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

[Malvolio]

So Kennedy gave Trump a legit list of candidates, rather than making a deal to nominate his law clerk and then interview four others to make it look good? All that means is that they aren't always as corrupt as we imagine. We should still always do the research to find out just how far the corruption goes.

[Mister Ferro]

This is how #FakeNews spreads on social media:

The original tweet by Bennett is still up and has collected 326 additional retweets & 368 likes from the 11,600 rt's & 10,332 likes it was at when I originally saw the tweet.

The "update" tweet on the other hand has only 31 retweets & 25 likes.

**edit**

After I hit post the 1st tweet has now collected an additional 173 retweets & 169 likes. The 2nd tweet only 1 retweet & 0 likes were added.

[Kevinroc]

https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1016718453166600193

Judge takes Green Party off Montana ballot after accusations that GOP improperly helped in signature gathering http://hill.cm/438B9Aq

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Except this turned out to be #FakeNews.

I know it's easy to fall for when it paints a picture that y'all would love to rally against but y'all gotta check the original source.

While I'm glad that story had turned out to have been bogus, given all the shady shit Trump and his henchmen have done over the last year and a half, it's damn hard to give this administration the benefit of the doubt. So, when stories like that get out, yeah, the natural inclination is to think the worst (and I won't deny I had), I'd say we've almost been programmed in that regard because of how suspicious people are about Trump's motives and actions. Would that come under the heading of rampant and needless paranoia/conspiracy theory nonsense? Absolutely, I would be a fool to say differently, but, in my opinion, it's not exactly an unwarranted concern.

[Tami]

Secret tape recordings rock Georgia governor race

ATLANTA — Another secret recording is shaking up Georgia's Republican primary runoff in the governor's race.

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle's campaign was already rocked last month by the release of a secretly recorded conversation in which Cagle said he backed what he called "bad public policy" for political gain. Cagle's runoff opponent, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, released another snippet of that conversation Monday.

In this 50-second piece , Cagle can be heard candidly discussing the GOP primary's sharp turn to the right, saying the five-man race came down to "who had the biggest gun, who had the biggest truck and who could be the craziest."

Kemp said in a statement to the AP on Monday that the newly released recording "exposes Cagle's real opinion of Republican voters in Georgia."

Cagle has called his talk with former candidate for governor Clay Tippins a private conversation that was never meant to become public, and says it's being taken out of context.

His campaign said Monday that the comments were not aimed at Georgia voters, but at "his crazy opponents' campaign, full of gimmicks and devoid of substance."

Kemp has garnered his own strong criticism — and national headlines — for a series of provocative television ads ran during the primary. In one ad, Kemp holds a shotgun and pretends to threaten a young man interested in his daughter. In another, Kemp says "I got a big truck," as he slams the door on a pickup, "just in case I need to round up criminal illegals and take 'em home myself."

"Pointing guns at kids. Blowing things up. It's silliness. Some might say 'crazy.' No, scratch that, nearly everybody would say it's crazy," Cagle's campaign said.

The recording was captured without Cagle's knowledge by Tippins just days after the May 22 primary in which Cagle and Kemp beat out Tippins and two others. Tippins secretly recorded the private conversation at Cagle's campaign office on a phone hidden in his coat pocket, and provided a longer piece of the recording to local media outlets.

"The issues you talk about are the issues I care about as well. The problem is in a primary — and you and I are just talking off the record frank — they don't give a (expletive) about those things, OK. In the general election, they care about it, OK. But they don't care about it in a primary." Cagle says in the newly released snippet.

[BeastieRunner]

What GOP senators are no on him already?

Yeah.

Felt more like "Reply Hazy, Try Again" or "Better Not Tell You Now".

We'll see it soo. I don't trust the Conservatives in this country. They say shit to get the left Hyped, then laugh when they stab us in the back.

Collins, McCain, & Murkowski are fence sitting but against a vote until "the will of the people" is decided. McCain is expected to be a non-vote, so we need a full block by the Ds and only one R to flip at this point. If more than one flips, it signals to Trump that he won't get a hard right pick through this time.

I fully expect one of the leaving GOPers to vote against him to screw Trump but I'm actually more concerned with the Ds ... too many of them are going to take a concession to receive a small boost in their area for November (even though they're not threatened).

I can see a D or 2 making this a tie or sending it over by 1, sadly.

[aja_christopher]

Again: not my opinion -- just more insight on the Cohen situation.

[Tami]

Neighbors call cops on 12-year-old black kid for delivering newspapers

Another case.

This kind of thing did happen to me once, about 7 years ago. Though I was in my car, it was getting late and I'm sure the people inside their homes couldn't tell if I was black or white. For a white person, this isn't nearly as bad as it is for a black person who runs the risk of the police getting an antsy trigger finger. For a child, it is a hundred times worse.

[BeastieRunner]

The POTUS SCOTUS pick's first public statement was an outright lie.

That should tell you more than enough.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Collins, McCain, & Murkowski are fence sitting but against a vote until "the will of the people" is decided. McCain is expected to be a non-vote, so we need a full block by the Ds and only one R to flip at this point. If more than one flips, it signals to Trump that he won't get a hard right pick through this time.

I fully expect one of the leaving GOPers to vote against him to screw Trump but I'm actually more concerned with the Ds ... too many of them are going to take a concession to receive a small boost in their area for November (even though they're not threatened).

I can see a D or 2 making this a tie or sending it over by 1, sadly.

Can you say....Joe Manchin? If any Dem flips, he's bound to be the first.

[ZombieHavoc]

Son of a bitch! Seriously? Is that sort of thing ethical, or legal?

Does it matter at this point?

And, is anyone the least bit surprised?

[ZombieHavoc]

Does it matter at this point?

And, is anyone the least bit surprised?

Also, I just saw the subsequent posts about how that was not fully true anyway. Well, in 2018, I can believe it's true if I want. That's how 62 million people get through their days currently, so.

[Jack Dracula]

Except this turned out to be #FakeNews.

I know it's easy to fall for when it paints a picture that y'all would love to rally against but y'all gotta check the original source.

I believed it, though I admit to being more surprised at the higher level of forethought and startegic planning from Trump and his administration than the poor ethics of it. That alone should've me suspicious. Trump's too stupid to plan so well and so far ahead.

[Dalak]

Except this turned out to be #FakeNews.

I know it's easy to fall for when it paints a picture that y'all would love to rally against but y'all gotta check the original source.

So how does the verified relationship between Trump and Kennedy's Son's Bank work into this fake news? Does the fact that he actually gave a list of folks he'd retire for mix with that to give you any hangups over the situation? I know it fills me with disgust.

[Handsome men don't lose fights]

Does it matter at this point?

And, is anyone the least bit surprised?

These people are exhausting.