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

[Kirby101]

GOP Sen. John McCain writes an op-ed in USA Today criticizing Trump.
GOP Sen. Jeff Flake goes to the Senate floor to give a speech comparing his attacks on the media to Stalin's.
GOP Sen. Lindsay Graham says he "can't read the president's mind" to figure out what he wants on immigration.
GOP Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admits "he doesn't know what Trump wants on immigration".
Trump today mentioned there could be a Government Shutdown over the immigration issue he can't make up his mind on as soon as Friday.

Look at all that winning, guys. They're clearly responsible of leading the country.

When one of them, just one. votes against what Trump wants, includi9ng the stupid Wall, I'll care what they say. Until then it's blowing hot air.

[Tami]

A Year Ago, They Marched. Now a Record Number of Women Are Running for Office

Erin Zwiener returned to Texas to settle down. At 32, she had published a children’s book, won Jeopardy! three times and ridden roughly 1,400 miles from the Mexico border up the Continental Divide on a mule. In 2016, she moved with her husband to a small house in a rural enclave southwest of Austin with simpler plans: write another book, tend her horses, paint her new home blue.

One day last February, she changed those plans. Zwiener was surfing Facebook after finalizing color samples for her living room–sea foam, navy, cornflower–when she saw a picture of her state representative, Jason Isaac, smiling at a local chamber of commerce gala. “Glad you’re having a good time,” she commented. “What’s your position on SB4?” After a tense back-and-forth about the Lone Star State’s controversial immigration law, Isaac accused her of “trolling” and blocked her. That’s when she decided to run for his seat. Zwiener never got around to painting her living room. She’s trying to turn her Texas district blue instead.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I saw a bunch of statements being made about immigration by John Kelly online, and someone commented, "Start the countdown on Trump getting pissed about his Chief of Staff saying Trump wasn't fully versed on the facts and the Wall, and an angry Twitter response.

It came this morning.

Again, Trump's an idiot. He wants to blame a shutdown on DACA on Democrats, but public perception won't be that, because he's the idjit who ended DACA, and turned it into a political football, rather than leave it alone. He's also the one shooting down Democratic and GOP compromises after hardliners show up to sway him, and he rambles about "S***hole countries". Like, Lindsay Graham & Dick Durbin HAD A SOLUTION TO THIS, but Baron F***face von Clownstick can't have anything that lets people of color in the country, ever.

Who takes the blame for this shutdown? Trump. And the GOP hardliners. And the GOP sane crew has been more than willing to slag the hardliners, hoping they individually will save themselves.

They're just going to cede more momentum, and add more height onto the forthcoming blue wave in November.

More proof that Trump is, if anything, stupidly predictable. I'm guessing it won't be long before the President of Mexico tweets back and says "Screw you" to Dolt45 about paying for the wall.

[Iron Maiden]

I saw a bunch of statements being made about immigration by John Kelly online, and someone commented, "Start the countdown on Trump getting pissed about his Chief of Staff saying Trump wasn't fully versed on the facts and the Wall, and an angry Twitter response.

It came this morning.

Again, Trump's an idiot. He wants to blame a shutdown on DACA on Democrats, but public perception won't be that, because he's the idjit who ended DACA, and turned it into a political football, rather than leave it alone. He's also the one shooting down Democratic and GOP compromises after hardliners show up to sway him, and he rambles about "S***hole countries". Like, Lindsay Graham & Dick Durbin HAD A SOLUTION TO THIS, but Baron F***face von Clownstick can't have anything that lets people of color in the country, ever.

Who takes the blame for this shutdown? Trump. And the GOP hardliners. And the GOP sane crew has been more than willing to slag the hardliners, hoping they individually will save themselves.

They're just going to cede more momentum, and add more height onto the forthcoming blue wave in November.

I was surprised to hear this morning that Kelly was trying to get Trump come down from the idea that there's going to be a physical wall stretching some 2000 miles. Kelly has had experts come in and tell Trump that there are areas where the terrain would make it impractical to construct one. Trump is insisting on a 700 mile stretch with a $20 billion dollar price tag if the Democrats want to see anything done about DACA. And that parts of the wall are going to be see through

Sen. Graham seemed to imply that Kelly was part of staff that was responsible for Trump's hostile mood during the imfamous sh*thole meeting but it's more likely the two deniers Cotton and Perdue and other hardliners and probably Nazi Youth member (joking) Stephen Miller that got Trump stirred up.

This is a part of this administration that is dangerous, and we've heard this before, that Trump listens to the last person/group to get his attention. These reversals are making things dangerously chaotic.

[Kirby101]

All the things they saywe don't have money for, like children's health, infrastructure.
And they are going to spend tens of billions on a useless stupid wall?
We are lead by ignorant, corrupt assholes.

[SuperiorIronman]

This isn't the Great wall of China. Even still it's not like we don't have budget for- oh right, the tax stuff.

And even if they wanted to get into America, what's stopping them going around the wall like them going around the border itself like they already do? Are we going to put the coast guard down there because if not its incredibly shot-sighted.

[TheInvisibleMan]

a healthy number of "illegal immigrants" are overstayed visas

not sure how a wall stops that

[Tami]

a healthy number of "illegal immigrants" are overstayed visas

not sure how a wall stops that

Trump is fixated on the Wall because building structures is all he really knows. That's his answer to everything.

[Malvolio]

When one of them, just one. votes against what Trump wants, includi9ng the stupid Wall, I'll care what they say. Until then it's blowing hot air.

This. Establishment Republicans like Graham and McConnell have only established themselves over the past year as speaking out against Trump in the proposal phase, but getting in line when it comes to a vote.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

This isn't the Great wall of China. Even still it's not like we don't have budget for- oh right, the tax stuff.

And even if they wanted to get into America, what's stopping them going around the wall like them going around the border itself like they already do? Are we going to put the coast guard down there because if not its incredibly shot-sighted.

A multi-billion dollar wall, easily defeated by $50 ladder from Home Depot. The embarrassment would be total. And if you can't go over or around the wall, you go under it, the drug lords in Mexico and South America can tell you all about that.

a healthy number of "illegal immigrants" are overstayed visas

not sure how a wall stops that

And what about illegals on those visas from Europe and Asia? What about them?

[Malvolio]

A multi-billion dollar wall, easily defeated by $50 ladder from Home Depot. The embarrassment would be total. And if you can't go over or around the wall, you go under it, the drug lords in Mexico and South America can tell you all about that.



And what about illegals on those visas from Europe and Asia? What about them?

Well, Europe and Asia aren't shitholes, so they're OK.

[Darkspellmaster]

Well, Europe and Asia aren't shitholes, so they're OK.

Except when Asia won't let him build one of his buildings there. Then apparently it is.

[worstblogever]

Trump, unaware that his endorsement has been the kiss of death in every special election since May of 2017 now, has decided to endorse Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania's 18th District, and is traveling to that district to apparently start campaigning for him. Democrats supporting their special election candidate, Conor Lamb, await an almost certain embarrassment Trump will bring.

For full perspective, this should be a completely safe district for Republicans. GOP Congressman Tim Murphy resigned from the 18th late in 2017 when it was discovered not just that he had a mistress who was married to another man, but the divorce documents between the two had text messages exchanged between the mistress and Murphy that revealed the anti-abortion zealot had tried coercing her to have an abortion during a pregnancy scare. Murphy, despite being kind of a wackaloon out in Yinzer country, almost always faced no opposition for his Congressional seat. The last time he faced a Democrat, he beat them by 28 points. The Cook Partisan Voting Index gives Pennsylvania's 18th a +11 Republican lean, and Trump won it in 2016 by 20 points.

Current National Polls have Democrats favored with +8 to +12 in their favor in the 2018 elections. So it's possible, but not unlikely in a generic race. As we saw in Alabama, a lot is possible, but then again, Republicans would have to run someone like Roy Moore, a pedophile who makes racist and anti-gay statements while ignoring the Supreme Court and getting removed from the Alabama Supreme Court as a result to botch something. Pennsylvania's 18th is also overwhelmingly 95% white, so this won't be like how the votes of African American women helped Doug Jones become the U.S. Senator from Alabama.

However, the candidate Democrats nominated plays to the district. Conor Lamb, a young former Marine and assistant U.S. attorney and part of a storied Pittsburgh political family. His grandfather was the state Senate majority leader four-plus decades ago and his uncle is Pittsburgh controller today. The Lambs have been old-style Humphrey Democrats, tied to organized labor but far from the “resistance” progressives of the Bernie Sanders wing of the party. Lamb would not appeal to a Democratic purist, as he is considered to be moderate on the issue of abortion, and on the issue of guns, supports the 2nd Amendment (again, like Sen. Sanders). Lamb has also stated he would not support Nancy Pelosi for House leadership.

Rick Saccone already took a hit after he made statements indicating that Roy Moore's accusers shouldn't be believed about six months ago. As a legislator, he previously sponsored a bill that would prevent businesses from stopping guns from being allowed inside that cited Chuck E. Cheese as a place where guns should be. Saccone has repeatedly sponsored bills that would violate the establishment cause of the Constitution, including placing "In God We Trust" on all public school buildings, declaring 2012 be named "The Year of the Bible" and that a resolution that a national day of fasting be recognized on April 30th.

Gravis polling's initial look at this race has Saccone up 46-34. Between potential Trump embarrassments, Mike Pence has two scheduled visits to PA-18 to campaign for Saccone, and the national GOP, desperate to cut Democratic momentum and stop the bleeding after botching the Alabama Senate special election and seeing Democrats swing a Wisconsin State Senate seat in a district that went +18 in favor Trump in the election, only to lose it by 11 points this week, are going to dump obscene amounts of money into this race. The Ricketts family has already injected a small fortune to fund TV ads, and this election isn't for another two months. A government shutdown orchestrated by Trump on DACA is about to go down, and the candidates' opinions on THAT can swing this race even further.

One thing's for sure, the GOP definitely look to be in a panic, and if Lamb pulls yet another incredible upset, Republicans in office going into 2018 will all collectively s*** their pants.

[TheInvisibleMan]

"The Year Of The Bible"

G T F O H W T M

[Jack Dracula]

A Year Ago, They Marched. Now a Record Number of Women Are Running for Office

Cue the "WAR ON MALES!" rhetoric.