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

[mojotastic]

Oh and another thing about Venezuela "suicidazonacionalv2" which mean national suicide v2 is trending there.

[Gray Lensman]

Today were the regional election for governors in Venezuela, the socialist party (The president party) ended up winning 17 of the 22 spots, sad, there were a lot of irregularities in the process but of course nobody is ever going to find the truth, now the chavista goverment is stronger.

I find it funny that Maduro accused the US of wanting to destroy Venezuela. I doubt anything we could do short of using nukes could do more damage than he is doing already.

[Iron Maiden]

https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/919358539273068544

Bannon tells 'Values Voters Summit' Trump pulled CSR payments to 'blow up' Obamacare exchanges, make prices skyrocket.

Listen to these so-called 'Values Voters' cheering. These people are sick.

What the &%# is a Value Voter anyway? Sound like they're a bunch of faux Christians if they want a large segment of the population to suffer.

[worstblogever]

What the &%# is a Value Voter anyway? Sound like they're a bunch of faux Christians if they want a large segment of the population to suffer.

You just described the status quo of the Republican Party.

[Iron Maiden]

They say they want an honest dialogue. But most members of the Republicans and a LARGE majority of Conservatives see not Americans they disagree with, they see an enemy in their way.
They enlist their idiot base as goons to do much of their damage politically.

Sorry that some will feel triggered I called them an idiot, but I thought they didn't want Politically correct speech.

I have no problem calling some of Trump's lemmings and dedicated Faux news watchers idiots because they are idiots for not bothering to check the facts on their own. How many times did we see some of them say they like their health care now that Trump got elected, not realizing they are on the ACA. The GOP branded it Obamacare and the idiots don't know the difference.

Dianne Feinstein Officially Has A Primary Challenger
California Democratic state Senate President Kevin de León is running to unseat the Democratic incumbent.
Any man or woman who doesn't support Medicare for all, or Single Payer, and only want improvements to ObamaCare is not a good or welcome Candidate. Time for them to go. By Dianne, you were actually Progressive for awhile. It's time for another man or woman to take your place.

The thing is they have working models to look at if we just look to our northern neighbor and to Europe.

I think it's time for some incumbents to move on and help groom someone that will be a strong candidate for the next decade. We have leaders in the Democratic party who are in their 70s and 80s. I like Joe Biden and Bernie but I don't want to see them running for President. Or Hillary. Until she was starting to get attention as a possible presidential candidate I didn't realize even Elizabeth Warren is approaching 70. But I still would like to see her run against Trump. We may lose some seniority on committees but better start thinking of the future.

[worstblogever]

Three years ago on this date, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” we looked at former Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Scott Lively, who hits particularly insane levels of anti-gay rhetoric, possibly beyond any of the many terrible examples of it we have discussed in CSGOPOTD profiles. You see, Lively wrote a whole book about how the Nazi party was populated by “butch” gays who wanted to wipe out the “femmes” and all of the other undesirables in the Holocaust. He’s also currently involved in a lawsuit for his involvement in pressuring Uganda to pass their rigid anti-gay laws that criminalize homosexuality to be punishable by death. Lively also has called President Obama the Anti-Christ and claimed he’s secretly married to a gay Pakistani man, claims that God once decided to smite a Scores strip joint, and insists that a cadre of gay rights activists are plotting to assassinate him. Scott Lively, thank providence, will never be elected.



It was in both 2015, and in 2016 that we published our first two "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Idaho's 1st Congressional District, Raul Labrador, who pretends to support Latino voters and immigration reform, but does nothing of consequence on the issue to actually make those reforms happen. Less than nothing, really, when you consider he also has defended some of the more racist and xenophobic remarks of Iowa Congressman Steve King. Labrador also whipped up sentiment against Hillary Clinton, particularly by spreading conspiracies about the Benghazi investigation. As numerous reports from investigators surfaced to indicate the GOP were trying to direct the investigators to harangue Sec. Clinton specifically, Labrador denied any and all partisan bias the Republicans in the House Oversight Committee had. Labrador also isn’t above throwing out red meat to Republican voters, like the time he spoke at CPAC and made a Birther joke, saying he was "born in Puerto Rico, is an American citizen AND HAS THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE TO PROVE IT". Labrador has consistently moved to defund Planned Parenthood, and long before the Center for Medical Progress released their bogus "sting" video to whip up outrage, Labrador was claiming that Planned Parenthood's "main business" was abortion (when it's less than 3% of their actual budget). Rep. Labrador has appeared publicly with ACT! for America, an anti-Muslim group, at rallies where Islamophobia has been whipped up to the point of warning of Sharia Law takeovers, has made it a point to remind people on social media that Sept. 11th is also a time to "Remember Benghazi, too", and after voting for the 2013 Government Shutdown, then voting to not reopen the government, telling the astounding lie that the Republicans “never asked for a full repeal of Obamacare”. Labrador has argued against the minimum wage during the greatest era of income inequality our country has seen in almost a century, arguing that if people feel like they aren't being paid enough, they should "apply for a manager's job instead". He is, in short, awful.

Raul Labrador was re-elected in 2016 with 68% of his vote, leaving him to return to Washington and do things like this:

• February 16th, 2017: Labrador 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: Raul Labrador 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. Labrador 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: Labrador 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), post-partum depression, or prior sexual assault. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Labrador 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: Raul Labrador 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.

And, adding to his own legacy, Raul Labrador had quite possibly one of THE WORST sound bites at what few GOP town halls that have been hosted in 2017. On March 7th, Rep. Labrador was trying to quiet an already testy group of constituents who were grilling him over his vote for Trumpcare, when he gave the positively ludicrous response that “Nobody dies because they don’t have access to healthcare!” The boos. THE BOOS that drowned him out. Good lord, that was the dumbest possible thing he could have said.

And yet… Raul Labrador thinks that he should move on from serving Idaho in Congress for a fifth term, and instead, announced a run for Governor of Idaho to replace the departing Butch Otter in the governor’s mansion... three days after he embarrassed himself completely. We’re not exactly experts, but as stupid of a quote as that is, we can only hope whoever is challenging him on the ticket runs it practically on loop in commercials over the next thirteen months.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Tillerson: Diplomacy With North Korea Will Continue ‘Until The First Bomb Drops’

The Secretary of State says President Trump is “not seeking to go to war.” Do tell. That statement is news to me, probably to Trump too.

**********

Trump Ally Says President Cut Off Obamacare Payments To Destroy Health Law

Sabotage. No ****, Sherlock.

**********

What If Trump Wins On Obamacare And Taxes?

Trump is screwing not just the rest of America, but tens of millions of people who voted for him. And those dopes will grin like loons while Trump cuts their throats.

**********

California ‘Horror’ Fires Kill At Least 40 People In One Week

The 40 confirmed fatalities make it the state’s deadliest-ever fire event. And still not one word or tweet on the catastrophe from the Tangerine Terror. Perhaps he would've had words of comfort and support for California if the state hadn't voted against him in the election.

**********

Remember this post of mine from yesterday:

This just occurred to me: Now that the Academy has kicked Weinstein out, will they revisit and/or revoke the memberships of other noted scumbags like Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski or Mel Gibson?

Well, here's an answer:

Weinstein Is Out, But Now What About Cosby, Polanski And The Others?

[InformationGeek]

And I'm back from my day long break from the news and feeling refreshed more than ever. And just in time for this slice of craziness. Been a while since I've seen something pure classic crazy and it's almost as a refreshing in a bonkers sort of way.

Also, WBE, here's someone to do a profile on in the future:

The Miami Herald reports that Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, a 59-year-old Republican who’s running for the seat currently held by retiring Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), claims that she has had encounters with extraterrestrials who have communicated with her telepathically since the age of seven.

During a 2009 interview, Rodriguez Aguilera described being brought aboard a space ship and having conversations with aliens who let her in on key secrets about their visits to Earth.

“I went in,” she explained. “There were some round seats that were there, and some quartz rocks that controlled the ship — not like airplanes.”

Among other things, she says the aliens informed her that there is a cave in the island of Malta that contains 30,000 skulls that are “different from humans”; that the world’s “energy center” is located somewhere in Africa; and that the limestone Coral Castle tourist attraction in Florida is actually an ancient Egyptian pyramid.

[JBatmanFan05]

The Miami Herald reports that Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, a 59-year-old Republican who’s running for the seat currently held by retiring Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), claims that she has had encounters with extraterrestrials who have communicated with her telepathically since the age of seven.

During a 2009 interview, Rodriguez Aguilera described being brought aboard a space ship and having conversations with aliens who let her in on key secrets about their visits to Earth.

“I went in,” she explained. “There were some round seats that were there, and some quartz rocks that controlled the ship — not like airplanes.”

Among other things, she says the aliens informed her that there is a cave in the island of Malta that contains 30,000 skulls that are “different from humans”; that the world’s “energy center” is located somewhere in Africa; and that the limestone Coral Castle tourist attraction in Florida is actually an ancient Egyptian pyramid.

And the FBI has finally gotten around to sending an agent over to investigate the claims:
Attachment 56302

[Tami]

Jeff Flake’s Lesson for Republicans: Cross Trump at Your Own Risk

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Before Bob Corker, there was Jeff Flake.

Mr. Flake, the even-tempered Republican senator from Arizona, has for months offered stinging critiques of President Trump’s character, demeanor and truthfulness — the same message forcefully echoed a week ago by Mr. Corker, a Republican colleague from Tennessee, who warned that Mr. Trump’s reckless behavior could lead to “World War III.”

But there is one crucial difference between the two: Mr. Flake, unlike Mr. Corker, is running for re-election. And now he finds himself in grave political peril.

Mr. Flake is perhaps the most endangered Senate Republican, with an approval rating in one recent poll of just 18 percent among Arizonans. Mr. Trump has savaged Mr. Flake as “toxic” and a “flake,” and has encouraged a primary challenge against him that has left the senator squeezed not only from the left but also the right.

His fate is an object lesson for other Republicans who might consider voicing dire thoughts about the president’s fitness: Cross Mr. Trump, and your political career could well be over.

Mr. Flake, who is known more for his decency than his independent streak, said he had no regrets

In an interview here, he ticked off some of his earliest criticisms of the president — from the days when Mr. Trump peddled the false theory that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, to the time Mr. Trump referred to Mexican immigrants as “rapists,” to his call for a complete ban on travel to the United States by Muslims — before looking up and stopping himself.

“In which of those instances,” the senator asked, “should I not have spoken out? At what point should you not stand up and say, ‘This is not right; this is not conservative; this is not where Republicans ought to be?’”

Mr. Flake said he had known from the start that taking on Mr. Trump might do him political harm. Even before he declared the president’s brand of populism a corruption of conservative values, he anticipated a tough primary challenge, given his policy differences with Mr. Trump on issues like immigration, trade and Cuba.

“The truth is, if my only goal were to be elected, re-elected to mark time in the Senate, there are much easier paths,” he said.

Mr. Flake said he felt compelled to write the book because Republicans had lost their way with the rise of Mr. Trump. His assessment of the president is biting.

“We pretended the emperor wasn’t naked,” Mr. Flake wrote. “Even worse: We checked our critical faculties at the door and pretended that the emperor was making sense.”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Army Sgt. Bergdahl pleading guilty to desertion, misbehavior

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl told a military judge on Monday that he’s pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.

“I understand that leaving was against the law,” Bergdahl said.

“At the time, I had no intention of causing search and recovery operations,” Bergdahl added, saying that now he does understand that his decision to walk off his remote post in Afghanistan in 2009 prompted efforts to find him.

Bergdahl, 31, is charged with endangering his comrades by walking away from his post. Despite his plea, the prosecution and defense have not agreed to a stipulation of facts in the case, according to one of his lawyers, Maj. Oren Gleich, which is an indication that they did not reach a deal to limit his punishment.

The misbehavior charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the desertion charge is punishable by up to five years. He appears to be hoping for leniency from the judge, Army Col. Jeffery R. Nance.

The guilty pleas bring the highly politicized saga closer to an end eight years after his disappearance in Afghanistan set off search missions by scores of his fellow service members. President Barack Obama was criticized by Republicans for the 2014 Taliban prisoner swap that brought Bergdahl home, while President Donald Trump harshly criticized Bergdahl on the campaign trail.

[ZombieHavoc]

Wait, anyone was still confused that Chuck Dixon is a piece of ****?

But seriously, he's working with Vox Day? That's a new low.

He did the graphic novel adaption of the Clinton Cash book, which I think was Breitbart or Bannon funded to begin with. Associated in some way.

[Malvolio]

What the &%# is a Value Voter anyway? Sound like they're a bunch of faux Christians if they want a large segment of the population to suffer.

Oh, they always give themselves high-and-mighty names like "Moral Majority" and "Focus on the Family." The funny thing is how their supporters don't even realize how Orwellian those names are.

[TheInvisibleMan]

so at this "Value Voters" summit, one of the hate groups (because thats what a lot of them are) were passing out "Dangers Of Homosexuality" pamphlets

[JCAll]

so at this "Value Voters" summit, one of the hate groups (because thats what a lot of them are) were passing out "Dangers Of Homosexuality" pamphlets

Oh, I must know what was in that piece of crap. Did anyone pocket a pamphlet and scan it?