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

[JCAll]

There is also the question of why there should be a ban on the AR-15 in particular.

The majority of gun deaths are from handguns.

Most proposals to make it harder to buy long guns make an exception for hunting rifles, so as not to piss off rural voters, but something that is built to take down an elk is going to be effective at taking down a human.

Isn't that kind of like saying "Why try to treat AIDS, when the vast majority of people die from heart failure"?
Yeah, but this is actually within our power to effect, and I'm sure the people that won't die will appreciate it. Plus it wouldn't be a problem at all if the government hadn't had its head up its butt a few decades ago. That answer works for both.

[ed2962]

As a black guy who didn't grow up in the "Hood" and still owned 3 guns including an AR-15. I'm trying to find the positive in this post. I really am.
Pistol and AR sold as of 2 weeks ago.

Well, it's not positive. It's tragic.

[Tazirai]

As a black man who grew up in the hood and still live there, I never owned a gun, never saw a reason to own one, least of all some damned assault rifle, still don’t to this day.

I guess West Philly in the 80's-early 90's for me wasn't hood lol. Whenever I go home now it looks rough, but things are changing back. When I lived in Japan, Germany, and Italy I lived close to cities and in Japan in Yokohama.
But the big thing even in Philly was no one I knew was thrilled about guns.

It was all about Rapping, dancing, singing or art in some form.

[BeastieRunner]

Shotgun, revolver, bolt action rifle.

That is all you need for home defence, sport, and hunting.

Anything else and you need a new hobby.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I guess West Philly in the 80's-early 90's for me wasn't hood lol. Whenever I go home now it looks rough, but things are changing back. When I lived in Japan, Germany, and Italy I lived close to cities and in Japan in Yokohama.
But the big thing even in Philly was no one I knew was thrilled about guns.

It was all about Rapping, dancing, singing or art in some form.

Well, North Philly was, and remains rougher than West Philly, always has been, especially the Kensington area. No one I know on my block owns a gun, if someone does, he (or she) isn't telling, not that I blame them.

**********

Supreme Court To Take Hard Look At Partisan Gerrymander, This Time By Democrats

This week the justices will consider a Republican challenge to a Maryland district redrawn to boost Democratic odds. But not a glance at states where Republicans stacked the deck in their favor. How very NON-partisan!

**********

Howard Stern’s Blunt Advice For Trump: ‘Get The F**k Out Of There, Man’

The King of All Media warns his old friend to leave D.C. What? And give up the ultimate ego trip that comes with being the Leader of the Free World? No way Trump takes that advice. For a man who loves being in the spotlight, sitting in the Oval Office as president is the biggest possible rush, and he ain't giving that up anytime soon, if at all.

**********

Conservative Pundit Urges Melania Trump: It’s Time To Leave Your ‘Jerk Of A Husband’

“Melania should do for this generation of girls what Hillary Clinton did not do for mine,” S.E. Cupp said. Fat chance of that. Melania doesn't give even half a **** about this, or any generation of girls. She's married to the Orange Menace for the money and the money alone, his being a jerk and a cheat and an ******* doesn't matter one iota to her.

**********

GOP Rep. Charlie Dent Calls Out Evangelicals For Being ‘Pretty Damn Silent’ On Trump

Retiring lawmaker has some harsh words for the “character counts” crowd. The holy rollers don't care even a little bit about being seen as hypocrites when it comes to supporting that draft dodging, habitually lying serial adulterer. They believe that God is on their side, and that God favors Trump, and that's good enough for them.

**********

Steve King Tried To Troll Teens Who Support Gun Control. It Didn’t Go Well.

Conservative lawmaker gets called out on Twitter. One thing you can say about Steve-O, he's a consistent jackass.

[worstblogever]

Three years ago, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" ran a profile of Aaron Schock, who at the time had just shocked the Beltway by resigning in disgrace after the one time "Young Gun" of the GOP, and the youngest person ever elected to Congress was discovered to have remodeled his office to look like the set of Downtown Abbey, and taxpayers were left with a $35,000 bill for the redecorating efforts. Schock also missed 5.5% of the potential votes on the House floor, one of the poorest attendance records in Congress, and one of the easiest explanations for that was he was always posting Instagram photos from exotic vacations he was taking, rather than doing a job that already offers a ridiculous amount of days off for a six-figure salary. Schock also got caught reporting he had driven more miles than the truck he was driving had in its total mileage, but wanted to be reimbursed for $90,000. After the media started reporting on all these inconsistencies, the FBI and Justice Department began ones of their own (they're still trying to determine if Schock will face charges). With all that graft going on, it's easy to forget that Schock's voting record included votes against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform, Hurricane Sandy Relief Aid, and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, while voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act incessantly, the 2013 Government Shutdown, and to attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. Since he's still out of office and it legal jeopardy for his corrupt activities, but constantly is rumored to be making a comeback and planning another run for office.

Two years ago today, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” posted a profile of Janice Fountaine, a 2014 Maryland State Senate and self-described "prophet of God" who warned that homosexuality and masturbation were created by Satan as a strategy in "evil end-time warfare". Fountaine's foreign policy stance is also that America is the "World Police, whether we like it or not". She was an embarrassing candidate who only ran because she saw no other Republicans on the ballot, and it seems like the Maryland GOP would like to not be embarrassed by her again.


One year ago, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profiled Arthur “Art” Jones, who we kind of thought would be a “one and done” focus for us, what with him being a motherf***ing straight-up Nazi and all. We aren’t speaking in hyperbole here, Jones was a two-time failed Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois 3rd Congressional District in the 2012 who ran for Congress in Illinois’ 3rd Congressional Districtinn 2016 even though he marched with Nazis in Chicago in 1978, and who denies the Holocaust ever happened. In the Oak Lawn Patch on February 29, 2012, Jones commented, "the Holocaust is nothing more than an international extortion racket by the Jews. It's the blackest lie in history. Millions of dollars are being made by Jews telling this tale of woe and misfortune in books, movies, plays and TV.” This isn’t a one-off misquote, either, as Jones' 2016 campaign website contained a section called "Holocaust?" (yes, with a question mark) featuring write-ups and newspaper clippings supporting his belief that the Holocaust is "mythical." Jones cited tax benefits received by Holocaust survivors as a possible motivation for their upholding of the narrative and further added that Kosher food labels are "another Jewish racket, pure and simple to extort money out of the food manufacturers at a hefty fee, which is then passed on to all non-Jewish customers in the retail price paid each time we shop." As you would expect, Jones was echoing Donald Trump’s anti-immigration platform in 2016, though he also had plenty of venom focused against marriage equality as well. In his warped mind, homosexuals, or as he calls them “the lying Pink Crusader Rabbits” are working to “seek[s] to uproot, and overthrow all the moral teachings of the Christian religion on which all our laws are based.” Jones was also ranting about something he called the “Neighbourhood Amendment”, which apparently sought to let citizens who decided clean up their neighborhood and assure it would be white and Christian would have the legal means to do so. In 2012, Art Jones finished third in the GOP Primary in 2016 with 11% of the vote, which is far more than you’d hope a Neo-Nazi Holocaust denier would ever get.

And, to our chagrin, Jones, now 70 years old, was allowed to run for Congress AGAIN by the Illinois GOP in 2018, and they couldn’t be bothered to even run a candidate against him in the primary. Which means, yes, Art Jones, an actual Nazi running around three quarters of a century after the Nazis were defeated in World War II, is going into November with a chance of becoming a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Illinois’ 3rd District.

We’re going to say that we’re disgusted by this, but definitely say that it lends a lot to our theory that the overall Republican Party has lost their f***ing minds.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Just heard on my local all-news radio station a couple minutes ago that Stormy Daniels' lawyer has asked a judge to have Dolt45 deposed over that payola for her silence after her alleged one night stand with Trump.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politi...OmI?li=BBnb7Kz

[Trey Strain]

This is the best analysis I've read in a long time. It explains where the Democrats went wrong, and why the explosion in economic inequality occurred. More and more people have become "valued" and "celebrated," and meanwhile more and more people's incomes have plunged disastrously.

"There was a shift away from economics towards a “politics of difference” or “identity” or “recognition.” ... Now the focus was on the cultural status of traditionally marginalized groups."

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-polit...-conservatives

[worstblogever]

That anyone could, after two consecutive posts about how the GOP have a Nazi on the ballot for Congress in Illinois, and a president being deposed by a porn star's lawyer over an affair he had, and had his own counsel attempt to pay off with hush money and violating election law... after THOSE two stories, try and talk about "where Democrats went wrong"...

Well, that's ri-goddamn-diculous timing.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

A new epithet emerges for Parkland teens calling for more gun control: Nazis

For weeks, the Florida teenagers who became activists after the Parkland school shooting have been subject to harsh treatment by many of those critical of their message for more gun control.

First, many of the activists were smeared falsely as “crisis actors” by conspiracy theorists and hoaxers on the Internet in the immediate wake of the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. They continue to be lightning rods for some conservative media and politicians, despite some indications that they enjoy wide support nationally. And now, they are being likened to Nazis.

Memes comparing the Parkland students to Nazis have circulated at the fringes for days, but on Tuesday seemed to find a wider audience.

It's worse than disgusting how these kids, traumatized by the shooting are being cruelly dragged through the mud by Republicans, conservatives, right wingers, the NRA and Faux News talking heads because they DARED to stand up, speak up and demand gun control to help prevent future horrors like Parkland. And what's even more infuriating, and shameful, is that those kids have been forced into the unenviable position of having to take up a cause that adults, most notably our elected officials have neither the will or the desire to act upon for the greater good. It's a disgrace, a complete and utter disgrace.

[worstblogever]

And again, meanwhile the GOP have an actual Nazi on the ballot for Congress, and they're trying to tell people the Parkland kids are the actual Nazis.

Mmm-hmm. Might not want to go throwing stones while you're in that glass house, ***holes.

[Gray Lensman]

That anyone could, after two consecutive posts about how the GOP have a Nazi on the ballot for Congress in Illinois, and a president being deposed by a porn star's lawyer over an affair he had, and had his own counsel attempt to pay off with hush money and violating election law... after THOSE two stories, try and talk about "where Democrats went wrong"...

Well, that's ri-goddamn-diculous timing.

Reading the article, it sounds more like trying to figure out where the left went wrong in order to deal with the current crapsack in charge for as short a time as possible. It's written from the PoV of someone closer to the center, but it seems more of a diagnosis type article than a 'you libs suck' type.

[InformationGeek]

Steve King Tried To Troll Teens Who Support Gun Control. It Didn’t Go Well.

Conservative lawmaker gets called out on Twitter. One thing you can say about Steve-O, he's a consistent jackass.

Oh, I was just about to post about that.

If you are a teenager & believe you won’t be responsible enough to own a gun until 21, why should you vote before 21?

What a f**king dick. Guess WBE will have tons to discuss in Steve's profile later this year.

[Trey Strain]

That anyone could, after two consecutive posts about how the GOP have a Nazi on the ballot for Congress in Illinois, and a president being deposed by a porn star's lawyer over an affair he had, and had his own counsel attempt to pay off with hush money and violating election law... after THOSE two stories, try and talk about "where Democrats went wrong"...

Well, that's ri-goddamn-diculous timing.

Sir, the Republicans have been WINNING for a very long time. Look how many political seats they hold in this country. It's staggering. They have conceded the game of political correctness to the Democrats, and meanwhile they have assumed complete political control and destroyed the middle class.

Yes, my posting that was in perfect timing. Democrats can keep talking about how bad Trump is, but what are they going to DO, besides policing people's language, shutting down the government on behalf of illegal aliens, and the like? Sadly, I believe we all know the answer to that. They're going to double down on what they're doing.

This is why the Democratic establishment rigged the nomination for Clinton and against Sanders. They say they've changed now, but they haven't. They'd do the same thing again if they could.

[Tendrin]

White supremacy. That 's the real reason.