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

[PaulBullion]

Oh just stop.

[JCAll]

War on "Innocent Until Proven Guilty!"

War in the Middle East!
...
Oh wait...

[mojotastic]

According to Minnesota public radio, Al Franken is resigning tomorrow.

Man that is sad.

[Joker]

The entire state of this country is sad.

[Tami]

According to Minnesota public radio, Al Franken is resigning tomorrow.

Man that is sad.

The Democrats are going to regret forcing him to do this. That is my prediction.

[Mister Mets]

Yes, I do see that.

Nonetheless, without disregarding the factors of abortion or gay rights, there is something else that occurs to me, when looking at some of his “moral” advocates.

That’s this. If you assume that everyone in politics is a cynical monster who is solely out for themselves. If you assume that your opponents of the left are godless murderous liberals, and believe every conspiracy going about every pizza parlour and that your previous President was not only not American but a secret Muslim. If you assume, what is more, that most right wing politicians are themselves disbelieving evildoers who are really quite horrendously depraved and whose main interest is in selling you all down the river....

Well, then, someone as ostentatiously vile as Trump may seem strangely honest. His repugnant bragging, his empty deceptions, his meanness as a businessman, his bullying as an employer, his childishness as a statesmen.... all this may come across as a curious kind of candour.

“Look at this man! He’s openly a scumbag! He must be better than those hypocrites who are secretly evildoers!”

I dunno. It’s one theory I had, anyway, when trying to distract myself from the pungent latrine that is modern British politics.

Part of it may be the belief that everyone's cynical, and an ensuing feeling of license.

Evangelicals have had a massive shift lately from a majority thinking character was important in politicians to a majority thinking it's okay for candidates to commit "immoral" acts.

https://www.npr.org/2016/10/23/49889...t-immoral-acts

Part of it might be the perception of how Republican candidates were treated in the past by the mainstream media.

There may also be a feeling that the cultural stakes are too high to allow Democrats to have four years in power. The Supreme Court is currently determining whether a baker should be fined for refusing to make something for a gay wedding. This is a massive cultural shift from where the country was twenty years ago.

I think there is definitely a sense that Trump's followers feel he "tells it like it is" and they will even believe his most obvious lies. You also have to factor in that Fox News has become Trump Pravda.

Quite a few of them also feel that they're in on the joke.

The Democrats are going to regret forcing him to do this. That is my prediction.

I think the morality of the decision is tainted by the focus on the optics, and what the party gains. The decision should be right whether or not Democrats hold the Governor's Mansion, and should be just as appropriate in a world where Jeb Bush is President, and no one's running in a special election for Jeff Sessions' senate seat. But it does seem to be partly posturing about Trump and Moore.

[mojotastic]

The Democrats are going to regret forcing him to do this. That is my prediction.

I am with you that these allegation shouldnt had make Franken resiging, yes there is the photo, another person and 2 anonymous allegastion, to me this seem like a weak case. But what do i know, i am not a strategist for the democratic party.

[Tami]

I am with you that these allegation shouldnt had make Franken resiging, yes there is the photo, another person and 2 anonymous allegastion, to me this seem like a weak case. But what do i know, i am not a strategist for the democratic party.

Thing is, we see the Republican Party pretty much join lock step behind Trump, McConnell and Ryan no mater how bizarre things got. Even to the point of supporting a candiate like Moore.

The Democrats have just shown that they have little loyalty to other Democrats, that they will sacrifice anyone at the drop of a hat.

Exact opposites, nether way good. So, how do the Democrats attract members/candidates for office if each one is afraid that the slightest mistake could get them then blacklisted?

[mojotastic]

Thing is, we see the Republican Party pretty much join lock step behind Trump, McConnell and Ryan no mater how bizarre things got. Even to the point of supporting a candiate like Moore.

The Democrats have just shown that they have little loyalty to other Democrats, that they will sacrifice anyone at the drop of a hat.

Exact opposites, nether way good. So, how do the Democrats attract members/candidates for office if each one is afraid that the slightest mistake could get them then blacklisted?

Yeah sure, the Dems now have the moral high ground, so at least there is that.

[ouroboros]

I am with you that these allegation shouldnt had make Franken resiging, yes there is the photo, another person and 2 anonymous allegastion, to me this seem like a weak case. But what do i know, i am not a strategist for the democratic party.

There are seven accusers in all, but none of them have testified to behavior as egregious as that of the guy who began "the Weinstein Effect." It's all either unwanted smooches or gropes, and it's up to you if you think that rates as "sexual abuse." Franken either denied the accusations or stated that he sincerely didn't remember, which I think is a pretty good defense, and a good moral reason not to air these sort of peccadilloes long after the fact.

I was hoping he would hang tough. But he's been defeated in that wonderful court of public opinion, and by a gaggle of geese who feel like they can't miss out on "who's most abused by the patriarchy."

[Mister Mets]

Outgoing congressman John Conyers has expressed a preference for his son to run for his congressional seat. Unfortunately, John Conyers III has been accused of domestic violence in the last year.

LOS ANGELES — John Conyers III, a Detroit hedge fund manager named as a possible successor to his scandal-rocked father, Rep. John Conyers, was arrested in Los Angeles this year on suspicion of domestic violence, but prosecutors declined to charge him, according to documents obtained by NBC News.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office cited a "lack of independent witnesses" and their conclusion that it "could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the victim’s injury was not accidentally sustained" while he was disarming her, according to case paperwork.

In addition, prosecutors said the victim had no visible injuries beyond a small stab wound to her lower bicep and no other independent witnesses to what she described as earlier pushing and shoving by Conyers III.

Conyers III, 27, was arrested on Feb. 15 at a Los Angeles residence on suspicion of violence against his girlfriend after the alleged victim called police. The victim was not named in the document that recorded the decision not to file charges.

The girlfriend said that Conyers III suspected her of cheating after he went through her computer. She told police that he "body slammed her on the bed and then on the floor where he pinned her down and spit on her," the report says.

She said when she tried to call police, he took her phone and then chased her into the kitchen, where she grabbed a knife and told him to leave. By her account, he took the knife and swung it at her, cutting her arm.

Both of them called 911 to complain about the other. Conyers III said the girlfriend had been using booze and pot, tried to throw him out the residence, and then got into a pushing and shoving match with him. He said she threatened him with the knife and was cut in a struggle for it.

Conyers III was taken into custody and released in lieu of $50,000 bond the same day, police said.

There's another Conyers interested in the seat: a newly elected State Senator.

The decision sets up a battle within the Conyers family for his Detroit-area House seat. Ian Conyers, a Michigan state senator and the grandson of Mr. Conyers’s brother, said he also plans to run for the seat held by his 88-year-old great-uncle.

“His doctor advised him that the rigor of another campaign would be too much for him just in terms of his health,” Ian Conyers, 29, said.

Given the way they're leaving, keeping it in the family isn't a bright move, but it seems to be the compromise for the family would be having the grand-nephew run for Congress, and the son run for the vacant state senate seat.

[TheInvisibleMan]

Im fine with Franken resigning, its about standards and if we are going to go all fire and brimstone on Harvey Weinstein and Roy Moore and Hyde (forget his real name), then it should apply to him too

[Tami]

Im fine with Franken resigning, its about standards and if we are going to go all fire and brimstone on Harvey Weinstein and Roy Moore and Hyde (forget his real name), then it should apply to him too

I don't agree. However, my husband's theory is that the Democrats are sacrificing Al Frankin in order to improve their chances of getting rid of Roy Moore, one way or another. Basically they are making themselves the 'He who is without sin' so that they can cast the first stone at Moore and eventually at Trump.

[WhichDrWhowins]

Time names sexual abuse whistleblowers for its 'person of the year'

http://time.com/time-person-of-the-y...ence-breakers/

[ouroboros]

Time names sexual abuse whistleblowers for its 'person of the year'

http://time.com/time-person-of-the-y...ence-breakers/

Well, that insures that "Me Too" will feed the news agencies for the next couple of months.