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

[worstblogever]

Roy Moore was banned from a mall for cruising teenage girls

Moore just responded to a woman who said Moore tried to force himself on her in a car in 1977 when she was 16, claiming he "didn't know her, and didn't even know where the restaurant near the mall where she worked is."

Moore signed her High School yearbook, including adding his title of "DA" after his name. That message also includes him signing the name of the place where she worked.

Things are looking worse and worse.

[numberthirty]

One other thing about Hannity/Keurig...

It's always weird how the folks who talk the "Free Market" talk react once something along the lines of an actual "Free Market" walk starts taking place.

[TheInvisibleMan]

someone wants to break their $200 Keuring to "own the libz"

have at it

I dont drink coffee anyway

[worstblogever]

Saw this one from Jess Dweck on Twitter:

"For the GOP, childhood begins at conception and ends when a popular Republican molests you."

[Tendrin]

Moore just responded to a woman who said Moore tried to force himself on her in a car in 1977 when she was 16, claiming he "didn't know her, and didn't even know where the restaurant near the mall where she worked is."

Moore signed her High School yearbook, including adding his title of "DA" after his name. That message also includes him signing the name of the place where she worked.

Things are looking worse and worse.

I'm sure you're looking forward to this profile. :P

...and all the brain bleach that'll be required to write it.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Truly disgusting stuff coming from my home state. The defenders of Roy Moore... how low can they go? What would be a bridge too far for them? Beastiality? Cannibalism?

In this age of toxic, out of control partisan politics, those sort of people are all too willing to bend over backwards and rationalize anything, including Moore's vulgar proclivities in order to keep the other side from winning. Hell, Moore could hold a presser tomorrow and admit he's a Satan worshiper and his defenders would still say, "better him than a Democrat".

[TheInvisibleMan]

Volvo has pulled their ads from Hannity

all right MAGA-ites

go mess up them Volvos

[TheInvisibleMan]

class action lawsuit filed against Tesla, citing racist behavior at California production plant

[Tendrin]

In this age of toxic, out of control partisan politics, those sort of people are all too willing to bend over backwards and rationalize anything, including Moore's vulgar proclivities in order to keep the other side from winning. Hell, Moore could hold a presser tomorrow and admit he's a Satan worshiper and his defenders would still say, "better him than a Democrat".

It's the new Hastert rule.

[InformationGeek]

I smell something ugly brewin' here. No way this was a mistake with so many cases.

The paperwork was mailed from New York in plenty of time. On Sept. 14, Allison Baker, a lawyer for the Legal Aid Society, sent a client’s application to renew a permit that would let him stay and work in the United States legally as part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — long before the Oct. 5 deadline. It was sent certified mail to be safe.

Tracking data from the United States Postal Service shows the envelope arriving in Chicago on Sept. 16 on its way to the regional processing warehouse of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that administers the program known as DACA.

Then the packet started circling Chicago in a mysterious holding pattern. From Sept. 17 to Sept. 19, it was “in transit to destination.” Then its tracking whereabouts disappeared until Oct. 4. Once again, it was “on its way.”

On Oct. 6, a day too late, it was delivered. And the application, for a 24-year-old man who asked to be identified only as José because his legal status was uncertain, was rejected.

José was not alone. According to lawyers from across the New York region, in at least 33 other cases, unusually long Postal Service delays resulted in rejections of DACA applications, throwing the lives of their clients into frantic limbo. Lawyers in Boston and Philadelphia, which also send their applications to the Chicago processing center, say they have not seen evidence of an issue with the mail.

But in Chicago, in the backyard of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency, there were at least 41 DACA recipients whose renewals, sent well before the deadline, arrived late, advocates said. According to Representative Luis V. Gutiérrez, Democrat of Illinois, an applicant sent a renewal on Sept. 13 and it arrived on Oct. 6. Another sent the paperwork on Sept. 21, and it was received on Oct. 9. “Because somebody else did not do their job correctly we are taking innocent young immigrants and making them deportable,” said Mr. Gutiérrez in a statement. “That is unacceptable.”

On Thursday, in a rare admission from a federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service took the blame. David A. Partenheimer, a spokesman for the post office, said there had been an “unintentional temporary mail processing delay in the Chicago area.”

But the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency said nothing more could be done; the decisions were final.

[Malvolio]

Remember everyone, Swamps are incredibly valuable natural resources. They help purify water, regulate erosion, and prevent flooding. Draining them has terrible consequences on the environment. #draintheswamp is just an call to let them get away with their bad behavior, it's almost as dangerous as actually draining all the swamps.

And what happens when you drain a swamp? You get rid of all the water, but you're left with all the gunk that made it a swamp. Without the gunk, it's just a lake. And if you don't get rid of the gunk after draining the swamp, and you just fill it with new water, you've still got a swamp. And that's what the Republicans are doing: getting rid of one group of corrupt officials and replacing them with a new group of corrupt officials, but they're not getting rid of the gunk, in other words, the system that breeds corruption.

[Malvolio]

someone wants to break their $200 Keuring to "own the libz"

have at it

I dont drink coffee anyway

I agree. If smashing your Keurig makes you feel better, knock yourself out. Won't actually accomplish anything though.

[worstblogever]

Three years ago, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Haley Barbour, who early in his career, was confronted with the knowledge that one of his aides had referred to African Americans as “coons”, and responded to that fact by telling the New York Times reporter who asked him about it that the aide “deserved to be reincarnated as a watermelon and placed at the mercy of blacks”. So it should come as little surprise that during his run for Mississippi governor in 2003, that he was featured on the website of the Neo-Confederate group, the Council of Conservative Citizens, and Barbour has been a staunch defender of the Confederate flag remaining a part of the “heritage” of the Mississippi state flag. Barbour also argued against the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” because he thought gay soldiers would have amorous thoughts in the middle of a key firefight, funneled Hurricane Katrina relief money to his closest friends and allies, and controversially pardoned 208 violent criminals in his last 48 hours in office, and their full pardons also meant that the several rapists amongst that group would also be able to re-enter society without having to register as sex offenders. Barbour is still a force to be reckoned with in Mississippi politics, but these days does so as the “power behind the throne” rather than being elected in office himself.


In both 2015, and in 2016, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted profiles of Terry Baxter, a last-minute entry into the race for District 8 of the Iowa House of Representatives in the 2014 elections, getting thrown on the ballot as an emergency replacement for long-time incumbent Henry Rayhons. Only two months into his tenure that Baxter turned some heads when he sponsored a gun bill that would remove the age restriction Iowa has on gun ownership so toddlers could pack heat if their parents chose to allow it, and also sponsored a resolution to propose an Amendment to the Iowa state Constitution that would recognize the “right to life of every person at every stage of development” that sounds like Personhood, and a flagrant violation of the Supreme Court’s authority regarding the Roe v. Wade decision. Oh, and for whatever reason, he also submitted a bill outlaw professional midwifery in Iowa, which is a bizarre approach to someone so extremely "pro-life". Baxter took to social media to opine that the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges ruling had “crucified both freedom of speech and the freedom of religion as guaranteed in our constitution” and added the alarmist lie that preaching from the Bible “can now be prosecuted as legally incorrect" as part of an extended rant on the subject.

Republicans didn't bother putting anyone up against Terry Baxter in their primary for Iowa's District 8 in 2016 and after he faced off against Democrat Nancy Huisinga in the general election, he won a second term in office. Baxter has not calmed down in this session of the Iowa House of Representatives, either, already sponsoring a bill to nullify the Environmental Protection Agency (Hint: you can’t nullify federal law, we had a Civil War over that), another to try and prevent the sale of fetal tissue after abortions, and another Personhood bill.

Suffice to say, he’s still a fanatic, and maybe the people of Iowa will stop trending right and vote to be rid of him in 2018.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I smell something ugly brewin' here. No way this was a mistake with so many cases.

Perhaps a few instances, sure, but this business stinks worse than day old diapers. I would suggest this be investigated, but something tells me Republicans will sit on their hands and look the other way. Meanwhile....

Trump Administration Detaining DACA Recipient With Disability

The 20-year-old alleges that a guard in ICE detention mocked his prosthetic leg.

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Jeff Sessions Weighs Competing Special Counsel Focused On Clinton, Democrats

President Trump has questioned why the Justice Department isn’t looking into Democrats. The attorney general says he’s on the case. Can you say "diversion", boys and girls?

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Senate Republicans Grapple With How To Answer The Roy Moore Question

It’s more complicated than just saying you don’t support the Alabama nominee. Bullshit! It's not that complicated, and Republicans know it too! Meanwhile....

More Than 50 Alabama Pastors Are Publicly Supporting Roy Moore

Alabama’s Biggest Newspaper Calls On GOP To Withdraw Support For Roy Moore

Roy Moore’s Base Is Sticking With Him, Attacking Those Who Attack Him

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Trump Court Pick Forgot To Mention He’s Married To A White House Lawyer

Brett Talley, an Alabama district court nominee, was also rated “not qualified” and has never tried a case. How is this guy about to become a federal judge? Talk about ridiculous!

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Donald Trump Jr. Messaged With WikiLeaks During Presidential Campaign

The messages were handed over to congressional investigators probing Russia’s influence on the 2016 election. You've been a bad boy, Donnie Junior!

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Some Of America’s Wealthiest Tell Congress To Raise Their Taxes, Not Cut Them

More than 400 millionaires and billionaires penned a letter to Congress. A pity Congress is ignoring them.

[Tami]

Plaza Hotel's Secret Backer Is a Qatari Royal With Big Ambitions

Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has long been associated with New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel, ever since he bought out Donald Trump over two decades ago.

But now, with the Plaza up for grabs, another royal has quietly emerged as a force who could shape the hotel’s future. And that would be Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, one of the most influential figures in Qatar.

Al Thani, it turns out, acquired the mortgage on the Plaza, the Beaux-Arts landmark on the southern fringe of Central Park. That could give him an edge as the fraught sale of the Manhattan property heats up. Alwaleed, who was put under house arrest in a sweeping crackdown in Saudi Arabia, recently sold half of his 25 percent in the Plaza to real estate developer Ben Ashkenazy. Al Thani happens to be a silent lender to Ashkenazy, who has been eyeing an even bigger stake as embattled owner Subrata Roy puts his interest on the market.

“These types of trophy hotel assets are one thing that some of these global billionaires like to collect,” said Dan Fasulo, director of Yardi Systems, which provides software and data for the commercial real estate industry. “It’s really a vanity asset to have in their portfolio.”

Just how Al Thani, who also held talks with Jared Kushner’s family business on investing in its struggling 666 Fifth Ave. high rise this year, entered the picture is complicated.