All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[CaptainEurope]

But even if that were to happen, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for McConnell. If he could press a magic button and replace Cruz or Hawley with generic Senators appointed by the governors of Texas and Missouri, he'd be happy to do so.

Why, the man is a chaos agent, mostly interested in making government ineffective.

[worstblogever]

But even if that were to happen, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing for McConnell. If he could press a magic button and replace Cruz or Hawley with generic Senators appointed by the governors of Texas and Missouri, he'd be happy to do so.

Guilt by association is a thing in the eyes of the public. But more importantly, Mitch McConnell wants to keep a filibuster out of reach as far as possible from the other side. Two less seats until a special election are two less seats.

And one of those seats is in Texas, which is now purple and trending blue. Missouri is a tougher climb, but given the replacements turning up for Roy Blunt's spot, it's not a given that a GOP nominee will win that one, nor Hawley's if he's expelled.

[Kirby101]

Five months later, there's no indication that a current or former member of Congress gave inside information to rioters, let alone that concern about this is driving the actions of Republican leadership.

If there was "no indication" they wouldn't be investigating it.

Police Investigating Whether Lawmakers Gave Rioters Tour of Capitol Before Siege

And Trump and GOP culpability is certainly one of the reasons McConnell, McCarthy et al are opposing the commission.

[CaptainEurope]

Reality winner is free!!

[Malvolio]

Guilt by association is a thing in the eyes of the public. But more importantly, Mitch McConnell wants to keep a filibuster out of reach as far as possible from the other side. Two less seats until a special election are two less seats.

And one of those seats is in Texas, which is now purple and trending blue. Missouri is a tougher climb, but given the replacements turning up for Roy Blunt's spot, it's not a given that a GOP nominee will win that one, nor Hawley's if he's expelled.

So would those Senate seats remain open until the next election, or would the respective Governors appoint someone? If it's the second option, then Mets is right that McConnell would not care so much because another Republican would be in each Senate seat.

[CaptainEurope]

Reality winner is free!!

Well, house arrest for now. But out of prison.

[AnakinFlair]

Guilt by association is a thing in the eyes of the public. But more importantly, Mitch McConnell wants to keep a filibuster out of reach as far as possible from the other side. Two less seats until a special election are two less seats.

And one of those seats is in Texas, which is now purple and trending blue. Missouri is a tougher climb, but given the replacements turning up for Roy Blunt's spot, it's not a given that a GOP nominee will win that one, nor Hawley's if he's expelled.

As someone who lives in Missouri, let me advise you to never underestimate the ability of rural Missourians to gleefully f*** over the rest of the country by sending unqualified hacks to the halls of government.

[BeastieRunner]

Here is a fun trend: Nondefense spending is outpacing defense spending for the first time in over 65 years.



If the infrastructure bill bases, it will widen the trend even more. It has surpassed defense spending in the last 65 years, but never outpaced it.

Which is good, given this scary information:

[Mister Mets]

So would those Senate seats remain open until the next election, or would the respective Governors appoint someone? If it's the second option, then Mets is right that McConnell would not care so much because another Republican would be in each Senate seat.

In both Missouri and Texas, the governor makes an appointment until the next scheduled election. In Texas, there will be a special election while Missouri doesn't require it, although there would be pressure on getting an election earlier than 2024.

https://www.ncsl.org/research/electi...637302453.aspx

[Tami]

Justice official resigning amid uproar over Dems’ subpoena

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department’s top national security official is resigning from his position after revelations that the department under President Donald Trump secretly seized records from Democrats and members of the media.

John Demers, a Trump appointee, will leave by the end of next week, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press on Monday. Demers, who was sworn in a few weeks after the subpoena for the Democrats’ records, is one of the few Trump appointees who has remained in the Biden administration. He had planned for weeks to leave the department by the end of June, a second person familiar with the matter said.

The official and the person could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Demers’ resignation comes amid questions about what he knew about the Justice Department’s efforts to secretly seize the phone data from House Democrats and reporters as part of the aggressive investigations into leaks.

Attorney General Merrick Garland emphasized in a statement Monday that “political or other improper considerations must play no role in any investigative or prosecutorial decisions” and noted the department’s inspector general has already launched an investigation.

“Consistent with our commitment to the rule of law,” he said, “we must ensure that full weight is accorded to separation-of-powers concerns moving forward.”

[Tami]

House Republicans Louie Gohmert and Andrew Clyde bring a lawsuit against Pelosi for metal detectors outside the House chamber — and will be represented by Trump DHS Deputy Sec. Cuccinelli.

-------Yet here is an article from 2018-----
Metal Detectors the Norm at Schools and Ballparks. State Capitols? Not So Much

SALT LAKE CITY — You can’t cheer on the Utah Jazz in their home arena without going through a metal detector. But visiting the Utah Capitol for a field trip, a protest, a meeting with the governor or a wedding photo shoot? Step right in, no scan required.

There aren’t any metal detectors at the towering Capitol in Nebraska, either. Or in Vermont, or Michigan, or more than a dozen other states.

The entrance to the West Virginia Capitol, on the other hand, can resemble an airport checkpoint. And if you find yourself in the security line behind a group of Girl Scouts lobbying at the Georgia Capitol, you might be waiting for a while.

[Tami]

Oh, and Ukraine is joining NATO.

[MacrossPlus]

The phrase "Constitutional Republic" is complete bullshit, but it's no surprise why so many conservatives are believing in it

[CaptainEurope]

Oh, and Ukraine is joining NATO.

Not so fast... this tweet explains what is actually happening there:

[worstblogever]

In both 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" published profiles of the U.S. Senator from Arizona, John McCain, who is now serving in his sixth term in office. We ran an exhaustive timeline on, doing our best to give the man his due where he could, before we raked him over the coals, going all the way back to his earliest days serving in the House, when he found himself a member of the Keating Five. We covered his prolific flip-flopping on issues, whether changing his mind over the Confederate flag flying on state grounds within 72 hours, or reversing position on same sex marriage on Hardball with Chris Matthews within 11 MINUTES of coming out in favor of it. While those reversals were jaw-dropping in their suddenness, Sen. McCain’s reversal on immigration policy from a would-be reformer in 2006, to his “Fix the Danged Fence” ad in 2010 make more sense, when you consider he changes positions out of convenience depending on which party looks like they’ll do better in that election year. McCain was pilloried during the 2008 presidential campaign for voting for the Iraq War, which back in 2002, he described the upcoming conflict would be “easy” (so easy it went on for about a decade and we’re still fighting ISIS there fifteen years later). His hawkish nature knows no bounds, as he spoke in New Hampshire in 2008 about keeping our troops in Iraq for up to a “hundred” years, and it would be fine because there were “no casualties there” (when they were approaching four thousand) and he gleefully discussed conflict with Iran by way of singing a parody of the Beach Boys tune “Barbara Ann”. McCain immediately called for the United States to send our armed forces to both Syria, and then Ukraine at the first sign of diplomatic strife within a few months of each other in 2014. Shockingly, McCain voted against banning “enhanced interrogation” techniques in 2008, as well, in spite of having endured torture himself. He has proven clueless on any number of issues, being stumped by reporters when asked if condoms or other contraceptives could help prevent HIV (which might explain why he joined the rest of the GOP in trying to defund Planned Parenthood in 2015), and declaring the “fundamentals of our economy are strong” in the midst of the 2008 Wall Street meltdown. In recent years, he has whined about the Obama administration “politicizing the death of Osama bin Laden” while, simultaneously claiming that the deaths of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya was “a worse scandal than Watergate”. He’s become so bitter that he even voted against the nomination of former Republican senator and fellow Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, calling him an “unimpressive candidate”, and called President Obama a “lame duck” with a full year left in his term when it came time to find a new Supreme Court Justice to replace Antonin Scalia. Oh, yeah, he also picked Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, foisting her upon the American consciousness. That’s something he’ll definitely never live down. To his credit, McCain spent many of his last days as the closest thing Republicans had to someone who would stand up to Donald Trump, at one minute reversing his stance on torture (again) to explain why Drumpf’s suggestions on the subject are “disappointing”, but then turning around and telling folks that Trump could be a “capable leader” if he would be elected president. Which is amazing, considering Trump attacked McCain’s reputation as a war hero because “he was captured”. McCain openly chastised Trump for his attacks upon Khzir and Ghazala Khan, a Gold Star family, adding that Humayan Khan was “an example of American greatness” and that we are a greater country because of them and after the Access Hollywood footage of Donald Trump bragging about committing sexual assault emerges, Sen. McCain unendorsed Trump for president. McCain joined Lindsey Graham to criticize Donald Trump’s Muslim Travel Ban, calling it “a self-inflicted wound” in our war on terror and responded to Donald Trump calling the American media “the enemy of the people”, saying that such talk is “how dictators get started”. Sen. McCain lost his battle with brain cancer, and passed away in September of 2018, yet still is being besmirched by Donald Trump to this day.

On this date in 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Bill Fawell, the Republican challenger who was vying to unseat incumbent Democratic Congresswoman Cheri Bustos, to represent Illinois’ 17th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. CNN’s K-File did some research about Bill Fawell, and learned interesting details like that he’s a 9-11 Truther, and that on his blog a few years back, he called on people to boycott watching the Super Bowl because Beyonce would be the halftime show performer, and that she had ties to the Illuminati. That should have been enough to make him un-electable, but we’ll add he also theorized that former First Lady Michelle Obama was a man, Hillary Clinton campaign operative Tony Podesta wore red shoes, and is therefore a Satanist, and that the Deep State would destroy all of New York City in a false flag operation as justification to go to war. Fawell also has stated his belief that Donald Trump can “restore the Judeo-Christian ethos of Western Civilization to America.” (which is an amazing thought about one of the most immoral people alive), and after CNN reported on all this and asked him for comment, Fawell stood by his theories and added that Taylor Swift also espoused support for the Illuminati in her videos. In spite of him being a deranged conspiracy theorist, he won 38% of the vote because Republicans really will vote for anything with an “R” next to it. Still, we don’t think he’s getting elected to office anywhere anytime soon.