All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[worstblogever]

It was on this date in 2015 that we shared our original "Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day" profile of Henry Rayhons, who after racking up an impressive record as a staunch social conservative, hit the news wire with a story that made people feel a little more uncomfortable watching “The Notebook”. See, Rayhons’ wife was convalescing with dementia in a local nursing home, and after multiple advisements for him to not continue a sexual relationship with his wife because she would be too confused to consent (including having her doctor force Mr. Rayhons to sign a waiver that he understood that ship had sailed), Rayhons still went ahead and gave his wife a conjugal visit, and was reported for it by her roommate to staff. He was acquitted after an emotionally grueling trial, but it’s pretty hard to continue a political career after a news story like that. As such, we’ll just deem it as still “the most depressing episode of Law & Order: SVU ever”.


In 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented profiles of the current U.S. House Representative from Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional District, Frank Lucas, who in 2013, floated his own paranoid bit of fiction when in a radio interview, he claimed that the Obama administration was “leading a conspiracy to buy up all the bullets so they’re not available to us”. At the point Rep. Lucas was wetting his pants at the thought of this sinister takeover, the theory had already been debunked not just by the administration, but by the NRA (who you’d think would be the first to cry foul). Lucas was not content just to push this as a theory, actually trying to legislate based off of it to ban any federal agency outside of the Pentagon from buying ammunition (it didn’t pass, because, y’know, crazy talk). That was, of course, when he wasn't working supporters up into a lather on his own website about "the truth about Benghazi" for years after the attack took place.

Anyway, Lucas found his way into office in a special election prior to the 1994 mid-terms to replace Glenn English, and his upset victory for the GOP was considered to be a sign of the "Red Wave" to come in the '94 mid-terms. And, for the past 23 years, as his district has been gerrymandered to be more and more conservative (currently it sits at a “mere” +26 Republican lean), he's grown bolder and bolder in his conservative agenda, having voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, a constitutional amendment to allow government buildings to erect monuments of the Ten Commandments, the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act (which repeals key parts of the Glass-Steagall Financial Regulation Act, and opened the door for big banks to create the 2007 Sub-Prime Mortgage Housing Crisis), the Iraq War Resolution, the Terry Schiavo Incapacitated Persons Protection Bill, and was a co-sponsor for a bill to create a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in 2006. Through most of the past decade, he’s voted against the Equal Pay Bill, the reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program, denying health insurance to millions of children, against ENDA (allowing the continued discrimination of LGBT citizens based on their sexual identity in the workplace), against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, against the Hate Crimes Expansion that would provide protections to LGBT citizens against Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, against increased regulations on offshore oil rigs after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, and against the DREAM Act, against the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". He has twice voted to defund Planned Parenthood, voted against the new version of the Violence Against Women Act, voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown and after 16 days, voted to keep the government closed. He’s also repeatedly voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, voted to try and stop Syrian Refugees from being resettled in our country, and voted to try and prevent the United Nations Agenda 21 treaty from being enacted because… well, conspiracy theories, I suppose.

This past year, Lucas didn’t just ignore scientific experts on climate change, but dismissed a World Health Organization report linking pesticides made by the manufacturer Monsanto, such as Roundup, as causing higher risk for cancer, calling it “shoddy work”. Big surprise, he receives donations to his campaign coffers from Monsanto.

Oklahoma’s 3rd Congressional District has a mere +26 Republican lean, per the Cook Partisan Voting Index, thus why Lucas won re-election in 2018 by a mere 47 points. With a fresh two year term, Lucas assured that his voting record gets uglier by the day:

• January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Lucas voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
• February 28th, 2019: Frank Lucas votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
• March 14th, 2019: Rep. Lucas votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
• April 4th, 2019: Frank Lucas is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
• June 4th, 2019: Lucas votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.

Considering that at his last town hall, Rep. Lucas was quoted as not just saying he would vote for the vanity project and waste of taxpayer dollars that is Donald Trump’s border wall, but that Trump was ”the reason I turned Republican. I want a businessman in there. I'm sick of the politicians", it seems like he’s cast his lot with Cheeto Mussolini. No matter how disastrous the downfall of Trump might be, though, his district is so red, that unless Lucas retires or sees a primary challenger who attacks him on his loyalty to the most corrupt president in American history, he’s regrettably not going to be leaving Washington anytime soon.

[Mister Mets]

Why Americans just refuse to do their jobs I'll never understand.

Do people who feel this way think it was similarly wrong to kick Sarah Sanders out of the Red Hen Restaurant?

All right. Fair enough. But I still say that cafes and other restaurants that won't cater gay weddings should say so in their advertising and in a sign in the front of their restaurant. If they have such "sincerely held beliefs," then be completely open about it. But of course, they don't want to do that out of fear that straight allies of the LGBTQ community will boycott. God forbid we let the free market do what the free market is supposed to do, right?

I don't think I can blame anyone else for failing to respond to the argument, since I don't know anyone else who had put it forward, but I think this could be a good idea.

You might have more pushback from the left since this is a compromise on something many of them think shouldn't be compromised.

Why is it always that the people who cry the most about their rights and liberties being violated are just using that as an excuse to violate the rights and liberties of others? Sure, refusing to bake a cake is probably the most innocuous form of "protest" that the anti-LGBT folks have, but if they get their way on this that will only embolden them to try and claw back further gains that society has made in the last few decades.

Isn't the controversy evidence that the other side is also loud about their rights and liberties being violated?

[Mister Mets]

Let's see if the media hammers the 'GOP in disarray' angle like they do their favorite 'DEms in disarray' one.

Is the media failing to hype up any disagreements between Republicans (IE- Justin Amash calling for impeachment)?

Anything to critcize a woman in politics, as usual from 30. Her quote was accurate. She just didn't say 'worldwide', but as usual, you're quick to accept a right-wing frame for criticizing her in your effort for concern trolling.

Her spokesman said her comments were in the context of domestic legislation.

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...t-500-gun-dea/

But sure, do continue to argue about how quoting a worldwide statistics when discussing politics of a country that keeps claiming to lead the way globally is a horribly stupid thing. Don't worry about Trump destroying America AND the world.

US gun policy doesn't really cover gun deaths elsewhere.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/...the-u-s-stands

The US has different concerns than Brazil (#1 in the category of gun deaths). For example, the majority of gun deaths in the US are suicides, whereas homicides are the majority of gun deaths worldwide.

[Kirby101]

Is the media failing to hype up any disagreements between Republicans (IE- Justin Amash calling for impeachment)?

You think that is a GOP in disarray story? A lone Congressman breaks from the never go against Trump Republican Party and you call that disarray?

You find that comparable to the Daily "Dems-Pelosi-Impeachment" stories we get?

Nice false equivalencey, but it's a fail.

[PwrdOn]

US gun policy doesn't really cover gun deaths elsewhere.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/...the-u-s-stands

The US has different concerns than Brazil (#1 in the category of gun deaths). For example, the majority of gun deaths in the US are suicides, whereas homicides are the majority of gun deaths worldwide.

Well aside from the US, the top countries on that list are all these unstable, gang-ridden Latin American dictatorships. Gee, whoever is supplying their weapons must be making a fortune...

[worstblogever]

Trump's paranoia has advanced to the stage where he has gone from simply referring to media outlets as "the enemy of the people", and last night, he started accusing the New York Times of outright treason, that ol' capital offense.

He remains severely mentally ill.

[Malvolio]

Ending Apartheid in South Africa.

You beat me to it, SquirrelMan. But yeah, we got banks and other businesses to divest themselves from South Africa and, while it took several years, they did eventually end Apartheid and release Nelson Mandela from prison.

[InformationGeek]

Tom Cotton the warmonger was talking again.

NEW: @SenTomCotton says, “unprovoked attacks on commercial shipping warrant a retaliatory military strike against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

[Tami]

Joe Biden and the ‘electability’ delusion — and why the media keep making the same mistake

As Iowa journalist Robert Leonard talks to voters around his state, he finds himself baffled at the national portrayal of Joe Biden’s dominance in the presidential campaign.

The local Democrats he encounters respect the former vice president, he told me, but many of them also feel his time has passed.

They’re far more excited about other candidates, five in particular: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.); Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind.; Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.); former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke and Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.).

So he shakes his head at the extensive coverage and commentary that depicts Biden as almost a shoo-in for a nomination that’s more than a year away.

One example: CNN’s morning briefing newsletter recently called Biden “the most formidable threat” to President Trump’s reelection chances.

[Tami]

Tory leadership candidates: Who are the contenders hoping to become the next Prime Minister?

The Conservative leadership election got under way in full on Monday, June 10 as the deadline passed for candidates to put themselves forward. There was an initial 10 Tory MPs running with that number whittled down to seven after the first vote on Thursday.

Thirteen MPs had said they would stand but James Cleverly and Kit Malthouse pulled out early on while Sam Gyimah failed to gain the required eight backers to make it onto the final list of candidates.

[Tami]

U.S. Escalates Online Attacks on Russia’s Power Grid

Two administration officials said they believed Mr. Trump had not been briefed in any detail about the steps to place “implants” — software code that can be used for surveillance or attack — inside the Russian grid.

Pentagon and intelligence officials described broad hesitation to go into detail with Mr. Trump about operations against Russia for concern over his reaction — and the possibility that he might countermand it or discuss it with foreign officials, as he did in 2017 when he mentioned a sensitive operation in Syria to the Russian foreign minister.

Because the new law defines the actions in cyberspace as akin to traditional military activity on the ground, in the air or at sea, no such briefing would be necessary, they added.

[SquirrelMan]

In a new South Carolina primary poll, Sanders is now in 4th place.

Warren, Buttigieg surge in SC 2020 Democratic presidential poll as Biden still leads

Another one out this weekend even has him down to fifth place behind Kamala Harris.

[Tami]

In a new South Carolina primary poll, Sanders is now in 4th place.

Warren, Buttigieg surge in SC 2020 Democratic presidential poll as Biden still leads

Another one out this weekend even has him down to fifth place behind Kamala Harris.

I suspect that, after the first debate, Biden will also see a drop in at least some polls.

[jetengine]

Do people who feel this way think it was similarly wrong to kick Sarah Sanders out of the Red Hen Restaurant?

I mean you can try and pull that bs if you like but theres a clear difference between "Your job is promoting a terrible figure who is destabilising our nation and fanning the flames of hate" and "I dont like what you do in the bedroom"

Sanders was refused because of the clear facts showcasing her being ok with the Trump administrations terrible decisions. The other couple were refused because of one person being a bigot.

[PaulBullion]

This is one of those stories, just not from the US this time:



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According to a German twitter contact of mine, they arrested a suspect, and he's an "alt right" kind of guy. AKA nazi.