Octopus Overlords

“Ohio. The Heart Of It All.” The old state tourism slogan made new again perfectly encapsulates Ohio’s growing notoriety as a Midwest mecca for radical bad faith politics. From Columbus to Capitol Hill, Ohio hardliners have aggressively cemented the state’s reputation as a hub for far-right demagogues.

Lifelong Ohioans are stunned at the state’s rapid descent into political extremism from crazy, scary legislation to full-on embrace of lawless rule. At the Statehouse, gerrymandered politicians answer to no one. Vehement voter opposition to outrageous bills wending their way to passage is ignored.

Supermajority state Republicans drew their legislative district boundaries precisely to immunize themselves from public accountability. It’s how they can attempt to gut Issue 2, the statute voters overwhelmingly passed last month to legalize weed in the state. It’s how they can push an Orwellian higher ed bill based on a fanatical right-wing campaign to constrain “leftist indoctrination” on Ohio college campuses.

...

The absurdly titled “Higher Education Enhancement Act” is a vehicle for autocratic destruction of academic freedom, tenure, shared governance, and university independence. It’s a great way to devalue state schools and send students/faculty fleeing. It’s also a House floor vote away from advancing to the governor’s desk.

Other bizarro bills are moving forward, too, including gun absolutist measures that put law enforcement on edge. Ohio House Bill 272, passed by the House last week and sent to the Senate, would green light concealed carry of guns in municipal buildings with courtrooms — provided court isn’t in session and people packing heat are somehow aware (which, besides being broadly insane and rightly opposed by judges and court workers, is enforceable how?)

Another gem, House Bill 51, is modeled on a Missouri law already struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional. It would ban state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal firearm laws or cooperating with federal law enforcement partners. Despite strong objections from prosecutors and police chiefs that the bill would hamstring local criminal investigations and make communities less safe, Republicans voted it out of committee, and it’s expected to pass the House.

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:31 am How is it going in Ohio?

Crazyiness. Concealed carry in government buildings and court houses. Sure, why not.

“Ohio. The Heart Of It All.” The old state tourism slogan made new again perfectly encapsulates Ohio’s growing notoriety as a Midwest mecca for radical bad faith politics. From Columbus to Capitol Hill, Ohio hardliners have aggressively cemented the state’s reputation as a hub for far-right demagogues.

Lifelong Ohioans are stunned at the state’s rapid descent into political extremism from crazy, scary legislation to full-on embrace of lawless rule. At the Statehouse, gerrymandered politicians answer to no one. Vehement voter opposition to outrageous bills wending their way to passage is ignored.

Supermajority state Republicans drew their legislative district boundaries precisely to immunize themselves from public accountability. It’s how they can attempt to gut Issue 2, the statute voters overwhelmingly passed last month to legalize weed in the state. It’s how they can push an Orwellian higher ed bill based on a fanatical right-wing campaign to constrain “leftist indoctrination” on Ohio college campuses.

...

The absurdly titled “Higher Education Enhancement Act” is a vehicle for autocratic destruction of academic freedom, tenure, shared governance, and university independence. It’s a great way to devalue state schools and send students/faculty fleeing. It’s also a House floor vote away from advancing to the governor’s desk.

Other bizarro bills are moving forward, too, including gun absolutist measures that put law enforcement on edge. Ohio House Bill 272, passed by the House last week and sent to the Senate, would green light concealed carry of guns in municipal buildings with courtrooms — provided court isn’t in session and people packing heat are somehow aware (which, besides being broadly insane and rightly opposed by judges and court workers, is enforceable how?)

Another gem, House Bill 51, is modeled on a Missouri law already struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional. It would ban state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal firearm laws or cooperating with federal law enforcement partners. Despite strong objections from prosecutors and police chiefs that the bill would hamstring local criminal investigations and make communities less safe, Republicans voted it out of committee, and it’s expected to pass the House.

Scraper wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 12:29 pm A couple of things:

1. The Court house bill isn't as terrible as it may seem from the headlines. In Ohio there are a few municipal level courts that are housed inside of shopping malls. These courts are rotating courts, in that they aren't open every day and the Judge presiding there actually travels around to different court locations throughout the week to hold court. The Bill would make it so that it is legal to open carry a firearm into that shopping mall on days that Court is not open.

Now if you are against open carry then this is still a terrible bill. BUT if you are for open carry then it makes sense that an otherwise public place would need this bill.

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 1:06 pm

Scraper wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 12:29 pm A couple of things:

1. The Court house bill isn't as terrible as it may seem from the headlines. In Ohio there are a few municipal level courts that are housed inside of shopping malls. These courts are rotating courts, in that they aren't open every day and the Judge presiding there actually travels around to different court locations throughout the week to hold court. The Bill would make it so that it is legal to open carry a firearm into that shopping mall on days that Court is not open.

I guess? It sounds like bad policy still. I think that is why she is pointing out people are going to be breaking the law because they happen to be unaware when the judge is in the mall. There seem to be far more reasonable policy choices than that. But people need to carry their guns everywhere, right?

Now if you are against open carry then this is still a terrible bill. BUT if you are for open carry then it makes sense that an otherwise public place would need this bill.

There is no need though. Perhaps not having the temporary court in a mall is a more straight forward fix?

Scraper wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 12:29 pm
2. The last part of that article is actually MUCH MUCH worse. It is a bill that would actually make it illegal for any state level law enforcement to cooperate with Federal level law enforcement. IT IS INSANE and I'm crossing my fingers that the last few remaining moderate GOPers can shoot it down.

Scraper wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 12:29 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:31 am How is it going in Ohio?

Crazyiness. Concealed carry in government buildings and court houses. Sure, why not.

“Ohio. The Heart Of It All.” The old state tourism slogan made new again perfectly encapsulates Ohio’s growing notoriety as a Midwest mecca for radical bad faith politics. From Columbus to Capitol Hill, Ohio hardliners have aggressively cemented the state’s reputation as a hub for far-right demagogues.

Lifelong Ohioans are stunned at the state’s rapid descent into political extremism from crazy, scary legislation to full-on embrace of lawless rule. At the Statehouse, gerrymandered politicians answer to no one. Vehement voter opposition to outrageous bills wending their way to passage is ignored.

Supermajority state Republicans drew their legislative district boundaries precisely to immunize themselves from public accountability. It’s how they can attempt to gut Issue 2, the statute voters overwhelmingly passed last month to legalize weed in the state. It’s how they can push an Orwellian higher ed bill based on a fanatical right-wing campaign to constrain “leftist indoctrination” on Ohio college campuses.

...

The absurdly titled “Higher Education Enhancement Act” is a vehicle for autocratic destruction of academic freedom, tenure, shared governance, and university independence. It’s a great way to devalue state schools and send students/faculty fleeing. It’s also a House floor vote away from advancing to the governor’s desk.

Other bizarro bills are moving forward, too, including gun absolutist measures that put law enforcement on edge. Ohio House Bill 272, passed by the House last week and sent to the Senate, would green light concealed carry of guns in municipal buildings with courtrooms — provided court isn’t in session and people packing heat are somehow aware (which, besides being broadly insane and rightly opposed by judges and court workers, is enforceable how?)

Another gem, House Bill 51, is modeled on a Missouri law already struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional. It would ban state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal firearm laws or cooperating with federal law enforcement partners. Despite strong objections from prosecutors and police chiefs that the bill would hamstring local criminal investigations and make communities less safe, Republicans voted it out of committee, and it’s expected to pass the House.

A couple of things:

1. The Court house bill isn't as terrible as it may seem from the headlines. In Ohio there are a few municipal level courts that are housed inside of shopping malls. These courts are rotating courts, in that they aren't open every day and the Judge presiding there actually travels around to different court locations throughout the week to hold court. The Bill would make it so that it is legal to open carry a firearm into that shopping mall on days that Court is not open.

Now if you are against open carry then this is still a terrible bill. BUT if you are for open carry then it makes sense that an otherwise public place would need this bill.

2. The last part of that article is actually MUCH MUCH worse. It is a bill that would actually make it illegal for any state level law enforcement to cooperate with Federal level law enforcement. IT IS INSANE and I'm crossing my fingers that the last few remaining moderate GOPers can shoot it down.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan tore into Donald Trump in a recent interview, denouncing the former president as an “authoritarian narcissist,” and claiming that more Republicans in Congress wished they had been bold enough to stand against him when they had the chance...

..."Look, Trump’s not a conservative. He’s an authoritarian narcissist. So I think they basically called him out for that. He’s a populist, authoritarian narcissist. So historically speaking, all of his tendencies are basically where narcissism takes him, which is whatever makes him popular, makes him feel good at any given moment… He doesn’t think in classical liberal-conservative terms. He thinks in an authoritarian way. And he’s been able to get a big chunk of the Republican base to follow him because he’s the culture warrior.

And so I think Adam and Liz stepped out of the flow and called it out and, you know, paid for it. Paid for it with their careers. But I think, again, back to my earlier point, I don’t think he is really very good at these jobs unless you’re willing to lose these jobs. And there has to be some line, some principle that is so important to you that you’re just not going to cross so that when you’re brushing your teeth in the morning, look yourself in the mirror. You like what you see."

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 8:56 pm

claiming that more Republicans in Congress wished they had been bold enough to stand against him when they had the chance...

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Dec 14, 2023 1:46 am

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 8:56 pm

claiming that more Republicans in Congress wished they had been bold enough to stand against him when they had the chance...

*cough*bullshit*cough*

If they actually felt that way, they wouldn't continue to do so.

El Guapo wrote: ↑Thu Dec 14, 2023 1:49 pm

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Thu Dec 14, 2023 1:46 am

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Dec 13, 2023 8:56 pm

claiming that more Republicans in Congress wished they had been bold enough to stand against him when they had the chance...

*cough*bullshit*cough*

If they actually felt that way, they wouldn't continue to do so.

Yeah, Ryan's a POS. To be sure I am glad that he is attacking Trump now, but way too late to get any credit. Plus Ryan was one of the earliest of the institutional Republicans to support Trump in 2016, when this mess could have been avoided altogether.

And on top of all that, to me the test for seriousness among any Republican is whether they are willing to commit to not voting for Trump even if he is the nominee.

Paul Ryan is more than a Gingrich Republican, he’s a Fox Republican. He’s part of the new generation of liars. The Sean Hannity pretty-boys who pretend to play the everyman by putting lipstick on extremism.

The Nixon renaissance is being driven in part by young conservatives’ genuine interest in Nixon, whom Mills colorfully described as “our Shakespearean president.” But when pressed about their pro-Nixon views, even his most sincere supporters readily admit that the Nixon-mania isn’t being driven solely — or even primarily — by academic interest in Nixon. Instead, the populist right’s ongoing effort to rehabilitate Nixon, which is unfolding against the backdrop of the 2024 Republican primary, is really about another divisive former Republican president: Donald Trump.

In the topsy-turvy historical tableau of 2023, to defend Nixon is to back Trump — and to rescue the former from historical ignominy is, according to the thinking of some young conservatives, to save the latter from the same fate.

“If we can rehabilitate Richard Nixon in a balanced and fair manner — or even if we can just create questions in the public discourse about Nixon and about Nixon’s presidency — then I think, by way of analogy, it will provoke similar questions about Donald Trump,” said the conservative activist Christopher Rufo, who published a lengthy defense of Nixon earlier this year for City Journal. “It will give us the kind of template, it will give us the precedents, it will give us the skills, where we can more effectively defend a conservative president against these kinds of attacks.”
...
“Especially [among] the younger members of the right, you’re seeing a reappraisal of figures like Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy in light of what’s happened since the rise of Donald Trump,” Rufo said. In his short film on Nixon, for instance, Rufo praised Hoover’s FBI for “successfully dismantl[ing]” leftist groups by putting their leaders “on the run, in prison or in the ground” — even while conceding that some of Hoover’s actions “went beyond the rule of law.”
...
But if these rehabilitation efforts succeed, Rufo says future generations will instead remember Tricky Dick, “as a good, honest man who rose from humble beginnings to the highest office in America, who loved his country, who tried to save the ideals of 1776.” Someone who, per Rufo, “was caught in the web of his own culpability, the tragic nature of politics, and a vicious bureaucratic coup set out to destroy him.”

Amid the overwrought comparisons to the founders, it’s worth asking how much the Nixon renaissance is, at its core, just an elaborate troll, one designed as much to provoke as to educate?

“Yes — yes, it is,” Rufo said, without hesitation, when I posed that question to him. “But,” he added, “it’s not just a troll, because there’s a substantive purpose to it. If we can rehabilitate Richard Nixon in the public mind, we will have demonstrated a capacity for reshaping how people think about political figures in the past, which gives us a lesson in actively shaping [the perception] in the present of political figures of our current day.” In other words, a blueprint for rehabilitating Trump.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who led opposition to the bill, noted that virtually every major public health organization agrees that low-fat and fat-free milk are the healthiest options for children, as whole milk is higher in saturated fat. The American Heart Association, the American Public Health Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics are among the groups opposing this bill.

But invoking so-called “experts” wasn’t enough to waive Republicans off of this fight. Foxx offered a powerful counterpoint.

“I’d just like to tell my colleague something that I think will be easy to remember about why we’re doing this,” said the North Carolina Republican. “Scientists slash experts designed the Titanic, amateurs designed... uh, designed... scientists, experts built the Titanic, and amateurs built the Arc.”

Booo. Shut up. Shut up.

Victoria Raverna wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:42 am When fat is removed from milk to make low fat milk, do they also take out protein, calcium and vitamin D?

Both skim milk and whole milk offer the same vitamins and minerals. They have vitamins A and D, but these nutrients are added back into skim milk because they are lost when the milk fat is removed. Whole milk is often fortified with extra vitamin D.

Both kinds are good sources of calcium, an essential mineral for the health of your bones and teeth. It may prevent conditions like osteoporosis.‌

Skim milk and whole milk are also good sources of potassium, which can lower your blood pressure. Milk is a good source of protein, too. One of the benefits of skim milk is that you can get a good amount of protein from just one glass with no added fat.

YellowKing wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 11:21 am get Americans riled up about stuff that doesn't matter while completely ignoring the things that have a very real impact on their lives.

Victoria Raverna wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 9:14 am

How did an 80 years old lady that is still believe in Santa Claus became the chairwoman of House committee on Education and the Workforce?

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise will undergo a stem cell transplant, his office announced on Friday, which is expected to keep him out of Washington and working remotely until February.

In August 2023, the Louisiana Republican announced that he had been diagnosed with a form of blood cancer and had started treatment.

A top Republican official in Missouri is threatening to remove President Joe Biden from appearing on the ballot as retaliation for the determination in two other states that Donald Trump doesn't qualify because he "engaged in insurrection."

"What has happened in Colorado & Maine is disgraceful & undermines our republic," Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote on the social media site X on Friday. "While I expect the Supreme Court to overturn this, if not, Secretaries of State will step in & ensure the new legal standard for @realDonaldTrump applies equally to @JoeBiden!"

Ashcroft's post came shortly after the Supreme Court agreed to review a decision by Colorado's high court that found Trump could be barred from the state's primary ballot because of his actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Colorado's Supreme Court based its ruling on the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which bars those who "engaged in insurrection" from running for various federal offices.

Ashcroft said in an interview that he tweeted his warning to "remind people of how severe this is."

"I’m 99% certain the Supreme Court will stop it, but if they don’t, chaos is ahead and we’ve got to avoid it," he told NBC News.

malchior wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 10:55 am

"What has happened in Colorado & Maine is disgraceful & undermines our republic," Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote on the social media site X on Friday. "While I expect the Supreme Court to overturn this, if not, Secretaries of State will step in & ensure the new legal standard for @realDonaldTrump applies equally to @JoeBiden!"

Victoria Raverna wrote: ↑Sun Dec 17, 2023 10:42 am When fat is removed from milk to make low fat milk, do they also take out protein, calcium and vitamin D?

The Dictionary, Guinness World Records Among Books Banned in Escambia County, Florida

Among the titles pulled from Escambia under the law include five different dictionaries–Webster’s Dictionary & Thesaurus for Students, The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, The Dictionary of Costume, The Clear and Simple Thesaurus Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary. There are five annual editions of the Guinness Book of World Records include, eight different encyclopedias, three editions of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, as well as books like 100 Bible Stories, The Bible Book, and biographies of people ranging from Beyoncé to Lady Gaga, Thurgood Marshall to Oprah.

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Dec 12, 2023 10:31 am How is it going in Ohio?

Crazyiness. Concealed carry in government buildings and court houses. Sure, why not.

“Ohio. The Heart Of It All.” The old state tourism slogan made new again perfectly encapsulates Ohio’s growing notoriety as a Midwest mecca for radical bad faith politics. From Columbus to Capitol Hill, Ohio hardliners have aggressively cemented the state’s reputation as a hub for far-right demagogues.

Lifelong Ohioans are stunned at the state’s rapid descent into political extremism from crazy, scary legislation to full-on embrace of lawless rule. At the Statehouse, gerrymandered politicians answer to no one. Vehement voter opposition to outrageous bills wending their way to passage is ignored.

Supermajority state Republicans drew their legislative district boundaries precisely to immunize themselves from public accountability. It’s how they can attempt to gut Issue 2, the statute voters overwhelmingly passed last month to legalize weed in the state. It’s how they can push an Orwellian higher ed bill based on a fanatical right-wing campaign to constrain “leftist indoctrination” on Ohio college campuses.

...

The absurdly titled “Higher Education Enhancement Act” is a vehicle for autocratic destruction of academic freedom, tenure, shared governance, and university independence. It’s a great way to devalue state schools and send students/faculty fleeing. It’s also a House floor vote away from advancing to the governor’s desk.

Other bizarro bills are moving forward, too, including gun absolutist measures that put law enforcement on edge. Ohio House Bill 272, passed by the House last week and sent to the Senate, would green light concealed carry of guns in municipal buildings with courtrooms — provided court isn’t in session and people packing heat are somehow aware (which, besides being broadly insane and rightly opposed by judges and court workers, is enforceable how?)

Another gem, House Bill 51, is modeled on a Missouri law already struck down by a federal judge as unconstitutional. It would ban state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal firearm laws or cooperating with federal law enforcement partners. Despite strong objections from prosecutors and police chiefs that the bill would hamstring local criminal investigations and make communities less safe, Republicans voted it out of committee, and it’s expected to pass the House.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 5:05 pm going to stop milking that, to go with the fact that we now live in the dumbest timeline ever due to the Florida GOP:

The Dictionary, Guinness World Records Among Books Banned in Escambia County, Florida

More details - it's multiple dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, etc:

Among the titles pulled from Escambia under the law include five different dictionaries–Webster’s Dictionary & Thesaurus for Students, The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, The Dictionary of Costume, The Clear and Simple Thesaurus Dictionary, and Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary. There are five annual editions of the Guinness Book of World Records include, eight different encyclopedias, three editions of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, as well as books like 100 Bible Stories, The Bible Book, and biographies of people ranging from Beyoncé to Lady Gaga, Thurgood Marshall to Oprah.

There’s a growing sense among foreign diplomats that moral or national security arguments — about defending a country unjustly invaded, deterring Russia, preventing a bigger war in Europe and safeguarding democracy — don’t work on the American far-right....

...“It is right that countries debate their foreign policy stances, but if all foreign policy issues become domestic political theater, it becomes increasingly challenging for America to effectively play its global role on issues that need long-term commitment and U.S. political capital — such as climate change, Chinese authoritarianism, peace in the Middle East and containing Russian gangsterism,” a third European diplomat warned.

The current and former diplomats said their countries are more reluctant to sign deals with Washington because of the partisan divide. There’s worry that a new administration will abandon past agreements purely to appease rowdy electoral bases and not for legitimate national security reasons. The fate of the Iran nuclear deal was one example some mentioned.

“Foreign relations is very much based on trust, and when you know that the person that is in front of you may not be there or might be followed by somebody that feels exactly the opposite way, what is your incentive to do long-term deals?” a former Latin American diplomat asked.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:59 pm The view from the outside. Putting the fuckwits in charge of the GOP and America is causing serious harm to America

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... s-00135326

“I don’t know if in the coming years people will be looking at the United States as a model for democracy,” a second Arab diplomat warned.

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:59 pm“Foreign relations is very much based on trust, and when you know that the person that is in front of you may not be there or might be followed by somebody that feels exactly the opposite way, what is your incentive to do long-term deals?” a former Latin American diplomat asked.

Carpet_pissr wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 4:30 pm

Pyperkub wrote: ↑Mon Jan 15, 2024 2:59 pm“Foreign relations is very much based on trust, and when you know that the person that is in front of you may not be there or might be followed by somebody that feels exactly the opposite way, what is your incentive to do long-term deals?” a former Latin American diplomat asked.

That's a bit of a silly comment, since that is true for most nations that have free elections, if not all.

OTOH, considering that that is a Latin American diplomate doesn't surprise me. That actually is one of the macro view arguments that China has made to quite a few LATAM governments to "flip" them, or displacing us...the long game and consistency. A lot of those poor countries depend on superpower money to finance large infrastructure projects (which can take many years), and China can offer sustained support for more than 4 years at a time, as opposed to the US, where it's possible that previous agreements can get slashed with a new administration.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky introduced a bill last Tuesday that would criminalize homeless encampments and expand the state’s Stand Your Ground law to allow property owners to confront unhoused people with a gun. The bill, dubbed the “Safer Kentucky Act,” already has received more than 45 Republican co-sponsors and the Kentucky State Fraternal Order of Police has committed to testify in support of the legislation when it has a committee hearing.

...

The proposed legislation grants cities the authority to designate specific areas for unhoused individuals. If individuals are found outside of the designated area, residing in a tent, hut, temporary shelter, or vehicle with the intention to sleep, they may face misdemeanor charges, leading to a fine of $5,000 and a potential imprisonment of up to 90 days.

...

The bill also gives people the ability to justify use of “defensive force” upon an unhoused person in instances of criminal trespass, including “unlawful camping” on the owner’s property. This would allow property owners to use deadly force against unhoused people on their property without facing criminal consequences.