Political Discussion Thread (With Rules)

[Clonus]

14 hours ago, csyphrett said:

That is something you expect to see in a love triangle. What was the argument about? The article doesn't say, It seems weird to me that he just walked into the courthouse and shot the judge when there doesn't seem to be an obvious connection. And then he turned himself in?

CES  

 

14 hours ago, unclevlad said:

Unfortunately, while I think we'll learn the reason...I'm afraid it'll end up being just as disturbing.

 

 

Stines was deposed on Monday in a lawsuit filed by two women, one of whom alleged that a deputy forced her to have sex inside Mullins' chambers for six months in exchange for staying out of jail. The lawsuit accuses the sheriff of "deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise" the deputy.

 

The now-former deputy sheriff, Ben Fields, pleaded guilty to raping the female prisoner while she was on home incarceration. Fields was sentenced this year to six months in jail and then six and a half years on probation for rape, sodomy, perjury and tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, The Mountain Eagle reported. Three charges related to a second woman were dismissed because she is now dead.

 

That is one true crime book I'm definitely reading when it comes out.  

 

 

[Cygnia]

Texas teacher fired for showing Anne Frank graphic novel to eighth-graders

Quote

A Texas teacher was fired after assigning an illustrated adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary to her middle school class, in a move that some are calling “a political attack on truth”.

The eighth-grade school teacher was released after officials with Hamshire-Fannett independent school district said the teacher presented the “inappropriate” book to students, reported KFDM.

The graphic novel, written by Ari Folman and illustrated by David Polonsky, adapts the diary of 13-year-old Anne Frank, who wrote while hiding in an annexe in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.

The district sent an email to parents on Tuesday, notifying them that the book, which district officials say was not approved, would no longer be read.

“The reading of that content will cease immediately. Your student’s teacherwill communicate her apologies to you and your students soon, as she has expressed those apologies to us,” read the email, reported KFDM.

By Wednesday, district officials had emailed parents, informing them that the teacher had been fired following an investigation into the incident.

 

[MrWolf]

Uh, wow.

 

I will admit I have not read, and should, The Diary of Anne Frank.

 

Even THIS is too much for some?

 

What in the world.

[unclevlad]

Story from the NYT morning newsletter...Pennsylvania doesn't start counting absentee ballots early.  A move to change this rule was blocked by the Republican-controlled house...forget which one it was there.  Therefore, the result won't be known probably for several days.

 

Then...today, the Georgia election board, by a 3-2 vote, is requiring ALL ballots to be hand counted.  Which will also take forever.  

 

This *very* likely means we won't have a winner for several days...which also means Trump, should he lose, will have all that time to whip up another firestorm.  In Pennsylvania it may be particularly inflammatory, as it means the early returns will be more heavily oriented to the election day balloting than they should be...and that, historically, favors Republicans.  

[DShomshak]

Laugh to keep from screaming. Latest from the Economist:

The weekly cartoon (economist.com)

Dean Shomshak

Edited September 21 by DShomshak

[csyphrett]

9 hours ago, Clonus said:

 

 

 

Stines was deposed on Monday in a lawsuit filed by two women, one of whom alleged that a deputy forced her to have sex inside Mullins' chambers for six months in exchange for staying out of jail. The lawsuit accuses the sheriff of "deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise" the deputy.

 

The now-former deputy sheriff, Ben Fields, pleaded guilty to raping the female prisoner while she was on home incarceration. Fields was sentenced this year to six months in jail and then six and a half years on probation for rape, sodomy, perjury and tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, The Mountain Eagle reported. Three charges related to a second woman were dismissed because she is now dead.

 

That is one true crime book I'm definitely reading when it comes out.  

 

 

Thanks Clonus. This wasn't in the article. It just said they were arguing and Stines shot Mullins multiple times. This is like the shooting here in town. A guy got mad at some guys. A third party broke them up. The first guy got mad and got a gun and shot the third party who returned fire.

CES 

According to the paper, Routh the second assassin had numerous runins with the police in Greensboro. The retired officer interviewed said that Routh was strange and seemed to show up when he was out off duty with his family.

CES 

[unclevlad]

It was in the article, just a ways down.  Pretty easy to miss.  

 

And the timeline is different here.  The argument, as I read it, was in the courtroom.  The judge went back to his chambers, the sheriff followed...and shot him there.  That's also supported by the charge, which is first-degree murder.  If it was a heat-of-the-moment, someone suddenly gets mad during a fight and fires...there's no premeditation there, and it wouldn't be charged as first degree.

 

I haven't read any reason for the argument, and it sounds like there were several potential points of contention.  My speculation is, the judge might've been getting ready to drop the hammer down, in such a way that the sheriff's career was about to be toast.  The sheriff decided to burn the house down on his way out the door.

[Cygnia]

Most women vote Democratic. And most still change their name when they marry. And that’s where the GOP sees an Achilles’ heel.

Quote

House Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump were pushing the Safeguard American Eligibility, or SAVE, Act. It died in the House Wednesday night, but, like a bad penny, you can bet it’ll return.

And what will the law require citizens who want to vote do? Lacking a passport or other proof of citizenship with their married names, they must produce both a birth certificate and a current form of identification—both with the exact same name on them. That could instantly disqualify about 90 percent* of all married women without passports or other proof that matches their birth certificates or proof of a legal name change.

 

[Armitage]

16 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Uh, wow.

 

I will admit I have not read, and should, The Diary of Anne Frank.

 

Even THIS is too much for some?

 

What in the world.

 

 

The Dumbing of Age webcomic features a religiously homeschooled woman attending a secular college and experiencing the outside world for the first time. At one point, she mentioned that her parents didn't let her watch "Frozen" when she was a child because it contained the unacceptable message that parents can be wrong about what's best for their children.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" is bad because is contains the unacceptable message that murderous authoritarian tyrants can be bad people.

[Cygnia]

11 minutes ago, Armitage said:

 

 

The Dumbing of Age webcomic features a religiously homeschooled woman attending a secular college and experiencing the outside world for the first time. At one point, she mentioned that her parents didn't let her watch "Frozen" when she was a child because it contained the unacceptable message that parents can be wrong about what's best for their children.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" is bad because is contains the unacceptable message that murderous authoritarian tyrants can be bad people.

Or, depending on the edition, a teenage girl can have sexual feelings awakening in her.

[unclevlad]

Musk is forced to back down in Brazil.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/21/world/americas/elon-musk-x-brazil.html?unlocked_article_code=1.MU4.fADy.wbpRemUwGGND&smid=url-share

[Iuz the Evil]

19 hours ago, MrWolf said:

Uh, wow.

 

I will admit I have not read, and should, The Diary of Anne Frank.

 

Even THIS is too much for some?

 

What in the world. 

 

My very well meaning staff in Napa County (northern California Bay Area) once proposed to do a “Cultural Corner” where they would highlight various “diversity icons” to “educate the public and other staff”. They listed Anne Frank as “Holocaust survivor”.

 

“Um… I hate to break it to you. That’s not her role in history”

 

The project was very challenging to implement as a government agency, but at a minimum it ought to be factually correct.

[Cygnia]

https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/it-did-not-merit-any-work-for-me-because-of-who-you-are-fani-willis-criticized-over-employees-testimony-during-wildly-contentious-hearing-related-to-trump-rico-case/

[Michael Struck]

The Trumpet of Doom
based on Rudyard Kipling
by Basil Drake

We are the little folk, we;
Too little to fear or to hate.
You've left us alone, now you'll see
That we can pull down the state.
 

We are the rot in the wood,
We are the grit in the gears,
We are the poisonous brood,
We hate what once we did fear.

We are the little folk, yes;
Too little to fear or to hate.
We can make nothing but mess,
As we pull down the state.

We'll say "It's for the kids!"
As we make sure the schools do not teach,
This will sooth our poor ids,
That damn the stars we can't reach.

We are the little folk, now.
Too little to fear or to hate.
But the good and the wise we shall cow,
As we pull down the state.

It's true that we are not strong,
But we know a man of strong words
So we shall follow along
In venomous, hate-spewing herds.
/We/ shall be slaves, so you claim?
But we have always been slaves.
Our leader will have his sick fame,
As we shovel you into mass graves.

We are the little folk, we;
Too little to fear or too hate.
We've worked in the dark, now you'll see
That we shall pull down the state.

We are the little folk, wild.
We're empty of all but our hate.
We don't know how to build,
So we will pull down the state.


Please pass it on , with or without attribution.

[tkdguy]

 

[unclevlad]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/21/us/politics/liz-cheney-republican-party.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Mk4.67QL.8TsvCtOUlXVE&smid=url-share

 

One can hope, but I'm not so sure.  A classic component of the Reagan-era Republican base was Christian conservatives...but how many of them have skewed over to be Christian nationalists?  From personal dislike for, but acceptance of, many aspects of diversity, to outright rejection and a desire to forcibly repress/criminalize it?

[Clonus]

Trump claims COVID-19 started when 'dust flew in from China'

 

 

"I never got great credit on the fighting of the China virus, which is COVID, but we call it the China virus because we like to be accurate," he continued. "But if you think of what I've done, I took a disaster that came into our shores, that dust flew in from China, and we started making things like the ventilators."

 

Trump claims COVID-19 started when 'dust flew in from China' - Raw Story

Edited September 22 by Clonus

[wcw43921]

I believe I prefer calling Trump and his MAGAs "deranged" rather than "weird"

[Cygnia]

Department won’t provide election security after sheriff’s posts about Harris yard signs

Quote

RAVENNA, Ohio (AP) — A local Ohio elections board says the county sheriff’s department will not be used for election security following a social media post by the sheriff saying people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democratic vice president wins the November election.

In a statement on the Portage County Democrats’ Facebook page, county board of elections chair Randi Clites said members voted 3-1 Friday to remove the sheriff’s department from providing security during in-person absentee voting.

Clites cited public comments indicating “perceived intimidation by our sheriff against certain voters” and the need to “make sure every voter in Portage County feels safe casting their ballot for any candidate they choose.”

 

[unclevlad]

23 hours ago, Clonus said:

Trump claims COVID-19 started when 'dust flew in from China'

 

 

"I never got great credit on the fighting of the China virus, which is COVID, but we call it the China virus because we like to be accurate," he continued. "But if you think of what I've done, I took a disaster that came into our shores, that dust flew in from China, and we started making things like the ventilators."

 

Trump claims COVID-19 started when 'dust flew in from China' - Raw Story

 

If you can stomach them, the 'interview' is on YouTube.  Full Measure Season 10, episode 3.

 

Trump should've been a fantasy writer.  No one has ever been able to construct a more detailed fantasy world than the one he's created.

[Cygnia]

Prosecutors say evidence clears him. He’s set to be executed today.

[Cygnia]

J.D. Vance Eggs Video Is Mostly Wrong, Totally Awkward

Quote

Just one month after his disastrous doughnut-shop visit, J.D. Vance is going viral again over a video that highlights his inability to behave like someone who regularly purchases food for himself.

On September 21, Vance stopped into King Food Supermarket in Reading, Pennsylvania, picked up some eggs, and complained about price increases under the Biden-Harris administration. Sounds pretty straightforward. So why is the clip going viral? Basically, because Vance complained that “a dozen eggs will cost you around $4 thanks to Kamala Harris’s inflationary policies” while standing in front of two clearly visible signs that said eggs cost $2.99 a dozen.

 

[Ternaugh]

58 minutes ago, Cygnia said:

J.D. Vance Eggs Video Is Mostly Wrong, Totally Awkward

 

 

He was also holding a flat of eggs (30), instead of a dozen. Numbers appear to be a mystery for him.

[unclevlad]

What is it about Trump and Vance, that leads to them hiring such poor staff???????

 

 

[Old Man]

47 minutes ago, unclevlad said:

What is it about Trump and Vance, that leads to them hiring such poor staff???????

 

 

A prioritization of loyalty and ideology over competence.