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

[worstblogever]

Three years ago, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Anthony Culler, who was the Republican candidate for South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District in 2014, who believes that we are all granted a right to bear arms from CONCEPTION, so that American zygotes can pack heat inside their mothers’ wombs if they choose. He not surprisingly also warned voters of a nameless “they” who were “coming for our guns”, and said Barack Obama and Joe Biden were “using dead schoolchildren” to push for legislation to do so. While his stance on gun rights was pretty extreme, it was nothing compared to Culler’s stance on LGBT rights, where he described same sex marriage as “a pestilence upon society” and compared gay people to “for those of you old enough to remember the movie, Gremlins”. I am still unaware of the large gay community in San Francisco being due to a gay person getting wet and being fed after midnight, but anyway, when people told Culler he was a bigot after saying that, he instead went with the classic “I’m rubber and you’re glue” defense and claimed anyone who thought HE was the bigot, was the actual bigot. Jim Clyburn crushed Anthony Culler by almost fifty points in the election, and it seems unlikely the Republican Party will want to put him on a ticket to embarrass them again

In both 2016, and 2017, on this date, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiled Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien, a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives who has a longer history of being a kook, by far, than her overall political career. After switching party affiliation in the late nineties to Republican because she was outraged over Bill Clinton having an affair, she’s become most famous for heckling presidential candidates campaigning in New Hampshire once every four years, going all the way back to 1999, when there are tales of her haranguing Al Gore about Bill Clinton’s infidelities (as if Al Gore was watching from behind a curtain like a voyeur the whole time). Anyway, no reports emerged of her during the 2004 election cycle, however in 2007, she popped up three times to bust the chops of Mitt Romney about supposed double standards on taxation and college residency and harassed Rudy Giuliani on the Republican side of the ticket, for his past infidelities, and to ask him why his children didn’t support his candidacy, leading Giuliani to tell her to “leave his family alone”. By the time Prudhomme-O’Brien went after a Democrat, though, she managed to end up being threatened with arrest for showing up at Hillary Clinton appearances in both 2008 and 2016 and demanding to know everything she knew about her husband Bill’s encounter with Juanita Broaddrick from three decades earlier. (The one Hillary wasn’t at, can’t speak to, and shouldn’t really have to.) The New Hampshire Union-Leader actually gave her the moniker of “New Hampshire’s Most Annoying Voter”, after all of these revolting and obnoxious exploits. And apparently, people weren’t paying attention when the name Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien appeared on the ballot in the 2014 elections as a candidate for office as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives on the Republican side of the ticket. She finished tenth in the Republican Primary, barely qualifying for the general election where she finished sixth. Somehow, that still meant she won a seat in the state legislature. In the year she’s been in office, she’s turned up as part of the New Hampshire GOP’s voting block, attempting to pass some extreme legislation, like an attempt to repeal Common Core Standards (which Gov. Maggie Hassan repealed), an attempt to repeal the need for licensing for people who wanted to practice concealed carry of firearms (also vetoed by Gov. Hassan), and most heinously, an attempt to repeal the “buffer zone” for protesters around abortion clinics. (Which never even made it to Maggie Hassan’s desk, but after what happened in Colorado Springs not long after, it’s probably something that needs to be there.) Katherine Prudhomme-O’Brien’s time in office mercifully came to an end in the 2016 GOP Primary, where she failed to qualify in a field where she only needed to finish tenth or better, coming in seventeenth of seventeen candidates. We’ll set aside her CSGOPOTD profile at this time and go ahead and take a look at a different wacky Republican today instead. (Current crazy/stupid scoreboard, is now 637-25, since this was established in July 2014.)


Richard Snow
Welcome to the 637th original “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profile, where today we’ll be discussing Richard Snow, a former candidate for the Maine House of Representatives who thankfully does not prefer to be called “Dick Snow” because that would be the most terrifying winter weather we could think of. Back in 2012, Snow was talking about running for Congress, but failed to fire his paperwork on time, and ran for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives to represent District 47 in 2014, losing with 43% of the vote. His qualifications? Snow runs an indoor kart racing track. Oh, so maybe he’s got some brilliant insights into business?

Not so much. It’s not just that he managed to get himself hacked and had his business’ bank accounts cleaned out. No, it’s because when Richard Snow was asked for his thoughts on raising the minimum wage (which should be a no-brainer since America is in it’s greatest period of income inequality in perhaps its entire history), he explained that a minimum wage increase would likely lead to workers just spending the money on heroin:

“Where would that money be spent? We’ve heard about the opiate issues in the state of Maine. Are we going to add more income to individuals so they can spend it on illegal activities? I’m very concerned about that.”

Keep in mind, though, that Snow also openly griped about having to pay his workers overtime, so maybe it’s a safe bet that he isn’t a champion of workers’ rights. Or that he likes spreading supposed “news stories” about supposed widespread voter fraud on his Facebook page.

Big surprise, Snow’s insult towards the working class led to him losing again to Democrat Janice Cooper in 2016 with only 38% of the vote. He’s going to take another crack at things in 2018, in spite of him being even more of an underdog in a Democratic wave year. Because, y’know, he’s notorious for making smart decisions. He looks to become a three-time loser for office here in November.

[numberthirty]

While it's uncertain where this will go, it is at least pointing in the right direction...

https://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago...neal-shooting/

2 cops recommended for firing in fatal shooting during stolen car chase in 2016

[Mister Mets]

https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/951941128387026945

The Daily Stormer style guide calls for misleading people, and hyperbole.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0ce3b344492f2

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...rs-style-guide

[Mister Mets]

TRUMP THINKS ONLY BLACK PEOPLE ARE ON WELFARE, BUT, REALLY, WHITE AMERICANS RECEIVE MOST BENEFITS

http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump..._medium=Social



Trump is a racist. Trump is a racist. Trump is a racist.

I'm surprised several members of the Congressional Black Caucus would keep quiet about this for so long.

This. When a feminist tells young women that "You can be anything you want," but with the unspoken understanding that "anything you want," should not include porn actress or Playboy Playmate, I find that feminist to be somewhat hypocritical.

Depends on the feminist' view of the morality with sleeping for money. A feminist could be similarly opposed to other legal professions.

No -- there's nothing "good" about this, Mets.

Not the question (which refers to African nations as "shitholes"), nor the person asking it (who shouldn't make such asinine statements regardless of whether he is the President of the United States or otherwise), nor the Republican party who keeps propping up this ignorant fool who is destroying our reputation both domestically and globally, just so they can take health care away from children and the poor to give targeted tax cuts to the wealthy.

I was referring to your comment as good.

[Tendrin]

https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarz...xXe#.bqXZ2b0GR

In a private Twitter DM group, Wisconsin congressional candidate Paul Nehlen said his enemies were "working for Jewish media" and promised to "decimate them all," according to screenshots obtained by BuzzFeed News.

Yikes. read the whole article.

[Tami]

Joy Reid is on a roll. Man, the conversation with Pastor Mark Burns, it is mindboggling. I hope there a video clip of it soon.

[aja_christopher]

I was referring to your comment as good.

I know -- but honestly it's pathetic that I should even have to answer a question like that.

As I told you a long time ago -- for you this is just a "debate" while for me this is another reminder of just how deeply ingrained racism is into our culture, as well as how the Republican party often talks the talk about being against racist behavior but rarely walks the walk.

"Black" people shouldn't have to keep proving that we are worthy of equality and respect -- it's something I've experienced many times personally (especially in academia) and to have a President of the United States talk and act in the same overtly racist manner is not only unacceptable but downright insulting.

That said, such questions shouldn't even be dignified by a response.

[aja_christopher]

"Why White Nationalists hear a political ally in Donald Trump"

[Ragged Maw]

Morons, the lot of them...

My guess is that it's the implication (intended or not) behind the adjective.

[aja_christopher]

I'm surprised several members of the Congressional Black Caucus would keep quiet about this for so long.

They haven't kept quiet -- but it's not as if the Republican party (including Trump) would do anything about it, regardless.

We've already gotten the standard "lip service" from Paul Ryan, which is all the Republican party tends to do when it comes to dealing with overt racism -- whether from its "base" or from it's leading candidate (and now president) Trump.

[PaulBullion]

The Daily Stormer style guide calls for misleading people, and hyperbole.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0ce3b344492f2

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2...rs-style-guide

Does not really apply here. If you look at Neonazi twitter accounts and other internet stains, they do exactly what Trump did there, say exactly what Trump said. They love posting pics of Scandinavian women. They love disrespecting places where people aren't white by majority (which usually starts with Detroit for them). So in this case, it is what it is.

[PaulBullion]

While publicly denying he ever said it, Trump defended 'shithole countries' remark in private

[PaulBullion]

This is frightening on every level:

White supremacist woman *poured sulfuric acid* on herself on purpose —lied & blamed a Black woman instead.

[TheInvisibleMan]

when in doubt, always blame scary black people

because we are savages

[4saken1]

Trump Thinks Only Black People Are on Welfare, but, Really, White Americans Receive Most Benefits

I hate to sound like I'm defending Trump, but this story is a little misleading.

Just over 40 percent of SNAP recipients are white. Another 25.7 percent are black, 10.3 percent are Hispanic, 2.1 percent are Asian and 1.2 percent are Native American, according to a 2015 Department of Agriculture report.

Whites comprise of 61% of the population, blacks are 13%, 18% are Hispanic, 5.7% are Asian, and 1.3% are Native American, according to 2016 Census Bureau information. When determining whether a given race is more or less likely to do something than other races, the numbers need to be compared with their own component percentages of the population as a whole. By my calculations, people of each respective race have the following percent chance to be on SNAP:

9% White
9% Hispanic or Latino
31% Black or African American
7% Asian
24% American Indian and Alaska Native