Asshole Politicans In The News

[Grand Potentate]

We need a place to put some of the individual bullshit that's coming down the pipe while not lumping it in with the broader issues at hand, so here it is. I'm starting with this asshole:

gawker.com/tea-party-republican-defends-being-on-medicaid-while-op-1446552792

Tea Party Republican Defends Being on Medicaid While Opposing Medicaid

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A Tea Party candidate for Idaho's House of Representatives defended himself against allegations of hypocrisy following an NBC News article in which he admitted to signing his entire family up for Medicaid while running on a platform that calls for the dismantling of all government programs.

"I don’t think that the government should be involved in health care or health insurance," Greg Collett, 41, of Caldwell told NBC News earlier this month.

Collett, a self-employed software developer by trade, went on to note that his ten children — two biological, eight adopted — are all recipients of health insurance through the government's Medicaid program, and acknowledged that "there are a lot of people out there that’ll cry foul" over the dissonance.

And, indeed, many people did visit Collett's personal site shortly afterward to ask him what the hell.

In a lengthy response to all the naysayers, Collett attempted to defend his hypocrisy, but made it so much worse:

Let me set the record straight. Yes, I participate in government programs of which I adamantly oppose. Many of them, actually. Am I a hypocrite for participating in programs that I oppose? If it was that simple, and if participation demonstrated support, then of course. But, my reason for participation in government programs often is not directly related to that issue in and of itself, and it certainly does not demonstrate support. For instance, I participate in government programs in order to stay out of the courts, or jail, so that I can take care of my family; other things I do to avoid fines or for other financial reasons; and some are simply because it is the only practical choice. With each situation, I have to evaluate the consequences of participating or not participating.

Or, as Opposing Views helpfully summarizes: "t is okay to take part in programs one opposes as long as one does not 'support' those programs."

It's worth mentioning that, when it comes to "government-funded public schools," Collett is a man of his nonsensical word: All of his kids are homeschooled.

That being said, Collett claims the homeschooling is not a products of his opposition to public education, but his unwillingness "to accept the social and moral consequences" of sending his children to a public school.

 

[Russell Street]

I oppose highway speed limits, but often follow them. I oppose drug laws, but do not use illegal drugs. I oppose statutory rape laws but steer clear of comely minors. I'm all for guns but don't actually own firearms. I oppose the income tax, but I file.

We have to live in the imperfect world while striving for a more perfect one. Not hipocrisy.

 

[Grand Potentate]

I oppose highway speed limits, but often follow them. I oppose drug laws, but do not use illegal drugs. I oppose statutory rape laws but steer clear of comely minors. I'm all for guns but don't actually own firearms. I oppose the income tax, but I file.

We have to live in the imperfect world while striving for a more perfect one. Not hipocrisy.

Oh come on. That's a load of crap and you know it. Its completely different than enrolling your children, all 10 of them, in public insurance as opposed to buying private insurance which you "believe in".

 

[Russell Street]

His response is perfectly sensible. I can only suspect that knee-jerk rejection of anyone associated with the so-called Tea Party is the only real objection a reasonable person could have to it.

 

[Russell Street]

The only handicap I see is Mormonism.
http://www.gregcollettforidaho.com/about
I think the Mormons will thoroughly ostracize you if you don't produce a child every other year.

 

[Grand Potentate]

The only handicap I see is Mormonism.
http://www.gregcollettforidaho.com/about
I think the Mormons will thoroughly ostracize you if you don't produce a child every other year.

But he didn't produce them. He obtained them.

 

[Russell Street]

Producing members for the church... even barren couples need to pony up AFAIK. There may be liberal home-schoolers, but the ones I've met are conservative to reactionary.

 

[Grand Potentate]

See if you can defend this one Russell Street Harveybirdman

http://gawker.com/tea-party-leader-wants-to-file-class-action-suit-agains-1447931487

Tea Party Leader Wants to File Class Action Suit Against Homosexuality

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The leader and founder of one of America's most influential Tea Party groups believes he's found the final solution the America's gay problem: A class action lawsuit against homosexuality.

At a Tea Party Unity event yesterday, founder Rick Scarborough, a former Baptist pastor who declared AIDS to be "God's judgement," spoke with anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera about the possibility of filing a Big Tabacco-style lawsuit against homosexuality.

"Peter, the whole issue of a class action lawsuit, you and I have talked about this a little bit," Scarborough reminded LaBarbera, who heads the curiously gay-obsessed group Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. "I just wonder if you’ve explored that, talked to anyone about it."

He continued:

Obviously, statistically now even the Centers for Disease Control verifies that homosexuality much more likely leads to AIDS than smoking leads to cancer. And yet the entire nation has rejected smoking, billions of dollars are put into a trust fund to help cancer victims and the tobacco industry was held accountable for that. Any thoughts on that kind of an approach?

"Yeah I think that’s great. I would love to see it," LaBarbera replied. "We always wanted to see one of the kid in high school who was counseled by the official school counselor to just be gay, then he comes down with HIV. But we never really got the client for that."

In actuality, the CDC's latest figures show that homosexual men accounted for 63% of new HIV infections in the US.

Meanwhile, smoking per the CDC "causes an estimated 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men."

To put that in perspective, there were 11,400 new HIV infections in 2010 among homosexual men. That same year, 440,000 died as a direct result of the adverse health effects from cigarette smoking — or one out of every five deaths.

The more obvious criticism of Scarborough's lawsuit plan, of course, is that there is no one to sue. Except maybe God.

 

[Russell Street]

I'll be coy about my personal opinion and state that using the public health angle is rather brilliant as there are many statistics to support the argument.
Of course it's a waste of time fighting irrational emotionalism with science and fact, but if you find fault with this tactic, you're going against Putin too!

 

[Grand Potentate]

I'll be coy about my personal opinion and state that using the public health angle is rather brilliant as there are many statistics to support the argument.
Of course it's a waste of time fighting irrational emotionalism with science and fact, but if you find fault with this tactic, you're going against Putin too!

There's a big difference between Putin and this putz. Putin at least has the balls to go out and beat the shit out of those he disagrees with. Like him or hate him, you at least have to respect his willingness to kick ass for what he believes in.

Also, what statistics support banning gays?

 

[Grand Potentate]

"Tea Party Unity" is not a "leading tea party group."

Guy is a deranged fuckwit with twelve supporters. His platform has nothing to do with libertarianism, and in fact his desire to use government to "correct" a social I'll is anathemena to every plank of the Libertarian party's platform.

He's a douchebag asshole, and only some shit hole like Gawker would try to link him to people he has no connection with. Fuck him, fuck Gawker.

To be fair, he did write 'influential' and not 'leading'. And, all the Tea Party groups want to use the government to correct social I'll. There's really no difference between any of them.

 

[Grand Potentate]

Also fuck Gawker. It's a fucking shithole of shit.

its a secret joy of mine

 

[Russell Street]

Also, what statistics support banning gays?

Per the article, the public health issue a la modern discrimination against smokers (which uses junk science about second-hand smoke when the real issue is stinky smoke). AIDS in the US is essentially endemic to male homosexuals nowadays, and the numbers, I think, show shorter lifespan and higher rates of domestic violence, drug use, suicide etc. on average.
The lawsuit notion is zany, but it reminds me of Vincent Bugliosi's book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" in it's central legal theme, that one can legally claim to have been wronged by accessories to wrongdoing. Obviously the difference is that he focuses on a singular plaintiff as opposed to this cockamamie idea of suing The Gay Man or Big Homo or whatever.

 

[Grand Potentate]

I fixed it for you.

 

[Russell Street]

Lindsey Graham, closet queer and chicken hawk, tries to overcompensate for his personal femininity with this hyper-masculine facade that wants war all the fucking time for any possible reason. What a clown.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) warned on Sunday that militants in Iraq and Syria would attack the U.S. mainland if President Barack Obama did not immediately take military action to stop them.

"I think of an American city in flames because of the terrorists' ability to operate in Syria and Iraq," Graham told Fox News host Chris Wallace. "Mr. President, you have never once spoke directly to the America people about the threat we face from being attacked from Syria, now Iraq. What is your strategy to stop these people from attacking the homeland?"

The senior senator from South Carolina recommended a "sustained air campaign in Syria and Iraq."

"Are you saying we should go back to war in Iraq?" Wallace wondered.

"I'm saying that Iraq and Syria combined represent a direct threat to our homeland," he explained. "His responsibility as president is to defend this nation. If he does not go on the offensive against ISIS, ISIL -- whatever you want to call these guys -- they are coming here!"

"It is about our homeland, and if we get attacked because he has no strategy to protect us then he will have committed a blunder for the ages."

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/08/lindsey-graham-iraq-and-syria-coming-here

As he's the only person making anything resembling such a pronouncement, he's either a prescient genius or a total idiot. The slightest look at his past indicates the latter.

 

[Grand Potentate]

Don't forget his life partner John McCain.

 

[Russell Street]

Don't forget his life partner John McCain.

Really, they are birds of a feather. "We're totally fiscally conservative...except for our bottomless support for military spending! Let's call it defense, then go looking for ways to kill and spend moar!"