Too much government oversight is bad! Unless it's telling a woman what she can do with her body, then it is totally cool!

It's the same flavor of "state's rights" charade it's always been - decisions should be made at whatever level the GOP controls. There's no consistency - if a bad law can be made at the national level, that's where it should happen. If it's state level, that's where it should happen. If it overrules local control? That's ok. But if they only control the local school board but not the state - that's where it should happen.

SI

I was literally going to type all that. That's the argument I use when people argue states rights. I simply argue county, city, HOA, in succession and it goes predictably where it should.

I cannot wait for all the Satanic Temple lawsuits that are coming out of the vaccine and abortion regs to hit the courts. If course, by then, it'll be a one party government, and it won't be freedom of religion, it'll be freedom of christianity, and nothing else.

Anyone that thinks local government is better and less corrupt than state or national government isn't paying attention to the people running their local governments.

No kidding. State and local government are more corrupt by a mile. They have much less scrutiny than the federal government.

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From what I've seen, Abbott is trying to run to the right of everyone in the primary. I was just reading where he pulled the state's teen suicide hotline offline for "updating" after one of the opponents attacked him because it offers resources to LGBTQ+ teens.

Cheaper to buy, too

SI

Pro life!

Senate candidate Herschel Walker cancels fundraiser after uproar over donor’s use of vaccine-needle swastika in profile

C'mon, Herschel -- you know what you signed up for.

I'm not sure he knows which team drafted him.

I fucking love how Trump is threatening the GOP by saying people shouldn't vote unless the GOP overturns the 2020 election.

dola

Just saw a poll with the GOP at 46% favoring mandatory childhood vaccines. Simply amazing how fast they have become an anti-vax party.

I think we can all agree with this:

Trump Urges Republicans to Sit Out Coming Elections

I wonder if this is going to be his excuse when he decides to not run. Maybe I am giving him too much credit. But I can see a scenario where he drops out because he can't participate if they are going to cheat again. them whomever gets the nomination loses he can claim had he run he would have won.

Dola- I am hopped up on painkillers so if that makes zero sense thats why

I hope you brought enough for the rest of the class.

I think it's just to rile everyone up, "remind" everyone how bad the voting mechanisms are, then use it as more of an excuse to overturn things down the road because though they've tried, things weren't adequately "fixed."

I seriously doubt he's going to be saying this next November. This is just a tug of war with the GOP over power - reminding them they need to kowtow to him or he can really screw them.

SI

I think it's partly to remind the GOP he's in control of the party and partly to give himself an out if polling doesn't look good.

Trump starting a "free speech" social media site. Part of the TOS is you aren't allowed to post criticism of the site.

The twenty-third rule for Trump's planned social media site is that you can't use it to make fun of his new social media site. pic.twitter.com/0YQK7aPFpw

— Brad Heath (@bradheath) October 21, 2021

Whatever happened to the My Pillow Guy social media site?

I cannot believe we're just going to let this shit happen in slow motion.

BREAKING: Gov. Greg Abbott appointed John Scott as Texas' new top election official.

Scott briefly represented former President Donald Trump in a lawsuit challenging the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania. https://t.co/f0GExpVL2m

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) October 21, 2021

Off to a good start and headed along the lines of everything else this assclown touches...failure

https://www.washingtonpost.com/techn...fake-accounts/

Found this a little funny. This guy didn't technically attend the January 6th attack but posted vague threats online (which after reading, sound not much different from stuff you come across online all the time).

Not only did a judge sentence him to serve time, but it was beyond what the prosecutor even asked for (time served). Kind of shocking considering the slaps on the wrist everyone else got until you see the mugshot.

Troy Smocks Gets 14 Months For Threatening Jan. 6 Posts

Still not long enough, and yes, I get the point you are making.

'I've lost my joy': Anti-vax Republican, who worked for the Trump campaign and embraced QAnon, says she has COVID-19


I give you a senate candidate for one of two american parties.



Props for going with the "tests gave me Covid" trope for variety. Also, the "need a good husband for advice" line, way to know your audience.

And given the number of disgusting non covid stuff here, the Covid Statements might not even make her personal top 3 lunatic moments. Looks like she's trying haaaaard to tick all the boxes.

Well she is a whole new special level of batshit crazy isn't she?

She's very on brand for the *new* GOP.

Wasn't the previous Delaware GOP candidate a witch or something?

it's been a while, but yes that was definitely a thing...candidate for US Senate, maybe?

(quick search)

ding ding!

'I'm Not A Witch,' Republican Candidate Christine O'Donnell Tells Delaware Voters : The Two-Way : NPR

No jail time for a couple who was actually there and said they'd do it again. And the fine and jail time is less than what you get here for stealing someone's phone.

Reggie Walton Fines Lori and Thomas Vinson in Jan. 6 Case

Serious food for thought. When I ask these kinds of questions it tends to just rile up the board, so I'll shut up and go away if that happens. But recent events, and stuff like this:


have me seriously wondering. I think a second Civil War in the sense of the populace taking up arms against each other en masse unrealistic because people don't care enough, we're too comfortable in our modern prosperous lifestyles.

But let's say a minority of states decided they really did want to secede. Hypothetically, let's call it Florida, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, throw in a few others but it's a significant amount though less than half the country. How would it play out? How far would the rest of the country push it? Presume the national guard/police/military units in those states back up the secession movement. Congress and the courts could do whatever they wanted, but if push did come to shove, would we send in the Army to put down the rebellion? If so, what would we consider an 'acceptable loss of life' to preserve the Union?

I honestly don't know what would happen if this actually came about in modern America. I'm curious what the board thinks.

I happened to catch an old South Park episode on this topic centered around the Iraqi War. It was basically everyone drawing a line down the center of town and then agreeing to let the other side through for school, stores, etc., and when the impossibility of truly separating became quickly apparently, that we should remain united because we are a country that says one thing and does another.

I have no idea how that would play out in real life. I suppose your college towns and large cities would be a bloodbath because that's where the "blue populace" largely sits and would be the only thing standing between full secession and just rural areas claiming independence.

I have been worried for a while about the fact that we are quickly losing any commonalities, even beyond the political hyperbole. When it comes down to things like the pandemic, where you see how certain people respond to an actual situation, not just political theater, you start to question whether you want to live in the same community as these people. Even people you've known for years, when you see them doing things that seem crazy to you, you start to ask a lot of questions about who they really are and how they could come to those kinds of opinions/actions.

Frankly, it's depressing to think about.

I think it would be a mess with the cities vs the suburbs. It wouldn't be states vs states, it'd just be one big muddle.

The major issue with the US trying to put down any sort of secessionist movement, or "freedom" movement within the country, and doing so with military force, is that for most of the last 80 years the USA has genuinely stood behind the revolutionary forces and pressured foreign nations to relent to those pressures. They have internationally chastised countries that have used force, held them up as civil rights violators, and painted them as enemies of the free world. So should that shoe be on the other foot, and should the US enter into those political and military devices that they have publicly opposed, it does nothing but drive the wedge, and international standing down to a point where countries that routinely do those things, like China, and Russia hold themselves up to their own populace as the 'right' form of government.

What should they do? They should declare those states as enemies of the nations and immediately and forcefully undercut them, put them back in their place and reassert the necessary authority that the state possesses.

I don't have an answer to your question Brian because I can't wrap my head around the states seceding. Being an American seems way too important to leave that.

I would say city and suburbs vs. the rural areas.

It can't happen because we're too mixed at the state level.

What states did Biden receive his second and third highest vote totals? Texas and Florida. Even MS had a Dem win 46% of the votes in the last Gov race.

On the topic of succession, there was a story this week about the 3 rural MD panhandle counties reaching about joining West Virginia.

Sometimes I try to explain to people back home in New England that EVERYONE in Idaho isn't a Trumper, in fact, only 50% voted for him in my county, and that I don't even know any admitted Trumpers or anti-vaxxers personally, except maybe as friends of friends I know of.

Hell, there are folks, well off folks in my town that fly the "Don't tread on me flag"

Great final line on a WaPo editorial today:

At the start of the month a poll was released showing 41% of Biden voters want it to happen, and 52% of Trump voters. I would have agreed with you a few years ago, but things have changed. If those numbers go north of 60% or whatever, it's not outside the realm of possibility. The pandemic has really accelerated a trend that was already happening; the whole 'more unites us than divides us' sentiment ain't what it used to be.

So Rolling Stone came out with an article late last night where they had talked to three of the conspirators who had/are cooperating with the Jan 6 Committee and if true looks pretty damning for those in Trump's orbit, especially the usual suspects among Republican Congressmen/women. I would like it a more "newsy" news service had come out with this, but a lot coincides with the research Seth Abramson has been tweeting about for months now, and is being discussed by the Committee.

Two Jan. 6 Planners Cooperate With Committee, Name MAGA Congress Members - Rolling Stone

I would say the loss of those state you mentioned, maybe with the exception of Texas, would be an acceptable loss for the US.

And nothing will happen because Biden selected a spineless, dickless, AG.

If Texas wants to leave, good riddance. Worst state in the Union.

Just read the article. This guy hits all the Fox News talking points.



Like I said earlier. Nothing is going to happen. They are going to drag this out until 22, win back the majority, and history will be rewritten so Jan 6 never happened. Garland is a dickless coward too worried about optics and peoples feelings. Bill Barr would have people in jail by now.

I agree with the first part of your post. I would like to understand what you mean by this part, but am unable. Are you willing to expound?

Good to know sexism hasn't gone out of style.

Sorry Lathum, I just can't be that pessimistic about Garland/Congress do nothing/say they can't do more etc. Barr would have done everything in his power to block Congress from finding the truth like he did with the Mueller Report. Give Garland a chance to see where he goes with this story before you just write him off. If he/Congress don't follow every step that they are supposed to be doing right now towards Jan 6, every one of them could use that to escape further prosecution altogether which neither one of us wants. I know its very annoying how slow this all seems to work, and how so many are getting off with a slap on the wrist it seems, but I think we need to wait until its clear Garland won't act more strongly on Jan 6 events.

We should know a lot by the end of the week. It shouldn't take Garland long to decide how to handle the contempt referral. If he delays or rejects it, that will show that there won't be any real punishment for the insurrectionists.

Exactly.

It depends on what we believe unites us.

Right now I believe what unites R's are D's and what D's are R's. Yes, there are degrees to this but you get my point. I think as we begin to go down the road to secession, we begin to really take a harder look at who our neighbors would be and bigger divides will be begin to form on both sides. I remember the unity of some local churches and some local strip clubs when it came to fighting against the shutdown rules early in the pandemic. Both groups believed that the other should have the freedom to serve their customers and were against the rules that prevented that. I don't have to tell you what happened after the shutdown went away. That coalition stopped once the restrictions ended.

I think the idea of secession sounds great right up until one wing of the left/right realizes they will move from a being a major player to a minority player when it come to influence of their side.

He's had like 9 months that have resulted in a few slaps on the wrist and no one of consequence being charged.

I think that it's all bluster until someone actually tries to REALLY take up arms en masse. They do that and the national guard and military and authorities will be on them so fast it'll make their head spin. Then they'll cower and claim it was to "save the Children".

I don't think the military or national guard gets sent in unless it's a complete emergency (or unless you have darker skin). And for DC, that decision is made by the Feds (who if it is controlled by an authoritarian is not calling them in).

Police have shown which side they are on for a while now. Even while their colleagues get assaulted and murdered.

I still think any massive civil unrest is unlikely. There's a difference in being a tough guy on Facebook and actually entering a situation where you are laying your life on the line. Even the folks who stormed the Capitol backed off the minute shit started to get real (a bullet through the terrorists skull).

One of the benefits of being kleptocracy or oligarchy is that anytime you start messing with the profits of the elite, they come down hard. The wealthy people are willing to support terrible people to avoid paying taxes and maximize government handouts to themselves, but they are changing their tune the minute some civil unrest hurts their bottom line. And turning the suburbs into a war zone does that.

On the topic of what unites us, it's hard to not see some hard philosophical differences about the underpinnings of our system when you read/see things like this:

At OH GOP Senate debate tonight, Josh Mandel says, “there’s no such thing as separation of church and state.” “We should be instilling faith in the classroom, in the work place, and everywhere in society.” pic.twitter.com/nanbRELVzo

— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) October 25, 2021

Isn't he Jewish?

That the Federal Government should flex its power and bring the states in line. Not unlike LBJ using force to push Civil Rights and the end of segregation in the states.

He did say we need to shut down all schools and have all education done in churches and synagogues (guessing mosques are a no-no).

Sounds like he just wants a theocracy.

Make Hillary AG, she has a bigger set of balls. Is that better?

Exactly. We are literally 1 year from midterms and virtually nothing has happened. Hell, the right has probably gained ground.

Enough of this "trust the system" BS, we need results.

Not a single, solitary thing has happened. Nada. Mitch is halfway to his goal.

And as for Mandel, yes, he is unequivocally calling for a Christian Nationalist Theocracy.

Self-evidently no.

Sorry, I forgot you exist on a higher plain of morality.

Of all the things that disqualify Ron DeSantis from holding public office, this haircut when he was a high school teacher might be #1.

DeSantis was a high school teacher?

SI

This is normal. Dickless Garland is going to be responsible for American blood because of his inaction against these people.

Pushing election lies, TPUSA audience member asks Charlie Kirk when they can "use the guns" and "kill these people" https://t.co/jZafRI6KO6 pic.twitter.com/IUsnsz24XC

— Media Matters (@mmfa) October 26, 2021

You can tell the frauds from the "True Believers" by the way they answer some of this stuff. That guy doesn't believe any of the BS he peddles, so he pushes back some, but you can tell he's trying to walk the line between full-on encouraging violence and saying just enough to keep people hooked.

Yep, less than 2 decades ago, too.

There's some liberal rag trying to make a big deal about him supposedly partying with teenage students when he was a teacher in his early 20s. I don't know if any of it was already known or matters now, but that picture caught my attention!

This happened in my city on the same day another right-winger committed a mass shooting at the local mall. They are ramping up.

Ammon Bundy (currently 4th in the governor funding raise) tried to attend whatever this event is but they wouldn't let him in with his gun.

I'm assuming the full background says, Hurray for Racism Tour!

Garland's handling of the OKC bombing should tell you why right-wingers were more than happy that he became AG. He is not going to do shit.

Curious if that conversation happened in a mosque with darker skin folks, how long before they would be shipped off to Guantanamo?

Ummmmm....Tucker is going full Alex Jones now.

November 1 pic.twitter.com/5yCRlkZlzM

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) October 28, 2021

Another slap on the wrist.

"Chief Judge Roasts DOJ for 'Schizophrenic' Light Treatment of Jan. 6 Criminals Before Sentencing Tennessee TikToker to Probation"

Round-up of a blistering sentencing hearing, with a surprising coda, @LawCrimeNews https://t.co/C9ZhKrGEce via @lawcrimenews

— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 28, 2021

Kinzinger not seeking reelection. GOP is going to be left for the taking by the GQP without much of a fight. Awesome!

He lost his seat with redistricting (and Illinois lost a seat). So he won't be replaced by a Republican.

I'm thinking more along the lines of his place in the party. I'm assuming he's just going to go do something else and tweet a bunch of stuff from the sidelines.

He might run for Senator from what I'm reading. Think Durbin is retiring soon.

How much does a senate seat cost in Illinois nowadays?

It's gotta be at least what a Presidential Pardon costs.

Listen, we haven't had a Governor go to jail in like 10 years. Cut us some slack.

I guess he might also run for Governor. The theory is that there is a lot of crazy GOP candidate running who will likely split up the crazy vote. And he'll clean up with moderates in the party to take the primary. Rauner kind of had this strategy.

Don't think he has a shot at being Governor since Pritzker has mostly been good. But an open Senate seat is another story since the Dems will probably do something stupid like norminating Madigan's daughter.

Trump announces today he was invited by MLB to come to tonight's World Series game. A Braves executive already said that the league was asked by the Trump organization if he could come. Trump can't even go to a ballgame without lying.

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He probably wants to make sure cameras capture him doing the chop because he knows his audience.

The man is a black hole of narcissism. He has no beliefs.

EXCEPT racism. The only thing outside of himself that seems to make him at all excited is the chance to be racist.

This is splitting hairs, but I'm not sure it's explicitly racism. What he really wants is any chance to show he's better than anyone else. One of the easiest and laziest ways to do that is racism. And this man also loves doing things the lazy way.

SI

I'm actually terrified of our governor race with Mr Q believing Theocracy supporting Darren Bailey leading the gop field right now. Hopefully up state makes up for the stupidity of down state.

And he was on camera doing the chop.

Did we really expect the media to do the right thing here? All they had to do was nothing.

Trump doesn't give a damn about baseball, but he understands his people better than anyone else ever has.

I typed Dealey Plaza into Google and on Popular Times, it shows Live: Busier Than Usual. Gee, I wonder why?

It seems that all the Q people have decended on Dallas waiting for the Great Pumkin...er..I mean JFK, Jr. to show up and reinstate Trump. I mean big numbers of some real extreme nutters.

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I thought they were boycotting baseball?

I just can't fathom this level of stupid/crazy, some people just love being trolled I guess

Facebook broke so many brains over the years.

I love Blaire!
Edit: Crap, she deleted her tweet. Or "they " did.