?
That is not how our Government works.

But, you forget Republicans are in control of Congress, and they want Obamacare dead just as much as Trump does, if not more. If there's a way to sidestep or circumvent the law in order to keep Pissy POTUS happy while screwing over the people they were elected to serve, the GOP will find it, or invent it.

I see her and I remember when I was 19 and in uniform. It was very different of course, she's Black and I'm white, so I never had to consider someone calling me by a racial slur, but I do recall the sense of responsibility that came from being young and being in Uniform.

National guardswoman confronted by racial slur-hurling white man speaks out: ‘I will continue to stand tall’

I also served in the military (Navy: 1976-1996), and, as a black man, while I was fortunate never to have experienced the sort of raw, naked racism Private Aimable did, it's all too obvious that hate is out in force today, thanks to Trump and his full throated support of bigots and white supremacists.

Top Bush aide to GOP: ‘It’s time to panic’

“It is no longer possible to safely ignore the leaked cries for help coming from within the administration,” Gerson writes. “They reveal a president raging against enemies, obsessed by slights, deeply uninformed and incurious, unable to focus, and subject to destructive whims.”

Well, I have no doubt the craven and cowardly enablers in the GOP and the shameless brownnosers on Faux News have zero problem whatsoever ignoring those cries, employing their "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" strategy when it comes to Trump. And that's not going to change anytime soon, if at all.