American politics 2016: Lawyers, Guns, and D-Money

The best thing about "cuck" is how it sounds like a nonsensical yelp

Just as “racist” hits rightists hard because it attempts to psychopathologize the healthy preference for our own race,

“cuck” is devastating to leftists because they are being described as the most humiliating kind of man possible, one who gets aroused by letting another man—or other men—have sex with his wife.

might not be worth reading too deeply into something written by 'Auschwitz S0ccer R3f'

I feel like most leftists would be with me on not knowing this was a thing until the far-right started obsessing over it.

^this really can not be stressed enough.

Probably a lot more poly nonbinary leftists than leftists who'd lose their shit if you called them a cuck

also, it's just silly as fuck. like, can you even imagine a person in the real world saying that and not getting laughed out of the room - assuming anyone in said room even knew what in the actual fuck this person was talking about.

Cuckoldry was a big topic in Shakespeare's comedies, but largely because it was prominent in the plots of comedies by Plautus, who was used as a model by Elizabethans.

"cuck!"

...oh shit dude are you choking or

xpost - sure, but these guys don't seem to be talking about literal cuckoldry (afaict?) and i doubt they sit around reading shakespeare. it's just another idiotic, childish epithet .

i do enjoy how the guy points out that "no one bought it" when the GOP rails against the Left as the "real racists". i mean he tries to salvage the point by decrying the 'leftist media' controlling the narrative or whatever, but even this idiot knows how lame the talking point is.

(not that there aren't leftists who are also racists obv)

I thought cuck was a term generally aimed at other republicans, as a grosser version of RINO. Where is it actually being directed towards leftists and what would it even mean in that context?

all leftists are cucks by definition I'm pr sure but then again I am no expert but idk I think these types are much more concerned with internal purity and smug superiority than like how to win back Virginia in the fall

Ugh, our stupid country: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/oklahoma-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-make-performing-an-abortion-a-felony/

seeing as no one's ever tried to get me in the proverbial tent by promising the sight of my WIFE (or DAUGHTER) FUCKED BY HUGE WHITE COCK, i'm pretty sure "cuck" is just the internet porn generation's chosen word for invoking the weaponized spectre of black sexuality to imply traitorous perversion in enemy-whites -- which is practically why america has a right, so celebrating it as a breakthrough meme is a little off. kids thinking they've invented everything.

Critics of the bill have called it unconstitutional and a violation of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, that legalized abortion in the country.

I hate the mealy-mouthed habit of journalists to hide behind "critics of the X say", when even the idiots who voted for this (69-15 in the House, 33-12 in the Senate btw) must know it is completely unconstitutional according to more than four decades of case law and SC decisions.

this is one of those shot/chaser things:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ci1GVY6XIAEDvCv.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ci1GVXzXAAAPHus.jpg

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/oklahoma-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-make-performing-an-abortion-a-felony

meanwhile nobody is charged for their botched execution using unapproved murder drugs. culture of life and all that.

Creating future Supreme Court cases to keep their issue in the news

Ugh. This guy is awful.

Sen. Tom Cotton on Thursday slammed his colleagues' efforts to pass sweeping criminal justice reforms, saying the United States is actually suffering from an "under-incarceration problem."

Cotton, who has been an outspoken critic of the bill in Congress that would reduce mandatory minimum sentences, smacked down what he called "baseless" arguments that there are too many offenders locked up for relatively small crimes, that incarceration is too costly, or that "we should show more empathy toward those caught up in the criminal-justice system."

"Take a look at the facts. First, the claim that too many criminals are being jailed, that there is over-incarceration, ignores an unfortunate fact: for the vast majority of crimes, a perpetrator is never identified or arrested, let alone prosecuted, convicted, and jailed," Cotton said during a speech at The Hudson Institute, according to his prepared remarks. "Law enforcement is able to arrest or identify a likely perpetrator for only 19 percent of property crimes and 47 percent of violent crimes. If anything, we have an under-incarceration problem."

i keep all my old hometown friends in my social networks so that I can periscope into small town southern american opinions and the target bathroom thing is being treated as almost as great a bete noire as gay marriage. these people spend a lot of time at target and they take this as a very personal betrayal of trust.

I spend a lot of time in Target, enough to use my own bathroom. What the hell are these people doing in those bathrooms – cooking meth?

they have kids, they are paranoid because of the tempest of cultural change and lack of exposure to the encroaching heathens. i chalk it up to more ignorance than bigotry but who would want to divine the difference when self-styled christians are accusing you of trying to molest children in toilets.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-oklahoma-lgbt-idUSKCN0YB1Z0

i really liked that jessica winter piece in slate about it. adults projecting all their fear and ignorance about gender onto kids and calling it protection. that's the real abuse imo!

2016 has been a phenomenally stupid year thus far

It doesn't help that much of the conversation from the left is distressingly tangential.

The frenzy on the cultural right is all like ZOMG there's gonna be a MAYUN in there with my LITTLE GIRL.

Cultural left is all like no, first of all transpppl are totally harmless, and second of all look at all the discrimination THEY face.

Both are missing the point in different ways.

A., it's not like a transperson is going to be molesting your daughter anyways. (Your daughter has probably used a restroom that welcomed lesbians and transwomen already, with no harm done.)

But B., the fear is actually more about STRAIGHT male pedophiles ostensibly using the "bathroom law" as cover for the nefarious shenanigans that they want to get up to. You know what? straight dudes always could to that, and I suppose some probably have, but whatever they did when they got into the bathroom was already a crime, and still is. The rape, molestation, exposure or whatever is criminalized, and always has been and always will be. Sheesh.

And C. it's mostly not about the specific bathrooms or the specific people involved but mostly just a culture war shibboleth where some folks want to draw a line in the sand about how much they need to hear about/think about/change in response to People Not Like Them.

forgive me but i don't see how the left is missing the point there? as u said this is just culture war bullshit

2016 has been a phenomenally stupid year thus far

p dumb century so far

Trans rights and the Target thing is the right's worst nightmare - they spent 20 years screaming that if we strike down prohibitions on sodomy/legalize same-sex marriage then the next thing you know cats will be lying with dogs and people with penises will pee in rooms without urinals and so on. And... they were pretty much right, the floodgates of not giving a shit opened wide.

re: "sure, but these guys don't seem to be talking about literal cuckoldry (afaict?)" yes and no. Cuckservative and all that, no, but there's definitely some weird shit on the alt-right about large black men fucking their womenfolk.

"alt" nothing; the u.s. right literally has no older fear. rise of "cuck" in an age where "n-lover"'s lost its authority is as textbook as anything could possibly be. only unpleasantly focusing on this cuz think the continuity between the hip new nerd-right and e.g. george wallace (or preston brooks) should be as plain as it can be made.

^^^

one of those examples shoulda been a northerner. louise day hicks'll do.

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/05/please-enough-schmooziness-theory-presidential-power

Norah O'Donnell's interview with Obama chum Valerie Jarrett. O'Donnell has been covering politics for a long time, but she nonetheless badgered Jarrett for nine consecutive questions about whether Obama is a failure because he's not friendly enough with congressional Republicans.

It didn't work, though, because she was asking about something so patently dumb. As Jarrett said repeatedly, what's going on with Merrick Garland has precisely nothing to do with Obama's schmoozing or lack thereof. Hell, Republicans themselves say the same thing. They have nothing against Garland and nothing new against Obama. They just don't want to allow another liberal onto the Supreme Court. End of story. They make no bones about it.

More generally, the idea that Obama's problems with Congress have to do with schmooziness betrays a truly puerile view of politics. It's remarkable that there are reporters out there who are apparently still in thrall to this nonsense.

Hil's emails reveal the State Dept and fossil-fuel buds planned to make Poland a fracking “laboratory"

Far from challenging fossil fuel companies, the emails obtained by The Intercept show that State Department officials worked closely with private sector oil and gas companies, pressed other agencies within the Obama administration to commit federal government resources including technical assistance for locating shale reserves, and distributed agreements with partner nations pledging to help secure investments for new fracking projects.

The documents also reveal the department’s role in bringing foreign dignitaries to a fracking site in Pennsylvania, and its plans to make Poland a “laboratory for testing whether U.S. success in developing shale gas can be repeated in a different country,” particularly in Europe, where local governments had expressed opposition and in some cases even banned fracking.

The campaign included plans to spread the drilling technique to China, South Africa, Romania, Morocco, Bulgaria, Chile, India, Pakistan, Argentina, Indonesia, and Ukraine.

https://theintercept.com/2016/05/23/hillary-clinton-fracking/

Simple binaries the hallmark of this share of the electorate

I'm an "environmentalist" before almost anything else, but I'm a partisan of science - something ideologues of both "sides" disrespect - before even that.

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/03/did-fracking-ruin-obamas-climate-legacy

i don't understand why you posted that, benbbag. what point were you trying to make? i'm assuming you're trying to defend clinton's support of fracking? but with that link?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/amid-fiscal-crisis-oklahomas-legislators-create-smoke-screen-critics-say/2016/05/24/fa5795b0-21b8-11e6-8690-f14ca9de2972_story.html?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202

OKLAHOMA CITY — Some public schools are starting summer vacation several days early. Others are contemplating a four-day week to cut costs. And more than 200 teachers in Oklahoma City were handed pink slips in March.

But instead of addressing a burgeoning budget crisis that threatens public education and other critical state services, Oklahoma lawmakers have been busy debating proposals to criminalize abortion, police students’ access to public bathrooms and impeach President Obama.

With more painful cuts to come, Democrats are accusing the GOP-controlled legislature of creating a “smokescreen” to distract the public from an estimated $1.3 billion shortfall caused by declining oil revenue and years of big tax cuts. Even some Republicans have criticized the focus on social issues as frivolous.
...

Last week, Reuters reported that oil industry lobbyists secured one of the lowest tax rates in the country, a tax break that deprived the state of $470 million last year alone.This week, Gov. Mary Fallin (R) struck a tentative budget deal to raise $1 billion in fresh revenue. If approved by lawmakers, it would require state agencies to absorb about $300 million in cuts.

Oklahoma is like Kansas; trickle-down doesn't work, especially when most revenue sources plummet

House Republicans at work:

The fight escalated on Thursday when shortly before an expected vote over an energy and water spending bill, House Republicans held a private meeting in which many vented their frustrations over language passed late Wednesday to bar discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors, according to several sources in the room.

Several GOP members were deeply upset after Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) offered a prayer at the meeting implying that those who supported LGBT rights “on the floor last night” went against the teachings of the Bible, according to several sources in the room.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/05/26/paul-ryan-is-in-another-fight-he-doesnt-want-this-time-over-lgbt-rights/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_pp-lgbt-630a-top%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

@MEPFuller
Gohmert: How many same-sex couples would you put on a spacecraft to perpetuate the human race?

Pretty sure they're not supposed to be openly discussing Project Final Countdown.

uh, that's Europe, not USA

Gohmert: How many same-sex couples would you put on a spacecraft to perpetuate the human race?

depends, are they Republican?

Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.)

https://terrynewberry.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/rickallendrums1.jpg

?

So right wing that he doesn't even have a left arm.

House Republicans will never change--

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/05/27/congress-leaves-town-with-no-zika-resolution-lengthy-negotiations-ahead/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202

Congress abandoned the Capitol Thursday for an almost two-week break without addressing how to combat Zika, even as public health officials issue dire warnings about the spread of the mosquito-driven virus with summer approaching.

Republican leaders insist a deal can be struck soon to provide the money federal health officials say is needed to develop a vaccine. They also downplayed the risk of waiting a little longer, arguing existing money is available for the initial steps needed to help contain the virus while lawmakers resolve the larger funding fight.

....

But an influential bloc of conservatives remain committed to reining in government spending, demanding cuts from other portions of the budget before allowing increased funds to battle Zika. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), a fiscal hawk, called it “weak” policy to just push another $1 billion into the effort without any assurance of the outcome, without some corresponding cuts to other federal programs.

“The big disagreement that we have and the difficulty we deal with is,” Sessions said, “should every time a billion-dollar or $2 billion project comes along, do we just borrow the money?”

YES, MOTHERFUCKER, THATS WHY YOU ARE THE STATE

Interesting detail to that recent House committee meeting that was broken up by a fundie rep disgusting even other Republicans: very few reports mentioned which Bible bits were quotes, but this post does, and deconstructs the particular clobber texts used:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2016/05/27/chapter-and-verse/

guvmint of Texas makes post-fracking "caramel plumes" photos disappear

State officials ordered the photos removed from a website operated by the University of Texas at Austin. The photos, which weren't generally known to the public until the Times' story, showed potential environmental damage caused by flooding in oil drilling areas, including fracking sites. The photos provided useful information, particularly to people who live in or near the affected watersheds. But a state official said the photos were meant to be used by emergency management personnel in real-time settings.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a45349/texas-fracking-water/

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/local-media-collapse-is-making-congress-worse.html

Middle-of-the-road voters, reliant on their local news, are often left in the dark.

Overall, there are more reporters covering Congress than ever, except they increasingly write for inside Washington publications whose readers are lawmakers, lobbyists and Wall Street investors. A Pew Research Center study released earlier this year found that at least 21 states do not have a single dedicated reporter covering Congress.

Thus, the easiest way to become known if you are a member of Congress is to get "earned media" on such strident partisan outlets as Fox News, or to raise a lot of money from activists and lobbyists to inform voters of your many virtues and your opponent's many vices via paid ads. Either of those paths takes you into the partisan and ideological fever swamps, and the more fearsome a swamp creature you become, the more attention you get.