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

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, as well as 2017, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, Thomas Massie, who you would expect to be reasonably intelligent, what with a successful tech company with two dozen patents to his credit and a Master’s Degree from MIT. Sadly, though, Massie at some point became a disciple of Ron Paul, even apparently trying to emulate Rand Paul’s awful hairstyle so he can blend in as a member of the family. Massie’s dedication to libertarian smaller government to an extent that you wonder if he’s doing it in the hopes that it’s some sort of magic ritual to get Ayn Rand to rise from the grave. But three weeks after the Newtown shootings, and as the new session of Congress began after it, Massie had the unmitigated gall to submit a bill to allow guns in school zones, by repealing a law passed by the first Bush administration and supported by the NRA at its passage. He also shrugged and claimed that the nine victims of Dylann Roof at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina were to blame for their own deaths because the church had "disallowed guns", which is goddamned awful. He has voted against the new version of the Violence Against Women Act, Hurricane Sandy Relief, and is one of only 3 people in Congress to have voted against the Stolen Valor Act, all because he thinks the government should instead do NOTHING. And he’s unafraid of being the one lone vote against any and all legislation, like when he was the lone vote against naming Israel as a strategic partner of the United States. He voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown and called the compromise over the fiscal cliff as “a really big turd sandwich without the bread”. But on top over everything else, we noted Massie has the quality of his hero Ron Paul where he hitches his caboose onto anti-government conspiracy theories, including falsely claiming the military gave a “stand down” order during the attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi and alluding to “knowing the truth” about 9/11 that would change everything Americans know about that dark day, and wanting the 28 page report about it declassified completely. Meanwhile, he’s the same moron who in April of 2017 who went on CNN to push back against reports that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad gassed his own people again, saying, “I don’t think he could have done that.” In February of 2017, Rep. Massie co-sponsored legislation to attempt to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency completely, and on October 10th, 2017 only days after a shooter in Las Vegas uses bump stocks in semi-automatic firearms to make them fully-automatic weapons and mass murder 58 people… Rep. Massie argued in favor of legalizing bump stocks nationwide, because apparently not enough people died in Vegas to appease his twisted libertarian worldview.

How are things looking for Thomas Massie in Kentucky? Do they love him there? Well, let’s put it this way, after that very libertarian vote he made against disaster relief aid for victims of Hurricane Harvey, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce literally called him a “piece of s***” on Twitter. That’s not some random liberal we’re talking about… a friggin’ Chamber of Commerce went with that. He’s been defending international dictators and endorsing pedophiles like Roy Moore for Senate.

And, much as we are loathe to report it, Thomas Massie just won a fourth term in office in the 2018 elections, earning 62% of the vote.

He didn’t even get sworn in for this term in office without drawing headlines again, this time for, days after Thanksgiving, mocking progressives for wanting Healthcare for All by arguing against the idea that human beings have a right to food:

”How long until someone runs on the platform of #FoodStampsForAll? If healthcare is a right, is food as well?”

Spoiler alert, the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights confirmed food was a human right. Also, Massie’s supposed influence, Jesus Christ, was rather vocal about the value of feeding the hungry, so… Thomas Massie, ladies and gentlemen. Finding new ways to be the worst.

[Tami]

Rex Tillerson had to warn Trump not to break the law as secretary of state

Tillerson, who was fired in March, made his first public appearance in months at a Houston fundraiser on Thursday. He sat down for an interview with CBS News veteran Bob Schieffer at the event and discussed his time at the State Department under Trump.

Tillerson said that he had never met Trump “until the day he asked me to be secretary of state” and described his impressions of the president.

“He acts on his instincts,” Tillerson said. “In some respects, that looks like impulsiveness, but it’s not his intent to act on impulse. I think he really is trying to act on his instincts.”

Prior to becoming secretary of state, Tillerson was the longtime CEO of oil and gas giant ExxonMobil. He told Schieffer that coming to the Trump administration from the “disciplined, highly process-oriented” Exxon was “challenging” — and seemed to take some shots at Trump. He said the president “doesn’t like to read,” including briefing reports, and “doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things.”

He said Trump says, “Look, this is what I believe. And you can try to convince me otherwise, but most of the time, you’re not going to do that.”

Part of it was obviously we are starkly different in our styles. We did not have a common value system. When the president would say, “Here’s what I want to do, and here’s how I want to do it.” And I’d have to say to him “Mr. President, I understand what you want to do, but you can’t do it that way, it violates the law. It violates treaty.”

He got really frustrated. I didn’t know how to conduct my affairs with him any other way than in a very straightforward fashion, and I think he grew tired of me being the guy every day that told him, “You can’t do that, and let’s talk about what we can do.”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Rex Tillerson had to warn Trump not to break the law as secretary of state

In other words, Trump acted like a spoiled brat who didn’t like being told “No”, so he dumped Tillerson after he heard that word from him one too many times. Now Trump has a yes man in Mike Pompeo who tells him what he wants to hear.

[PwrdOn]

Here it is, the Epic Collection edition of everything Donald J. Trump ever tweeted about Rex X. Tillerson:

Don't Trump supporters ever get tired of this routine? Every single Trump appointee is tremendous and wonderful and the best ever when they get hired, and disloyal and a total disaster that Trump never wanted in the first place when they get fired. You would think that at some point Republicans would get sick of constantly flip flopping on who they are supposed to hate and who they should back up just based on the whims of their leader.

[shooshoomanjoe]

I'm surprised by how quickly Ocasio Cortez replaced Soros as the far right's bogeyman.

[SuperiorIronman]

Don't Trump supporters ever get tired of this routine? Every single Trump appointee is tremendous and wonderful and the best ever when they get hired, and disloyal and a total disaster that Trump never wanted in the first place when they get fired. You would think that at some point Republicans would get sick of constantly flip flopping on who they are supposed to hate and who they should back up just based on the whims of their leader.

In one word; Denial.

Businessmen can be intelligent themselves don't get me wrong. But the rule of thumb is to surround yourself with just as smart or smarter people to do the things you can't. Trump does not do that and the mass public does not understand that. Hiring someone is an investment. The idea being that for the money and time you spend putting up with them, there will be a return on that input. But Trump views himself as being able to do no wrong and so only knows to hire people because he knows he has to. Bootlickers are good for the boss to feel good, but more often than not don't know what they are doing. You want bipartisanship because the boss does need to know that sometimes he/she is fucking up as much as people are on board for their policy.

Trump fails at basic hiring and handling of an investment, what a shock.

[4saken1]

I'm surprised by how quickly Ocasio Cortez replaced Soros as the far right's bogeyman.

She's a woman, she's Hispanic, and she's a liberal. It's like a trifecta. The only way they could hate her more is if she was also a lesbian.

[Darkspellmaster]

Trump did not buy the Miss America pageant. He bought the Miss USA pageant. The Miss America pageant has always portrayed itself as more wholesome than the Miss USA pageant, even before Trump got involved.

My bad. I got them mixed up.

[Darkspellmaster]

She's a woman, she's Hispanic, and she's a liberal. It's like a trifecta. The only way they could hate her more is if she was also a lesbian.

Or Jewish and half black don't forget those additions. -_-

[Malvolio]

She's a woman, she's Hispanic, and she's a liberal. It's like a trifecta. The only way they could hate her more is if she was also a lesbian.

She's also relatively young, so they can feel justified in telling her, "Sit down little girl, and let the adults in the room work on this." Of course, there are already a few Establishment Democrats telling her exactly that.

[Tami]

How Donald Trump Shifted $1.1M Of Campaign-Donor Money Into His Business

On the day Donald Trump became president of the United States, while inauguration festivities were still in full swing, he officially launched his 2020 reelection campaign. Donations poured in from more than 50,000 people across the country. But according to the latest federal filings, Trump still has not donated a penny of his own, while his businesses continued to charge the campaign for hotels, food, rent and legal consulting. That means the richest president in American history has turned $1.1 million from donors across the country into revenue for himself.

[Mecegirl]

She's also relatively young, so they can feel justified in telling her, "Sit down little girl, and let the adults in the room work on this." Of course, there are already a few Establishment Democrats telling her exactly that.

She's also attractive. And thus far it has been shown that large parts of the Trump base have feelings of inadequacy. Especially the straight male ones. The gamergate contingent has been folded into the party. They will gladly glom onto her and vent into her all the dissatisfaction they feel with their everyday lives. They won't even care about her policy positions. Its a pretty woman who won't mollify them like Tomi does.

[ed2962]

She's also attractive. And thus far it has been shown that large parts of the Trump base have feelings of inadequacy. Especially the straight male ones. The gamergate contingent has been folded into the party. They will gladly glom onto her and vent into her all the dissatisfaction they feel with their everyday lives. They won't even care about her policy positions. Its a pretty woman who won't mollify them like Tomi does.

And she isn't afraid to label herself a social democrat, so the "socialist" insult doesn't work against her.

But yeah...and being attractive doesn't hurt when it comes to ratings or clicks even for her detractors. If she were 55yrs old and chubby these guys wouldn't be half as obsessed with her as they are now.

[Mecegirl]

Did someone else post this? Looks like Kelly is leaving after all.https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/08/polit...m_source=fbCNN

[Tami]

Did someone else post this? Looks like Kelly is leaving after all.https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/08/polit...m_source=fbCNN

I saw it on the news, no one is surprised.