Vaccines, Infrastructure, and Kids In Cages: US Politics April 2021

the "luxury wank" i think this was once called on these boards

years from now Tracer's post won't make any sense unless someone looks up the final few posts from Beware the Ides of March -- U.S. Politics March 2021

Needs more condoms

I will starting April 12!

Gaetz can't be sure where that hand's been

Invisible hand of government iirc

Good thread title

in one of the gaetz things i saw mention of him being endorsed by jeb bush early on, which reminded me of this car with out-of-state plates that I see parked in a catholic church parking lot all the time
https://i.postimg.cc/q7b6wpqZ/IMG-0989.jpg

lol

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2021/04/01/russia-warns-of-anti-white-aggression-in-us-a73446

Won't somebody please think of the wites

Meantime, Matt Gaetz everyone

https://www.rawstory.com/matt-gaetz-2651324286/

the sad thing is this is all very acceptable within the current GOP universe, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if he somehow made it through all this with little-to-no damage.

The real question though is how acceptable this is in the DOJ/legal system universe.

Feel like the last four years have taught us that being a Republican politician gives you a lifetime pass to commit crime

Not convinced that the Department Of Justice has taken historical interest in people showing each other photos of people they've fucked. Otherwise we'd probably hear a lot more about Gene Simmons doing nine consecutive life sentences, and 90% of your female and gay friends who use dating apps would have stopped hanging out in bars with you long before the pandemic, due to being in priz.

Literally nobody in my entire life, man or woman, gay or straight, has ever showed me a nude picture of somebody they slept with.

Maybe I don't go to enough bars.

I've been to a lot of bars in my life and that has never happened to me either.

Wow, bars have really changed
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/M6XTITUhENc/hqdefault.jpg

The other day I was listening to someone who said, "Everyone at some point has taken a nude photo of themselves when they felt good and then possibly shared it" and I was like O__O

I think this is one of those areas where people are flabbergasted to learn their own practices aren't universally shared, like "another think coming" vs "another thing coming"

yeahhhhh, perhaps not a universal experience...

who among us hasn't shared some nude pics

well, me

and yeah, never known anyone who has showed any to me. hopefully i send off vibes to people, like "don't show me naked pics, please"

Whomp whomp

Now it's being reported that Gaetz was in the office with Greenberg "on a weekend" looking at fake IDs of women -- the women Greenberg is charged with sex trafficking -- per CNN.

This is not sounds like it's getting better for Matt.

— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) April 1, 2021

"Everyone at some point has taken a nude photo of themselves when they felt good and then possibly shared it"

favorite White Album song

nude picture

nude photo

nude pics

naked pics

lotta people telling on themselves itt

Nude sics

Nude sics - that's when you *strip off* the facebook link.

Not convinced that the Department Of Justice has taken historical interest in people showing each other photos of people they've fucked.

The DOJ is investigating Gaetz for sex trafficking. Showing nudie pics are a side issue. Unless Gaetz was showing the nudie pics to angle for interested colleagues he could pimp for.

is this Gaetz thing more than him just travelling across state lines to have sex with a 17 year old?

Vaccines, Infrastructure, and Kids In Cages: US Politics April 2021

oh lol missed that post well shit

interesting way to quantify things

If Biden's infrastructure-plus packages become law, the impact of Ossoff/Warnock wins would be in the ballpark of $4-5 trillion.

— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) April 1, 2021

Well well

🚨 The Times has reviewed receipts from Cash App and Apple Pay that show payments from Gaetz and Greenberg to one of the women, and a payment from Greenberg to a second woman. The women told their friends that the payments were for sex with the two men https://t.co/TCS3mC6tkk

— Patricia Mazzei (@PatriciaMazzei) April 2, 2021

What is love?

this is so funny pic.twitter.com/tRJYeqca3C

— Sarah Jones (@onesarahjones) April 2, 2021

"...and looks forward to marrying the love of his life." Who hasn't been born yet.

ok can we clarify the Nestor thing now

My "Matt Gaetz has never paid for sex" T-shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered etc. etc.

Lol nickn

Thread: The story of how @mattgaetz became a target of the Trump justice department is even crazier and weirder than you can imagine.

It involves blockchain, blatant fraud by a local tax collector, and a scheme to steal people’s government ID.

This is NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE.

— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) April 1, 2021

^ now THAT was an interesting tweet thread!

weird how Twitter's trending topic on this starts "Rep. Matt Gaetz says he’s a victim of 'criminal extortion'"

Read that as "I did heinous criminal things that made me easy to blackmail."

I mean, Twitter, the news, whatever, if it's the feds he's already cooked

Meanwhile, a different Gaetz story from CNN:

Sources say Gaetz used his phone to show images of nude women, boasting that he slept with them. He showed such images even while on the floor of the U.S. House.
https://t.co/Lo1buyCjHa

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) April 2, 2021

Sorry I wasn’t up on the latest

Might as well collate this Gaetz story from circa 2013 itt:

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz accused of creating sex game with 'points' for sleeping with staff

"The point system for the game, which was rumored to continue in 2014 and 2015, demeaningly awarded one point for a having sex with a lobbyist, two for a staffer, three for another legislator and six for a married legislator."

Creep

and he really doesn't look the sort

But how would they prove it to gain the points?

Oh, I know....

This is one of the saddest fucking stories I've ever read. Not in the sense of sympathy for its subject (it's about the ex-president) but in the sense of "pity the poor asshole who had to write this; pity them even more if they actually believe what they wrote," because the thesis is that the ex-president's "thoughts" and "opinions" (all of which, when dutifully quoted by the stooge from Politico, were entirely new to me) still matter.

The ex-president has vanished into total irrelevance with stunning (and merciful) speed. When I hear something about some statement he's made, it's the equivalent of someone saying, "Hey, you wanna hear what Donny at work said to me today?" The answer is No, of course I don't, but I listen politely and then move on with my day. Imagine being the Politico writer who has to treat this melting fatberg as a serious person who matters, someone whose lazy, surly, aimless brain-barfings must be recorded as if they have any impact on the day-to-day governance of the United States of America.

No offense, but I find the story classic POLITCO clickbait -- stitching together quotes from an irrelevant person on whom they want to bestow relevance because #clicks

And then you got

Washington Post scoop:

FBI gave #RonJohnson defensive briefing in 2020 warning he was being targeted by Russia to spread disinformation on Biden.

What did he do?

He considered it “completely useless and unnecessary”

With his usual paranoia, he thought FBI briefing was a trick

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) April 30, 2021

https://i.ibb.co/mv6Z9pY/57ovkg.jpg

what an absolute putz.

I didn’t mention this on the show, and won’t tag him in case people pop off, but in Rauchway’s book on the New Deal, he mentions an unnamed 2020 Dem candidate who fretted about the New Deal’s “excesses.”

I checked the footnote. It was Former Mayor Pete lmao

— Matthew Sitman (@MatthewSitman) April 30, 2021

hmm:

Progressives were frequently aghast at candidate Joe Biden's instinct for moderation, his nostalgia for a bygone era and a record they perceived as too corporate-friendly and out of touch with his changing party.

But nearly 100 days into his term, some are happy to admit, they may be wrong.

"Many of us were disappointed when President Biden got the nomination," said newly elected Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., who defeated a 16-term incumbent in a primary last year. "When you look at Biden's career, he's definitely someone we would call a moderate Democrat."

He is less disappointed today.

"Biden has been incredibly responsive to the progressive movement," Bowman said, recounting a recent meeting between progressive House members and White House chief of staff Ron Klain. "He told us point-blank: Keep pushing us. Keep us honest."

A series of private messages starting in late 2020—also recently obtained by The Daily Beast—shows a number of exchanges between Greenberg and Stone conducted over the encrypted messaging app Signal, with communications set to disappear. However, Greenberg appears to have taken screenshots of a number of their conversations.

lmao this is amazing

let them all destroy each other instead of us

amazing how they're all Daniel Stern's character from Home Alone

I'm hoping Roger Stone blunders back into jail, or, ideally, painful intubated death by COVID.

he's gonna die, confused, alone on the street dancing with his pants around his ankles and singing "Old Grey Mare"

Framing the Raise The Wage Act as a $9.50 an hour wage that increases by $1.50 each year, as opposed to simply describing it as raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, significantly increases support among Republicans and Democrats

https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2021/4/30/minimum-wage-framing

The increase in support isn't actually that much, but there is a significant decrease in opposition:

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5aa9be92f8370a24714de593/1619791715637-7SU3B5YLW1BETDZWNBS4/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kGQ8go5zqP-XnMluNTXxm257gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1UaMxPIa9yKM4Jm-EhYu5AB3G6jsXWKFQzNliOK85jQHHOpYghpI-Ha_TwZsqqmJXng/dfp-minwage-comparison-chart.png?format=1500w

The summer's hottest ticket... Gaetz & Greene, live on stage!!

Rocked by a steady stream of leaks about a federal investigation into alleged sex crimes, the Florida congressman is planning to take his case on the road by holding rallies across the nation with Greene, another lightning rod member of Congress.

Their targets? So-called RINOs and “the radical left.“

Gaetz and Greene will kick off their barnstorming “America First Tour” on May 7 in the mega-conservative Florida retirement community known as The Villages, a must-stop for any Republican candidate hoping to win the state or generate grassroots excitement.

Cool cool, yes Marge, please tie yrself to that sinking ship, great career move

I know the GOP stands for absolutely nothing at this point, but I'm still kind of amazed that Gaetz hasn't been forced to resign.

Omg, please get Boebert to sign on for this tour as well. I cannot believe anyone would willingly attach themselves to Gaetz at this particular point though.

I'm half expecting republicans to start shifting to an underaged sex trafficking is good actually platform

I wonder if she signed on just because she and Gaetz have the same first and last initials and she saw it as a sign from Q

Louie G and the MGs

Q continuing the hunt for government pedophiles when one is on onstage at their rallies should be fun to watch.

The only way you can bring down sex trafficking is by infiltrating the ring

Omg, please get Boebert to sign on for this tour as well. I cannot believe anyone would willingly attach themselves to Gaetz at this particular point though.

regardless of their views, and not sure if it's enough, but they really have gotten better at politics

Schumer not exactly charitable on Obama’s first 2 years. “I don’t just blame Obama” https://t.co/zPwMYzEHuo pic.twitter.com/yFPBrLiQI2

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) April 30, 2021

I'm half expecting republicans to start shifting to an underaged sex trafficking is good actually platform

but then what would be the point of the libertarian party?

but then what would be the point of the libertarian party?

"Everything the Republicans want, plus weed."

NEW: @POTUS and @FLOTUS confirm there will soon be a First Cat at the White House. "She is waiting in the wings."

In their NBC interview, the First Lady said that they took Major to a shelter that had cats to see how he interacted with them, and "he did fine."

— Sara Cook (@saraecook) April 30, 2021

Major biting Secret Service - fine, whatever, who cares
Major biting the First Cat - time for the farm upstate

are you canvassing for Biden now? b/c I back that platform 100%

First Cat is not going to take shit from any dog. But good luck getting it not to scratch the furniture.

That’s what they said about Trump.

They just got the pee smell out of the lincoln bedroom, what the hell

but then what would be the point of the libertarian party?

"Everything the Republicans want, plus weed."

― Frumious Cumberbatch (Ye Mad Puffin)

And you don't have to pretend to love Jesus.

D.C. Statehood is most likely dead for this Congress. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin told reporters today he does not support the D.C. statehood bill in the US House and would only consider it as an amendment to the U.S. Constitution https://t.co/dL6UtlqRlo

— Blake Allen (@Blake_Allen13) April 30, 2021

Fuckin' Joe Manchin is having the time of his life jerking around the entire country on his leash.

If Breyer retires, Manchin’s going to demand the seat for his grandson.

of course he doesn't support it, 2 more Democrats in the senate would take away all his leverage. what a dick.

Has there every been talk of Maryland just annexing D.C.? I know there's no strategic political benefit, but they would at least be able to have representation

neither wants that

It has been talked about a lot (that is, retroceding all but the "monumental core" back to Maryland).

After all, that's precisely what happened to the Virginia portion.

It would, in a technical sense, grant DC residents representation, but that representation is diluted into Maryland's where it doesn't make much difference. A sizable chunk of Maryland's population is DC suburbs anyway. vc is right that Maryland may not want the territory gained by such a move, for various reasons.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-administration-return-billions-border-wall-funding-trump/story?id=77423458

Is this the project people were talking about when they said the Biden administration was going to fill in holes in the wall?

Construction under the prior administration blew large holes into the Rio Grande Valley’s flood barrier system to make way for a border wall.

Big beautiful holes, no doubt.

No idea how real this is, but it feels like progress

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/29/politics/border-patrol-unaccompanied-minors/index.html

Nice little story to end the April thread

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article251069219.html

o_O

Samsel is the second Kansas lawmaker to be arrested this year. Former Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop, a Wichita Republican, was charged with felony eluding and fleeing from police and also faces misdemeanor charges of drunk and reckless driving after allegedly driving the wrong way on Topeka highways on March 16. He was forced to step down from his leadership post.

jesus that gets increasingly dark

I mean, I'd still vote for him a second time, sure, but if this sort of thing happens again I'd definitely reconsider voting for him a third time.

Feels like we’re lucky that didn’t turn into something much worse.

US Politics May 2021: Joe Manchin's Choose-Your-Adventure Book