Political Randomness

[Smoove_B]

I don't think we have a thread on this, but maybe we should. Yet again, another Congressman that is not only serving on a committee related to these investments but is also saying one thing and then doing another. Imagine that.

Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas wanted Americans to know just how "obsessed" liberals are with electric vehicles that are "not all they're hyped up to be."

But in recent weeks, Crenshaw has personally sought to profit from electric vehicles. He reported buying or selling between $8,008 and $120,000 worth of stock shares in electric vehicle manufacturers Tesla and Rivian Automotive, according to US House financial disclosure documents. In all, Crenshaw made eight separate trades in Tesla or Rivian Automotive stock between November 9 and December 29, the documents show.

The trades coincide with Crenshaw serving on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a panel that has jurisdiction over renewable energy, conservation, and electric vehicles. The Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee, on which Crenshaw also sits, directly involves itself in matters involving "greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles."

Crenshaw's investments also come as federal lawmakers on the left and right are questioning whether members of Congress should be allowed to buy and sell individual stocks at all.

[YellowKing]

I can't stand that one-eyed son of a bitch. Yeah and I don't give a crap about his service. Soldiers can be assholes too.

[Carpet_pissr]

I can't stand that one-eyed son of a bitch. Yeah and I don't give a crap about his service. Soldiers can be assholes too.

[YellowKing]

My response was probably a *tad* extreme, but it's Friday and I'm feeling feisty.

[Holman]

Some of his comrades have commented that he was an asshole even in the service.

[YellowKing]

I think my dislike of him came when he forced Pete Davidson to apologize on air for a joke made about him. Big tough Navy SEAL can't even handle an SNL joke. Snowflake.

[Smoove_B]

I'm not really sure where this goes exactly, so I'm just going to put it here.

A local police department is hosting a disaster preparedness event for kids.

Stephanie Stock, the president of the anti-vaccination group Ohio Advocates for Medical Freedom, is quoting Adolf Hitler in response.

This crosses so many topics, it's confusing to me. But when anti-vax lunatics are calling police officers Nazis...everything is upside down.

[Max Peck]

She was probably triggered by the FEMA involvement more than that of the local police.

[Isgrimnur]

Is she against Teen Age Republicans as well?

[hepcat]

She probably thinks FEMA is shorthand for Feminist.

[El Guapo]

She was probably triggered by the FEMA involvement more than that of the local police.

Yup. Bear in mind how many conspiracy theories there are linked to FEMA.

[LordMortis]

I'm not really sure where this goes exactly, so I'm just going to put it here.

snip

I think context will make that make more sense. I don't doubt that this goes back to DARE, which was nigh compulsory for children in the 80s and was one step away from asking children to spy on the adults around them for the police in the name of the war on drugs. The people who were most adamant against DARE were the conservative side libertarian folks. We all know how that group changed to become Tea Party republicans which welcomes the Anti Vax crowd and hates government over reach unless it's the government overreach they support. From this standpoint, the socialist police state trying to brainwash children and become parents is apparent when they do community outreach for things these so called libertarians don't like. If these parent groups do support a police state tactic then it's the thin blue line.

Ironically, their lord and savior, Ayn Rand, wrongly attributed a loathing to Emerson in quoting him as saying "consistency is the hobgoblin of a little mind" intentionally leaving off the prefaced modifier of "foolish" in front of consistency.

I would fully expect her to endorse such dogma as "Taxation is theft" and "The US is not a democracy" and trying to pass it off as critical thinking.

[Alefroth]

She was probably triggered by the FEMA involvement more than that of the local police.

Yup. Bear in mind how many conspiracy theories there are linked to FEMA.

Thanks Deus Ex!

[malchior]

Inspector General finds Zinke broke ethics rules and lied to investigators. It was referred to DOJ who decided to not charge.

Facing serious allegations about his ethics and conduct in office, Ryan Zinke, then secretary of Donald Trump’s Interior Department, told a government official in 2018 that he had done nothing improper. Negotiations over a land deal in his hometown of Whitefish, Mont., were proceeding without him. His involvement was minimal, he said; his meeting with the project’s developers at Interior headquarters was “purely social.”

But a report released Wednesday by the department’s internal watchdog caught Zinke in a lie. Email and text message exchanges show he communicated with the developers 64 times between August 2017 and July 2018 to discuss the project’s design, the use of his foundation’s land as a parking lot, and his interest in operating a brewery on the site.

“These communications, examples of which are set forth below, show that Secretary Zinke played an extensive, direct, and substantive role in representing the Foundation during negotiations with the 95 Karrow project developers,” Inspector General Mark Greenblatt’s office wrote.

Zinke “was not simply a passthrough for information,” the report said. “He personally acted for or represented the Foundation in connection with the negotiations.”

The report found that Zinke broke federal ethics rules repeatedly by improperly participating in real estate negotiations with the then-chairman of the energy giant Halliburton and other developers.

Zinke continued to represent his family’s foundation in the negotiations for nearly a year, investigators found, even after committing to federal officials that he would resign from the foundation and would not do any work on its behalf after he joined the Trump administration.

...

Now a leading Republican candidate for a newly drawn congressional seat in Montana this fall, Zinke also misused his official position, the report concluded. Investigators found that he had directed some of his staff to set up a meeting with the developers and print documents related to the project. Federal officials are generally prohibited from assigning their employees tasks related to their private business.

The inspector general did not find that Zinke violated federal conflict-of-interest laws because his communication with the developers centered on a private business deal, rather than official Interior Department matters. The investigation also did not find evidence that Zinke had used his position to benefit Halliburton or for his own financial gain, or that his staff tried to conceal his continuing involvement with the development team.

The Washington Post first reported that the inspector general had referred the matter to the Justice Department in 2018. But the case remained open until last summer, when prosecutors declined to press criminal charges.

[stessier]

I really feel like he should be writing for The Onion sometimes.

[dbt1949]

During the cold war when the USSR was a big menace to Germany they were extremely grateful for our presence. During the invasion of Czechoslovakia they went over the top to show their gratitude to us GIs.
But now that Russia is not a direct threat to them it's USA go away. We don't need you anymore.
And we're not going to keep up our NATO commitments either!

[stessier]

FL political candidate behaving badly. Cop behaving very well.

26 minutes of body cam footage at the link.

[Daehawk]

Its people like that that actually deserve to get yanked out of their car and smacked to the ground.

[Carpet_pissr]

"Hyde has run for Sarasota City Commission twice, and has been a fixture in public comment at Sarasota City Commission and Sarasota County School Board meetings. He’s earned a reputation as a hothead."

Lotta that going around the R party these days. It's definitely perceived as a positive, as you can see from his almost "I'm sorry, BUT" apology. To be fair, it's not a bad apology, there have been many worse, but he still uses the opportunity to basically say "but my hotheadedness is an ADVANTAGE if you vote me into office!".

Entitled twat.

[hepcat]

Its people like that that actually deserve to get yanked out of their car and smacked to the ground.

He's the wrong color.

[Alefroth]

"Hyde has run for Sarasota City Commission twice, and has been a fixture in public comment at Sarasota City Commission and Sarasota County School Board meetings. He’s earned a reputation as a hothead."

Lotta that going around the R party these days. It's definitely perceived as a positive, as you can see from his almost "I'm sorry, BUT" apology. To be fair, it's not a bad apology, there have been many worse, but he still uses the opportunity to basically say "but my hotheadedness is an ADVANTAGE if you vote me into office!".

Entitled twat.

It's a pretty awful apology, imo.

[Alefroth]

Remember when a "Yeeeaaaahhhh!" was the end of your political ambitions?

[Alefroth]

"Anybody that might consider voting for me might have pause for thought," Hyde said. "I'd ask people to wait and look at the whole thing over a period of time and ask themselves whether they want someone in Congress that votes your constitutional rights or whether somebody that plays nice with cops when they give them tickets."

Why not both?

[Daehawk]

[noxiousdog]

I'm not going to endorse Greg Abbot, but this is for elective surgeries; not just being trans.

If we think minors aren't mature enough to drink alcohol, I find it hard to believe they are mature enough to have a sex change operation that will render them sterile.

I'm open for discussion, but this is complicated.

[gilraen]

Gender reassignment surgery isn't available for someone under 18. Considering the costs and other criteria that has to be met, there are probably not that many 18-21 year olds that actually get the procedure. All that talk about "elective surgery" in minors is right-wing dog whistle.

Puberty blockers by definition have to be given as the teenager starts puberty, so you can't wait with those. Hormone treatments are generally not allowed before the age of 16.

[noxiousdog]

Gender reassignment surgery isn't available for someone under 18. Considering the costs and other criteria that has to be met, there are probably not that many 18-21 year olds that actually get the procedure. All that talk about "elective surgery" in minors is right-wing dog whistle.

Puberty blockers by definition have to be given as the teenager starts puberty, so you can't wait with those. Hormone treatments are generally not allowed before the age of 16.

It's more complicated than that.

[Daehawk]

If you click that tweet it takes to other ones. Supposedly it includes that people can lose their jobs if they dont report this 'abuse'

[Smoove_B]

It's more complicated than that.

It is, but in this case I'm going to side with members of the medical and trans community that are calling out how dangerous and harmful Abbot's new policy is. I want to be on their side, for historical purposes, not his. As I said in the other thread, Abbot is evil. I don't know how else to define this.

[noxiousdog]

It's more complicated than that.

It is, but in this case I'm going to side with members of the medical and trans community that are calling out how dangerous and harmful Abbot's new policy is. I want to be on their side, for historical purposes, not his. As I said in the other thread, Abbot is evil. I don't know how else to define this.

For starters, it's not binary. His implementation and messaging can be completely wrong, but it is something that we should be discussing prior to further experimentation on minors. Expanding this out, we have a ton, a metric shit ton, of medical ethics questions we should be addressing of which transgender operations is a small fraction.

But, to the point of people grandstanding... how can it be that dangerous and harmful if it rarely (if ever) happens? The headlines all read endorsing trans is child abuse, when in reality, it's purely about something that rarely (if ever) happens. This is clearly being mischaracterized.

And now I feel icky.

[Daehawk]

Russia invades Ukraine and the TN GOP attack Biden over it. Typical. This country should be coming together yet all they do is add more rips and tears to it. GOP is SO anti American.

[Jaymann]

Can someone please introduce a bill in Congress condemning the Russian invasion so Repugnicans will be forced to vote against it.

[Carpet_pissr]

Can someone please introduce a bill in Congress condemning the Russian invasion so Repugnicans will be forced to vote against it.

I'm not sure what that will accomplish in today's political landscape. You're suggesting they will somehow be shamed by this? Many of these asshats have doubled, tripled or more down, one more "mark" that would have been politically devastating even 10 years ago, is nothing except a badge of honor, and loyalty to the Trumpublican brand.

[Jaymann]

Can someone please introduce a bill in Congress condemning the Russian invasion so Repugnicans will be forced to vote against it.

I'm not sure what that will accomplish in today's political landscape. You're suggesting they will somehow be shamed by this? Many of these asshats have doubled, tripled or more down, one more "mark" that would have been politically devastating even 10 years ago, is nothing except a badge of honor, and loyalty to the Trumpublican brand.

They have no shame. Just to put them on record in the remote chance sanity is restored.

[Alefroth]

Russia invades Ukraine and the TN GOP attack Biden over it. Typical. This country should be coming together yet all they do is add more rips and tears to it. GOP is SO anti American.

Russia could be invading THIS country and we would still be divided.

[Pyperkub]

I really feel like he should be writing for The Onion sometimes.

That's our Tareeq!

[Daehawk]

Ted is her?

[Unagi]

Russia invades Ukraine and the TN GOP attack Biden over it. Typical. This country should be coming together yet all they do is add more rips and tears to it. GOP is SO anti American.

Russia could be invading THIS country and we would still be divided.

Hasn't it already... and yes.

[Carpet_pissr]

Russia invades Ukraine and the TN GOP attack Biden over it. Typical. This country should be coming together yet all they do is add more rips and tears to it. GOP is SO anti American.

Russia could be invading THIS country and we would still be divided.

Hasn't it already... and yes.

Word(le)

[YellowKing]

We need to start the rumor that Russia is coming for our guns.