All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[numberthirty]

From the "Illinois" corner...

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loca...507455811.html

New Federal Charges Filed Against Indicted Chicago Police Officers

[ed2962]

Crap! Double post about ignoring post...

[ed2962]

Ignore this post...

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Robert Mueller’s Report Is Done. Here’s What Happens Next.

The fate of the highly anticipated report rests with Trump-appointed Attorney General William Barr, who has not committed to making the special counsel’s findings public.

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The Mueller Report Is Done, But The Investigations Into Trump Aren’t Over

Here’s what prosecutors are looking at when it comes to the president and his campaign.

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Ex-Rupert Murdoch Executive Quit Over Fox News’ Racism And Islamophobia

Former News Corp. executive Joseph Azam, who immigrated to the U.S. as a refugee from Afghanistan, is speaking out after resigning in 2017.

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The Disrespect Of Floating Stacey Abrams As Joe Biden’s Running Mate

One’s a star. The other’s Joe Biden. Neither has made a decision about running for president. So why should Abrams suddenly become Biden’s second fiddle?

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Trouble In Paradise? Trump Glares At Fox News’ John Roberts After McCain Questions.

Big chill follows a dust-up with Maria Bartiromo when Trump insisted it’s only in response to reporters’ questions that he ever attacks the late Sen. John McCain.

[PaulBullion]

I'm really hoping that all those tweets by MAGA twitter that Trump has been vindicated by the (still not public) Mueller report will age so, so badly.

[PaulBullion]

Ugh, we had to cancel Barbra Streisand. Disgusting comments justifying child abuse by Michael Jackson.

[worstblogever]

It was on this day in both 2015, as well as 2016, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled Rob Maness, a failed candidate for U.S. Senate from Louisiana in 2014 and for Governor of Louisiana in 2015 who drew a fair share of notoriety for airing a political ad where he showed his worthiness for being a senator by honest-to-goodness wrestling a live alligator. And during the 2014 primary, Maness challenged Senator Mary Landrieu by claiming that she would still support slavery if the issue was voted upon, while declaring in another speech that racism and prejudice in America were over and that the nation had become “color blind”. It was puzzling to hear Maness argue against the Affordable Care Act, as the crux of his argument was that “healthcare is not a right because it has to be taken from another human being and given to you”, which makes no sense whatsoever. Adding into his bizarre candidacy, Maness also decried the government for issuing farm subsidies, even though he himself had been collecting them for years. It seems unlikely Maness will ever win election if he doesn’t set his sights lower than the U.S. Senate.

It was on this date in 2017, that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” profiled former Florida State Senator Alan Hays, who served six years after reaching office in the 2010 Tea Party Wave. In his six years in office, Hays developed a reputation for submitting absolutely bonkers bills, including but not limited to one he spewed out in July of 2014 that insisted conservative filmmaker (and convicted felon) Dinesh D'Souza's "America" should be required viewing for all high school students, the time he tried to nullify the Affordable Care Act, or the fact that he once passed out fliers in the Florida State legislature decrying Islam as "a threat to the United States" and that during his efforts to try and get Florida to pass an unnecessary ban on Sharia Law, that he compared his measure to being like a "vaccination against a disease". Which shows that not only is he Islamophobic, but he doesn't quite understand how vaccines work. After court-ordered re-drawing of the Florida state legislature's electoral map, Alan Hays didn't think he could be re-elected to his seat in the State Senate, and instead ran to become the man who would oversee elections in Lake County, Florida. Because Florida Republicans have such a good track record of not stealing elections, right? And it's not like Hays has ever stated his own paranoid opinion that a lot of Hispanics in Florida vote illegally. Oh wait, he did in 2011.



On this date one year ago today, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published its first profile of Justin Humphrey, a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from District 19 who just reached office for the first time in 2016 with 52% of the vote, and almost immediately popped up on our radar as an anti-abortion fanatic.This is not only because he is one of 19 sponsors of a bill, HR 1004, proposed in the Oklahoma state legislature that would direct every public official in Oklahoma to exercise their authority to stop murder of unborn children by abortion, because wow does that fly in the face of the Roe v. Wade ruling and contain inflammatory language… but it’s not even the most extreme statement Justin Humphrey has made on the issue. It's still no small feat to stand out among anti-abortion loons in Oklahoma. Honestly, there were 18 other co-sponsors of the bill we just mentioned. What makes Justin Humphrey special enough to warrant our attention?

Well, it might be that he volunteered his opinion that “men should have a say” because pregnant women are “hosts” once they’ve been “irresponsible” enough to have sex and get pregnant:

“I believe one of the breakdowns in our society is that we have excluded the man out of all of these types of decisions. I understand that they feel like that is their body. I feel like it is a separate — what I call them is, is you’re a ‘host.’ And you know when you enter into a relationship you’re going to be that host and so, you know, if you pre-know that then take all precautions and don’t get pregnant. So that’s where I’m at. I’m like, hey, your body is your body and be responsible with it. But after you’re irresponsible then don’t claim, well, I can just go and do this with another body, when you’re the host and you invited that in.”

Now, if you are a sane person, you just read that and are trying to process if it sounds more like something out of “The Handmaid’s Tale” or Ridley Scott’s “Alien” saga. But that’s the mental state of being of Humphrey, who’s saying out loud what you might suspect a lot of anti-abortion Republicans think like.

But days after making that statement, Humphrey unflinchingly sponsored legislation, HB 1441, that would require a woman to get the father’s permission before seeking an abortion, which neglects that a paternity test can’t confirm who a baby’s father is during a pregnancy without risking a miscarriage or developmental defects to the fetus. So really, any random guy could stake claim to being the “father” and stop an abortion. Also, the Supreme Court struck down a similar law in 1992 that passed in Pennsylvania’s state legislature, so the legal precedent was this would be overturned as unconstitutional almost immediately. Of course, Humphrey claimed, without proof, to be on the receiving end of threats after all this utter dickery during his first six weeks on the job.

While we were hoping that with only 52% was all he managed in 2016, and prior to that election, Democrats held the seat from District 19 for over a decade, that maybe Humphrey would be a “one and done” legislator, we regret to report that he managed to be re-elected with 68% of the vote in 2018. The only other news we have to report is that this rejected villain from A Handmaid’s Tale had over $40,000 worth of cattle stolen from him a few months back. We don’t know where Humphrey will be getting the raw materials to support all the bulls*** he seems to bring forth in the legislature without them helping.

[PaulBullion]

A rare case of good news for American democracy:

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Friday removed 82 appointments made by his predecessor, Gov. Scott Walker (R), during last year's lame-duck legislative session.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Evers's decision comes just a day after Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess invalidated the confirmation of Walker's appointments during a December overnight session.

Niess said Thursday that he was voiding all appointments and legislation passed during the December session, stating that lawmakers convened the session in a way that violated the state’s constitution, according to the news outlet.

"These seats are now considered vacant, but we are committed to working as quickly as possible to fill them and minimize the disruption to the important work done by these boards, committees and councils," Evers spokeswoman Melissa Baldauff said in a statement to the Journal Sentinel.

The Republican-led state Senate will not be able to reconfirm Walker’s appointments following the ruling.

“We absolutely believe that these nominees were nominated and confirmed legally and will continue to serve in those positions once the constitutionality of the extraordinary [legislative] session is upheld," Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) said in a statement, calling the move "irresponsible."

Evers, according to the paper, is using the judge’s decision to counter Walker's attempts to limit his powers upon taking office.

The lame-duck laws were passed after Evers and state Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) were elected but before they took office, severely limiting their power.

Evers announced Thursday that Wisconsin would no longer be a part of a multistate lawsuit seeking the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. The two had been prevented from getting out of the lawsuit because of one lame-duck measure.

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-w...s-added-during

[GindyPosts]

funny name (and not 'Obama-funny') and openly gay. doesn't have a prayer.

My issues with Buttigieg, again, stem from the fact that he needs to build his reputation before attempting anything close to a presidency. I still say he's better suited as the antithesis to the Eric Holcomb GOP for the 2020 Indiana governor's race, but since he's going to be in the presidential race, Hoosiers are going to be stuck voting for either Holcomb... or The Other Guy (the role of The Other Guy will most likely be John Gregg).

It sucks to be a Democrat in Indiana; your own party is full of wieners who refuse to fight back.

[PaulBullion]

Buttigieg seems to get people excited though.

[PwrdOn]

My issues with Buttigieg, again, stem from the fact that he needs to build his reputation before attempting anything close to a presidency. I still say he's better suited as the antithesis to the Eric Holcomb GOP for the 2020 Indiana governor's race, but since he's going to be in the presidential race, Hoosiers are going to be stuck voting for either Holcomb... or The Other Guy (the role of The Other Guy will most likely be John Gregg).

It sucks to be a Democrat in Indiana; your own party is full of wieners who refuse to fight back.

Democrats are always too quick to reach for the national spotlight rather than trying to build up a solid base of support back home, which is why they always get creamed in state and local elections leading to all the gerrymandering and voter suppression we see these days. If these young and charismatic candidates would stick to trying to lock down their home states rather than launching these long shot presidential bids, the party would be in much better shape and by extension, the country as well.

[PaulBullion]

Democrats are always too quick to reach for the national spotlight rather than trying to build up a solid base of support back home, which is why they always get creamed in state and local elections leading to all the gerrymandering and voter suppression we see these days. If these young and charismatic candidates would stick to trying to lock down their home states rather than launching these long shot presidential bids, the party would be in much better shape and by extension, the country as well.

Then again, the blue wave was carried by a lot of inexperienced, but passionate candidates.

[JCAll]

Buttigieg seems to get people excited though.

"Buttigieg" will be the top search result on Pornhub in 2020.

[Tami]

Some 'Predictions' for possible Presidential Candidate/Vice-Presidental Candidate pairings.

Kamala Harris/Sherrod Brown
Elizabeth Warren/Andrew Gillum or Elizabeth Warren/Pete Buttigieg
Joe Biden/Stacey Abrams or Joe Biden/Karen Weaver

Working on the others....

[Malvolio]

I just don't want Joe Biden to name Stacey Abrams (or anyone else) as his running mate before he gets the nomination. Remember, Ted Cruz made that mistake with Carly Fiorina. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that Stacey Abrams is as bad a candidate as Carly Fiorina. I'm just saying that a candidate should not name a running mate before he gets the nomination of his party. That's practically a textbook example of putting the cart before the horse.