The Thread For New Republican Legislation

[Politesse]

I would never, ever fly an american flag

I hate that they have somehow claimed it as their symbol, though I can't deny that they have. When I'm out and about and see a flag displayed on someone's clothing or vehicle, my assumption used to be "ah, a veteran". But not anymore. Sad days.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

It has become an idol, and the pompous who display it, actually don't give much of a fuck on the actual ideals it represents today... and they'd rather go back to what it represented in the 19th century.

 

[ZiprHead]

I would never, ever fly an american flag

I hate that they have somehow claimed it as their symbol, though I can't deny that they have. When I'm out and about and see a flag displayed on someone's clothing or vehicle, my assumption used to be "ah, a veteran". But not anymore. Sad days.

I have a flag flying off the front of the house. We live in my now deceased FiL's house and he always had a flag flying. So I do it in honor of him and his much beloved Navy service.

 

[crazyfingers]

I would never, ever fly an american flag

I hate that they have somehow claimed it as their symbol, though I can't deny that they have. When I'm out and about and see a flag displayed on someone's clothing or vehicle, my assumption used to be "ah, a veteran". But not anymore. Sad days.

These days a flag on a car or more often a truck means MAGA and yes it sucks.

Of course I've always disdained in-your-face patriotism. It strikes me as completely black and white thinking.

All the way back in high school I refused to stand for the Pledge just because they were telling me to. To me it was a free speech issue. That was even before I really though about what a lie the Pledge actually is.

About 10 years ago there was a sponsored* outing to a minor league baseball game that we took the kids to. I continued to sit and eat my hamburger during the national anthem and got several really nasty looks from other spectators. I don't understand the mentality of people like that to think it's my duty to stand for the national anthem.

* Sponsored by a group called Adoption Journeys who offer support services for families who adopt kids out of foster care.

My wife and boys are major Toronto Maple Leafs fans (Hockey) and whenever a Canadian team plays a US team they play both national anthems. It always strikes me that the Canadian national anthem is about freedom and peace. The US one is about war.

 

[blastula]

Yea, but Ted is saving us from our toaster !

Ted Cruz proposes bill to help detect if your house is spying on you

The Republican senator is trying to rally support for the Informing Consumers about the Smart Devices Act

news.yahoo.com

It is a real problem, there are stories about employees watching and downloading customer videos like from Ring or Tesla.

 

[lpetrich]

White House says Republicans have turned defense bill into ‘rightwing wishlist’ | The Hill

The White House on Friday slammed congressional Republicans for “hijacking” the annual defense policy bill and loading it up with conservative amendments related to abortion, transgender rights and other issues, arguing it will undermine national security.

“Holding America’s military readiness – as well as service members and their families – hostage to an extreme, divisive political agenda undermines our national security and disrespects the sacrifices that those who wear the uniform,” deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.

“That’s what House Republicans, Senator Tuberville, and Senate Republicans who refuse to challenge him are doing by hijacking a bipartisan bill and devolving it into a hardcore rightwing wishlist,” Bates continued. “President Biden stands with the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe our military capabilities should never be endangered, especially not in furtherance of radical agendas meant to tear Americans apart for political gain.

“Harm to every service branch is mounting daily. It’s imperative for congressional Republicans to put country over party,” he added.

The bill: H.R.2670 - 118th Congress (2023-2024): National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress

The vote on it
R: Y 215, N 4, nv 3
D: Y 4, N 206, nv 2
Ttl: Y 219, N 210, nv 5

Democrats for it: Davis NC, Golden ME, Perez WA, Vasquez NM
Republicans against it: Biggs AZ, Buck CO, Crane AZ, Massie KY

The legislation came under fire from Democrats after a number of GOP-sponsored amendments regarding abortion, transgender rights, diversity and inclusion initiatives and other hot-button issues were attached to the bill.

One of the measures included in the bill would reserve the Pentagon’s policy to reimburse travel expenses for service members who get abortions across state lines.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) opposition to that program has led to his blockade of hundreds of military promotions and nominations, which has drawn criticism, even some of his GOP colleagues who have said it is hindering military readiness.

 

[lpetrich]

Majority of Republicans vote down Greene, Gaetz Ukraine bills | The Hill

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) put forth one amendment to strike $300 million in Ukraine funding that failed 89-341, with 130 Republicans joining all Democrats in voting against it.

Another proposal from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), which would have prohibited all security assistance for Ukraine, similarly failed 70-358 on the House floor, with 149 Republicans opposing it.

Many other Republicans criticized those amendments:

... from Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), who said he would “oppose any cutting of the defense.”

“We know this is a worldwide war that we’re in of authoritarians versus democracies; this is not a war we chose, war criminal [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is the person who started the war” Feb. 24, 2022, Wilson said on the House floor.

He cited former President Reagan, saying he believes in “peace through strength.”

Victoria Spartz was born in Ukraine.

“I disagree that Ukraine is not a national interest,” Spartz said. “Stopping this war and deterring aggressors like China and Russia, it is in our national interest.”

“Now we need to help Ukraine, and we need to understand that, you know, there are a lot of life are going to, you know, to be lost for Ukrainians, but we need to make sure that we don’t have never-ending war and better and faster security assistance will be help to restore peace,” she added.

Several other Ukraine-related amendments did not pass, like

... a second from Greene to strike the creation of a Center of Excellence in Ukraine, which failed 95-332; one from Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) to require the White House to develop a report to Congress on the strategy for U.S. involvement in Ukraine, which failed 129-301; and one from Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) to strike a lend-lease authority to Ukraine, rejected on a 71-360 vote.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

GOP attack on education. Brain damaged,

...
The panel's draft Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill for the coming fiscal year calls for nearly $64 billion in total cuts, a proposal that Democrats said "decimates support for children in K-12 elementary schools and early childhood education" and "abandons college students and low-income workers trying to improve their lives through higher education or job training."

The nonprofit Committee for Education Funding noted that the Republican proposal would impact "virtually all" education programs, hitting teacher funding, student aid, and more. The bill, one of a dozen appropriations measures that Congress is looking to pass by the end of September, would bring Department of Education funding to below the 2006 level, according to the group.
....

'Disgraceful': GOP advances bill that could remove 220,000 teachers from classrooms

House Democrats warned that hundreds of thousands of teachers could lose their jobs if legislation advanced Friday by a Republican-controlled appropriations subcommittee becomes law.The panel's draft Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill for the coming...

www.rawstory.com

 

[Loren Pechtel]

About 10 years ago there was a sponsored* outing to a minor league baseball game that we took the kids to. I continued to sit and eat my hamburger during the national anthem and got several really nasty looks from other spectators. I don't understand the mentality of people like that to think it's my duty to stand for the national anthem.

Continuing to eat your hamburger does sound a bit disrepectful to me.

 

[bilby]

About 10 years ago there was a sponsored* outing to a minor league baseball game that we took the kids to. I continued to sit and eat my hamburger during the national anthem and got several really nasty looks from other spectators. I don't understand the mentality of people like that to think it's my duty to stand for the national anthem.

Continuing to eat your hamburger does sound a bit disrepectful to me.

What could possibly be more American than stuffing your face with a hamburger?

 

[Shadowy Man]

About 10 years ago there was a sponsored* outing to a minor league baseball game that we took the kids to. I continued to sit and eat my hamburger during the national anthem and got several really nasty looks from other spectators. I don't understand the mentality of people like that to think it's my duty to stand for the national anthem.

Continuing to eat your hamburger does sound a bit disrepectful to me.

What could possibly be more American than stuffing your face with a hamburger?

Hot dog, perhaps?

 

[Politesse]

About 10 years ago there was a sponsored* outing to a minor league baseball game that we took the kids to. I continued to sit and eat my hamburger during the national anthem and got several really nasty looks from other spectators. I don't understand the mentality of people like that to think it's my duty to stand for the national anthem.

Continuing to eat your hamburger does sound a bit disrepectful to me.

What could possibly be more American than stuffing your face with a hamburger?

Shooting someone for eating a hamburger in a way you don't like?

 

[Elixir]

About 10 years ago there was a sponsored* outing to a minor league baseball game that we took the kids to. I continued to sit and eat my hamburger during the national anthem and got several really nasty looks from other spectators. I don't understand the mentality of people like that to think it's my duty to stand for the national anthem.

Continuing to eat your hamburger does sound a bit disrepectful to me.

What could possibly be more American than stuffing your face with a hamburger?

Shooting someone for eating a hamburger in a way you don't like?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

About 10 years ago there was a sponsored* outing to a minor league baseball game that we took the kids to. I continued to sit and eat my hamburger during the national anthem and got several really nasty looks from other spectators. I don't understand the mentality of people like that to think it's my duty to stand for the national anthem.

Continuing to eat your hamburger does sound a bit disrepectful to me.

What could possibly be more American than stuffing your face with a hamburger?

You're thinking of hot dogs.

And my point was about you don't disrepect religions and the like even if you don't agree with them. Many religious facilities have dress codes, you honor them even if you aren't of the religion. When they make the safety announcement on an airplane you can continue basically passive things like reading, but don't do anything active. Yeah, it's old hat to many of us but there are people who don't know it by heart and should be listening.

 

[bilby]

And my point was about you don't disrepect religions and the like even if you don't agree with them.

Yes I do. Quite frequently.

Many religious facilities have dress codes, you honor them even if you aren't of the religion.

No, I really don't.

When they make the safety announcement on an airplane you can continue basically passive things like reading, but don't do anything active. Yeah, it's old hat to many of us but there are people who don't know it by heart and should be listening.

Aviation safety is not a religion, and disrupting a safety briefing in any environment is potentially harmful to those who need to hear it.

No harm will befall a person as a result of their unfamiliarity with the national anthem of any country.

 

[crazyfingers]

There was no agreement that I would stand up for the Anthem and sitting off to the side at the picnic tables eating my burger didn't get in anyone's way.

 

[lpetrich]

The Standoff Between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert Is Worse Than You Think - "Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert used to be allies. Now they’re enemies. And it’s much worse than almost anyone knows."

But, lawmakers told The Daily Beast, the situation between the two is still even worse than most people think.

“A fistfight could break out at any moment,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) told The Daily Beast.

Burchett, who later clarified that he was serious, said he was enjoying the standoff as a “professional wrestling fan.”

“I am friends with both of them. It’s entertaining to think that a fistfight could break out at any movement. I kind of dig that,” he continued.

Some others:

“You can’t have too many of these rifts for too long,” this lawmaker said.

...
“They will be nailing that coffin shut,” this lawmaker said, “and one of them is still in there kicking and screaming!”

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ):

“I just think that whatever is there, could be utilized both ways,” he said, adding that “people make decisions that they have to work and live by, and you kind of hate being in their shoes.”

If they did what their predecessors did two centuries ago, they'd be dueling.

 

[lpetrich]

MTG wanted to receive the news of her expulsion in public, like on the House floor, not in private, like in a phone call.

The expulsion meeting was also very hastily called.

One Freedom Caucus member said that his group was not an "Article III court" (from the Constitution specifying a court system) though he claimed that his group “represents the purest of constitutional principles.” He also wanted his fellow members to slow down and "think through their decision."

Another one, Matt Rosendale, is allegedly one of those who pushed for expelling her. During the votes for House Speaker, MTG was seen getting her cellphone to MR, with MR refusing. Donald Trump was calling, and MR didn't want to seem like he was refusing a phone call from Trump himself. MR himself claims that that claim about him is "false".

After initially seconding a motion to allow Greene to stay in the Freedom Caucus, Boebert later in the meeting—in a subsequent vote—moved to kick out Greene, along with an “overwhelming” group of her fellow Freedom Caucus members, according to a previously mentioned lawmaker familiar with the matter. (The Freedom Caucus typically has a four-fifths majority requirement for such “official positions.”)

There are “qualifications to be a member of the Freedom Caucus in good standing,” a Republican lawmaker said. (Boebert declined to comment on her private Freedom Caucus vote.)

MTG didn't want to talk about this event.

“Dude, do you do anything besides report on complete drama and bullshit?” she asked The Daily Beast. “No, I’m serious.”

LOL.

 

[Old Woman in Purple]

[Disrespectful off-topic aside: 'MTG' will always stand for 'Magic, The Gathering" to me. The politician doesn't rate on my radar.]

Carry on!

 

[Gospel]

I would never, ever fly an american flag

I hate that they have somehow claimed it as their symbol, though I can't deny that they have. When I'm out and about and see a flag displayed on someone's clothing or vehicle, my assumption used to be "ah, a veteran". But not anymore. Sad days.

I have a flag flying off the front of the house. We live in my now deceased FiL's house and he always had a flag flying. So I do it in honor of him and his much beloved Navy service.

Just yesterday, we replaced our faded flag. I gather my wife and kids to follow the tradition: as the old flag burns, recite the pledge and have a moment of silence. Afterwards, while burying the ashes, I have them discus life events that occurred during the flag's tenure. It's my household annual State of the Union.

Edit: And this might be silly but one of us has to carry the new flag on it's pole the whole time. I just personally decided to not put up the new one in its place until the old one is properly retired.