A day without stupid?

[Angry Floof]

The $3,000-a-month toilet for the Ivanka Trump/Jared Kushner Secret Service detail

Many U.S. Secret Service agents have stood guard in Washington’s elite Kalorama neighborhood, home over the years to Cabinet secretaries and former presidents. Those agents have had to worry about death threats, secure perimeters and suspicious strangers. But with the arrival of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, they had a new worry: finding a toilet.

Instructed not to use any of the half-dozen bathrooms inside the couple’s house, the Secret Service detail assigned to President Trump’s daughter and son-in-law spent months searching for a reliable restroom to use on the job, according to neighbors and law enforcement officials. After resorting to a porta-potty, as well as bathrooms at the nearby home of former president Barack Obama and the not-so-nearby residence of Vice President Pence, the agents finally found a toilet to call their own.

But it came at a cost to U.S. taxpayers. Since September 2017, the federal government has been spending $3,000 a month — more than $100,000 to date — to rent a basement studio, with a bathroom, from a neighbor of the Kushner family.

Fucking cunts.

They steadfastly remained on brand until the shitter end.

 

[Swammerdami]

Funny with Biden saying that what the MAGA guys did is unamerican. "It's not what we are". I'm sorry, but yes it is. If it wasn't, they wouldn't have done it.

I don't want to get involved in all the twisty little passages in this sub-debate, but Ibram X. Kendi, Director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research sides with DrZoidberg.

"The behavior we witnessed in the U.S. Capitol is entirely un-American," read a statement from a bipartisan and bicameral group of elected officials that included Senators Joe Manchin, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney, and Mark Warner as well as Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Tom Reed. [Many others including former Presidents Bush and Carter concurred.]
... [But] to say that this is not part of America, American politics, and American history is a bald-faced denial. But the denial is normal. In the aftermath of catastrophes, when have Americans commonly admitted who we are? The heartbeat of America is denial.

In March 1783, Continental Army officers plotted mutiny against the Confederation Congress until George Washington convinced the officers to remain loyal. In 1861, pro-slavery insurrectionists assembled at the U.S. Capitol to stop the counting of electoral votes for Abraham Lincoln. The Civil War came, lasting until 1865. White terrorists laid siege to the county courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana, on Easter Sunday 1873, and violently overthrew the local parish government, massacring roughly 150 Black people in the process. On September 14, 1874, the White League violently attempted to overthrow the newly elected governor of Louisiana in the Battle of Liberty Place, in New Orleans. White terrorists rioted; destroyed ballot boxes; and intimidated, wounded, and murdered Black voters in Alabama's Barbour County on Election Day in 1874, securing victories for their candidates.

In 1898, white supremacists murdered dozens of Black people and violently overthrew the democratically elected and interracial government of Wilmington, North Carolina. In 1921 ... In 1933 ... on February 25, 1956 ... [et cetera] ...

On January 6, 2021, as the siege occurred at the U.S. Capitol, officials in several states, including New Mexico, Georgia, and Colorado, evacuated state capitols to protect against the gathering mobs. The crowds, on that day, breached the gate to the grounds of the governor's mansion in Washington State.
...
In a fall 2020 survey, 54 percent of Americans said that their nation is the greatest in the world, with 80 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of Democrats expressing this sentiment. In January 2020, the majority of Americans said in a survey that the United States embodies the grandeur of gender equality, happiness, health consciousness, and public health. Nearly four in 10 Americans said that their nation promotes income equality. But America's actual standing in the world tells a different story on these issues and others. The life expectancy of Americans is shorter than for people in other rich countries that spend far less on health care.... Police in the U.S. kill their fellow citizens at significantly higher rates than in any other rich country. The United States has the largest incarcerated population per capita in the world....

If you can look at the carnage and respond That's not us, then you'll consider it to be an anomaly. Humans -- like nations -- are not going to perform radical surgery on cancers that they don't think are part of them. Instead of seeing white supremacists as the greatest domestic-terror threat of our time, too many see them as marginal actors. Thus, the marginal response to the carnage. Thus, the carnage continues.

In his article, Mr. Kendi calls attention to the video "this is America" by Childish Gambino.

 

[Shadowy Man]

This is semantic arguing. It’s like saying inciting an insurrection is Presidential behavior because a President has done it. That’s not what people mean by the word and to argue otherwise is simply being disingenuous.

 

[DrZoidberg]

This is semantic arguing. It’s like saying inciting an insurrection is Presidential behavior because a President has done it. That’s not what people mean by the word and to argue otherwise is simply being disingenuous.

That's not my criticism of the statement. Biden is a democratically elected leader. He shouldn't be telling his voters what they are or how they should think. That's something we associate with authoritarian regimes. In democracies people are supposed to be thinking for themselves. To decide for themselves what values they want to uphold. Citizenship in a democracy is never qualified. A citizen will never lose their citizenship based on what opinions or values they uphold. That's the whole point of a democracy.

Saying that such and such is unamerican is an anti-democratic thing to say. It fundamentally goes against what a democracy is.

But I agree it is quibbling over semantics. I don't think he really meant it. It was something that sounds good, like saying you are for freedom. He won't be the first politician who talks a lot of shit. So I'm not truly upset about it. I just think it's funny that this is the first thing out of his mouth when talking about an attempted authoritarian coup attempt in a democratic country. He's telling us that he has no idea how democracy works. Even though I think he really does. This is what he is saying.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

This is semantic arguing. It’s like saying inciting an insurrection is Presidential behavior because a President has done it. That’s not what people mean by the word and to argue otherwise is simply being disingenuous.

That's not my criticism of the statement. Biden is a democratically elected leader. He shouldn't be telling his voters what they are or how they should think. That's something we associate with authoritarian regimes. In democracies people are supposed to be thinking for themselves. To decide for themselves what values they want to uphold. Citizenship in a democracy is never qualified. A citizen will never lose their citizenship based on what opinions or values they uphold. That's the whole point of a democracy.

Saying that such and such is unamerican is an anti-democratic thing to say. It fundamentally goes against what a democracy is.

But I agree it is quibbling over semantics. I don't think he really meant it. It was something that sounds good, like saying you are for freedom. He won't be the first politician who talks a lot of shit. So I'm not truly upset about it. I just think it's funny that this is the first thing out of his mouth when talking about an attempted authoritarian coup attempt in a democratic country. He's telling us that he has no idea how democracy works. Even though I think he really does. This is what he is saying.

Like any other person he's simply airing his thoughts in the agora. He's not advocating insurrection. He's not living in a delusional fantasy land of QAnon and Conspiracy. He's not advocating or inciting violence. I'm certain based on his behavior that he understands and embraces the democratic process. The same cannot be demonstrated in the case of the "stop the steal" crowd.

 

[DrZoidberg]

This is semantic arguing. It’s like saying inciting an insurrection is Presidential behavior because a President has done it. That’s not what people mean by the word and to argue otherwise is simply being disingenuous.

That's not my criticism of the statement. Biden is a democratically elected leader. He shouldn't be telling his voters what they are or how they should think. That's something we associate with authoritarian regimes. In democracies people are supposed to be thinking for themselves. To decide for themselves what values they want to uphold. Citizenship in a democracy is never qualified. A citizen will never lose their citizenship based on what opinions or values they uphold. That's the whole point of a democracy.

Saying that such and such is unamerican is an anti-democratic thing to say. It fundamentally goes against what a democracy is.

But I agree it is quibbling over semantics. I don't think he really meant it. It was something that sounds good, like saying you are for freedom. He won't be the first politician who talks a lot of shit. So I'm not truly upset about it. I just think it's funny that this is the first thing out of his mouth when talking about an attempted authoritarian coup attempt in a democratic country. He's telling us that he has no idea how democracy works. Even though I think he really does. This is what he is saying.

Like any other person he's simply airing his thoughts in the agora. He's not advocating insurrection. He's not living in a delusional fantasy land of QAnon and Conspiracy. He's not advocating or inciting violence. I'm certain based on his behavior that he understands and embraces the democratic process. The same cannot be demonstrated in the case of the "stop the steal" crowd.

I never claimed Biden was a member of QAannon

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Like any other person he's simply airing his thoughts in the agora. He's not advocating insurrection. He's not living in a delusional fantasy land of QAnon and Conspiracy. He's not advocating or inciting violence. I'm certain based on his behavior that he understands and embraces the democratic process. The same cannot be demonstrated in the case of the "stop the steal" crowd.

I never claimed Biden was a member of QAannon

Obviously. Maybe Biden is just mentally happier and materially more secure than his perceived foes and so doesn't need the crazy.

The capitol rioters were obviously afraid and angry about something. Is it that they simply lost a contest and are unable to emotionally deal with that reality? Maybe it's that simple. But they act like they are angry and afraid, and further it's as if they are projecting their anger and fear, and in the process inventing fantasy. It's just weird, but it is real.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

This is semantic arguing. It’s like saying inciting an insurrection is Presidential behavior because a President has done it. That’s not what people mean by the word and to argue otherwise is simply being disingenuous.

Yeah, the A Day without Stupid was meant for Trump Admin actions, not bad arguments.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Sen. Tuberville at the plate.

“We probably could have had a swearing-in and inauguration later after we got this virus behind us a little bit,” Tuberville told WKRG in Mobile. “Again, we’re talking about Washington, D.C.”

This wasn't his first at bat.

After his election, he botched the three branches of government in another interview.

“Our government wasn’t set up for one group to have all three branches of government — wasn’t set up that way,” Tuberville said. “You know, the House, the Senate, and the executive.”

 

[Shadowy Man]

Senator shouldn’t be your first political job.

 

[jab]

This is semantic arguing. It’s like saying inciting an insurrection is Presidential behavior because a President has done it. That’s not what people mean by the word and to argue otherwise is simply being disingenuous.

Yeah, the A Day without Stupid was meant for Trump Admin actions, not bad arguments.

Several Days without Stupid's tweets--rather a relief. I am somewhat dazed by the cessation.

 

[crazyfingers]

Sen. Tuberville at the plate.

“We probably could have had a swearing-in and inauguration later after we got this virus behind us a little bit,” Tuberville told WKRG in Mobile. “Again, we’re talking about Washington, D.C.”

This wasn't his first at bat.

After his election, he botched the three branches of government in another interview.

“Our government wasn’t set up for one group to have all three branches of government — wasn’t set up that way,” Tuberville said. “You know, the House, the Senate, and the executive.”

It's stupid but I have to wonder about the stupidity of those who would elect a zero-experience former football coach as a fucking US Senator.

Another story on this guy. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/tommy-tuberville-inauguration/index.html

 

[blastula]

Turberville is the senator Giuliani tried to call during the Capitol siege to get him to stall the certification.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Sen. Tuberville at the plate.


This wasn't his first at bat.

It's stupid but I have to wonder about the stupidity of those who would elect a zero-experience former football coach as a fucking US Senator.

Another story on this guy. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/tommy-tuberville-inauguration/index.html

Actually College Football is probably the state of Alabama's second or third largest industry.

 

[bilby]

Sen. Tuberville at the plate.


This wasn't his first at bat.

It's stupid but I have to wonder about the stupidity of those who would elect a zero-experience former football coach as a fucking US Senator.

Another story on this guy. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/tommy-tuberville-inauguration/index.html

Actually College Football is probably the state of Alabama's second or third largest industry.

I do not find that plausible.

WTF would the first one or two be??

 

[Patooka]

Actually College Football is probably the state of Alabama's second or third largest industry.

I do not find that plausible.

WTF would the first one or two be??

Incest porn?

 

[hyzer]

Actually College Football is probably the state of Alabama's second or third largest industry.

I do not find that plausible.

WTF would the first one or two be??

Incest porn?

Followed by voter suppression.

 

[thebeave]

Sen. Tuberville at the plate.


This wasn't his first at bat.

It's stupid but I have to wonder about the stupidity of those who would elect a zero-experience former football coach as a fucking US Senator.

Another story on this guy. https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/tommy-tuberville-inauguration/index.html

I know, right?:

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/417372-ocasio-cortez-hits-back-at-republicans-for-drooling-over-footage-of-her-to

During a livestream earlier in the day, Ocasio-Cortez said Democrats should "work our butts off to make sure that we take back all three chambers of Congress — rather, all three chambers of government: the presidency, the Senate and the House." The branches of government are the executive, judicial and legislative.

Not a zero experience former football coach exactly, but a zero-experience former bartender. It's all good though.

 

[TomC]

I know, right?:

https://thehill.com/homenews/house/417372-ocasio-cortez-hits-back-at-republicans-for-drooling-over-footage-of-her-to

During a livestream earlier in the day, Ocasio-Cortez said Democrats should "work our butts off to make sure that we take back all three chambers of Congress — rather, all three chambers of government: the presidency, the Senate and the House." The branches of government are the executive, judicial and legislative.

Not a zero experience former football coach exactly, but a zero-experience former bartender. It's all good though.

My pet peeve is referring to The House of Representatives as "Congress", when in fact Congress is both the House and the Senate.

Nevertheless, regardless of political affiliation, discussing such brain farts as if they're important is superficial and dumb.
Tom

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Actually College Football is probably the state of Alabama's second or third largest industry.

I do not find that plausible.

WTF would the first one or two be??

Car manufacturing.