Political Randomness

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:34 pm

hepcat wrote:It's telling that the only sincere messages for McCain are coming from Dems...

To be fair, Trump did sincerely want McCain's vote.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:37 pm

Defiant wrote:

Former president, 1,300,000 likes. Appears to be a genuine, personal, and encouraging message.

Current president, 62,000 likes. Appears to be copied & pasted from a Hallmark card.

Get well soon? This isn't the sniffles. It's f##king brain cancer. Its going to be a knock-down, drag out fight.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:56 pm

It's also terminal. The prognosis is horrible. Average time remaining is around 14 months, with fewer than a third of people lasting more than 2 years. John McCain is one tough mofo but at his age with this diagnosis, "get well soon" sadly is probably not in the cards.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:59 pm

Yeah, my grandmother went from making weird, incoherent statements to needing to be hospitalized, then in a nursing home. If I'm remembering correctly, it was about 9 months from diagnosis to her death. The last few months were brutal. Wouldn't wish that death on anyone.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:20 pm

Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:26 pm

El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).

That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:28 pm

msteelers wrote:
El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).
That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.

The person who won the special election would serve the rest of McCain's term. So anyone who won in 2018 in this hypothetical would serve until 2022 (when McCain's current term runs out). Or if McCain left office in 2019 then (as I understand it) an appointee would serve until a special election in 2020, the winner of which would serve until 2022.

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:30 pm

El Guapo wrote:
msteelers wrote:
El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).
That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.
The person who won the special election would serve the rest of McCain's term. So anyone who won in 2018 in this hypothetical would serve until 2022 (when McCain's current term runs out). Or if McCain left office in 2019 then (as I understand it) an appointee would serve until a special election in 2020, the winner of which would serve until 2022.

That makes more sense.

Isn't the Nevada governor completely against the Republican health plan?

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:33 pm

msteelers wrote:
El Guapo wrote:
msteelers wrote:
El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).
That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.
The person who won the special election would serve the rest of McCain's term. So anyone who won in 2018 in this hypothetical would serve until 2022 (when McCain's current term runs out). Or if McCain left office in 2019 then (as I understand it) an appointee would serve until a special election in 2020, the winner of which would serve until 2022.
That makes more sense.

Isn't the Nevada governor completely against the Republican health plan?

Yes, as are most governors as I understand it. Though it would be the Arizona governor who would appoint a temporary replacement if it came to that.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:36 pm

Max Peck wrote:Your government is keeping you safe.

Two of the Six Missing Members of Burundi’s Robotics Team Spotted Crossing Into Canada

The FIRST Global Challenge robotics competition is making headlines again after six teens from the team representing Burundi disappeared. The mentor and chaperone for the team, Canesius Bindaba, informed FIRST organizers on Tuesday evening that he could not find the two girls and four boys, whose ages range from 16 to 18. They were last seen at 5 p.m. Tuesday, right before the competition’s closing ceremony. FIRST President Joe Sestak subsequently called Washington police, who began searching and tweeted out missing persons notices.

Metropolitan Police spokeswoman Aquita Brown said Thursday morning that two of the teens, 16-year-old Don Ingabire and 17-year-old Audrey Mwamikazi, have been sighted crossing the border into Canada. Police do not suspect foul play.
...
The tournament received considerable media attention when a team of six girls from Afghanistan were twice denied the U.S. visas needed to attend. Upon learning of their predicament, President Trump reportedly intervened with the State Department to let the girls into the country. The team from Gambia’s applications for visas were also initially denied, but the department reversed its decision in the weeks leading up to the competition.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:44 pm

Can't say I blame them. Burundi is a real mess right now.

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 3:21 pm

El Guapo wrote:
msteelers wrote:
El Guapo wrote:
msteelers wrote:
El Guapo wrote:Not to be grim, but FYI apparently the rules in Arizona are that if a senator leaves office mid-term, the governor appoints a replacement and then a special election is held the next time that Arizona holds a statewide general election. Which means that if McCain leaves office within a year, there would be an appointed replacement then a special election in 2018. Which would put two Arizona senate seats on the ballot (since Flake is already up that year).
That doesn't sound like a good idea. Presumably states don't want both senators running for election in the same year, and this would go on indefinitely.
The person who won the special election would serve the rest of McCain's term. So anyone who won in 2018 in this hypothetical would serve until 2022 (when McCain's current term runs out). Or if McCain left office in 2019 then (as I understand it) an appointee would serve until a special election in 2020, the winner of which would serve until 2022.
That makes more sense.

Isn't the Nevada governor completely against the Republican health plan?
Yes, as are most governors as I understand it. Though it would be the Arizona governor who would appoint a temporary replacement if it came to that.

Great! I'm going to go and shut up now.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 3:23 pm

All those squarish desert states look alike.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:23 am

It's no wonder that Poland seems to be Trump's favourite European country.

It only took two years for a ‘robust’ European democracy to fall apart

In a vote which has been described as an assault on democracy by European officials, the Polish senate is expected to approve a rushed and controversial law on Friday which would retire all Supreme Court judges and allow the president to replace them with more favorable alternatives.

Proposed by the ruling right-wing Law and Justice (Pis) party, the legislation has been widely condemned as the most worrying development in a country in which democratic institutions are under mounting pressure. If passed, the changes would constitute “an unprecedented attack on judicial independence,” according to a joint statement by leading judges from the neighboring Czech Republic.

It is only the latest of many unprecedented attacks.

Only two years ago, Poland was widely considered a success story which had managed to seemingly leave behind its communist past, and turned into a “robust” role model democracy praised by officials across the European Union.

Now, it is becoming a case study for why liberal democracy should not be taken for granted. The Polish government has pursued a number of strategies to weaken its opponents and democratic institutions, including repressions against journalists or judges and the dissemination of conspiracy theories, which preceded Friday's vote.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:18 pm

Yeah, the situation in Poland is incredibly depressing. Also this backdrop is another reason why Trump's visit to and speech in Poland recently was so alarming.

Also of note is that the European Union is threatening to strip Poland of its voting rights in the EU (which is provided for in Article 7 of the EU constitution) over this law if it goes through.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:02 pm

Be glad they aren't just killing the judges off?

geezer · Post by **geezer** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:44 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:All those squarish desert states look alike.

Nevada's not a squarish desert state. It's more like a triangular dessert state

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:37 pm

It's a square that was dropped on the ground.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:55 pm

El Guapo wrote:Yeah, the situation in Poland is incredibly depressing. Also this backdrop is another reason why Trump's visit to and speech in Poland recently was so alarming.

Also of note is that the European Union is threatening to strip Poland of its voting rights in the EU (which is provided for in Article 7 of the EU constitution) over this law if it goes through.

Polish citizens are standing up against this government as they did against its Soviet-era counterpart. There have been massive demonstrations and protests, and the rulers are doing everything they can to suppress a free press and an independent judiciary.

For Trump to visit and endorse its policies is the same as it would have been in 1981. It's telling that the Polish government selected and imported loyal crowds to cheer for him.

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:05 am

Staving off the apocalypse in Poland:

Following tumultuous protests, and warnings from the European Union, Poland’s president vetoed two proposed laws on Monday that would have given the right-wing governing party direct control of the judiciary.

Temporarily?

The two proposed laws he vetoed — one that would have forced the resignation of all Supreme Court justices, with their replacements to be selected by the justice minister, and another that would have given government-appointed members effective veto power in the council, which selects judicial candidates — will be sent back to Parliament. Mr. Duda urged lawmakers to rewrite them within two months.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 6:39 pm

Snopes is in danger of closing, and has started a gofundme

Fitzy · Post by **Fitzy** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 6:59 pm

Defiant wrote:Snopes is in danger of closing, and has started a gofundme

What the hell? That is a weird conflict.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 7:10 pm

More info:

According to the Snopes founder, Proper Media has not honored its contract, which allows Snopes' parent company Bardav to move its web development, CMS, and other services away from Proper Media if it decides to terminate its contract.

Meanwhile, several Proper Media founders relocated to Puerto Rico, which Green said is part of a tax avoidance scheme, and which Kronenberg said is a business development strategy.

Mikkelson claimed that Proper Media was regularly late with sharing its ad revenue with Snopes, and has not shared any revenue with the site since February, several weeks before Mikkelson gave notice to terminate Snopes' contract with Proper Media.

A court is set for August 4 to hear competing motions from Proper Media and its two majority equity holders and Mikkelson and Bardav. Proper Media is aiming to remove Mikkelson from the company, while Mikkelson said he is seeking to allow Snopes to stop using Proper Media for web services.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:03 pm

So basically a fight over money and control.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:33 pm

Someone should snopes that story to get the real deal.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:42 am

Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s top information technology (IT) aide was arrested Monday attempting to board a flight to Pakistan after wiring $283,000 from the Congressional Federal Credit Union to that country.

He attempted to leave the country hours after The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Investigative Group revealed that he is the target of an FBI investigation, and the FBI apprehended him at the airport.

Credit union officials permitted the wire to go through, and his wife has already fled the country to Pakistan, after police confronted her at the airport and found $12,000 in cash hidden in her suitcase but did not stop her from boarding, court documents show.

“On January 18, 2017 at 12:09 pm, an international wire transfer request form was submitted [at the Congressional Federal Credit Union] at the Longworth House Office Building in the District of Columbia, in the amount of $283,000.00, to two individuals in Faisalabad, Pakistan,” according to an affidavit obtained by TheDCNF.

Imran Awan, a Pakistani-born IT aide, had access to all emails and files of dozens of members of Congress, as well as the password to the iPad that Wasserman Schultz used for Democratic National Committee business before she resigned as its head in July 2016.

http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/25/wasse ... e-country/

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:46 am

Politico

Awan, a longtime IT staffer who worked for more than two dozen House Democrats, has been at the center of a criminal investigation on Capitol Hill for months related to procurement theft. Several of his family members, also IT staffers at the time, were implicated in the ongoing investigation.

Most Democratic lawmakers cut ties with Awan and his family after the criminal investigation came to light in early February. But Awan has continued to be employed by Wasserman Schultz, although it’s unclear what his job duties are given he has been barred from accessing the House IT system for months.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:48 pm

Oh, and I love how the Daily Caller is touting this as him attempting to flee the country due to their lack of operational security tipping him to the investigation, despite the fact that he's been persona non grata for half a year. One would think that you would want the feds to arrest your enemies before you start reporting on their crimes.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Wed Jul 26, 2017 9:18 pm

GOP lawmaker on Murkowski: 'Snatch a knot in their ass'

What the fuck does that even mean? Never mind, I don't want to know.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 2:26 am

That's a common saying in the South. While it's not a term I'd expect a professional to use, all of the hubbub about it is a little confusing to me. My dad has threatened to snatch a knot in my ass on more than one occasion.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 2:41 pm

An article on moderate Republicans in congress

Pity Paul Ryan: Moderates adopt Freedom Caucus tactics
Centrist Republicans are banding together and undermining House GOP leaders.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 2:44 pm

Defiant wrote:An article on moderate Republicans in congress

Pity Paul Ryan: Moderates adopt Freedom Caucus tactics
Centrist Republicans are banding together and undermining House GOP leaders.

Wake me up when they actually block something.

edit: what a depressing list of accomplishments:

Resistance from moderates almost torpedoed the House Obamacare replacement this spring, and resulted in billions in additional funding to help people with pre-existing conditions — a requirement for some centrists' support, via an amendment introduced by a 'moderate', which revived the bill that will likely end insurance coverage for tens of millions of people. Earlier this month, they banded with Democrats to sink two controversial amendments overwhelmingly supported by their GOP colleagues, including one barring the Pentagon from spending money on gender reassignment changes for troops, before Trump announced plans to bar transgender people from the military altogether..

Bolded text added.

Politico is the worst sometimes.

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:53 pm

It's a sign that they're beginning to grow a spine. I take that as a positive thing.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 3:56 pm

Defiant wrote:It's a sign that they're starting to grow a spine. I take that as a positive thing.

This is enormously weak evidence of them growing a spine - 'weak sauce' would be far too generous. The first example they mention is the addition of billions of funding in the House repeal bill to support people with preexisting conditions. Which sounds great, except that it's an embarrassing pittance compared to the additional costs imposed upon people with preexisting conditions, *and* the amendment adding that figleaf was proposed by a 'moderate', which resurrected the broader conservative repeal effort.

Man, they sure showed Paul Ryan! I feel so bad for that guy.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 4:09 pm

Lindsay Graham showed a little spine today, promising Trump he'd have "hell to pay" if he fired Jeff Sessions.

It's a little weird that I'm applauding that for a totally different reason than Graham. He's mad because he thinks Jeff Sessions is a stand-up individual. Whereas I'm applauding it because I don't want Sessions replaced with a Trump toadie. Politics makes strange bedfellows indeed.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 4:29 pm

Given his stance on so many issues I haven't heard a single good thing about Sessions. What do you like about him?

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 4:30 pm

Yeah, there has been positive news in terms of conservative blowback on Trump for his hazing of Sessions. Steve King, disgusting as he is, issued a strong defense of Sessions. It's good both because anything that costs Trump at least some support on the far right is a problem for him, because they're his strongest supporters and it's not like Trump has a lot of support to give.

Also, while the statements of GOP figures about what they'll do if Trump does X do not give firm indications of what they will actually do, strong condemnation in advance both reduces the odds that Trump will do it, and it's a necessary predicate to doing something later (if they won't say that they will condemn it beforehand, they definitely won't when Trump actually does it).

Defiant · Post by **Defiant** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 5:30 pm

Moliere wrote:Given his stance on so many issues I haven't heard a single good thing about Sessions. What do you like about him?

That he recused himself from the Russia issue, so he won't fire Mueller? I thought that was at least part of the reason Graham doesn't want Sessions removed. Though Graham probably also thinks Session is a stand-up individual.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 7:37 pm

Sessions is terrible in just about every possible way, but at least he knew he had to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. Anyone Trump replaced Sessions with is almost certainly going to be just as terrible as Sessions on all the issues, but will also almost certainly try to end the Russia investigation.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 11:45 pm

Moliere wrote:Given his stance on so many issues I haven't heard a single good thing about Sessions. What do you like about him?

I like absolutely nothing about the man personally, but anyone who Trump despises is an asset to the administration.