I'd read it put it starts to get increasingly redundant and rage inducing at how egregious this bullshit is.
American Politics thread: No Nazis Allowed
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Currently BREAKING NEWS in the Netherlands: Dutch intelligence had infiltrated Cozy Bear for years and warned American intelligence in 2014, 2015 and 2016 that the Russians had hacked the State Department, the White House and the DNC. This information was also the basis for the FBI's investigation into Russian hacking during the election.
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So in my local district, congressman Lee Zeldin has pretty much given up on attempting to appear to be anything more than a talking head regurgitating Trump and Bannon's ideas, and has made yet another appearance on Fox News. And from what I hear about people close to his staff, this is going to be a more regular thing for Zeldin as he's worried about where he lays given he was getting fundraising from Bannon and Mercer right during the thick of Bannon's feud with Trump.
And if it wasn't poetic enough, during that appearance I got a phone call from the campaign manager of Perry Gershon, a Democrat looking to defeat Zeldin. So I'll be working as an intern with them to hopefully kick Zeldin out, come November.
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So I'll be working as an intern with them to hopefully kick Zeldin out, come November.
Good on you man! Fight the power, grassroots, etc.!
Lee Zeldin is definitely one of the real baddies, so best of luck to you and Mr. Gershon.
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So in my local district, congressman Lee Zeldin has pretty much given up on attempting to appear to be anything more than a talking head regurgitating Trump and Bannon's ideas, and has made yet another appearance on Fox News. And from what I hear about people close to his staff, this is going to be a more regular thing for Zeldin as he's worried about where he lays given he was getting fundraising from Bannon and Mercer right during the thick of Bannon's feud with Trump.
And if it wasn't poetic enough, during that appearance I got a phone call from the campaign manager of Perry Gershon, a Democrat looking to defeat Zeldin. So I'll be working as an intern with them to hopefully kick Zeldin out, come November.
I still don't understand how east Long Island can have someone that far-right as a rep. I mean even as much as I dislike Peter King he still makes a kind of sense to me, Zeldin though? The fuck is up with that. Even the less citied "rural" house districts in CT have democrats in them. Same with the non-Providence Rhode Island district.
The only district in the area I expect retarded GOP crap from is the Staten Island one. Is there something I'm missing?Has this guy pulled a Lieberman and been moving rightward on his own and spiting his original base or something?
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@Monkey:
I still don't understand how east Long Island can have someone that far-right as a rep. I mean even as much as I dislike Peter King he still makes a kind of sense to me, Zeldin though? The fuck is up with that. Even the less citied "rural" house districts in CT have democrats in them. Same with the non-Providence Rhode Island district.
The only district in the area I expect retarded GOP crap from is the Staten Island one. Is there something I'm missing?Has this guy pulled a Lieberman and been moving rightward on his own and spiting his original base or something?
Zeldin's only had the job since 2014 (after the district got redrawn.) His entire election strategy is "Did I mention that I am a ~ARMY VETERAN~?" with the odd anti-Hispanic dogwhistles that all Republicans here engage in (a gradually growing MS-13 presence isn't helping matters.) This works incredibly well in Suffolk, which is de facto segregated to all hell and is full of middle-aged white guys with landscaping businesses who mumble about "damn illegals" while likely employing many undocumented immigrants. The county went all-in for Trump after 16 years of voting Dem.
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@Cyan:
Zeldin's only had the job since 2014 (after the district got redrawn.) His entire election strategy is "Did I mention that I am a ~ARMY VETERAN~?" with the odd anti-Hispanic dogwhistles that all Republicans here engage in (a gradually growing MS-13 presence isn't helping matters.) This works incredibly well in Suffolk, which is de facto segregated to all hell and is full of middle-aged white guys with landscaping businesses who mumble about "damn illegals" while likely employing many undocumented immigrants. The county went all-in for Trump after 16 years of voting Dem.
So is Suffolk like Staten Island then? Full of racist non-WASP ladder kickers?
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http://amp.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article196669219.html
Welp.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Nikki Haley asked where the Palestinian Anwar Sadat is.
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@Monkey:
So is Suffolk like Staten Island then? Full of racist non-WASP ladder kickers?
Pretty much, though we do have some WASPs lying around out east.
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http://amp.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article196669219.html
Welp.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Nikki Haley asked where the Palestinian Anwar Sadat is.
Again the Trump administration is a cartoon stupid version of older Republican methodology.
Older Republican officials know full well that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was a nasty ethnic land struggle between two groups, and that they were choosing a side in it and tough shit if people didn't like it.
The Trump people don't have a single fucking clue what the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is over and what it involves. Just literally "GOOD JEW COUNTRY AND MEAN MUSLIM TERRORISTS".
WHY NO TALK BAD MEN??? COME TALK OR WE PUNCH YOU, YOU MEAN TO JEW, NEED TO COME SAY SORRY OR ELSE! BAD BAD MEN, BAD.–- Update From New Post Merge ---
@Cyan:
Pretty much, though we do have some WASPs lying around out east.
I begin to have this theory that the more the WASPs refused to integrate and mix with the Catholic whites way back when in certain areas, the more racist and exclusionary the Catholic whites got in that given population toward others lower on the totem.
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NYT reporting that Trump ordered Mueller to be fired in June. Backed down when McGahn threatened to resign.
Weird pattern for Trump that threatened resignations really seem to work on him.
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@Cyan:
Zeldin's only had the job since 2014 (after the district got redrawn.) His entire election strategy is "Did I mention that I am a ~ARMY VETERAN~?" with the odd anti-Hispanic dogwhistles that all Republicans here engage in (a gradually growing MS-13 presence isn't helping matters.) This works incredibly well in Suffolk, which is de facto segregated to all hell and is full of middle-aged white guys with landscaping businesses who mumble about "damn illegals" while likely employing many undocumented immigrants. The county went all-in for Trump after 16 years of voting Dem.
Couldn't have summed it up better myself.
The problem is something that most of the younger generation of Long Islanders have realized that the GOP middle aged base of Long Island doesn't understand, is that the island is extremely segregated. I mean, in my home town it is literally segregated to a point by the train tracks, with one half consisting of something like 30% hispanics most of which are living in homes with basement apartments, or shared by a very large family, with the other half of the tow being huge houses by the water owned by middle aged white guys who complain about "the illegals"(which is usually just code for "a hispanic person who I do not personally know").
I deliver pizza on the weekends, and most of the time it's the lower income houses that are tipping me more and never complaining. Can't say the same for the huge mini mansions I'll deliver to with Trump-Pence bumper stickers on all of their kids' jeeps, as they give me a dollar and complain about how long it took.
However, I do think a large reason for the huge shift from the overwhelming votes for Obama in '08, to what we have now is a result of the ACA. For all the good the ACA has done, it caused a bit of a change in many peoples insurance coverage and the doctors that accepted it. And the GOP was able to play this up for years equating it to "illegals and lazy people taking your money, don't you hate your ridiculously high taxes? blame it on the Dems".
The two things that Zeldin has to give him some leeway in voters' eyes is that he is fairly liberal in terms of environmental protection, though that's an extremely common point of view given residence are pretty aware of the limited space on the Island and the condition the beaches and parks are in. So any attempt to screw with that is instantly met with opposition.
The other thing is the tax bill. Zeldin and King both quickly came against it because the removal of state deductions. But, at the end of the day it was simply them saving face on an issue they knew was supported by the rest of their party, so it wouldn't hurt them to not support it.
The most flack Zeldin has gotten as far as I can recall, was his support of Trump's healthcare plan. But again, when your base of white men between the ages of 45 and 90 have bought into the propaganda that government is somehow making their medical expenses higher than if they weren't, you're probably too far gone to rationally look at the facts.
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NYT reporting that Trump ordered Mueller to be fired in June. Backed down when McGahn threatened to resign.
Weird pattern for Trump that threatened resignations really seem to work on him.
The surprising thing is that he didn't go through with it.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Since Abramson already started a 135+ tweet thread about this, here's a good takedown of him before you start wasting your time: https://thinkprogress.org/blue-detectives-collapse-trump-russia-a42a94537bdf/
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Since Abramson already started a 135+ tweet thread about this, here's a good takedown of him before you start wasting your time: https://thinkprogress.org/blue-detectives-collapse-trump-russia-a42a94537bdf/
Mensch was clearly batshit crazy from the beginnings, will admit to being hopeful for a week or two with Taylor before I figured out he was either as crazy or very easily duped.
Abramson, though, is at least a little bit of a different animal, since he doesn't claim any firsthand knowledge of this stuff or inside sources. He's just obsessive over all the reporting, and, well…
His signal-to-noise ratio is low, but he's still not that bad for keeping a bunch of old, dead stories fresh in your head. …still don't follow him, though, his conclusions are pretty wacky.
One I still can't figure out is John Schindler. He's been ahead of a few significant things here and there, but a.) he seems to be a terrible person, and b.) he and Rick Wilson have figured out a way to be so vague about things that just about any major revelation could be what they've been hinting about for weeks.
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NYT reporting that Trump ordered Mueller to be fired in June. Backed down when McGahn threatened to resign.
Weird pattern for Trump that threatened resignations really seem to work on him.
Whoooah ho.
What events were happening around June that might have triggered dumbass to try?
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@Monkey:
Whoooah ho.
What events were happening around June that might have triggered dumbass to try?
The news that Trump was being investigated for obstruction of justice came out a few days before this transpired.
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I deliver pizza on the weekends, and most of the time it's the lower income houses that are tipping me more and never complaining.
lol I've seen people say this happens hundreds of times. Apparently a very regular pattern given even random samples around the country, with income being the constant.
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Mensch was clearly batshit crazy from the beginnings, will admit to being hopeful for a week or two with Taylor before I figured out he was either as crazy or very easily duped.
Abramson, though, is at least a little bit of a different animal, since he doesn't claim any firsthand knowledge of this stuff or inside sources. He's just obsessive over all the reporting, and, well…
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f26/SweetHenrietta/Blogger/v3pVp0F00p2wqts7Mk72E3OBo1_500.jpg
His signal-to-noise ratio is low, but he's still not that bad for keeping a bunch of old, dead stories fresh in your head. …still don't follow him, though, his conclusions are pretty wacky.
One I still can't figure out is John Schindler. He's been ahead of a few significant things here and there, but a.) he seems to be a terrible person, and b.) he and Rick Wilson have figured out a way to be so vague about things that just about any major revelation could be what they've been hinting about for weeks.
Schindler has made pro-Nazi comments. Do not trust him.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Why would do that? Ugh.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
A reminder that when you let bigots get power, towards the vulnerable will increase.
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Joe Kennedy III will do the SotU response.
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Wonder who fed this one to the NYT:
Nice diversion from the sexual misconduct allegations that just came out agains the RNC finance chair.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
I'm not surprised Maggie Riefenstahl wrote this story. Maybe she should've put more focus on protecting women from her longtime partner Glenn Thrush.
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A WTF Just Happened Today news dump
1/ Trump tried to fire Robert Mueller in June, but backed down after Don McGahn threatened to quit if Trump went through with it. (NY Times)
2/ Trump and his allies have repeatedly denied that Trump ever considered firing Mueller. At least eight times since June 2017 Trump and his team have said Mueller's job was safe. (CNN)
3/ Mueller's investigation is moving much faster than previously thought and he appears to be wrapping up the part of the investigation that deals with possible obstruction of justice. (Bloomberg)
4/ John Dowd said he is the one who will decide if Trump will sit down with Mueller. (CNN)
5/ Trump's immigration proposal is DOA after Chuck Schumer opposed the framework released by the White House. (Politico)
Trump said he'd be willing to publicly apologize for retweeting three anti-Islamic videos*posted by a leader of Britain First, one of the U.K.'s far-right groups. Trump said he didn't know who the group was and that he didn't want to cause any difficulty.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency gained access to a nationwide license plate recognition database, which gives the agency access to billions of license plate records and real-time location tracking data.
Trump was booed at Davos for criticizing the media as "nasty" and "fake."
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-davos-booed_us_5a6b2f2ce4b0ddb658c5abaa
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https://www.thenation.com/article/scott-walker-is-literally-preventing-wisconsinites-from-voting/
The worst governor in America.
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https://www.thenation.com/article/scott-walker-is-literally-preventing-wisconsinites-from-voting/
The worst governor in America.
I think Brownback is still governor of Kansas for the time being though.
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Today in BOTH SIDES:
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@Monkey:
I think Brownback is still governor of Kansas for the time being though.
Don't forget the Goblin King in Maine.
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Hate to brag, but this is all making me happy that Chris Christie is gone. Though he was more of an embarrassment then a monster, it's still a relief. Phil Murphy hasn't proven himself to be a fink or incompetent yet, so things are looking up!
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Hate to brag, but this is all making me happy that Chris Christie is gone. Though he was more of an embarrassment then a monster, it's still a relief. Phil Murphy hasn't proven himself to be a fink or incompetent yet, so things are looking up!
Given how McGreevey went out and how Corzine seemingly was a hate magnet I don't like his chances either way.
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So, the New York Times released an opinion piece by Ross Douhat (who amongst other things on his miserable resume, wrote a pro-La Pen piece) called the "Necessity of Stephen Miller" on Holocaust Memorial Day. That has got to be the one of the most tone deaf thing you could possible do.
If the New York Times isn't a pro-white supremacist paper at this point after all it's fluff pieces on Trump, nazi normalization bits, and the fact that it choices to document Trump voters over everyone else, it's not for lack of trying.
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NYT seems to be suffering from some sort of split culture. It's not the same as the WSJ's really easy-to-identify journalists/editorial board split, but it's there.
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On topic, #NYTHeadlines produced some hilarious results:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NYTHeadlines&src=tyah -
Reuters notification:
"FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is stepping down from his post today" - Get updates at Reuters.com
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He's technically on leave until his retirement in March, so the pure-evil Trump Plan of firing him before he got his retirement benefits is not going to happen, but seems like this was forced. By whom is still a question, though it's clear whence the pressure came.
All very sad. Reading through some of the released stuff from the FBI has just emphasized what a stand-up dude McCabe is and has been.
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Wray said he’d resign if McCabe was forced out.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
It was smart to do this today, because after the big boy speech tomorrow, there will be a week-long media cycle about the presidential pivot that drowns the rest out.
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Man, I can't get a handle at all on Wray and what's going up at the upper tiers of FBI.
And in related areas, I can't figure out why Rosenstein hasn't recused himself yet (at least from a strictly legal perspective).
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WTF Just Happened Today News Dump incoming: https://whatthefuckjusthappenedtoday.com/2018/01/29/day-375/
Republicans won't advance bills to protect Robert Mueller and future special counsels, despite a report that Trump tried to fire Mueller last June. Two bipartisan bills under consideration would empower a panel of federal judges to review the case for firing the special counsel and determine whether there was good cause to do so. "It's pretty clear to me that everybody in the White House knows it would be the end of President Trump's presidency if he fired Mr. Mueller," Lindsey Graham said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/us/politics/republicans-mueller-special-counsel-legislation.htmlFBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is "stepping aside," but will remain on the FBI payroll until he is eligible to retire with full benefits in mid-March. Trump has accused McCabe of political bias and has repeatedly pressured him to step down.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-stepping-down-n842176Lawmakers in both parties are calling on Trump to drop his demands to slash legal immigration and focus more narrowly on DREAMers and border security. Many lawmakers are worried that Trump's positions on legal immigration will sink a bipartisan deal. The White House's DACA plan proposes a path to citizenship for 1.8 million DREAMers in exchange for $25 billion for the border wall and cuts to family immigration visas.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/lawmakers-call-on-trump-to-drop-bid-for-legal-immigration-cuts/2018/01/28/2ad231b8-0458-11e8-8777-2a059f168dd2_story.html?utm_term=.385ddf7d5997Trump joined Republicans and called for the release of The Memo[emoji769], despite his own Justice Department warning that releasing the memo to the public without an official review would be "extraordinarily reckless." The memo, written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, suggests that the FBI was politically motivated or used questionable sources to justify its request for a secret surveillance warrant. Democrats said the memo inaccurately summarizes classified investigative materials and was designed to smear the FBI.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-sought-release-of-classified-russia-memo-putting-him-at-odds-with-justice-department/2018/01/27/a00f2a4c-02bb-11e8-9d31-d72cf78dbeee_story.html?utm_term=.4a48b5492a69The deadline to implement the Russia sanctions is today. In August Trump reluctantly signed the sanctions, which are designed to punish Moscow for meddling in the 2016 election, into law. The Treasury Department is required to produce a report on Putin-linked oligarchs and impose sanctions on entities doing business with Russia's defense and intelligence sectors.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/28/trump-russia-sanctions-deadline-373106Russia accused the US of meddling in its upcoming presidential election. Moscow called the timing of the US Treasury report on Russian sanctions "a direct and obvious attempt" to interfere with the upcoming vote.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/europe/russia-accuses-us-of-election-meddling-intl/index.htmlDemocrats are well-positioned to end one-party government in Washington in the November elections. A Bloomberg analysis of historical data, election maps and public polling points to Democratic gains in the midterms, when all 435 House seats and one-third of the Senate are on the ballot.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-midterm-elections-preview/Some notes in this last:
"Since the end of World War II, the party in control of the White House has, on average, had a net loss of 26 House seats in midterm elections. Democrats can win control of the House with a net gain of 24 seats in November. They'd need to win two seats to gain a majority in the Senate."
"Trump's approval rating at this stage of his presidency, 36 percent, is lower than any of his predecessors going back to Harry Truman, according to Gallup polling data. The less popular the president, the more seats his party tends to lose."
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Russia accused the US of meddling in its upcoming presidential election. Moscow called the timing of the US Treasury report on Russian sanctions "a direct and obvious attempt" to interfere with the upcoming vote.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/29/europe/russia-accuses-us-of-election-meddling-intl/index.htmlNow you know how it feels like, you pricks.
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@S.C.:
Now you know how it feels like, you pricks.
Except that sanctions and hacking of private databases are a false equivalency and Russia is just attempting to play the victim to muddy the waters.
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Except that sanctions and hacking of private databases are a false equivalency and Russia is just attempting to play the victim to muddy the waters.
I know, I just wanted make a quip since Russia is an awful place who gets away with way too much shit.
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The state of the union is that it's a shithole. End speech.
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End of each day lately, I've been subconsciously taking a mental tally to figure out if the forces of good or evil are winning.
Today, McCabe was forced out.
Wray and Rosenstein met with the White House right afterwards.
Wray is heavily hinting it has to do with the Clinton probe.
House Intel Republicans voted to release the memo and blocked the Democrat response.
White House announces it's not going to do the remainder of the agreed-upon sanctions because the earlier sanctions were working, and if there were any further sanctions, it would be on non-Russian actors.
…
This has been a bad, bad day for American Democracy.
--- Update From New Post Merge ---
Shit, there's more.
House Intel Republicans have opened an investigation into the DOJ and FBI.
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The President of the United States, who is under investigation for colluding with the Russians, is refusing to impose sanctions on those same Russians despite a sanctions bill passing with 98 votes through the Senate.
Did I get that right?
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The President of the United States, who is under investigation for colluding with the Russians, is refusing to impose sanctions on those same Russians despite a sanctions bill passing with 98 votes through the Senate.
Did I get that right?
Will have to wait to see what the Senate does after today's news, but this is the most I feel like the good fight is going to lose in months.