All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[TheDarman]

Do you have a link to that poll? I am not being argumentative...I'm legit interested in in this data...

I posted it earlier. It’s in this article:

Black VP seems to be best choice for Biden and boosts him in polling relative to other choices.

Among these prospective black female VP choices, Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams do extraordinarily well with net favorability ratings above 30% for both.

[aja_christopher]

I do not believe it would be politically helpful for Democrats to make it an official position that Virginians, Floridians and Texans are racist scum.

No one is making that argument.

The argument being made is that your party consciously and repeatedly attempts to suppress minority voting rights by any means necessary.

Which you know.

And that you continue to try to deflect from your party's racism (and Islamophobia and homophobia) by trying to project onto Democrats instead.

[Mister Mets]

Black VP seems to be best choice for Biden and boosts him in polling relative to other choices.

Among these prospective black female VP choices, Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams do extraordinarily well with net favorability ratings above 30% for both.

Harris has some negatives, but she seems ready for the job. She's a Senator, she has won three statewide elections in a large state, she ran the second-largest justice department in the country, and she has the name recognition that comes with running for President.

I dunno...at this point, I don't think experience is that much of a factor for most mainstream voters anymore.

Abrams is in a different category than most, as her highest office was as Democratic party leader in the Georgia state house.

Trump is very sui generis. He is probably the least qualified person every elected President, but enough voters thought he was qualified because he's a famous businessman. They've seen him as a talking head on history channel programs alongside Bill Clinton and Colin Powell.

No point in taking unnecessary risks -- which is why I'm open to Kloubachar as well.

It would also be wise to choose someone who has the necessary experience in politics and Congress to act as president if anything should happen to Biden or should he choose to step down from his post.

Kamala's Senate seat is safe -- I don't know enough about Minnesota to say whether the same is true for Kloubachar.



Most of the black people I've spoken to have no problem with her and those who are educated on politics actually see her as a good choice.

The only place I saw any real criticism of her was from online Sanders supporters but that applies to every Democratic candidate.

Klobuchar's strength in Minnesota can count against her, because it means her replacement in the Senate could underperform in the midterms. Eric Levitz of New York magazine discussed the downsides.

But precisely because Minnesota has been slouching toward Republicanism, removing a popular incumbent like Klobuchar from the Senate would be hazardous. Minnesota’s Democratic governor Tim Walz would get to appoint Klobuchar’s replacement in 2021. But in 2022, that unelected Democrat would have to face Minnesota voters, and since the party that does not control the White House tends to enjoy superior turnout in midterm elections, Republicans would have an excellent shot of flipping that seat.

He also noted that having Elizabeth Warren on the ticket might require her leaving the Senate in July, in order to avoid Governor Baker being allowed to replace her for five months, and run for the seat in a special election.

But unless Warren is willing to resign from the Senate this summer, her selection will cost Democrats a precious vote in the upper chamber for at least the duration of Biden’s presidential “honeymoon.” Under Massachusetts law, Republican governor Charlie Baker would have the power to appoint Warren’s successor. Massachusetts voters would eventually get to vote on Warren’s replacement in a special election, but Baker could delay that vote by up to 160 days after the senator vacates her seat. If Warren resigns this July, that special election will be held in tandem with November’s presidential election. And Democrats would probably feel good about their odds of winning an open Senate race in deep-blue Massachusetts on a day when Trump is on ballot — especially since they’ll be able to run either Ed Markey or Joe Kennedy in that race, both of whom are well-known and well-liked among the state’s voters. Still, given Baker’s popularity, there is an outside risk that if the governor decided to run for Warren’s old seat himself, Democrats would forfeit a can’t-lose Senate seat to the GOP for a generation.

[Mister Mets]

Like others I've heard mixed feelings on Kamala. Older voters seem okay with her over all, younger voters see her as a cop and cited her past record as a bad thing. I would say Talib Rashid, but her seat is also an issue and she's still a new Rep. Same for AOC and others. You have to be very careful with who you pic here.

1. VP has to be POC, nominally the person would be black, but you do want the latino vote to.

2. Must be a woman, this would rule out Castro who I thought could make inroads for the Latino community given they like Sanders.

3. Needs to be progressive. It has to be somebody who can be seen on the side of the voter who wants something more than center left.

So question is, who fits those qualities?

Are those qualities enough?

Progressive seems largely defined as associated with the Bernie campaign, but this isn't including qualifications, or appeal to centrist voters.

Nina Turner would fit the categories, but would probably be a terrible choice as she was so abrasive to the center and is rather unqualified.

Name recognition might also be important. If Biden picks someone voters don't know, a lot of time will have to be spent introducing voters to someone obscure, even if that person has an okay resume.

If Biden decided that he needed a woman of color of the ticket, he has some choices, with Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth (a veteran who lost her legs in a military training accident), California Senator Kamala Harris, Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (former state attorney general), New Mexico Governor Michelle Lukan Grisham (a former three-term congresswoman), Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Alabama (a law school classmate of Barack Obama; top-ranking member on various House committees), and Congresswoman Val Demings of Florida (former Orlando chief of police.)

Perhaps you're right, but there is an important reason I want someone with experience as VP. Time to mention the elephant in the room: Biden is 78, should he win the election, he'd be the oldest candidate ever to become president, god forbid anything bad happen to him, but, if the worst case scenario were to come to pass, say he suffered a heart attack in the middle of the night, would you be comfortable with a neophyte like Abrams in the big chair? I sure as hell wouldn't.

Biden wouldn't just be the oldest man to ever become President. On Day one, he would be the oldest President ever.

[InformationGeek]

Meet Rep. Patrick Neville for Colorado, speaker of the House.

Here's some casual stupidity about him wanting a new dishwasher instead of getting it fixed and saying it's an essential need.

Now here's him comparing the stay at home orders from Colorado's Jewish governor to that of the Nazis and him refusing to apologize for it.

On March 25, the same day Polis issued a statewide stay-at-home order that remains in effect through at least April 26, Colorado House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, R-Castle Rock, said on a conservative radio program that such governmental orders lead to a “Gestapo-like mentality,” as first reported by 9News.

Reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Neville declined to apologize for his remarks, but did say he chose his words poorly.

“I should have said authoritarian, not Gestapo,” Neville said. “And I think authoritarian is still accurate.”

Neville added he and Polis “have talked numerous times since making that remark, and he never brought it up. If he’s bringing it up now it’s because he’s trying to make political hay out of something that really was nothing.”

Entitled and an asshole, a winning combination for WBE. Hope this is worth a profile.

[worstblogever]

WBE, you've got Deanna Lorraine in the queue, yeah?

https://twitter.com/DeAnna4Congress/...57858686656512

And:

Meet Rep. Patrick Neville for Colorado, speaker of the House.

Here's some casual stupidity about him wanting a new dishwasher instead of getting it fixed and saying it's an essential need.

Now here's him comparing the stay at home orders from Colorado's Jewish governor to that of the Nazis and him refusing to apologize for it.




Entitled and an asshole, a winning combination for WBE. Hope this is worth a profile.

The queue is getting LOOOOOONNG again thanks to the GOP's obsession with Qanon, and their horrible takes on COVID-19.

[InformationGeek]

The queue is getting LOOOOOONNG again thanks to the GOP's obsession with Qanon, and their horrible takes on COVID-19.

Well add another guy to the queue, because Wisconsin has another challenger!

Being promoted by Scott Walker to replace Rep. Ron Kind, we have Republican challenger Derrick Van Orden. A former Navy SEAL veteran with some generic movie credits behind his name, he has written a book called Book of Man, A Navy SEAL's Guide to the Lost Art of Manhood. It is, and I quote:

Written by a 26-year veteran of the United States Navy, member of SEAL Teams and star of the hit movie Act of Valor, Derrick Van Orden shares his experiences from around the world to both educate and entertain. Stories of fist fighting, fishing, and driving fast cars are all interwoven with the principles of what used to be known as basic manhood, but has now become a lost art.

He's written articles like this in the past:

With his remarkably tone-deaf statement criticizing President Donald Trump for killing one of the world’s most notorious terrorists, Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, has once again put the politics of appeasement above the lives of American servicemen and women.

Admitting that Iranian General Qasam Soleimeni is responsible for the deaths and maiming of many of my sisters and brothers in arms, Kind notes that the killing of this enemy of the free world has “escalated an already tense situation with Iran,” and that President Trump removed this bad actor from the battlefield without “knowing how Iran will retaliate.”

The combination of these statements is proof that Kind is willing to attack the commander-in-chief by hiding behind his politically driven interpretation of both Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Act.

These statements also highlight the fact that Kind fundamentally does not understand war fighting. If he did, he would know that it is impossible to predict an enemy’s reaction and that if you have the ability to remove a key enemy from the fight, you do it.

By his conduct and posturing it appears that he would rather allow Iran to continue killing Americans rather than face the evil they present out of fear of retaliation. Neville Chamberlain would be proud.

This is not a surprise, as Kind has no record of military service and has consistently put his left-wing politics above America and our allies.

He admitted to joining the race to fight Ron Kind for voting for Trump's impeachment (mentioned in a Briebart article that I refuse to link to). Here's him siding with Trump over retired Navy Admiral William McRaven.


Not the most crazy, but certainly someone to keep an eye on. Doubt he'll get the Republican nomination in a five man competition, but you never know!

[InformationGeek]

And one last thing, look at this guy trying to butt in voting rolls after losing his re-election bid.

Days after learning he was losing his seat on the state Supreme Court, Justice Daniel Kelly signaled he would participate in a case over who should remain on Wisconsin's voter rolls after earlier stepping away from the lawsuit.

The case is expected to determine whether tens of thousands of voters who are suspected of having moved can stay on the state's voter rolls. Both sides are watching the case closely because Donald Trump won Wisconsin's presidential election by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016.

Before last week's election, Kelly said he would be inclined to re-join the case whether he won or lost his bid for a new term on the court.

On Wednesday, he made that clearer with a court order saying it appears he no longer has a conflict in the case. He asked those involved in the case to file briefs by next week on what they think he should do before he makes a final decision.

His involvement in the case could prove crucial. In December, he declined to be involved in the case and the remaining justices split 3-3 on whether to accept the case before an appeals court had ruled on it.

The deadlock meant the case could remain with the appeals court. That court in February ruled unanimously that the voters should remain on the voter rolls.

A new appeal puts the case back before the high court. The justices haven't said yet whether they will take the case.

Subscribe to our On Wisconsin Politics newsletter for the week's political news explained.

Kelly had stayed away from the case because it could have affected who was a registered voter for the April 7 election, when he was on the ballot. With that election over, the circumstances have changed, he wrote in Wednesday's order.

"The 2020 spring general election is now complete, so it appears the reason for my recusal from considering any aspect of this matter no longer obtains," he wrote. "I issue this order to give the parties an opportunity to state their position on whether I should recuse myself from considering the pending petition for review and, potentially, the merits of these consolidated appeals, before I make a final decision on my participation."

[jetengine]

Well add another guy to the queue, because Wisconsin has another challenger!

Being promoted by Scott Walker to replace Rep. Ron Kind, we have Republican challenger Derrick Van Orden. A former Navy SEAL veteran with some generic movie credits behind his name, he has written a book called Book of Man, A Navy SEAL's Guide to the Lost Art of Manhood. It is, and I quote:



He's written articles like this in the past:




He admitted to joining the race to fight Ron Kind for voting for Trump's impeachment (mentioned in a Briebart article that I refuse to link to). Here's him siding with Trump over retired Navy Admiral William McRaven.


Not the most crazy, but certainly someone to keep an eye on. Doubt he'll get the Republican nomination in a five man competition, but you never know!

Except Neville Chamberlains appeasement strategy was designed to buy time to build up a woefully unprepared military. As for "take out an enemy" that has merit but afaik he...hadnt actually done much as of yet and as a SEAL he should be aware that timing in critical in attacks, especially considering its against someone who your not actually at war with. Though tbh I find the "Im a NAVY SEAL" thing overblown. Their not actually THAT badass. Green Beret ? Sure. Navy Seal ? Pfft.

[sammy_hansen]

Except Neville Chamberlains appeasement strategy was designed to buy time to build up a woefully unprepared military. As for "take out an enemy" that has merit but afaik he...hadnt actually done much as of yet and as a SEAL he should be aware that timing in critical in attacks, especially considering its against someone who your not actually at war with. Though tbh I find the "Im a NAVY SEAL" thing overblown. Their not actually THAT badass. Green Beret ? Sure. Navy Seal ? Pfft.

Is this true? Sorry I’m Aussie and have limited knowledge of these things. I was always under the impression that SEALs were the creme de la creme, at least back when I was reading Vince Flynn’s neo-fascist Mitch Rapp novels. (Sorry for the thread sidetrack)

[shooshoomanjoe]

Is this true? Sorry I’m Aussie and have limited knowledge of these things. I was always under the impression that SEALs were the creme de la creme, at least back when I was reading Vince Flynn’s neo-fascist Mitch Rapp novels. (Sorry for the thread sidetrack)

They are both badass, the SEALs like to show off while the Army's Special Forces are more quiet.

[Darkspellmaster]

This is kinda what I question...women aren't going to vote for someone just because that person is a woman and the same for minorities. McCain had a woman on his ticket and Hillary was woman and they didn't win. Barrack won, but early in his run many black folks thought he didn't have a chance, they got on board win he proved to have staying power. Like you say, people vote for the person they think will further their interest, and that's not always someone who shares your race or gender.

True enough. It's just that I keep seeing theses takes about what people want in the VP, but than others are like no that's not good enough. So how do you get people to vote when they are Anti Biden?

[jetengine]

Is this true? Sorry I’m Aussie and have limited knowledge of these things. I was always under the impression that SEALs were the creme de la creme, at least back when I was reading Vince Flynn’s neo-fascist Mitch Rapp novels. (Sorry for the thread sidetrack)

Afaik Special Forces generally have to be hand picked after X amount of years in the service. You can literally just walk into an office and sign up to be a SEAL. Like their regime is tough but its not exactly "special forces" when the turnip farmer from idaho is a SEAL in 6 weeks now is it ?

[Kirby101]

More GOP voter suppression.


Texas AG threatens to criminally sanction any group that tells voters to apply for a mail-in ballot to avoid COVID-19

On Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office issued a letter saying that the state’s official position is that fear of contracting COVID-19 is not a valid excuse for applying for an absentee ballot.

Furthermore, the letter warned that any entity telling voters to apply on that basis could face “criminal sanctions” under state law prohibiting election fraud and the encouragement of “false information” on ballot applications, depending on “the facts and circumstances of the individual case.”

But people still support this party.

[Gray Lensman]

Is this true? Sorry I’m Aussie and have limited knowledge of these things. I was always under the impression that SEALs were the creme de la creme, at least back when I was reading Vince Flynn’s neo-fascist Mitch Rapp novels. (Sorry for the thread sidetrack)

There is also quite a difference between SEALs and SEAL Team Six.