Political Randomness

[LordMortis]

Heard in the background "Wisconsin electors elect Biden in 2020."

[El Guapo]

Don't worry, Trump's only going to be a dictator on "day one". Then he'll stop!

I will say that the one thing I enjoy about Sean Hannity is how funny it is when he desperately tries (and fails) to get Trump to give the 'correct' political answer to a question.

[Unagi]

looks like they removed the tweet

[El Guapo]

looks like they removed the tweet

Hmmm, tweet's still there. I wonder if Twitter removed another piece of its functionality?

Anyway, replaced the tweet with a link to the column.

[Smoove_B]

Kinda surprised it hasn't happened here yet:

A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a planned vote of confidence in the new government.

Grzegorz Braun, a fringe far-right MP, was shown on television spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. Haze filled the area. The parliament took a break in proceedings to deal with the incident and Braun was suspended for the rest of the day.

...

Braun, a pro-Russian member of the far-right Confederation party, has in the past falsely claimed that there is a plot to turn Poland into “a Jewish state”. Earlier this year, he disrupted a planned lecture by Holocaust scholar Jan Grabowski, who has researched instances of Polish complicity in the Holocaust, causing the lecture to be cancelled.

(referring to a political goon pulling a stunt like this in a government building)

[LawBeefaroni]

Kinda surprised it hasn't happened here

The American version would/will include shooting the menorah and then putting up a poster of the 10 Commandments.

[Pyperkub]

Kinda surprised it hasn't happened here yet:

A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a planned vote of confidence in the new government.

Grzegorz Braun, a fringe far-right MP, was shown on television spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. Haze filled the area. The parliament took a break in proceedings to deal with the incident and Braun was suspended for the rest of the day.

...

Braun, a pro-Russian member of the far-right Confederation party, has in the past falsely claimed that there is a plot to turn Poland into “a Jewish state”. Earlier this year, he disrupted a planned lecture by Holocaust scholar Jan Grabowski, who has researched instances of Polish complicity in the Holocaust, causing the lecture to be cancelled.

(referring to a political goon pulling a stunt like this in a government building)

I'm surprised he wasn't part of the GOP confab with Orban this week...

[Holman]

The dumbest fucking thing about Trump's "I'll be a dictator but only on Day One" is that--to take him at his word--you have to believe that he'll allow his day-one unconstitutional acts to be overturned on day two.

[Carpet_pissr]

Kinda surprised it hasn't happened here

The American version would/will include a mass shooting.

FTFY

[LordMortis]

Kinda surprised it hasn't happened here yet:

A far-right Polish MP has extinguished candles on a menorah lit for Hanukah in Poland’s parliament, disrupting proceedings before a planned vote of confidence in the new government.

Grzegorz Braun, a fringe far-right MP, was shown on television spraying the menorah with a fire extinguisher. Haze filled the area. The parliament took a break in proceedings to deal with the incident and Braun was suspended for the rest of the day.

...

Braun, a pro-Russian member of the far-right Confederation party, has in the past falsely claimed that there is a plot to turn Poland into “a Jewish state”. Earlier this year, he disrupted a planned lecture by Holocaust scholar Jan Grabowski, who has researched instances of Polish complicity in the Holocaust, causing the lecture to be cancelled.

(referring to a political goon pulling a stunt like this in a government building)

Right now the far right x-freedumbcaucus supports Israel as the enemy of Palestine, so that's not going to happen. The only reason the freedumbcaucaus don't support Israel of Palestine is because they don't support anything but grift and tax cuts primarily for the wealthy. The closest stunt you have to this is the democratic house member pulling a fire alarm but that's not related to antisemitism, Putin fellatio, or general neonazism.

[Holman]

Remember the Trump-like possibly actually insane outsider who recently won by running as a "libertarian" in Argentina?

[Alefroth]

Nothing to see here. It's just to keep the roads clear.

[coopasonic]

Just got a spam text from Nikki Haley. "Before you exit this..." Too late!

[malchior]

On the back of Haley's mistakes the Libertarians say hold my beer!

[hepcat]

Someone is feeling nostalgic for owning another human being.

[Alefroth]

WTF? I'm surprised they didn't blame Obama for murdering Osama.

[LordMortis]

Is that a "real' handle? When did the libertarian party become pro southern secession much less openly pro southern secession? Wow. I guess I missed that. Can we go back to Gary Johnson or even the more openly radical Ron Paul and ask them when they were the faces of their party? Has Musk endorsed this post yet, before qualifying it, of course, with he voted for Biden the first time?

[Max Peck]

Is that a "real' handle? When did the libertarian party become pro southern secession much less openly pro southern secession? Wow. I guess I missed that. Can we go back to Gary Johnson or even the more openly radical Ron Paul and ask them when they were the faces of their party? Has Musk endorsed this post yet, before qualifying it, of course, with he voted for Biden the first time?

It seems to be the LPNH's real account, and the post is consistent with their recent activity.

On Martin Luther King Day, the account claimed that black people are "in debt" to the United States because they "receive special federal funding due to race and are first-in-line for every college and every job." The tweet also referenced a false claim made by Donald Trump that authorities denied white people access to the COVID-19 vaccine because of their race. The tweet was deleted after it received criticism. In August and September 2022, the party tweeted a number of antisemitic remarks including "6 million dollar minimum wage or you’re antisemitic." They also compared Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, to Adolf Hitler. The party's account also posted tweets stating that "January 6th didn’t go far enough" and a variant of the white nationalist Fourteen Words that substituted white with libertarian.

On July 18, in response to a tweet from Nina Turner advocating for free insulin and medicine, the party's Twitter account responded with a quote tweet stating, "Nina Turner picking crops should be free." Turner characterized this tweet as "racist and anti-Black." In two follow-up tweets, they stated that "'Insulin should be free' is equally offensive as calling for someone to be compelled to pick crops" and asserted that Turner "should pick crops as reparations for the rights you violated as a politician."

On the fourth anniversary of John McCain's death, the party's Twitter account posted a picture of his daughter Meghan crying at his funeral with the caption "Happy Holidays." In a follow-up tweet, they advocated for "dancing on the graves of war criminals" like John McCain. Meghan called the tweet "hideous" and said the photo represented the worst pain she had ever been in. Amash agreed with her and called the tweet "horrible" and "disgusting." The party's account responded by saying "Wait until you see what we tweet when the Clintons finally kick the bucket." Governor Chris Sununu stated on CNN that the tweets "should pretty much be the end of the Libertarian Party in New Hampshire".

Karlyn Borysenko was nominated as the party's gubernatorial candidate in the 2022 election while Kelly Halldorson ran in opposition to the party's removal of abortion rights from its platform and control by the Mises Caucus. Halldorson received more votes than Borysenko in the election.

[LordMortis]

I am ashamed to have voted with them when I was younger. That was not the party I had voted for.

[YellowKing]

I am ashamed to have voted with them when I was younger. That was not the party I had voted for.

You're telling me. I've got around 20 years of voting straight GOP ticket guilt. But that was a time in which I was really voting for fiscal conservatism and just tolerated the social issues I didn't entirely agree with. Still, I buried my head in the sand a long time.

[Holman]

It's weird that the New Hampshire Libertarians are as batshit crazy as they are.

My sense has always been that, for whatever reason, NH has been as close to a Libertarian stronghold as there is. If that's the case, why is there so little sane party organization and message discipline that this account is allowed to be in charge?

(Whoa, maybe the truth is that Libertarianism is just a thin veneer of Ayn Randian jargon smeared atop a deep tub of rancid radical selfishness?)

[El Guapo]

If you're a libertarian who is actually interested in governing, then you make peace with joining the GOP sooner or later.

[Isgrimnur]

[malchior]

Honestly it reads like it's being run by one person. And they are a nutter.

[hepcat]

I am ashamed to have voted with them when I was younger. That was not the party I had voted for.

You're telling me. I've got around 20 years of voting straight GOP ticket guilt. But that was a time in which I was really voting for fiscal conservatism and just tolerated the social issues I didn't entirely agree with. Still, I buried my head in the sand a long time.

There was a time when I believed the GOP wasn’t awful. They just had different views but intrinsically the same goals. That all started to change in 2016 (maybe a little earlier when asshats like Cruz came along).

[Kraken]

Honestly it reads like it's being run by one person. And they are a nutter.

There was a movement a few years back to encourage libertarians to move to and take over NH. It's a small state and a conservative one so they figured they didn't need more than a few tens of thousands to hit critical mass. They didn't (or haven't yet), but there are a lot of nutters there.

[Kraken]

I am ashamed to have voted with them when I was younger. That was not the party I had voted for.

You're telling me. I've got around 20 years of voting straight GOP ticket guilt. But that was a time in which I was really voting for fiscal conservatism and just tolerated the social issues I didn't entirely agree with. Still, I buried my head in the sand a long time.

There was a time when I believed the GOP wasn’t awful. They just had different views but intrinsically the same goals. That all started to change in 2016 (maybe a little earlier when asshats like Cruz came along).

The sea change was 1980, when Reagan convinced too many Americans that government is the problem. We had a generally positive collective opinion when the New Deal mentality still prevailed and the parties argued over details within the same paradigm. The GOP broke that consensus in the 1980s.

[Pyperkub]

I am ashamed to have voted with them when I was younger. That was not the party I had voted for.

You're telling me. I've got around 20 years of voting straight GOP ticket guilt. But that was a time in which I was really voting for fiscal conservatism and just tolerated the social issues I didn't entirely agree with. Still, I buried my head in the sand a long time.

There was a time when I believed the GOP wasn’t awful. They just had different views but intrinsically the same goals. That all started to change in 2016 (maybe a little earlier when asshats like Cruz came along).

The sea change was 1980, when Reagan convinced too many Americans that government is the problem. We had a generally positive collective opinion when the New Deal mentality still prevailed and the parties argued over details within the same paradigm. The GOP broke that consensus in the 1980s.

Seriously? So, what you're saying is that Nixon was fine?

Hmm. (tho I do get what you are probably trying to say about domestic policy, a lot of the long tail structural issues we are experiencing now have a lot to do with Reagan policies and how they became dogma to the zealots)

IMHO, I do think the GOP was still relatively decent until the end of the Cold War (aside from all the Nixon Admin folks in the Reagan/Bush Admins, as well as Bush Jr) and then they went full bore party over country with a really nice helping of greed. Think K-Street project as a poster child.

[Blackhawk]

It was two years into the Obama administration when they went from supposed governance to open obstruction based on blatant hatred that made me see that side of things. I swear, if Obama had signed an executive order to outlaw abortion and hand out free guns, they would have blocked it out of spite.

[Kraken]

I am ashamed to have voted with them when I was younger. That was not the party I had voted for.

You're telling me. I've got around 20 years of voting straight GOP ticket guilt. But that was a time in which I was really voting for fiscal conservatism and just tolerated the social issues I didn't entirely agree with. Still, I buried my head in the sand a long time.

There was a time when I believed the GOP wasn’t awful. They just had different views but intrinsically the same goals. That all started to change in 2016 (maybe a little earlier when asshats like Cruz came along).

The sea change was 1980, when Reagan convinced too many Americans that government is the problem. We had a generally positive collective opinion when the New Deal mentality still prevailed and the parties argued over details within the same paradigm. The GOP broke that consensus in the 1980s.

Seriously? So, what you're saying is that Nixon was fine?

Hmm.

I don't think I said that at all. But shitheel that he was, Nixon passed the Endangered Species act, created the EPA, and signed the Clean Air Act. He wasn't an environmentalist by any stretch but he was a pragmatist. So yeah, Nixon belongs to the era when government was still seen as a force for good, even if he personally was not-good.

[malchior]

It was two years into the Obama administration when they went from supposed governance to open obstruction based on blatant hatred that made me see that side of things. I swear, if Obama had signed an executive order to outlaw abortion and hand out free guns, they would have blocked it out of spite.

It was clear sometime late in the Bush Presidency that "Conservatism" was derailing. That rot culminated in McCain selecting Palin after all. I think a lot of people still don't want to grapple with how they missed this coming and otherwise continue to miss the danger. Heck, I just dug up a discussion on this very topic from nearly a decade ago. It's interesting because around that time there was a similar discussion about Nixon. Which is apropos because I still feel like that is the main starting point of the slow roll to where we are today. Almost like grievance from Nixon's resignation compounded over the years and now the bill is coming due.

This held up

Here is a really good article by Norm Ornstein analyzing the recent Pew study about political polarization across the country. Some highlights -- Democrats have drifted a bit leftward in general but the Republicans have lurched hard to the right (as many have observed over the last few years). Conservatives were more likely to say they would not compromise and did not want to live in an area with people who don't believe in their political beliefs. It might indicate that political tribalism is only getting worse and is far worse on the right. For those of us who watched the Republican party roll away from us it is interesting to see it quantified to an extent.

Ornstein also doubles down on his position that Republicans are more at fault for the brinkmanship in Washington and goes on to further explaining why it matters--if the media falsely equivocates how can anyone be held accountable. I think that last point is interesting but I don't see how you can hold anyone accountable anymore in a way that we will reverse polarization - it is almost like we've tipped over a derp threshold and it can only intestify as the base increasingly drags their representatives with them on the crazy train. My main takeaway is that the sense that it is only getting worse is validated to some extent.

[Pyperkub]

I am ashamed to have voted with them when I was younger. That was not the party I had voted for.

You're telling me. I've got around 20 years of voting straight GOP ticket guilt. But that was a time in which I was really voting for fiscal conservatism and just tolerated the social issues I didn't entirely agree with. Still, I buried my head in the sand a long time.

There was a time when I believed the GOP wasn’t awful. They just had different views but intrinsically the same goals. That all started to change in 2016 (maybe a little earlier when asshats like Cruz came along).

The sea change was 1980, when Reagan convinced too many Americans that government is the problem. We had a generally positive collective opinion when the New Deal mentality still prevailed and the parties argued over details within the same paradigm. The GOP broke that consensus in the 1980s.

Seriously? So, what you're saying is that Nixon was fine?

Hmm.

I don't think I said that at all. But shitheel that he was, Nixon passed the Endangered Species act, created the EPA, and signed the Clean Air Act. He wasn't an environmentalist by any stretch but he was a pragmatist. So yeah, Nixon belongs to the era when government was still seen as a force for good, even if he personally was not-good.

I did update the post

I do think that most of the evil in the past 4 GOP administrations has direct ties to the Nixon administration tho (trump gets a bit of an asterisk there) , but I do tend to argue that it was the end of the Cold War which untethered the majority of the GOP.

[Kraken]

I do tend to argue that it was the end of the Cold War which untethered the majority of the GOP.

Well that brings us back to the Reagan Administration, so your agreement has been logged and will be rewarded as the free market deems appropriate.

[LordMortis]

It became clear there to me systemic issues during the Bush the Elder years. I didn't write them off as until sometime post 9/11. Not sure when. I write them off to the point of rote pulling the lever against them until watching the response to the McCain run juxtaposed with the obvious corruption unified behind McConnell. And it's only gotten worse.

[Zarathud]

Some of us were announcing there were serious problems in the GOP during the Clinton years. It just took some time before it was obvious.

Presidents Bush SR and Reagan slid into bed with the conservative radicals in the 1980s but maintained control of the party. The evangelists spent 40 years honing their message and compromised to back an antichrist Trump because he’ll give them what they want — a fearful White god-controlled nation with no government to stop their discrimination and punishment of the left. Palin was a major step on the path, but you can trace a line through evangelical radio to FOX news then Jones Infowars.

[GreenGoo]

Honestly it reads like it's being run by one person. And they are a nutter.

Definitely.

[Pyperkub]

I do tend to argue that it was the end of the Cold War which untethered the majority of the GOP.

Well that brings us back to the Reagan Administration, so your agreement has been logged and will be rewarded as the free market deems appropriate.

Well, Bush Sr, actually

[Max Peck]

Honestly it reads like it's being run by one person. And they are a nutter.

As far as I know, that nutter is Jeremy Kauffman.

In April 2021, Kauffman was given access to Libertarian Party of New Hampshire (LPNH)'s official Twitter account soon after the state party was taken over by the Mises Caucus. Kauffman later made tweets on the LPNH account that received controversy, such as calling for child labor to be legalized, saying "All Republicans do about wokeness is whine. Libertarians have solutions; repeal the Civil Rights Act [of 1964]", and re-opening the Guantanamo Bay detention camp "so that Anthony Fauci and every governor that locked their state down can be sent there, never again to be allowed inside of the United States". The pro-child labor tweet specifically received pushback from 2012 and 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson, saying "This isn't what libertarianism means to millions of Americans". The tweets later partly resulted in the resignation of the national Libertarian Party leader Joe-Bishop Henchman. Kauffman defended his actions by saying the tweets were good for libertarians, and accused national party leadership of being "woke neoliberal globalists".

[LordMortis]

Woke neoliberal globalists like Gary Johnson?

Thank Palin (and McCain for giving her a spotlight, I guess). Though I suppose social media would have brought us here with or without the Tea Party exposure from the Corrupt Mainstream Media and their fake news.

[Carpet_pissr]

(Whoa, maybe the truth is that Libertarianism is just a thin veneer of Ayn Randian jargon smeared atop a deep tub of rancid radical selfishness?)

A winner is you!