The GOP: Not What It Used to Be

[47of74]

In a bit of good news former Idaho lawmaker Aaron von Ehlinger got sent up for 20 years for raping an intern. 

Spoiler

A former Idaho lawmaker convicted of raping a 19-year-old legislative intern has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the crime.

Aaron von Ehlinger must serve at least eight years before he will be eligible for parole, 4th District Judge Michael Reardon said during the sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

Von Ehlinger was convicted of felony rape in April, roughly a year after he resigned from his seat in the House of Representatives after an ethics committee recommended that he be banned from the statehouse.

The judge said von Ehlinger failed to show empathy or remorse, and that it was clear he was not ready for sex offender treatment. The sentence would at least deter von Ehlinger from committing another crime while he is incarcerated, Reardon said.

 

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

5 hours ago, 47of74 said:

The judge said von Ehlinger failed to show empathy or remorse, and that it was clear he was not ready for sex offender treatment. The sentence would at least deter von Ehlinger from committing another crime while he is incarcerated, Reardon said.

No empathy?  No remorse?  Yep, he's a Republican! 

[47of74]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

From Jennifer Rubin: "Republicans’ 7 self-inflicted wounds that may come back to haunt them"

Quote

Cook Political Report has moved a slew of House races in Democrats’ direction, while David Wasserman tells us: “House Overview: GOP Control No Longer a Foregone Conclusion.” Talk of the “red wave” has virtually evaporated. Democrats have notched surprising wins in House special elections in New York’s 19th District and Alaska. The latter sends the first Alaska Native, Mary Peltola, to Congress, albeit for only a matter of weeks; she’ll run again in the midterms. Republicans have lost their lead in generic polling. FiveThirtyEight’s average shows Democrats leading by about 1 point.

As for the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) openly groused about low candidate quality, then reversed himself, but got into a spat with billionaire Peter Thiel about who is going to fund the radical MAGA candidate in Arizona, Blake Masters.

What’s going on here? Republicans have made seven cardinal sins they may come to regret.

1. Republicans reflexively rejected popular items.

Voting no on the Pact Act, the Chips and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, contraception access and modest gun safety — just to name a few — allowed Democrats to crow about “their” achievements and cast Republicans as obstructionists uninterested in getting results for voters back home.

2. Republicans did not take women seriously.

The implementation of draconian forced-birth laws stirred a ferocious backlash. In Kansas, of all places, voters overwhelmingly rejected an initiative that would have undone a state Supreme Court ruling upholding the right to abortion access. Women have the edge — a significant one — in registration in many states post-Dobbs.

3. Republicans made themselves into villains.

Whatever you think of the merits of President Biden’s student debt relief, a contemplated lawsuit forcing these students to pay up is simply dumb politics. Those guys want to give you a break; we want to take it away. Also note: Student debt relief turns out to be quite popular.

4. Republicans made the election into a Trump referendum of sorts.

They attacked the FBI over its search of Mar-a-Lago for classified documents and regurgitated the former president’s mindless excuses, some of which he didn’t have the nerve to raise in court (e.g., magical “declassification” is not a real thing). The facts as alleged by the Justice Department strongly suggest he made off with documents containing some of the country’s most closely held secrets, refused to give them back when asked, misled (or allowed his attorneys to mislead) the Justice Department and concealed or moved documents around. How to make a cogent defense of all this remains a mystery to real lawyers. And the GOP is out on a limb defending indefensible conduct — again.

5. Republicans nominated a fleet of election deniers.

Given how many are running for governor, attorney general, secretary of state, the House and the Senate, the election-denier label now fairly applies to the entire party. While that distinction may energize the base, voters outside the MAGA cult have every reason to reject these anti-truth, antidemocratic dissemblers.

6. Ideas that Republicans advance are extreme and unpopular.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) wants to sunset Social Security and repeal the Affordable Care Act. The chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) announced a batch of really scary ideas, including increasing taxes on the poor and middle class. (He’s now trying to reverse course.)

7. Republicans have aligned themselves with special interests.

So much for the GOP’s pretense to being the populist party of the little guy. They sided with corporations that pay no taxes, Big Pharma that gouges patients and Big Oil that hiked gas prices sky-high.

Even with all this, Republicans might manage to flip the House. However, the mere fact that this is in question, given where they stood six months ago, points to the GOP’s ineptitude. Most of all, Republicans’ refusal to part company with the pro-insurrectionist, deranged former president may once more drag them under.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Republicans keep whining that Biden offended them. Don’t believe it."

Quote

Republicans have had their feelings hurt. President Biden criticized them, and they’re just despondent over it. They’re insulted, offended, deeply wounded. The Umbrage Industrial Complex has mobilized its resources, and all must pay heed.

It has been a week since the president gave a speech on the danger posed by “MAGA Republicans” waging an extended assault on the foundations of American democracy. And the GOP can’t stop talking about how mean it was of Biden to say those awful things.

His critique was perfectly true. But what has stood out in the days since is how effective Republicans have been in focusing attention on the supposed spiritual injury they suffered at his merciless hand:

• “Joe Biden calls for political purges and law enforcement crackdowns on his political opponents, and state media cheer him on,” said Fox News’s Tucker Carlson on Tuesday, inventing something Biden didn’t actually say.
• Biden is “the most condescending president of my lifetime,” said former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.
• “Angry man smears half of the people of the country he is supposed to lead & promised to unite,” tweeted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).
• A Wall Street Journal columnist condemned the speech as an “attempt both to marginalize the opposition and to intimidate it into submission and silence,” claiming it contained an “implicit threat” that the powers of the federal government “may be deployed against disfavored beliefs.”
• One well-known conservative author with 1.6 million followers on Facebook and 350,000 on Twitter tweeted, “I don’t think Hitler ever said anything about the Jews that was as straightforwardly evil as Biden said about me, as a Trump supporter.” (He deleted the tweet.)

This transparently phony whining was then taken at face value by many in the press, on the unspoken assumption that the complaint itself is proof of Biden’s failure to treat his opponents — who regularly call him a senile communist attempting to destroy America — with the proper empathy and concern. Reporters keep asking the White House spokesperson about whether the speech was too unkind to Republicans, even though Biden took pains to avoid criticizing all of them, instead addressing just the most extreme ones.

Every article about this topic is apparently required to make reference to two old supposed insults to conservatives’ tender feelings. Did you know that 14 years ago, Barack Obama said that some people cling to guns and religion as a focus of their political identity when they lose hope that either party will help them economically? Of course. You’ve seen that quote repeated a million times as proof of Democratic unkindness.

And in case you’ve somehow forgotten, Hillary Clinton once said half of Trump supporters were deplorable! These days, conservatives are proving that she was, if anything, too generous.

These are the very same people who worship Trump, who can’t open his mouth without slandering people in the most vicious of terms. Some of them argue for censorship in schools by saying that people among their opponents would be fine if students were molested by pedophiles. But their feelings, we’re told, have been hurt.

Persuading the media to amplify their griping and put Democrats on the defensive is only part of Republicans’ strategy. They know the double standard reporters have: They expect GOP leaders to be ferociously partisan, so take no particular note of it when they are; yet they demand that Democratic leaders be polite toward the other side’s voters, and scold them when they aren’t. When was the last time you heard a reporter ask whether Republicans were showing the proper empathy and respect toward Democratic voters?

What’s even more important for Republicans is that the whining unites all their party’s factions, from establishment plutocrats to QAnon conspiracists. The stance of victimhood is absolutely central to conservative identity at the moment — something everyone can agree on: We’re being censored, canceled, shadow-banned! White men are the most oppressed class in America! You’re not allowed to be a Christian anymore! Trump says he is “the most persecuted person in the history of our country,” and his infinite suffering is ours as well.

This has become the all-purpose answer to any argument conservatives don’t like: We’re the real victims here. It’s supposed to be a moral get-out-of-jail-free card, and it can be used to justify even the most repugnant behavior. How many times have they explained their embrace of Trump by saying it was the insults of liberals that pushed them into his arms? Look what you made us do.

So when you hear conservatives pretend to be insulted by the latest thing Biden or some other Democrat said, remember: You don’t have to give it any more respect than it deserves.

 

[CTRLZero]

We delivered a pickup load of donated items for school kids a couple counties over from us.  It’s a rural area which has seen better times, but somehow they are affording Trump-DeSantis 2024 flags.  🤷‍♀️  These counties switched to red over the past few years, and we are just shaking our heads over how they vote against their own self interest.  The power of talk radio, etc. 

My daughter, who lives across the country in Pennsylvania, says she’s noticed fewer GOP signs overall, but lots of Fetterman campaign signs.

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

19 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"Republicans keep whining that Biden offended them. Don’t believe it."

 

If these people put even a fourth of the time they spend trying so hard to be victim into something productive and worthwhile, they could accomplish so much.  Take a cue from Jimmy Carter.  That guy endured so many unfair and untrue insults and comments.  He could have become bitter and angry but instead, he's still out there advocating for the rights of POC, LGBTQ+, and women as well as building houses.  Close mouth, open heart and mind.  It applies in many situations.  

[GreyhoundFan]

Oh Nikki, you are so delusional.

 

[Audrey2]

15 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Oh Nikki, you are so delusional.

 

Too nice? Compared to who? Genghis Khan? Atillla the Hun?

[GreyhoundFan]

So.damned.true:

[47of74]

A few weeks ago racist pile of shit Greg Abbott was going on about trafficking people to Iowa City. About a day later CovidKim went and told people that wasn’t happening. 

After hearing how the Texas and Florida shitweasel stunts backfired on them I have a theory. That being some GQP lawyers in Iowa had a come to Jesus moment with Kimmy and told her about the legal blowback that could result. Both in the civil and criminal realms.

Kim’s such a piece of shit that if there was no legal jeaporady she’d totally traffick people to places like Iowa City but I guess she doesn’t want the resulting blowback.  That’s why she didn’t stick her neck out for the Texas and Florida fuckfornicates.  

Edited September 21, 2022 by 47of74

[GreyhoundFan]

No surprise -- Qevin fucked up.

 

 

More under spoiler:

Spoiler

This horrible agenda is why we can't let the rethuglikans take over the house and senate.

[GreyhoundFan]

We'll make sure your kids can buy drugs without being afraid is a strange message, even for the GQP.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I like the clap back at Newt.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course they did: "GOP states sue Biden administration to overturn student debt relief"

Quote

Six Republican-led states sued on Thursday to overturn President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for millions of borrowers, as conservatives advance legal challenges to one of the administration’s signature economic policy initiatives.

The new suit, filed in federal court in Missouri, comes two days after a conservative attorney in Indiana filed a separate lawsuit against the administration seeking to reverse the policy. The lawsuit filed by the GOP-run states asks the court to block the program immediately to prevent the Biden administration from canceling loan balances as early as next week.

The White House’s policy would cancel up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers who earn less than $125,000 per year, or less than $250,000 for married couples, or up to $20,000 for those who received federal Pell Grants. The Biden administration has been adamant that it has the legal authority to cancel student debt, citing a 2003 law giving the executive branch broad authority to overhaul student loan programs.

GOP lawmakers and conservative advocacy groups have pushed back on that claim, arguing Biden’s move represents illegal executive overreach because the 2003 law was created to give the president authority after a disaster like the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Instead, Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) have said their biggest challenge in successfully overturning the policy is finding someone who can demonstrate “standing” before the court, or the grounds to sue.

The Indiana lawyer suing over the policy claimed he has standing because debt cancellation could push up his state tax bill, since Indiana plans to tax federal debt relief as a form of income. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed that claim on Tuesday, pointing out to reporters that “anyone who does not want to get debt relief can opt out.”

The lawsuit filed by the states takes a different tack, arguing that debt cancellation will hurt them in numerous ways. The suit emphasizes that Missouri’s student loan servicer, which is part of its state government, could see a drop in revenue because borrowers are likely to consolidate their loans under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. On Thursday, however, the administration said it would exclude FFEL from the loan forgiveness program, a move first reported by Politico. That change could help head off legal claims against the policy, although it will mean that roughly 2 million of the 44 million otherwise eligible borrowers will not qualify for relief.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt (R), who is leading the litigation, also said in a statement that the policy will worsen inflation for Americans who do not benefit from student debt cancellation. Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Carolina joined Missouri in filing the complaint. Schmitt is also the Republican nominee for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat in this fall’s election.

“No statute permits President Biden to unilaterally relieve millions of individuals from their obligation to pay loans they voluntarily assumed,” the lawsuit states.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

[Audrey2]

17 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I sure hope that the Democrats running against them really pound this point home.

[GreyhoundFan]

[GreyhoundFan]

So true:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Bye bye. You’ll fit right in with todays’s GQP. 

 

 

 

[fraurosena]

51 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Bye bye. You’ll fit right in with todays’s GQP. 

 

 

 

Finally. It took her long enough to realize what we've already known for years.

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I have no doubt that they’ll bring the morality police to the here if they take the majority in congress. 

 

[Audrey2]

7 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I have no doubt that they’ll bring the morality police to the here if they take the majority in congress. 

 

I agree with you and it terrifies me. For the record I am a middle aged cis female who is not in a relationship and does not see a relationship in my future. I know they're starting with abortion and homosexuality (which because I am not into make up and my hair is usually not behaving I fear I could get caught up in a sweep because what else would a middle-aged never married woman be?) But I can also see them moving on to contraception and when they have legislated that out of the market start looking at women in the workforce. I know it sounds completely crazy and dystopian (okay as crazy as a Herschel Walker speech), but I don't trust these Christian nationalists at all and it scares me how far they may go.

[AlmostSavedAtTacoBell]

2 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

I agree with you and it terrifies me. For the record I am a middle aged cis female who is not in a relationship and does not see a relationship in my future. I know they're starting with abortion and homosexuality (which because I am not into make up and my hair is usually not behaving I fear I could get caught up in a sweep because what else would a middle-aged never married woman be?) But I can also see them moving on to contraception and when they have legislated that out of the market start looking at women in the workforce. I know it sounds completely crazy and dystopian (okay as crazy as a Herschel Walker speech), but I don't trust these Christian nationalists at all and it scares me how far they may go.

@Audrey2, your post really is going right to why we all have to keep talking and yelling and protesting and educating and refusing to back down and and and and. I know we can’t all do everything but we can all do something. I am in many ways about as “safe” as a woman can get in their ideal society. Cisgender, heterosexual, married long-term to my only spouse (as I am his only), children from the marriage, Christian, with both professional and home making skills that could make me valuable. I am currently in pretty good health. (Before the nightmare started, I used to joke that Taco Grande would certainly be a high ranking Commander and I a wife without heed of a Handmaid as we had children who would, because of their parents’ status as being “pure” (no prior marriages and I was a “proper” virgin and we were also “church married” with the children baptized), be given good positions as Eyes or Wives respectively.) I reflect on a post like yours and the fear for girls and women just washes over me in waves. Please know that I take your fears seriously and while it is hard to read your words, you remind me how much I have to step up what I do. Sending you prayers and thoughts for calmness of heart and strength of spirit.